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Toronto mayor says he's getting professional help

TORONTO (AP) -- Toronto Mayor Rob Ford announced Thursday he's getting help from health care professionals but again refused to step aside over his drug use and drinking. He also threatened to take legal actions against former staffers who spoke to police about his behavior and denied making sexual advances toward a female staffer.

The PE Sneak Peek: Nov. 14, 2013

Here's a look at the stories that are keeping our reporters busy Thursday: * A jury has decided the fate of a man charged with killing his friend in a crash. Our reporter was on hand for the verdict. See our online breaking report. * A woman drops abuse charges against her boyfriend so he can get out of jail to see his son. * Bigger and better by $7.5 million, a local supermarket unveils improvements.

3 Pa. students shot; suspect calls it retaliation

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Three Pittsburgh high school students heading to their vehicle after classes ended were shot Wednesday, and another student was charged and told police he was retaliating for being beaten during a drug-related robbery last month at school, police said. Anjohnito Willett Jr., 16, was charged as an adult and in custody late Wednesday on four counts each of attempted homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. He's also charged with illegally possessing a gun as a juvenile.

2 deer rescued from abandoned well in NE Pa.

SCRANTON (AP) -- Wildlife officials say two deer appear to be OK after being rescued from the bottom of an abandoned well in northeastern Pennsylvania. The Times-Tribune of Scranton reported Wednesday that a small-game hunter came across the two eight-point bucks on Tuesday in a seven-foot-deep well in Susquehanna County. The Game Commission says a wildlife conservation officer helped take apart a portion of the well, allowing rescuers to loop a rope around their antlers and pull them to safety.

Pa. man charged with assault after fight over eggs

WRIGHTSVILLE, Pa. (AP) -- Police say a central Pennsylvania man attacked his girlfriend after she would not eat the burned eggs he cooked for breakfast. The York Daily Record/Sunday News reported Wednesday that 41-year-old Marc Stephen Townsley of Wrightsville faces charges of simple assault and resisting arrest. Charging document allege Townsley threw the woman onto a coffee table and slapped her on Sunday morning. The paper says the victim had a cut on her cheek and her nose was red and swollen. Police say they used a stun gun to subdue him at the scene and again at the booking center.

The PE Sneak Peek: Nov. 13, 2013

Here's a look at the stories that are keeping our reporters busy Wednesday: * More than $81,000 that was supposed to pay for a woman's surgery disappeared. See who police charged with the thefts in our online report and look for our full story Thursday morning. * Town council started talking about holiday parking. Then, one councilman made a remark about women drivers. We'll tell you what happened next.

Images catch woman carrying alligator on train

CHICAGO (AP) -- After tracking down a small alligator scurrying around in a baggage claim area at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, authorities are now hunting for its traveling companion. The Chicago Transit Authority has released a series of images showing a woman who they believe rode to the airport on a CTA Blue Line train with the 2-foot-long gator in the early morning hours of Nov. 1.

Cops: Pa. county inmate sent water, bomb threats

ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) -- Police say a central Pennsylvania county jail inmate who learned computer skills in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard used a law library computer to send a bomb threat to the county's courthouse and another threatening the area's drinking water supply. The threats were hoaxes, but the charges 23-year-old Adam Hardin faces are felonies, in part because the Altoona Water Authority had to warn thousands of customers not to use their tap water for about two days last month before tests confirmed the water was safe.

Sarah Palin launches book tour in Bethlehem, Pa.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) -- Former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin launched a tour to promote her new book about restoring the religious spirit of Christmas in -- where else? -- Bethlehem Township, Pa. Wearing a custom-made sweatshirt with the slogan, "It's OK to wish me a Merry Christmas!" Palin greeted fans at a Barnes & Noble store in the eastern Pennsylvania city Tuesday evening. The (Easton) Express-Times reports the appearance drew more than 700 people to the store.

US doctors urge wider use of cholesterol drugs

The nation's first new guidelines in a decade for preventing heart attacks and strokes call for twice as many Americans -- one-third of all adults -- to consider taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs. The guidelines, issued Tuesday by the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology, are a big change. They offer doctors a new formula for estimating a patient's risk that includes many factors besides a high cholesterol level, the main focus now. The formula includes age, gender, race and factors such as whether someone smokes.