Today's News-Monday, January 14th

The westbound lanes of Interstate 78 reopened after 8 this morning and the eastbound lanes reopened about a half hour later after a pair of accidents had shut down a large section of the highway in Berks County. The first accident closed the eastbound lanes and one westbound lane between exit 23 in Upper Bern Township and exit 35 in Lenhartsville after two tractor trailers collided and overturned about 6 a.m. near Hamburg. The accident was on the bridge over the Schuylkill River east of exit 29 in Tilden Township. About 7:35 a.m., a tractor trailer struck the concrete median barrier near Hamburg in the westbound lane that had remained open. Traffic was diverted onto Old Route 22.

A new sports rehab center has opened in the region. St. Luke's Hospital on Thursday opened its seventh sports and rehabilitation center, a clinic in West Penn Township. It is affiliated with St. Luke's Miners Memorial Hospital in Coaldale. The 12-hundred-square-foot center, at Routes 309 and 895, offers outpatient physical therapy and a wellness program. The center will offer treatment for orthopedic and sports injuries and other services. It also offers personal training, weight loss, nutrition, wellness and exercise advice.

If you are waking up this morning expecting to see snow on the ground, surprise. Forecasters had been predicting a small accumulating snow from an east coast storm, but the track of that storm took an easterly direction. So the snow and rain mix that started around 8 last night never did accumulate here in Schuylkill County. The easternmost areas and the Poconos did see some snow for the morning commute. Snow flurries are expected throughout the day.

Charges are pending against an Auburn man who was involved in a crash on Route 61 in West Brunswick Township Sunday morning. 49-year-old George Smith was driving north on 61 when he failed to negotiate a left hand curve and hit the guiderail. The vehicle traveled across the highway, striking the median barrier, then flipped on its roof. Smith was not wearing his seatbelt and sustained major injuries. He was flown from the scene. Police say that he was driving under the influence. The investigation continues.

Two Pine Grove man were involved in a DUI related crash early Sunday in Pine Grove Township. Troopers from Schuylkill Haven say that Zachary Fidler lost control on Keefer Road while driving under the influence. A second vehicle driven by Craig Rhody of Pine Grove came upon the scene of the crash and was unable to avoid hitting Fidler's vehicle. No one was injured.
Fidler will be charged with driving under the influence.

Several teens will be charged with underage drinking following an incident in Minersville early Saturday. Frackville state police say that while on routine patrol, they stopped a Jeep Wrangler on Field and Schaeffer Road around 2am. During the stop, police suspected that the 17 year old male operating the vehicle was under the influence. He was taken to Pottsville Hospital to have blood drawn. Charges are expected to be filed upon receipt of those tests. Two females and one male juvenile were passengers in the vehicle. They reportedly had been drinking underage as well.

State police are investigating an arson in West Mahanoy Township early Sunday. Unknown individuals set fire to the car owned by Brian O’Connell of Shenandoah. The vehicle was on Elliot Street in the township at the time. Anyone with information is asked to contact Frackville State Police at 874-5300.

AFGHANISTAN-SOLDIER DIES
McKean County man dies from injuries sustained in Afghanistan

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A Pennsylvania solider has died from combat injuries he suffered in Afghanistan. The state National Guard says Lieutenant Colonel Richard Berrettini of Eldred, McKean County, died of his injuries in Texas. In civilian life, the 52-year-old man was the nurse at Port Allegany High School. Berrettini was scheduled to return home at the end of the month
after a year in Afghanistan. He had volunteered to go there. He joined the Pennsylvania National Guard in 1984 and was a former active duty sailor. His survivors include two sons, both of whom are in the military.

HOMELAND SECURITY-SPENDING
Reports: Pa. homeland security spending lacked focus, oversight

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Three reports show that Pennsylvania has done a poor job overseeing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal homeland security grants. The lack of oversight makes it hard to evaluate if the spending has improved the state's disaster-response capabilities. The reports say record-keeping has been so inadequate that state emergency officials cannot say whether equipment that has been purchased is still in use or where it is. The state officials must approve local requests for the money. More than 400 million dollars in federal money has been committed to Pennsylvania since September 11th, 2001. The reports
conclude that the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency was ill-prepared to manage all the money once it began flowing in.

CASINO REVENUES
Report: Pennsylvania's slots among East Coast's richest

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Four of Pennsylvania's casinors are among the top five on the East Coast for slots revenues. A new report by Spectrum Gaming, a casino research firm, says
the Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs is tops on the East Coast. It generated $403 per slot machine per day between September 1st and November 30th, 2007. The Mohegan Sun in Connecticut came in second at $390 per machine, followed by three Pennsylvania casinos: Philadelphia Park at $369 per machine, the Meadows at $347 per machine and Harrah's
Chester at $322 per machine. Pennsylvania's slots parlors are licensed for up to 5,000
machines, but may never hit that number to avoid saturating the market.

CAMPUS PORN BLOCKED
Some on Pa. campus previously unaware of anti-porn filters

LATROBE, Pa. (AP) - St. Vincent College is blocking pornography and gambling Web sites from residence hall computers. The practice has been underway since August 2006, but some on
the Roman Catholic college's campus say they learned of it only recently. College president Jim Towey introduced a policy of filtering out the sites on those computers shortly after taking office. Towey is a former director of the Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives with the Bush administration. The filtering was not announced, and some say they were unaware
of it before the appearance late this fall of fliers posted anonymously on campus and a blog by Towey defending his decision. Towey said the proliferation of pornography, some hard core and
violent, is degrading and potentially addictive to those who view it. The filtering system does not affect classroom computer labs, the library, faculty offices or wireless networks on the St.
Vincent campus.

CAPE GIRARDEAU-KILLINGS
Suspected serial killer uses confessions as bargaining chips

MARION, Ill. (AP) - A man who grew up near Allentown (Pennsylvania) is using his admissions in the decades-old killings of nine women as a bargaining chip - including one in Temple,
Pennsylvania. Timothy Krajcir is currently serving a 40-year sentence for killing a college student in 1982. He's also accused of fatally stabbing a housewife in Marion, Illinois, in 1978.
Prosecutors in Missouri's Cape Girardeau County accuse him of killing five women there in 1978 and 1982. Krajcir has agreed to confess to the old killings in exchange for prosecutors agreeing to not seek the death penalty. He confessed last month to killing 51-year-old Myrtle Rupp of Temple, in 1979.

HIT-RUN FATAL
3 die, 3 hurt in N. Philadelphia hit & run

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A third person has died as a result of a two car accident in North Philadelphia on Saturday night and police say a man has been arrested and charged in the crash that also hospitalized three people. Police say 27-year-old Presley Hanif was behind the wheel of a car that smashed into another. After striking that car, police investigators say he fled on foot. Six people in their teens or early 20s were in the car that was hit. One died at the scene, two more were pronounced dead at a hospital. Three others said to be seriously hurt are still being treated.

ARMSTRONG LAYOFFS
Armstrong plant in W.Va. plans job cuts

BEVERLY, W.Va. (AP) - Layoffs are coming for workers at Armstrong World Industries' flooring plant in Beverly, West Virginia. A spokeswoman for the Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based manufacturer blames the softening market for the layoffs. Meg Graham says the company expects to cut fewer than 20 jobs in February. Armstrong makes flooring, ceiling and cabinet products. Armstrong employs about 950 people at the West Virginia plant.

LAS VEGAS (AP) - The battle for the Democratic presidential bid is taking on a racial tone following a dispute over Hillary Clinton's comments on Martin Luther King's role in the civil rights movement. Clinton claims rival Barack Obama is stoking a controversy in an effort to make gains in the race. Obama calls that notion "ludicrous."

CAPITOL HILL (AP) - It's back to work this week for the House and it appears that last year's partisan disputes could spill over into 2008. Battles over domestic spending and the Iraq war have sunk congressional approval ratings to new lows. The war remains an issue, while the House and Senate also face a sluggish economy and election-year politics.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Dubai declared a national holiday today in honor of President Bush's visit to the Middle East's cosmopolitan capital. Bush has toured a Dubai history museum and dined with students at a local business school. Later he heads to Saudi Arabia to continue his Middle East tour.

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says he wants to see the prison camp for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, "shut down." Admiral Mike Mullen toured the facility over the weekend and says the negative publicity it's brought to the U.S. has been "pretty damaging."

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (AP) - Authorities in North Carolina say the disappearance of the suspect in the murder of a pregnant Marine who had accused him of rape will be a "short vacation." Witnesses claim to have seen Marine Corporal Cesar Laurean at a Louisiana bus stop over the weekend. Investigators are confident Laurean will be caught soon.