Police identify suspect in threats that cancelled classes

YORK, PA. » Police say they have identified a middle school student who made threats that led a Pennsylvania school district to cancel classes for three days last week.

Springettsbury Police Chief Daniel Stump said Sunday the student is facing charges of terroristic threats and has been released into the custody of their parents.

The Central York School District cancelled classes Wednesday, Thursday and Friday following a series of threats posted on social media. The threats came in the wake of a Valentine’s Day shooting at a Florida high school that killed 17 people.

Stump says the York student was motivated by the desire to cancel classes.

Classes are scheduled to resume Monday under heightened security. Police say backpacks will not be allowed, and other bags may be subject to a search.

Police investigate damage to Nittany Lion Shrine

STATE COLLEGE, PA. » Police are investigating damage to a statue of the Pennsylvania State University mascot.

Authorities were called to the university around 4 a.m. Sunday to reports of damage to the Nittany Lion Shrine. Police say an ear was broken off and found nearby.

University police are working to determine if the damage was intentional or accidental. They have not said if the damage was connected to the weekend’s State Patty’s Day celebrations, an unofficial campus holiday that has led to several alcohol-related arrests and hospital visits in the past.

Classes resuming in district where fire destroyed 25 buses

SOUTH WHITEHALL, PA. » Schools are reopening in a Pennsylvania district where a fire destroyed more than two dozen school buses.

Classes were canceled after the fast-moving blaze broke out Friday at a Parkland school district garage in South Whitehall, near Allentown.

Authorities say at least 25 buses were destroyed in the blaze, which was roughly 25 percent of the district’s fleet. No injuries were reported.

The district was able to obtain temporary buses from two vendors, and its mechanics have repaired more than a dozen buses that had minor damage. The district also had eight reserve buses that will be used to transport students Monday.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. People who live near the site reported hearing explosions around that time.

Pennsylvania’s online voter registration hits 1M milestone

HARRISBURG, PA. » A voter from the Philadelphia suburbs is the 1 millionth person to register to vote or update their registration online since Pennsylvania’s online system began more than two years ago.

State officials said Monday that about 60 percent of those users were signing up to vote, while the rest were changing their name, address or party affiliation.

Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, who launched the system in August 2015, says the results reflect demand for election systems that are more secure, easier to navigate and help ensure their votes count.

Elections officials say online registration has reduced the workload and cost for county elections officials, which can be flooded with applications near registration deadlines.

Voters have until April 16 to register if they want to participate in the May 15 primary.

Woman pleads guilty in 2014 torture killing of ex-classmate

PITTSBURGH » A Pennsylvania woman has pleaded guilty in the torture killing of her former high school classmate almost four years ago.

Twenty-seven-year-old Jacquelyn Nuccetelli of Sharpsburg pleaded guilty Monday in Allegheny County to third degree murder, robbery and conspiracy and was sentenced to 12½ to 25 years in prison.

Prosecutors said she set up 23-year-old Andrew McMunn for an April 2014 robbery, believing he had the key to a work safe with “a lot of money inside.”

His body was found in South Oakland. An autopsy concluded that he died of head injuries and had 19 stab wounds, and it appeared someone tried to cut off his ear.

Nuccetelli had agreed to the same plea and sentence in December 2016 but later sought a jury trial, which was about to begin.

Mother sentenced to 2 to 6 years in boy’s death in bathtub

HARRISBURG, PA. » The mother of a year-old Pennsylvania boy who drowned after she left him and his toddler sister alone in a bathtub has been sentenced to two to six years in prison.

Twenty-six-year-old Kathryn Jacoby was sentenced last week in Dauphin County on earlier involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment pleas.

The child was pronounced dead at a hospital in August 2016. Authorities say Jacoby eventually acknowledged having left the children unattended while on the phone, and tests indicated that she had been drinking and using marijuana.

PennLive.com reported that she sobbed as she told the judge “I can’t describe the pain and regret I have.” The judge called her actions “grossly negligent.” Defense attorney Shawn Stottlemyer asked that she be allowed to be a mother to her surviving child.