Local News-Thursday, Nov. 9th

A tractor-trailer carrying crushed vehicles crashed near Molino yesterday morning. 24-year-old Robert Keller of New Ringgold was attempting to turn left from Route 895 with a full load, when the rig tipped over. The crushed vehicles spilled onto the roadway, closing the southbound lanes for about six hours for cleanup. Keller was not hurt, but charges may be filed against him after the investigation is completed.

Wet roads contributed to a crash north of St. Clair Wednesday morning. David Reinert of Wilkes Barre was traveling north on Route 61, and lost control on the wet roadway. His car hit the guiderail, flipped into the air and landed on its roof. Reinert was able to crawl from the wreckage and taken to Pottsville Hospital for observation. He will be cited for driving at an unsafe speed for conditions.

New housing funds are coming to northern Schuylkill County. Senator Jim Rhoades presented a $1-million-dollar grant from the Department of Community and Economic Development to clean up blighted properties and build new homes. Rhoades explains that there has been deterioration as businesses close and our downtown areas aren't as thriving as they used to be, so this gives an opportunity to provide affordable housing to families. The County Redevelopment Authority and Schuylkill Community Action will use the monies to demolish up to 10 properties, and build seven new modular homes for re-sale to low-to-moderate income families purchasing their first home. Ted Dreisbach of Schuylkill Community Action said that monies realized from the sale of the new homes would be used for other home projects. In addition, Rhoades has already formed a blighted property task force to find ways to deal with blight. His ultimate goal is to form some type of legislation to deal with the problem statewide.

A Schuylkill Haven contractor is charged with theft from a construction site in Minersville. 40-year-old Eric Hertz was charged by Norwegian Township Police for taking roofing materials worth 67-hundred-dollars from a job site he was working on at Kings Village. Charges of theft by deception, theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property were filed against Hertz in District Court earlier this week. The alleged thefts took place in June.

The developer of a proposed ethanol plant in western Schuylkill County held an informational session last night.
Green Renewable Energy, Ethanol and Nutrition, LLC held the meeting at the Joliett Fire Company to answer questions and allay fears that residents have about the propsed plant. According to the Pottsville Republican, Green Holding CEO Jeffrey Dershem answered questions about traffic, pollution and odors that the new plant may generate. While there will be a significant amount of traffic in and out of the plant once its operational, the business can be compared to a "glorified brewery." The plant is expected to employ as many as 60 permanent jobs, and 3-thousand construction jobs over a 2 year period.

Schuylkill County voters spoke loudly at the polls Tuesday. Nearly 50 percent of the county's 92-thousand registered voters went to the polls during the mid-term election. There were over 3-thousand absentee ballots sent to voters by the Election Bureau, with more than 2-thousand returned. Touch-screen voting systems were used for the first time in a General Election, and the process was extremely smooth. The first machines were received after 8pm, and the last one processed around midnight. Election Bureau Director Betty Dries attributed the quick turnaround to the additional staff she was able to hire for election night.

Saturday is Veterans Day. Established on the 11th day of the 11th month in observance of Armistice Day in World War One, it is set aside to remember all veterans of all branches of service. In Pottsville, a benefit Veterans Ball to raise money for the Medal of Honor Monument at Joulwan Park will be held at Pine View Acres Saturday night.
The Congressional Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest honor for valor on the battlefield. From Charles Brown and Henry Hill from Schuylkill Haven in the Civil War, to Admiral Joel T. Boone of St. Clair in the First World War, to Robert Roeder of Summit Station in the Second World War, the monument will pay tribute to the 15 Medal of Honor winners from the county. The dinner/dance is sponsored by the Pottsville and Schuylkill County Joint Veterans. Cost of tickets are $25 dollars each. For information, contact Bob Bedford at 628-5093. Our veterans deserve our thanks and support. Thank a veteran on Veterans Day.