Local News-Wednesday, Oct. 4th

A man from Pillow is dead following a two-car accident last night. State police at Jonestown say that 37-year-old Timothy Rhine was traveling on Interstate 81 in Tremont Township when he failed to merge into traffic. He crashed into a pickup truck operated by Richard Barnett of Schenectady, New York. Rhine was pronounced dead at the scene. Barnett, nor his two passengers, were injured.

A truck loaded with pigs crashed in Hegins Township yesterday. Late Tuesday morning, a truck driven by 29-year-old David Leinbach of Mount Pleasant was negotiating a steep portion of Route 25 when he lost control of the rig and went off the side of the road, knocking off a utility pole. The truck ended up on it's side. Leinbach was transporting more than 500 pigs for Keystone Mills, Ephrata. Some of the pigs escaped and had to be captured. An estimated 180 pigs died from the crash. Leinbach was not hurt.

Grant monies are being provided to aid communities in recovering from the June floods. Governor Ed Rendell announced the $2.2-million-dollar grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor. Nearly a quarter million dollars will be allocated to the Schuykill Workforce Investment agency. The funds will be used to continue the cleanup of the flooded area and will provide jobs to people in our area who have been displaced as a result of the flooding, or who may be classified as long-term unemployed. Cleanup and recovery efforts include clearing debris along streams and rivers, repair and construction work. The monies fund the second phase of recovery projects in the area. Schuylkill Workforce's portion is part of nearly $420-thousand-dollars that is earmarked for the Luzerne/Schuylkill Workforce Area.

The death of a Rush Township man Sunday is being investigated as a possible overdose. Township police report that 32-year-old George Lazur was found dead at the Fairview Street home he shared with his girlfriend, Crystal Kiser. The Pottsville Republican reports that police consider Lazur's death suspicious. A large amount of marijuana, heroin and drug paraphernalia was found at the scene. Police were called to the home early Sunday morning, and found that Lazur and Kiser had been doing heroin. Lazur was found in a bathroom unconscious. A number of drug pipes and other drug material was found during a search of the premises. Kiser was charged by Rush Township police on several counts of drug possession and related offenses. She was taken to Schuylkill County Prison, unable to post the required bail.


A concert to pay homage to one of Shenandoah's most famous sons is being held Thursday night. The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra will perform Thursday night at Shenandoah Valley High School. The event is being sponsored by Downtown Shenandoah Incorporated. The show starts at 8pm. Patty Rader, Director of Upper Schuylkill Downtown Incorporated explains that Downtown Shenandoah Inc. decided to present the concert to celebrate the heritage of Tommy Dorsey, who was born in Shenandoah for the enjoyment of all. Tickets are $30, and can be purchased by calling Mary at 773-1270, or at Caledonia Antiques in Shenandoah.

Attention hunters! The Pennsylvania Game Commission is preparing to make changes that will lead to electronic hunting license sales. The Board of Game Commissioners gave preliminary approval to regulatory changes that will pave the way for an electronic license sales system beginning with the 2007-2008 license year. The Game Commission and Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission have been working to replace their own individual paper-based licensing systems with a common computer-based automated licensing system. One of the key benefits of POS will be the issuing of a permanent, unique customer identification number. Once implemented, this provision will eliminate the need for license buyers to provide their Social Security number beyond the first year of the individual purchasing a license. By state law, antlerless deer licenses will continue to only be sold by county treasurers, so hunters will need to prepare and mail separate applications for antlerless deer licenses. However, under POS, the system will be modified to the benefit of hunters and county treasurers.