PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh-area man who shot a dog to death while it was in a cage was sentenced to 8 to 16 months in prison.

Kevin Wright was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty to cruelty to animals. Police said the 43-year-old Glassport man was heavily intoxicated when police arrived at his apartment on June 23, 2008, to respond to a report of shots fired.

Police said Wright claimed the dog attacked him, but it was in a cage and Wright wasn't injured. The dog died in about 20 minutes.

Police found two handguns and 14 shell casings on the floor.

STATE COLLEGE — An autumn storm brought snow to parts of Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey, the earliest snow on record in some towns used to harsh winters.Cornell University weather scientists said the snow that started Thursday set records for the earliest date with an inch of snow in Binghamton, Ithaca and Olean in New York and Altoona and State College in Pennsylvania.The National Weather Service said there was 4.5 inches of snow in State College and 2 more inches were possible through Saturday morning.Port Allegany in northwestern Pennsylvania and Perrysburg in western New York both got more than 3 inches of snow. Most areas east of Lake Erie and parts of northwestern New Jersey got 2 inches or less. Many other places got only rain.

BRADDOCK — The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is closing its hospital in the depressed suburb of Braddock.UPMC Braddock will close Jan. 31 because the hospital network said not enough patients are admitted. The hospital employs 670 and it is not immediately clear if any of those workers will be retained elsewhere. The hospital's emergency room treats about 25,000 people a year, but UPMC officials said four out of five people in Braddock are seeking treatment elsewhere.Admissions have dropped by 21 percent since 2004, and the hospital has lost nearly $27 million in the last six years. Losses of $50 million are projected for the next six years.

PITTSBURGH — A rhinoceros bit the thumb of a Pittsburgh zookeeper who feeds the animal on a daily basis.The employee of the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium is being treated in a local hospital for an injury described by a spokeswoman as a "nip."Zoo spokeswoman Tracy Gray said "it's just an accidental bite."

UNIONTOWN — A self-proclaimed Civil War buff now faces a felony charge for accidentally firing a 2-pound cannonball through the wall of a neighbor's home.William Maser, 54, of Georges Township, was charged with reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, and disorderly conduct for the incident Sept. 2. Authorities Thursday added a felony count of discharging a firearm into an occupied structure before Maser waived his right to a preliminary hearing on all charges.Maser acknowledged firing a homemade cannon from his yard about 6 p.m. Sept. 2. The ball ricocheted and hit the house about 400 yards away.Police said nobody was hurt by the cannonball, which slammed through a window and a wall before landing in a clothes closet.