Common Pleas Judge Rayford Means yesterday denied a defense motion for reconsideration of the sentences he imposed last month against two men convicted of attempted murder and related offenses.

Donte Rollins, 21, and Chris Powell, 20, were found guilty in the January 2006 shooting of a 6-year-old boy, Jabar Wright, in Strawberry Mansion.

The defendants are expected to file appeals with the state Superior Court. The judge had given both men the maximum sentences of 62 1/2 to 125 years in state prison for conspiring to shoot at the Wrights' family car, which had four occupants. Jabar, the only occupant shot, was paralyzed in the incident from the neck down.

Lower health costs projected

Healt-care costs for retired state workers are now projected to be $8.5 billion in the long term, about 40 percent lower than originally estimated, Pennsylvania's budget chief said yesterday.

The state was able to lower its estimate of the unfunded portion of retiree health-care costs that have been accrued so far after implementing a number of recent cost-cutting measures, Budget Secretary Michael Masch said. Those steps include requiring workers who retired after June 30, 2005, to pay part of their premiums and increasing co-payments for prescriptions and certain office visits for those who retired before July 1, 2004.

Skip the food at Princeton

The number of confirmed cases of salmonella at Princeton University continues to grow. The university said yesterday there are now 22 confirmed cases - 20 students and two staff.

The number of confirmed cases is four times what it was a week ago. No source has been determined, but a salad bar and a Mexican food station at the campus center's dining facility remain closed as a precaution.

Slow month for casinos

April figures released yesterday by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission showed yet another slow month in the 11 Atlantic City casinos, which are still grappling with out-of-state competition, a slowing economy and smoking restrictions.

Revenue fell to $365.5 million, down 7.9 percent from April 2007. Slot-machine revenue was $259.3 million, down 8.8 percent, and table-game revenue was $106.2 million, down 5.5 percent. *

- Staff and wire reports