Today's News-Friday, August 3rd

The man who is suspected of committing several armed robberies in the region over the past week may have struck again. The Leesport Bank branch on Fourth Street in Hamburg was held up yesterday afternoon. The robbery, which took place around 4pm, was committed by a young white man, and may be the same individual that robbed the Hess Express on Route 61, the Comfort Inn/Midway in Bethel Township, Berks County, and the First National Bank of Fredericksburg in Lebanon County. State police in Hamburg indicate that the man may have stopped by a Shartlesville bank branch prior to the holdup in Hamburg. After the bank robbery, the suspect fled in a silver Pontiac Grand Prix, with some damage to the right side. The car is believed to bear New Jersey tags, and may have the numbers “452” in the sequence.
State police at Hamburg, Schuylkill Haven and Jonestown, along with other authorities, continue the investigation. If anyone has information, call Hamburg troopers at 877-373-9913. Crime Alert of Berks County is offering a reward of up to $10-thousand-dollars for information leading to his arrest.

Military officials have released information about a Brockton man who's been injured in the Iraq War. The Republican and Herald reports that Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Roman was injured when his patrol vehicle was attacked by an explosive device. Additional details about the attack, and Roman's condition, are limited at this time. We’ll keep you updated as information becomes available.

Schuylkill County opened four bids for cell phone service during Wednesday's Commissioners work session. The apparent low bidder was Nextel Partners of Plains Township. Their bid of $3,501.14 was exactly the same amount of a quote that was previously offered by Nextel.
Earlier this month, the Commissioners tabled a request to award a contract they said was submitted by Green's Communications/ Nextel of Pottsville that would save the county $516-dollars over their present plan. The County Solicitor's office, responding a request for an opinion from Commissioner Mantura Gallagher about whether the contract had been properly bid, determined that it needed to be put out for public bid. Green's Communications name was not listed among the bids opened Wednesday and when contacted by WPPA/T102 News Thursday, Bob Green said his company did not submit the previous quote. He said it was submitted by Nextel Partners. Green explained that Nextel Partners is the carrier and responsible for the pricing quote. He said while he is the local dealer for Nextel, he is only involved on the service side providing items like batteries, belt clips and other accessories, including Nextel phones. He said he did review the pricing for the previous quote to help the county but would not have received any compensation from the contract. The bid award date is next Thursday, August 8th.

Just when George Dillman thought that he had sold the former Muhammad Ali training camp in Deer Lake, it turns out that some of the bids were fake. As we reported to you yesterday, the bidding process for the 5 acre camp that was home to the former heavyweight champ, closed with a high bid of $4.3 million dollars. But according to the Republican and Herald, those top bids turned out to be bogus. Reports from the seller, Reading-area karate expert George Dillman, say that apparently fake bids are commonplace, especially with high ticket items. That's not to say that there weren't serious bidders in the mix, but for now, the training facility and its 18 buildings remains unsold. While the other bids are being tracked down, a website, www. Alitrainingcamp.com, will be providing additional information about the camp's sale.

Warm temperatures and sunny skies provided a great backdrop for Dairy Day at the Schuylkill County Fair yesterday. About 4-thousand-people flocked to the fairgrounds for the 24th Annual fair yesterday, and were treated to a variety of contests and events tied to the day's theme. The annual livestock auction drew a large crowd to the show ring. The young people who raised dairy beef, swine and other animals, were given the opportunity to sell them to the highest bidder. More than 150 animals were auctioned off during the bidding. On the M&T Bank stage, Berks-county based Flamin' Dick and the Hot Rods opened at 7pm, and the evening's headliner, original lead singer Rob Grill and the Grass Roots took the large crowd on a trip back to the 60's, with a mix of their greatest hits and a few other oldies but goodies. Grill tells WPPA/T102 why he thinks that their music has endured the test of time: GRILL
Today is Country Day, and more fun is in store at the Schuylkill County Fair. On the stage tonight, it's The McKabes at 7pm, and country legend Lee Greenwood at 9. Come out and have bushels of fun, at the Schuylkill County Fair in Summit Station.

The ongoing battle about websites and political campaigns continues in Schuylkill County.
Republican candidate Jason Gherghel, and Democrat Melinda Kantner, who are vying for the right to replace outgoing Controller Gary Hornberger, have been sparring for weeks about Gherghel's purchase of Kantner's internet name, in essence blocking her from using the name for her campaign. The county election board had been involved in determining whether Gherghel had violated election laws by purchasing the internet name and derivations of it. The board referred it to Schuylkill County DA Jim Goodman’s office for investigation. Jason Gherghel had filed an appeal to Schuylkill County Court about the matter. In a ruling released by Judge D. Michael Stine's office yesterday, that appeal was dismissed, according to the Republican and Herald. Stine ruled that the appeal was premature, because no final ruling as to whether laws were broken has been issued. Kantner has been able to secure the web name melindakantner-dot-com.

County residents may soon be able to pay their tax bills, buy dog licenses, hunting and fishing licenses and make other purchases using a credit card. County Treasurer Jackie McGovern presented the idea to the Commissioners at their Wednesday work session. She said she would hire a contractor to process the cards with the transaction fees to be paid by the customer at no cost to the county. She said the fees would cost the customer 3.5 percent of the charged amount or a minimum of $4.00. Visa, MasterCard and Discover cards would be accepted. According to McGovern, using credit cards would let people pay delinquent school, municipal or county taxes before incurring late penalties. The Commissioners will vote on the measure at next week's board meeting which will be held Thursday instead of Wednesday. The Commissioners will be attending the annual County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania conference in York next Sunday through Wednesday.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Rescue crews are resuming a difficult search through the rubble of the bridge collapse in Minneapolis. Federal transportation officials say they've gotten two big breaks so far: a surveillance video showing the collapse and a computer program that analyzes how the bridge failed.

UNDATED (AP) - Governors nationwide are ordering engineers to review the safety of thousands of bridges similar to the steel-deck truss bridge that gave way in Minneapolis. Federal officials have issued an urgent advisory for states to conduct bridge inspections.

BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraq's Asian Cup-winning soccer team returns to the country today, but most ordinary Iraqis will be barred from the homecoming celebration because of security concerns. The party will be held in the heavily-guarded Green Zone.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan is criticizing U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama. The Democratic Illinois senator says if elected, he might order military strikes against terrorists
hiding in Pakistan. Top Pakistani officials say Obama's comment is "irresponsible."

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - Specialists have determined that a painting attributed to Vincent Van Gogh for more than 70 years is a fake. The director of an Australian art gallery says a team of experts found the painting, "Head of a Man," had strong stylistic differences from Van Gogh's other works.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Governor Rendell says state officials will take a close look at the federal government's advice to inspect bridges of the type that collaped in Minneapolis.
Pennsylvania has at least 30 bridges of that type, known as truss bridges. Rendell said earlier he wasn't ordering any special inspections until the cause of the Minneapolis tragedy is known.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The state Senate's top Republican is criticizing two GOP congressmen for trying to block tolls on Interstate 80. Senator Joe Scarnati says the toll revenue is badly needed to pay for bridge and highway improvements, and called U.S.
Representatives Phil English and John Peterson "obstructionists."

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. (AP) - A federal judge has scheduled a hearing today on whether some of the evidence concerning six men charged with planning an attack on soldiers at Fort Dix requires special handling. Prosecutors say some of the material is classified. The case relies heavily on paid government informants. Their names have not been revealed.

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) - A military jury is expected to begin deliberations today in the court-martial of a Chambersburg soldier. Private First Class Jesse Spielman is accused of acting as a lookout in the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the slayings of her family. A key witness has recanted his story about Spielman's involvement.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A 13-year-old girl who is accused of fatally shooting her father at their suburban Pittsburgh home is scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing this morning. But her attorney, Patrick Nightingale, says he will likely waive the hearing. Yesterday, a judge sent the girl to a psychiatric hospital after hearing from a psychiatrist.