Local News-Friday, May 4th

An investigation into the accidental shooting death of a Schuylkill Haven man results in misdemeanor charges being filed. State police at Schuylkill Haven have been conducting the investigation since Leon Wessner was accidentally shot inside of a pickup truck on February 11th. Troopers determined that William Kistler of Cressona and Marty Shappel of Port Carbon, who were in the truck at the time, would be charged with recklessly endangering another person. Kistler was also charged with simple assault. Their hearings will be set for a later date.
The three men were on their way to work in Florida when the gun, which Kistler was holding, went off.

Plans to open an adult entertainment club in Pottsville have apparently stalled. Eric Glazier and his company, Schuylkill Investment Partnership, purchased a warehouse at 545 North Centre Street last year, with the intention of renovating the building for a strip club, but so far, those plans have yet to materialize. The Republican and Herald reports that no applications have been filed by the company with the City of Pottsville to request a variance hearing to develop the building for that purpose. 23-year-old Glazier, from the Philadelphia area, also discussed other plans for the building when he purchased it last September. The North Centre Street corridor of Pottsville is undergoing a major facelift as part of the Elm Street project.

Schuylkill Products Incorporated of Cressona will be moving oversized loads today and Monday.
One beam will leave the production plant on Route 901 around 11am this morning. Traffic delays are to be expected at the intersections of Route 901 and 183 in Cressona, and again at Route 183 and 61 at Connors Crossing . The beam will travel south to Berks County. On Monday, 2 beams each will leave at 7 and 9am, bound for the same construction site. Motorists should expect delays.

The Schuylkill County Commissioners approved the awarding of several contracts to during their Wednesday work session. Dallago Backhoe Services, Marlin was awarded a contract amounting to just over $131-thousand-dollars for a waterline replacement project in Porter Township. J-E-M Contracting of Schuylkill Haven was awarded a contract amounting to $13-thousand-581-dollars for an A-D-A project in Gordon Borough. Both projects will be paid for with Community Development Block Grant funds. In other business, the Commissioners have been asked to authorize the purchase of a garage on Laurel Blvd. in Pottsville for storage of county property. County administrator William Reppy said the purchase price is $104-thousand dollars. The garage and property is being sold by the Pottsville Provision Company. The Commissioners approved an agreement with the Monroe County Municipal Waste Management Authority to provide a trained recycling truck driver to serve a substitute driver as needed, until Schuylkill County hires a temporary part time driver. The cost will be $26.41 per hour. One bid was received for a bridge replacement project in Branch Township. It came from Barletta Materials & Construction Inc., of Tamaqua for just under $400-Thousand dollars. A number of bids were received for surplus STS equipment and vehicles.

No one was injured in a two-vehicle crash in Norwegian Township yesterday afternoon.
Diane Stoudt of Pottsville was traveling south on Seltzer Road, near the entrance of Norwegian Woods, while a car driven by a 17-year-old from Pottsville was stopped for oncoming traffic, waiting to turn into the development. Stoudt apparently didn’t see the teen’s car and struck the rear-end. Both cars were able to pull off to the side of the road, but Stoudt’s car had to be towed from the scene. The crash happened before 4:30 yesterday. May 5th is the tentative award date for both the bridge project and the STS bids.

A Mahanoy City man is in jail after an attempted theft at a coal company yesterday.
Frackville troopers say that they received a call from the St. Nicholas Breaker in Mahanoy Township after 7am, indicating that someone was trying to steal copper. Officers found 39-year-old Stephen Kaszmetskie at the site, and he was taken into custody. He was served with two previous warrants during arraignment and is lodged in Schuylkill County Prison on $15-thousand-dollars bail.

State police are looking for the driver who followed a student from a business school in East Union Township yesterday. Troopers indicate that a 19-year-old female received a call at the McCann School of Business campus at the Humboldt Industrial Park after 5pm. The caller reportedly told the woman that she wouldn’t make it home. The unidentified male followed her, running her off the road. He then took off. The black Chevy pickup fled south on Route 924, and is still being sought by state police. If anyone has information about the case, call the Frackville barracks at 874-5300.