Today's News-Saturday, December 1st

An intensive search for three men implicated in a Schuylkill County bank robbery resulted in their capture. As we reported to you yesterday, state police arrested William Gray Jr. and Aaron Gray of Frackville, for being the getaway drivers for Benjamin Kachel of Shillington, who was identified as the robber who held up the KNBT branch at Schuylkill Mall on Thursday. State and local police converged on the Holiday Inn at Morgantown, where they located Kachel. He had been taken to Reading Hospital for taking what was believed to be narcotics. His arrest took place yesterday afternoon.

A Weatherly woman was hurt in a crash yesterday afternoon in East Brunswick Township.
Frackville state police say that 20 year old Brittany Job of Weatherly was eastbound on Route 443. 18-year-old Joshua Cawtherp of New Ringgold was pulling out from the parking lot at Hecla Machinery, when Job was unable to stop, and the cars collided. Job suffered injuries to her head and neck and was flown to St. Luke’s Hospital for treatment. Cawtherp, nor his juvenile passenger, were hurt.

A local restaurant will close its doors tomorrow. Leiby’s Restaurant, an area favorite for four decades, will close Sunday, citing a decline in business, according to the Republican and Herald. The Zimmerman family opened the restaurant in 1965, and the landmark was famous for its ice cream, baked goods and homestyle cooking. They sold it to the Stillman family from Lancaster about 16 years ago. The dairy business and ice cream production was sold to a Zimmerman family member after the restaurant changed hands. That operation will continue in business.

A man from Zerbe, Schuylkill County, will stand trial for a motor vehicle crash in which a Valley View man died. 83-year-old Robert McCloy faces charges of homicide by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter and related offenses for the June, 2006 crash that claimed the life of 38-year-old Rodney Lewis. The Republican and Herald reports that McCloy allegedly fell asleep at the wheel of his car on Route 25, when his car crossed the center line and struck Lewis’s motorcycle. Judge Cyrus Palmer Dolbin will hear the case.

The area may face a wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain tonight and tomorrow.
The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Watch from Saturday night through Sunday night for much of central and eastern Pennsylvania, including Schuylkill County. The service indicates that the mix might bring accumulating snow Saturday night before changing to sleet and freezing rain Sunday morning, then possibly all rain by Sunday afternoon before cold air brings freezing rain Sunday evening. Stay tuned to WPPA for updates.

State police at Hazleton continue to look for the individual who shot a Schuylkill Haven man at a job site in Hazle Township. Ben Melochick was operating a piece of equipment for Mazzucca Enterprises, Pottsville, on Wednesday afternoon, when he was hit by a bullet in the upper part of his body. While the investigation is continuing, troopers think that the bullet came from a hunter’s rifle, but that has yet to be confirmed. Melochick is in critical condition at Lehigh Valley Hospital. Anyone with information should call the Hazleton State Police barracks at 459-3890.

ALIQUIPPA, Pa. (AP) - Aliquippa Community Hospital has new owners after a Beaver County judge granted the hospital's request to go from not-profit to for-profit status. Commonwealth Medical Center Incorporated paid 22.75 million dollars for the hospital at a sheriff's sale yesterday.

STOYSTOWN, Pa. (AP) - Police say a Somerset County man fled a traffic stop, went home, shaved his mustache and changed his clothes -- and reported his truck stolen. Conemaugh Township police stopped 50-year-old Robert Sadlon for a broken taillight on Thanksgiving night. After he fled, the same officer found Sadlon when he investigated the theft report. Sadlon is charged with drunken driving, escape and related charges.

EIGHTY FOUR, Pa. (AP) - 84 Lumber Company says it's cutting between 40 and 45 positions at its headquarters, attributing the cuts to the slumping housing market. Employees were notified today. A spokesman says some affected workers have been offered other positions.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A Carnegie Mellon student miffed by the lost gloves she spotted all over Pittsburgh last winter decided to do something. She started the Web site www.onecoldhand.com to put pictures of found gloves online in hopes that the rightful owner will come forward.

CLAIRTON, Pa. (AP) - U.S. Steel Corporation says it's considering spending a billion dollars to improve the environmental performance of the country's largest coke-making facility. The company says the investment at the Clairton plant near Pittsburgh would ensure the long-term viability of U.S. Steel's Mon Valley Works. It also would create more than 600 construction jobs.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Activists and organizations around the globe are marking World AIDS Day. The Global AIDS Alliance says there are fewer infections and many more people on treatment. Still, the group says there's a long way to go, with the virus killing 6,000 people each day.

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) - The Turkish military says it has fired on 50 to 60 Kurdish rebels inside Iraq, inflicting "significant losses." The military didn't say whether it crossed the border into Iraq, but says it will continue operations in the border
region if necessary.

BAGHDAD (AP) - At least 13 people, including three children and two women, are dead after dozens of suspected al-Qaida militants attacked a Shiite village north of Baghdad with gunfire and mortar rounds. Officials say villagers apparently fought back, and three gunmen were killed.

MIAMI (AP) - A public viewing for slain Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor is scheduled for tomorrow in Miami. The entire Redskins organization plans to fly to Florida Monday for Taylor's funeral. The team has announced that it will give at least $500,000 to a fund for Taylor's one-year-old daughter.

ROCHESTER, N.H. (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton plans to be back on the campaign trail today after a man took hostages yesterday at her office in New Hampshire. Clinton is scheduled to appear in Iowa. Last night, she flew to New Hampshire to meet with the freed hostages, their families and police.