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The PE Sneak Peek: Sept. 4

Here's a look at the stories that are keeping our reporters busy Wednesday: * Chocolate-covered bacon. Deep-fried gummy bears. A monkey that can read your mind? We take an early look at what's new at the Bloomsburg Fair. See some of the coming attractions here, and look for more Thursday morning. * A college student is cited after he flies off the handle during a discussion with a prof, police say.

Ohio man who held 3 women captive hangs himself in jail

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- The Cleveland man serving a life sentence for holding three women captive in his home for a decade hanged himself in his prison cell, officials said Wednesday in another startling twist in the case that appalled and transfixed the city. Ariel Castro, 53, was found hanging around 9:20 p.m. Tuesday at the state prison in Orient, said JoEllen Smith, a spokeswoman for the corrections system. Prison medical staff performed CPR before Castro was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Pa. child welfare adviser raped boy, cops say

CARMICHAELS, Pa. (AP) -- Police say a western Pennsylvania man who servers on a county Children and Youth Services advisory board has been charged with raping a boy. Authorities say 56-year-old John Robert Lohr of Carmichaels was arrested last week in West Virginia. Lohr allegedly held a knife to the boy's throat during some of the assaults that began in October, 2009. Carmichaels is about 50 miles south of Pittsburgh.

Pa. boy, 6, accidentally shoots brother, 8, cops say

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. (AP) -- An 8-year-old boy remains hospitalized after police say he was accidentally shot in the head by his 6-year-old brother in Cumberland County. Pennsylvania State Police responded to a 911 call from a Southampton Township home around 1 p.m. Sunday. The mother told state troopers there was a loaded revolver and loaded rifle next to the bed in the master bedroom where she was sleeping. Police said the woman told authorities she was sleeping and didn't hear the shooting but her younger son reported shooting his brother.

Teachers in 3 Pa. school districts go on strike

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Teachers in three Pennsylvania school districts went on strike Tuesday, while classes began as scheduled for many more of the state's roughly 1.7 million public school students. In northeastern Pennsylvania, members of the Old Forge Education Association in Lackawanna County began walking a picket line after negotiations broke down last week. No new talks were held over the weekend. "When your hand is forced, this is where you end up," said Shawn Nee, the union's vice president, said Tuesday.

The PE Sneak Peek: Sept. 3

Here's a look at the stories that are keeping our reporters busy Tuesday: * A judge has harsh words for a defendant in a sex-assault case. And jail time, too. Find out how much. * Mosquitoes are out in force, and spraying is set for Thursday in one town. * A man charged with beating a couple black-and-blue gets his day in court. * Did you lose some money lately? Local police have it, and they're looking for you. Look for these stories and more in tomorrow's edition of the Press Enterprise.

Woman attacks dog with 2-by-4, blinds canine, cops say

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A woman was charged with striking her neighbor's dog in the head with a board, blinding it. Tairon J. Luster, 22, was arguing with the neighbor Saturday in Pittsburgh when she hit the 20-pound miniature American Eskimo with a 2-by-4 while it was on a leash in the yard, authorities said. "She couldn't get to me so she whacked him as hard as she could," Rosalyn Reed told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The neighbors have been feuding for more than a year, Reed said. Reed said the 9-year-old dog, Saki, can't see and can hardly walk, but she hopes it will survive.

Cops: Dad of tot shot in stroller likely target

NEW YORK (AP) -- Police investigating the death of a 1-year-old boy shot in the head in his stroller said Monday they believe his father was the target. Authorities have some leads in the killing of Antiq Hennis on a Brooklyn street on Sunday night and believe his death may be gang-related, police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. Antiq's father, Anthony Hennis, has a criminal record and wasn't cooperating with police in their investigation, said Kelly, who didn't elaborate.

Lava lamps: 50 years old and still groovy

LONDON (AP) -- Call them '60s relics or hippy home accessories, lava lamps have been casting their dim but groovy light on interiors for half a century, having hit British shelves 50 years ago on Tuesday. A British company began marketing their original creation as an "exotic conversation piece" in 1963. Since then, millions of models of the much-copied invention have been sold worldwide. The design was created by British inventor Edward Craven-Walker, who was inspired by an odd-looking liquid-filled egg timer he saw in a pub in southwest Britain.

4 injured after minivan, horse collide in Pa.

PARADISE, Pa. (AP) -- Police say four people were injured, one critically, and a horse was killed after a minivan collided with the animal in central Pennsylvania. The (Lancaster) Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era says the minivan was heading west on Route 30 in Paradise Township in Lancaster County. State police said the driver apparently didn't see a horse running east in the same lane and struck the animal head-on, killing it, at about 11:30 p.m. Sunday. Police said the horse had broken away from a nearby gathering of Amish as the owners were trying to hitch it to their buggy.