BEAVER COUNTY TIMES: …Nearly 209,000 young children lack access to pre-kindergarten programs because their families either can’t find or can’t afford it, the Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children found in its new report, “A Smart Choice for a Solid Start: The Case for Pre-K in PA.”

When he was attorney general, Gov. Tom Corbett required the office to keep emails for five years. The office’s former information technology director, Jim Ignalzo, said on Wednesday that his staff recommended Corbett’s successor, longtime aide William H. Ryan Jr., reduce the retention period because of storage and cost issues.

In doing so, New York becomes the largest prison system in the United States to prohibit the use of disciplinary confinement for minors, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union, which represented the three prisoners who se lawsuit led to the agreement cited in court papers filed on Wednesday.

FINANCIAL TIMES: More US nuclear power plants are at risk of closure because they are no longer economic, industry leaders have warned, jeopardising the administration’s hopes that the reactors can help support energy security and limit greenhouse gas emissions…

PITTSBURGH POST-TRIBUNE: Lawmakers of both parties on Monday pushed for legislation to establish a minimum standard for retaining emails because an interim attorney general dramatically reduced the time required for keeping emails in the prosecutor’s office while sensitive investigations were under way.

DAILY BEAST Column: …In an exclusive interview with The Daily Beast, Clapper said the problems facing the U.S. intelligence community over its collection of phone records could have been avoided.

When people hear “syringe exchange”, it is natural for them to assume that its only service is to provide clean needles in exchange for used syringes to deter the spread of diseases. But syringes are but one of the harm reduction materials dispensed.

As a rule, adjuncts have few or no benefits. They are generally paid per course, and paid poorly. (The Coalition on the Academic Workforce estimates that the median pay for a standard three-credit course is $2,700.) Because adjuncts often teach several classes in order to cobble together a living, they have little time for the research necessary to advance their careers.

This approach, while costly, has given the Turks a measure of control over every detail — including who is working in their country. Typically, camps are serviced by a number of NGOs, and there can be overlap — or gaps — in the services they provide.

A couple weeks back Mr. Obama uses his state of the union soapbox to condemn widening inequality of household income. He says he will smooth the path to higher minimum wages through executive orders. Next day the President pops up at a US Steel plant in a Pittsburgh suburb to tell Steelworkers he understands their plight.

PITTSBURGH POST-TRIBUNE: Former Acting Attorney General William H. Ryan Jr., a top aide to Tom Corbett when the governor was attorney general, changed the period for retaining the office’s emails from five years to six months, according to a document released on Friday by Attorney General Kathleen Kane.