HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The Pennsylvania State Police is graduating one of its larger classes, and it might be because of an effort to get prospective cadets accustomed beforehand to what 27 weeks of academy training is like. The agency graduated 103 cadets Friday. A spokesman says graduating classes are typically between 90 or 95 cadets. Starting with this class, its recruitment services section invited prospective cadets for a “cadet life tour” a few weeks before they reported to help cadets avoid washing out.

An Aliquippa pastor is marking a special milestone this weekend. 78-year-old Bishop Melvin E. Clark — and Aliquippa’s Church in the Round, the ministry he built in the city’s Plan 11 Extension neighborhood — will celebrate Clark’s 50 years as a church and community leader with services at the church this weekend. The celebration will be capped with a banquet in his honor on Monday. Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano has the story…

Two men from Georgia are in custody for their role in a multi-state and multi-county crime spree that hit Cranberry Township. Quentavious Price and Xavier Ferguson are accused of targeting mailboxes to steal checks from local businesses. According to police, the two would wash the checks and rewrite them before cashing them; the two were seen taking mail along Route 19 in Cranberry.

A South Beaver Township police officer is recovering after being attacked by a dog this week. It happened Wednesday afternoon as the officer was responding to a call on Cordak Drive. Officer Hannah Shepler had extensive wounds and was severely bitten, according to South Beaver Township’s chief of police speaking with the Beaver County Times. Another officer shot and killed the dog while it was on top of Shepler.

REPORTS OF SOME TEENAGERS CAUSING PROBLEMS AT THE BRADY’S RUN ICE ARENA IN BRIGHTON TOWNSHIP HAVE INSPIRED TALK OF POLICY CHANGES AT THE RINK. OVER THE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS, PUBLIC SKATES AT THE ICE RINK HAVE SEEN SOME LOITERING AND URULY BEHAVIOR BY TEENS. IT SEEMS THE PROBLEM IS THAT PARENTS ARE DROPPING OFF TEENAGERS FOR PUBLIC SKATE SESSIONS…BUT THE TEENS AREN’T SKATING; THEY’RE JUST HANGING OUT.  BEAVER COUNTY COMMISSIONER SANDIE EGLEY SAYS SHE HERSELF HAS WITNESSED DISRUPTIVE CHILDREN AT THE ARENA. COUNTY RECREATION DIRECTOR TIM ISHMAN SAYS THEY’RE GOING TO HAVE TO RE-EVALUATE HOW IT WILL HANDLE LOITERING AT THE ARENA THIS FALL – BEFORE PUBLIC SKATES BEGIN AGAIN.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania state lawmaker protesting a gas pipeline project in her neighborhood is apologizing for saying “Nazis were just doing their jobs too” in response to complaints that demonstrators were preventing workers from doing their jobs. Democratic Rep. Danielle Friel Otten said Thursday on Twitter that her language was insensitive and that she sincerely apologized. She earlier had accused oil-and-gas industry consultants of stirring up outrage and said the fight wasn’t with the workers.

Auditor General Eugene DePasquale says there are 245 backlogged rape kits in Pennsylvania that have not been tested. DePasquale says he’s working to get that count down to zero. The Auditor General says the goal for testing should be 15 days, but some of these kits are more than a year old. Since focusing on the issue three years ago, DePasquale says the issue has decreased by 90-percent.

Health officials are confirming four more cases of the measles in Allegheny County. The latest cases all come from the same family, with two kids and one adult visiting from overseas while the fourth person lives in Allegheny County. Representatives with the Allegheny County Health Department believe one of the patients visited an Enterprise Rental Car on the 22-hundred block of Babcock Boulevard Wednesday afternoon. The other public exposure could have been at Pittsburgh International Airport on the morning of Tuesday April 16th.

There are now only two people running on from prothonotary on the democratic side of the ticket in Beaver County. Ashley Trautman suspended her campaign Wednesday, according to the Beaver County Democratic Party. Because of the timing of the announcement, Trautman’s name will remain on the primary ballot, along with Michael Rossi and Sherri Zibaila.

New Castle police have arrested a suspect involved in the armed robbery of the Last Minute Mart on Wilmington Road earlier this week. According to the department’s Facebook page, 19-year-old Kevin Gardner of New Castle was arrested in a parking lot at an establishment on Croton Avenue.  A 16-year-old suspect was also arrested in connection with the robbery earlier this week. Gardner was arraigned and placed in the Lawrence County Jail on bond.