Today's News- Thursday, December 6

Tomorrow is the 66th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. One northern Schuylkill County school is marking the occasion with a ceremony to honor veterans. Two assemblies, one at 12:45 and another at 1:40pm at North Schuylkill Jr./Sr. High School are planned to remember Pearl Harbor, and recognize all World War Two veterans, both living and deceased.
The event will be attended by members of the Ashland VFW, and five American Legion posts located within or near the school district. A short video will be played, and the North Schuylkill High School band will perform. All living World War Two veterans, and families of living and deceased veterans are cordially invited to attend.

Bids were opened during Wednesday's County Commissioners work session for cleaning service at the court house complex. Avenues of Pottsville submitted at bid of $91,872 for a one year contract and TKO Cleaning Service of Pottsville submitted a bid of $98,500 for one year and $197,000 for two years. The Commissioners were seeking bids for one, two and/or three years. The contract award date is December 12th. In other business, the commissioners were asked to enter into a rate agreement with the Pottsville Parking Authority. The agreement is for 90 parking spaces in the Capitol lot at $27.50 per space, per month and 10 parking spaces along Laurel Blvd. at $17.50 per space, per month. The total cost would be $31,800 for the period January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008. There is no increase over what the County is now paying for the spaces. The Commissioners were asked to award a contract to Petco Inc., of Scranton to provide dietary equipment at Rest Haven at a contract cap of $32,000. Authorization is also being sought to advertise for bids for the William Penn Fire Company ADA and roof replacement project’s using 2006 CDBG funding. Bids will be opened January 2nd with a tentative award date of Wednesday, January 8, 2008

Unexpected growth in hotel tax collections from lodging facilities in the county has led to more funding for promotional endeavors. The County Commissioners were asked during Wednesday's work session to approve a $31-thousand-dollar supplemental budget appropriation to the County Visitors Bureau. The County levies a 3-Percent tax on lodging facility occupancy that is remitted, less administration costs, to the Visitors Bureau to promote tourism. Tourist Bureau Head Mark Major said the extra funding will be used for additional marketing and special event promotions. Major said the county collected about $200-thousand-dollars from the hotel tax in 2006, of which 2-percent, up to $40-thousand-dollars is kept by the county for administration costs, with the remainder allotted to the Visitors Bureau.
He said his Bureau's budget is $300-thousand-dollars, of which $110-thousand is spent on operations and $190-thousand is spent for marketing and promotions. He said the Visitors Bureau provides grants for special event promotions such as the County Fair, Pottsville Cruise, Irish Weekend and others. The remainder of the budget comes from State Tourism grants and from other organizations and cooperative advertising, according to Major. According to Major, tourists spend about $150-Million Dollars a year on lodging, restaurants and attractions in Schuylkill County.

For the first time in years, eight coal companies in Schuylkill and Luzerne counties are busy working to fill a $5 million order for 22,000 tons of anthracite coal to be shipped to Europe.
The falling U.S. dollar and a record-high Euro are making the low-sulfur Pennsylvania hard coal an attractive buy for European industry. Vice President Dan Nester of the Kobin Coal brokerage says he expects this to be the first of many orders from Europe. The coal
is going to a Dutch company, Anker Coal, for use mostly in the steel industry in Belgium.
The Pennsylvania Anthracite Council says this is a switch. Executive Director Duane Feagley says the industry's only exports in recent years have been shipments to Canada and Brazil and one U.S. Army base in Germany.

A group of soldiers from the Hometown Armory received a sendoff yesterday as they head to the Middle East for a year-long deployment. The Republican Herald reports that 34 soldiers, from Company C, 1st Battalion, 109th Infantry Regiment, are headed to Fort Bragg, North Carolina for training, then onto Afghanistan and the Sinai. A ceremony was held for the troops yesterday at the Armory. For some of the soldiers, this is the second deployment in less than 4 years.

A Schuylkill Haven woman suffered a minor injury from a crash on Route 183 during Wednesday's snow. Schuylkill Haven state police say that Alyssa Schaeffer was going north on a downhill slope when she lost control, slid across the southbound lanes and crashed her car. The vehicle had to be towed from the scene. Schaeffer had a bump on her head.

Three men were picked up by police yesterday at a Minersville area housing project. A warrant was outstanding for Robert Willie the Third, age 19. Cass-Foster Township police raided Willie’s home to serve the warrant. His father, Robert Willie Jr. was also picked up by police for hindering the apprehension of his son. A third individual, William Smith, faces charges of defiant trespass. Willie Jr. was arraigned on charges and released on unsecured bail.
The raid was executed by Cass-Foster Township police, and county probation officials around 10am yesterday.

A Pottsville man, serving time in state prison for the death of his child in 2004, will remain there after a ruling from state Superior Court judges. 30-year-old Travis Williams, who once was a state prison guard, pleaded guilty to suffocating his son Kameron to stop him from crying, in February, 2004. He pleaded to charged of involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault and related offenses. The sentences handed down by Judge D Michael Stine were concurrent.
The Republican and Herald reports that Williams challenged the sentences for aggravated assault and involuntary manslaughter, but the Superior Court panel ruled that the minimum sentence imposed was proper. Williams is serving his sentence at the State Correctional Institution at Albion.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Some state lawmakers are threatening to
boycott the remainder of the year's session to force action on gun
legislation. At least 12 of the 17 members of the Legislative Black
Caucus, all Democrats, suddenly asked to be put on leave yesterday
at the start of a debate over an open records bill.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A young couple accused of financing a lavish
lifestyle through a large-scale identity theft scheme are jailed
pending a court appearance today. They are 22-year-old Drexel
University student Jocelyn Kirsch and her 25-year-old boyfriend
Edward Anderton. He's a University of Pennsylvania graduate who was
recently fired from a job as a financial analyst.

POTTSVILLE, Pa. (AP) - For the first time in years, eight coal
companies in Schuylkill and Luzerne counties are busy working to
fill a 5 million dollar order for 22,000 tons of anthracite. It is
to be shipped to Europe. The falling U.S. dollar and a record-high
Euro are making the low-sulfur Pennsylvania hard coal an attractive
buy for European industry.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Southwest Airlines Chief Executive Gary Kelly
says he has "high hopes" of expanding at Pittsburgh International
Airport. But Kelly says steep oil costs and concerns about a
sluggish economy prevent the company from doing so now. In October,
US Airways announced that it would cut nearly 40 percent of its
flights by January and eliminate about 450 jobs.

BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) - Two Penn State football players face
trial next year on misdemeanor charges stemming from an on-campus
fight. But more serious charges were dismissed at a preliminary
hearing yesterday. A judge ordered defensive tackle Chris Baker and
backup linebacker Navorro Bowman to stand trial on charges of
simple assault and disordery conduct.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Police in Nebraska are promising more details
on yesterday's shooting rampage in a news conference in Omaha this
morning. A 19-year-old gunman killed nine people inside a mall
there yesterday, including himself. Five others were wounded.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) - Republican presidential hopeful
Mitt Romney is planning to tell voters he shares their "moral
convictions" but should not have to explain his own religion just
because he's a Mormon. Romney is to address concerns about his
faith in a speech today in Texas.

MIAMI (AP) - Police in Miami are reviewing a news video that
shows officers kicking and punching a robbery suspect. The man had
led police on a car chase yesterday and they caught up with him
when he fled on foot. One police official says an initial
assessment shows an officer "acted inappropriately."

WHITE HOUSE (AP) - A deal to bring relief to homeowners caught
up in the subprime mortgage mess is to be announced by President
Bush today. The mortgage industry has agreed to freeze interest
rates to prevent hundreds of thousands of people from defaulting.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (AP) - A European space lab that's almost
a-quarter century in the making is finally scheduled for launch
today. The space shuttle Atlantis will carry the science lab to the
international space station. Launch-time weather looks good.

A group of soldiers from the Hometown Armory received a sendoff yesterday as they head to the Middle East for a year-long deployment.The Republican Herald reports that 34 soldiers, from Company C, 1st Battalion, 109th Infantry Regiment, are headed to Fort Bragg, North Carolina for training, then onto Afghanistan and the Sinai. A ceremony was held for the troops yesterday at the Armory. For some of the soldiers, this is the second deployment in less than 4 years.

For the first time in years, eight coal companies in Schuylkill
and Luzerne counties are busy working to fill a $5 million order for
22,000 tons of anthracite coal to be shipped to Europe. The falling U.S. dollar and a record-high Euro are making the low-sulfur Pennsylvania hard coal an attractive buy for European
industry. Vice President Dan Nester of the Kobin Coal brokerage says he expects this to be the first of many orders from Europe. The coal is going to a Dutch company, Anker Coal, for use mostly in the steel industry in Belgium. The Pennsylvania Anthracite Council says this is a switch. Executive Director Duane Feagley says the industry's only exports in recent years have been shipments to Canada and Brazil and one U.S. Army base in Germany.

A Schuylkill Haven woman suffered a minor injury from a crash on Route 183 during Wednesday’s snow. Schuylkill Haven state police say that Alyssa Schaeffer was going north on a downhill slope when she lost control, slid across the southbound lanes and crashed her car. The vehicle had to be towed from the scene. Schaeffer had a bump on her head.

Three men were picked up by police yesterday at a Minersville area housing project. A warrant was outstanding for Robert Willie the Third, age 19. Cass-Foster Township police raided Willie’s home to serve the warrant. His father, Robert Willie Jr. was also picked up by police for hindering the apprehension of his son. A third individual, William Smith, faces charges of defiant trespass. Willie Jr. was arraigned on charges and released on unsecured bail. The raid was executed by Cass-Foster Township police, and county probation officials around 10am yesterday.

A Pottsville man, serving time in state prison for the death of his child in 2004, will remain there after a ruling from state Superior Court judges. 30-year-old Travis Williams, who once was a state prison guard, pleaded guilty to suffocating his son Kameron to stop him from crying, in February, 2004. He pleaded to charged of involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault and related offenses. The sentences handed down by Judge D Michael Stine were concurrent. The Republican and Herald reports that Williams challenged the sentences for aggravated assault and involuntary manslaughter, but the Superior Court panel ruled that the minimum sentence imposed was proper. Williams is serving his sentence at the State Correctional Institution at Albion.

The Schuylkill County Commissioners are expected to act on several appointments at next week’s regular board meeting. At Wednesday's work session the Commissioners were asked to approve the reappointments of Craig Morgan; Doug Miller; Jackson Perry; Lyle Laubenstine and Ann Tihansky to four year terms on the Sweet Arrow Lake Park Commission. Bruce Schneck of Tower City was recommended to fill the unexpired term of David Schmit until December 31, 2009. Reappointments are being sought for five-year terms to the Schuylkill County Industrial Authority for Karl Kramer; Darlene Dolzani and G. Robert Sterling. On behalf of the Schuylkill County Municipal Authority, the commissioners were asked for authorization to accept the resignation of Clayton Ost effective November 21st and Roy Heim from his original appointment effective November 29th. Heim would then be reappointed as a member to fill out the remainder of Ost’s term until December 31, 2008. The Commissioners were also asked to accept the resignation of Anna Kubilus from the MH/MR advisory board effective December 5th.

Bids were opened during Wednesday’s County Commissioners work session for cleaning service at the court house complex. Avenues of Pottsville submitted at bid of $91,872 for a one year contract and TKO Cleaning Service of Pottsville submitted a bid of $98,500 for one year and $197,000 for two years. The Commissioners were seeking bids for one, two and/or three years. The contract award date is December 12th. In other business, the commissioners were asked to enter into a rate agreement with the Pottsville Parking Authority. The agreement is for 90 parking spaces in the Capitol lot at $27.50 per space, per month and 10 parking spaces along Laurel Blvd. at $17.50 per space, per month. The total cost would be $31,800 for the period January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008. There is no increase over what the County is now paying for the spaces. The Commissioners were asked to award a contract to Petco Inc., of Scranton to provide dietary equipment at Rest Haven at a contract cap of $32,000. Authorization is also being sought to advertise for bids for the William Penn Fire Company ADA and roof replacement project’s using 2006 CDBG funding. Bids will be opened January 2nd with a tentative award date of Wednesday, January 8, 2008

Unexpected growth in hotel tax collections from lodging facilities in the county has led to more funding for promotional endeavors. The County Commissioners were asked during Wednesday's work session to approve a $31-thousand-dollar supplemental budget appropriation to the County Visitors Bureau. The County levies a 3-Percent tax on lodging facility occupancy that is remitted, less administration costs, to the Visitors Bureau to promote tourism. Tourist Bureau Head Mark Major said the extra funding will be used for additional marketing and special event promotions. Major said the county collected about $200-thousand-dollars from the hotel tax in 2006, of which 2-percent, up to $40-thousand-dollars is kept by the county for administration costs, with the remainder allotted to the Visitors Bureau. He said his Bureau’s budget is $300-thousand-dollars, of which $110-thousand is spent on operations and $190-thousand is spent for marketing and promotions. He said the Visitors Bureau provides grants for special event promotions such as the County Fair, Pottsville Cruise, Irish Weekend and others. The remainder of the budget comes from State Tourism grants and from other organizations and cooperative advertising, according to Major. According to Major, tourists spend about $150-Million Dollars a year on lodging, restaurants and attractions in Schuylkill County.

Tomorrow is the 66th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. One northern Schuylkill County school is marking the occasion with a ceremony to honor veterans. Two assemblies, one at 12:45 and another at 1:40pm at North Schuylkill Jr./Sr. High School are planned to remember Pearl Harbor, and recognize all World War Two veterans, both living and deceased. The event will be attended by members of the Ashland VFW, and five American Legion posts located within or near the school district. A short video will be played, and the North Schuylkill High School band will perform. All living World War Two veterans, and families of living and deceased veterans are cordially invited to attend.