Owner charged in death of dog found sealed in crate

Woman who died in mobile home fire identified

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 A reminder this information is not for publication or broadcast, and these coverage plans are subject to change.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. VIEWING HARRISBURG HARRISBURG — In the days after Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf finally put a stake in the Pennsylvania budget impasse that has captured the Capitol for more than a year, his office wasted no time in publicizing three analyses by financial firms that delved into what it means for the state's future. The reviews were anything but positive. The administration late this week highlighted reports from Moody's Investors Service, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services and PNC Financial Services Group that each, in different ways, found much to criticize in how Pennsylvania policymakers have been doing their jobs.. By Mark Scolforo. SENT: About 710 words. COAL CRUSADER CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Patrick Morrisey, the West Virginia attorney general taking on President Obama's clean power plan, is no stranger to the hot seat: He parlayed a love of tennis as a young adult into becoming a line judge at the U.S. Open and other tournaments, regularly standing up to second-guessing by irate players and fans. Fast forward to 2016. The 48-year-old transplanted New Jersey native is challenging the Obama administration's calls, joined by several mostly Republican states in suing to try to overturn federal greenhouse gas rules. He says taking the heat on the courts taught him to stay cool in court years later.By John Raby. SENT: About 950 words. EXCHANGE: EXCHANGE-CITIZENSHIP WITH TEACHER-MOM'S HELP BETHLEHEM — You don't break a deathbed promise. That's the mantra Michelle Bosak used every time a new obstacle sprang up, blocking her adopted daughter's path to becoming a legal immigrant. The realization that her beautiful, smart and kind daughter -- a girl who dreamed of going to college and traveling the world -- might not get to do that? Well, that wasn't acceptable to Bosak. "I was not stopping until I got her a green card," Michelle said. "She needs to have the same privileges and everything else my other kids have." So, the Bosaks did what they had done so many times since Alejandra Lara first joined their dinner table. They found a way. Teachers often joke they want to adopt a student. Bosak, an English-as-a-Second-Language teacher at Lincoln Elementary School in Bethlehem, actually did it. She was just drawn to this shy, sweet, well-behaved little girl whose mother was dying of a rare cancer. Sara K. Satullo, LehighValleyLive.com. EXCHANGE-CHANGING FUNERALS PITTSBURGH — For much of his 30-year career as a Baptist minister, Doug Manning once believed it was his job to keep mourners' emotions in check. That changed for him in the 1970s when he tried to calm a devastated mother who had suddenly lost her 18-month-old child. "Don't take my grief away from me. I deserve it, and I'm going to have it," she told him. He eventually left the ministry, focused on writing about grief and created an Oklahoma City-based institute that trains people to become funeral celebrants — conducting customized memorials that often diverge widely from traditional religious services. But even the religious have joined in a seismic revolution of Americans taking ownership of their public grieving. Changes in the funeral rituals represent only a portion of the vast revolution in how Americans publicly grieve their dead and commit their bodies to elements. Peter Smith, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. EXCHANGE-AMISH BUSINESSES LANCASTER — Amish scholar Don Kraybill calls it a riddle, or a paradox. How can the Amish be such successful entrepreneurs today, when they end their formal education at eighth grade and forswear so much of the paraphernalia of modern life? That they succeed is indisputable: The failure rate of Amish startups in the first five years is less than 10 percent, versus 65 percent for businesses in North America overall. Many Amish retailers cater to mainstream customers, and do so with sophistication. Kraybill likes to cite Emma's Gourmet Popcorn, which pegs promotions to popular holidays and offers online ordering on a modern, well-designed website. He lists a dozen factors he sees contributing to Amish business success, and while some are integral to the culture, many, in principle, could be adopted by anyone. Tim Stuhldreher, LNP newspapers. EXCHANGE-INTERFAITH MARRIAGES MIDDLETOWN — When Andrea Lichtman, of Middletown, eloped, neither her Catholic parents nor her husband's Jewish parents would accept the interfaith marriage. "My parents didn't speak to me for five years . It was very hard," she said. Still, the couple married. "We were very sure in what we were doing." Times have changed. Nowadays, a marriage of two people of different faiths has become the norm. Nearly 40 percent of adults living in the United States who married between 2010 and 2014 had a spouse who practiced a different religion, according to data from the Pew Research Center. Before 1960, that number was 19 percent, the center's data shows. The reason for the increase in interfaith marriages, some area religious leaders say, is that Americans no longer live in homogeneous communities based on their religion or ethnicity. The ties that used to bind people to their neighborhood, church or synagogue aren't as strong as they once were. Young people travel more for college, work or the military. Peg Quann, Bucks County Courier Times. EXCHANGE-SMALL BANKS PITTSBURGH — Andrew Hasley is an analog banker feeling his way through a digital world. He isn't a big user of social media. The Lawrenceville-based lender where he is CEO, Allegheny Valley Bank, doesn't have a Twitter or Facebook account. His customers can pay bills and make deposits online, but if there's a problem, he'd rather that they call. Hasley's cell phone number is posted on the bank's website. "We're a community bank" he said. "You've got to be accessible." It is one way of keeping that personal touch in a time when digital banking is cutting back on face-to-face interaction. Chris Fleisher, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. IN BRIEF: TEEN BOYS SLAIN — A hearing is scheduled Monday to determine whether one of five suspects will be representing himself on charges in the slayings of two teenagers in northwestern Pennsylvania last summer. DEAD DOG IN CRATE — Police in a suburban Philadelphia town have charged a man with animal cruelty in the death of a dog found sealed in a crate earlier this month. SPORTS: BKC--NCAA-VILLANOVA-KANSAS LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Final Four berth is at stake when top-seeded Kansas faces No. 2 Villanova in the South Region final. By Gary B. Graves. UPCOMING. 650 words and photos. Game starts at 8:49 p.m. EDT. With hometown lead. HKN--FLYERS-COYOTES GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Philadelphia Flyers wrap up a four-game road trip with a game against the Phoenix Coyotes, who will have Mike Smith back in net. By Bob Baum. UPCOMING: 600 words. AP Photos. 9 p.m., EDT. HKN--PENGUINS-RED WINGS DETROIT — The Detroit Red Wings, who are 8-2-1 in their last 11 at home, hope to boost their chances of being in a 25th straight postseason with a win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. By Hockey Writer Larry Lage. UPCOMING: 600 words, photos. Game starts at 2 p.m. EST. BBO--TIGERS-PHILLIES CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Phillies host the Tigers in Grapefruit League action. 500 words. Starts 1:05 p.m. EDT. BBO--PIRATES-TWINS FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Minnesota Twins host the Pittsburgh Pirates in an exhibition. UPCOMING: 500 words, photos. Game starts at 1:05 p.m. EDT. BBO--RAYS-PIRATES BRADENTON, Fla. — The Pittsburgh Pirates host the Tampa Bay Rays as the final week of spring training begins. Game begins 6:05 p.m. EDT. UPCOMING: 500 words, photos. ___ 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.

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