Local News-Thursday, May 17th

A Pottsville man is under arrest for stabbing another man early Wednesday morning. City police investigated an incident, where Jeremiah Ruscavage and Anthony Harkins had been fighting. During the altercation, Harkins drew a knife, stabbing and slashing Ruscavage. He was taken to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center for treatment. Harkins fought with police, kicking and biting an officer while he was being taken into custody. He’s in Schuylkill County Prison on $20-thousand-dollars bail.

Sunoco workers and contractors are at the scene of a gasoline pipeline break near Shamokin.
A Sunoco spokesman says the company is working to fix the line and clean up the mess caused by a bulldozer that ran into the 14-inch pipeline yesterday. Spokesman Gerald Davis says Sunoco learned of the problem when pressure in the pipeline dropped. Workers shut down the long-distance pipeline and sent Sunoco employees who were in the area for an unrelated reason to investigate. That's when they learned the pipleline had been struck by a bulldozer doing excavation work.

The Pottsville School Board has proposed its tentative budget for the 2007-2008 school year, with no tax increase. The $32.2 million dollar spending plan calls for a 2% increase from last year’s budget of $31.6 million dollars. It is expected to be ratified at next month’s meeting.
In other business, the school district Treasurer was elected by the board. John Boran was chosen and will receive an annual salary of 2000 dollars. He chose to donate the money back to the district allocating $1000 to a scholarship fund that will benefit a graduating senior who plans on majoring in education, $500 to the high school Publications department and the remaining $500 to the high school band. The board also approved the hiring of the coaches for the next school year. These include head football coach Kevin Keating, his defensive assistant Mr. John Toomey as well as other fall sport coaches. Superintendent James Gallagher presented the board with a list of 275 prospective graduates for the class of 2007. Commencement is set for May 31st.

An Aristes man had a preliminary hearing yesterday on charges that he threatened his brother.
Troy Schoffler, age 39, is charged with terroristic threats and harassment, relating to an incident with his brother on Easter Sunday. The Republican and Herald reports that Schoffler threatened his brother Lorne Schoffler with a gun, and accused him of having an affair with a former girlfriend. Troy Schoffler was also involved in a standoff with police at his home on April 12th, holding a girlfriend hostage. The standoff ended peacefully after 8 hours. He continues to be housed at SCI Mahanoy on a parole violation. Reports indicate that Schoffler has a history of drug and weapons offenses. The harassment case is bound for Schuylkill County Court.

A Pottsville man was cited by police for an incident on an STS bus last week. State and Schuylkill Township police say that James Delbertis was the only passenger riding on the bus, when he began touching the female bus driver’s back and asking questions that made her uncomfortable. The driver called police when she stopped to pick up a passenger in Tuscarora. She also noted that Delbertis urinated outside of a home in the area while he was waiting for police. Delbertis will be cited by police in the incident, through the office of District Judge Stephen Bayer. The incident happened last Thursday.

The Tamaqua School Board hired a new elementary principal at their meeting last night.
They filled the position internally, moving high school principal Stephen Behr to the district’s three elementary schools beginning in the fall. He fills the position held by retiring principal Thomas Ponting. The Pottsville Republican and Herald reports that the Tamaqua school board unveiled it’s tentative 2007-2008 budget. The spending plan totals $24.1 million-dollars, and projects a $1.2 million-dollar fund balance. The board is expected to ratify the budget at their June meeting.

May is National Foster Care month. In today’s society, many children are growing up in less than ideal situations, putting their safety at risk. Substance abuse, mental health issues and other social problems in the home may force authorities to put kids into foster care until the situation can be fixed. Foster care programs, like those offered by Catholic Charities, help to stabilize the lives of kids until they can either be returned to their families, or be placed for adoption. Dolores Novack of Catholic Charities noted that more than 20 thousand children were placed in foster care in 2005. Foster parents can receive financial help to care for foster children through state and federal programs. Catholic Charities offer training and support to individuals and families who want to become foster parents.