Local News-Wed. March 14th

Pottsville city police uncovered an unexploded device last night. At 6:24pm, officers found the device in the 700 block of North Second Street on a property adjacent to the Pottsville Housing Authority. Police, fire, housing authority and emergency officials acted quickly to isolate the area. The Reading Police Bomb Squad confirmed that it was a piece of unexploded ordinance, and took the item from the scene. Police don’t know where it came from, but are continuing their investigation. If you have information, call Pottsville Police at 622-1234.

The child of a convicted sex offender will stay in the custody of Schuylkill County Children and Youth. DaiShin Wolfhawk, a registered sex offender who did time for sex crimes, and his wife Melissa, were dealt another setback in their attempts to gain custody of their child after a state Superior Court ruling released yesterday. The Pottsville Republican reports that the court ordered the child taken under the protection of county children’s authorities at her birth in October, 2005. At that time, the court felt that her father’s criminal history, and her mother’s indifference about his past posed a danger to the girl. The Superior Court findings indicate that the parents cannot provide proper care for the girl. Melissa Wolfhawk’s two other children live apart from her. The Wolfhawk’s have sought to have the county custody overturned on several occasions without success.

State police are looking for two people who took baby formula from a Cressona supermarket. The pair, a white male and female, went to the Giant Market early Monday morning and took numerous cans of Similac baby formula, and left without paying. If you have any information about the theft, call Schuylkill Haven state police at 593-2000.

A Sheppton man is in trouble for taking money for a roof repair job, then not finishing it. 56-year-old William Davidson of Sheppton was arraigned on Monday in Pottsville on felony charges of theft by deception. Davidson accepted $7-thousand-dollars from Miriam Gillespie of Nuremberg in October last year for roof repairs to her home, but never completed the work.
After arraignment, Davidson was taken to Schuylkill County Prison after he couldn’t post bail.

Frackville police are investigating suspected gypsy activity in the borough Tuesday. Yesterday afternoon, they responded to a home on Laurel Street for a theft. The victim said that a white male came to her home, representing a company that came to fix her damaged roof. While they were outside, a second male, described as being a short Hispanic man, went through the home, taking cash and jewelry. Anyone with information about this or similar incidents should call Frackville State Police at 874-2040.

A Hazleton man was nabbed for violating a Protection from Abuse Order in force against him.
25-year-old Robert Kirkpatrick allegedly punched Justine Kirkpatrick in the face at her home in Oneida Tuesday morning, violating the court order issued by Judge D. Michael Stine.
Robert Kirkpatrick was taken into custody and arraigned before District Judge William Slezosky.

Representative Tim Seip is planning to introduce legislation to provide local property tax and rent rebates. The bill would allow school boards and local governments to offer those rebates to senior citizens and widows or widowers 50 or olders, like the state rebate program. The proposed local tax rebates would mirror the state program, with similar eligibility requirements. Seip said that the program would help many homeowners on fixed or limited incomes who are often at the highest risk of losing their family homes due to property taxes. He also said that local taxing authorities would have an important tool to provide tax relief. A similar measure, co-sponsored by his predecessor, Bob Allen, passed the state house last year, but the Senate failed to act on it.