Local News-Tuesday, Dec. 19th

A body of a man was found at the bottom of a coal stripping pit in Foster Township Sunday morning. State police say the fully-clothed man was about 6 feet tall with brown hair and a graying beard. The body appeared to be there for some time. An autopsy will be performed on the remains to determine an exact cause of death. Anyone with information should call Schuylkill Haven State Police.

A Gordon man was struck and injured in Butler Township while cleaning up another accident Monday. Crews were clearing an accident scene on Gordon Mountain Road around 5pm when 58-year-old Charles Lynch was attempting to load one of the wrecked vehicles onto a flatbed truck. Joanne Zerby of Ashland was driving south on Gordon Mountain Road and struck Lynch and then the tow truck. Lynch was thrown down an embankment. He was taken to St. Catherine Medical Center for treatment. His injuries were not life-threatening. State police expect to file charges after completing the investigation.

Ongoing work on water systems in and around Mahanoy City may result in cloudy water. Mahanoy Township Authority has been undergoing water line construction on South Main and Pine Streets recently, prompting officials to issue water boil advisories. Residents in Mahanoy City, and Mahanoy Plane should boil their water during this time.

A Tamaqua police officer was injured during a battle with a Lehigh County man Monday. Borough police responded to reports of a break in at a home on Elm Street early Monday. The suspect, 29-year old Junior Marte, of New Tripoli fled the scene but was found a short time later. Police struggled with Marte, as he tried to take one of the officers’ firearms. Corporal Dwayne Hacker was hurt during the struggle. Finally, officers were able to subdue Marte and take him into custody. According to the Pottsville Republican, Marte was arrested and charged with felony aggravated assault, and related offenses. He was taken to Schuylkill County Prison, being unable to post bail.

An Auburn textile factory is set to close this week. Citing movement of manufacturing long underwear out of the country, Auburn Apparel will lay off 38 workers and close its doors this week. The Pottsville Republican reports that the factory, operated by Performance Sports Apparel of Reading, made long underwear since 1995. The factory moved its operations to the former Wright’s Knitwear building outside of Auburn borough in 2004.

Frackville police have solved two hit and run cases which happened over the past two weeks. The first incident happened on December 2nd, where 21-year-old Eugene Blackwell the Third hit a parked car on South Second Street and fled the scene. The second occurred on December 9th, where 42-year-old David Revak struck a parked car owned by Joseph Vivacqua (viv-ah-kwa) on West Chestnut Street with his pickup truck. Revak took off because he was driving with a suspended license and without auto insurance. Both men will be charged with various motor vehicle offenses.