HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Authorities say nine cases of rabies were confirmed last month in central Pennsylvania, and humans were exposed in two cases. The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture said the March cases occurred in Adams, Cumberland, Lancaster, Lebanon and York counties. Officials said the animals involved in five of the cases were raccoons, while other cases involved a fox, a bat and two cats.
Humans were exposed in cases in Cumberland County involving a fox and one of the cats. Officials are urging people to comply with state law requiring al dogs and non-feral cats three months of age and older to be vaccinated against rabies. Periodic booster vaccinations are required to maintain lifelong immunity. People should also avoid contact with wild animals and keep pets away from them, especially animals acting abnormally.
MILL HALL, Pa. (AP) — A UPS driver in Clinton County has pleaded guilty to summary traffic violations in a crash involving a horse and buggy that killed a woman and a child. The driver originally sought a trial but on Friday pleaded guilty and paid almost $800 in fines associated with counts including careless driving resulting in death. State police said the UPS truck drifted into the path of the horse and buggy last July.
The truck hit the buggy, causing it to overturn. Police said 36-year-old Rachel Beiler of Loganton and her 8-year-old son, David, were pronounced dead at the scene. Four other people were seriously injured. Prosecutors said an investigation indicated that vehicular homicide charges weren’t warranted.
WAYNESBURG, Pa. (AP) — Thousands of miners have rallied and marched in southwestern Pennsylvania to safeguard pensions and health benefits. The United Mine Workers of America says it’s concerned because environmental regulations on coal-burning plants have combined with abundant supplies of natural gas to drive down demand for coal at power plants.
Earlier this week, Virginia-based Alpha Natural Resources asked a bankruptcy judge to let it break a union contract so the company can reorganize its finances. The union says Friday’s rally and march from the Greene County Airport to the Greene County Fairgrounds was a “demonstration of solidarity” as the coal industry has dealt with down-sizing and bankruptcies. The union says although judges can void contracts in bankruptcy court, the union must still agree to work under any amended contracts.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The lawyer enlisted by Attorney General Kathleen Kane to be her second-in-command says the two barely knew each other before she hired him to make final decisions on legal matters while her law license remains suspended. Newly appointed solicitor general Bruce Castor tells The Associated Press he had thought Kane was about to ask him to represent her in her pending criminal case when she summoned him to her Scranton office. Instead, she offered him a job.
Kane faces charges she unlawfully leaked information from a grand jury probe and then lied about it. Castor, a former county prosecutor, is a key figure in Bill Cosby’s criminal defense. A judge rejected as not credible his claim he had given Cosby an immunity deal a decade ago in an alleged sex assault. Cosby is appealing.
