UNDATED (AP) — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf says his administration will spend $3 million on a pair of studies to explore the potential health effects of the natural gas industry. Wolf is taking action after months of impassioned pleas by the families of pediatric cancer patients who live in the most heavily drilled region of the state. Dozens of children and young adults have been diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma and other forms of cancer in a four-county area near Pittsburgh.

A Utah woman charged with a crime after her stepchildren saw her topless in her own home…is fighting the case that could force her to register as a sex offender, pointing to a court ruling that overturned a topless ban in Colorado. Prosecutors counter that nudity is commonly understood to include women’s breasts…and that courts have upheld laws based on morality. But Tili Buchanan’s attorneys argue that Utah’s law on lewdness involving a child is unfair because it treats men and women differently for baring their chests. They are asking a judge to overturn her misdemeanor charges and declare that part of the law unconstitutional.

Today marks the 56th anniversary of the JFK assassination. Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano takes a look back at the events of that fateful day in history.  Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’s report…

A California woman has charges dropped against her in Beaver County Court. Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano has more. Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’s report…

(Photo of Ed Olkowski provided by Chris Shovlin)

The basketball court in the Midland Borough School District gymnasium… will be re-named in honor of a legendary coach. Beaver County Radio News intern Alex D’Itri spoke with Chris Shovlin to get the details…

We’re just one week away from the Beaver Light-Up Parade…and the organizers of the parade have come up with a compromise to the ‘no more tossing out candy’ controversy that has made headlines in recent weeks. Yvonne Connor of the Beaver Light Up Parade Committee tells Beaver County Radio News that for the safety of everyone involved in next  week’s event, participants in the parade may have their walkers hand out candy to the children during the parade. She says if you do not have a walker to pass out candy, then they ask you not to bring candy.

Currently in Pennsylvania, a police officer who sexually assaults a person who’s in custody can say it was consensual as a defense in court. A state Senator is sponsoring legislation to change that. Don Rooney has more…

Pennsylvania is one step closer to ensuring fair drug-pricing practices in the state’s Medicaid program… after the House unanimously passed legislation this week, sponsored by state Rep. Rob Matzie. House Bill 941 – which Matzie introduced earlier this year – would bring transparency to the pricing practices of pharmacy benefit managers in the state’s Medicaid program. Those third-party PBMs are responsible for deciding which drugs are covered by managed care plans and how much to reimburse the pharmacies that fill those prescriptions…

The bill now heads to the state Senate for consideration.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A bill to provide more time to file charges or lawsuits over sexual abuse is on its way to Pennsylvania’s governor. The House also Thursday sent legislation to invalidate confidentiality agreements that aim to keep child sexual abuse victims from talking to investigators. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf says he’ll sign the bills. The move capped a debate propelled by last year’s landmark grand jury report into child molestation by Roman Catholic priests.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor is vetoing a bill that would prohibit abortions because of a prenatal Down syndrome, a day after it passed the Republican-controlled Legislature. Gov. Tom Wolf rejected the legislation Thursday that had just passed the Senate on a near party-line vote. Pennsylvania law allows abortions up to 24 weeks of pregnancy for any reason except to select a gender. The bill would have added to that prohibition abortions over a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome.