Today's News-Wednesday, October 24th

A truck driver from Ohio is dead following a crash in Tremont Township last night. Details are sketchy at this point, but we do know that the tractor-trailer veered off of the road and went down an embankment. The unidentified man was pronounced dead at the scene after he was ejected from the rig. The crash happened between exits 106 and 107 off of Interstate 81. More information is expected to be released from State Police later today.

Twelve men who came to Schuylkill County to sell drugs are now spending extended stays in federal prison. At a press conference at the Schuylkill County Courthouse yesterday, federal, county and local law enforcement announced the closure of the 2 year investigation into drug sales, that all started with a traffic stop in Minersville. Ringleader Bremen Miranda, ten other New Yorkers and a county resident were trafficking heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine. Collectively, they will spend more than 90 years in prison. Police officers from Pottsville, Minersville and Shenandoah, a county detective and probation officer, and two undercover officers were recognized for their work in the successful investigation. Martin Carlson, Acting US Attorney, said that residents must be vigilant in helping law enforcement in the war on drugs in our backyard.

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Fire destroyed one of the oldest and still used coal breakers in Northumberland County Tuesday morning. The blaze was reported around six a.m. at the Split Vein Coal Company along Route 61 in Ralpho Township. Fire Chief Bob Dluge says the five story wood structure and burning coal inside made it a challenge for the nearly 100 volunteers who showed up to fight the blaze.

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Plant owner, Joe Kleeman says it's a loss but not an end.

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The breaker, built in the 1920's was destroyed. The state police fire marshal will investigate.

A truck driver from Georgia was hurt in freak accident in Tremont early this morning.
It happened just after two a.m. on route 125 near East Main Street in Tremont. Police say 46-year-old Robert Beall Jr. of Newnan, Georgia was taking a detour when the trailer's landing gear became hung up on some asphalt. Beall got out of his rig and loosened the trailer but forgot to put the brakes on the tractor. The tractor began rolling down the hill. Beall was able to catch up to the moving vehicle, but was hit by several branches and became stuck between between the vehicle and a wall. Police say Beall eventually fell to the ground and was run over by the tractor's rear axle. He was taken to Good Samaritan Medical Center for treatment.

The federal government is releasing the findings of its study into a possible cancer cluster in our area. Polycythemia vera, a rare blood cancer, has sickened dozens of people near the site of a former toxic waste dump in McAdoo. The U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry plans to report on its findings this evening at a community meeting in Hazleton.

The heating assistance program for low-income households is back in business for the coming winter. LIHEAP applications are now available at the county assistance office, according to Brian Hallick, Executive Director. The program provides help to low income households who struggle to pay their heating bills. Assistance can come by way of direct payments to the fuel company or crisis assistance during weather related emergencies. November 5th is the first day of this season’s program, and it closes March 21, 2008. Contact the county assistance office at 621-3072 for more information.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The House Republican leader is suspending a former state representative's $95,000-a-year contract as in-house litigator for the House GOP caucus pending an ethics review. Former state Representative Brett Feese has had the contract in
addition to holding the $155,000-a-year post of chief counsel to the caucus. House Republican Leader Sam Smith says he will seek an Ethics Commission ruling on whether this runs afoul of a law prohibiting state officials or staffers from having separate government contracts. Smith says the arrangement costs taxpayers less than hiring law firms for the litigation work.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California Attorney General Jerry Brown says his state is holding off on suing the Environmental Protection Agency. Officials in Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Washington state say their states plan to join Brown in his lawsuit over greenhouse gases. Brown had been planning to file his lawsuit today, but he says now that he'll likely sue next week. The EPA hasn't decided whether California and 11 other states can force automakers to produce cleaner cars. The EPA has been considering California's request for the past 22 months.
California wants to implement a 2002 law so cars, pickup trucks and sports utility vehicles emit fewer greenhouse gas emissions by model year 2009. But the law can only take effect if the EPA grants the state a waiver under the Clean Air Act.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic Senator Bob Casey is threatening to block re-nomination of a government energy board chief. He says he will do so until the Bush administration scales back its push for new high-voltage power lines in Pennsylvania. Casey took to the Senate floor to denounce the boundaries of what the administration calls a "national interest electric
transmission corridor." The goal is to promote the construction of new power lines in the mid-Atlantic states. The corridor was finalized earlier this month. It includes most of Pennsylvania as it stretches from Virginia north to upstate New York. A 2005 law seeks to prevent future blackouts by giving the federal government authority to permit construction of new
high-voltage transmission lines.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The state Supreme Court is looking into whether a county grand jury has the authority to investigate licensing matters under the state's slot-machine law. The court has asked has asked for an opinion from the state attorney general's office. The request relates to a Dauphin County grand jury inquiry that's focusing on a northeastern Pennsylvania businessman, Louis DeNaples. He is the sole owner of Mount Airy Casino Resort in the
Pocono Mountains, which opened Monday. A spokesman for Attorney General Tom Corbett says the response likely will be sealed because it relates to a grand jury matter.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - House Republicans have received a subpoena for documents in the long-running investigation into bonuses for legislative employees. A spokesman for House Minority Leader Sam Smith says the documents were "protected information" related to personnel that could only be released with a subpoena. A grand jury is looking into whether bonuses paid to workers were illegal rewards for campaign work. Investigators seized 20 boxes in a search of a House Democratic research office in August. The grand jury has subpoenaed employees of the House Democratic caucus.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The debate on changes to Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law isn't going to occur on the floor of the state House until Monday at the earliest. A bill known as the Open Records Act that would completely revamp the state's system of access to government records and information is in the House Appropriations Committee. The Appropriations staff has been analyzing the bill's fiscal impact, and a spokeswoman says the panel may consider it today or early next week. The Open Records Act would make all government records beyond a
long list of exceptions available to the public and force government agencies to justify denials. It also would create an agency to handle disputes over access. A competing bill pending before the state Senate is expected to be considered by the Senate State Government Committee today.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - An Allegheny County jury resumes deliberations today in the trial of a Pittsburgh man accused of fatally shooting a state trooper. Prosecutors say 32-year-old Leslie Mollett shot Corporal Joseph Pokorny in December 2005 after Mollett wrecked his car while the trooper was pursuing him for speeding just outside the city. The defense says the prosecution hasn't proven its case. If jurors find Mollett guilty of first-degree murder they must
then decide whether he deserves the death penalty. The trial began October first.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A Beaver Falls man has been convicted of hiring another man to kill the father of a police informant against him. Yesterday's verdict means the same federal court jury in Pittsburgh must now hear evidence to help them decide whether 28-year-old Jelani Solomon receives the death penalty or life in prison. The jury deliberated over two days before finding that Solomon paid another man cash and drugs to shoot Frank Helisek Junior at his home in January 2004. Authorities say the shooting was meant to frighten Helisek's son Shawn, who was in the Beaver County Jail and scheduled to testify against Solomon in a drug case.

BALTIMORE (AP) - A member of a fundamentalist church being sued by a York man over a protest at his son's funeral says she's motivated by a fear of God -- not a desire to harm anyone.
In an opening statement yesterday, Shirley Phelps-Roper compared members of her church to biblical prophets who vainly sought to save doomed nations that had strayed from God.
Phelps-Roper is a member of the Westboro Baptist Church. The Topeka, Kansas, church is being sued by Albert Snyder over over a protest at the funeral of his son in Westminster, Maryland. The protesters at the funeral of Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder carried signs such as that read "God hates fags" and "Thank God for dead soldiers." They say the deaths are punishment for the country's tolerance of homosexuality.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The Allegheny County Council has unanimously approved a bill that would keep registered sex offenders from living close to schools, child care facilities, community centers and public parks. The measure passed yesterday prohibits offenders from living
within 2,500 feet of such facilities. Violators would face up to 45 days in jail and $500 in fines.
The law takes effect March 1st. The county has 759 registered sex offenders and four registered sexually violent predators registered. Offenders already living in permanent homes near such facilities could stay. The law also won't apply to those living in a county- or state-run facility. But tenants in such areas would have to move when their leases or rental agreements expire.

CHICAGO (AP) - The United Auto Workers says more than 4,000 workers in six states are striking against International Truck and Engine, alleging unfair labor practices. Workers at eleven local unions in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Texas and Georgia began striking at 5 o'clock yesterday afternoon. The union has filed a complaint with the National Labor
Relations Board. Roy Wiley is a spokesman for Warrenville, Illinois-based ITE -- a unit of Navistar International. He says the company has been "negotiating in good faith." He says company officials don't yet know what impact the strike will have on operations, adding that ITE has both union and non-union facilities. He says production will continue as planned
at non-union plants.

SOMERSET, Pa. (AP) - Two officials have withdrawn their lawsuit to stop Somerset County from using tax revenue to fund a 24 million dollar water pipeline project. Windber Mayor Art Palumbo and Windber Councilman Simon Ohler say in a court document that they're withdrawing their lawsuit and it can't be refiled. Palumbo and Ohler sued as private citizens, saying the county commissioners were using tax revenue for a project that wouldn't
benefit the entire county. Ohler says the decision to pull the lawsuit wasn't based on
threats of sanctions made by the county solicitor last week. The county closed on 10 million dollars in bonds yesterday. That's the final piece of funding for the 21-mile pipeline that
would deliver water from the Quemahoning Reservoir to Somerset.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County will join forces to buy electricity for several of their facilities. The two governments will work with Pine Township-based Co-exprise. The company holds online auctions to find the lowest electricity rates for municipalities. The auction likely will take place next month or in December. Although not all city and county facilities will be included in the auction, officials hope to include the city's Water and Sewer Authority and the city-county Sports and Exhibition Authority. Co-exprise officials say the company has been able to save government entities between 4 and 10 percent in electricity costs.

NEW YORK (AP) - Comcast Corporation is now acknowledging "delaying" some subscriber Internet traffic. But the Philadelphia-based company says any roadblocks it puts up are
temporary and intended to improve surfing for other users. The statement is a response to an Associated Press report last week that detailed how the nation's largest cable company was
interfering with file sharing by some of its Internet subscribers. The AP also found that computers of Philadelphia-based Comcast masqueraded as those of its users to interrupt file-sharing connections. Internet watchdog groups call Comcast's actions an example of
the kind of abuse that could be curbed with a law requiring Internet providers to treat all traffic equally. That has largely been the case historically.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum is appearing at a series of campus events organized by California-based conservative activist David Horowitz, including
three in Pennsylvania. The Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week appearances include stops
Tuesday at Penn State and Wednesday at the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University in Philadelphia. Santorum says Americans do not understand the gravity of the
threat from Islamic extremism. Critics, including many in the Tuesday night crowd in State
College, argue that he seems to lump all Muslims and Islam into one terrorism-supporting category.

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) - The organizer of this weekend's convention for fans of the NBC comedy "The Office" says the show has improved her city's image. Michele Dempsey says people used to feel sorry for her when she said she was from Scranton. But she says now, the reaction is, "I
love 'The Office."' They show is set in Scranton and fans have been traveling there to check out real-life landmarks referenced on the show. Starting Friday, the city is hosting a weekend blowout for thousands of fans. Dempsey says she's hoping people will leave town saying they had a great time in Scranton. About 2,000 tickets have been sold so far -- 70 percent of them to out-of-town fans. Fourteen actors from the show are scheduled to appear, but none of the ones who play the show's main characters.