DA drops charges accusing paramedic of rape in ambulance

1 Syrian family, among 10,000 refugees, settles into US life

Good morning! 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. Marc Levy 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 A reminder this information is not for publication or broadcast, and these coverage plans are subject to change.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: SENATE 2016-PENNSYLVANIA HARRISBURG — Katie McGinty's campaign said this week that the Democrat running for U.S. Senate does not support raising taxes on the middle class, although she has backed proposals that arguably involve doing that. By Marc Levy. UPCOMING: 500 words by 3 p.m. EDT. PHILADELPHIA RAIL CARS-DEFECT BENSALEM— The Philadelphia area's main transit agency has begun returning some of its sidelined rail cars to service following repairs. It's projecting the fleet will return to full service by mid-November. By Megan Trimble. SENT: 130 words. UPCOMING: Updates from 8 a.m. press briefing, 250 words by 11 a.m. MUMIA ABU JAMAL SCRANTON — A federal judge in Pennsylvania has blasted a prison policy that denies former death-row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal and others an expensive hepatitis C drug until they have advanced liver damage. By Maryclaire Dale. SENT: 130 words. UPCOMING: 350 words by 2 p.m. ELSEWHERE: SYRIAN REFUGEES-UNITED STATES EL CAJON, Calif. — On Sunday, Nadim Fawzi Jouriyeh participated in a ceremony in Amman, Jordan, to mark the United States hitting its target of taking in 10,000 Syrian refugees in a year-old resettlement program. On Wednesday, the 47-year-old former construction worker and his family were walking grocery aisles, stocking up on roasted chicken, milk and lemons for their new home outside San Diego. By Elliott Spagat. SENT: 730 words, AP Photos. US STEEL-POLLUTION ECORSE, Mich. — U.S. Steel is suing the state of Michigan over an effort to curb Detroit-area air pollution. SENT: 153 words. BLADE NEWSPAPER-PRESIDENT TOLEDO, Ohio — Block Communications Inc. has named a new president for The Blade newspaper in Toledo. IN BRIEF: —IMPATIENT PATIENT STEALS AMBULANCE — An impatient patient who stole an ambulance at a Pennsylvania hospital because he wanted to go home is instead going to prison. —HARLEY-DAVIDSON LAYOFFS-PENNSYLVANIA — Harley-Davidson plans to cut more than 100 jobs at a plant in Pennsylvania. —MOLD CLOSES SCHOOLS — A central Pennsylvania elementary school has again closed after a teacher reported mold on a classroom bulletin board. —HOMELESS MAN DEMANDS SOCKS — Police have jailed a homeless man who allegedly berated and harassed a customer at a Pennsylvania dollar store after that person refused to buy the suspect a pair of socks. —OVERDOSE DEATH-SENTENCE — A judge has sentenced a man to spend nine to 18 years in prison for providing heroin to another man who fatally overdosed in a central Pennsylvania motel two years ago. —SOFTBALL COACH-ALCOHOL MINORS — A former central Pennsylvania high school softball coach accused of playing drinking games with her students and helping them lie about it to their parents has been sentenced to six months of house arrest. —CARNEGIE SCIENCE CENTER-FEDEX — FedEx is promising to donate $5 million to help expand one of four Carnegie museums in Pittsburgh. —PARAMEDIC-RAPE CHARGES — Prosecutors have dropped all charges against a former Pennsylvania paramedic accused of sexually assaulting a mentally disabled woman inside an ambulance. —TALEN ENERGY-NUCLEAR PLANS — Talen Energy has dropped plans to build another nuclear power plant next to one it already owns in northeastern Pennsylvania. —FIRE TRUCK-TRACTOR-TRAILER CRASH — All lanes are open nearly four hours after a tractor-trailer struck a fire truck, injuring five firefighters and the truck driver and bringing traffic to a halt on heavily traveled Interstate 95 in Philadelphia. —COMMUNITY CENTER SLAYING — Philadelphia police have been looking for a gunman who shot another man in front of the victim's 12-year-old son outside a community center. —FLIGHT 93-WOLF — Gov. Tom Wolf will speak at the Sept. 11 observance at the Flight 93 National Memorial in southwestern Pennsylvania. —MASSAGE PARLOR PROSTITUTION-SENTENCING — A Romanian couple who preyed upon drug addicts and non-English-speaking women who were forced to work in their Pennsylvania prostitution business will spend at least three years in prison and face possible deportation. —NON-EMERGENCY POLICE CALLS — Pittsburgh police Chief Cameron McLay wants more non-emergency calls referred to civilians trained to take police reports over the phone to free up patrol officers for more proactive police and community relations work. —GEISINGER-ST. LUKE'S — St. Luke's University Health Network in eastern Pennsylvania plans to partner with Geisinger Health System in hopes of providing cheaper, better care. —PITTSBURGH SHOOTING — A man is in critical condition after he was shot in Pittsburgh's Crafton Heights neighborhood. —TEENS SHOT IN STOLEN CAR — Authorities say a 16-year-old boy has been arrested in a shooting that wounded two teens who were struck while inside a stolen car in Pittsburgh. —FIREFIGHTER DIES — Officials say a Philadelphia firefighter who died after being found unresponsive in the basement of his firehouse while on duty in July succumbed to heart disease. —OFFICER SHOT AT — Police say an officer wasn't hurt when a bullet fired through a wall pierced his uniform while authorities were responding to a domestic dispute between a man and woman in western Pennsylvania. —HUNGER STRIKE-TENURE — A professor at a Pennsylvania college says he's on a hunger strike over the denial of his application for tenure. SPORTS: FBN--DRAFT-PHILADELPHIA PHILADELPHIA — The NFL discusses its selection of Philadelphia to host the 2017 draft over three days in April. By Megan Trimble. UPCOMING: Updates from noon news conference, 400 words by 3 p.m. 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