State briefs
Foundation to close PITTSBURGH (AP) – A foundation which has recognized top teachers in western Pennsylvania with cash awards is closing in July because of a lack of money.
The Teacher Excellence Foundation has awarded more than $1.5 million since 1992.
“We have tried everything,” said Robert Wolf, founder and benefactor. “We waited until the last minute for something to happen, but it didn’t.”
Its projected $500,000 operating budget is $200,000 short for next year. The foundation has been unsuccessful in searching for a corporate sponsor, said Christine Veverka, director of operations.
Previous awards dinners have cost more than $200,000 each, including about $63,000 in awards, according to the foundation’s financial records. The Teacher of the Year recipient this year received $20,000.
The foundation received more than 2,500 nominations this year for teachers in Allegheny, Beaver, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties.
Wolf, a retired businessman, spent $1.5 million of his own money on the foundation.
Man sentenced
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A man who hacked into the e-mail account of the Allegheny County judge who handled his divorce was sentenced to one year and one day in prison.
Chief U.S. District Judge Donetta W. Ambrose called Brian T. Ferguson, 43, of Baldwin, “a prime candidate for mental health counseling.” Ferguson will also be on supervised release for five years, during which time his computer use should be restricted or monitored, Ambrose said.
In April 2002, Ferguson gave Judge Kim D. Eaton copies of several e-mail messages she’d sent to family and relatives on her America Online account concerning her children. Eaton later testified she felt threatened when Ferguson presented her copies.
In January, Ferguson was found guilty of illegally accessing three of the judge’s personal e-mails.
At his sentencing Friday, Ferguson denied hacking into Eaton’s computer and said he was being followed by government agents.
Hunter faces charges
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) – A Port Matilda man faces a misdemeanor charge for allegedly shooting another hunter during turkey season.
Jeffrey Robert Frazier, 57, is charged with shooting at or causing serious injury to another person while hunting, a second-degree misdemeanor. If convicted, Frazier could lose his hunting privileges and be required to complete a vision test and hunter education course.
A Pennsylvania Game Commission report says Frazier fired a 20-gauge shotgun at Brian Wayne Mensinger, mistaking Mensinger for a turkey.
Mensinger survived but was hit by 22 shotgun pellets, receiving injuries to his head, face, right shoulder and right leg.
A preliminary hearing was scheduled for June 2.
Arson alleged
BRISTOL, Pa. (AP) – A Bucks County man was charged with setting fire to a home for recovering addicts hours after he was banned from the facility, police said.
Christopher Rivera, 32, was being held in the Bucks County prison on Friday night on $1 million bail, after the two-alarm blaze destroyed the home, police said. No one was hurt in the fire Thursday, due to the man’s efforts to extinguish the fire, authorities said
Along with charges of arson, criminal mischief, and trespassing, authorities intended to add 16 charges of reckless endangerment because Rivera had jeopardized the lives of neighbors, Detective Randy Morris said.
Police said the homes next door were moderately damaged.
“He apparently was having second thoughts about what he had done. We found him in the basement with a garden hose trying to put out the fire,” Morris said. “He also knocked on doors. If he hadn’t gone back, everyone in that house would have died.”
Police said flames and smoke severely damaged the two-story house, which is run by a private agency.
Rivera’s housemates told police they had kicked him out because he was a troublemaker, authorities said. The men were being placed by the state at different homes, police said.
Rivera told officers he started the fire by igniting paper in the basement with a lighter, police said.