State News - Saturday June 9

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) - One of the Allentown police officers involved in an accident that killed a four-year-old pedestrian had been fined for speeding four times before joining the force. That's according to court records obtained by The Morning Call of Allentown. The records show that, before he became an officer, Brett Guth once was caught going 104 miles per hour on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Jim Anthony, a lawyer who represented Guth on a speeding violation, says his former client is devastated by the accident that killed four-year-old Daviay Legrand on May 30th. State police are reconstructing the fatal crash to determine what caused Guth's patrol car to collide with another squad car, killing the boy. The police department declined to comment on Guth's past speeding violations.

FALLS, Pa. (AP) - Authorities in Luzerne County plan to continue their search today for a teenager who went missing while swimming with friends in the Susquehanna River. Dive teams and rescue boats spent several hours searching for the boy last night after he was reported missing shortly before six p-m. Officials say the search is now considered a recovery mission.
Fire officials say the boy was swimming with a friend, who was rescued from a nearby island.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - It was a perfect storm for travelers at Philadelphia International Airport. Dozens of flights were delayed at the airport yesterday after the Federal Aviation Administration began experiencing computer problems. By late afternoon, many flights were running from a few minutesto a few hours late. F-A-A officials said a series of thunderstorms which hit the region then began compounding the problem. The F-A-A also says a pavement problem at the airport, combined with all the added traffic backup, helped make the problem worse as the day wore on. The agency traced the start of the backlog to a problem with a computer in Atlanta that processes flight plans for airline and corporate jet operators.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Aluminum manufacturer Alcoa says it has completed formation of a joint venture with Sweden's Sapa Group, creating the world's largest aluminum profile company.
Alcoa says the joint venture called Sapa A-B will have annual sales of four-point-five (B) billion and 12-thousand employees. Sapa is part of Norwegian conglomerate Orkla A-S-A and will own a majority of the company. Alcoa will contribute 22 soft-alloy extrusion facilities in eight countries to the joint venture. Soft-alloy extrusions are alloy profiles used in industries such as construction and car making. Pittsburgh-based Alcoa currently is in a hostile bid to buy
Canadian aluminum rival Alcan for 27 (B) billion dollars.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - State officials say they are extending almost four-point-four (M) million dollars to help Reading Alloys expand in Berks County. The company wants to build a new manufacturing facility where it will add 55 employees. Reading Alloys makes alloys, powder coatings and other materials for aerospace, medical, electronic and other applications.
The state's help is in the form of loans, grants, tax credit and tax-exempt bonds.