Harrisburg

FORTY candidates are running for Traffic Court judgeships in the May 21 primary. They are living proof that there is not always strength in numbers. Among the contenders: One candidate was convicted on a morals charge. Another's experience with Traffic Court is as a scofflaw. A number could be running because of the $91,000 annual salary, given that they have back taxes due, owe money to PGW or face foreclosure on their homes. Most of the candidates, mercifully, will lose. But because there are three vacancies on the court, some will win. That is bad enough.

Bishop Joseph P. McFadden, 65, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg and a former auxiliary bishop of Philadelphia, died Thursday, May 2, of an apparent heart attack. In Philadelphia for the annual Pennsylvania Bishops Conference, of which he was president, he had spent the night at St. Christopher's parish in the Northeast, where he reported feeling ill Thursday morning. He was taken to Holy Redeemer Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about 7:40. "He was 100 percent a priest," said the Rev. Kevin Gallagher, the archdiocese's director of vocations and a longtime friend.

Bishop Joseph P. McFadden, 65, of the Diocese of Harrisburg died Thursday after falling ill while in Philadelphia for a meeting of prelates from Pennsylvania. A native of Philadelphia and a former auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese, he had been bishop of Harrisburg for less than three years. His diocese said in a statement the bishop fell ill during the night and was taken to an unindentified Philadelphia hospital, where he died at 7:40 a.m. Archbishop Charles Chaput said he was "shocked and deeply saddened" by Bishop McFadden's sudden death.

BISHOP JOSEPH McFadden had been the head of the Diocese of Harrisburg for nearly three years when he died yesterday morning, but many people in Philadelphia say the Overbrook native's hometown ties never weakened. McFadden awoke yesterday in a Philadelphia rectory feeling ill, then was taken to nearby Holy Redeemer Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:40 a.m., the Philadelphia Archdiocese said. The cause of death has not yet been determined. He was in town for a meeting of the Catholic Bishops of Pennsylvania.

READING LEFTHANDER Jesse Biddle was named the Eastern League's pitcher of the week on Monday. Biddle, the Germantown Friends graduate who was the Phillies' first-round draft pick in 2010, was 1-0 for the week with 26 strikeouts and an 0.00 earned run average for the Fightin Phils. In two starts, he allowed two hits, no earned runs and walked five over 13 innings. Biddle struck out 16 in a win at Harrisburg, breaking the modern franchise record of 13 by Adam Walker (2001) and Randy Wolf (1999)

DISTRICT Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said Thursday he was not crying wolf as he told the School Reform Commission and a packed house of the "dire" budget situation. If funds aren't secured to fill the Philadelphia School District's $304 million budget gap in 2013-14, the district could face "massive layoffs" and the elimination of programs such as art, music, extracurricular activities and sports, Hite said. And unlike last year - when the district borrowed $300 million to pay the bills - no money will be borrowed this time.

HARRISBURG - Pennsylvanians could register to vote online, and get quicker access to data about who funds their legislators' campaigns and who spends money to influence policy-making in the Capitol, under a trio of bills passed unanimously Wednesday in the state Senate. It's all in the name of government transparency and efficiency in a state that has made a big push over the last decade to be more open when it comes to open records. The voter bill, sponsored by Sen. Lloyd Smucker (R., Lancaster)

Man dies in fall in flight training CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Authorities in Tennessee have found the body of a man who was thrown from an experimental aircraft while an instructor was teaching him to fly. Bradley County Interim Fire Chief Troy Spence says search crews located the deceased student about 11:45 a.m. Saturday. He declined to release the man's name. Collegedale Municipal Airport employee Lowell Sterchi told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that the man was being trained by an instructor in his Zodiac 601 aircraft on Friday when the canopy came off. The instructor also was not identified.

To preserve passenger rail service between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, the Corbett administration said Thursday it will pay much of the cost of the once-a-day "Pennsylvanian" train. The state will pay $3.8 million of the $6.5 million annual cost of the service, which is operated by Amtrak. Amtrak, which had been paying the full cost, will pay the rest. The Pennsylvanian also has through service to and from Philadelphia and New York City.  

READING - B.J. Johnson limped across Lower Merion's locker room. With every step, the senior alternated between a grimace and a smile, fighting back the pain of a twice-rolled right ankle with the excitement of his team's 63-62 victory against Harrisburg in a PIAA Class AAAA boys' basketball quarterfinal Saturday at the Geigle Complex. Johnson, seeking a place to rest, was surrounded by teammates, with excited talk of his game-changing dunk filling the locker room. Just minutes before the postgame hysteria, Johnson, a Syracuse recruit, took a pass on a backdoor cut, dunked over Harrisburg's backside support, and was fouled.