WEST GOSHEN - Chester County, while among the healthiest counties in the nation, still faces challenges when it comes to public health, county health care leaders were told in the first part of a planning effort spearheaded by the county's Health Department.

"We have a lot of resources in Chester County," said Jennifer Kolker, associate dean for Public Health at Drexel University, told more than 100 participants in a Friday presentation on the county's health assessment survey at the county Government Services Center.

"It is a great place to live. But we also have pockets that are not so great," Kolker said.

Her presentation was part of the Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) strategies planning tool that the county began working on in June 2011. The so-called RoadMAPP to Health is the "gold-standard" for public health care assessments, according to one of the participants at Friday's 90-minute meeting.

The RoadMAPP includes a wealth of information on the state of the county's health care system, and a snapshot of the general health of its residents. More than 30 agencies and organizations from across the county were involved in the initial assessment phase.

Most starling for many were figures showing the disparity in children's health among different ethnic and racial groups, and the role violence plays in people efforts to live a health life.

The statistics discussed by Kolker; Barbara Mancill, of the United Way of Chester County; Paul Huberty, Sr. of the Chester County Hospital; and Ashley Orr of the health department showed that black babies were more than three times as likely to have low birth weights than white babies, and that of those surveyed from the community, the largest number - 44 percent - said they considered low crime rates to be the most important factors contributing to a health community.

"I thought this effort was important," said Pamela Bryer, the former head of the county's Maternal Health and Child Care Consortium and now an independent health care consultant, after attending the meeting.

"I thought it was profound that many residents reported living in fear of violence and trauma in their daily lives and that significant disparities exist in health outcomes, especially in low birth weight between white and black and Hispanic infants," Bryer said.

"There is there is an immediate need for improved coordination between and within the service providers, faith communities and education to improve the overall health and wellbeing of county residents," she said.

"I think this is a major, major issue we have to get a handle on, especially in a community like Coatesville, Frances Sheehan, president of the Brandywine Health Foundation, an organization that focuses on the greater Coatesville area, said Friday of the birth weight issue after the presentation.

Sheehan also focused on the issue of heaving a health and safe living area. "Having a safe neighborhood is important to people" Sheehan said. "The police and community involvement in creating those safe neighborhoods has become a critical health issue."

Brandywine Health, she said, would thus redouble its efforts to provide health communities for children. "We need to make the case for Coatesville kids. They deserve better."

Commissioners' Chairman Ryan Costello, who attended Friday's presentation, said he was encouraged that the RoadMAPP program would not diminish over time. Recommendations on how to move forward came at the end of the session from those in attendance, and will be acted on by the planning effort's leaders.

"The number and wide scope of public stakeholders involved, and the wide-range of methodologies used in preparing the initial community assessment, makes me optimistic that RoadMAPP is going to be extremely valuable for the future of maintaining our public health outcomes," Costello said.

"In other words, it's not going to be a static, "stick on the shelf-type study," he said.

In the first negotiation session after the beginning of the spring semester for students, representatives from the state system and faculty union reported Sunday they have reached an agreement on the framework for a new contract.

Both parties, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, met Friday to resume negotiations.

A new contract would apply to the approximately 5,500 faculty at the 14 state-owned universities in the state system including West Chester and Cheyney universities.

Union representatives said the agreement was reached after nearly two full days of negotiating. The union said the general framework "largely mirrors the agreements reached by Governor Corbett and the other statewide unions."

Since it is only a framework for a contract, the union said it will not be releasing a public statement until the negotiations committee votes on the proposal Monday evening.

The state system said more information on the contract will be made as ratification proceeds.

Faculty have been without a contract since June of 2011. All contracts with the union are 4-year deals.

In late January, faculty representatives from the 14 state system universities carried a protest to Harrisburg demanding progress on contract negotiations. Organizers said they would prepare for a strike at that time, should it become necessary.

Prior to Friday's negotiation session, the state system and union had achieved agreements on issues concerning wage and salary increases for most faculty this year and in the next two years, but were apart on healthcare.

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth, with about 115,000 students. The 14 PASSHE universities offer degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. About 500,000 PASSHE alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.

The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania.

Follow Daily Local News staff writer Jeremy Gerrard on Twitter @JeremyGerrard.

Landowners in Chester County can look forward to the renewal and extension of the conservation easement tax incentive.

The tax incentive, which started in 2006, and lasted until 2011, was renewed and extended for 2013 as part of the U.S. Congress' "fiscal cliff" deal.

According to Molly Morrison, president of the Natural Lands Trust, the incentive is credited with a nationwide 30 percent increase in the number of acres preserved each year. When landowners donate a conservation easement to a qualified organization, they maintain ownership and management of the land, while protecting it from future development, regardless of whether or not it is sold or passed on to heirs.

"At a time when public investments in open space have been reduced drastically, the incentive is a cost-effective way to encourage landowners-regardless of their means-to consider conservation as an option," said Morrison.

According to the Montgomery County Lands Trust, landowners, such as farmers and ranchers, have used the incentive to permanently preserve and protect over 80,000 acres of important natural or historic resources in the 6th congressional district, which includes parts of Chester, Berks, Lebanon, and Montgomery counties.

The conservation easement tax incentive extension, which lasts until Dec. 31, will raise the deduction a landowner can take for donating a voluntary conservation agreement from 30 percent of their income in any year to 50 percent. It will also allow farmers and ranchers to deduct up to 100 percent of their income, and increases the number of years over which a donor can take the deduction from six to 16 years.

"This critical conservation tool has been extremely effective because it benefits landowners who want to protect their property as well as communities interested in working together to preserve exceptional natural resources," said U.S. Congressman Jim Gerlach, R-6th. "Renewing the incentive is a great first step, but it will not be the last."

"Legislation that would make this incentive permanent received overwhelming bipartisan support of about three-quarters of the U.S. House of Representatives during the last session of Congress," said Gerlach. "I will be reintroducing legislation to make the incentive a permanent option and look forward to working with my House colleagues, Natural Lands Trust, Montgomery County Lands Trust, and other partners to provide property owners with greater certainty about the availability of this option."

Anyone interested in preserving their land or looking for further information about the tax incentive, visit www.natlands.org/landowner, or email info@natlands.org.

The Natural Lands Trust is the area's largest land conservation organization, with its goal to protect forests, fields, streams, and wetlands in eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. The trust has preserved over 100,000 acres, including 41 nature preserves.

Follow Daily Local News staff reporter Sara Mosqueda-Fernandez on Twitter @DailyLocalSara.

EAST MARLBOROUGH - The eighth graders at Charles F. Patton Middle School could be getting a technological leg up starting next year.

Earlier this month, Unionville-Chadds Ford technology director Rich Hug, accompanied by Patton technology teachers John Walsh and Robin Martin, gave a presentation to the school board on equipping every eight grader with an iPad mini.

Hug said they created the proposal because of their belief in preparing their students for both higher education and the workplace.

"They need to gain and hone their twenty-first century skills - creativity, organization, adaptability, fluency in technology," Hug said. "Those are skills that make Americans great and give them an edge globally."

Called "Teaching and Learning with Technology," Hug said his proposal included the already successful pilots of mobile device usage already underway.

"And we have more on the drawing board. We have multiple requests for mobile devices through the buildings, PTOs and UCF Education Foundation," he said. "We talked about how this will continue and this project will bring these efforts together."

Hug said that both teachers and students should have 24/7 access to the range of resources available today to enhance education.

"These are authentic, relevant resources and tools that give them opportunities to create, and to synthesize knowledge, sharpen higher order of thinking skills and engage students with tools they use and understand," he said.

To that end, Hug said the students have the option of purchasing their device at a reduced cost at the end of the year to accompany them to high school.

Doing that, Hug said, gives students the option to BYOD - that's, Bring Your Own Device - to school.

"Those devices would feed our BYOD initiative at the high school," he said "That mirrors the environment in most higher education institutions where students bring and use the technology of their choice."

Hug cited examples of students using iPads in an eighth grade creative writing class, where teachers reported that kids would write stories on their devices and then continue them at home on whatever device they had available there.

If the proposal is accepted, Hug said it would take effect with the class of 2013-14, with the possibility of eventually expanding it to the seventh grade if it proves successful.

"We talked about the importance of evaluation moving forward," he said.

The Chester County Fund for Women and Girls gave seven grants to county agencies as part of the ninth cycle of its girls grant making program.

The grants, totaling $20,000, were made possible through the fund's Girls Advisory Board. According to the fund the board aims to educate a new generation of young women about the importance of philanthropy, community service, and the positive difference each girl can make on the lives of others.

While serving on the board during a three-month period, 20 high school girls from across the county learned about the economic, social and health needs of girls in the community.

The girls set funding priorities, created a grant application, visited nonprofit agencies and recommend the programs for funding.

The girls in this year's program awarded grants to organizations that addressed the girls' top funding priority: helping young women and girls who are affected by economic disparities and a lack of basic needs.

These needs included health care, housing, issues of mental illness, low self-esteem, eating disorders, peer pressure, anxiety, stress and violence.

The fund has awarded over $1.6 million in grants with the Girls Advisory Board awarding $170,000 over the past 8 years to programs that aim to improve the lives of girls and young women in the county.

The 2013 GAB grant recipients are:

Chester County Community Dental, Chester County Food Bank, Friends Association for the Care and Protection of Children, the Garage Community and Youth Center, Home of the Sparrow, Parkesburg Point, and YoungMoms.

The fund is a national leader in girls grant making, and this year we are pleased to highlight our Girls Advisory Board through several Fund initiatives.

Fund representative said they were honored to serve as co-host of the first National Girls Grantmaking Conference, a 3-day event in August which girls from the fund's own Girls Advisory Board and young women grant makers from across the country came together to learn, debate, and develop grant making strategies on the campus of Bryn Mawr College.

The fund will celebrate its Girls Advisory Board at the fund's annual Making a Difference Luncheon, which will be held on Friday, April 19th. According to the fund they will join with non-profit partners, individuals, and leaders together to recognize the power women can have as they work to make a difference in the lives of women and girls and their families throughout Chester County. All proceeds from the luncheon will benefit the board. More details can be found by visiting www.ccwomenandgirls.org/2013-making-a-difference-luncheon/.

PITTSBURGH - The oil and gas industry is trying to ease environmental concerns by developing nontoxic fluids for the drilling process known as fracking, but it's not clear whether the new product will be widely embraced by drilling companies.

Houston-based energy giant Halliburton Inc. has developed a product called CleanStim, which uses only food-industry ingredients. Other companies have developed nontoxic fluids as well.

"Halliburton is in the business to provide solutions to our customers," said production manager Nicholas Gardiner. "Those solutions have to include ways to reduce the safety or environmental concerns that the public might have."

Environmental groups say they welcome the development but still have questions.

The chemicals in fracking fluids aren't the only environmental concern, said George Jugovic, president of PennFuture. He said there is also concern about the large volumes of naturally occurring but exceptionally salty wastewater and air pollution.

It's premature to say whether it will ever be feasible to have fluids for fracking that are totally nontoxic, said Scott Anderson, a senior adviser for the Environmental Defense Fund.

"But we are encouraged to some extent by recent industry efforts to at least reduce the toxicity," Anderson said.

Fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing, has made it possible to tap into energy reserves across the nation but also has raised concerns about pollution, since large volumes of water, along with sand and hazardous chemicals, are injected deep into the ground to free the oil and gas from rock.

Regulators contend that overall, water and air pollution problems are rare, but environmental groups and some scientists say there hasn't been enough research on those issues. The industry and many federal and state officials say the practice is safe when done properly, but faulty wells and accidents have caused problems.

Halliburton says CleanStim will provide "an extra margin of safety to people, animals and the environment in the unlikely occurrence of an incident" at a drilling site.

Gardiner said Halliburton has developed a chemistry-scoring system for the fluids, with lower scores being better. CleanStim has a zero score, he said, and is "relatively more expensive" than many traditional fracking fluids.

Both Jugovic and Anderson noted that one of the most highly publicized concerns about toxic fracking fluids hasn't really been an issue: the suggestion that they might migrate from thousands of feet underground, up to drinking water aquifers.

"Most people agree there are no confirmed cases so far" of fracking chemicals migrating up to drinking water, Anderson said. But he added that simple spills of fluid on the surface can cause problems.

"The most likely of exposure is not from the fracking itself. It is from spills before the fracking fluid is injected," Anderson said.

There also may be technical and cost issues that limit the acceptance of products such as CleanStim. There is tremendous variation in the type of shale rock in different parts of the country. For example, drillers use different fluids even within the same state, and the specific mix can play a large role in determining how productive a well is.

Gardiner wouldn't say how widely used CleanStim is. "The customers who do use it certainly like the material," he added.

Terry Engelder, a geologist at Penn State University, said he visited a well in that state last year that used just water, sand and three additives in the fracking fluid.

But Engelder added that "green" and "toxic" can be "soft words without real meaning." He noted that consumers, businesses and farms use vast quantities of chemicals that can contribute to pollution, from cleaners and soaps to fertilizers and pesticides. Yet all those compounds are routinely flushed down the drain, ending up in nearby rivers and streams.

"Eventually industry would like to end up with a mix of just water, sand, and food-grade additives," Engelder said of fracking. "Companies are learning to deal with fewer and fewer additives."

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Around the Super Bowl and its host city with journalists from The Associated Press bringing the flavor and details of everything surrounding the game:

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THIS IS RAVENS TERRITORY
The New Orleans Riverwalk has become the Ravenswalk.

The walkway lining the Mississippi River is the site of one of the weekend fan fests, and fans of all teams are there listening to music, eating New Orleans food and just enjoying the warm, sunny weather. But a section across from Jackson Park has turned into a gathering place for Ravens fans. A Baltimore radio station broadcasting from a riverboat on the section across from Jackson Park, and the whole area is a sea of purple.

- Nancy Armour - http://www.twitter.com/nrarmour

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QUICKQUOTE: JOHN HARBAUGH

After arriving at the Superdome on Sunday, Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh told CBS that he and his brother, 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, haven't spoken much this week.

"We have each other in our hearts but we're going against each other today," the Ravens coach told a reporter during the network's pregame show.

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TICKETS, ANYBODY GOT EXTRA TICKETS?

There are still tickets available for the Super Bowl, but it's going to cost you.

A lot.
Three hours before the game, one fan outside the Superdome was selling a single ticket for the terrace level - aka the nose bleed section - for $1,500. That's almost double the face value.

Tickets were a little cheaper on NFL Ticket Exchange, the NFL's official ticket reseller, but not by much. Terrace-level tickets were going for $1,250 to almost $2,200. By comparison, tickets on the first level were practically a bargain, ranging from $2,400 to $2,600.

- Nancy Armour - http://www.twitter.com/nrarmour

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PIZZA WEARY
Pizza Hut is thinking some people will be over regular pizza after the Super Bowl. So it's hoping tiny new pies will be enough of a temptation.

The chain is introducing "pizza sliders" on Monday.

Pizza Hut says each slider is roughly the equivalent of a slice, meaning a person might eat two or three. A pepperoni slider has about 260 calories, compared with 250 calories for a slice of a medium pie and 370 calories for a slice from a large pie.

It's not clear whether they have a higher profit margin than regular pizzas.

- Candice Choi
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SECURITY TIGHT, BUT NOT LIKE 2002

Alongside the Superdome runs Poydras Street, a main eight-lane artery into and out of the heart of downtown New Orleans.

There's no auto traffic on it on this Super Bowl Sunday, however. The entire stretch bordering the Superdome property is filled with a maze of metal barricades draped with purple and gold Super Bowl banners, as well as security tents.

Fire department personnel are stationed near hydrants, and volunteers, emergency medical staff and security forces have are visible at every turn.

Farther away, Concrete barricades prevent vehicle traffic from getting within two blocks of the stadium.

The Super Bowl is deemed a national security event, but not quite on the same level it was the last time the game was in New Orleans in 2002. That was the first Super Bowl after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, so security was run by the Secret Service. There were tanks in the street and snipers on roofs.

This year, the public plazas surrounding the dome look a little more festive and a little less militarized.

- Brett Martel - http://twitter.com/brettmartel

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PHELPS THE RAVEN
Michael Phelps missed out when the Baltimore Ravens won their first Super Bowl title.

Not this time around. No way.
Phelps, who retired from swimming last summer after winning a record 18 Olympic gold medals, is in New Orleans to cheer on his hometown Ravens.

"It's destiny," Phelps told the AP. "Ravens by seven."

When the Ravens won the 2001 Super Bowl, Phelps was a teenager just getting started on his record-breaking career. He remembers being at a meet in France with his longtime coach when Baltimore routed the New York Giants 34-7.

"I slept through the alarm to wake up and watch the game," Phelps said. "It was already 34-7 when I woke up. I was like, `All right, we're done. I can turn it back off.'"

He went back to bed.
Phelps is attending the game with his mother, sisters and several friends.

He hopes his buddy, Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, can go out a champion - just like Phelps did in London.

"This time, I'll be there for the whole game," Phelps said. "I'll be able to watch Ray hopefully finish his career and his last game the way he wants to."

- Paul Newberry - http://twitter.com/pnewberry1963

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AGAINST THE HOMETOWN GRAIN

Despite growing up in District Heights, Md., San Francisco linebacker NaVorro Bowman has no allegiances to the Baltimore Ravens.

And no, it's not because he was a Washington Redskins fan.

"I was a Cowboys fan," Bowman said. "Being the youngest in the house, being the baby, my mom, my brother, my aunts - everyone liked the Redskins. So I decided to go to the rivals with the Cowboys."

- Nancy Armour - http://www.twitter.com/nrarmour

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DAHLBERG ON SAFETY
The latest piece from AP national sports columnist Tim Dahlberg asks: Could football end up killing itself?

It's Dahlberg's take on the current state of safety in the NFL, and where Commissioner Roger Goodell says things are headed.

An excerpt:
On Sunday perhaps the biggest audience ever to see a Super Bowl will gather in front of televisions for parties of their own. The game has become America's unofficial national holiday, its tradition of chip eating, beer drinking and commercial watching as deeply ingrained in the country's fabric as turkey and stuffing.

We celebrate the game even as it takes a brutal toll on those who play it. Football is a hurt business, and the biggest cheers on Sunday will be for those who deliver the biggest hits.

So remember when you jump and down and holler and scream that former players, some of whom entertained us in Super Bowls past, are suffering in the worst possible ways because of the beating their brains took on the playing field.

That the NFL is finally waking up to the crisis is commendable. That it took this long is deplorable.

It's hard to comprehend, and it may be the ultimate paradox. But football itself could be the one thing that kills the NFL.

Read the full column here: http://bit.ly/YuGUA1

- Tim Dahlberg - http://twitter.com/timdahlberg

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(NOT) PLAYING FAVORITES
Jack and Jackie Harbaugh know where they'll be after the Super Bowl.

"There's going to be one winner and one (son) that's going to be totally disappointed," Jack Harbaugh said. "Our thoughts go to that one that will not experience the thrill of victory."

With Baltimore Ravens coach John facing little brother Jim's San Francisco 49ers, the thrill of the NFL title game also puts Jack and Jackie in an awkward spot, knowing one son will celebrate the highlight of his career while the other will be absolutely gutted.

They got a "dry run" last season, when John's Ravens beat Jim's 49ers. On Thanksgiving Day.

"We opened the door to the Ravens locker room ... guys jumping up and down, the smile on John's face. They were just ecstatic," Jack Harbaugh said. "Then you realize that you're not needed here. So you walked across the hall to the 49ers locker room ... and finally saw Jim, all by himself in this room, just a table and a chair. He was still in his coaching outfit. His head was down in his hands and you looked into his eyes and you realized that this was where you're needed as a parent. Every single parent can identify with that.

"That thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. On Sunday night, we're going to experience both of those great emotions," Jack Harbaugh said.

- Nancy Armour - http://twitter.com/nrarmour

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ADS BONANZA
With 30-second spots going for as much as $4 million this year, the Super Bowl is advertising's biggest stage. Companies that shell out that cash want the more than 111 million viewers expected to tune in to remember their spot come Monday.

Most advertisers have released their ads already, trying to get a head start on capturing the buzz on social networks.

But some companies are still planning big reveals, including M&Ms, Chrysler, Oreo and BlackBerry.

"What we see on the night of the game is really important," said Kelly O'Keefe, professor at a professor, creative brand management, at the Virginia Commonwealth University Brandcenter.

- Mae Anderson - http://twitter.com/maetron

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GEARED UP FOR THE GAME
Any fan can show their love for their favorite player by wearing a jersey. Four Baltimore Ravens are doing it with entire outfits.

In addition to the heavy painted leather coats he and his fellow "Ravens Posse" members are wearing, Rick Bowlus (far left) has linebacker Ray Lewis' number and face painted on his jeans.

- Nancy Armour - http://twitter.com/nrarmour

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HERE COME NINER BETTORS
After heavy betting on the Baltimore Ravens, sports betting professionals and last-minute casual bettors in Las Vegas and around the world are heavily swinging toward San Francisco.

The 49ers were favored by 5 points when betting action started two weeks ago, meaning San Francisco bettors need them to win by at least two field goals to collect. But the spread encouraged lots of bettors to take Baltimore, pushing the line down to 3½. Now, San Francisco supporters have moved the line back up to 4 points in most sports books and 4½ in others, according to gambling expert R.J. Bell of Pregame.com.

Bell says that a few days ago, nearly two-thirds of the bets taken in Las Vegas and online sports books offshore were on the Ravens. It's close to 50-50 now and the 49ers are closing the gap quickly in the hours before the game.

Adjustments to the line are encouraging bettors on the fence to pick sides.

"The moves are taking a lot of money right now," Bell said.

An estimated $10 billion is expected to be wagered on the Super Bowl, with less than 1 percent of that coming from legal sports books in Nevada, Bell says.

- Oskar Garcia - http://twitter.com/oskargarcia

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LIL WAYNE ROOTING AGAINST SF

The San Francisco 49ers prevented Lil Wayne's favorite team, the Green Bay Packers, from going to the Super Bowl. So the rapper wants the Baltimore Ravens to get a little revenge on his behalf.

"I'm salty about the team that beat us, so I gotta root against them, and that team is the 49ers," he said.

But his desire isn't all based on bitterness.

"Who doesn't want to see (Ravens linebacker) Ray Lewis succeed? And also who also doesn't want to see (49ers wide receiver) Randy Moss get his first ring as well?" he said.

"I'm kind of iffy about this game. I don't mind the outcome of it, I think either or, it's gonna be beautiful for both of them."

Lil Wayne plans to be in a suite for the game - after all, it's in his hometown. His friends and family all wanted tickets.

"I had to pay for those tickets and my team isn't even playing in that game - ah man, that hit the pockets kind of hard," he laughed.

Lil Wayne is well-documented sports fanatic.

- Nekesa Mumbi Moody - http://twitter.com/nekesamumbi

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama said Sunday that gays should be allowed in the Boy Scouts and women should be allowed in military combat roles, weighing in on two storied American institutions facing proposals to end long-held exclusions.

The president's comments in a pre-Super Bowl interview on CBS come ahead of this week's meeting of the Boy Scouts' national executive board. A proposal to open up the Scouts' membership to gays is expected to be discussed and possibly voted on at the gathering in Texas.

The Boy Scouts emphatically reaffirmed the no-gays policy just seven months ago, but announced last week they were considering changing the stance. Instead of mandatory exclusion of gays, the different religious and civic groups that sponsor Scout units would be able to decide for themselves how to address the issue - either maintaining the exclusion or opening up their membership.

The White House said in a statement last August that Obama opposed the gay ban. Obama, like presidents for the last century, serves as honorary president of the group. The president's comment Sunday was his first since the group announced it was considering a policy change.

"My attitude is that gays and lesbians should have access and opportunity the same way everybody else does in every institution and walk of life," Obama said. "The Scouts are a great institution that are promoting young people and exposing them to opportunities and leadership that will serve people for the rest of their lives. And I think nobody should be barred from that."

Obama also had previously issued a statement supporting the Pentagon's decision last month to open up front-line combat jobs to women, but the interview with CBS' Scott Pelley included his first publicly spoken comments on the matter since the announcement. He said women are already serving in combat "as a practical matter."

"When they're in theater in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, they are vulnerable," he said. "They are wounded, and they've been killed. And they have carried out their jobs with extraordinary patriotism and distinction."

The policy change overturns a 1994 rule prohibiting women from being assigned to smaller ground combat units, and is expected to open up more than 230,000 combat positions that have been off limits to women.

Obama said he meets "extraordinary women in uniform who can do everything that a man can and more." He gave the example of one of his military aides, who he estimated is only about 5 feet tall and 100 pounds.

"You put a 50-pound pack on her, and she can do things that you or me would keel over doing. And so the truth is that women are serving. They are taking great risks. What we should not do is somehow prevent them from advancing in an institution that we all revere."

On the economy, Obama said although more revenue has to be raised to reduce the deficit, it can be done without raising income tax rates again. He said the answer is "smart spending cuts," reducing waste in the health care system and closing loopholes and deductions like offshore tax havens that benefit a few high income earners but not most Americans.

"There's no doubt we need additional revenue coupled with smart spending reductions in order to bring down our deficit," he said. "We can do it in a gradual way so it doesn't have a huge impact."

Coming before the Super Bowl, Obama had to expect he'd be asked about his recent comment that if he had a son, he would have to think long and hard about letting him play football because of safety concerns. Obama said he feel differently about the NFL, where the players are well-compensated adults who know the risks, but the threat of concussions has to give parents pause about letting youth and children play.

"I want to make sure we are doing everything we can to make the sport safer, and that means the game's probably going to evolve a little bit," Obama said. "For those of us who like to see a big hit and enjoy the rock `em, sock `em elements of the game, we're probably going to be occasionally frustrated.

"But I do think we want to make sure that after people have played the game, that they're going to be OK," he said.

The Obamas were hosting their own Super Bowl party for friends and family at the White House. In honor of the two teams, the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers, they were serving Chesapeake crabcakes and San Francisco cioppino stew with sourdough toast. Also on the menu are Clipper City and Anchor Steam beers from the competing cities.

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Follow Nedra Pickler on Twitter at http://twitter.com/nedrapickler

WEST CHESTER - Just a few days over one year since her first trial in Common Pleas Court began, Morgan Marie Mengel is scheduled to appear in Senior Judge Thomas Gavin's courtroom Monday to once again face charges of first-degree murder in the bludgeoning death of her husband,

And while that year has passed since Gavin declared a mistrial in the case due to a police officer's improper testimony, attention in the murder of Kevin Mengel, allegedly through Morgan Mengel's manipulation of a young lover, has not diminished.

On Friday, a producer from the British documentary television company Nutopia contacted the Daily Local News for background on the case. The company is considering filming a "true crime" special on the Mengel murder. In addition, the Discovery Channel has made inquiries in the past months about the case's progress.

The murder, after all, involves the eternally fascinating allegations of a cheating wife plotting the death of an innocent husband at the hands of her new sexual conquest, plus the modern day addition of having text messages sent between the two conspirators before, during, and after the murder presented to the jury as evidence by the prosecution.

The trial will begin as it did on Jan. 30, 2012, with jury selection at the Chester County Justice Center, One hundred potential jurors have been summoned to the courthouse to begin the selection process before Gavin, who will once again preside over the trial.

The prosecution alleges that Morgan Mengel, 37, of West Goshen wanted to rid herself of her marriage to Kevin Mengel, but did not want to go through the process of a divorce. The case is built around the theory that in June 2010 she convinced 23-year-old Stephen Shappell to bludgeon Kevin Mengel with a shovel after she had poisoned him with a bottle of iced tea.

Mengel, 33, a father of three, was killed on June 17, 2010. He body was found in a shallow grave near a high school in Delaware County, where Shappell allegedly buried it a few days after the murder.

Evidence that will be included in the prosecution's case, led by Chief Deputy District Attorney Patrick Carmody and Assistant District Attorney Deborah Ryan, are text messages that Morgan Mengel sent to Shappell while he was wielding the shovel he used to kill Kevin Mengel. Shappell, who has pleaded guilty to murder charges in the case, is expected to testify for the prosecution.

Morgan Mengel is represented by veteran Philadelphia defense attorney John J. McMahon Jr. He is expected to sharply cross-examine Shappell in hopes of casting the blame on him alone for the murder.

Beginning Monday morning, the potential jurors culled from the county's voter registration lists will be asked a series of questions to determine, among other things, whether they had heard of the accusations against Morgan Mengel, how much they knew about the events surrounding the murder, and whether that would keep them from rendering a fair verdict at the end of the trial.

Members of both Kevin Mengel's family and that of Morgan Mengel are expected to attend the trial. The prosecution is not seeking the death penalty in the case because of the lack of legal aggravating factors, even though authorities have noted the cold-blooded nature of the crime.

On Feb. 3, 2012, after three days of dense and explicit testimony, Gavin declared a mistrial in the case. He agreed with McMahon that testimony from a West Goshen police officer investigating Kevin Mengel's disappearance that Morgan Mengel's father had called her "despicable" had so prejudiced that jury that Morgan Mengel could not receive a fair verdict.

McMahon's demand, however, that the prosecution be barred from re-trying Morgan Mengel was denied.

A juror on the panel in 2012 told the Daily Local News that the prosecution's case had been strong and fairly convincing about Morgan Mengel's complicity.

According to the scenario of the case laid out by Carmody in earlier proceedings, Morgan Mengel began planting the idea of killing her husband in Shappell's mind almost immediately after beginning their affair in May 2010 - mere weeks before the crime occurred.

Morgan Mengel and Shappell decided first to try to poison Kevin Mengel, and on the Internet found a way of cooking over-the-counter nicotine and lacing a drink with it. On June 16, 2010 Shappell gave Morgan Mengel a bottle of nicotine that he had cooked, and she poured it into a lemon-flavored Snapple, knowing that her husband drank those while at work.

Morgan Mengel pressured Shappell along the way to go ahead with their plans, sending him text messages telling him she loved him and asking him if he was "dead serious" about the plan, prosecutors say.

"You'd better not chicken out," one text message read. She also urged him to bring a shovel to work with him the next day.

Although Kevin Mengel drank the poisoned tea, it did not have the desired effect, and ultimately Shappell hit him in the head multiple times while he was in a garage at the family's MKB landscaping shop, breaking two shovels in the process. He texted Morgan Mengel when he was done, telling her to come to the shop.

"Seriously?" she responded.
"Dead serious," Shappell answered.

The trial is expected to last through the week.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Jurors will begin another week of deliberations Monday on racketeering charges against reputed leaders of the Philadelphia mob.

The federal court panel considered the case for about six hours Sunday but reached no verdict.

Members said Saturday that they were at an impasse but were told to continue to try to reach agreement.

The jury began deliberations Jan. 8 but endured setbacks when two jurors left because of illness or conflicts.

It remains unclear whether they have resolved some of the approximately 50 counts against seven defendants, including reputed boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi and underboss Joseph "Moussie" Massimino.

The defendants are accused of sports betting, loansharking, operating illegal video poker machines and threatening debtors. The evidence includes years of FBI wiretaps and undercover work, but there's no violence alleged.

EAST VINCENT - Minorities, women and Native Americans are not the only ones underrepresented among the preserved historic places of the nation.

The former Pennhurst State School and Hospital outside Spring City might be the most important historical property in the country that represents the history, struggles and change in attitude toward the developmentally disabled.

At least that is how the Pennhurst Memorial and Preservation Alliance views it.

Opened in 1908 on 1,400 rolling acres as the Eastern Pennsylvania Institution for the Feeble Minded and Epileptic, Pennhurst was a self-sustained campus of 25 buildings that included workshops, a firehouse, a fully functioning farm and a barber shop, among other things.

Intended to isolate its residents from the rest of society, it house 3,500 patients at its peak occupancy in space federal regulations later determined to be habitable for just 700.

Eventually it became famous for unsanitary conditions and the degrading and abusive treatment of its patients.

Alerted to conditions there by reporting in The Pottstown Mercury, an NBC investigative report in 1968 brought the plight of Pennhurst patients to the attention of the nation and sparked a series of lawsuits which culminated in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that forced institutionalization of disabled people was unconstitutional.

Now regarded as the epicenter for the modern disability rights movement, Pennhurst closed in 1986 and its remaining 460 patients were discharged or transferred to other facilities.

A non-profit organization, the Alliance had Pennhurst named as an "International Site of Conscience, part of a worldwide network of "Sites of Conscience" - historic sites specifically dedicated to remembering past struggles for justice and addressing their contemporary legacies," according to the group's web site.

Pottsgrove High School graduate Nathaniel Guest founded the group and is also teaching two classes on "the ethics of preservation" at Cornell University.

He said that like the stories of the roles minorities and women played in the nation's history, the story of the intellectually and developmentally people who lived at Pennhurst is one that must be preserved - and preserving some part of Pennhurst is the best way to do it.

"If Pennhurst is gone, there is no physical

"So often the decision about what to preserve or what to let go is made at a time when the understanding of the historical importance of a site has not yet gelled," Guest said.

Which is to say that "in some ways, historical preservation has matured," said Guest. "The decision about what not to save has become as important as the decision about what should be saved."

"Consider the homes of the slaves. They were, in all likelihood taken down at a time when their contribution to the historical narrative of their time was not considered significant," he said, adding "obviously, we would not make that same choice today."

So when asking whether Pennhurst should be preserved, Guest argued, we should be asking whether the story of what happened there has "gelled" yet.

"Pennhurst is a contested landscape," Guest said.

The establishment two years ago of a haunted Halloween attraction at the site created a controversy and, ironically, may have raised awareness of the story Guest thinks needs to be told about Pennhurst.

In 2011, Urban Partners consultants produced for Pennhurst Memorial and Preservation Alliance a financial feasibility analysis of whether the finances of preserving some or all of Pennhurst could work.

It concluded that with the help of $10 million in grants, 10 of the 25 buildings could be converted into 286 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with rents ranging from $1,325 to just under $2,000 per month.

Guest said a site the size of Pennhurst makes complete preservation impractical.

"It's impossible to turn the entire site into a museum," he said.

"But some attempt should be made to preserve the physical fabric, but it has to happen in a planned, phased way," said Guest.

Turning some of the buildings into apartments as a away to preserve the campus and the "physical fabric" is one way to ensure the story of Pennhurst is told with a level of integrity.

"The issue that has to be addressed is how do we re-use many of these buildings in a may that we don't whitewash if and so that the understanding of its significance in the future is not compromised," he said.

Guest said is the owner of the property is "open to preservation" being done there and added that he presented the owner with a copy of the Urban Partners analysis.

Attempts Friday to interview Tim Smith regarding the future development Pennhurst were unsuccessful.

The Pennhurst campus is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Recognizing Pennhurst's significance and the serious threats to its future, Preservation Pennsylvania named it one of the Commonwealth's most endangered treasures for 2008.

And, in its annual publication - "Pennsylvania At Risk" - Preservation Pennsylvania highlighted Pennhurst as one of Pennsylvania's historic resources that are "at risk."

"Finally, there is an opening for a creative developer to restore this place, so long a white elephant on our landscape and our collective conscience. Reusing these buildings is, of course, a preservation win with all of the environmental and economic benefits that entails," Guest said in the publication.

The Alliance "hopes that a portion of the property will be used as a Center for Conscience, to preserve the lessons and stories of those forced to live at Pennhurst," according to "Pennsylvania At Risk," which added that the Alliance "hopes to create a modest memorial and museum on the campus, while reusing the property in a manner that provides economic and environmental benefits to the region."

Follow Evan Brandt on Twitter @PottstownNews

In addition to raising warning flags about historic properties that may be lost or destroyed, the annual "Pennsylvania At Risk" report from Preservation Pennsylvania also points out success stories.

Here in Southeast Pennsylvania, there is a little bit of both. Three area landmarks have been identified as "saved."

o One was the Gruber Wagon Works in Bern Township, Berks County, described as "the most complete example of a rare late 19th century wagon manufacturing facility of its kind in the nation."

Apparently, it needed to be saved twice.

During the winter of 1976-77, the Gruber Wagon Works was moved by the Army Corps of Engineers from its original location near Mt. Pleasant.

"This property was saved and restored in 1981, opening as a museum in 1982," according to the report. "Twenty years later, the building was in danger again as a result of insufficient maintenance. The property now has a preservation maintenance plan, which will help ensure its preservation well into the future."

The report concluded that "Gruber Wagon Works illustrates that nothing is ever truly saved, and that ongoing maintenance is critical to sustaining historic properties."

In 2012, it was a recipient of Preservation Pennsylvania's "Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Award."

o Montgomery County's King of Prussia Inn was listed as another success story of preservation and, like Gruber Wagon works, its preservation was achieved by moving it to a new location.

Built in 1719, the King of Prussia Inn operated as a tavern for 200 years.

In 1952, it was acquired by PennDOT as part of a project to make improvements to Route 202. And, for more than 50 years, it sat idle and deteriorating in the road's median strip.

Named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, it was first listed in "Pennsylvania At Risk" in 1993.

Ultimately, the Federal Highway Administration and PennDOT paid $1.6 million to move the 580 ton building to its new location, where it serves as headquarters for the King of Prussia Chamber of Commerce.

o The pastoral cemetery movement began in Paris and had reached the United States by the time the Mount Moriah Cemetery in 1855. That movement greatly influenced the design of Gettysburg National Cemetery. However, unlike that landmark, Mount Moriah in Delaware County had inadequate funds for its upkeep and it closed in 2011.

"Gravestones and monuments were largely indistinguishable in the tall grass and brush. The neglected, deteriorating acreage was attractive to vandals and people dumping garbage," according to the report.

A grassroots non-profit organization, Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, work regularly at the site, with the goal of restoring and preserving the cemetery through research, education and community engagement. This organization holds regular clean-up days at the cemetery and welcomes volunteers to help clear the cemetery of weeds, tall grass and debris.

o Located in Tinnicum Township, Delaware County, The Lazaretto was built by the City of Philadelphia's Board of Health between 1799 and 1801 as a quarantine station for ships heading toward the port of Philadelphia in order to protect its citizens from the effects of infectious diseases. Reflecting 18th century public health policy, the Lazaretto is the oldest extant quarantine structure in the United States, according to "Pennsylvania At Risk," which listed this site's status as "Preservation in progress."

Because of its prime waterfront location and proximity to Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Athletic Club began to operate the former Lazaretto as an elite pleasure ground known as the Orchard Club in the mid-1890s. In 1913 it became a flight schools and then was the Army Signal Corps headquarters and barracks through World War I, continuing as a flight school and sea plane base into the 1990s.

In 2000, it was purchased and proposed for demolition. The township purchased the property and built a new firehouse there, while negotiating with Preservation pennsylvania partners for its preservation.

It is now under consideration as the new location for the township offices, according to the report.

oCamp Security, located just east of the City of York, was the last operating prisoner of war camp of the Revolutionary War and housed more than 1,500 British and Canadian prisoners between 1781 and 1783.

A small archaeological investigation in 1979 yielded between 10,000-15,000 artifacts, which are now housed at the State Museum of Pennsylvania. Most of the site remains undisturbed since the end of the war in 1783. In 1999, when a housing development was proposed for 50 of the 270 acres, a group of preservations had is listed in "Pennsylvania at Risk" in 2000 and in 2005, it was listed on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's "Americans 11 Most Endangered Historic Places."

In 2011, the Conservation Fund purchased part of the acreage, which was merged with a park run by Springettsbury Township a year later. The entire site has now been purchased using a number of funding sources.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A Philadelphia drug kingpin sat stone-faced Monday as prosecutors told jurors he ordered a 2004 firebombing that killed six relatives of a suspected informant.

Kaboni Savage and two others face the death penalty if convicted of killing 12 people during his reign in North Philadelphia. The trial evidence includes graphic threats that prosecutors say Savage made in prison.

In recordings played during opening statements, Savage says he's drowning in "tears of rage" at "snitches" and vows to kill their mothers and children.

"Their moms will pay. Their kids will pay. ... I'm dedicated to their death, man," Savage said on the recordings, frequently noting that his arrest has hurt his own children.

The trial is expected to last four months and to include testimony from informant Eugene "Twin" Coleman about the inferno that wiped out his mother, another woman and four children. Coleman was a low-level member of Savage's group but considered "soft" and seen as a risk if investigators came calling.

Savage had therefore set up one of the earlier slayings at Coleman's apartment, so he would be compromised and keep quiet, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Troyer said Monday.

Savage has mostly been in prison since 2003, but he gave orders through phone calls and prison visits and communicated with other inmates through prison plumbing pipes, Troyer said. Prosecutors say he ordered the Coleman arson through his sister, Kidada Savage, who is on trial but not facing death.

Trial witness Lamont Lewis will admit killing Coleman's family and five other people, Troyer said. Lewis has pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty and is serving 40 years to life.

Lawyers for co-defendant Steven Northington lost their bid Sunday to take the death penalty off the table because of his mental abilities. Senior U.S. District Judge Barclay Surrick denied the claim after a series of pretrial hearings. Co-defendant Robert Merritt also faces the death penalty.

Surrick oversaw Kaboni Savage's earlier drug trial, which led to a 30-year trafficking sentence.

Defense lawyer Christian Hoey said in his opening statement that Savage never ran a criminal "racketeering enterprise" and vowed to challenge the credibility of Lewis and Coleman.

In something of an aside, he noted that the FBI investigation into Savage's purported mentor in the drug world led - albeit indirectly - to the infamous bugging of the Philadelphia mayor's office in 2003.

The drug probe led agents to a Muslim cleric who knew drug dealers, labor leaders and then-Mayor John Street. The FBI installed a listening device in Street's office, but it was soon discovered. Street denied wrongdoing and was never charged.

Hoey said the cleric, Shamsud din-Ali, secretly mediated disputes among city drug dealers, from home invasions to unreported kidnappings. He is serving an 87-month sentence for government fraud involving his Muslim school.

WEST CHESTER - Jury selection in the murder trial of a West Goshen woman accused of engineering her husband's death at the hands of her younger lover was completed Monday without defense attorney Jack McMahon, who has represented Morgan Marie Mengel since her arrest in 2010.

McMahon, of Philadelphia, did not appear before Senior Judge Thomas Gavin for the start of jury selection in Common Pleas Court. Mary Therese Maran, an associate of McMahon's, appeared in his place.

As court began, Maran did not explain McMahon's absence, and Gavin then discussed with Mengel whether she wanted to have McMahon assist her and Maran with the jury selection, according to those in the courtroom at the time.

The veteran judge told Mengel that if she agreed to proceed with the selection process without McMahon, she would not be able to bring her primary attorney's failure to assist her on appeal should she be found guilty.

Mengel had reportedly spoken with McMahon last week and understood that he would not be present for jury selection, sources said. Jury selection continued without him.

Members of Kevin Mengel's family waited expectantly in the hallway outside Gavin's courtroom for most of the morning, but they left once the formal jury selection process began.

Selection began in mid-afternoon after 109 potential jurors had completed a multi-page questionnaire asking them what they knew of the case against Mengel and whether they would be able to render a fair verdict. Eight women and four men were chosen for the panel, along with four alternate jurors, three men and one woman, according to court sources.

Mengel, 37, is charged with first degree murder, third degree murder, criminal conspiracy, and two counts of possession of an instrument of crime in the June 2010 bludgeoning death of her husband, 33-year-old Kevin Mengel Jr. Authorities contended that Morgan Mengel had grown frustrated in her marriage, held a grudge against her husband, and wanted to make him "vanish" from her life without having to go through a messy and costly divorce.

She is alleged to have convinced a Delaware County man, Stephen Shappell, then 21, who had just begun working at the Mengel family landscaping business and with whom she had begun an affair, to help her kill her husband.

They initially planned first to poison him by putting a dose of liquid nicotine in his Snapple lemonade drink. When that failed to kill him, Shappell struck Kevin Mengel over the head multiple times with two shovels in a garage bay at the MKB Property Maintenance Shop on West Chester Pike in West Goshen.

Kevin Mengel's body was found several days after his mother notified police that he was missing. Shappell allegedly buried it in a shallow grave near Marple-Newtown High School in Delaware County, where he went to school.

Shappell has pleaded guilty to murder charges and is expected to testify against Morgan Mengel in the case.

On Monday, the 109 jurors who were called to form the panel began their day by filling out a seven-page questionnaire that asked them details of their lives and attitudes toward crime and the justice system.

Besides asking each potential juror standard questions such as whether they trust police witnesses more or less than other witnesses and whether they themselves had been crime victims, the questionnaire also asked whether they had heard of or read details of the case against Morgan Mengel and Shappell, which has drawn considerable media scrutiny.

The form also asked the panel members to name their favorite television programs, the newspapers or magazines they read, and whether they have any fixed idea about the guilt or innocence of the defendant.

Following the selection of the panel, Maran and prosecutors conferred briefly with Gavin at sidebar then left the courtroom.

The trial is scheduled to last through the end of the week.

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EAST CALN - After the Safe Schools Summit on Jan. 31, Downingtown Area School Board members are looking at changes to school security measures, with special attention on preventing school shootings.

The summit, which began with an audio recording of a 911 call during the Columbine School shooting, was attended by school districts from throughout Chester County, and was organized by the Chester County Intermediate Unit.

The summit aimed to encourage safe school environments and collaboration between schools and community law enforcement partners, and educate about best practices.

"I think it was very good for all of us," said board member Robert Yorczyk. "We are trying to find out what we should do now. We want to make sure we do what we need to do. This was extremely helpful. I know in Downingtown, we have taken some of the information they gave us and are trying to look at security from different angles."

The district is now planning on creating a special committee that would determine needed security audits throughout the district. The committee would at least be composed of administrators and board members.

"We have a lot of work cut out for us," said Yorczyk.

According to District Superintendent Lawrence Mussoline, the fact most impressed during the summit was the need for substantial specialty training in responding to school shootings or similar attacks on schools.

"That training is going to be the key to mitigating horrific incidents," said Mussoline. "There are groups out there that can help schools with assessments of their facilities to (help us) do the best we can, and to make the schools as safe as we can."

School board member Suzanne Simonelli, whose two children attend the STEM Academy and Lionville Middle School, said she found the summit informative but disturbing.

Hogan "covered a lot of things that are jarring for people to hear but they were things that you need to hear," said Simonelli. "You have to be vigilant. We want to put as many obstacles in front of someone as we can while maintaining the day-to-day safety of our students. It broadened our horizons."

Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan, who was one of the presenters at the summit, said that there is a group working inside the Chester County law enforcement community that is working on standardized protocols throughout the county for all schools and law enforcement.

According to Hogan, 97 percent of shooters in school shootings or other active shootings were males between the ages of 15 to 19 and 35 to 44. These age groups make it difficult to prevent incidents since the individuals in those groups are either part of the school population, either as students or parents.

"There is a slim chance that anything like this could happen in Chester County, but as long as there is any chance that this could happen, we have to be prepared," said Hogan.

Hogan's suggestions to schools included preparation and planned responses that ought to be practiced by faculty and students, screening visitors entering schools, camera surveillance, patrol units that are either full or part time, and establishing a second form of instant and redundant communication between the administration and teachers.

Simonelli said that as a parent she felt secure about the safety of the students at Downingtown after the Newtown incident.

"We've got as close to ideal as we're going to get," said Simonelli.

Thomas Ost-Prisco, school board member and Assistant District Attorney, said that the summit was an important first step towards cooperation between schools and law enforcement.

"It gives all the stakeholders - the school board members, the administrators and the law enforcement community - the tools that they need to understand the problem and point us in the right direction to addressing this problem," said Ost-Prisco.

Follow Daily Local News staff reporter Sara Mosqueda-Fernandez on Twitter @DailyLocalSara.

Associated Press
MIDLAND CITY, Ala. (AP) The FBI says bomb technicians will continue to sweep the property of a kidnapper left dead after officers raided a bunker to free a 5-year-old hostage in Alabama.

Meanwhile, Dale County Coroner Woodrow Hilboldt said Tuesday that officials had not yet removed the body of 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes from the underground shelter. Hilboldt says he does not yet know how Dykes died because he has not yet examined the body.

Hilboldt says the body will be taken to Montgomery for an autopsy, though he did not know exactly when that may happen.

FBI special agent Jason Pack says teams will collect evidence at the scene in rural Midland City after officers make sure there are no explosives on the 100-acre property.

WEST CHESTER - A Chester County woman accused of hiring her lover to kill her husband pleaded guilty in court Tuesday to first-degree murder.

On the first day of a new trial on the charges, Morgan Mengel pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the death of her husband, Kevin Mengel, who was allegedly hit over the head with a shovel by Mengel's lover. Mengel said in court Tuesday that she was pleading guilty because she wanted the process of healing to begin.

Her plea and statements came during an emotional court hearing in which letters from Mengel's three children were read aloud, asking why their mother could be so cruel to their father.

Kevin Mengel's family also gave testimony blaming Morgan Mengel for destruction of a loving family.

Senior Judge Thomas Gavin, who was overseeing the hearing, declined to add time to the life sentence Mengel was expected to receive.

Check back here for a full story on the court hearing.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Gov. Tom Corbett on Tuesday proposed raising gasoline tax revenues over five years to generate more than $5 billion, leading to smoother roads, stronger bridges and more financially viable mass transit systems.

In the coming year alone, Corbett wants to spend the new money on an array of projects that include building additional lanes on existing highways, performing safety improvements and shoring up dangerous bridges. Highway maintenance funds would be spread through all 67 counties through a "needs-based formula."

In his budget address, Corbett called transportation "the bloodstream of our economy. If it fails, our economy fails."

State lawmakers who have been clamoring for increased spending on transportation infrastructure and the state's cash-strapped mass transit systems will comb over the proposal in the coming months.

Most of the money would come from an increase in revenues from the oil company franchise tax, a wholesale levy at the gas station level. Corbett wants to phase in the increase in three parts. The Pennsylvania Highway Information Association, a trade group, has said that the move would translate to about 28.5 cents per gallon at current prices.

Corbett described the additional taxes as coming from lifting a cap on the tax - addressing the politically sensitive issue of taxes for the first-term Republican, who ran on a platform of not raising taxes.

The tax is linked to the wholesale price of gas and is presently assessed only up to $1.25 per gallon. Corbett proposes eventually applying it to the full value.

"This is not a new tax, nor am I proposing to increase the rate of the existing tax," he said. "I am simply saying the time has come to apply it to the full value of what the company is selling. It is time for oil and gas companies to pay their fair share of the cost of infrastructure supporting their industry."

How the move would affect gas prices depends on how much of the increase gets passed along to consumers, and the price of gas at the time that the various increases are phased in. Under Corbett's proposal, consumers would not be immediately hit with a 28.5 cent increase in gasoline, partly because of the plan to phase it in.

"The truth really lies somewhere in between zero and that number," said Jason Wagner, managing director of the Pennsylvania Highway Information Association.

The governor also wants to lower the liquid fuels tax that is paid at the pump over two years by 2 cents a gallon, from 12 cents to 10 cents.

The two tax changes, plus alterations to vehicle registration and driver licensing, are projected to raise $5.4 billion over five years, from $500 million in the coming year to $1.8 billion in 2018-19.

Rep. Joe Markosek of Allegheny County, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said after a morning briefing at the governor's residence that the spending levels would be "woefully inadequate," given the scope of the state's transportation needs.

The Corbett administration said that if no action is taken, the gap between Pennsylvania's transportation needs and available funding will balloon to $7.2 billion a year by 2020, while the cost of materials will continue to grow, eating away at PennDOT's buying power.

Bob Latham, executive director of the Associated Pennsylvania Constructors, which represents road construction and engineering companies, welcomed the governor's initiative.

"I think the governor should be commended for coming up with a plan," Latham said. "It's a comprehensive plan, it encompasses all modes of transportation from what we understand, and it really addresses the pressing need for addressing safety and the long-term economic viability of the commonwealth."

Corbett would stretch out the cycle for renewal of vehicle registrations to every two years rather than annually, and driver's licenses to every six years, rather than every four years.

In 2013-14, the increased gas tax revenues would allow for increased spending of $300 million on state roads and bridges, $40 million on public transportation, $80 million on local roads and bridges, $30 million on Pennsylvania Turnpike expansion and $60 million on a multi-modal fund.

In five years, state roads and bridges would be getting $1.2 billion, public transportation $250 million and local roads and bridges $200 million.

Sunshine Review, a non-profit organization dedicated to state and local government transparency, gave Pennsylvania an "A-" on its 2013 Transparency Report Card for making information about the state budget, legislative voting records, government contracts and other state-related data easily accessible on the Internet.

Pennsylvania is one of 13 states to score an "A".

Pennsylvania's state websites were also singled out for recognition in the Sunshine Review's 2012 Sunny Awards, given to "the most transparent government websites in the nation."

"In addition to making thousands upon thousands of government records easily available to requestors, the new Open Records Law created an online database of every state contract valued at $5,000 or more," said state Sen. Dominic Pileggi, R-19th, of Chester, whose legislation was instrumental in rewriting the state's Open Record Law, the group said.

RESTAURANT: Jake's Wayback Burgers will add eight locations - including one in London Grove - to its existing 62 stores.

The new locations will open in February and March in Pennsylvania, Oregon, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Michigan, California and Massachusetts.

Founded in 1991, Jake's Wayback Burgers currently operates in 15 states and has inked deals in the United Arab Emirates.

FUNDS: Liberty Property Trust of East Whiteland reported that its fourth-quarter funds from operations, or FFO, increased to $77.30 million from $75.54 million in the year-ago quarter.

FFO for the latest-quarter was 63 cents per share, unchanged from last year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of 63 cents per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net income available to common shareholders for the quarter rose to $38.43 million, or 32 cents per share, from $34.79 million, or 30 cents per share, last year's quarter.

Total operating revenue for the quarter rose to $176.23 million from $168.70 million in the year ago quarter. Four analysts had consensus revenue estimate of $174.37 million for the quarter.

EXPORTS: Last year Pennsylvania small businesses exported more than $41 billion in goods to countries throughout the world.

This spring, the U.S. Small Business Administration will honor some of those small businesses with the agency's Exporter of the Year award.

The nomination deadline has been extended to Friday, Feb. 8.

Eastern Pennsylvania District Director Dave Dickson is asking community leaders to actively nominate small businesses that export.

For more information on the nomination process, including all necessary forms, contact the Jennifer Pilcher of the Eastern PA. SBA District Office at 610-382-3084 or at jennifer.pilcher@sba.gov.

A Nuclear Regulatory Commission investigation has concluded Exelon Nuclear provided NRC with inaccurate information about how much money will be available to de-commission the company's power plants at the end of their lives, potentially hiding a shortfall of "roughly $1 billion."

In a Jan. 31 letter to Michael Pacilio, president and chief nuclear officer of Kennett Square-based Exelon Nuclear, the NRC wrote that its "investigation did substantiate that a senior Exelon executive and an Exelon manager appear to have deliberately provided incomplete and inaccurate information to the NRC" regarding de-commissioning funds at 23 nuclear reactors at all 12 plants in the Exelon nuclear fleet, including the Limerick Generating Station.

In addition to Limerick, shortfalls were also identified at two other Pennsylvania plants - Peach Bottom and Three Mile Island - and two New Jersey power plants - Salem and Oyster Creek - as well as seven nuclear plants in Illinois.

Exelon disputes the NRC's findings, according to a spokesman.

Every two years, the NRC requires nuclear power plant operators to provide an update on the de-commissioning funds they are required to have available when power plants are closed down.

Most are trust funds that are invested and expected to grow at a rate adequate enough to provide the appropriate amount when the time comes to decommission a plant.

"These funds cover all costs associated with returning a nuclear site to pre-facility conditions and fund balances are tracked and reported using a complex and highly technical formula," David Tillman, Exelon's senior manager for nuclear communications in Kennett Square, wrote in response to questions.

"We review those filings to ensure the funds are growing at an appropriate rate so that there will be adequate funding when the time comes to dismantle the plant," added NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan, who emailed responses to questions.

There is an NRC-accepted formula for making those calculations.

"The total cost of decommissioning a reactor facility depends on many factors, including the timing and sequence of the various stages of the program, type of reactor or facility, location of the facility, radioactive waste burial costs, and plans for spent fuel storage. The NRC estimates costs for decommissioning a nuclear power plant range from $280 million to $612 million," according to information on the NRC website.

Currently, the operating license for Limerick's Unit 1 expires in 2024 and in 2029 for Unit 2.

However, the NRC is currently considering Exelon's request to extend those operating licenses another 20 years, meaning the funding of Unit 1's decommissioning might not become an issue until 2044.

According to the Jan. 31 NRC letter, provided to The Mercury, the amounts available for the Limerick Generating Station de-commissioning fund were below the NRC minimum in the 2005, 2007 and 2009 reports submitted to the NRC.

In a 2009 letter to Exelon, NRC indicated Limerick's shortfall alone was about $100 million.

In March of that year, "Exelon stated that several of its sites did not meet the NRC's minimum funding requirements, but it did not quantify the shortfalls," Sheehan wrote.

"Because NRC staff members responsible for this area were concerned with these shortfalls, they independently calculated the funds required under the NRC formula," Sheehan wrote. "The staff's initial evaluation concluded that eight of Exelon's plants had an aggregate shortfall of roughly $1 billion."

The staff then looked back over previous reports from 2005 and 2007 and "determined the amounts reported" in those years "were less than the formula amount required," he wrote.

NRC's Office of Investigations initiated its investigation on Sept. 10, 2010, and reviewed reports from 2001 to 2009.

According to the Jan. 31 letter, the NRC concluded that "based upon the evidence developed, the investigation did substantiate that a senior Exelon executive and an Exelon manager appear to have deliberately provided incomplete and inaccurate information to the NRC in Exelon's 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2009 DFS reports. These actions appear to have placed Exelon in violation of" NRC rules.

Sheehan said under the law, NRC cannot release the names of that executive and manager, but he did say they work in Exelon's corporate offices in Chicago.

"I can tell you it was the director of spent fuel and decommissioning and the manager of spent fuel and decommissioning," Sheehan wrote.

Attempts to confirm the identity of those officers Friday were unsuccessful.

Tillman responded to inquiries about the NRC's investigation by writing that Exelon disputes the NRC's findings.

"While Exelon Generation disputes the NRC's findings, we will continue to aggressively investigate this issue internally," Tillman wrote. "We are not aware of any evidence supporting a conclusion that Exelon employees performed or condoned deliberate misconduct or intentionally violated regulatory requirements."

Noting that "Exelon cooperated fully during the investigation," Tillman added that "Exelon acted in good faith when providing decommissioning funding date to the NRC, reporting timely and accurate information based on our understanding of the regulations."

He pointed out that "for each year of the reports at issue, the NRC reviewed the information provided by Exelon and either had no issue or made additional requests with which Exelon complied."

Tillman emphasized "at no time was Exelon unable to meets its decommissioning funding requirements."

Asked if NRC has ever taken this action before, Sheehan wrote that "we have not, to date, taken enforcement action over decommissioning trust fund updates."

According to the Jan. 31 letter, the "apparent violations of NRC requirements" found in the investigation "are being considered for escalated enforcement action."

However, before that happens "we request Exelon's participation in a pre-decisional enforcement conference," Ho K. Nieh, director of NRC's division of inspection and regional support, wrote in the letter.

This conference, which will be closed to the public, "will afford Exelon the opportunity to provide its perspective on the apparent violation and any other information that Exelon believes the NRC should take into consideration before making an enforcement decision," according to the letter.