Weekend renters find corpse in Paris garden of Airbnb rental

Woman pleads guilty to setting her newborn on fire in road

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 A reminder this information is not for publication or broadcast, and these coverage plans are subject to change.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: SUPREME COURT-JUDICIAL BIAS WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is hearing an appeal from a Pennsylvania death-row inmate over when a judge must step aside from a case. Inmate Terrance "Terry" Williams says then-Chief Justice Ronald Castille of Pennsylvania Supreme Court should not have taken part in Williams' case, because Castille signed off on Williams' death penalty prosecution while serving as Philadelphia's district attorney in the 1980s. By Mark Sherman. MOVED: About 460 words. Will be updated after arguments end around midday. AP Photos WX203-1016141536, WX202-0217161813, WX204-0213151218. SUPREME COURT-CONGRESS' UGLY MOOD WASHINGTON — With ideological control of the Supreme Court at stake and senators trading insults, lawmakers who helped the Senate avert a meltdown over judges a decade ago say today's political climate is too toxic for a bipartisan pact to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia. President Barack Obama has not announced a pick, yet nearly all the Senate's majority Republicans seem dug in, at least for now, against even meeting with his nominee this election year, let alone confirming one. Democrats are adamant about trying to topple the blockade led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., or trying to make the GOP suffer in November's voting, and the rhetoric reflects the issue's intensity. By Alan Fram. MOVED: About 890 words. AP Photos WX302-0223161522. STATE PRISON-ELECTRONICS CONTRABAND WAYNESBURG — Three guards at a state prison in southwestern Pennsylvania have been charged with selling illegal electronics to inmates that one employee likened to "Rent-a-Center." SENT: NewsNow. UPCOMING: About 280 words. BUSINESS: CONSOL ASSET SALE NEW YORK — Consol Energy Inc. is selling several mines and coal reserves to Coronado IV LLC. for $420 million. It says it will also suspend its dividend as it continues to deal with declining energy prices. SENT: About 240 words. EXCHANGE: EXCHANGE-AUTISTIC DEFENDANTS PITTSBURGH — District Judge Tom Swan and his family live with autism every day. So Swan has a keen sense of how the developmental disability could affect the responses he gets from people with autism — like his 19-year-old son — who come into his West Deer courtroom. "If you read him his Miranda rights and asked him if he understood those rights, he would say yes," said Swan, who was sworn into the post in January after serving as an Allegheny County assistant and deputy district attorney. "But if you asked him what it means, what those rights mean, he couldn't tell you." Swan is one of 1,000 district judges in the state who are now required to take a course on how to handle autistic defendants off all ages in their courtrooms. Renatta Signorini, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. IN BRIEF: FIERY DOUBLE FATAL — Two men died when one rear-ended the vehicle of another before crashing head-on into a tractor trailer on U.S. Route 22 in western Pennsylvania. ROCK CLIMBING DEATH — A coroner has released the name of a man who died after falling at a popular rock climbing site in southwestern Pennsylvania. BABY BURNED — A woman has pleaded guilty to setting her newborn on fire and leaving her in the middle of a New Jersey street. CASINO ARREST-TROOPER INJURED — A patron has been charged after a disturbance at a western Pennsylvania casino in which a state trooper's leg was broken. HIGH SCHOOL FIGHT — A school official says about 30 girls were involved in a bloody brawl at a Pittsburgh school after a fight over a boy got out of hand. MISSING AUTISTIC MAN — An 18-year-old Pittsburgh man with severe autism has been found about 18 hours after he went missing. Searchers found Vance Meinhart-McBurney at the residence of someone who knows him about 6 a.m. Monday. STRAY BULLET-WOMAN HURT — A woman was shot in the neck inside her central Pennsylvania home by what police say was a stray bullet from a group of target shooters. LNP reports the woman was in her home in East Cocalico Township Sunday afternoon when she was hit by the bullet. SUPREME COURT-CHESAPEAKE BAY CLEANUP — The Supreme Court won't hear an appeal from farm groups challenging a federal plan that limits pollution in the Chesapeake Bay. TEMPLE UNIVERSITY-APPLICATIONS — Temple University officials are seeing an uptick in student applications. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports (http://bit.ly/1LPkZv3 ) Temple has seen an increase of more than 15 percent in applications for the fall 2016 semester over last year. WINDY WEATHER — It's a windy morning in western Pennsylvania. A wind advisory is in effect Monday because westerly winds of 20 to 30 mph are packing gusts up to 55 mph. The gusts can down trees and power lines. BUGGY CRASH — Authorities say a 20-year-old operator of a horse and buggy was seriously injured when he was rear-ended by a car in Pennsylvania. Investigators say a 58-year-old man's car ran into the rear of the buggy in Martic Township on Sunday morning. DOUBLE SHOOTING-PHILADELPHIA — Police say a double shooting in south Philadelphia has hospitalized two teens. The gunfire broke out just before 6 p.m. Sunday in the city's Grays Ferry neighborhood. ROCK CLIMBING DEATH — Police say a man has died after he fell at a popular rock climbing site in southwestern Pennsylvania. Authorities were called to Coll's Cove in Dunbar Township around 2:20 p.m. Sunday after the man fell between 40 and 60 feet. He was pronounced dead shortly after. ODD--LEAP DAY-BAR PROPOSALS — A historic Philadelphia tavern is offering some Leap Day incentives to women looking to settle down. SPORTS: HKN--COYTOES-PENGUINS PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Penguins host the Arizona Coyotes on Monday night hoping to bolster their spot in the playoff race. The Coyotes have dropped five straight. Game begins at 7 p.m. By Will Graves. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos. With: — HKN--TRADE DEADLINE — Arizona Coyotes have acquired winger Sergei Plotnikov from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for prospect Matthias Plachta and a conditional seventh-round pick in 2017. ___ 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