Today's News-Wednesday, January 9th

Today is the day that you might be able to save a life. The American Red Cross is conducting their "Giving is Living" blood campaign across northeast Pennsylvania today, tomorrow and Friday at several sites, including Schuylkill County. WPPA and T102 are among 25 partners helping in the effort to gather blood donations to save lives. The goal for the drive is just over 800 units for the three days. Shawn James of the Red Cross says that no matter what the weather, blood is needed 365 days a year.
JAMES
Today, from 11:30am till 6:30pm, donors can step up at the Fairlane Village Mall. Tomorrow, the bloodmobile will set up shop at Jerusalem Lutheran Church in Schuylkill Haven from noon till 6pm. Those who donate will receive a commemorative t-shirt, and be entered in a drawing to win up to $500 dollars in heating money for a month, or a $100 dollar gift card to Office Max of Wilkes Barre. It takes just an hour of your time to save a life. To register, call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE, but walk-ins are also welcome.

A Zion Grove man has been arrested by state police for burglaries in three counties. A felony warrant was issued for 26-year-old Dennis Mummey Jr. of Zion Grove for numerous burglaries and thefts throughout Columbia, Luzerne and Schuylkill Counties. Just after one am Tuesday morning, police were waiting at Mummey's home along Buck Mountain Road in North Union Township. He was spotted in a vehicle but jumped out and ran into a wooded area. Police followed on foot and caught Mummey a shirt time later. Mummey faces 30 felony and 30 misdemeanor counts as well as numerous summary charges for his crimes.

A Schuylkill Haven mobile deejay who is accused of Internet sex crimes will have his case heard in county court. 46-year-old Michael Deane waived his right to a preliminary hearing yesterday, on counts of having unlawful contact with a minor and criminal use of a communication facility. Deane reportedly conducted online chats this past summer with whom he thought was a 14-year-old girl, but in reality was an undercover agent from the PA Attorney General’s office. According to the Republican and Herald, District Judge James Ferrier bound the charges over for court, granted percentage bail, but did not post it. Ferrier also attached numerous conditions to that bail. He remained in Schuylkill County Prison.

A Pine Grove woman is possibly facing charges after she crashed her vehicle early today near Pine Grove. The crash happened just after three a.m. at 533 Bethel Road. Police say 41-year-old Danielle Brown lost control of her car on a curve, went off the roadway and slammed into some trees. She was taken to Pottsville Hospital for alcohol testing.

The region has lost a long-time educator and supporter of music and the arts. James Beach, retired Professor of Music at Penn State, passed away Monday. He was 86. A graduate of Penn State, he sang professionally in New York before teaching at University Park, and ultimately at Schuylkill, where he taught music courses and conducted the Schuylkill Chorale and ensembles, retiring in 1983. Beach was not only a musical leader, but a father-figure and mentor to his students. At a scholarship dinner in his and his wife’s honor in 2006, he told WPPA/T102 News that the students kept him young and motivated:
BEACH
He is survived by his wife, Ande. He will be laid to rest on Saturday.

A Pottsville filmmaker's semi-autobiographical comedy/drama makes its area debut at the Sovereign Majestic Theatre Saturday. Michael Sanchez wrote and performed the original stage play, about his diagnosis with bipolar disorder in 2003, and portrays his life experiences through a fictional comedian, Joey Tucci. Sanchez explains:
SANCHEZ
The one-man show developed into a multi-character full length film, with local character actors Jenna McBreen of Schuylkill Haven and Bill McGovern of Pottsville as the supporting cast. A sneak peek at the film can be viewed online at tuxedo-joe-dot-com. The movie screening will be held Saturday night at 8pm at the Sovereign Majestic Theatre. For ticket information, call the box office at 628-4647.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A judge says he'll wait for a full trial to decide if two historic buildings in the path of the Pennsylvania Convention Center expansion will be saved. Commonwealth Court Judge Keith Quigley in Harrisburg says he expects to hear witnesses and cross-examination in the trial scheduled to start Jan. 24. The Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia won a temporary injunction on Christmas Eve to halt demolition of the
buildings - a neoclassical office and its modernist neighbor. The Alliance argues that the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority agreed in 2004 to save the buildings by incorporating them into the new facade of the expanded convention center. Now the state agency overseeing the $700 million expansion says that would cost too much.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Casino officials say the Pittsburgh Majestic Star casino is expected to open on May 1, 2009. Casino vice president and general manager Ed Fasulo says that's
subject to construction delays or other factors. Businessman Don Barden broke ground on the $450 million casino Dec. 11, after nearly a year of delays. The facility is expected to open with 3,000 slot machines before expanding to as many as 5,000 machines. Construction has resulted in the closing of the North Shore riverfront trail at casino site. A casino spokesman says the trail will reopen once the casino opens. City officials are working to create a safe detour for trail users.

DELMONT, Pa. (AP) - A Westmoreland County man is charged with stealing 23 guns from a Westmoreland County sporting goods store. Twenty-seven-year-old Justin Carroll, of Jeannette, was arrested Tuesday. A Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives says Carroll is charged with theft of firearms from a federally licensed firearms dealer. Authorities say all the guns stolen from the Delmont Sports Shop overnight Sunday have been recovered.
Authorities say Carroll is a suspect in thefts at a computer store and a jewelry store. Carroll is expected to appear before a federal magistrate in Pittsburgh today.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - It's the second year in a row that Philadelphia police have killed an unarmed bystander while responding to celebratory gunfire on New Year's Eve. Police say 33-year-old Abel Isaac has died after about a week in a medically induced coma. Deputy Commissioner Richard Ross says the patrolman who shot Isaac said he opened fire while a gunman was aiming at him. The officer fired 11 times, with bullets striking the suspect outside a
home in the Germantown neighborhood and three people inside the home, including Isaac.
A year ago, police fatally shot an unarmed man who was running away from midnight gunfire on New Year's Eve.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Philadelphia's Federal Reserve Bank president becomes a policy maker this month. Charles Plosser is joining the Federal Open Market Committee as a voting member. So his 2008 economic outlook speech Tuesday in Gladwyne drew close attention. Plosser is saying little - during or after his Main Line Chamber of Commerce speech - to clarify whether he'll vote to cut target interest rates this month. Plosser predicts the economy will be "staying at a weak place for a while." But concerning interest rate policy, he says only that it is "challenging" to face both the threat of inflation, and of an economic downturn.

LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Federal Communications Commission's chairman says the agency will investigate complaints that Comcast actively interferes with Internet traffic. A coalition of consumer groups and legal scholars asked the agency in November to stop Philadelphia-based Comcast from discriminating against certain types of data. Two groups also asked the FCC to fine the nation's Number Two Internet provider $195,000 for every affected subscriber.
In an investigation last year, The Associated Press found that Comcast in some cases hindered file sharing by subscribers who used BitTorrent, a popular file-sharing program. Comcast denies that it blocks file sharing. But it acknowledged after the AP story that it was "delaying" some of the traffic between computers that share files.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A major Unisys shareholder is pressuring the board to sell or spin off its business with the federal government. MMI Investments is frustrated with the lagging stock price of the technology services company. Unisys is currently based in the Philadelphia suburb of Blue Bell and plans to move its headquarters to downtown Philadelphia. According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, MMI, which is controlled by the hedge fund Millbrook Capital Management in New York, sent a letter to Unisys board on Monday.
The investment firm says is urging the company to hire an independent investment bank to review "strategic alternatives," with a focus on separating its government business unit through a sale, tax-free spin-off or an initial public offering. Unisys says it is evaluating MMI's letter and says again that the company is in the midst of a turnaround plan.

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) - Authorities say an Army Special Forces soldier from Pittsburgh died in Iraq from cardiac arrest due to an apparent accidental electrical shock. Staff Sergeant Ryan Maseth died Wednesday in Baghdad. His noncombat death is under investigation. His father, Doug Maseth, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that preliminary reports indicated
he was shocked while taking a shower. Maseth was assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group at Fort Campbell, Kentucky The 24-year-old soldier was serving his second deployment to
Iraq after enlisting in June 2001.

LEBANON, Pa. (AP) - A female Army reservist says she felt "disgusting" and "ugly" after an alleged sexual assault at Fort Indiantown Gap. The woman testified Tuesday against 45-year-old Sergeant Robert Lee Shackelford of Dover, Delaware. The woman said she was very intoxicated after drinking with Shackelford in March and blacked out a number of times. She
testified that she remembered being bent over the end of a bunk, feeling a man behind her and believing she was being raped, but she didn't know who the man was. Shackelford's lawyer says there's no physcial evidence that he raped the woman.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Police have named a suspect in the slaying of a Philadelphia bartender.
Police say there's an arrest warrant out for 36-year-old John McLaughlin of the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia. He owned McWhitey's, a tavern where the body of Joseph Seamus O'Neill was found last week. The victim was a popular bartender at a tavern about five blocks away. Authorities accuse McLaughlin of beating O'Neill to death after a dispute early Thursday morning. Police don't know what they were arguing about. The body was found wrapped in a tarp in the basement of McWhitey's, which has since been closed as a public nuisance.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter may have a sore arm.
Nutter invited all the people of Philadelphia to show up at City Hall yesterday to shake his hand. Thousands took him up on the offer, with the receiving line going outside the building
and snaking around the block. The open house was scheduled to end at 8 o'clock, but so many showed up that Nutter stuck around for a couple of hours so nobody would be turned away.
Nutter was sworn in as mayor on Monday.

UNDATED (AP) - New Hampshire's winners are weighing in on last night's surprising primary results. Speaking on NBC's "Today" show, Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton says her comeback began with a Saturday night debate and says she was able to connect with voters "on a personal level." Republican winner John McCain says he was simply "able to out campaign everybody."

WASHINGTON (AP) - Hillary Clinton's Democratic New Hampshire win is being credited in part to members of her own gender. Women voters sided with the former first lady over second-place finisher Barack Obama. Republican John McCain rode the backs of independent
voters to a victory that marked a repeat his 2000 New Hampshire win.

NEW YORK (AP) - Wall Street is looking for a slightly higher open this morning as investors take advantage of bargain stock prices following yesterday's sell-off. Dow futures are up more than 52 points. The broader indexes are also indicating a higher open.

JERUSALEM (AP) - President Bush has been welcomed to Israel with a red carpet and military bands at an airport ceremony in Tel Aviv. Bush is in the Middle East to push for movement in peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. Israel President Shimon Peres tells Bush "the next 12 months will be a moment of truth."

NEW YORK (AP) - Two men face fraud charges in New York after police say they wheeled a dead man to a check-cashing store on an office chair and tried to cash his Social Security check. The man was left outside the store while the pair tried to cash the check. A detective eating at a restaurant next door noticed a crowd around the body and alerted uniformed police.