Police in Butler County said a bank robbery suspect surrendered today after officers from multiple agencies tracked his getaway car.

A convicted sex offender from Wilkinsburg has been arrested on charges that he indecently assaulted a 10-year-old boy following a Christmas Eve party in White Oak.

Supporters of public transit fanned out across Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle today to seek support from riders for increased state aid.

Pitt running backs coach Eddie Faulkner has resigned and will become the tight ends coach at Wisconsin.

Sarris Candies' landmark retail store in Canonsburg will remain closed for about a month after last week's fire, but candy orders and deliveries to outside sellers continue uninterrupted.

Dormont Council President Bill McCartney confirmed today that borough manager Gino Rizza and solicitor Deron Gabriel have resigned.

The driver of an SUV that struck a city sanitation worker this morning in East Liberty told police she didn't see the man due to sun glare in her eyes.

HARRISBURG -- The Marcellus Shale legislation expected to come up for a vote this week is projected to raise more than $190 million in its first year, rising to $333 million by 2015.

Pittsburgh police are warning food delivery drivers to use caution and be alert after two drivers were robbed at gunpoint in as many days on the North Side.

An Allegheny County Common Pleas Court judge has issued a supplemental order compelling the county sheriff to oust all Occupy Pittsburgh protesters and tents from Mellon Green.

Jurors have found Democratic state Rep. Bill DeWeese, the onetime House speaker from Waynesburg, guilty on five of six felony counts.

Downtown-based Education Management Corp. has filed a muscularly written defense of the recruiter compensation practices for which it has been sued by the federal government and several states, in an effort to get that lawsuit dismissed.

Fire crews are on the scene of a North Versailles restaurant fire this afternoon that has been burning for over an hour.

The Port Authority has reopened the Wood Street station on the T, which had been closed because of a ventilation problem.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will push ahead with 168 construction projects in Allegheny, Beaver and Lawrence counties this year, including the start of a $49.5 million rehabilitation of the Squirrel Hill Tunnels.

Just a day after Super Bowl XLVI, two Pittsburgh-area residents and two Floridians today filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court accusing the National Football League of selling them tickets for unfinished seats at last year???s Super Bowl XLV.

Carlow University has received the largest gift in its history: $5 million from Rita M. McGinley, a 1940 alumna, honorary degree recipient and a Carlow Woman of Spirit.

It isn't often a cash-strapped local government can find a way to cut costs and at the same time improve the morale and productivity of its work force. The city of Pittsburgh has. The cost of providing health insurance to city employees rose nearly 16 percent from 2006 to 2007.

Evan Waxman was visiting a clinic in Hazelwood recently when he had an unsettling experience.

A deal between Republican lawmakers and Gov. Tom Corbett on a Marcellus Shale regulatory and impact fee measure is nearly complete, with summaries of the expected compromise plan circulating among lawmakers over the weekend. Top legislative and administration aides said action on that final plan could begin as soon as today.

C. Fred Fetterolf, a longtime civic leader who was the retired president of Alcoa, died Sunday from complications due to a stroke. He was 83.

PHILADELPHIA -- The public viewing is set for the former spiritual leader of Philadelphia's 1.5 million Catholics.

WTAE will broadcast the funeral Mass in Philadelphia for Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who served as Bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh from 1983 to 1987, at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday on thisTV Pittsburgh, the station's over-the-air digital subchannel, Channel 4.2.

Special events: VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System invites the public to participate in open-house activities Feb. 12-18 during the National Salute to Veteran Patients.

At Thursday morning's National Prayer Breakfast, President Barack Obama delivered a fascinating address, pointing out the shared values of the world's major religions while constantly referencing his particular Christian faith. One of the shared principles he cited repeatedly but grounded in "Jesus' teaching" was this familiar verse: "For unto whom much is given, much shall be required."

Margie Walls can't live a day without a "Jamie moment," when the sight of a woman's brown hair or a whiff of Tiffany perfume will flood her mind with memories of her daughter. But with memories come unending questions. "I mostly think about how she died and did she suffer?" Ms. Walls said, gazing at her daughter's grave. "Was she afraid? She probably was. ... I can feel her fear."

INDIANAPOLIS -- Two weeks of polishing the NFL legends of Eli Manning and Tom Brady into modern gunslinger monuments might have seemed prudent for an unprecedented collision of Super Bowl MVPs, but the result wasn't terribly artistic until both quarterbacks finally drew their weapons late in a breathtaking Super Bowl.

Gov. Tom Corbett delivers a budget address to the General Assembly Tuesday, touting his spending plan and policy agenda for Pennsylvania in 2012-13. Normally, The Morning File would have sources feeding us advance dope (no pun intended) about the governor's announcements.

Listen to Richard Egarr speak about the harpsichord and you might think he picked the wrong instrument. At his concerts, recitals and in interviews, he talks as much about the lute as he does the baroque keyboard instrument. But the British musician has good reason, and good reasoning.

According to one poll released last week, 55 percent of U.S. adults said they planned to tune in to Sunday's Super Bowl as much or more for the commercials than for the game. If that's true, and if those viewers also spend any time on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter, odds are this was a pretty disappointing year for them.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Eli Manning is elite, for sure. A king of comebacks, too. And far, far more than Peyton's little brother now. Spot-on from beginning to end, Eli Manning won his second NFL championship -- and second Super Bowl MVP award -- for leading the New York Giants to a 21-17 victory against the New England Patriots.

In early 2010, in an effort to ease the burden of the state's prison system, Gov. Ed Rendell announced that Pennsylvania would contract with Michigan and Virginia to move 2,000 low-risk inmates to facilities in those states.

The United States proposed an international coalition to support Syria's opposition Sunday after Russia and China blocked a U.N. attempt to end nearly 11 months of bloodshed, raising fears that violence will escalate. Rebel soldiers said force was now the only way to oust President Bashar Assad, while the regime vowed to press its military crackdown.

After 31 years of providing day care for elderly people as an alternative to a nursing home, Vintage Senior Services in East Liberty is phasing out that service through June. It will continue to operate as a senior center. The cost of adult day care has outpaced the flat funding levels of recent years, executive director Ann Truxell said.

On Tuesday Gov. Tom Corbett will present his budget proposals to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Since last year's budget was presented only days after he took office, this year's budget proposals will truly begin to define his vision for Pennsylvania and put his unique stamp on how the commonwealth addresses its critical and daunting issues.

For the first time in nearly two decades of escalating tensions over Iran's nuclear program, world leaders are genuinely concerned that an Israeli military attack on the Islamic Republic could be imminent -- an action that many fear might trigger a wider war, terrorism and global economic havoc.

By court order, Occupy Pittsburgh must get off BNY Mellon Green by today, but while many of the tents were removed Sunday, it was not clear whether all of the protesters would be gone. Matt Wheeler, for one, said Sunday he was not taking down his tent.

NEWARK, N.J. -- The Penguins won't have to conduct an in-depth evaluation to figure out what went wrong in this one. Not when their No. 1 goalie -- the guy who has been so good, for so much of this season -- was out of the game in less than 23 minutes.

The city of Seattle has been working behind the scenes the past eight months with a hedge-fund manager to bring an NBA team back to town -- possibly as early as next fall if the Sacramento Kings fail to get a satisfactory deal for a new arena, newly released documents show. The city Friday turned over the documents to The Seattle Times under a public records request.

While her new boyfriend/producer Justin Vernon was preparing to make his "Saturday Night Live" debut with Bon Iver on Saturday, Kathleen Edwards was working another sold-out crowd at the Rex Theater. "SNL" ought to look her up sometime, because Kittythefool, as fans know her on Twitter, is the one with the range. Case in point was "A Soft Place to Land."

Joining a research consortium can benefit large and small companies, especially in areas in which a business believes it is at a competitive disadvantage. A research consortium is a cooperative arrangement among groups or institutions to conduct research into a particular science or technology that is of interest to all the parties.

If you haven't started looking for Mars in the evening sky, this week is a good time to start. After a two-year absence in the spotlight, the Red Planet, currently located in Leo, will soon take center stage when it arrives at opposition with the sun on March 3. Mars will rise about 8:30 tonight and will climb to about 25 degrees above the eastern horizon by 10:30.

We're increasingly made up of artificial parts. More than 2 million Americans have received implanted pacemakers or defibrillators, for instance. More than 100,000 use insulin pumps. And hundreds of people have received bone growth stimulators during spinal fusion surgery.

At 71, five-time Grammy award winner and music legend Dionne Warwick is still on the move. To celebrate her golden anniversary in the music business, she has embarked on a world tour that will take her to six continents. It is a long way from East Orange, N.J., where her roots in gospel music began at age 6.

Attention local schools, health centers, charities and nonprofits: Could you use the services of a well-trained public health or health care paraprofessional? If so, the Pittsburgh Health Corps, an affiliate of the national AmeriCorps program, has got a deal for you. PHC will provide you with the services full time of a paraprofessional for 46 weeks between September 2012 and July 2013.

Pam Pezzin of Freeport was walking in the woods on a winter day back around 1989 when she broke out in hives all over her body, including her stomach, arms, legs and face. Over the years, she continued to break out in bumps when it was cold outside, and she suffered from symptoms of asthma, too. She had a period of remission, but the reactions resumed about 10 years ago.

If you want to figure out why Newt Gingrich is still out there grasping for lost power, howling at the moon like King Lear, look to Callista. You can find her anytime standing statue-still on stage next to Newt as he speaks, gazing at him with such frozen attentiveness that she could give a master class to Nancy Reagan.

The worst day of Sugar Bear's 55 years was one of the days -- there have been many of them -- when he got out of prison. In the early 1990s, in a prison where persons whose sentences have ended and are being released, and who see those whose sentences are just beginning, he saw one of his sons coming in.

Just as the state Supreme Court is stepping into the modern era by tweeting its rulings and allowing TV broadcasts of some sessions, its rules panel wants to take a big step backward.

The Congressional Budget Office has not been in the habit of handing out valentines, and so it was last week when it offered its latest annual outlook on the federal government's economic health.

At the height of his popularity in the early 1970s, "Soul Train" creator Don Cornelius was more influential as far as young people were concerned than Congress, the president or the press.

In his Jan. 30 column "Onward Civilian Soldiers," George F. Will proceeds to read President Barack Obama's mind, finding him "aspiring to command civilian life."

On an afternoon when another New York team was on the minds of many fans at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers did their best to emulate the Giants by physically wearing down Philadelphia Flyers.

NEWARK, N.J. -- It used to be all about the numbers with Ilya Kovalchuk. Well, some of the numbers, anyway. Mostly, goals. To some extent, assists. Plus-minus? Uh, not really. But Kovalchuk, a New Jersey winger who scored one goal and set up two others in the Devils' 5-2 victory against the Penguins Sunday at Prudential Center, is a different player these days.

Canon-McMillan will have the numbers 4 and 93 in mind when it makes a third consecutive appearance in the PIAA Class AAA team tournament Thursday at Giant Center in Hershey, Pa. District 3 champion Central Dauphin (20-0) has won four consecutive PIAA Class AAA titles, which ties it with Easton for the state record for the most titles.

Leave it to the biggest player on Miami's roster to put the Hurricanes on his back and carry them to their most impressive victory in quite a while. Reggie Johnson, 6 feet 10, 284 pounds, scored five of his career-high 27 points in overtime of Miami's 78-74 upset of No. 7 Duke Sunday in an Atlantic Coast Conference clash at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Darryl Bryant's 3-pointer with just over a second left in overtime gave West Virginia an 87-84 victory Sunday against Providence in a Big East Conference game at Dunkin' Donuts Center. The two teams exchanged leads throughout the extra period, and Providence's Gerard Coleman made 1 of 2 free throws to tie it at 84-84 with 10 seconds left.

Penn State coach Coquese Washington had a simple message to her team: The game is long, so have some patience and keep playing. That's exactly what happened Sunday afternoon. Because despite making only one of their first 18 shots and trailing by 15 points in the first half the No. 19 Lady Lions (18-5, 8-3 Big Ten) rallied for a 68-65 victory at Minnesota (12-13, 4-7).

Tray Woodall keeps getting better, and Pitt keeps on winning. There are more intricate details involved in Pitt's four-game winning streak for sure, but Woodall's stellar play is just about all one needs to know as the Panthers continue their late push for an NCAA tournament berth.

After a blockbuster few months, the race for the Republican presidential nomination may be about to hit the snooze button. The closely watched early states are done, and the competition has whittled down to a hardy four candidates. The next landmark day is a month off -- March 6, otherwise known as Super Tuesday.

The long, bizarre case of a Utah wife missing for two years took a horrific turn Sunday when a powerful house explosion killed the woman's husband and his two young sons, moments after the boys arrived for a visit that was supposed to be supervised by a social worker. Authorities say the husband, Josh Powell, blew the house up on purpose.

A suicide bomber detonated his vehicle Sunday at a police parking lot in central Kandahar, killing at least seven people, including five police officers and a child, in the fourth attempted suicide bombing in this southern city in less than a month.

Egyptian investigators filed criminal charges Sunday against at least 40 international civil society workers, reportedly including the son of a U.S. Cabinet secretary, in a case that could cost the ruling generals more than $1 billion in U.S. aid.

Subzero cold combined with snowstorms continued to claim lives across Europe, bringing the death toll to more than 280 by Sunday. Most of the victims were in Ukraine, where 30 more people died over the weekend.

Calvary Episcopal Church in Shadyside is being considered for the National Register of Historic Places. The board of the state historic preservation office will consider on Tuesday whether to recommend the late Gothic Revival-style cathedral built in 1907 for the register. Its recommendation then would be considered by the National Park Service, which oversees the register.

The city of Pittsburgh will collect a new tax for the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh beginning this year, but how much the latter has to pay for that service is a matter of discussion. City and library officials will meet today to iron out cost-sharing and other logistical details for collecting the library tax that voters approved in a November referendum.

PPG Industries has been selling house paint high in lead content in the African nation of Cameroon for years, and although it says it stopped production of that paint late last year, it has rejected a request that it recall or accurately label its lead paints now selling in stores there.

Wind turbine manufacturer Gamesa, a Spanish company with a manufacturing plant in Ebensburg, Cambria County, is working with the Department of Energy to transform wind power technology, making it cheaper and more reliable. If the project is successful, it could lead to the next generation of wind turbines, officials said.

BLUFF: The Duquesne University Christian-Muslim Dialogue Committee will host a symposium, "Building Interreligious Relationships," from 4 to 6:30 p.m. in the Africa Room on the third floor of the Duquesne Union. The symposium will focus on women and minorities in interreligious dialogue.

As Eleanor Bailey was helping to plan funeral services for her father, William R. Bailey Jr., she ran across a saying that immediately made her think of him. "If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way," it read.

Kyle Stanley rebounded from a devastating loss to win the Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, Ariz., overcoming an eight-stroke deficit Sunday in a comeback as unlikely as his collapse a week ago at Torrey Pines.

I'm happy for the Giants' Tom Coughlin, who, in any given season, goes from coaching for his job to coaching in the Super Bowl. I'm happy for America, which, for one day, shows the world it still is the No. 1 superpower for spectacle and sport. And, of course, I'm happy that the somewhat evil Patriots lost.

Last year, Donate Life America, the nonprofit that advocates for people to donate their organs, reached an important, 5-year-old goal.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Mario Manningham is no longer the New York Giants' forgotten receiver. Manningham emerged from the shadow of Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz with a catch that will rival David Tyree's Super Bowl helmet grab four years ago, helping the Giants knock off the New England Patriots, 21-17, in the NFL championship game Sunday.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw looked back, saw no one chasing him, and paused at the goal line. Could it really be this easy to score the winning touchdown in a Super Bowl game?

INDIANAPOLIS -- It's still two years away, but there should be optimism that a cold-weather Super Bowl in northern New Jersey in 2014 won't be a frigid one -- at least based on the past two years. Once again, the weather Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., was perfect for a Super Bowl: sunny, with temperatures around 40 degrees and almost no wind.

INDIANAPOLIS -- In a town that Peyton Manning once owned, little brother Eli ran off with the bacon again.

Lots of people love their cellphones. Facebook, so far, is not a big fan.

PARIS -- European activists who participated in American Internet protests last month learned that there was political power to be harnessed on the Web. Now they are putting that knowledge to use in an effort to defeat new global rules for intellectual property.

BERLIN -- As Wall Street prepares for a record, multibillion-dollar initial stock sale from Facebook, the social networking site, a meeting with the potential to shape the economics of the deal was set to take place Monday in Vienna.

WASHINGTON -- Members of Congress may no longer be able to direct federal money to projects back home because of a moratorium on legislative earmarks, but that has not stopped them from trying.

WASHINGTON -- For Brad Woodhouse, the spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, it was when he came across a Twitter post about a CNN interview in which Mitt Romney seemed to shrug off concern for the very poor.

LAS VEGAS -- The morning after losing to Mitt Romney by 25 points in the Nevada caucuses, Newt Gingrich did not sound very conciliatory.

The husband and the two young sons of a missing Utah woman died on Sunday at the husband's home in Washington State in what appeared to be an intentional explosion, the authorities said.

The next time people try to tell you how much the data-driven education reform programs of President George W. Bush (No Child Left Behind) and President Obama (Race to the Top) have raised academic standards in America, suggest that they take a look at the Jan. 24, 2012, New York State English Regents exam.

President Obama said Sunday that he did not believe Israel was preparing to attack Iran to disrupt its nuclear program and that diplomacy remained the "preferred solution" to resolving the standoff over what Western leaders believe is Tehran's pursuit of nuclear weapons.

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- The collapse of diplomatic efforts to mediate Syria's uprising reverberated across the country Sunday, emboldening a government that pressed on with a crackdown in the capital's suburbs and the north and prompting rebel leaders to vow that only force would drive President Bashar al-Assad from power.

WASHINGTON -- British and Pakistani journalists said Sunday that the C.I.A.'s drone strikes on suspected militants in Pakistan have repeatedly targeted rescuers who responded to the scene of a strike, as well as mourners at subsequent funerals.

ATHENS -- Pushed against the wall by its foreign lenders, the Greek government agreed on Sunday to drastic new spending cuts but failed to complete an arrangement that would unlock the financing the country needs to prevent default. It agreed instead to resume talks on Monday.

ABBEVILLE, France -- This small city in northern France has few immigrants and little crime. But in the last local elections here, the candidate of the far-right National Front eliminated the standard-bearer of President Nicolas Sarkozy's party in the first round of voting and then won 30.2 percent of the vote in the runoff, losing to a Socialist.

CAIRO -- Egypt's military-led government said Sunday that it would put 19 Americans and two dozen others on trial in a politically charged criminal investigation into the foreign financing of nonprofit groups that has shaken the 30-year alliance between the United States and Egypt.

JERUSALEM -- Israelis like to say that when it comes to military and security operations, those who know don't talk, and those who talk don't know. But the intense and increasingly public debate about whether to attack Iran's nuclear facilities is challenging that piece of conventional wisdom.

GAZA -- Initial Palestinian reports late Sunday indicated that the leaders of the rival Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas might have found a way to break a long political deadlock by forming an interim unity government that would be led, at least at first, by Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority based in the West Bank.

BAMAKO, Mali -- In life, he delighted in fomenting insurgencies in the African nations to the south. And in death, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi is doing it all over again.

WASHINGTON -- On his second yearlong deployment to Afghanistan, Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis traveled 9,000 miles, patrolled with American troops in eight provinces and returned in October of last year with a fervent conviction that the war was going disastrously and that senior military leaders had not leveled with the American public.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- A suicide bomber detonated his vehicle at a police parking lot in central Kandahar on Sunday, killing at least seven people, including five police officers and a child, in the fourth attempted or successful suicide bombing there in less than a month.

INDIANAPOLIS -- The New York Giants thwarted the New England Patriots for the second time in four years with a fourth-quarter comeback to snatch the Super Bowl and history from Tom Brady's hands.

With Valentine's Day right around the corner, people everywhere are preparing to ignite, rekindle or fan the flames of love. While chocolate, jewelry and roses are popular ways to say "I love you," other species are also feeling amorous and preparing to perform their own courtship rituals.

Tray Woodall scored a career high 29 points and Ashton Gibbs added 24 to lead Pitt to a 79-70 victory against Villanova this afternoon at the Petersen Events Center.

Ilya Kovalchuk scored one goal and assisted on two others to lead New Jersey to a 5-2 victory today over the Penguins at the Prudential Center.

Some members of the grassroots protest movement known as Occupy Pittsburgh appear this morning to be pulling out of their encampment on BNY Mellon's property. Others appear determined to remain at the site along Grant Street, where they have been since October.

It took a high-speed chase, a pursuit on foot, and a scuffle, but two McKees Rocks police officers on routine patrol spotted a car jacking in progress and arrested a suspect.

The visitors have been coming at a steady trickle, reverent, bemused, squinting at the crabbed handwriting in the anguished letters from his American tour ("They will never leave me alone ... I shake hands every day ... with five or six hundred people"), the missives on mesmerism, philanthropy, storytelling, Christmas books and his own manic energy.

Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney cruised to victory in the Nevada caucuses Saturday night, notching a second consecutive triumph against a field of rivals suddenly struggling to keep pace.

One was a young businessman, the other an honors high school student. Their paths never crossed, but Jonny Gammage and Jordan Miles are inextricably linked as black men who were injured, one fatally, while being subdued by white police officers.

Walt Whitman -- giant of Americana, author of "Leaves of Grass" and portrayed in voice by Garrison Keillor in Ken Burns' "The Civil War" -- is celebrated today as a champion of individual freedom, the pleasures of the senses and a love of nature. Yet Whitman made a much different mark on our country during the Civil War, as a nurse's aide and hospice caregiver.

Three hundred and fifty years ago, using the wrong pronouns in Massachusetts could land you in hot water. If you were a Quaker living in a Massachusetts Bay settlement circa 1660, your transgressive language would have made you a target for the governing Puritans. Quakers rejected the hierarchical pronoun system that required ye, you and your to be used as a sign of deference to superiors.

The august Morgan Library in midtown Manhattan houses the second largest collection of manuscripts and letters after the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, including the original manuscript of "A Christmas Carol," one of only a handful of Dickens' original works located outside Britain, said Declan Kiely, the Robert H. Taylor Curator of Manuscripts at the library.

LAS VEGAS -- Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino executive keeping Newt Gingrich's presidential hopes alive, has relayed assurances to Mitt Romney that he will provide even more generous support to his candidacy if he becomes the Republican nominee, several associates said in interviews.

Mark Clayton Southers has been working on "The Gammage Project" for two years and directing the play through rehearsals as it readies for a Thursday opening. There was a moment when he let his actors do some freestyle acting, just to have a little fun, before getting back to the play. "That's going to be the most fun we have," he said. "It's a real tough piece."

Firefighters battled a blaze in Bridgeville this morning that destroyed an apartment building and spread to a neighboring structure.

Two Beaver County residents were hurt Saturday in a car crash blamed on speed.

Mike Tomlin calls it the sticky Lombardi because of all the handprints that stick to the trophy after the NFL commissioner awards it to the new Super Bowl champions.

The reassessment of Pittsburgh treated expensive land and buildings gently, while overestimating the values of low-priced properties. The Allegheny County-run reassessment fell far short of the goal of distributing the tax burden fairly among owners of high-dollar properties and residents of modest homes.

His first state budget proposal and its billion dollars in cuts brought months of angry outcry from students, labor unions, Democrats and the physically disabled. This year? Expect more of the same.

Rookie Kyrie Irving made a driving layup in traffic with 15.8 seconds left to give the Cleveland Cavaliers a 91-88 victory against the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks Saturday night at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

NEW YORK -- Every horse in the world can be traced to a single mare that trotted the earth about 130,000 to 160,000 years ago, scientists have discovered for the first time.

WASHINGTON -- The United States' plan to wind down its combat role in Afghanistan a year earlier than expected relies on shifting responsibility to Special Operations forces that hunt insurgent leaders and train local troops, according to senior Pentagon officials and military officers. These forces could remain in the country well after the NATO mission ends in late 2014.

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran began ground military exercises Saturday and defiantly warned that it could cut off oil exports to "hostile" European nations as tensions rise over suggestions that military strikes are an increasing possibility if sanctions fail to rein in the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.

A U.N. Security Council effort to end the violence in Syria ended in acrimony and a veto by Russia and China on Saturday, hours after the Syrian military attacked the ravaged city of Homs in what opposition leaders described as the bloodiest government assault in the nearly 11-month-old uprising.

PUEBLO, Colo. -- On a summer night not long ago, Maureen White sat alone in her living room staring at a DVD she had avoided watching for years. On the screen was her older brother, Richard Paul White, the person who taught her how to ride a bike and who tried to protect her from their mother's abusive boyfriend when they were children. He was confessing to murdering six people.

Attorneys representing a man who was sentenced to death more than two decades ago in the murder of a waitress in Fayette County are trying to stop prosecutors from retrying the defendant.

An official says a fire early Friday morning at the Sarris Candies factory in Canonsburg destroyed nearly 20,000 pounds of chocolate.

Marcus Denmon hit three 3-pointers in the final 2:05, the final one for the go-ahead points, as No. 4 Missouri fought off No. 8 Kansas, 74-71, Saturday night in a Big 12 Conference showdown at Mizzou Arena in Game 1 of what could be the schools' final border showdown.

Stefanie Dolson scored 16 points, Tiffany Hayes had 14 and No. 3 Connecticut defeated 13th-ranked Rutgers, 66-34, Saturday for its 98th consecutive home victory. The Huskies (21-2, 9-1 Big East) grabbed control with a 17-0 run midway through the first half. Hayes got the run started with eight consecutive points.

It is often the case that networks in the most dire straits take the wildest swings. ABC unleashed "Twin Peaks" during a ratings downturn and NBC's early 1980s desperation allowed for the creative rebirth of the network with "Hill Street Blues," "Cheers" and "The Cosby Show."

"I think the first day in August was so beautiful. They came in their uniforms. You could see the expectations that things were going to be different. We're really going to focus on our learning," she said. But when the school opened ...

A list of the best-selling fiction and nonfiction titles.

Krys Lee's stories in her debut collection, "Drifting House," occupy spaces between, and her characters -- immigrants and refugees, families and lovers -- are nomads of time, place and culture. They make a keen observation of the layers of Korean society the past few generations, and of the dualities that have shaped the peninsula and its people

Considering how many books on pro football are released every year, it's eye-opening that a definitive biography of the best man ever to take a snap from center has never been published. That man, of course, is Bart Starr, and if you didn't know that, then it is especially important that you read "America's Quarterback" by Keith Dunnavant, the most important book on pro football this season.

The cover image of Georgia Pellegrini's "Girl Hunter" is fashioned after those old master portraits, the purpose of which is not so much to show what someone looks like, but to display who they are.

Outdoor enthusiasts who traverse the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail are hiking, skiing and snowmobiling for joy. They are celebrating the Jan. 28 completion of a new bridge that spans the Pennsylvania Turnpike and rejoins the 70-mile trail stretching along Laurel Mountain from the Youghiogheny River at Ohiopyle to the Conemaugh Gorge near Johnstown.

The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) marks its 15th anniversary Feb. 17-20. Coordinated by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and several partners, the GBBC is a great opportunity for anyone to become a weekend "citizen scientist." The GBBC enlists birders of all skill levels in an effort to keep common birds common.

When Mother Nature can't provide stable skating ice, try Mt. Lebanon Park.

Saturdays: Family Nature Hour. Powdermill Nature Reserve, Rector. Nature stories, outdoor exploration of trails. Free, 1 p.m.

Elyse Eshelman, 16, Shaler Area High School

Tons of coal

On a beautiful fall day in New York, Christian Borle was thinking of Pittsburgh. He had expected to return to his hometown, but filming episodes of the new NBC series "Smash" was demanding his time. "Where in Pittsburgh are you so I can imagine it?" he asked. When I told him I was near the Point, he said, "Ah. I really, really wanted to come back for Thanksgiving."

Maya Lin entered the national consciousness in 1982 when she won a competition to design the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., while an undergraduate at Yale University. Three decades later, Ms. Lin has moved well beyond that early honor to become a globally engaged environmental advocate.

This recipe gives you a chance to improve on the quality of classic football fare, taking typically deep-fried, or at least heavily breaded Jalapeno Poppers (as my wife loves them) and turns them into something a little more classy.

The National Ski Areas Association reports the 2010-11 season had the most skier/snowboarder visits on record -- 60.54 million, thanks to "an improving economy and snowfall totals 27 percent above average" at ski resorts nationally. Local, regional and national ski areas would appreciate just an average amount of snow this season.

Unseasonably warm weather across the Midwest and Northeast this winter has dealt a blow to local and regional resorts for the first half of the snowsports season, delivering less natural snow and sustained snowmaking temperatures than in most years.

It was an offer I couldn't turn down: An invitation to share a house here with three longtime ski companions and an opportunity to conduct some "product evaluation" at three snow- and sun-blessed New Mexico resorts.

In a heated presidential campaign, politicians have, like clockwork, started hitting each other over who is soft on crime. And here I thought we'd outgrown the Willie Horton era of playing political football with people's lives.

Writing at Media Matters for America, Eric Boehlert accuses Fox News of destroying the Republican Party's chances of recapturing the White House: "More and more despondent conservatives are expressing alarm over the unfolding Republican primary season and what they see as the party's dwindling chances of defeating President Obama in November," Mr. Boehlert wrote.

In 1890, the Supreme Court upheld a federal law that abolished the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' corporate charter and authorized the U.S. government to seize its property. This collective punishment was constitutional, the court ruled, because the Mormons' crime, polygamy, was "barbarism" and "contrary to the spirit of Christianity."

Over the past 15 years, abundant scientific evidence has accumulated that shows America's schoolchildren are chronically sleep deprived, and it is affecting their learning, mood, safety and health. Furthermore, the general trend is only worsening, with children of all ages receiving, on average, about one hour per night less sleep than their peers a generation ago.

When I went to serve as U.S. ambassador to India in 2009, I hoped to learn more about that country's vibrant democracy and our shared values. I gained an additional benefit while overseas: I learned that America is still deeply admired around the world and the place where many people want to live out their dreams.

A kickoff reception for the exhibit "A City of Rhythm: A Tribute to African American Music in Pittsburgh" will be held in the lobby of the City-County Building, Downtown, at 6 p.m. The reception, which is free and open to the public, will include refreshments, a performance by singer/songwriter Joy Ike and comments by those involved with the city's Black History Month celebration.

Chris Bell, 25, was named to Forbes magazine's 30 Under 30 list, along with more famous names like LeBron James and actor Jonah Hill, Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck and actress Chloe Moretz. The Carnegie Mellon graduate describes himself as a game artist with formal training in game and graphic design.

Question: My boss recently moved my desk so that I would be farther away from my co-worker, "Tamara." Tamara's annoying behavior causes me to react, and our conflicts have been getting progressively worse.

The conventional wisdom for both male and female employees when it comes to shedding tears in front of co-workers in the workplace is: Don't do it. Things can go wrong and difficult issues can come up at work, but most workplace consultants agree that crying is not the best way to deal with job-related stress.

I have to reply to Evan Harr's letter ("Pittsburgh Transit Woes Are Not My Problem," Jan. 29). It appeared to be another shortsighted rant from a non-Pittsburgher or non-Port Authority user who doesn't feel he has to solve "our" problems. First, public transportation exists to move people, not to turn a profit.

"A Tale of Two Cities" illustrated how starkly different were the views in London and Paris of the French Revolution. There's a similar gulf between Democrats and Republicans on economic policy

The good news is that the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation has seen the error of its way and reversed its plans to eliminate grants to Planned Parenthood. The bad news is how it lost sight of its mission to begin with.

There was a discredited president, distrusted by his own party, portrayed by even his fondest allies as a disappointing underachiever. There was an eastern governor, decorated with breathtaking academic credentials and a star turn in the non-profit sector, mounting a serious challenge.

"In retrospect,'' Bill DeWeese told me over dinner last June, "I should have been more administratively punctilious.'' That's the way Mr. DeWeese always has spoken in his 35 years representing Pennsylvania's southwest corner in the state House.

Stacy Innerst is the artist. You are the caption writer. Take part in our contest.

As the country split in two, President Abraham Lincoln was determined to hold onto the border areas, including his native state of Kentucky. "I hope to have God on my side, but I must have Kentucky," he is reported to have said during the early days of the conflict. James A. Garfield, an Ohio schoolteacher turned lawyer turned soldier, helped him keep it.

A Lancaster County hunter has been treated for rabies after field dressing a deer Jan. 20 in Valley Township, Chester County. The deer later tested positive for rabies. "The hunter contacted us about his concerns that the deer was unfit for human consumption," said John Veylupek, a wildlife conservation officer for the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

Managing wildlife is a tricky business. It's tough enough for trained biologists to come up with management plans the public supports, but when the non-hunting public gets involved, look out. In May 2010, three elk escaped from a private captive facility owned by George Richter of Aleppo, Greene County.

BELLEFONTE, Pa. -- The limestone streams of central Pennsylvania famously pour from the ground at precisely the cool temperatures favorable to trout. But on a chilly January mountain morning on Spring Creek, the brown trout waited for some warming sunlight to break through the clouds.

It would make sense, of course. When a guy's medical records from a 13-month period look like Sidney Crosby's do, making a few adjustments might seem prudent. Might seem, for example, like a good time to spend some more time out on the perimeter.

The image of the first day of school at the new Pittsburgh Westinghouse 6-12 in Homewood still sticks in one teacher's mind. "I think the first day in August was so beautiful. They came in their uniforms. You could see the expectations that things were going to be different. We're really going to focus on our learning," she said.

Question: I have wondered (for quite some time now) about advice for someone who wants to be able to create movies or still photos and then add music to them.

Every January, the Consumer Electronics Show comes. From December through the end of January, the emails arrive touting products that are going to set the world on fire starting with their great launches at the show. Now that the onslaught has settled down, I looked at my bulging inbox.

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- A Teaneck, N.J., shoemaker has joined with a California technology company to create a shoe that uses GPS technology to record where a wearer walks -- and send alerts to caregivers if someone dealing with Alzheimer's disease or dementia wanders away and gets lost.

Ever drop your tablet or cell phone and end up surprised that the glass didn't break? TechMan, who tended to drop so many things that his mom often called him "doppich" (Pennsylvania Dutch for "clumsy"), has wondered about cell phone toughness. The answer is Gorilla Glass, developed especially for mobile electronics.

WEATHER forecasters are the Rodney Dangerfields of the prognosticating arts -- they get no respect. But the greatest blow to their prestige comes on Feb. 2 each year, when thousands assemble in the frigid dawn outside Punxsutawney, Pa., to hear a groundhog named Phil pronounce on whether he saw his shadow.

It's been too long since the phrases "unemployment rate" and "cautious optimism" could be found in the same sentence. That changed Friday with news that the nation's jobless rate fell to 8.3 percent in January, the lowest level in three years while the economy saw a net gain of 243,000 jobs.

On-again, off-again relationships can be so uncomfortable for friends and associates of the partners, a condition that is especially true when there's been acrimony, talk of betrayal, fights over money and circumstances that leave little doubt that one party was wronged by the other.

My response to Judy Wertheimer's Jan. 29 Forum piece regarding cuts in state funding for education ("Not Concerned About Budget Cuts to Public Education? Then You Are Not Paying Attention") is as follows: It's about time!

People on the move

Like a rocket suddenly leaving the launch pad after a long countdown, the Pittsburgh region's economy surged forward last fall with unprecedented job growth. In September, the region still had 7,000 fewer jobs than before the recession began and more than 9,000 fewer jobs than in 2000.

Early on during its Serbian adventure, one of the biggest challenges U.S. Steel faced was persuading workers at the formerly state-run mills to behave like Western workers. That meant wearing a hard hat, something many workers never had seen before; not drinking on the job; and understanding the concept of profit sharing.

The railroad industry is picking up steam again, after losing ground decades ago to the nation's trucking industry. And Pittsburgh's expertise and history in the business -- Andrew Carnegie and the city's other industrialists needed good ways to move their steel a century ago -- has put the region on track to benefit from rail's resurgence.

J.C. Penney is reinventing its retail stores with a fresh look and a new marketing strategy it calls "fair and square pricing."

The rampant discourse over the nation's economic future took a back seat to some more important forecasts recently as fractious factions faced off over who had the superior groundhog on Groundhog Day.

Teams seeking revenge for a previous Super Bowl loss don't always find it. Just ask the Dallas Cowboys, Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills.

HARRISBURG -- It's only a month into the new year, but things are already getting ugly at the state Capitol. While election-year wars are always rough and tough, House Democrats have kicked things up a notch with an early attack accusing Republicans of pushing policies that are "mean-spirited and heartless toward working families in Pennsylvania."

For about two hours a day, twice a day, five days a week, Cathy Gamble is the queen -- in neon green -- of 44th and Butler streets. The longtime crossing guard greets pedestrians by name and blows kisses from her stark white gloves to the drivers who stop in her wake at this bustling intersection, where she estimates she crosses 300 schoolchildren and countless more adults each day.

You know it's time to kick the ball when the required talk from both teams clangs onto the bottom rung of Super Bowl rhetoric.

Victories against Georgetown and West Virginia have rejuvenated Pitt's hopes of bucking the odds and making the NCAA tournament after the Panthers' first 0-7 start to Big East play. But the Panthers know they nearly have no margin for error the rest of the season, and that the easiest route to the NCAA tournament is paved by winning the remaining four home games.

Lucky Jones scored 17 points and Anthony Myers had 15, leading Robert Morris to a Northeast Conference victory against Mount St. Mary's, 67-62, Saturday in Emmitsburg, Md. The game was close throughout, but the Colonials (17-8, 8-4 NEC) rallied from a five-point halftime deficit and outscored the Mountaineers, 39-29, in the second half to secure the win.

It seemed, at the time, to be a completely unnecessary penalty. Looked that way in hindsight, too. But Kris Letang saw things a bit differently from ice level Saturday as the middle of the third period in the Penguins' 2-1 victory against Boston at TD Garden approached. He figured he was doing something that might help the Penguins to preserve their one-goal lead.

TD Garden is not the most hospitable venue in the NHL. The team that resides there is big, tough and talented, and fans can be pretty hostile at times. Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury is aware of all that. Probably more than most.

It took eight years, but the people of the New Kensington area finally got a chance to welcome home the 307th Military Police Company on Saturday. The Army Reserve company, based in New Kensington, deployed to Iraq for a year in 2003 and 2004. But its soldiers came back in staggered groups then, and the town could never pull together a time for one large ceremony.

MOSCOW -- Tens of thousands of Russians embraced the numbing cold and marched to a frozen river bank near the Kremlin on Saturday, demonstrating their determination to keep up the pressure on Vladimir Putin for fair elections and honest government.

MUNICH, Germany -- Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton sought to reassure Europe on Saturday that, despite budget cuts in Washington and the coming withdrawal from the continent of about 6,000 to 7,000 U.S. troops, the United States was not abandoning its allies.

Spencer Levin remained in control Saturday at the Phoenix Open in front of the largest crowd in tournament history at Scottsdale, Ariz., shooting a 3-under 68 to take a six-stroke lead into the final round. A crowd of 173,210 in perfect conditions at TPC Scottsdale's Stadium Course broke the record of 170,802 set in the third round in 2008.

Cory Klems wrestled the match of his life and it could not have come at a better time. Klems, a junior at Burrell High School, earned a 3-1 victory in the 220-pound weight class match to lift the Buccaneers to a 34-31 victory against Jefferson-Morgan in the Class AA final of the WPIAL team tournament Saturday.

If you think Prince Fielder signing with his father's team last month is going to help continue to bridge the gap between son and 1990s Tigers star Cecil Fielder, think again. Dismissing talk of an "improving" relationship with his son, Cecil Fielder told the St.

A career milestone and a rare family reunion. All of which left Lindsey Vonn in tears, and it made for a perfect day. Vonn captured her 50th World Cup victory, winning a downhill Saturday on the demanding Kandahar course in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, with temperatures plunging to minus-13. "It's crazy. I am at a loss for words.

Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers won the 2011 Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player award in a landslide. Rodgers earned 48 votes to two for New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees in balloting by a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the NFL.

Fantasy league types will want to pay particular attention to one Super Bowl commercial today. The league will run an ad introducing the "Perfect Challenge," a deceptively simple new fantasy game that will begin next season. Each week, participants must pick an eight-player lineup out of the entire NFL.

The road for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2012, selected here Saturday and inducted in Canton, Ohio, this summer, must go through Pittsburgh. Of the six new Hall of Famers, four have strong Pittsburgh connections. Among those elected were former Steelers Jack Butler and Dermontti Dawson, and former Pitt Panthers Curtis Martin and Chris Doleman.

The legend of New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski includes the most scrutinized left ankle in town, a nickname befitting a caveman and hands as large as a cereal box. Or a laptop. Or a legal pad. Put them all together and it helps explain to some degree why his was the overriding story line this week.

The nation's leading breast cancer advocacy group has gone into full damage-control mode.

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama is asking Americans to press Congress to pass his new homeowner-relief plan that includes a tax on financial companies that Republicans have already rejected. Mr. Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday that the housing crisis has been "the biggest drag on our recovery from the recession."

Facts that speak for themselves

Bishop David A. Zubik will celebrate a memorial Mass for the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua at St. Paul Cathedral on Feb. 19.

A Cambria County man driving on the wrong side of the road was killed early Saturday morning in a head-on collision, according to state police.

For 10 seasons and 14 consecutive games the Richmond Spiders owned Duquesne. Saturday night, that all changed. Leading from start to finish, Duquesne knocked off Richmond, 81-72, in the Chuck Cooper Classic with a dominating performance at sold-out Palumbo Center. "I'm really satisfied we were able to do that tonight.

Ilya Kovalchuk's fists outshined his team's sparkling special teams. Kurtis Foster scored two power-play goals as the visiting New Jersey Devils held on for a 6-4 victory Saturday against the Philadelphia Flyers. Kovalchuk, Dainius Zubrus, Zach Parise and Alexei Ponikarovsky also scored for the Devils, who have won three in a row and will play host to the Penguins today.

Basketball Box Scores

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AS a child, Allegra McEvedy spent holidays being carted to temples and ruins with her father, a historian. "Where my friends were all lying on beaches in the Mediterranean, I was clambering over ruins in Turkey. I'd seen every outpost of the Roman Empire by the time I was 16," she said. When her parents suggested the children keep travel diaries, she began a lifelong fascination with collecting recipes. "My sister would faithfully reproduce the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul," she said. "Mine was all about what w

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GRATEFUL for rain on a Caribbean vacation? You bet I was. And you might have been, too, had you just escaped from a mob of bronzed bodies dancing under the stars in whipped-up, blissed-out unison to a 1980s disco hit.

WE were driving through the back alleys of Ouidah, a sultry former slave port in the West African nation of Benin, when we spotted him: a figure in robes and leather gloves. His face was hidden by a burlap hood studded with beads and cowrie shells. A teenage boy carrying a wooden stick was leading him past peach-colored houses shaded by coconut palms and mango trees.

North Windham, Vt.

TESTED 2011 Mazda RX-8 Grand Touring

WHEN Japanese cars and trucks began arriving in the United States in earnest during the 1970s, they were widely seen as disposable.

MY father-in-law, Erling Berner, started the company that became Berner International, a manufacturer of air curtains or air doors. These units are usually placed above door entrances in stores, hospitals, schools, restaurants and other buildings, and create a seal across a doorway. They save energy and help control internal building temperature. In winter, they help keep the heat inside and the cold air outside.

MANY people know of Berkeley, Calif., as the birthplace, in the 1960's, of the Free Speech Movement. Fewer people know that Berkeley also played a major role in the disability rights movement. It was here, also in the '60s, that Ed Roberts -- a student with quadriplegia -- became an outspoken advocate of the cause.

LAS VEGAS -- Mitt Romney handily won the Nevada caucuses on Saturday, solidifying his status as the front-runner and increasing his momentum as he seeks to use the month of February to ease doubts within the Republican Party about his candidacy and begin confronting President Obama.

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. -- When the Army Corps of Engineers declared last year that the levees here were "unacceptable," it kicked up a storm of protest from officials and residents of the broad Mississippi River flood plain known as the American Bottom.

LAS VEGAS -- Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino executive keeping Newt Gingrich's presidential hopes alive, has relayed assurances to Mitt Romney that he will provide even more generous support to his candidacy if he becomes the Republican nominee, several associates said in interviews here.

PUEBLO, Colo. -- On a summer night not long ago, Maureen White sat alone in her living room staring at a DVD she had avoided watching for years.

SEATTLE -- This is the University of Washington's new math: 18 percent of its freshmen come from abroad, most from China. Each pays tuition of $28,059, about three times as much as students from Washington State. And that, according to the dean of admissions, is how low-income Washingtonians -- more than a quarter of the class -- get a free ride.

Green River Community College, 45 minutes south of Seattle, has no special overseas cachet, no global name recognition -- but it has enrolled 1,400 international students this year, most of them recruited by overseas agents who get 15 percent of the $9,732 first-year tuition.

CHESTER, Pa. -- The Chester Upland School District is more than $20 million in debt, its bank account is almost empty and it cannot afford to pay teachers past the end of this month.

UNITED NATIONS -- A United Nations Security Council effort to end the violence in Syria collapsed in acrimony with a double veto by Russia and China on Saturday, hours after the Syrian military attacked the city of Homs in what opposition leaders described as the deadliest government assault in the nearly 11-month uprising.

MOSCOW -- Antigovernment protesters managed to gather a third huge crowd in the center of Moscow on Saturday, undeterred by the arctic cold or by the near certainty that Vladimir V. Putin will win a six-year presidential term next month.

Saboteurs on Sunday blew up a pipeline in Egypt that supplied gas to Israel, the 12th such attack in a year, security officials said.