Good evening! Here’s a look at AP’s general news coverage today in Pennsylvania. For questions about the state report, contact the Philadelphia bureau at 215-561-1133. Ron Todt is on the desk. Editor Larry Rosenthal can be reached at 215-446-6631 or [emailprotected].
A reminder this information is not for publication or broadcast, and these coverage plans are subject to change. Expected stories may not develop, or late-breaking and more newsworthy events may take precedence. Advisories, digests and digest advisories will keep you up to date.
Some TV and radio stations will receive shorter APNewsNow versions of the stories below, along with updates.
UPCOMING TOMORROW:
WOLF-2017
HARRISBURG — Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and historically large GOP majorities in the Pennsylvania House and Senate will share power over the next two years. Wolf will look for victories he can tout when he runs for re-election in 2018, while Republicans will look to expand public school alternatives, pare back public pension benefits and limit how public-sector labor unions collect dues and political action committee contributions. They’ll also have to figure out how to deal with another massive budget deficit. By Marc Levy. UPCOMING: About 700 words by 2 p.m. EST.
SATURDAY’S TOP STORIES:
YE–PENNSYLVANIA-TOP STORIES
Looking back on 2016, one story trumped them all in Pennsylvania. Donald Trump surprised the nation by winning the White House, a victory made possible in part by becoming the first Republican presidential candidate to win Pennsylvania since 1988. By Kathy Matheson. SENT: About 1100 words, photos.
SUSPECTED OVERDOSE DEATHS-BABY
JOHNSTOWN — Authorities in western Pennsylvania say a baby likely died three or four days after her parents died from what officials suspect were drug overdoses. SENT: About 330 words.
FATAL FIRE
MCKEES ROCKS — A 5-month-old boy, his grandmother and his uncle died in a fire on Christmas Eve in Pennsylvania, authorities said. SENT: About 250 words.
GRAND CANYON-FAMILY FOUND
JACOB LAKE, Ariz. — An Arizona sheriff’s official says it’s “a Christmas miracle” that searchers found a Pennsylvania woman and her family stranded in a snowy Arizona forest after their vehicle got stuck before a severe winter storm hit the area. By Paul Davenport. SENT: About 400 words.
GROCERY STORE SHOOTING
PHILADELPHIA — Two men have been sentenced to life in prison in the slayings of three people during the robbery of a Philadelphia corner grocery store five years ago. SENT: About 410 words.
EXCHANGE:
EXCHANGE-LYNCHING LEGEND
PITTSBURGH — For more than a century, the death of David Pierce has been a stain on Western Pennsylvania as the only victim of a lynching in the region. The African-American man was said to have shot and killed Sanford White, a white superintendent of a co*ke works near Dunbar, Fayette County, on the morning of Dec. 19, 1899, after White intervened during a fight between Pierce and another white co*ke executive, Richard Cunningham. Pierce’s death has been recorded as a lynching in nearly all of the most authoritative lists compiled over the years, starting in 1899 when the Chicago Tribune included it in the paper’s annual lynching list. But this blight on the history of western Pennsylvania — long a center of the abolitionist movement and major site of the Underground Railroad — has a problem: The lynching did not happen. Sean D. Hamill, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
BIRACIAL IN AMERICA
WASHINGTON, Pa. — Koron Harris is used to strangers sneaking glances at her, and she knows why. “They’re trying to figure out if I’m black or I’m white.” The daughter of a black father and white mother, Harris has encountered curiosity and fascination about her biracial heritage since she was in elementary school. “I don’t really think about it at this point, but everybody else does. I’ve had people ask me whether I think I’m black or I’m white, and I honestly don’t see it that way,” said Harris, 19, of Washington. “I just think of me as being Koron.” Harris shook her head and laughed as she recalled countless conversations she’s had over the years about being biracial. But those discussions reinforce how different her social and personal experiences are from her Caucasian and her African-American friends and relatives. Karen Mansfield, (Washington) Observer-Reporter.
OFFICER’S RECOVERY
GETTYSBURG — On March 11, 2010, police officer Rick Phillips attempted to make a traffic stop but was soon in pursuit of the car he tried to pull over. The high-speed chase ended when he crashed into a tractor-trailer, breaking facial bones and his leg and sustaining a traumatic brain injury. After the crash, he wouldn’t live full-time in his home again for five years, and his career as a police officer — one that he loved — would be over. “I miss my job there a lot,” he said. “I loved that job.” ”Since he left, I don’t think we ever really recovered,” Eastern Adams Regional Police officer Shawn Cuffley said. Kaitlin Greenockle, The (Hanover) Evening Sun.
EXCHANGE-FALCONRY LIFE
ERIE — Falconry is a game of cat and mouse, only with falcons and hawks, and seasoned falconers who need to be cagey like a fox. As an engineer and natural history enthusiast, the intellectual component of hunting prey with these highly trained predators appealed to Jeff Kisak as he began to learn about this 4,000-year-old sport while on a flight to Canada for a business trip in 1997. Now, a passion that began while reading wildlife biologist Daniel O’Brien’s book, “Equinox: Life, Love and Birds of Prey,” evolved into a way of life a decade ago, when he left engineering in favor of property management to spend more time with his family and birds. “It is a lifestyle,” said Kisak, 49, of Erie, who hunts with his six Finnish, Russian and Siberian goshawks. Victor Fernandes, Erie Times-News.
EXCHANGE-OUT OF DEPRESSION
PHILADELPHIA — Drew Bergman recalled the Catholic school uniform he wore as he walked down the halls of St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia. The long sleeves and long pants of his St. Joe’s uniform hid the self-inflicted cuts on the ninth-graders’ arms and legs, signs of a disease he battled during adolescence. He struggled to mask the limp that was caused by other self-inflicted injuries. No one who brushed shoulders with Bergman in the halls knew that he had tried to end his life once and would do so again. He kept that dark side of his life silent, where he thought it belonged. Today, Drew is 23 — and silent no more. For the last five years, he’s been shining a light on depression by traveling around the country speaking on behalf of the mental health advocacy group Minding Your Mind, which trained him as a speaker. Marion Callahan, Bucks County Courier Times.
IN BRIEF:
KILLED IN STORE — Authorities in western Pennsylvania say a baby likely died three or four days after her parents died from what officials suspect were drug overdoses.
POLICE BARRACKS SHOOTING — A defense attorney says an insanity defense is unlikely in the trial of a man charged with fatally ambushing a state police trooper and wounding another near a rural barracks in eastern Pennsylvania.
SMELLY PHILLY — Chestnuts roasting on an open fire it wasn’t. A New Jersey refinery is blaming a power outage for the acrid odor of rotten eggs that wafted over Philadelphia.
SPORTS:
HKN–DOWNIE-TWITTER RANT
TORONTO —Former NHL forward Steve Downie went on a lengthy Twitter rant Friday night, taking aim at hockey commentator Don Cherry and the Arizona Coyotes. Downie, who played parts of eight seasons in the NHL, criticized the culture of violence that he believes Cherry perpetuates through his “Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em” series of videos. In response to some of his tweets, a fan tweeted an animated gif of Downie body-checking Pittsburgh Penguins forward Dean McAmmond in 2007.
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MARKETPLACE: Calling your attention to the Marketplace in AP Exchange, where you can find member-contributed content from Pennsylvania and other states. The Marketplace is accessible on the left navigational pane of the AP Exchange home page, near the bottom. For both national and state, you can click “All” or search for content by topics such as education, politics and business.
