Today's News-Friday, August 17th

More charges await a man who fled police Wednesday. Albert Modica, who along with Joseph Colorusso, took a car in New Jersey and fled to Pennsylvania. The AutoStar network picked up the vehicle's location in Pottsville and notified local authorities. The men rammed a Pottsville Police car, and Colorusso was apprehended at the scene. Modica took off on foot and led police on a chase from Pottsville to Minersville, where he was captured at woman’s home on High Street. According to the Republican and Herald, Modica is now facing charges of burglary and criminal trespass after he broke into the woman’s home. Local and state law enforcement are still investigating the incident. Modica and Colorusso are in Schuylkill County Prison.

A Hamburg man is under arrest for attempting to meet a woman and her daughters for sex in Delaware County. 40-year-old Drew Weidner of Hamburg was arrested outside of a diner in Upper Darby Tuesday, after he thought he was meeting a mother and her 11 and 14 year old daughters for sex after chatting on the Internet. The operation, set up by Delaware County law enforcement, caught Weidner after a detective posed as the mother online. Weidner was charged with attempting to corrupt the morals of the minors, aggravated indecent assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and other counts. He's incarcerated in Delaware County Prison in lieu of a quarter-million-dollars bail. Berks County authorities also searched Weidner's home and seized computer equipment as evidence in the case.

No one was injured in a three-vehicle crash in North Manheim Township Wednesday afternoon.
Schuylkill Haven State Police report that 29-year-old Nathan Krammes of Schuylkill Haven, an unidentified older white man and 57-year-old Dorothy Dunkle of Orwigsburg were all northbound on Route 61 when traffic backed up. The older man and Dunkle were able to stop in time, but Krammes could not and rear-ended the man's truck. Troopers say that the man and Dunkle checked to see if Krammes was alright before leaving the scene, but did not exchange registration and insurance information. State police are requesting that the man driving the blue utility pickup contact them at 593-2000 to provide information about the crash.

State police have released information about a motorcycle crash earlier this week. Schuylkill Haven troopers now say that David Kulp of Ashland, and his passenger, Marguerite DeAngelis of Frackville, were riding on a motorcycle on Deep Creek Road when he failed to negotiate a curve. The motorcycle hit a dirt embankment, and both were thrown off. Kulp and DeAngelis were taken to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville. The investigation continues.

The County Solicitor’s office has been asked to examine a prison policy of refusing to accept a prisoner for incarceration with medical issues the prison is not equipped to treat. Chairman Judge William Baldwin made the request at Wednesday's monthly prison board meeting. Judge Baldwin explains that sometimes prisoners with pre-existing conditions are to be incarcerated at the prison, and he questions who is responsible for treating and paying for their care. Judge Baldwin cited a recent case where a local police department brought a prisoner to the prison for incarceration. The prisoner had an injury from a car crash, which had not healed. The prison nurse said that a doctor's clearance was necessary before the man could be admitted. Judge Baldwin also questioned who would be responsible for medical bills after an arrest, but before arraignment.

The winners of the 2007 Pottsville Cruise car picked up their 1992 Corvette Thursday morning at Bruce’s Auto Mall in Schuylkill Haven. Tom and Paula Murphy of Catawissa won the car with a ticket Tom bought from the Ashland Area Rotary Club. They are thrilled with winning, and the euphoria over it has not yet settled. Paula Murphy said that her husband was the first to drive the car, as a result of a coin flip. Bob Greene, of Pioneer Pole Buildings, sponsor of the cruise car, had high praise for the Cruise volunteers. Jerry Enders of the Pottsville Cruise said over 90 non-profit groups sold tickets for the car and raised approximately $100,000 from ticket sales.

HUNTINGTON, Utah (AP) - Utah's governor says underground rescue efforts at the Crandall Canyon Mine should remain suspended until there are guarantees the search for six missing miners can be done safely. He commented overnight, after three rescuers were killed
and six injured by another cave-in.

FORT-DE-FRANCE, Martinique (AP) - Hurricane Dean is gaining strength. The first hurricane of the Atlantic season could become a dangerous Category Three storm by the time it reaches the central Caribbean. Meantime, rain from Tropical Storm Erin is linked to at least seven deaths in Texas.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A heat wave in the South and Midwest has caused at least 37 deaths. The Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation's largest public utility, has shut down one of three units at a nuclear power plant in Alabama because water drawn from the Tennessee River to cool the plant was too hot.

BAGHDAD (AP) - One U.S. soldier has been killed in a clash with suspected Sunni insurgents holed up in a mosque north of Baghdad. U.S. troops fired a missile at the building and damaged the roof. They rounded up 20 suspected insurgents.

UNDATED (AP) - European stocks have been mixed in the early going today, after Asian stocks plunged overnight. Japan's Nikkei crashed more than 874 points, a day after the Dow
industrials plunged more than 340 points, then bounced back.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A state regulatory review panel has approved new certification requirements for early elementary and middle-school teachers. The new rules establish an early childhood education certificate for teachers of students in pre-kindergarten through fourth grade, and a combined elementary-middle school certificate for grades four through eight.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP ) - Former Philadelphia Flyers star Rick Tocchet could get up to five years in state prison for promoting gambling and conspiracy -- charges to which he pleaded guilty in
May. He ran an illegal sports gambling ring. A spokeswoman for the New Jersey Attorney General's Office says, though, he is unlikely to get jail time when he's sentenced today.

MILLVALE, Pa. (AP) - Police in the Pittsburgh suburb of Millvale say a man driving a suspected stolen car eluded them by running into the Allegheny River overnight. And now, police don't know if the man got away or drowned in the attempt to get away. Police have
been searching the river and shoreline for the man, but so far no trace of him has been found.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Lots of actors play war heroes on the screen. James Stewart was one in real life. Stewart will be commemorated on a new 41-cent postage stamp being released today. Stewart, who was from Indiana, Pennsylvania. He volunteered for combat duty in World
War II, flying 20 bombing missions over Germany, including one over Berlin.

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) - The Little League World Series begins today in South Williamsport, with 16 teams from around the globe vying over ten days. All hope to take the victory lap around Lamade Stadium reserved for the World Series champions.