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Jury: Troopers didn't use excessive force on diabetic driver

Good evening! 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 A reminder this information is not for publication or broadcast, and these coverage plans are subject to change.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. UPCOMING TOMORROW: DEM 2016-PENNSYLVANIA PITTSBURGH — Bernie Sanders campaigns in Pittsburgh. UPCOMING: NewsNow by 1 a.m. EDT, updates later in the day. OTHER TOP STORIES: CAMPAIGN 2016-PENNSYLVANIA HARRISBURG — Voters are switching their affiliation in Pennsylvania at a rate not seen in years or perhaps ever, amid a contested presidential primary election and the ability for the first time ever to make the switch online. One pollster believes the party switching activity is a modern state record. By Marc Levy. SENT: About 730 words. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE-EMAILS PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice has asked the agencies that investigate misconduct by judges and lawyers to review all "offensive emails housed on the attorney general's server." SENT: About 440 words. PENN STATE-ABUSE HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania appeals court says it won't reconsider a recent decision throwing out some of the most serious criminal charges against three former Penn State administrators related to their handling of the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal. By Mark Scolforo. SENT: About 370 words. PRIEST-SEXUAL TOURISM JOHNSTOWN — Defense attorneys say a Pennsylvania priest convicted of sexually assaulting poor street children during missionary trips to Honduras has paid $70,000 in fines and restitution. SENT: About 430 words. TEACHER SEX-ALLEGATIONS PITTSBURGH — A judge has accepted the guilty plea from an ex-teacher charged with having sex with a western Pennsylvania high school student. SENT: About 530 words. PHILADELPHIA-CITY SOCCER CUP PHILADELPHIA — The City of Brotherly Love will showcase its diverse population this fall with the Philadelphia International Unity Cup, a soccer tournament featuring 32 teams representing the home countries of area residents. Representatives from the city's Bhutanese community have already said count them in. By Natalie Pompilo. SENT: About 530 words. COOKOUT AMBUSH-ANCHORWOMAN PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh television station WTAE said Wednesday it has ended its relationship with anchorwoman Wendy Bell over racial comments she posted on Facebook about an ambush shooting at a cookout that left five people and an unborn baby dead. PEOPLE-BILL COSBY LOS ANGELES —Bill Cosby does not have to give more sworn testimony in a Southern California woman's sexual battery lawsuit to give the comedian time to resolve a criminal case, a judge ruled Wednesday. By Anthony Mccartney. SENT: About 380 words. AP Photos NYET234-0202160854. CIVIL CASES-RIGHT TO A LAWYER HARTFORD, Conn. — A flood of poor defendants representing themselves — often ineffectively — in dire cases involving eviction, foreclosure, child custody and involuntary commitment has led to a push in legislatures to expand rights to free lawyers in certain civil proceedings. Everyone has a right to a free lawyer in criminal cases if they can't afford one. But the same right isn't guaranteed in civil cases. By Dave Collins. MOVED: 968 words. AP Photos RPDC201-0321161645, RPDC202-0321161646, RPDC203-0318161208. With: — CIVIL CASES-RIGHT TO A LAWYER-LEGISLATION — A look at more than two dozen bills being considered in 18 states this year would expand poor people's rights to a lawyer at state expense. BUSINESS: ALPHA NATURAL RESOURCES-BANKRUPTCY RICHMOND, Va. — A coal production company is asking a judge to allow the business to break its contract with a union in order to reorganize its finances. Alpha Natural Resources filed a petition on Monday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond, asking to be able to modify the company's obligations for retiree health care benefits, The Charleston Gazette-Mail (http://bit.ly/1RyEASI) reported. SENT: About 300 words. EXCHANGE: EXCHANGE-CULINARY INSTITUTE PUNXSUTAWNEY — It's loud. It's alternately hot and cold. It can be messy. You stand on your feet all day. The hours are long. Time is always of the essence. Who would want a job like that? Such is the work environment that can be expected for graduates of Indiana University of Pennsylvania's culinary academy. But aspiring culinarians are signing up to learn the ins and outs of cooking in high numbers. Applications at the culinary school in Punxsutawney are up around 21 percent, according to Jim Begany, vice president for enrollment at IUP. That increase is in contrast to the dropping number of high school graduates in western Pennsylvania. The Food Network could be part of the reason. James J. Nestor and Sean Yoder, The Indiana Gazette. SENT: About 1520 words. IN BRIEF: FIGHT OVER HAT-STABBING A man has been ordered to stand trial in a stabbing death in a posh section of Philadelphia after an argument that authorities said was over the suspect's New Jersey Devils cap. DISMEMBERED TEEN — The state Supreme Court has reversed the death penalty imposed on a man in the killing and dismembering a 16-year-old boy in a drug dispute in suburban Philadelphia four years ago. FATAL ARSON-RETRIAL — A Philadelphia man will not take the stand in his retrial on murder charges in a fire that killed his two young sons three decades ago. TEEN CHARGED IN TEEN'S DEATH — The attorney for a 14-year-old Pennsylvania boy charged with killing his 13-year-old friend while they played with a gun wants the case move to juvenile court. TRANSGENDER STUDENT-PITT — The University of Pittsburgh has settled a lawsuit brought by a transgender student who said he was wrongfully expelled from its Johnstown campus after a dispute over his use of a men's locker room. PHILADELPHIA LAWMAKER-GAMBLING CHARGE — A preliminary hearing for a Pennsylvania lawmaker accused of using his political influence to benefit an illegal video gambling ring has been postponed. OLDER BROTHER SLAIN — State police have arrested a 15-year-old youth in the shooting death of his 18-year-old brother. WOMAN KILLED-INFANT DROWNED — A judge says a man will have to get a mental evaluation before he will be allowed to represent himself in his retrial in the murder of his girlfriend more than two decades ago. SISTERS SLAIN — Jury selection has begun for the western Pennsylvania trial of a man charged in the robbery and murder of two sisters of an Iowa state lawmaker two years ago. DIABETIC DRIVER-LAWSUIT — A Pennsylvania man who claimed he was wrestled to the ground along a highway by New Jersey state police while he was in diabetic shock has lost his excessive force lawsuit. SENATE 2016-PENNSYLVANIA-VODVARKA — A state court is ordering a spring manufacturing shop owner off Pennsylvania's Democratic Party primary ballot for U.S. Senate. DEADLY HELICOPTER CRASH — Authorities have identified an elderly man killed in the crash of his helicopter in northeastern Pennsylvania over the weekend. OBAMA COMMUTATIONS-PENNSYLVANIA — President Barack Obama is commuting the sentence of a Philadelphia man who's serving life in prison. OFFICER ON-DUTY DRUG DEAL — A central Pennsylvania police officer has pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges after he was caught in the middle of drug deal in October while he was on-duty. OFFICER-TERRORISTIC THREATS — A fired western Pennsylvania police officer has been ordered to stand trial on charges he pointed a gun at his ex-wife's husband and threatening to kill him. FIRE-DAMAGED HOME-THEFT — Police are looking for a man who's been using a credit card stolen from a fire-gutted Pennsylvania house, along with anniversary and engagement rings. POPE'S FIAT AUCTION — The Archdiocese of New York is auctioning off one of two vehicles Pope Francis used during his trip to New York City in September. CHILDREN-TRAIN OUTBURST — The parents of young children seen in a video posted online cursing, hitting and spitting on a Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority train say they're ashamed. The children in the outburst were caught on video on a Philadelphia train last week. PHILADELPHIA-TEEN SHOT — A 14-year-old is fighting for his life after he was shot in West Philadelphia. Police say the shooting occurred Tuesday night and the teen was found at 60th and Vine streets. SANDY-UNREGISTERED CONTRACTOR — Jurors have convicted a Pennsylvania man who offered home improvement services to New Jersey victims of Superstorm Sandy of failure to register as a contractor. SENATE 2016-PENNSYLVANIA — President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are adding their backing to Katie McGinty in Pennsylvania's competitive race for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. ROOFER-FATAL FALL — The owner of a suburban Philadelphia roofing company is heading to prison in connection with the fatal fall of an employee in 2013. TRENCH COLLAPSE DEATH — The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited and fined a western Pennsylvania plumbing company in a fatal trench collapse last year. SPORTS: BKC--FINAL FOUR-CABLE NEW YORK — With the national championship game airing on cable for the first time Monday, the history in college basketball and other sports has been that when the matchups and story lines are appealing enough, fans will find the action no matter where it is. By Rachel Cohen. UPCOMING: 600 words, photos. BKC--NCAA-OKLAHOMA-HIELD NORMAN, Okla. __ Buddy Hield had big expectations when he returned to Oklahoma for his senior season. Things have gone even better than expected. He's averaging 29.3 points in the NCAA Tournament heading into a national semifinal Saturday against Villanova. If he continues at that pace, the Sooners could find themselves in the title game Monday against North Carolina or Syracuse. By Cliff Brunt. UPCOMING: 800 words, with photos HKN--CAPITALS-FLYERS PHILADELPHIA -- The Washington Capitals come to Philadelphia to play the Flyers. UPCOMING. 650 words. Game starts at 7 p.m. EDT. AP Photos. BBO--ASTROS-PHILLIES CLEARWATER, Fla. — Left-hander Dallas Keuchel tossed seven scoreless innings, but the Houston Astros wasted his performance as the bullpen was torched for eight runs in an 8-4 loss Wednesday to the Philadelphia Phillies. BBO--RED SOX-PIRATES BRADENTON, Fla. — Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run homer and Gregory Polanco doubled twice as the Pittsburgh Pirates played to a 4-4, nine-inning tie Wednesday with a Boston Red Sox split squad. ___ 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.

AP-PA--Pennsylvania News Digest, PA