Briefly... CITY/REGION

Perv prof to be resentenced

A U.S. Court of Appeals panel yesterday set aside a 25-year sentence given to former Wharton School professor Lawrence Scott Ward in 2009 and sent the case back to U.S. District Court for resentencing.

Ward pleaded guilty in November 2008 to charges of inducing an underage Brazilian boy to engage in sexually explicit conduct and making a false statement to the State Department to secure the boy a visa.

The appellate panel said U.S. District Judge Petrese Tucker should have imposed a sentence on each count as required by sentencing guidelines, but rather imposed a "general sentence" on all counts.

Bad drug records nail Temple

The Temple University Health System agreed yesterday to pay $130,000 to the federal government for failing to keep proper records of controlled substances and failing to take steps to prevent the loss or theft of such drugs, the U.S. attorney announced.

In 2004, authorities said Temple University Hospital's lack of controls over controlled substances allowed its then-chief resident of anesthesiology, Adam Scioli, to steal 107 vials of Ketamine and smaller amounts of other drugs, including morphine. He was charged and convicted in state court.

In addition, Edward Quirk, an anesthesiologist at Jeanes Hospital, which is affiliated with Temple, obtained controlled substances from the hospital's computerized distribution system for his personal use and was sentenced to four years' probation in federal district court in October 2008.

Fire reassigns students again

Because of the fire at a warehouse in Kensington this week, the Kensington Culinary Arts High School and H.A. Brown Elementary School will be closed for a third day today.

Staff and students from the high school should report to the Kensington Urban Education High School, 2051 E. Cumberland St., and staff and students from Brown will be transported to William H. Hunter Elementary School, 2400 N. Front St.

Call to revoke Foxwoods license

The state Gaming Control Board yesterday considered but did not immediately act on a call to revoke the casino license granted in December 2006 to Philadelphia Entertainment Development Partners to build a casino in South Philadelphia.

The board reserved until its Nov. 18 meeting a ruling on two petitions heard yesterday. The board's own staff argued that the PEDP investors have failed to meet deadlines to build their casino and should have their license revoked. The PEDP investors, after announcing Tuesday that Harrah's Entertainment will invest in the project and manage the casino, argued that their license should not be revoked.

PennDOT: No P.R. certificates

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has issued a reminder that as of Monday, it will no longer accept birth certificates issued by the Puerto Rican government before July 1 as proof of identity in applications for a driver's license or photo identification card. The change is due to a law passed by the Puerto Rican government last year invalidating all Puerto Rico-issued birth certificates issued before July 1.

-Staff and wire reports