WPPA/T102 News - Saturday 9/23/06

County woman dies in Iraq

The war in Iraq has taken the life of a Schuylkill County servicewoman. The Pentagon announced the death of 21-year-old Sergeant Jennifer Hartman of New Ringgold. She was one of three soldiers killed in combat. Hartman was with the Fourth Support Battalion, First Brigade of the Fourth Infantry Division at Fort Hood in Texas. The Defense Department says all three died September 14th in Baghdad when a bomb went off near a substation where they were serving.

Allentown Band to appear

A night of musical enjoyment is in store Wednesday at Pottsville High School Auditorium. Pottsville Area Music, Lasting Legacy presents the Allentown Band, the oldest civilian concert band in the United States, founded in 1828. The band will perform a mixed bag of selections that are sure to tempt the musical tastebuds of all ages. Tickets are just $10 and are available at Triple A in Pottsville and by calling Hardock at 449-7777.

Wastewater treatment facility dedicated

The borough of New Ringgold dedicated a new wastewater treatment facility Thursday. Prior to construction of the new wastewater treatment plant, New Ringgold Borough used on-lot sewage facilities which posed health risks to residents. The money for the project was provided by the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST). Representative David Argall said it's important to note that the project was completed under budget. While $2.4 million in funding was provided by PENNVEST, only $2.2 million of that was used to complete the project.

Big band dance for Pottsville Bicentennial

Another big event celebrating Pottsville's 200th birthday is coming up tonight. The Pottsville Bicentennial is hosting "A Night to Remember", featuring the Bill Hicks Big Band tonight from 8 to 11pm at Pine View Acres. Local businessman Jerry Enders, and his wife Janet, are co-chairs of the event, which appeals to music and dance lovers of all ages. The cost for tickets is $25 dollars at the door, with proceeds benefiting the Pottsville Bicentennial Parade, which will be held October 7th. The event is being underwritten by a gift from the Pottsville law firm Williamson, Friedberg and Jones.

Latest Pennsylvania news, sports, business and entertainment:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Despite their complicated history, Governor Ed Rendell is siding with Democrat Bob Casey in the Pennsylvania Senate race. He's ponying up money for Casey and appearing in a commercial in which he calls one of Senator Rick Santorum's ads "trash." It is Rendell's most public support yet for Casey, who has had a long, up-and-down relationship with the governor. Rendell, the former Philadelphia mayor, beat Casey in the 2002 Democratic gubernatorial primary after an especially nasty campaign. Sixteen years earlier, Casey's father, the late Governor Robert Casey, handed Rendell a bitter defeat in the same contest. Last year, Rendell helped clear the Democratic opposition as national party leaders recruited Casey to run in the Senate race against Santorum, the Number Three Senate Republican. But Rendell also made headlines this summer when he praised Santorum as an effective senator.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Carl Romanelli's push to get on the ballot as the Green Party Senate candidate has taken a big hit. Lawyers on both sides of a dispute over Romanelli's candidacy say he has fallen about nine-thousand signatures short of the number he needs to qualify for the November Seventh ballot. A review of the signatures Romanelli gathered in his bid to compete against Republican Senator Rick Santorum and Democratic state Treasurer Bob Casey was suspended yesterday under a state judge's order issued earlier in the week. But attorney Lawrence Otter says he still hopes to persuade a Commonwealth Court judge to let Romanelli stay on the ballot when a hearing on Romanelli's nominating petitions resumes Monday. Romanelli was required to gather more than 67-thousand signatures to qualify for statewide office this year. State Democrats allege that many of the signatures Romanelli gathered include numerous fake names, unregistered voters and illegible signatures.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A bill pending in the House of Representative would change the state flag for the first time in nearly 100 years by adding the name Pennsylvania in yellow silk embroidery. The bill's prime sponsor says Pennsylvania's flag is beautiful, but no one knows who it belongs to. A few other states have put their names on flags in the past few decades as a way to make them more recognizable. If a new design were to be adopted, it would be phased in as new flags were manufactured. The Pennsylvania state flag was most recently modified in 1907, when the General Assembly required that the background be the same shade of blue as on the U.S. flag.
The state flag features the Pennsylvania Coat of Arms, including the motto: "Virtue, Liberty and Independence."

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Philadelphia's smoking ban could be going into effect sooner than expected. Mayor John Street says he hopes to start enforcing the newly approved ban at restaurants and most bars as early as next week. Supporters on City Council did not expect the ban to take effect before January. But Street told K-Y-W-A-M yesterday that he doesn't plan to wait that long. He says the legislation provides for immediate enforcement. Street says he's only waiting for details from the Health Department, which will enforce the ban. The law will exempt sidewalk cafes, tobacco stores, private clubs and so-called local taverns - places where drinks alone constitute at least 90 percent of gross sales.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The administrative arm of the state court system now says that last week's decision restoring higher pay for judges also permanently linked future raises to the federal courts' pay scale. Pennsylvania court system spokesman Stuart Ditzen said yesterday that Pennsylvania judges' salaries will increase whenever Congress approves increases for federal judges. But he's declining to say whether the Pennsylvania jurists will get annual cost-of-living raises under the state or federal systems. Federal judges have received cost-of-living increases in each of the past seven years but have not received a pure salary increase for 15 years. A bill that would give them a 16-and-a-half-percent pay increase is currently pending in Congress.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A mural depicting the history of Pittsburgh Brewing Company and the city will be unveiled later today at the Senator John Heinz Regional History Center. The mural, painted by Pittsburgh-area artist Andrew Vernon, will showcase the history of the city and the brewery, which is celebrating its 145th anniversary. The brewery makes Iron City Beer, IC Light and others. The mural will remain on permanent display at the Pittsburgh museum after it is unveiled about 7:30 tonight. The brewery plans to issue six collectible bottles featuring scenes captured in the mural.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Boyd Gaming Corporation is giving up on its bid for a slot-machine gambling parlor in suburban Philadelphia. Company spokesman Robert Stillwell says the Las Vegas-based Boyd is withdrawing because it did not have the support of the Limerick Township Board of Supervisors. The board voted in April to unanimously to oppose the Boyd application. Stillwell says the company informed the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board of its intentions yesterday. Boyd's withdrawal leaves five groups to compete for two slots licenses that are not tied specifically to a racetrack, established resort or the cities of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez reached out to Hispanic businesses in America at a U-S Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Philadelphia. He made a strong pitch yesterday toward fostering better trade with a country that shares a language and cultural similarities with America's fastest growing ethnic group. Fernandez says the Hispanic market is of increasing importance, with Dominicans, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Salvadoreans, Colombians, Cubans and other Latin Americans who are becoming part of mainstream consumer society in the U-S. Hispanics in America are expected to spend nearly 800 (b) billion dollars this year. That's according to a recent University of Georgia study. Philadelphia was one of the president's last stops before he flies back home. Fernandez is campaigning for a non-permanent seat on the U-N Security Council for 2008 to 2009.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Republican Senator Rick Santorum and Democratic challenger Bob Casey are flooding the airwaves with messages these days as they try to sway voters in one of the country's most closely watched Senate races. But those sound bites and slickly produced ads are not yet having the desired effect. At least that's according to many voters interviewed this week by The Associated Press in the Lehigh Valley, Sunbury, State College and downtown Pittsburgh. Several voters said it was still too early to pay attention to politics. Others, meanwhile, said they have already made up their minds in a race featuring Santorum, a lightning rod of a candidate who often draws ardent support or opposition. Forty-seven-year-old Kurt Nicholas, for one, can't stand Santorum and doesn't like his recent negative ads. He's voting for Casey. Lyle Pettinger, on the other hand, says he likes Santorum because he thinks it's important for a candidate to display "Christian values."

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato and Mayor Luke Ravenstahl say land for a potential new arena for the Pittsburgh Penguins has been secured. At a news conference yesterday, they also asked the hockey team to commit to staying in Pittsburgh. The Penguins, which are for sale, say the team could move if an arena isn't built to replace 45-year-old Mellon Arena, the oldest and smallest in the National Hockey League. Several bidders are interested in the team, and some have said they would pay for or help fund a new arena. But not all bidders have committed to keeping the team in the city. The Pittsburgh-Allegheny County Sports and Exhibition Authority needed to buy ten properties to make room for the new arena. It has purchased nine of them. The authority says it has tentatively agreed to a deal with the owners of the tenth property.

SOMERSET, Pa. (AP) - Henrietta the chicken had gone unnoticed for 18 months among 36-thousand other chickens at Brendle Farms in Somerset. That changed last week, when a foreman of the catching crew noticed something different about the chicken- it had four legs. Farm owner Mike Brendle says he is amazed by the discovery. Henrietta has two normal front legs but, behind those, she has two more feet. They are of a similar size to the chicken's front legs, but don't function. The chicken drags her extra feet behind her. Brendle says he jokingly suggested selling Henrietta in an Internet auction, but his 13-year-old daughter Ashley objected. She
also named the chicken. Brendle says Henrietta is only a few weeks away from being able to lay eggs.

Latest National News

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A bomb hidden in a barrel near a kerosene truck exploded in Baghdad this morning, killing at least 35 people. Police say the bomb went off while dozens of people were waiting to buy fuel. Another 36 people were wounded.

PARIS (AP) - Information from a leaked intelligence document raising the possibility of Osama bin Laden's death is not being verified by French President Jacques Chirac (zhahk shih-RAHK'). He says that the report saying that bin Laden died of typhoid in Pakistan last month is "in no way whatsoever confirmed."

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (mahk-MOOD' ah-BAHS') says efforts to form a Palestinian government acceptable to the West have gone "back to zero," The remarks come a day after officials from the Islamic militant Hamas group declared that they would not lead a coalition that recognizes Israel.

MIAMI (AP) - Helene is back to being a hurricane. The storm continues to move quickly over the Atlantic with top sustained winds of 90 miles-per-hour. However, the National Hurricane Center says the storm is expected to weaken and not expected to make landfall.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Several more companies have recalled potentially tainted salad products, but federal health officials say it's now safe to eat spinach grown outside California's Salinas Valley. That all-clear means spinach could return to produce shelves in a few days.


(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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