Today's News-Thursday, October 18th

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That's the message conveyed by a former Lancaster police officer in dealing with our kids and their possible involvement with gangs. Bill Chalfant was the featured speaker at a seminar yesterday, hosted by Schuylkill County District Attorney Jim Goodman at the Pottsville Club. Nearly 100 people, representing law enforcement, several school districts and juvenile authorities. Chalfant discussed some of the things that influence young people into gang-related activities and some of the warning signs, especially drugs. Chalfant said that police, schools and parents can no longer take the approach that gangs can't develop in their own backyard:

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The seminar presented extremely graphic examples of music, clothing and other influences associated with gang activity. But many hidden signs exist, in mediums like the Internet.
DA Goodman said that while structured gang activity isn't really an issue in the county now, the drug trade and close proximity to cities like Reading and Hazleton are all around us.

Schuylkill County unveiled a $44 point 19 Million Dollar 2008 preliminary general fund budget Wednesday that holds the line on taxes, but it received criticism from the minority commissioner. After Wednesday's work session Chairman Frank Staudenmeier praised everyone involved in bringing in a budget without a tax increase……….

Staudenmeier

In an interview with WPPA / T-102 after the meeting, Minority Commissioner Mantura Gallagher questioned the timing of the presentation just a few weeks before the general election and without full knowledge of anticipated revenue………

Gallagher

The county's real estate tax remains at 11.98 mills. The county's $5.00 per capita tax remains in place.

The County Election Bureau is gearing up for next month's general election. Bureau Director Betty Dries received approval during Wednesday's Commissioners work session to appoint eight people to the computing board, eleven drivers to deliver voting machines, four people to serve as resolution board members for election night and 19 rovers for touch screen preparation, testing and Election Day precinct assistance. Dries said the computing board members receive $60.00 per day. The Rovers receive $10.00 per hour. Driver’s salary's range from $115.00 to $299.00 and two of the resolution board members receive $100.00. The other two are county employees and receive no additional compensation. In other business the Commissioners were asked to approve a contract with Christie Davis, a real estate appraiser from Bethlehem to complete 12 appraisals. The appraisals are for the acquisition of 12 easements of a former railroad right-of-way, now owned by ten property owners, to be used as part of the Rails to Trails project. The properties are located in North Manheim Township, Auburn and Schuylkill Haven. The cost of the contract is $18,000.

Two agricultural projects in Schuylkill County are in line to receive low-interest state loans.
The Commonwealth Financing Authority has approved a $200-thousand-dollar loan for Tallman Family Farms in Tower City for renovations and improvements at their potato processing plant. The total project cost is over $775-thousand-dollars. An $88-thousand-dollar loan will help Larry and Debra Hepler of Pitman to build a new poultry house and expand their operation. The cost of that project is $220-thousand-dollars. The loans are being provided through the First Industries Fund, and were announced by State Representative Tim Seip.

Charges against Mount Carbon Mayor Jeff Dunkel, relating to a fight at a bar in August, have been dropped. Dunkel and Nelson Sims of Pottsville were involved in an incident outside of Goodfella's Café August 11th. Sims was reported to have had inappropriate contact with two women there, and got into a scuffle with Dunkel. The Republican and Herald reports that Sims does not wish to go forward with the case, prompting state police to drop the charges.
Sims still faces charges in the case.

The Pottsville School District administration had to deal with the issue of rumors that gun violence may have been planned at one of their buildings in the past week. At Wednesday's school board meeting, Superintendent Dr. James Gallagher answered parents’ questions about rumors that circulated at DHH Lengel Middle School that a gunman was going to come to the school to do harm. A note was reportedly found on a bathroom wall that read "I bring gun".
The rumors persisted among students, while administrators worked to get to the bottom of the matter by interviewing students. Parents attended the board meeting to express their concerns about the rumors and their children's safety, according to the Republican and Herald. They wanted to know why there was no notification sent home to alert parents, and asked about other possible safeguards that could be put into place. Pottsville police chief Joseph Murton is expected to address DHH Lengel students to talk about the seriousness of spreading rumors about possible violence in school.

Two men were hurt in a car crash in Washington Township yesterday afternoon. 56-year-old Tyrone Joyner of Pine Grove was driving west on Route 443 when his car drifted into the path of Schuylkill Haven resident Joseph Lango's pickup truck. Both vehicles were severely damaged. Joyner was flown to Geisinger Medical Center, and Lango to Lehigh Valley Hospital. Both were wearing their seatbelts. The crash happened after 1:30pm.

WASHINGTON (AP) - There probably won't be an override, but will there be a compromise? President Bush is sending three top advisers to try to negotiate a deal with Congress over an increase in children's health insurance. Bush vetoed the legislation and it's unlikely the House today will have enough votes to flip the presidential rejection.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Health and education officials are keeping their eyes peeled for a potentially fatal strain of staph infection. Authorities in Connecticut say at least two high school
students have come down with the stubborn bug, which killed a Virginia high school student earlier this week.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - It's mid-October, but a weather system that raked Oklahoma yesterday is similar to the kind that usually blow through during the spring. More than 30 people were hurt as the storm damaged mobile homes and collapsed tents at an Oktoberfest
celebration in Tulsa.

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) - There are both ecstasy and angst as Pakistan's former prime minister returns after eight years in exile. While tens of thousands of supporters swarmed the airport for Benazir Bhutto's arrival, authorities set up a huge security operation to protect against a possible attack by Islamic militants.

CHICAGO (AP) - It was a measure inspired in part when a river in Cleveland actually caught fire. Today marks the 35th anniversary of the federal Clean Water Act. Its goal: to make all waters in America fishable and swimmable within 11 years, goals that haven't been met, though there has been progress.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A state House committee last night approved a dramatically reworked draft of a bill to amend Pennsylvania's open records law. The vote came despite strong opposition from the newspaper association and complaints that drastic changes had been made at the last minute. Only one Republican voted with all the Democrats on the House
State Government Committee to approve the changes to the Right-to-Know Law. The bill goes to the House floor for its consideration. The Pennsylvania Newspaper Association says it's strongly opposed, and members of the committee complained they were rushed into considering the complicated bill.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvanians who apply for government benefits would face stricter requirements for proving that they are in the United States legally under a bill in the state Senate. Senator Joe Scarnati tells the Senate State Government Committee he introduced the measure earlier this year at the urging of constituents who said it was needed to combat the problem of illegal immigration. Applicants for welfare, Medicaid, or other benefits would have
to provide one of four forms of valid identification and sign an affidavit saying they're in the country legally. But state Public Welfare Secretary Estelle Richman says there's no proof that illegal immigrants are receiving benefits for which they don't qualify in Pennsylvania.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Legislation heading to the state House of Representatives would ban bonuses to government employees unless they are spelled out in advance in writing.
The Senate passed the bill unanimously yesterday. It's designed to address the millions of dollars in bonuses that have been awarded to staff members in the Legislature and the
state's student loan agency. The bill's sponsor, Senator John Eichelberger of Blair County,
says it effectively would stop bonuses from being awarded to staff members of all three branches of government. Attorney General Tom Corbett is now investigating whether
taxpayer-paid bonuses paid to legislative staff members were tied to work performed on political campaigns. The measure also would force public disclosure of incentive clauses in employee contracts at all government agencies, including the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A lawsuit says retailer Best Buy failed to pay employees for thousands of hours they spent undergoing security searches and working through breaks. The suit claims that workers sometimes wait 15 minutes or more to be searched after each shift, time that can add up to an hour or more each week per person. The suit was filed in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, where workers who sued Wal-Mart over unpaid breaks and overtime won $140
million dollars in damages after a 2006 jury trial. The suit also accuses Best Buy of forcing employees to work through meal and rest breaks without pay. A spokeswoman for the Minnesota-based retailer says the company pays its employees in full compliance with state and federal laws. The plaintiff's lawyers are seeking class-action status that would cover anyone who worked at 25 Best Buy stores in Pennsylvania since October 2003.

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) - A woman whose 4-year-old son was struck and killed when two Allentown police cruisers collided is suing the city for $8 million dollars. Crystal Legrand and her two surviving children filed the federal civil rights lawsuit yesterday against Allentown and two police officers involved in the May 30th crash. The crash killed Daviay Legrand and seriously injured his mother's friend. The lawsuit, filed in Philadelphia, alleges that officers Brett Guth and John Buckwalter were speeding prior to the accident. The suit also accuses the city of hiring inexperienced officers without checking their driving records, and putting them on duty without adequate training.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Three families that command vast fortunes and a business mogul were honored yesterday for using their private wealth to benefit the public. Eli Broad and the Heinz, Mellon and Tata families were awarded the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy during a ceremony at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Music Hall. The award is named after the Gilded Age industrialist and
philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. It was established in 2001 to honor Carnegie's career as a philanthropist and is given every two years to families and individuals who have dedicated their private wealth to the public good.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A 16-year-old Philadelphia boy accused of killing another teenager for his new dirt bike has been held for trial without bail at a preliminary hearing. A Municipal Court judge has set a November 5th arraignment date for Eric Smith. Authorities say he shot Luis Navarro the 3rd three times in the back of the head in Tacony Creek Park on July 28th.
Smith is charged as an adult with murder and robbery. Authorities say he didn't know Navarro and killed him because he wanted the teen's $3,000 Kawasaki motorcycle. Navarro had gotten the bike a week earlier from his parents for his 16th birthday.

BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) - Suspended Penn State tailback Austin Scott pleaded not guilty and has been ordered to stand trial on felony rape and sexual-assault charges. Prosecutors withdrew two felony charges of aggravated indecent assault against the 22-year-old Scott because of a lack of evidence, but the judge upheld several misdemeanor charges yesterday.
Scott says the sex was consensual. His lawyer says the 22-year-old football player from Allentown will remain in school while he fights the charges.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Workers at Penn State's nuclear research reactor are preparing to drain half the reactor pool to repair what the university has called a minor leak of "slightly
radioactive water." The school says the pool at the Breazeale Nuclear Reactor is losing about 16 gallons an hour, including evaporation. The reactor was shut down after the leak was discovered October 9th. Federal, state and university officials have said there's no risk to people or the environment from the leak in the 71,000-gallon pool, which shields the core's radiation and cools the reactor. The building remains open, and classes and other research not connected to the reactor are ongoing.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A book about a Sudanese refugee has been selected for Philadelphia's program to promote reading and literacy. Dave Eggers' "What Is the What" has been chosen for the 2008 "One Book, One Philadelphia" program run by the city and its library. The book blends nonfiction and fiction to tell the story of Valentino Deng, one of the Sudanese "Lost Boys." Thousands of boys were orphaned and made homeless in Sudan's civil war and many
came to the United States to start anew. Neither Eggers nor Deng attended yesterday's
announcement. The two did make a video. In it, they say they are honored by the selection and looked forward to the event's official kickoff in January.