Pennsylvania News Briefs

The stepson of a Pennsylvania state police sergeant has pleaded guilty to causing a fatal car crash in the Poconos four years ago.

Dean O’Halloran, 26, of Scranton, was charged last July in the death of Diane Glynn, 45, of Hawley, an English professor and single mother of three.

O’Halloran pleaded guilty Monday to involuntary manslaughter and drunken driving. He’ll be sentenced May 28 at the Wayne County Courthouse in Honesdale.

State police reopened their investigation after an attorney for the victim’s family turned over evidence that O’Halloran was driving drunk. The family has questioned the thoroughness of the initial investigation. State police have said they are conducting an internal probe.

EAST GREENVILLE

DA: Teacher kissed, fondled girl, 14

A suburban Philadelphia music teacher has been arrested for allegedly carrying on a sexual relationship with one of his students.

Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman says Brian Miller, 28, of Bethlehem, faces charges including indecent assault and corruption of minors. He is accused of kissing and fondling a 14-year-old girl at Upper Perkiomen Middle School.

Police say they were tipped off by a friend of the girl who found provocative messages from the teacher on her iPhone.

Police say a second girl has come forward to authorities, reporting similar allegations.

COATESVILLE

Officials: Recent fire ruled accidental

Officials in an arson-plagued region outside Philadelphia say the most recent fire there was accidental.

Chester County Chief Fire Marshall Harrison Holt says Monday’s fire in South Coatesville was caused by a portable cooking appliance. South Coatesville adjoins the arson-plagued steel town of Coatesville, the epicenter of the string of arsons dating back a year.

The most recent arson in the area happened Saturday. It badly damaged two homes in Coatesville, which is about 35 miles west of Philadelphia.

That fire came a day after a 19-year-old man was held for trial on arson and aggravated assault charges.

PITTSBURGH

Hearing delayed until lab results come in

The preliminary hearing for a downtown Pittsburgh McDonald’s manager has been postponed until crime lab results on the drugs he allegedly sold in the restaurant are complete.

John Eckard, 48, of Pittsburgh, is charged with selling anti-anxiety pills to an undercover informant last month, then referring the same man to a customer who also sold the informant drugs. Police say both drug sales happened in the restaurant’s restroom.

Eckard appeared in Pittsburgh District Court Monday, but his attorney says the case was postponed until May 4 when lab results to confirm what was in the pills should be complete. Eckard isn’t commenting.

HARRISBURG

House fire claims life of woman, 73

Fire crews say they found Janice Wayne in a first floor bedroom of her home just after midnight Monday and took her to a hospital, but she later died.

Acting Fire Chief Dan Soulier says the fire appears to have started in the kitchen. He says flames were pouring from the back of the duplex when fire crews arrived.