Local News-Friday, May 25th

A vandalism spree at Minersville Junior/Senior High School last year will cost a Pottsville man time in jail and restitution. Matthew Smith, 19, and a 17 year-old broke into the school a year ago, doing extensive damage to equipment in classrooms and offices. He learned his sentence yesterday in Schuylkill County Court, according to the Republican and Herald. Smith, who pleaded guilty to burglary, institutional vandalism and other charges, will serve 9 to 23 months in the county prison, but given credit for the month he already served and be allowed into the work-release program. In addition, Smith has to pay over $218-thousand-dollars for the damages. A portion will go to Minersville school district, with the remainder paid to their insurance carrier.

An accomplice of a West Brunswick Township drug trafficker has pleaded guilty in Schuylkill County Court. 37-year-old Edward McFadden of Chester County entered his plea of possession with intent to deliver marijuana, along with other charges, before Judge Charles Miller. The Pottsville Republican and Herald reports that McFadden aided Mark Pullano in bringing large quantities of pot into the county for sale. Pullano was sentenced to 3 and-a-half to 10 years in state prison, following an extensive investigation by state police and the attorney general’s office. Sentencing for McFadden is scheduled for mid-July.

The Commissioners on Wednesday tabled for further discussion the hiring of a law student to work in the District Attorney's office. At last week's work session, District Attorney James Goodman requested to hire Douglas Taglieri of Pottsville as a sub-contractor for the period of May 23rd to August 17th to assist in the preparation of drug forfeiture petitions and other related work. At that time, County Controller Gary Hornberger raised the question that the contract might violate IRS regulations over changing someone's status from a part-time employee to a sub-contractor. Hornberger had raised a similar issue over the termination of a part-time employee in the Recorder of Deeds office, then attempting to hire the person back as a sub-contractor to do essentially the same work. The Commissioners last year eliminated all part-time positions. Generally, the IRS considers a worker an employee if the employer can control how the work is done rather than simply requiring a certain outcome. A decision on what form of hiring will be done for Taglieri will be determined by the next commissioner's meeting on June 6th. He would receive $10.00 an hour either as a contractor or a part-time employee from funds the District Attorney receives from the Attorney General’s office.

The week-long challenge to bolster blood supplies by the local chapter of the American Red Cross is still going strong. The program, called Schuylkill 350, was undertaken by the Schuylkill/East Northumberland Chapter to build-up already short blood supplies. Through Wednesday, 139 units have already been collected. The results of two drives yesterday are not yet available. Another drive is scheduled for Saturday at the Lost Creek Ambulance building, from 10 am to 3pm. The County Commissioners proclaimed this week as the Schuylkill 350 Race to Save lives. With the summer season just about ready to start, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain adequate blood supplies, much less build them up. As an added bonus, participants received a special holiday t-shirt and be entered to win a $50-dollar gas card and an Apple iPod. Anyone 17 years or older, weighing at least 110 pounds and in reasonably good health can donate. For more information, or to schedule an appointment, call 1-800-432-8045, or log onto www.givelife.org.

Mahanoy City has announced parking restrictions for the Memorial Day weekend. The United Veterans Service on Sunday afternoon will be held at Veteran’s Memorial Park. There will be no parking on Catawissa Street in the area of the park from 1 to 4pm. The Car Cruise will be held Sunday evening. No parking will be allowed on the cruise route through the downtown area from 4 to 8pm. The Memorial Day parade is Monday. No parking will be allowed on various sections of Centre and Mahanoy Streets from 11am to 1pm. Vehicles who are on the posted routes for all events will be towed.

The unofficial start of the summer travel season begins this weekend. With the cost of gasoline skyrocketing, we all need to find ways to milk mileage from every drop. Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty offers these tips to help motorists enjoy their travel, and maybe save a few bucks on fuel:

Replace your air filter regularly. Assuming gas is priced at $3 per gallon, a dirty air filter can cost you as much as 30 cents a gallon in lower gas mileage.

Slow down. Every five miles per hour you drive over 60 costs you 20 cents a gallon.

Avoid quick starts. A steady, gradual rate of acceleration can save up to 15 cents a gallon.

Get a tune up. A smooth running engine is worth up to 12 cents a gallon.

Inflate your tires properly. Under inflated tires can cost you 9 cents a gallon.

Lighten your load. Every 100 pounds of extra weight in your trunk costs you 5 cents a gallon.

For more information and other tips to improve fuel economy, visit http://www.depweb.state.pa.us/, keyword “energy”.