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Good afternoon! 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 lrosenthal@ap.org. A reminder this information is not for publication or broadcast, and these coverage plans are subject to change.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. TOP STORIES: PENNSYLVANIA BUDGET HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf's administration will begin defending its new budget proposal before House and Senate Appropriations Committee hearings, as the first-term Democrat presses the Republican-controlled chambers to approve an election-year tax increase that he has sought, unsuccessfully, for a year. By Marc Levy. SENT: NewsNow. UPCOMING: About 600 words by 5 p.m. EST. CHINESE ELECTRODES-SMUGGLING PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh-area company that supplies the steel industry is set to plead guilty to smuggling Chinese graphite electrodes into the country. By Joe Mandak. SENT: NewsNow. UPCOMING: 350 words, updated to 500 words following 2 p.m. EST plea hearing. LE-NATURE'S FRAUD PITTSBURGH — A mother and son convicted for their roles in an $800 million soft-drink company accounting fraud were commanded by their religious beliefs to follow the family patriarch, the two claimed in an appeal. SENT: About 280 words. EXCHANGE: EXCHANGE-MAPLE SYRUP PITTSBURGH — Unseasonably warm weather in January gave area maple syrup producers a jump on collecting the sugary tree sap that is the raw ingredient of their industry. With highs in the 50s, good conditions for tapping maple tree sap returned in mid-February, providing another sweet spot in what looks to be a good season. According to Jim Scanlon, daytime temperatures in the 40s that drop to the low 20s once the sun goes down are ideal: "You have to have cold nights and warm days to make sap." Scanlon, who runs a small-scale maple operation with his family near Lycippus in Unity, looked forward to the milder weather that was forecast for the weekend after winter storms brought frigid temperatures and snow. On Saturday he worked with several of his sons to begin inserting the 200 to 400 taps he uses each year to unlock the flavorful fluid from his maple trees — sap that is boiled to generate about 50 to 80 gallons of syrup. Jeff Himler, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. IN BRIEF: WOMAN BOUND-KILLED — A private funeral is set for an elderly woman whose body was found tied up with duct tape in her looted western Pennsylvania home. FATAL HOUSE FIRE — A man has died in a house fire in southwestern Pennsylvania. CAFETERIA WORKER-THEFT CHARGES — A cafeteria worker has been charged with threatening to use her oxygen tank to blow up the Pennsylvania public school where she worked. GOP-2016-KASICH — Ohio Gov. John Kasich has won the endorsement of Tom Ridge, a former director of homeland security and Pennsylvania governor. PEOPLE-TAYLOR SWIFT-MAID OF HONOR — Taylor Swift returned to her Pennsylvania hometown over the weekend to serve as maid of honor in her childhood friend's wedding. Swift posted photos from Saturday's festivities in Readingon her Instagram page. HUSBAND HURT-FATAL FIRE — Officials say a woman was killed and her husband was critically injured trying to save her when their home caught fire in eastern Pennsylvania. The fire broke out Sunday evening in Boothwyn, about 15 miles southwest of Philadelphia. FORMER SOCIAL CLUB FIRE — A former social club has burned in a blighted western Pennsylvania neighborhood. CATHOLIC CHURCH CLOSING — An eastern Pennsylvania church founded more than a century ago to serve Italian immigrants is set to close. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced Sunday that SS. Cosmas and Damian Church in Conshohocken will close on March 16. SEX TRAFFICKING RING — A federal judge has rejected a request to withdraw a guilty plea for an eastern Pennsylvania man accused of forcing women and a minor to work in a prostitution ring. Corderro Cody pleaded guilty in October in federal court to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, among related charges. MAIL-FORECLOSURE ASSESSMENT — The value of a Pittsburgh-area mall that's in foreclosure has dropped precipitously. DING DONG DITCH ARREST — A Pittsburgh man has been jailed on charges he grabbed an 11-year-old boy and wouldn't let the youth leave after the boy rang his doorbell then ran away. SPORTS: TEMPLE-MANDARIN BROADCASTERS PHILADELPHIA — Amid the raucous cheering for Temple University's basketball team, two new voices have joined the crowd — and they're speaking Mandarin. Chinese students James Yuan and Javi Yuan are broadcasting home games in their native language. The live audio stream can be heard on Temple's sports website. By Kathy Matheson. SENT: About 670 words. AP Photos, AP Video. ___ If you have stories of regional or statewide interest, please email them to phillyap@ap.org. If you have photos of regional or statewide interest, please send them to the AP state photo center in New York, 888-273-6867. For access to AP Exchange and other technical issues, contact AP Customer Support at apcustomersupport@ap.org or 877-836-9477. 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.

BC-PA--Pennsylvania News Digest, PA