Local News-Thursday, May 31st

A pair of Tamaqua men pleaded guilty to a host of drug charges in Schuylkill County Court yesterday. 35-year-old Dennis Helfrich and 37-year-old Joseph Sharpe, who were implicated in the overdose death of Helfrich's half-brother Eugene Moyer last year, will see state prison time after their plea yesterday before Judge D. Michael Stine. The Republican and Herald indicate that both men did not admit to causing Moyer's death, but did possess the drug Fentanyl that caused it. Their charges included drug delivery and possession of a controlled substance and related offenses. Tamaqua police had charged the men in June, 2006. Sharpe will spend 38 and a half months to 10 years in state prison, and pay costs. Helfrich will serve 3 to 8 years, and pay costs as well.

Two Minersville women were hit by a car yesterday afternoon in Minersville. Details are limited at this time, but according to the Republican and Herald, the women were struck by a Jeep making a left turn from Sunbury Street onto Third Street. Their identities, nor the driver’s have been released as yet, but we expect to know more from police today. The accident happened around 3:30pm Wednesday.

State police are looking for thieves who made off with materials from a county construction site.
Between Tuesday and Wednesday, someone made entered the Sara Lee construction site at Highridge in Cass Township and took 500 feet of copper welding material, and 500 feet of extension cord. Their whereabouts are unknown. The investigation continues.

A Pottsville woman was injured during a two-car crash yesterday morning in North Manheim Township. Crystal Staller of Pottsville was eastbound on Route 443 near the intersection with Route 61, and turned left into the path of Diane Bitzer’s SUV, which was westbound. Her Chevy Tahoe hit the passenger side of Staller’s car. Traffic was restricted to one lane for cleanup. Staller was taken to the Good Samaritan Hospital for treatment.

Two men escaped injury following a crash in North Manheim Township early this morning.
Travis Dochat of Northampton was driving south on Route 61 when the truck he was operating drifted off the road and hit a guide rail, then continued on for more than 100 feet, striking the guiderail again twice. Dochat and his passenger weren't hurt. The crash happened around 1:15am today.

The annual trek down the Schuylkill begins Saturday morning. The Schuylkill River Sojourn is a more than 100-mile canoe and kayak trip, beginning at the Island and ending up in Philadelphia nearly a week later. The trip will give participants a sometimes peaceful, sometimes challenging ride on the historical waterway that originates here in Schuylkill County, and was a key to the industrial revolution and the coal industry in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Friday night, Sojourners will gather at the Island in Schuylkill Haven for food, entertainment from the Breaker Boys and to camp out prior to Saturday morning’s start.
WPPA and T102's news correspondent Allie Raring and her father, who have participated in a number of the Schuylkill Sojurns, will be participating in the first three legs of this year’s event. You can hear comments from her journal Monday morning in the news.