Western Pennsylvania

Now that Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. has taken ownership of the closed Marcus Hook refinery, the pipeline company has big plans for the Delaware River industrial site. Sunoco Logistics chief executive Michael J. Hennigan provided analysts with details Thursday about how the pipeline and terminal company plans to repurpose the refinery as a hub for shipping liquid fuels produced from natural-gas drilling in the Marcellus and Utica Shales. "We plan to create a world-class natural-gas liquids hub on the East Coast," Hennigan said.

When Carrie Goretzka's two young girls ran out onto the porch of their suburban home 30 miles east of Pittsburgh in the late afternoon on June 2, 2009, what they saw was a scene of unrelenting horror. "Mommy, Mommy," yelled the oldest child, 4-year-old Chloe. "Mommy is on fire. Mommy is on fire. " Moments earlier, Carrie Goretzka had stepped outside her home in Irwin, Pa., to call the power company to report an outage and downed line on her property. She either stumbled into the line or it fell on top of her - no one knows for sure.

Erica Herr was cold and tired when she arrived at the scoring area for the U.S. Women's Open qualifier at Butler (Pa.) Country Club. She also was a little bummed, believing that her 78 in the second round of the 36-hole event would not be good enough to gain a ticket to the biggest show in women's golf. However, after a quick examination of her scorecard, the official in charge said, "Congratulations. " A junior at Council Rock North High School, the 17-year-old Herr was ecstatic.

Now that the city has hired a heavyweight like JPMorgan to sell Philadelphia Gas Works, it raises the question: Who would want to buy an aging utility with limited growth prospects, large numbers of low-income customers, 19th-century pipes, and a hostile political climate? "It would have been hard to imagine 20 or even 10 years ago that any private company would have been seriously interested in buying PGW," Mayor Nutter said Wednesday in announcing the selection of JPMorgan and Loop Capital Partners as brokers for the gas utility.

Sunoco Inc. announced Wednesday that its shuttered Marcus Hook refinery would be reborn as a facility to process Marcellus Shale natural-gas products, fueling new construction and traffic through the Delaware River port. Sunoco's pipeline subsidiary, Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P., is moving forward with a plan to transport high-value propane and ethane by pipeline from Western Pennsylvania to Marcus Hook, where the materials will be processed in a new plant and shipped by sea to domestic and export markets.

Suzanne Raffel Gruber, 87, the founder and owner of Raffles for Bridge and a celebrity in the region's bridge-playing community, died at home in Bala Cynwyd on Friday, May 3, from complications of leukemia. Mrs. Gruber started her bridge club in 1964 at the Green Hill apartments as a recently divorced single mother of three girls. She moved the business numerous times as the club grew in popularity. Raffles for Bridge now is housed in the Madison building at the Presidential City Apartments on City Avenue and can accommodate more than 100 players at a time, said daughter Joan Koven.

CLINTONVILLE, Pa. - A 10-mile stretch of Interstate 80 in Western Pennsylvania was closed for hours Saturday after a series of crashes involving at least 20 vehicles left three people dead. Venango County 911 supervisor Mary Beth White said the chairn-reaction crashes began in the snow about 2:20 p.m. Vehicles either crashed into one another or into a median strip. White said there are three confirmed fatalities. The county coroner did not immediately return calls. The same snowy weather prompted a 30-vehicle crash on Interstate 79 in western Pennsylvania, but no serious injuries or fatalities were reported.

GREENSBURG, Pa. - The caretaker of a Western Pennsylvania mansion faces criminal charges for allegedly drinking more than $100,000 worth of the owner's whiskey. John Saunders, 62, of Irwin, is charged by Scottdale police with receiving stolen property and theft, the Greensburg Tribune-Review reported. - AP

PITTSBURGH - The strain of bacteria that caused a fatal outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in a Veterans Affairs hospital in Western Pennsylvania is almost identical to the strain found there more than three decades ago, a newspaper reported. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review said Sunday it had obtained documents indicating that the Legionella bacterium found in October at the Oakland hospital matched five of seven genes of the 1982 strain. - AP

CLAIRTON, Pa. - Carbon monoxide poisoning has been confirmed as the cause of death of a pair of lifelong friends in Western Pennsylvania, and authorities are urging people to be sure they have detectors for the colorless and odorless gas. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed Sunday that acute carbon monoxide poisoning killed William Chapman, 56, and Gary Townsend, 47, in their house Saturday. The Medical Examiner's Office ruled the deaths accidental and said the source of the carbon monoxide is still under investigation.

Erica Herr was cold and tired when she arrived at the scoring area for the U.S. Women's Open qualifier at Butler (Pa.) Country Club. She also was a little bummed, believing that her 78 in the second round of the 36-hole event would not be good enough to gain a ticket to the biggest show in women's golf. However, after a quick examination of her scorecard, the official in charge said, "Congratulations. " A junior at Council Rock North High School, the 17-year-old Herr was ecstatic.

Now that Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. has taken ownership of the closed Marcus Hook refinery, the pipeline company has big plans for the Delaware River industrial site. Sunoco Logistics chief executive Michael J. Hennigan provided analysts with details Thursday about how the pipeline and terminal company plans to repurpose the refinery as a hub for shipping liquid fuels produced from natural-gas drilling in the Marcellus and Utica Shales. "We plan to create a world-class natural-gas liquids hub on the East Coast," Hennigan said.

Suzanne Raffel Gruber, 87, the founder and owner of Raffles for Bridge and a celebrity in the region's bridge-playing community, died at home in Bala Cynwyd on Friday, May 3, from complications of leukemia. Mrs. Gruber started her bridge club in 1964 at the Green Hill apartments as a recently divorced single mother of three girls. She moved the business numerous times as the club grew in popularity. Raffles for Bridge now is housed in the Madison building at the Presidential City Apartments on City Avenue and can accommodate more than 100 players at a time, said daughter Joan Koven.

GOV. CORBETT has made it his priority to encourage job creation and growth in Pennsylvania by encouraging business to come here and grow their workforce. The governor has also made job training a priority, ensuring Pennsylvania residents are prepared for the jobs created in today's market. In 2012, when it was announced that the three Southeast refineries would close, Corbett worked diligently to save them. These efforts retained 1,800 direct jobs and thousands of ancillary jobs that relied on the active operation of those facilities.

Now that the city has hired a heavyweight like JPMorgan to sell Philadelphia Gas Works, it raises the question: Who would want to buy an aging utility with limited growth prospects, large numbers of low-income customers, 19th-century pipes, and a hostile political climate? "It would have been hard to imagine 20 or even 10 years ago that any private company would have been seriously interested in buying PGW," Mayor Nutter said Wednesday in announcing the selection of JPMorgan and Loop Capital Partners as brokers for the gas utility.

GREENSBURG, Pa. - The caretaker of a Western Pennsylvania mansion faces criminal charges for allegedly drinking more than $100,000 worth of the owner's whiskey. John Saunders, 62, of Irwin, is charged by Scottdale police with receiving stolen property and theft, the Greensburg Tribune-Review reported. - AP

Table games revenue at Pennsylvania's 11 gambling halls last month totaled $55.3 million, a 2.1 decrease from a year ago, when the same revenue from blackjack, poker and other games was $56.6 million. February's tables revenue translated to nearly $8 million in state tax revenue, according to figures posted Monday by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. The state's top four table game revenue generators last month were Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem at $12.1 million from 183 tables; Parx in Bensalem at $8.2 million from 163 tables; SugarHouse at $7.3 million from 58 tables; and Harrah's Philadelphia Casino and Racetrack at $6.9 million with 121 tables.

PITTSBURGH - The strain of bacteria that caused a fatal outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in a Veterans Affairs hospital in Western Pennsylvania is almost identical to the strain found there more than three decades ago, a newspaper reported. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review said Sunday it had obtained documents indicating that the Legionella bacterium found in October at the Oakland hospital matched five of seven genes of the 1982 strain. - AP

In a case fraught with emotional testimony, the family of a Western Pennsylvania woman electrocuted by a downed power line on her property has settled its lawsuit with the utility for $105 million. The settlement by survivors of Carrie Goretzka, a 39-year-old mother of two who died three days after the June 2, 2009, accident with burns over 85 percent of her body, is the largest in state history. Shanin Specter, the Center City lawyer who represented the family, said West Penn Power initiated settlement talks in January.

When Carrie Goretzka's two young girls ran out onto the porch of their suburban home 30 miles east of Pittsburgh in the late afternoon on June 2, 2009, what they saw was a scene of unrelenting horror. "Mommy, Mommy," yelled the oldest child, 4-year-old Chloe. "Mommy is on fire. Mommy is on fire. " Moments earlier, Carrie Goretzka had stepped outside her home in Irwin, Pa., to call the power company to report an outage and downed line on her property. She either stumbled into the line or it fell on top of her - no one knows for sure.