US judge OKs plan for Caesars' unit to exit $18B bankruptcy

Pennsylvania swears in new state treasurer, attorney general

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 A reminder this information is not for publication or broadcast, and these coverage plans are subject to change.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. TOP STORIES: POSTCARDS FROM TRUMP'S AMERICA-PENNSYLVANIA PLYMOUTH — Towns along the Susquehanna River are filled with people whose grandparents worked in coal mines, garment factories and small manufacturing companies. But those jobs are long gone in Luzerne County, and Wilkes-Barre, the county seat, has seen its population drop by more than half. Dozens of public officials have fallen to scandal. By Michael Rubinkam. SENT: About 810 words, AP Photos, AP Video. With: —POSTCARDS FROM TRUMP'S AMERICA-INTRO. PENNSYLVANIA OFFICIALS-SWEARING IN HARRISBURG — The fourth person to serve as Pennsylvania's attorney general since August was sworn in Tuesday, promising to make integrity a priority at the scandal-plagued agency. Democrat Josh Shapiro, formerly a state representative and Montgomery County commissioner, said "a lack of faith in our justice system" has long been a challenge for democracy. By Mark Scolforo. SENT: About 460 words, photos. DOMESTIC ASSAULT-POLICE SHOOTING SHARON — A police officer was justified in fatally shooting a man who had a utility knife and told officers he would kill them or they would have to kill him, a prosecutor said Tuesday. SENT: About 580 words. TODDLER FOUND DEAD PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh-area woman who wrote on Facebook that "Mommy loves you, my angel" after her 3-year-old daughter was found dead in a ravine was sentenced Tuesday to 20 to 40 years behind bars for killing her. SENT: About 540 words. OBIT-SCARFO PHILADELPHIA — Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo, whose reign over the Philadelphia Mafia in the 1980s was one of the bloodiest in its history, has died at a federal medical center in North Carolina. He was 87. SENT: About 800 words. DROWNING DEATH LAWSUIT ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — A beach town is using blunt legal arguments to resist a demand that it permanently close a section of beach where a man plunged into an inlet and drowned when the sand gave way beneath his feet. North Wildwood acknowledges that the 2012 death of Brad Smith, of Horsham, Pennsylvania, was a tragedy, but says closing the beach would ruin things for other people and the unstable sand condition that claimed his life is part of nature and isn't something it's obligated to fix. By Wayne Parry. SENT: About 450 words. CONGRESS-COAL MINERS WASHINGTON — Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell on Tuesday introduced legislation to maintain health benefits for retired union coal miners whose companies have declared bankruptcy in recent years. By Andrew Taylor. SENT: About 320 words. VILLANOVA BEER-CAPE MAY BREWING CAPE MAY, N.J. — The co-owners of New Jersey's Cape May Brewing Company are honoring the 175th anniversary of their alma mater with a uniquely named commemorative brew. SENT: About 150 words. EXCHANGE: EXCHANGE-CHILDHOOD PHOTO LEOLA — It was a sunny September morning in 1977 when a little girl and her brother looked up from playing in the side yard of their eastern Lancaster County home. A yellow sports car had pulled to the side of the road just beside the house, and a young man stepped out carrying a big camera and took a quick picture of a boy and his horse going by. He turned and saw a girl watching him, her blonde hair plaited into a neat braid, her homemade dress, and the boy, his sensible overalls and rubber-soled sneakers, and clicked off two more frames. That picture would win photographer Richard Hertzler first place in a state contest, but until a few months ago, Alice Weaver never knew that her image had charmed so many people all those years ago. Then Paul Reiff bought Hertzler's photography book, "My Lancaster County," stopped at the photo of two children standing by their garden gate and said "I think I know her." Jennifer Kopf, LNP newspapers. SENT: About 1110 words. IN BRIEF: WALL-SITTING BAN-POTHEADS — The city has officially ended a ban on people sitting on walls in a park in a posh section of Philadelphia. PHILADELPHIA PROSECUTOR-GIFTS — District Attorney Seth Williams has agreed to pay $62,000 in penalties as part of a settlement with the Philadelphia Board of Ethics over failure to disclose gifts and sources of income and accepting gifts barred by the city ethics code. TROOPER ASSAULT-MANHUNT — State police have announced a manhunt for a suspect charged with assaulting a trooper after a traffic stop on a busy western Pennsylvania highway. SOUTHWEST REGION-FREIGHT MOVEMENT — A recent analysis of the freight industry in Pennsylvania has concluded that the state's 10-county southwest region can expect movement to increase up to 40 percent by 2040. OVERDOSE DEATHS-BEAVER COUNTY — Authorities in Beaver County are blaming two overdose deaths within the past few months on the victims' abuse of an opioid-based sedative for elephants and other large animals. IMMACULATA-TUITION REDUCTION — A Catholic college in suburban Philadelphia has announced plans to reduce its tuition by 23 percent for the 2017-2018 academic year to offset the rising cost of higher education. STABBING INSIDE SUPERMARKET — A 16-year-old boy is in juvenile custody after police say he stabbed a girl inside a northeastern Pennsylvania supermarket. DEADLY BAR FIGHT — Police say a bar manager was shot and killed after getting into a fight with a security guard at the establishment where the worked in Philadelphia's Germantown section. BABY CHICKS KILLED-FIRE — A fire chief says 3,600 chicks have been killed in a chicken house fire at a south-central Pennsylvania farm. ONLINE PHOTOS-RAPE EXTORTION — A Pennsylvania man has been jailed on charges that he raped two 15-year-old girls by threatening to share nude pictures he persuaded to send them online. BUSES-30TH STREET STATION — Commuters have another choice getting to work between New Jersey and Philadelphia. WARNER-PURPLE HEART — The son of new West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner has received a Purple Heart, more than six years after he was injured in Afghanistan. SPORTS: BKC--PITTSBURGH-NC STATE RALEIGH, N.C. — Pittsburgh looks to move past the most lopsided loss in the history of its home arena when the Panthers visit a North Carolina State team that has lost three straight. By Joedy McCreary. UPCOMING: 600 words, AP Photos from 7 p.m. EST start. FBN--STEELERS-TOMLN & BROWN PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin regrets the language he used to describe the New England Patriots but is equally upset with wide receiver Antonio Brown's for livestreaming Tomlin's postgame speech on social media. By Will Graves. SENT: About 870 words. FBC--PLAYOFF-SELECTION COMMITTEE IRVING, Texas —Former Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith and Robert Morris University President Chris Howard have been added to the College Football Playoff selection committee. SENT: About 300 words. BKW--SUICIDES-COACHING QUESTIONS NEW YORK —A suicide at Northwestern brought back painful memories for Penn track coach Steve Dolan. It was three years ago that one of his athletes, Madison Holleran, killed herself. He could empathize with what Northwestern coach Joe McKeown and his team were going through when Wildcats guard Jordan Hankins took her own life last week. By Doug Feinberg. SENT: About 870 words. ___ 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