Today's News-Friday, February 1st

Miserable weather continues to blanket the region today. The frozen mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain began falling between 4 and 5am, and changed over around before noon as temperatures reached the freezing mark. Travel was treacherous for most of the morning, and schools opted to cancel classes rather than take any chances. Weather concerns now turn to potential heavy rains that could back up storm drains and cause localized flooding. Stay tuned for weather updates.

A discount retailer in the Fairlane Village Mall is expected to closed in the next few months, displacing nearly 50 workers. Value City, which has been one of the mall's anchor stores for nearly 15 years is one of 37 stores nationwide to shutter their doors. The store chain was part of the Retail Ventures conglomerate. A majority stake was sold to VCHI Acquisition, a venture capital firm within the last week. 49 people will lose their jobs in the move. A spokesperson at Retail Ventures confirmed the closure with WPPA/T102 News yesterday afternoon, but did so on condition on anonymity. Information from the Securities and Exchange Commission website says that Retail Ventures was the parent company of retailers DSW shoe outlets and Filene's Basement. Value City moved into the former GEE BEE’s discount store in the early 90’s when they acquired the company.

The Schuylkill County Republican party faithful gathered last night to name their slate of candidates for the April primary, but several slots remain unfilled. Chairman Bob Ames presided over a well-attended meeting at the Schoeneman Corporation. A lot of time was spent on the balloting for state committee, where two men and two women were endorsed to represent the GOP for two year terms. Deer Lake resident Joe Sterns called for an open primary for the slots, but was turned back by those in attendance. Mary Labert, Mary Beth Dougherty, Boots Hetherington and George Moyer were selected to appear on the ballot in April. The committee is still looking for candidates to run in two House races, the 123rd and 125th. Bob Ames elaborates:
AMES
County Recorder of Deeds Matt Dudish is not running in the 125th, as previously reported. Gary Hornberger, former County Controller was also in attendance, not to ask for endorsement, but to call for party unity in battling incumbent Democrat Tim Seip. Senator Jim Rhoades, Representative Dave Argall were officially endorsed. Retired state police officer and consultant Toni Gilhooley of Dauphin County received the party nod for the 17th Congressional District seat held by Tim Holden. For President of the United States, Schuylkill County Republicans polled voiced their support for John McCain, followed by Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul.

The Schuylkill County Salary Board approved the creation of two full-time Assistant District Attorney positions during Wednesday’s board meeting. District Attorney James Goodman said previous that Jennifer Lehman of Washington Twp. And Michael Stine Jr. will fill the positions at salaries of $40,592.00 each. Goodman had said he received a 3-year grant to fund Stine’s position. A part time Assistant District Attorney position was eliminated by the resignation of William Reilly. Lehman will fill the other full time spot.
During the Commissioners regular board meeting several fee for service contracts were approved. Tony Lesher, LPN, and Irene Troutman, CNA, of Schuylkill Haven will join the in-house nursing pool at Rest Haven at $18.00 per hour each. Approval was also given for a contract with general Healthcare Resources, Inc, Plymouth Meeting for temporary nurse staffing. The Commissioners approved an agreement with Barbara Powers of Pottsville to provide administrative and training services to the Department of Children and Youth Services. Her rate will be $30.00 an hour with a contract cap of $31,050. The agreement runs from February 11th to December 31st of this year.

Will the Groundhog see his shadow tomorrow? Its anyone's guess. But you don't have to go to Punxatawny to see what he does. The 2nd annual Groundhog Day celebration at Sweet Arrow Lake County Park begins at 9am. Grover the Groundhog will be yanked from his burrow tomorrow morning to make his prediction, with a number of other events planned. Schuylkill Conservation District Environmental Education Coordinator Porcupine Pat McKinney talks about the festivities:
McKINNEY
After the prediction, members of Pine Grove Grundsau Lodge #5 will entertain with Pennsylvania Dutch stories and songs. Grundsau A Chinese Auction will also be held. A Chicken Pot Pie luncheon will be served at Sweet Arrow Lake clubhouse at 11am. For more information, call 345-8952.

A Richland woman was hurt in a crash in East Brunswick Township early this morning. 18-year-old Leah Marie Stoltz was westbound on Route 443, swerved to miss hitting a deer and lost control. Her car crossed the road, struck the guiderail and rolled over several times. Stoltz was not injured. The crash happened at 2:30am.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Freezing rain is causing havoc on highways in central and eastern Pennsylvania. The nasty weather has caused scores of accidents and dozens of school districts throughout the region are closed. The Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and Interstates 78, 81 and 84 all have weather-related
problems.

SHANGHAI, China (AP) - Alcoa and Aluminum Corp. of China have jointly acquired 12 percent of the shares of the global mining company Rio Tinto PLC. The deal is believed to be worth $14 billion - the largest overseas investment ever by a Chinese company. Pittsburgh-based Alcoa says it contributed $1.2 billion to the
total investment.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Philadelphia's new police commissioner says 4 homicides in 16 hours show why Mayor Michael Nutter has declared a crime emergency. Commissioner Charles Ramsey's comment came at
the site of a double murder about noon Thursday on a West Philadelphia Street.

ERIE, Pa. (AP) - An Erie woman charged in that bizarre bank robbery plot involving a collar bomb that killed a man is now listed in federal court records as her own attorney. Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong is listed as her attorney along with federal public defender Thomas Patton, who has filed a motion with the court
challenging her mental competency.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Nursing homes need to have better guidance on how to help their residents vote, especially in battleground states with many aging residents such as Pennsylvania and Florida. By 2040, about 40 percent of voters will be 65 or older. About 10 percent of older Americans live in nursing homes or long term care facilities.

WASHINGTON (AP) - A slowing economy is taking its toll on businesses, as the Labor Department reports that employers cut 17,000 jobs in January. The numbers also show that unemployment dipped slightly from 5 percent to 4.9 percent.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - President Bush is expected to pressure the Senate on passing the White House-supported economic stimulus plan at an appearance in Missouri. Bush and the House are eager to
get rebates into the hands of taxpayers, but senators are trying to add more elements to the stimulus package.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Barack Obama is courting the Latino vote as Super Tuesday approaches. He's hosted a "Latino Town Hall" in Los Angeles, while sending supporter Ted Kennedy to Hispanic centers in New Mexico. Latinos account for about 10 percent of voters in six Super Tuesday states.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. ambassador to Iraq says al-Qaida has found a "different, deadly way" to try to destabilize Iraq by using women as suicide bombers. Two such bombings in Baghdad markets today left dozens of people dead. Ryan Crocker adds that Iran is still supporting violence in Iraq and that no Arab nation has established a diplomatic presence in the country yet.

ELDORET, Kenya (AP) - A mob in Kenya has killed a police officer in the home village of an opposition lawmaker who was killed yesterday. Britain is suggesting that Kenya's army be deployed into
the streets, but Kenya's president says the security situation is "under control."