Local News-Friday, Dec. 1st

A 15-year-old Schuylkill Haven boy was arrested Thursday after robbing and threatening two people in Landingville Wednesday afternoon. A Landingville teen and 19-year-old Mark Whitman of Schuylkill Haven were traveling south on Tunnel Road on a motorcycle and saw someone standing alongside the road they thought they recognized. The juvenile pulled a ski mask over his face, fired a pistol in the air and demanded money from the pair. He fled from the scene on the motorcycle. Whitman was able to identify the boy, and was arrested by Schuylkill Haven State Police yesterday. The boy is charged with robbery, aggravated assault, making terroristic threats, reckless endangerment and other offenses. He was arraigned and taken to Schuylkill County Prison, being unable to post the $50-thousand-dollars bail. District Attorney Jim Goodman ordered that the teenager be charged as an adult.

Frackville state police arrested an Oneida man following an assault in East Union Township Wednesday morning. 25-year-old Robert Kirkpatrick assaulted Justine Kirkpatrick at a home on First Street. He choked the woman and threw her down, and also hit her with a clothing basket. State troopers picked Kirkpatrick up on a warrant for simple assault and other charges. He also had his probation revoked from Luzerne County. After arraignment, he was taken to Luzerne County Prison.

Monies are coming to the City of Pottsville to continue the Sharp Mountain project. State Representative Bob Allen announced the $940-thousand-dollar Growing Greener Grant to the city to be used toward the ongoing reclamation project on Sharp Mountain. In a press release, Allen said the subsidence on Sharp Mountain is a serious threat to the safety of anyone who runs or hikes in the area, and also causes water pollution. The Sharp Mountain project is one of the first that has attempted to reclaim crop fall areas. Crop falls occur when vertical coal seams were mined and the ground above them eventually caved into the void left by the coal. Pottsville's grant was among $27 million in Growing Greener grants awarded by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The City of Pottsville held the first reading of their 2007 budget yesterday. No new taxes are proposed in the $7.7-million-dollar spending plan. Property tax millage will remain at 12.58. The budget will be officially ratified later this month.

Deer and fog on an area roadway caused an armored car to crash yesterday in West Mahanoy Township. A Brinks armored truck driven by Joshua Rinehimer was southbound on Route 924 when he had to swerve to avoid hitting three deer crossing the road. The truck rolled over and came to rest on the drivers side. A passenger in the vehicle, Joseph Krupa of Shavertown was taken to Geisinger Medical Center for treatment. Rinehimer had minor injuries.

Today is World AIDS Day. Schuylkill Wellness Services, Pottsville, is an agency charged with increasing HIV/AIDS awareness through prevention, education, and screening programs. In observance of today's World AIDS Day, the center is offering free, confidential and anonymous HIV testing at their center. For information, contact the center at 622-3980. A United Nations AIDS official thinks it'll be at least two decades before there's a substantial decline in the rate of H-I-V infection. There are more than four million new cases each year, with intravenous drug users, prostitutes and gay men at highest risk.