Man pleads guilty

Man pleads guilty
WARREN -- A 26-year-old city man who shot two people in 2004 has been sentenced to six years in prison. Marco D. Dukes, 26, of 2165 Ogden Ave. N.W., accepted a plea bargain Friday in the Trumbull County Common Pleas courtroom of Judge Andrew Logan. Dukes pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary with a firearm specification and two counts of being a convicted felon having a gun. Police say Dukes went into a home on Woodbine Avenue Southeast on June 18, 2004, and shot two people, Marlayne Wesley, 18, of Burton Street, and Michael W. Wilson Jr., 23, of Swallow Southwest.
Garage request denied
MINERAL RIDGE -- Weathersfield Township Board of Zoning Appeals denied a variance Thursday sought by David and Kim Ault, 1479 Blunt St., to build a 20-by-32-foot garage with a 16-by-16-foot workshop. The Aults' home is on an old plat of land only 50 feet wide by 172 feet long, and they sought the variance because current zoning law created a hardship for them to build.
The zoning board believed the building would be too big for the lot and the neighborhood. Township zoning law allows 576 square feet of construction on that size lot, and the couple's plans would make the construction 896 square feet. New plats in the township are now 70 to 100 feet wide by 100 feet deep.
Juveniles hit by car
YOUNGSTOWN -- Two youths, one 14, the other 15, walking on Elm Street on the city's North Side were reportedly hit by a vehicle Thursday evening. Police say an older-model black Cadillac, traveling north on Elm, came across the street and hit them. The youths suffered minor cuts on their arms and legs, and the bicycle they were pushing was heavily damaged. A mother of one of the victims called police. A police report says the mothers would treat their sons.
Tuition rate increases
Tuition is going up again at two western Pennsylvania universities, The Associated Press reports.
Pennsylvania residents who attend Penn State University's main campus as undergraduates in the fall will pay a 5.6 percent tuition increase for the 2006-07 academic year under a new rate adopted by university trustees Friday.
"This year, we will see the smallest increase in tuition that we have had in recent history," Penn State President Graham B. Spanier said in a statement. The trustees approved the increase during a meeting in Philadelphia.
Under the new rate, resident freshmen and sophomores at the University Park campus will pay $11,646 in yearly tuition, a $622 increase. Rates for resident juniors and seniors will range from $11,436 to $15,032, depending on their majors and on whether they were admitted before or after summer 2003.
The University of Pittsburgh's board of trustees on Friday announced it will boost tuition for in-state students at Pitt's main campus by 5.9 percent.
That means students admitted before fall 2004 will see tuition rise $570 a year, to $10,246, school officials said. Those admitted afterward will see their tuition rise $632 a year, to $11,368.
Tuition will be going up about 3 percent for out-of-state students, those at Pitt's regional campuses and at the university's medical school, officials said.
Students at campuses in Bradford, Greensburg, Johnstown and Titusville admitted before fall 2004 can expect to pay $290 more a year. Those admitted afterward will pay an extra $296 annually.
Crash kills 2 teens
MARS, Pa. (AP) -- A sport utility vehicle slammed into a tree along a windy rural road and rolled over several times, leaving two teenage girls dead and sending four other girls to hospitals, police said. The accident occurred around 10 p.m. Thursday in Adams Township, about 20 miles north of Pittsburgh, police said.
The SUV driver, 17-year-old Madison Lind of Cranberry and a passenger, Carrie Samuels, 17, of Cranberry, died of massive head injuries at the scene, said Butler County Deputy Coroner Dennis Trzeciak. Both were wearing seat belts, police said.
Another passenger, Khrissy Brown, 14, was in critical but stable condition Friday at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Three other passengers -- a 12-year-old girl and two 16-year-old girls -- were treated for minor injuries at Allegheny General Hospital, police said.