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HARRISBURG — The latest U.S. Census data shows the counties encompassing Philadelphia and Pittsburgh were among the top 10 nationwide that shrank in population last year.

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A woman pulled alive from the rubble of a Pennsylvania chocolate factory after an explosion that killed seven co-workers says her arm caught fire as flames engulfed the ruined building — and then she fell through the floor into a vat of liquid chocolate. Patricia Borges (BOHR'-hez) recounted her terrifying brush with death and her miraculous survival to The Associated Press. Borges says she and others had complained about a gas odor about 30 minutes before the factory blew up. She is angry the factory didn’t immediately evacuate its workers. She broke her collarbone and both heels and faces a long recovery.

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In the midst of Pennsylvania’s struggle to hire more health care workers, long delays in getting a license have driven complaints and pushed fresh doctors and nurses to leave the state.

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Federal safety investigators are looking at a natural gas pipeline for fractures and other damage as they gather evidence on the cause of a deadly explosion at a Pennsylvania chocolate factory. The National Transportation Safety Board opened a probe into Friday’s blast at R.M. Palmer Co., which killed seven, wounded several others and leveled the building in West Reading. An agency spokesman said Wednesday that safety investigators are gathering evidence about the pipeline. The family that owns the factory says the loss of their employees “will be felt forever.” A coroner is set to release the names of most of the victims later Wednesday.