Today's News-Friday, February 8th

The Schuylkill County Commissioners approved a new three-year contract for Prison officers and maintenance workers. At Wednesday's Commissioners work session Assistant County Solicitor Jay Jones said the agreement is fair for both sides and includes a 3-percent salary increase each year and several policy changes. Negotiations have been ongoing since last summer, and both sides came to an agreement in principle in December. Jones said a new sick leave policy requires a doctor's certification for any sick days and a disciplinary system to deal with violations of the policy. He said the new sick leave policy will help reduce overtime costs incurred when some employees have to work extra hours to cover for those who don't report for duty. Jones also said that employees hired after January 1st will not be eligible for post retirement health benefits which were offered to retirees under other contracts. The new contract replaces one that expired at the end of 2007.

A Tamaqua truck driver has been convicted of improper driving in the death of a Virginia State Police motorist assistance aide. Sixty-six-year-old Horace Jarratt was killed last April on Interstate 95 near Richmond as he was picking up debris from the highway. 52-year-old Lamont Frey of Tamaqua pleaded guilty Wednesday to the amended count, reduced from reckless driving, and was fined $500 by a Chesterfield County Circuit judge. Frey had appealed to circuit court a reckless driving conviction in September in Chesterfield General District Court that resulted in a minor jail term. The prosecutor said Frey failed to exercise caution for the type of vehicle he was driving and heed Jarratt's warnings.

A Port Carbon man got more than he bargained for when he attempted to purchase a firearm. Police uncovered an outstanding warrant against him. Port Carbon police say 39-year-old David Hauber of 117 North Street, was arrested without incident at his home Wednesday night on a warrant from Potter County.
Hauber had previously attempted to purchase a firearm from the WalMart store in St. Clair a few hours earlier and a computer check notified the PA State Police that an outstanding arrest warrant was issued by Potter County officials. Hauber was placed in Schuylkill County Prison, awaiting Potter County officials. Port Carbon police were assisted by Palo Alto police.

Drugs, alcohol and teens are a dangerous mix. But some area young people are working to get the message out that they are bad for them. The Schuylkill County Drug and Alcohol Junior Advisory Board is comprised of juniors and seniors from area high schools, who want to make a difference when it comes to the problems of drug and alcohol use. Drug and Alcohol Prevention Specialist Diane Rowland explains how the group got started:
ROWLAND
The students meet monthly during the school year to develop programs for informing their peers about drugs and alcohol. Among the projects already completed was a survey of drug and alcohol use among county high school students. The results were developed into a presentation for 7th and 8th graders. They are also working on an educational TV commercial targeted at young people. Lindsay Hummel, a junior at Schuylkill Haven High talks about why she’s involved:
HUMMEL

The Schuylkill County Commissioners will appoint a number of people to several boards during next week's regular board meeting. At Wednesday's work session, the Commissioners indicated they will appoint Diana Beausang of Pottsville and Laine Gehres of Llewellyn to five year terms on the Schuylkill Municipal Authority board of directors. Republican minority Commissioner Frank Staudenmeier asked his fellow commissioners to consider reappointing Frank Zukas to the authority, saying his departure would be a significant loss to the board and the county. Four persons were nominated for appointment to the County Zoning Advisory committee. They are Pat Caufield, Ashland, Dan Koury, Pine Grove, Keith Masser, Sacramento and Joseph Palubinsky of Ringtown. Six people were nominated to one-year terms on the County Fire Chiefs Advisory board. They are Jack Messner and John Kellman Jr., both of Pottsville, Art Connely Jr., Tamaqua, James Krammes, Cressona, Joseph Kufrovich, Barnesville and Glenn Sattizahn, Schuylkill Haven.

The old jingle "when you say Budweiser, you’ve said it all", is not necessarily the case when it come to beer wholesalers in parts of this country. Schuylkill County’s own, Yuengling, is continuing to make inroads.
The Wall Street Journal reports that a decade ago, Bud’s parent, Anheuser-Busch, gave distributors financial incentives to offer their products exclusively. But in the fast changing alcoholic-beverage industry, that way of doing business may not be a smart move. Over the past year, distributors in Texas, Tennessee and other states have chosen to sell rival beers, like Yuengling Lager, as well as other spirits to offer more choices to consumers. In Tennessee, 11 distributors stopped their exclusive relationship with Anheuser-Busch, and started selling Yuengling products, which brought their products to that state. Anheuser Busch may have lost some sales in that state because of Yuengling's entrance, according to the market research firm Information Resources, Inc. Yuengling, based in Pottsville, is America's oldest brewery, dating back to 1829.

Turmoil in the U.S. markets might accomplish what Sovereign Bancorp's dissident shareholders couldn't – derail an outright purchase by Spain's largest bank. Banco Santander on Thursday all but acknowledged that its investment in the Philadelphia-based thrift hasn't panned out. The Madrid-based bank took a nearly $1.1 billion writedown of its 25 percent stake in Sovereign to more accurately reflect the thrift's declining value.
Shares of Sovereign have been cut in half over the past year as investors sold off financial stocks in light of massive losses in the nonprime mortgage market. Santander's chairman told a news conference in Madrid that the bank right now can only consider that it has a contract for Sovereign that expires in mid-2011. Sovereign has a strong banking presence in eastern Pennsylvania.

PPL Electric Utilities has launched a new outage center on its website to report power interruptions and to check when their power will be restored. The site is available at http://www.pplelectric-dot-com/. The new software helps the utility to pinpoint outages more quickly during storms. Customers can still report problems at 1-800-342-5775, and should be used for all emergencies, like downed wires.

STROUDSBURG, Pa. (AP) - The owner of a trucking company accused of killing an employee with a sawed-off shotgun will have his fate decided by a Monroe County judge. Ray Anthony Velez of Jackson Township
gave up his right to a jury. Velez maintains he killed Armando Guardiola of New York City in self-defense. Two of Guardiola's co-workers testified Thursday that they accompanied him on a trip to Velez's home to discuss a
dispute over worker's compensation. They say Velez pulled the gun from his desk and shot Guardiola in the chest. Velez called 911 after the shooting and told the dispatcher that he had shot Guardiola. A recording of that call was played in court. Testimony continues Monday.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania officials say towns in the Chesapeake Bay watershed will waste their money if they sue over federal requirements to cut water pollution. D-E-P spokesman Neil Weaver says "we feel they're doing a disservice to the ratepayers to take their money to use it against something that is federally mandated." At stake is the question of who should pay to clean up the wastewater treatment plants and farms that pollute water running into the Chesapeake Bay. Pennsylvania faces a 2010 deadline for meeting water-quality standards that were once voluntary but were made mandatory in 2005. Some local officials across much of central and eastern Pennsylvania are disappointed the state hasn't kicked in money. The Capital Region Council of Governments, a municipal association in suburban Harrisburg, has authorized
its lawyer to file suit.

HAZLETON, Pa. (AP) - Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta's local crackdown on illegal immigration made him a national hero among those seeking tighter borders. Now he says he will try to parlay that celebrity into a seat in Congress. Barletta announced that he will seek the Republican nomination to challenge 12-term Democratic Congressman Paul Kanjorski. Barletta lost to Kanjorski by more than 13 percentage points in
2002. But the mayor's illegal-immigration stance has raised his profile significantly since then. Barletta says he's done as much as a mayor can do to fight illegal immigration. He says the problem needs to be fixed in Congress. Kanjorski says he looks forward to a "full and vigorous debate" on issues like the economy, health care and the war in Iraq.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Both Pennsylvania members of the Republican National Committee are backing John McCain for president. The twin endorsements by Bob Asher and Christine Olson came just after former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney quit the race. Asher is a Montgomery County businessman who previously
supported former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Olson is an Indiana County resident who hadn't stated a preference before. Both wrote to fellow members of the GOP state committee. They're urging the committee to publicly support the Arizona senator when it meets Saturday in Harrisburg. Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge is expected to attend the state committee meeting and urge a McCain endorsement. Ridge is a
national co-chairman of McCain's campaign.

KIRKWOOD, Mo. (AP) - A man who'd lost a lawsuit against his city outside St. Louis, Missouri, is blamed for opening fire at a council meeting, killing two police officers and three city officials. The mayor is critically hurt. The gunman was killed by police. He'd been a contentious presence at previous meetings, but
the mayor decided against banning him from proceedings.

PORT WENTWORTH, Ga. (AP) - Firefighters in Georgia are still battling flames at a sugar refinery that exploded last night. Six people are missing. No official word on what sparked the blast at the plant in a Savannah suburb that left dozens injured. Officials suspect volatile sugar dust.

HOUSTON (AP) - The crew of the space shuttle Atlantis is getting ready to check their spacecraft for damage that may have been inflicted from yesterday's launch. At least three pieces of foam came off the fuel tank two minutes into liftoff. Atlantis is set to reach the space station tomorrow, where a 2 billion dollar lab will
be delivered and installed.

WHITE HOUSE (AP) - President Bush will be heading to Tennessee this morning for a first-hand look at the damage done by this week's deadly tornados. He'll get an aerial tour before meeting with victims and rescue workers. He's already declared five Tennessee counties federal disaster areas and ordered federal aid.

VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Oil prices are rising today as investors see a more stable stock market. Dow Jones industrials climbed higher yesterday after recent sell-offs. Energy investors often interpret the stock market as a barometer of economic health.