The merger unfolding between two western Pennsylvania public school systems with sharply declining enrollments is the state's first district consolidation in at least 20 years, and most notably, its first voluntary one.

Officials say the move will save money and improve educational offerings, yet parents in both districts worry that some losses will accompany any gains. In any case, the consolidation is expected to be closely watched.

The willingness of two school districts to dissolve boundary lines is rare in states where local school board control is sacrosanct and school traditions that define a community are deeply ingrained. In recent years, at least a few states have tried to force mergers, with mixed results.

Yet the marriage of the Center Area and Monaca school districts northwest of Pittsburgh is part of a gradual, ongoing national progression toward fewer districts educating public school students.

Over roughly the last two decades, the number of school districts nationwide has declined 10 percent, from 15,714 in 1985-86 to 14,166 in 2005-06, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

With local school boards facing spiraling prices for fuel, employee health insurance and other operating costs — and opposition to increases in property taxes that largely pay for them — the idea of consolidating to save money is becoming an increasingly common discussion topic.

Two women who had just rented an apartment in Franklin Square Sunday discovered digital spy cameras hidden in smoke alarms in their bedrooms, police said.

The landlord, Michael Muratore, 44, who lives on the first floor of the 849 Second Ave. home, was arrested and charged with unlawful surveillance.

The women were moving into the second-floor apartment and decided to have the smoke alarms checked to make sure they were in working order -- and that's when the cameras were found, at around 5 p.m. Sunday, Nassau police said.

Fifth Squad detectives arrested Muratore in front of his home at 6:40 p.m. Monday. He faces arraignment Tuesday in First District Court, Hempstead.

Dan Webb also said the rules for the hearing would greatly hamper Kilpatrick's defense. He asked for a 14-day restraining order to suspend the proceedings, scheduled to start Wednesday.

"There are some very basic rights that clearly have to be applied," Webb told Wayne County Circuit Judge Robert Ziolkowski.

The judge said he had planned to go fishing but would work on the case over the holiday weekend and make a ruling Tuesday.

The Detroit City Council is asking Granholm to use her constitutional power to remove Kilpatrick from office for misconduct.

The mayor is accused of misleading council members into approving an $8.4 million settlement with fired police officers. The council says it didn't know the deal included provisions to keep a cover on romantic text messages between Kilpatrick and a top aide.

Kilpatrick's lawyers filed a lawsuit Thursday, claiming the mayor can't get a fair hearing from the governor. A key argument: Granholm held a private meeting in May to try to settle Kilpatrick's criminal perjury case and get him to resign.

Therin Gartrell, 28, was arrested Sunday, just before the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Authorities said he was pulled over in the suburb of Aurora in a rented truck that contained rifles, a bulletproof vest, wigs and fake IDs, and that Gartrell and two other men had talked about killing Obama.

The U.S. attorney's office later said the men were drug users who made racist threats but had no firm assassination plot and no ability to carry one out. No one has been charged in relation to the alleged threats.

Aurora police say Gartrell had been on crutches when they arrested him. Handcuffed to his crutches in court Thursday, he spoke little and did not enter a plea.

Public defender Ed Harris was appointed to represent him. Harris was not present and did not immediately respond to a telephone message seeking comment.

Arapahoe County prosecutors had planned to charge Gartrell Thursday with state drug and weapons violations, but that was put on hold without explanation.

U.S. attorney's spokesman Jeff Dorschner said it was "best from a coordination standpoint" if the cases against Gartrell and the two other men were in federal court.

State prosecutors sometimes defer to their federal counterparts if a suspect can get a stiffer sentence in federal court.

A federal conviction for methamphetamine possession carries a prison term of up to two years with no time off for good behavior. Penalties under the state charges were not immediately available.

U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent is charged with two counts of abusive sexual contact and one count of attempted aggravated sexual abuse.

A former case manager at the U.S. District Court in Galveston accused Kent of twice touching her under her clothing and repeatedly making obscene suggestions during the six years she worked with him.

The indictment, first reported by the Houston Chronicle, alleges the criminal conduct happened on Aug. 29, 2003, and March 23, 2007, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich said in a statement.

Kent's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, called any sexual contact that may have happened between Kent and his accuser consensual.

"He's angry and ready for a fight. He is innocent. We will try this case. It is nothing but a false accusation," said DeGuerin said.

Kent's accuser issued a statement Thursday saying she felt vindicated by the grand jury's decision.

Wayne County Circuit Judge Robert Ziolkowski (zill-KOW-ski) handled other cases Friday before calling Kilpatrick's lawsuit against the governor.

Kilpatrick says he can't get a fair hearing from Granholm because the fellow Democrat held a private meeting in May to try to settle Kilpatrick's criminal perjury case and get him to resign.

The Detroit City Council is asking Granholm to use her constitutional power to remove Kilpatrick from office for misconduct. That hearing is set for Wednesday.

The mayor is accused of misleading council members into approving an $8.4 million settlement with fired police officers.