radioNOVO News for Altoona: May 5, 2026

RNN ALTOONA 05/05/26          26-YEAR-OLD BREANNA MAE LORD WAS SENTENCED TO 3 TO 15 YEARS IN PRISON MONDAY FOR A FIERY 2021 D-U-I CRASH IN ALTOONA. DURING AN EMOTIONAL HEARING, LORD’S PASSENGER, WHO LOST BOTH LEGS AND SUFFERED SEVERE BURNS, ASKED THAT LORD BE GIVEN THE MAXIMUM........... SAYING SHE HAD BEEN HANDED A "LIFE SENTENCE" OF HER OWN. WHILE THE DEFENSE CITED A BRAIN TUMOR AS A FACTOR, PROSECUTORS PLAYED JAILHOUSE RECORDINGS THAT SHOWED A LACK OF REMORSE ON LORD'S PART.  SHE WAS ALSO ORDERED TO PAY 167-THOUSAND DOLLARS IN RESTITUTION AND WAS TAKEN INTO CUSTODY IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE HEARING.          PENN STATE ALTOONA AWARD-WINNING POET AND ENGLISH PROFESSOR ERIN MURPHY HAS BEEN NAMED THE 2026-27 PENN STATE LAUREATE. AN AUTHOR OR EDITOR OF 16 BOOKS, MURPHY IS CREDITED WITH INVENTING THE DEMI-SONNET, A UNIQUE SEVEN-LINE POETIC FORM. AS LAUREATE, MURPHY WILL SPEND THE NEXT YEAR TRAVELING ACROSS PENNSYLVANIA TO BRING THE ARTS AND HUMANITIES TO K-THROUGH-12 SCHOOLS AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES. HER TERM WILL CULMINATE IN A MASSIVE COLLABORATIVE POEM FEATURING LINES FROM STUDENTS AND FACULTY ACROSS THE STATE.  MURPHY JOINED THE PENN STATE FACULTY IN 2005, AND WILL OFFICIALLY BEGIN HER NEW ROLE THIS FALL.