Local News-Wednesday, Feb. 7th

For the second time in the same day Monday, PPL Electric broke a record for usage. Between 6 and 7pm, usage surged to 7,569 megawatts, breaking the record of 7,318 megawatts used early Monday morning. The all time record of 7,554 megawatts, set in the summer of 2006, was also shattered.

When temperatures hover around zero, pipes freeze. For one area high school, that problem turned into a big mess. A pipe located inside of a storage closet of the home economics room at Schuylkill Haven High School ruptured Monday night, causing some flooding in several first floor classrooms. According to the Pottsville Republican, the pipe was exposed to outside air through a vent, causing the sprinkler pipe to freeze. A short time later, the leak was discovered and school personnel went to work cleaning up the mess. An outside firm, along with faculty and students continued that work Tuesday. The total cost of the damage has not yet been determined. Schuylkill Haven High School is located on East Main Street in the borough.

A case against Penn DOT, brought by a Mountaintop man, has been resolved in Schuylkill County Court.
Judge Charles Miller ruled that the department is not liable for an accident in January, 2004, where John Ziomek of Mountaintop was hurt on Interstate 81 in Kline Township. Ziomek sued PennDOT, contending that I-81 was icy and had not been properly maintained, and that standing water froze in depressions in the road. He was injured in the crash near exit 138 that day. PennDOT presented evidence that the road was clear about a half hour before the crash, but a sudden snow squall came through the area, causing slick roads.
Judge Miller said there was not enough information against PennDOT to support the lawsuit.

Pottsville fire officials are investigating a fire at an apartment in the city yesterday. The call came in around 4pm, with report of fire at 1242 Rhododendron Street. The tenant in the apartment is reportedly out of town, but a relative stopped by to remove the garbage and found smoke. A mattress in the apartment was burned, and also incurred smoke and water damage. Two other apartments had smoke damage. Fire Chief Todd March indicates that the fire is deemed suspicious at this time.

Despite the apparent exclusion from President Bush’s budget, the developer of a coal-to-fuel plant has vowed to press on. WMPI’s visionary John Rich Jr. said the $100-million-dollar loan promised by the federal government, but excluded from the President’s budget, will not daunt his efforts to move forward. The Pottsville Republican indicates that there is confusion about why the money was pulled, since President Bush stressed the need for the country to find alternatives to our dependence on foreign oil in his State of the Union address last month. As we reported to you yesterday, Congressman Tim Holden was also dismayed by the omission of the money from the budget document. The nearly $800-million-dollar project would turn waste coal into useable diesel and oil, and would be a shot in the arm to the area’s economy. The Pennsylvania delegation in Washington is working on the company’s behalf to get some answers about the $100-million-dollar low-interest loan. It is just a portion of the financing necessary to make the proposed project a reality.

Governor Ed Rendell announced his budget plan for the coming year yesterday in Harrisburg. Rendell's budget for Fiscal Year 2007-08 includes proposed tax increases -- including a one-cent hike in Pennsylvania's Sales and Use Tax -- totaling more than $2.5 billion on an annual basis. Further, a new tax projected to cost employers $60 million in FY 07-08 would cost nearly $2 billion annually after four years.
The Governor requested a one-cent increase in Pennsylvania's sales tax,from 6 percent to 7 percent statewide. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh would see their sales taxes increase from the current 7 percent to 8 percent. Among the other highlights are increased energy and tobacco taxes. The spending plan totals over $27 billion dollars.