Local News-Thursday, May 3rd

Jeffrey Zimmerman learned his fate yesterday in county court. Zimmerman was found guilty of first-degree murder for beating his wife Cindy to death in her parents home in Orwigsburg in July, 2006. Judge William Baldwin pronounced him guilty, and sentenced him to serve the rest of his life in state prison. The non-jury trial lasted two days, and was filled with testimony about the events on the day when Zimmerman confronted his wife, and a struggle that resulted in her death. Zimmerman’s attorneys contended that while he admitted to the crime, it was not pre-meditated.

Schuylkill County received some good news Wednesday. The County’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 4.4 percent in March, down seven-tenths of a percentage point from February. County Commissioner Frank Staudenmeir made the announcement at the end of Wednesday's work session. Mark Scarbinsky, Director of the Office of Economic Development said the county is elated with the news. The statistics were contained in a news release from the state department of Labor and Industry. The County's rate of 4.4 percent tied it for the 52nd lowest rate among the state's 67 counties. The release indicated that over the year, the county's unemployment rate was down over a full percentage point.

STS asked for permission to make several bus route changes during Wednesday’s Schuylkill County Commissioners work session. Among the changes requested by Dennis Zahora of STS was to change the Pottsville to Tamaqua Route 45 schedules from three days a week to five, to change the times and pick-up locations of Route 14 which services Palo Alto, Port Carbon, Mill Creek and Saint Clair and to operate a bus twice a day on Thursday from Coaldale to Tamaqua with an anticipated start date of June 21st. Zahora said it is necessary to change some routes because of requests for transportation to the Hometown Wal-Mart and to adjust to a schedule change of the bus to Hazleton. Zahora also asked for approval to submit a revenue replacement grant application for the consolidated shared ride and people with disabilities program. The application for nearly $1-Million-82-Thousand Dollars will provide discounted shared ride transportation services for senior citizens and people with disabilities from July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008.

Bloomsburg University is on high alert after officials determined that a threat could put the entire campus in danger. Reports say that 19-Lee McGuiness, a Temple University student from Schuylkill Haven had reportedly dated a female resident at Elwell Hall, but the girl felt that she needed protection from him. WBRE-TV reports that McGuiness was seen in pictures with guns on myspace.com. The University tightened security, not because of a direct threat, but in light of events at Virginia Tech two weeks ago. Schuylkill County Sheriffs Deputies were reported to have seized all of McGuineess' legally owned firearms. He had both handguns and rifles in his possession. State and local police are working with Bloomsburg University, and Temple University was also alerted to the situation.

A New Philadelphia man was arraigned on additional charges relating to an incident at Penn State Schuylkill earlier this week. Former PSU student Edward Shamonsky the Third was charged with arson, terroristic threats and other offenses before District Judge David Plachko yesterday. State police say that his behavior at Penn State was disturbing to other students, and withdrew from classes several weeks ago. He took guns from his parents home, and had apparently expressed threats about the school. His burned car and the guns were found by state police in Schuylkill Township, prompting his arrest. Penn State Schuylkill officials took the purported threats seriously and locked down the campus on Monday. He is in Schuylkill County Prison. The investigation is ongoing.

A cargo airport project planned in the Hazleton area received a conditional airspace approval from the Federal Aviation Administration yesterday. The FAA said that the airport would not pose airspace problems, provided that the developers comply with several conditions pertaining to the physical layout of the site near the Humboldt Industrial Park. The ruling did not grant approval of the airport project itself. Gladstone Partners LLC is the project developer.
The undertaking is still in the developmental stages, with financing and other planning yet to be done. The airport would partially sit on land in northern Schuylkill County.

We now know the identity of the woman who crashed her SUV into a gas pump and another vehicle at a St Clair convenience store Monday. Saint Clair police say Marie Himick pulled into the Exxon On The Run station along Route 61 Monday afternoon when her accelerator pedal apparently got stuck, striking a gas pump and another car. The Republican and Herald reports that while no fuel leaked from the crash, the pumps will be shut down until repairs can be made.
Himick’s Explorer will be inspected to see if the gas pedal malfunctioned.

A Frackville man faces burglary charges in an incident in the borough Monday. State police say that Edward Manbeck was found in a second floor closet in a home on South Second Street by the homeowner, who came home for lunch. Manbeck was arraigned and taken to Schuylkill County Prison, unable to post $20-thousand-dollars bail.

(Pottsville)-The Schuylkill County Public Works Department has asked the Commissioners for approval to seek a grant to begin rehab work on Court Room Number-One. The application for $100-thousand-dollars will be made to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, and funds used for selected restoration and rehabilitation work. The grant requires county matching funds and an application that was submitted to the Department of Community and Economic Development would cover the county’s match. In other business, Emergency Management Agency Coordinator Art Kaplan asked the Commissioners to approve lease agreements for vehicles owned by the county to be turned over to agencies who would use them to respond to a disaster. The group includes, the Red Cross, Pottsville Police Department, Pottsville’s Humane Fire Company, Minersville’s Rescue Hook and Ladder Fire Company, American Fire Company of Fountain Springs and Tamaqua’s South Ward Fire Company. The vehicles include several vans and a number of utility trailers. The lease with each group is $1.00 with the equipment being returned to the county if they are no longer needed.