Local News-Thursday, Sept. 28th

A Tremont woman was hurt in a one car crash yesterday afternoon. 37-year-old Stacy Krise was headed south on Route 125 near Echo Valley Campground. Krise reportedly lost control, traveled along the berm of the road and struck a guiderail post. The car then went down an embankment, and eventually hit several trees and flipped over onto the drivers side. Emergency personnel were able to rescue her, but her injuries required transport to Geisinger Medical Center. The crash happened just after noontime Wednesday.

If you haven't registered to vote in the November election, time is running short to do so. The Schuylkill County Election bureau has established Tuesday, October 10th as the last day to register before the November 7th general election. The last day to apply for a civilian absentee ballot is October 31st. Since this will be the first general election using the touch-screen voting system, the bureau is undertaking another voter outreach program, beginning September 30th at the Schuylkill Mall. The campaign will make several stops at locations county-wide throughout October. For any election-related questions, contact the Voter Registration/Election Bureau at 628-1467.

Authorities say the "fire bugs" in the Shamokin area of Northumberland County have been caught – and they're very young. The six-month investigation involved five arsons that left nine people at least temporarily homeless and caused more than 250-thousand dollars in property damage in Coal Township. It's come to a head with the arrests of six boys on arson-related charges. Four of the six have been charged by Shamokin police with setting eight fires since April that caused an estimated 10-thousand dollars' damage. Police tell the Shamokin News Item that most of those fires were set on porches in the city. Police say four of the youngsters are from Shamokin, while the other two, who are brothers, live in Coal Township. Three of the boys are 13 years old, two are 12 and one is ten. Their names have not been released due to their ages.

The Schuylkill County Commissioners began Wednesday's board meeting with a moment of silence for a fallen county hero. The observance was in honor of Sergeant Jennifer Hartman of New Ringgold who lost her life September 14th in a suicide car bombing near Baghdad. Two other soldiers died in the explosion. Hartman will be laid to rest with full military honors this Saturday. Commissioner Chairman Frank Staudenmeier read a directive from Governor Ed Rendell, ordering flags on all government buildings to be flown at half mast this Saturday in honor of Sergeant Hartman. Hartman was in the last two months of her deployment in Iraq when she died. She is the first Schuylkill County soldier to die fighting the war on terror.

A Barnesville man waived his right to a preliminary hearing in a sexual assault case. 23-year-old Michael Harris is charged with statutory sexual assault and aggravated indecent assault relating to a December 23rd, 2005 incident. Harris allegedly communicated with a 13 year old girl on the internet, and chatted about having sex. Police report that Harris initially refused those advances, but later met and reportedly engaged in sex. The incident was reported to Schuylkill County Children and Youth officials. Harris also faces misdemeanor charges of corruption of minors and indecent assault. He is free on $10-thousand-dollars unsecured bail. His case will be heard in court at a later date.

The case of a local school district's tax appeals was heard in county court Wednesday. The Blue Mountain School District had filed tax assessment appeals earlier this month with the Schuylkill County Assessment office. However, the form and manner which they were presented was not acceptable to the county, and the appeals denied. School district personnel reportedly e-mailed the information to the county, and contend that no one in the assessment office said the information had to be filed on the appropriate paper forms. Representatives from both sides presented their cases before Schuylkill County Judge Charles Miller, but no ruling was issued following testimony yesterday.