Local News-Friday, Feb. 23rd

Another truck became wedged under the railroad underpass in Cressona yesterday, snarling traffic.
Schuylkill Haven troopers report that 37-year-old Thomas Brumley of Winona, Texas reportedly didn’t see the 11 foot 8 inch clearance signs and became wedged under the bridge. The trailer split, with the front of the trailer remaining attached to the fifth wheel of the tractor. Brumley was not hurt, but will be cited in the incident. There were more than 20 such accidents at the Cressona bridge in 2006.

A Pottsville attorney is the victim of theft and embezzlement by his former office manager. Attorney Robert Lipkin reported the thefts in January to Pottsville Police. He said that during 2006, his then office manager, 37-year-old Sharon Marsh of St. Clair, took over 31-thousand-dollars from two business checking accounts and a credit card account. Marsh allegedly completed 172 transactions to steal the funds. She was arrested Thursday and was arraigned before District Judge James Reiley. Marsh was released on $50-thousand-dollars, unsecured bail. Her preliminary hearing is set for a month from today.

A West Reading man, convicted of murdering an Orwigsburg man in 2004, wants a new trial in the case. Desmond Hammond, currently in state prison for the murder of Clinton Hallick, was in Schuylkill County Court yesterday with new legal counsel to request a new trial. According to the Pottsville Republican, Hammond’s attorney said that new evidence and poor representation by his former attorney are grounds enough to warrant a new trial. Hammond shot Hallick in the parking lot at a housing project near Minersville after a fight at a club in Frackville in March, 2004. He was convicted a year later on charges of third-degree murder, aggravated assault and other offenses. President Judge William Baldwin, who presided over the original case, gave both sides 30 days to prepare brief in the request.

A McAdoo woman was arrested Wednesday on criminal mischief charges. Frackville state police say that Sonya Bartosevich went to the home of her husband, Frank, to discuss their broken relationship. Troopers say that Sonya started yelling at Frank, but did not receive an answer, so she broke a kitchen window.
The two did not speak anyway, but she will be charged with criminal mischief. The incident happened around 3:30am Wednesday.

Pottsville fire fighters responded to a report of high levels of carbon monoxide yesterday afternoon at a city business. The call came in around 2pm, with high readings of the odorless, and sometimes deadly, gas at “L” Studios on South Centre Street. The Pottsville Republican indicates that an employee in the studio heard the monitor go off, and indicated high readings of carbon monoxide. The cause was attributed to a problem with the building’s gas furnace. Fire personnel had to ventilate the building for about an hour. Fire Chief Tood March indicates that all residential buildings in the city are required to have carbon monoxide detectors, but businesses are not.

A Shenandoah man succumbed to his injuries following a crash two weeks ago in East Union Township. State police released the information about 62-year-old Robert Seroka yesterday. He was driving north on Route 924 when his car left the road and struck a tree. He was life-flighted to Geisinger Medical Center, where he died February 15th. The cause of death was a cardiac contusion, caused by the crash.