Local News - Saturday Mar. 10, 2007

Schuylkill Mall Has New Owner

Schuylkill County's largest mall has a new owner. According to the Republican and Herald, Empire Schuylkill LP, Philadelphia, paid $17.6 million for the 144.44 acres and stores comprising the Schuylkill Mall, according to a deed recorded Friday afternoon in the Schuylkill County Recorder of Deeds Office. That price, which represents less than half the mall's fair market value as stated in the deed, will go to PR Schuylkill Limited Partnership, also known as Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, Philadelphia, which assumed ownership of the mall in November 2003. Fameco Management Services Associates LP, Plymouth Meeting, will be managing the property for the owner. The sale means $176,000 in real-estate transfer taxes for the state and the same amount to be divided among the four townships - Blythe, New Castle, Ryan and West Mahanoy - and three school districts - Mahanoy Area, Saint Clair Area and Shenandoah Valley - where the property is located. Those taxes are based on the sale price, with the state getting 1 percent of that price and the municipalities and school districts dividing another 1 percent. Empire Schuylkill LP, Philadelphia, is part of Empire Realty Investments Inc. Its offices are based at 3901 Manayunk Ave., Philadelphia, according to www.empirerealtyinvestment.com.

All Charges Stick Against Zimmerman

Jeffrey L. Zimmerman must defend against all charges filed against him in connection with his wife's death, but prosecutors cannot use the seven photographs they wanted as evidence, a Schuylkill County judge has ruled. According to the Pottsville Republican and Herald, a 14-page opinion and order made available Friday, President Judge William E. Baldwin denied Zimmerman's request to dismiss burglary and criminal trespass charges, but did agree that seven of eight photographs of Cindy Zimmerman could not be used by prosecutors. Prosecutors presented enough evidence to support the charges, ruled Baldwin, who also wrote that the seven photographs to be excluded were unnecessary and inflammatory. Orwigsburg police charged Jeffrey Zimmerman, 47, of Orwigsburg, with fatally beating his wife with a baseball bat on July 6, 2006, at the 221 E. Mifflin St. home of her parents, Adam and Anna Faust. He is charged with criminal homicide, aggravated assault, simple assault, burglary, criminal trespass, recklessly endangering another person and possessing an instrument of crime. He is being held in Schuylkill County Prison while awaiting trial; a trial date has not been set. Jeffrey Zimmerman's confession, combined with other evidence, shows a legally sufficient case for burglary and criminal trespass, Baldwin wrote in rejecting the contention that the evidence did not support those two crimes.

Road work in county starts Monday

Travelers on Interstate 81 should watch for construction workers on Interstate 81 beginning Monday. Crews will begin guide rail repair on Monday, weather permitting, on a stretch of I-81 between Exits 138 and 100, between McAddo and Pine Grove. Single lane conditions may exist in the southbound lanes while the work is being completed. The project is expected to last one to two days.