Site last updated: Saturday, October 10, 2026

Log In

Reset Password
Butler County's great daily newspaper

STATE

NORRISTOWN — A 14-year-old boy who admitted that he planned a Columbine-style attack on a suburban Philadelphia high school was sentenced Wednesday to up to seven years in a juvenile treatment facility.

Dillon Cossey will be sent to the western Pennsylvania facility and remain there until he turns 21, unless the courts deem he has been sufficiently rehabilitated before then, Montgomery County Judge Paul Tressler ruled.

Two months ago, authorities searched Cossey's Plymouth Township home and found a 9 mm rifle, about 30 air-powered guns modeled to look like higher-powered weapons, swords, knives, a bomb-making book, videos of the 1999 Columbine attack in Colorado and violence-filled notebooks.

In late October, Cossey admitted in Montgomery County juvenile court that he committed three felonies — criminal solicitation, risking a catastrophe and possession of an instrument of crime.

PITTSBURGH — Allegheny County has reached a deal with a developer to build a 156-room hotel at the site of the former jail annex in Pittsburgh.Officials say Kratsa Properties plans to build a six-story Hilton Garden Inn and an underground parking garage.The county's Industrial Development Authority approved the $1.5 million sale on Tuesday.The hotel is still in the design phase and plans will be submitted to the city's Planning Commission next year.

More in Pennsylvania News

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter

* indicates required
TODAY'S PHOTOS