Pennsylvania News Briefs

The Penn State senior who plays the Nittany Lion mascot was arrested on a DUI charge and his status for the Rose Bowl is in doubt, police and school officials said.

James Sheep was pulled over on campus around 3:15 a.m. Nov. 22, hours before Penn State’s 49-18 win over Michigan State, University Police Capt. Bill Moerschbacher said Monday.

School spokesman Geoff Rushton said that it would likely be up to the coaching staff to determine if Sheep can attend the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 1.

GREENSBURG

Death leads to suit against ex-lawmaker

The father of a teen found shot to death with a former state senator’s handgun has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the ex-lawmaker, his wife and their son.

The lawsuit was filed in Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court against Robert Regola III, who did not run for re-election. The suit stems from the death of 14-year-old Louis Farrell, Regola’s next-door neighbor. Farrell was found shot to death in woods behind their homes on July 22, 2006.

A coroner has ruled the death a suicide, though Farrell’s family disputes that.

HARRISBURG

Review: Do better job IDing violent parolees

Pennsylvania’s parole system must do a better job of identifying violent offenders who pose the greatest threat to public safety, an independent review found.

Gov. Ed Rendell lifted a moratorium on paroling violent offenders Monday after accepting the report’s recommendations for improving the system. The review, which found most of the state’s existing procedures were sound, was conducted by Temple University’s John Goldkamp, a nationally recognized expert on incarceration.

The state should classify violent offenders into two categories — those most likely to commit another offense and those less likely to pose risks to public safety, Goldkamp said in his report.

PHILADELPHIA

Suit seeks to block Valley Forge museum

A federal lawsuit seeks to reverse a recent zoning approval that clears the way for an American Revolution museum to be built on private land within Valley Forge National Historical Park.

Neighbors of the park and a nonprofit advocacy group filed a suit Monday in U.S. District in Philadelphia.

They say the Lower Providence zoning board shouldn’t have approved the American Revolution Center’s plans for a museum and conference center on 78 acres it owns within the boundary of the park.

The opponents say it would undermine the National Park Service’s role in managing Valley Forge National Historical Park.

PHILADELPHIA

Man charged with killing organizer

A Philadelphia man has been charged in the September shooting death of a neighborhood youth basketball organizer and a teenager.

Kareem Savage was arrested Saturday and charged Monday with the murder of 42-year-old Miles Mack and 19-year-old Darren Hankins. The two were shot in September during an awards ceremony at a playground.