WPPA/T102 NEWS Saturday October 21, 2006

LOCAL NEWS

Fatal Accident in Delano Twp. Crash Closes Interstate

A one vehicle accident closed a portion of Interstate 81 between McAdoo and Mahanoy City last evening around 8:30 p.m. A woman driving a 2005 Subaru went off of the right side of the road and struck an embankment rolling her vehicle just north of the Delano exit. She was pronounced dead at the scene by a member of the LifeFlight helicopter crew from Geisinger Medical Center. The victims identity is being withheld at this time.

Pottsville Drug Pusher Sentenced

Kashif E. Harris was found guilty of selling drugs twice and possessing them a third time in less than a two-month period in 2005, and now will be serving two to four years in state prison. According to the Pottsville Republican and Herald, Schuylkill County President Judge William E. Baldwin sentenced Harris, 19, of Pottsville, on Friday to two to four years in a state correctional institution, with credit for time served. According to Pottsville police, Harris sold cocaine twice — Nov. 29, 2005, in his home, and Dec. 1, 2005, just outside his home. State police at Reading filed the third set of charges against Harris, alleging he possessed drugs and drug paraphernalia Oct. 4, 2005, in his home. In a Sept. 8 nonjury trial, Baldwin found Harris guilty of two counts each of delivery of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance and one count of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, charges resulting from the two sales. Harris pleaded guilty Sept. 12 to possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, charges resulting from the case brought by state police. The judge included a recommendation for boot camp, which will be exclusively the decision of the state Department of Corrections, after Anthony Peccarelli, a supervisor at the youth forestry camp in White Haven, testified Harris had done well there. In addition to the prison time, Harris must pay court costs, $567.50 restitution to the Pottsville police, $105 restitution to the state police crime laboratory in Bethlehem and $300 to the Substance Abuse Education Fund, and submit a DNA sample to law enforcement authorities under the terms of Baldwin's sentence.

Pottsville native involved in fighting California wildfires

Kenneth Heffner served as one of the directors of the emergency response team coordinating fire suppression activities while a blaze known as the Day Fire, the fifth largest in modern California history, ravaged almost 163-thousand-acres in the Angeles and Los Padres National Forests. The fire started on Labor Day. The construction of 163 miles of fire line to surround the 254-square-mile fire took four weeks to complete at an estimated cost in excess of $73-million-dollars. Heffner is the Deputy Forest Supervisor of the Los Padres National Forest. The forest encompasses nearly two million acres in the coastal mountains of central California. It stretches from the Big Sur Coast in Monterey County to the western edge of Los Angeles County, a distance of nearly 220 miles. Heffner was born in Pottsville and lived in Port Carbon until he was two years old. They moved away in 1961 and then returned to the Conyngham Valley, Luzerne County in 1972. Heffner started his career with the USDA Forest Service in 1986. During his 20 years with the Forest Service, he has served in many professional and management positions within the agency.

Allen sponsors bill regarding mail order pharmacies

Pennsylvania consumers may get some help when it comes to purchasing prescription medications in a bill authored by a Schuylkill County legislator. State Representative Bob Allen crafted legislation that prohibits health insurance providers from forcing consumers to use mail-order pharmacies to fill their prescriptions, and would allow people to continue using their local pharmacies. That bill has been approved by the House of Representatives. House Bill 814 amends the state's Unfair Insurance Practices Act by deeming it unfair for a health insurer to require its customers to use a mail-order pharmacy to fill their prescriptions or to eliminate or restrict in any other way the right of customers to use the pharmacy of their choice. Insurance providers would also be prohibited from penalizing customers, through higher fees or other conditions, who choose not to use a mail-order pharmacy. The bill, which has more than 80 cosponsors, now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Wind farm going up near Sheppton

Another wind farm – this one in northern Schuylkill County – is going up. Construction began earlier this summer on the 13-turbine Locust Ridge Wind Farm in Mahanoy Township. Community Energy Incorporated, based in Wayne, PA is a subsidiary of IBER-DROLA, an international energy developer. The plant is expected to be operating by the end of the year, with its maximum electricity output of 26 megawatts able to power 5,000 to 7,000 average-sized homes. The towers on which the rotors will be mounted stand about 255 feet tall. Earlier this week, several cranes worked near the towers that rise on high ground just west of Interstate 81 and northwest of the Mahanoy City exit of Interstate 81. Company officials say the power generated will be sold to PPL EnergyPlus. Another wind-power developer, DGP Power LLC, is seeking to lease land in Northumberland County near Schuylkill County on which to place a wind farm.

Good Sam Strides for Diabetes

Everyday is a great day for a walk or run. There's an organized one nearby next weekend. The Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center and Good Samaritan Foundation, Incorporated will host the 2nd Annual Good Sam Strides for Diabetes 5K Walk/Run on Saturday, October 28, in St. Clair. The event is presented by Highmark Blue Shield and is sponsored by M & T Bank, Coca-Cola Bottling Co., Sanofi-Aventis, and Bayer Healthcare. The walk was developed to provide a great opportunity to get some exercise and to learn more about the importance of diabetes prevention and local diabetes resources. Schuylkill County has an estimated 8,000 children & adults with diabetes and it is believed that at least another 8,000 people are not diagnosed—those numbers represent the combined populations of Frackville, Mahanoy City, Shenandoah, Gilberton and Orwigsburg. Last year, the Good Sam Strides for Diabetes attracted 350 participants. Families, friends, churches, schools, community organizations and businesses are encouraged to organize a team of walkers and/or runners to participate in Good Sam Strides for Diabetes. Individuals are also welcome. The 5K or 3.1 mile event will take participants from the Good Samaritan Healthplex in St. Clair, through the borough of St. Clair, and back. The run begins at 9:00 am and the walk begins at 9:15 am. Prizes will be awarded to the top male and female runners, and team participation awards will also be presented. Registration for Good Sam Strides for Diabetes costs $12 for individuals or team captains and $10 for each additional team member. For full details about Good Sam Strides for Diabetes or to register online, visit www.gsrmc.com.

LATEST PENNSYLVANIA NEWS

MILTON, Pa. (AP) - A 79-year-old man has been charged with fatally shooting his 82-year-old wife in the head. James Richard Blake of Milton, Northumberland County, was arraigned today on a charge of criminal homicide before Milton District Judge William Kear. Milton police say Blake shot his wife, Faye, in their Northumberland County apartment. Authorities say she was found dead in the apartment with a bullet wound in her left temple, and a handgun was found nearby. Police say Blake called 9-1-1 after the shooting to say he had shot his wife and that he would wait for police outside his apartment. Officers soon arrived and arrested him. Blake was sent to the Northumberland County Prison without bail.

NEW BRIGHTON, Pa. (AP) - Officials are concerned about the risk of an explosion this morning after a train derailed and burst into flames over a bridge in southwestern Pennsylvania, leaving fiery rail cars dangling over a river. Several cars are still burning. A supervisor with the Beaver County Emergency Management Agency says officials are worried about an explosion because the cars were carrying ethanol. The eastbound, 80-car Norfolk Southern Railroad train derailed above the Beaver River at about 10:50 last night. Eight rail cars on the bridge caught fire and officials are concerned about the flames spreading to others. At least 50 people have been evacuated from homes and businesses in Beaver Falls and New Brighton. They are expected to remain out of their homes until later in the day. The site is about 25 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - State House Speaker John Perzel says he will make copies of roll-call votes available to reporters and the public during voting sessions, overruling a decision by the chief clerk's office to end the practice. The Philadelphia Republican issued a memo to Capitol reporters today saying he will make copies of each printed record of how individual legislators vote on a bill in a room at the rear of the House while representatives are in session. The clerk's office sent out a memo October Fifth saying the public can get copies of the roll calls only after each daily session. But House Majority Leader Sam Smith says the decision was not intended to cut off reporters' access to roll calls. Smith's spokesman has said the decision was made because lobbyists seeking roll calls were interfering with the session.

NATIONAL NEWS

WHITE HOUSE (AP) - President Bush meets with his top military leaders today to review the strategy in Iraq. Bush calls the increasing violence "tough," but says the U-S isn't going to change course, despite pre-election polls that show voters are upset about it. Seventy-five U-S troops have died this month.

MOSCOW (AP) - The recent North Korean nuclear test is the main topic of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to Moscow today, but her underlying mission is to persuade Russia to approve U-N sanctions on Iran. Rice says the quick decision for sanctions against North Korea does "create a momentum."

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) - Eight people are dead after two separate stampedes in Bangladesh today. It happened while clothing was being distributed to the poor. Affluent Muslims give the clothes away as part of the tradition surrounding the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

CHICAGO (AP) - A new study says defibrillators that hang in shopping malls, airports and health clubs are not always reliable. Harvard Medical School researchers found in the past decade, one in five were recalled because of problems. The author says nevertheless, they save far more people than not.

HENDERSON, Ky. (AP) - Officials in Kentucky say several passengers from an Ohio River boat cruise had to be treated at a hospital after they started experiencing flu-like symptoms. A hospital spokeswoman says the hospital received a call that 15 to 20 people were sick.

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (AP) - Agents in California spent two hours yesterday sifting through cabinets, boxes and computers taken from the office of a California Republican congressional candidate. They were taken after Tan Nguyen (win) was a no-show at his own news conference to explain how a threatening letter was sent to immigrants by his campaign without his knowledge.

SAN DIEGO (AP) - The lawyer for a Camp Pendleton Marine says his client will plead guilty next week for his role in the killing of an Iraqi civilian. Private First Class John Jodka and seven others were charged with murder; his father says Jodka will plead guilty instead to assault and obstruction of justice.

NEW YORK (AP) - France's Defense Minister says despite recent tensions, the U-S and France will always be united whenever their essential liberties are threatened. Michele Alliot-Marie says this "profound friendship" is vital to combatting terrorism.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Actress Phyllis Kirk has died. Fans know her as the auburn-haired beauty stalked by Vincent Price in the 1950's Three-D horror film "House of Wax." Her publicist says Kirk died Thursday of an aneurysm. She was 79.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A Los Angeles County jury has convicted an 89-year-old man of vehicular manslaughter for running dozens of people over at a crowded farmer's market in Santa Monica three years ago. Ten people died and more than 70 were hurt. George Russell Weller faces punishment ranging from probation to 18 years in prison.

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) - Murder warrants have been issued in Kentucky for a couple accused of kidnapping the woman's nine-month-old son from a social worker who was later found dead. Renee Terrell and her boyfriend, Christopher Wayne Luttrell, will likely be moved from Illinois to Kentucky next week.