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There were no injuries Wednesday when two Pittsburgh Public Schools police officers disarmed a student who was carrying a loaded handgun in the hallway outside the cafeteria at Carrick High School, said school police Chief Robert Fadzen.

The 17-year-old was wanted on a warrant issued by city police for groping five female students in the school, Fadzen said. Officers Chistanne Gmys and Mark Williams took him from the cafeteria and into the hallway to arrest him when he became combative, Fadzen said.

When the officers saw him reaching to pull something from his pocket, they wrestled him to the floor, Fadzen said. Inside his pocket was a loaded .22-caliber handgun. No shots were fired. Fadzen said the teen faces a variety of charges including indecent sexual assault, resisting arrest and carrying a weapon on school property.

Oakland
Scientists discover rare mammal fossil

The fossil of an unusual species of mammal has been discovered in northeastern China by scientists from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology of China.

Named Akidolestes, the newly discovered creature was about 4 inches long, with triangular teeth designed for feeding on insects and worms.

Its skeleton is a "mosaic of structures" never before seen in a single animal, said Zhe-Xi Luo, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the museum.

"Metaphorically, this newly discovered fossil mammal has a forelimb posture and gaits like those of a squirrel, with elbows tucked under its body, but its hind-limb would be sprawling with a posture that is similar to a lizard," Luo said.

A report of the discovery is being published in the Jan. 12 edition of the prestigious British scientific journal Nature.

Pitt study: Drug can improve survival

An inhaled anti-rejection drug can dramatically improve survival after a lung transplant, according to a study conducted at the University of Pittsburgh and published in today's edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The four-year study led by lung disease specialists now at the University of Maryland in Baltimore tested an inhaled form of cyclosporine -- a drug widely used to prevent organ rejection -- on patients who had received lung transplants.

Patients who took the inhaled cyclosporine had a two-thirds reduction in chronic rejection compared to those who received an inhalable placebo along with traditional anti-rejection therapy, the study found.

"Inhaled cyclosporine is the first drug ever to show a decline in the incidence of chronic rejection -- the leading cause of death following a transplant," said lead author, Dr. Aldo Iacono, medical director of Maryland's lung transplantation program, in a statement.

East
Churchill
Local woman has $1 million raffle ticket

A local woman bought one of four winning $1 million New Year's Eve tickets sold in the Pennsylvania Lottery's first-ever raffle.

Rita Seaman, 76, of Churchill, bought the ticket at the Beulah Road Foodland in Wilkins, the Lottery announced Wednesday.

The Lottery sold all 500,000 of the $20 tickets in just under two weeks in November and December, a spokesman said.

The four winners will receive checks of $750,000, after taxes. Joseph Muglie of Sewell, N.J., and Marsa Albright of Martinsburg, Blair County, were the other announced winners. A fourth winning ticket, sold in Adams County, has not yet been verified.

North
McCandless
Second Democrat to challenge Hart

Jason Altmire, a Democrat from McCandless, on Wednesday announced his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives post held by Rep. Melissa Hart, a Bradford Woods Republican.

Altmire, 37, a former University of Pittsburgh Medical Center executive, will face New Castle, Lawrence County, businesswoman Georgia Berner, 63, in the May 16 Democratic primary. Berner announced her candidacy in October.

Hart, 43, is expected to seek a fourth two-year term.

At his announcement in Pittsburgh, Altmire told about 100 supporters that affordable health care would be one of his key issues. He was endorsed by representatives of building and trades unions in six Western Pennsylvania counties that include parts of the 4th Congressional District.

Shaler
Former police sergeant seeks Habay's seat

Randy Vulakovich, 55, a former Shaler police sergeant, announced he will seek the Republican nomination for the state House seat currently held by Rep. Jeff Habay, R-Shaler.

Vulakovich, who retired last year after a 27-year career in law enforcement, said he will support property tax and business tax reforms and measures to control state spending. He is married and has two children.

Shaler funeral director Frank Perman also is seeking the Republican nomination.

The 30th House District includes Shaler, Hampton, O'Hara, Fox Chapel and part of Ross.

Habay was convicted in December on a felony charge of conflict of interest for using state workers and resources in his campaigns. He is scheduled for sentencing Jan. 30.

Ross
Pedestrian injured crossing Route 19

A Greenfield man was injured Wednesday evening when he was struck by a vehicle as he was crossing Perry Highway in Ross, police said.

James Rodgers, 57, was crossing the highway, also known as Route 19, at Pines Plaza when he was struck at 6:08 p.m. by a sport utility vehicle, said Ross Patrolman Richard White, who conducts accident investigations in the community.

Rodgers was taken to Allegheny General Hospital on the North Side with pelvic and leg injuries, White said. The investigation is continuing.

span class="subhead">Region
Greene County
Jefferson man killed in house explosion

An explosion Tuesday night leveled a home in Greene County, killing one man.

Alan Dale Snyder, 41, of Jefferson Township, was killed in the blast at 11:55 p.m. Tuesday, state police said. Snyder was the only victim of the blast, which lifted the one-story home off its foundation and was felt more than a mile away, authorities said.

A state police fire marshal remained at the scene Wednesday morning trying to figure out what caused the blast in Jefferson Township, about 40 miles south of Pittsburgh.

Crews from Equitable Gas Co. were also on the scene, but said they couldn't find problems with gas piping or other infrastructure that would have caused the blast, a company spokesman said.

The man lived with his parents, who weren't home at the time of the explosion, authorities said.

Armstrong County
Secret Service probing case of runny money

The U.S. Secret Service is investigating a case of counterfeit money that was discovered during a traffic stop last week near the Armstrong County Courthouse in Kittanning.

Police said an officer stopped a vehicle for an equipment violation. When the driver and a passenger were asked to empty their pockets on the wet hood of the vehicle, the ink started to run from the bills.

Police Chief Ed Cassesse said hundreds of dollars in counterfeit bills apparently came from the computer of a man in Worthington. No charges will be filed until the investigation is completed.

However, the 19-year-old driver and two passengers from Pittsburgh were charged with a number of other crimes.

Accident kills woman after 29th birthday

A woman who celebrated her 29th birthday Tuesday was killed in a one-car accident early Wednesday, Armstrong County Coroner Robert T. Bower said.

Jane Elizabeth Mammo, who lives near Cowansville, was driving west along Route 85 in Valley Township when the vehicle crossed the center of the roadway and plunged over an embankment about 2 a.m., Bower said.

Mammo, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the vehicle, which landed on top of her, Bower said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Blair County
Tyrone man held in rape, murder

A Blair County man accused of killing a 6-year-old boy and raping his mother on Dec. 26 remains jailed without bond on criminal homicide and other charges.

Nathan T. Shaw, 25, of Tyrone, didn't comment at his arraignment this week in Blair County. Shaw is the estranged boyfriend of the boy's mother.

He is accused of stabbing the boy in the neck, then tying up the boy's mother and raping her before stealing her car, police said. Police in Oklahoma arrested Shaw a few days later, after Shaw reportedly crashed the car during a police chase.

Somerset County
Accused gunman withdraws plea

A Somerset County man who previously pleaded guilty in a fatal love triangle shooting has withdrawn his plea.

Robert K. Ohler, 34, of Rockwood, pleaded not guilty this week to charges of first-degree murder, criminal homicide and conspiracy for shooting Craig Alan Engle shortly after Thanksgiving 2003.

Ohler was having an affair with the live-in girlfriend of Engle, 46, police said. Prosecutors said Ohler went to Engle's house, poked a shotgun through a porch railing and shot him.

Ohler's previous attorney, Gary Gerson, was given permission to withdraw from the case last year after Ohler suggested that the lawyer tried to coerce him into pleading guilty to a general charge of homicide.

Washington County
Rig overturns, driver injured

A truck driver suffered minor injuries when his rig carrying steel coils overturned and burst into flames Wednesday along Interstate 70 near the Bentleyville exit in Washington County, emergency officials said.

The driver was taken to Ohio Valley Hospital in Kennedy for treatment following the accident at 7:25 p.m. The westbound lanes of the highway were closed for several hours.

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