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Lawsuit over school funding disparities opens

HARRISBURG (AP) — A Pennsylvania judge heard conflicting descriptions of the state’s education funding as a trial began Friday in a lawsuit designed to compel lawmakers to funnel more money to schools in lower income areas. A lawyer for the districts, parents and organizations that sued argued current state subsidies are insufficient in areas with lower property values and income, running afoul of the state constitution’s mandate of a thorough system of public education. “This isn’t a case about numbers,” attorney Katrina Robson told Commonwealth Court Judge Renee Cohn ...

Pennsylvania judge race with narrow margin will get recount

HARRISBURG (AP) — The results of a tight race for a seat on the statewide Commonwealth Court will be recounted because two candidates finished within a half-percentage point of each other in last week’s election, the Pennsylvania Department of State announced Wednesday. The race pits Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Lori Dumas, the Democrat, against former Pennsylvania Senate Republican aide Drew Crompton, who was appointed last year to fill a Commonwealth Court vacancy until a replacement could be elected. Commonwealth Court handles cases involving state government and local ...

3rd arrest in probe that led to discovery of 2 buried children

COGAN STATION (AP) — A third woman has been arrested in the investigation that led to discovery of the bodies of two young girls missing for years and buried in the backyard of a Pennsylvania home, authorities said. Michele Butler, 48, of Williamsport, is charged with child endangerment and obstruction, the same charges leveled earlier in Lycoming County against her daughter, 26-year-old Echo Butler, and the mother of the two girls, 32-year-old Marie Snyder. Authorities on Monday identified the bodies found in the backyard of the Old Lycoming Township residence as those of ...

Pair arrested after bodies of 2 missing girls found in backyard

The Associted Press COGAN STATION (AP) — The discovery of the bodies of two young girls missing for years and buried in the backyard of a Pennsylvania home has led to the arrest of two women. Authorities identified the bodies of 6-year-old Nicole Snyder and 4-year-old Jasmine Snyder on Monday. Authorities say that the older girl was buried in 2016 and the younger one was buried in 2017. The girls’ mother, 32-year-old Marie Snyder, and her partner Echo Butler, 26, have been arrested on charges of child endangerment and obstruction in Lycoming County, and authorities have opened ...

Corman to run for governor

HARRISBURG (AP) — Jake Corman, the ranking Republican in Pennsylvania’s state Senate, will run for governor in next year’s election, a political adviser said Wednesday, entering a huge and wide-open GOP field of candidates that is unlike anything party officials have seen in at least decades. For weeks, Corman has been expected to enter the race, and he had planned to make the formal announcement at a Thursday night event, a political adviser with direct knowledge of Corman’s plans told The Associated Press. The political adviser spoke on condition of anonymity because Corman ...

Fraudulent scheme targets unemployment

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity on Monday warned Pennsylvanians that scammers are using fraudulent text messages to target recipients of unemployment compensation benefits — potentially including normal unemployment compensation, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation. One message fradulently tells recipients that their “state-issued ReliaCard account has been temporarily frozen.” It encourages recipients to click on a link “to verify [their] identity and card status.” “If you get a text message like this, do ...