Local News - Saturday June 23

Gilberton Man Headed To Trial For Little League Fight

A 40-year-old Gilberton man will stand trial on charges that he fatally injured another man during an argument over Little League baseball during the evening hours on March 25. According to the Republican and Herald, Vincent Bloss appeared for his preliminary hearing Friday before Magisterial District Judge Bernadette J. Nahas, Frackville, on charges of involuntary manslaughter, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person, all misdemeanor offenses. Gilberton police Chief Mark Kessler and Schuylkill County Detective Martin J. Heckman charged Bloss with causing the death of Frank S. Jackowiak during an argument near Church and Railroad streets. Dauphin County forensic pathologist Dr. Wayne Ross attributed the cause of death to "traumatic chest and abdominal injuries" and labeled the manner of death a homicide. During the hearing, Jackowiak's son testified that he, his son, and his father were walking in the area when they met Patricia Bloss, Vincent Bloss' wife. He said his father and the woman became involved in an argument over Little League after his father threatened to call league officials over where the woman’s child was playing baseball in relation to where he was living. Nahas ruled that the Commonwealth, under the direction of assistant district attorney Michael O'Pake, proved a prima facie case and ordered all three charges bound over to Schuylkill County Court.

Wetzel will stand trial in death of St. Clair woman

A Minersville man will stand trial on charges that he murdered a St. Clair woman last month after she wouldn’t sit with him at a Senior Citizen center. 68-year-old Nevin Wetzel, appeared before District Judge David Plachko Thursday afternoon to face charges in the death of 57-year-old Gloria Pauzer at her home on May 8th. Both the defense and the Schuylkill County District Attorney agreed that any testimony presented at the hearing would agree with the facts outlined in the criminal complaint filed by St. Clair Police. DA Jim Goodman said that the complaint proves enough evidence to substantiate the criminal homicide and assault charges.
Goodman's office continues to research precedents as to whether he will seek the death penalty in the case.

Huth facing stiffer penalties

A Schuylkill County Judge wants stiffer penalties for a Saint Clair man. Not only did a Schuylkill County judge reject a guilty plea and proposed sentence Wednesday for a Saint Clair man, she criticized the district attorney's office for not seeking stiffer punishments in cases where children are victims. Judge Jacqueline Russell rejected the proposed 6-to-23-month prison term for 27-year-old William Huth Jr. Huth is charged with three counts each of simple assault and harassment and two counts each of aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person and endangering the welfare of children. According to the Republican and Herald, state police at Frackville allege Huth assaulted his girlfriend, Sarah Werner, and her daughter Alexis, on February 3, 2006, when Alexis was only ten-months-old. He was to have pleaded guilty to charges but he withdrew his plea instead and decided to go to trial when Russell refused to agree to the proposed sentence. The next time his case could go to trial is the September criminal court term.

Memories of Agnes

It was almost a year ago to the date that flood waters ravaged communities across the region. It was 35 years ago that Hurricane Agnes paid a visit to Pennsylvania, wreaking havoc across most of the state. Agnes blew across the Florida panhandle and roared up the Atlantic coast, dumping double digit inches of rain, killing 48 people and causing an astounding $2-point-1-billion dollars in damages. Sixty eight thousand homes and 3 thousand businesses were destroyed, leaving more than 200-thousand-people homeless. Last year, over a foot of rain soaked Schuylkill County, causing gaping holes to open up from abandoned mine shafts, flooding out homes and causing nightmares for many folks. Some homeowners are still cleaning up the after-effects of last year's flooding.

Free movie program huge success

The challenge of keeping children busy during the summer is not an easy one to overcome. How about taking the kids to a movie, for free! The Fairlane Village Mall developed a Summer Movie Program, each Tuesday at noon, to create a fun and safe program for kids. The mall's movie theatre shows family-friendly flicks, and afterwards, all children 12 and under receive a free lunch voucher for several of the mall's food outlets. Since its inception on June 1st, the response has been phenomenal. According to mall Marketing Director Heather Stine, both movie theatres will show the same film on Tuesdays at noon, in order to accommodate the larger crowds they have been experiencing. The Summer Movie Series continues through August 21st. The movie schedule is posted on the mall's website at http://www.shopfairlanevillage.com/.

Pottsville Project Fit seeing results

Pottsville Project Fit, the city's wellness campaign, is seeing results. As a result of funding from the US Department of Education, Project Fit provides school and community based physical activity and nutrition programs to city kids and adults free of charge. A one-year evaluation of Project Fit indicates that changes are happening in diet and exercise habits. The measurements included number of days of exercise, and increased amounts of fruits and vegetables in their diet. Pottsville middle school students and their parents were used in the study group. The number of people using activities run by Pottsville Project Fit saw a marked increase in the first year of operation. To learn more about the activities available for city residents, call Pottsville Project Fit at 628-5079.

Rest Haven hires

The Schuylkill County Commissioners gave their approval to hire seven people to various departments at Rest Haven Home and Hospital in Schuylkill Haven during their Wednesday work session. The appointments include, Joy Henninger of Pottsville as Assistant Director of Nursing at a salary of $48,859 per year; Lynn Sabadish of Branchdale as a Part-Time Nurses Aide at $11.72 per hour; Brooke Kelly, St. Clair as Full-Time LPN at $15.99 per hour; Gregory Halupa of Gilberton and D'angelo Pringle of Schuylkill Haven as Full-Time housekeepers at $9.00 an hour; Shannon Tobin of Minersville as Part-Time LPN at $15.99 per hour and Dawn Scanlan of Pine Grove as Part-Time Housekeeper at $9.00 per hour. Shannon Wagner was transferred from Part-Time to Full-Time Nurses Aide at $12.42 per hour. Rachel Lauck of Pottsville, a temporary Activities Assistant at Rest Haven, will be retained until October 30th due to the medical leave of the full-time Activities Aide. Her salary is $9.50 per hour. In other action, Robert Marshall Jr. of Minersville was appointed as Part-Time Collection/ Maintenance Driver in the Office of Solid Waste at $12.61 an hour to cover vacations, personal days and sick time. The Commissioners also learned of five resignations, two terminations and two retirements from positions in various county departments.

Commissioners work session

The Schuylkill County Affordable Housing Trust Fund recommended five projects for funding to the County Commissioners during Wednesdays work session. The grants, totaling $337,579 would go to Schuylkill Community Action and the boroughs of Frackville and Schuylkill Haven.
Schuylkill Community Action would receive $190,279 for a Senior or Disabled housing repair program, $30,000 for a housing counseling program, and $25,300 for housing assistance for disaster victims. Frackville and Schuylkill Haven boroughs would receive $46,000 each for housing rehabilitation programs. In a related matter, the Commissioners were asked for authorization to reappoint Thomas Gallagher of Frackville and Harry Harring of Cressona as members of the Housing Trust Fund board for two-year terms effective July 1st. In other business, Craig Morgan, Manager of the Schuylkill Conservation District asked for approval for the sale and purchase of an agriculture easement between the county and owners of a property consisting of 61.4 acres, located in Wayne Township for the purchase price of $61,140.