A judge says the Republican incumbent could remain on the May 21 primary ballot for sheriff of an eastern Pennsylvania county along with his nickname, Duke.

Tom Lingenfelter, a political activist and Republican challenger in the May 21 primary in Bucks County, wanted incumbent Sheriff Edward “Duke” Donnelly kicked off the ballot for using his nickname.

The Bucks County Courier Times reports that Bucks County Judge Gary Gilman found that the nickname isn’t confusing to voters, nor does it suggest Donnelly is claiming some “hereditary distinction or nobility title” as Lingenfelter alleged.

Simply put, the judge says, “It strikes me that if George Herman Ruth was running for office, then there would be no objection to him appearing on the ballot as Babe Ruth.”

Lingenfelter says he’ll appeal.

Source: Bucks County Courier Times, http://www.phillyburbs.com

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With a Friend Like This, Who Needs Enemies?

Police in the western Pennsylvania borough of Midland say 29-year-old Christopher Aeschbacher was caught selling five rings taken from a friend’s home in an $11,000 burglary.

Online court records don’t list an attorney for Aeschbacher who remained jailed. He’s not charged in the burglary itself, but with receiving stolen property because police say he sold five of seven rings taken in the December burglary of his friend’s home. The rings were worth $7,300, but he sold them at a jewelry shop for $850.

The Beaver County Times reports Aeschbacher’s friend told police he came to her home December 20 before they left in separate cars. The friend says Aeschbacher then returned to the home, without her, where she later found $11,000 in cash and jewels missing.

Source: Beaver County Times, http://www.timesonline.com/

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One Leg Up on the Long Arm of the Law

A former Pennsylvania jail inmate says he didn’t sneak a cellphone into the lockup in his prosthetic leg, though he acknowledged having it for a year, as he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct.

Instead, 28-year-old Christopher Greer, of Uniontown, told a judge the phone was in his cargo shorts when he reported in 2011 to serve a sentence for driving on a suspended license.

Greer says he kept the phone because inmates at the Fayette County lockup 40 miles south of Pittsburgh must pay $4 per call.

Greer pleaded guilty, but the warden doesn’t believe Greer smuggled the phone in either his pocket or his leg, as county detectives charged. Brian Miller says both would have been searched too thoroughly for that.

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Chip Trick

The chips are down — and out — after Philadelphia police say someone drove a snack truck away from a city convenience store.

Police have continued to search for the Herr’s potato chip truck that was parked in front of a 7-Eleven one Tuesday morning while the driver was making a delivery.

The driver left the keys in the truck and someone jumped in and drove away in the truck shortly before 8 a.m.

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Grabbing Grub

A boy who briefly escaped from a western Pennsylvania juvenile detention facility apparently had the munchies.

State police in Mercer say the boy, who isn’t being named because of his age, escaped from George Junior Republic near Grove City by hiding next to a tree one night. Once he was in the clear, police say the boy walked to a nearby Wal-Mart where he stole a $3.49 bag worth of Cheetos around 11 p.m.

Police say staff at the juvenile reform school found the boy walking near the store’s parking lot and returned him to custody.

According to the Frito-Lay web site, “Cheetos Snacks are the playfully mischievous cheesy crunch that add a little lighten-up moment to any day.”

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For the Sake of Cake

A Pittsburgh man has been accused of cutting a line waiting to get free cakes from the Cake Boss and stealing four of them.

Hundreds of people were waiting one Tuesday morning in downtown Pittsburgh to get the free cakes from the star of the Hoboken, N.J.-based TV show “Cake Boss,” Buddy Valastro.

Police spokeswoman Diane Richard says William Davenport took four cakes worth about $27 each from a storage area. Police say when they stopped Williams he apologized for stealing the cakes and admitted he was intoxicated.

Police say the cake theft caused a great commotion among people who had been waiting in line for hours. Officers had to break up fights caused by other people who tried to jump the line.

No attorney for Williams is listed in court papers.