AVOCA — Authorities say a family of black bears was shot and killed near a northeastern Pennsylvania airport earlier this month because they posed a threat to incoming flights and customers.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission says a mother bear and her three 2-year-old cubs crossed the perimeter fence of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Airport on Oct. 20.

Airport director Barry Centini said the animals were spotted by a helicopter pilot, and maintenance personnel killed them a few hundred yards east of the approach to Runway 4.

Centini called the action “unfortunate” but stressed the need to protect pilots and passengers.

Bill Williams of the commission's northeast region said the airport has federal and game commission permits to shoot animals posing a safety risk, and his agency was notified about the action the same day.

HARRISBURG — A Harrisburg couple has been ordered to stand trial on criminal homicide charges in the starvation death of their 9-year-old son.A Dauphin County judge announced the decision after a two-hour preliminary hearing Thursday at the jail where Kimberly and Jarrod Tutko Sr. are held without bail.Police who found Jarrod Tutko Jr.'s decomposing body on Aug. 1 say the boy lived in a locked, feces-smeared room on the third floor of the family's home.An autopsy showed he died of malnutrition and neglect and weighed less than 17 pounds.Authorities say the child suffered from several painful conditions and spent his early years between foster care and his parents' custody.Kimberly Tutko told police the couple collected $710 a month each in disability payments and that neither parent worked.

KARTHAUS — One man has pleaded guilty and two others have waived their cases to trial on charges they illegally shot three bull elk in central Pennsylvania last month, including one of the largest bulls ever recorded in the commonwealth.Clearfield County District Attorney William Shaw Jr. tells WJAC-TV that 25-year-old Frank Buchanan Jr. of Bellefonte pleaded guilty Wednesday and was sentenced to 90 days to 18 months in jail. He was also fined $9,000 and must pay the state $11,500 to replace the elk.Two other men, 48-year-old Jeffrey Bickle of Bellefonte and 20-year-old Cody Lyons of Milesburg have pleaded not guilty and want to stand trial.The Pennsylvania Game Commission says the largest bull had a rack that ranked as the third-largest ever in Pennsylvania. Shaw says the men planned to sell the elks' antlers.

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia's city council has passed a bill authorizing added penalties for gender identity and sexual orientation hate crimes that aren't covered under state law.The administration-backed bill won unanimous approval Thursday. Mayor Michael Nutter has two weeks to sign it into law.Backers say the bill fixes a gap in state law exposed by an assault last month on a same-sex couple in Center City.Prosecutors said they couldn't charge the slur-spewing assailants with a hate crime because sexual orientation isn't covered in the state's hate crime law.The state Supreme Court struck gender identity and sexual orientation from the state law in 2008. Efforts to restore them haven't made it out of committee.Councilman Jim Kenney says the city couldn't wait until the state “comes to its senses.”

RUFFSDALE — State police say a trooper has been seriously injured when he was struck by a car while he was out of his vehicle and clearing debris from a southwestern Pennsylvania highway.Police have not released the name of the trooper, who is stationed at the Greensburg barracks. He was walking along U.S. Route 119 in East Huntingdon Township when he was struck about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.Police aren't releasing the name of the driver, who stopped at the scene.Police say the trooper was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital with a broken leg, a head injury and serious injuries to his arm and hand.The trooper was removing debris left behind from another crash when he was hit.Police have not updated the trooper's condition or the progress of their investigation Thursday.