Today's News-Wednesday, February 20th

Nearly 200 school districts in Pennsylvania may have received beef that has been recalled by the packaging company. Several are from our area. According to the PA Department of Agriculture website, schools received some of the 143 million pounds of raw and frozen beef products from Hallmark/Westland Meat Packaging of Chino, California. The US Department of Agriculture has deemed the recall a "Class Two" recall, meaning it only has a remote probability of causing adverse health consequences. Schools received the beef products through the National School Lunch program, and all have been notified about the recall. Officials have directed districts to remove any inventories and destroy them as a precaution. The state identified Blue Mountain, Mahanoy Area, Schuylkill Haven, Shenandoah Valley, Tri Valley and Williams Valley as having received the meat products from Hallmark.

Residents of East Brunswick Township took the state's Attorney General to task last night about using sewage sludge to fertilize farms. Attorney General Tom Corbett was in Pottsville last night for a campaign fundraiser, and was confronted by about 50 township residents about the issue, according to the Republican and Herald. The use of biosolids to fertilize farmland has been a hot button issue for some time. East Brunswick’s supervisors passed a law in 2006 that challenges the practice, citing environmental and health concerns for their residents. However, a state law passed in 2005 limited local governments ability to control the use of sludge, among other practices. East Brunswick Township and the state are embroiled in a lawsuit about the issue. Corbett’s office filed suit against the township after negotiations broke down, according to officials from the Governor's office. That case will be heard in Commonwealth Court later this spring. Residents who protested against Corbett last night blame him for taking their rights away. Corbett reportedly told the gathering that he was only doing his job.

Schuylkill Haven is in the market for a new borough administrator. Jim New, who has served the borough for nearly two years, announced his resignation at Tuesday night's meeting. According to the Republican and Herald, he is moving to New Mexico to be closer to family and to a warmer and drier climate. The search for a new administrator is already under way.

A Catawissa man is suspected of driving under the influence following a crash early Tuesday in Mahanoy Township. 45-year-old Dale Houser was driving west on State Route 54 at the intersection of Patriotic Hill Road. He lost control while attempting a right hand turn. The car struck an embankment. While state police were talking with Houser, they smelled alcohol on his breath. He was taken to Pottsville Hospital for a blood alcohol test. Charges may be filed pending the outcome of those tests. A passenger in Houser's vehicle, Marie Wahalec of Shenandoah, was not hurt. The crash happened after midnight Tuesday morning.

A Pine Grove man had to be removed from his vehicle as the result of a crash in Pine Grove Township early Tuesday. 60-year-old James Snyder was southbound on Bethel Road, traveling uphill trying to negotiate a left hand curve. His car hit a patch of ice and he lost control. Snyder's truck hit a tree. He was trapped inside. He was taken to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center for treatment. State police believe that Snyder was traveling at a high rate of speed when the crash happened.
The incident happened around 5:30am Tuesday.

An Emmaus woman escaped injury in a Sunday afternoon crash in Port Clinton.
30-year-old Rebekah Soulouff was northbound on Route 61, in an area where traffic merges into a single lane. She swerved to avoid a vehicle in front of her that was slowed for traffic. Soulouff lost control and hit the gas pedal by mistake and struck the concrete bridge retaining wall, then crossed the highway. Soulouff wasn’t hurt. The crash happened at 12:45pm Sunday.

Pa. boy sent to mental health facility after school stabbings
READING, Pa. (AP) - A 13-year-old boy who says he stabbed four other students because he was bullied at a Reading school is being placed in a mental-health program. Berks County Juvenile Judge Scott Lash found the boy delinquent on four counts of aggravated assault and possessing a weapon on school property. He's ordered him placed in a residential program at Devereux Kanner center in West Chester. Police say the Antietam Middle-Senior High eighth-grader burst into an English classroom on Jan. 9, wounded one girl in the back, and injured three others before students took the knife away. The principal and some teachers subdued the boy until police arrived.

Pa. man charged with stalking trooper who investigated son
BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) - A Florida man has been jailed on charges that he stalked a Pennsylvania state trooper who investigated sexual misconduct allegations against his son. A judge has ordered 49-year-old Gregory Walker, of Kissimmee, Fla., held in the Centre County Prison in lieu of $500,000 bail. He was arraigned Tuesday on charges including stalking, harassment, retaliation and false reports. Police say Trooper Shawn Inlow helped investigate allegations against Walker's son, Benjamin Walker, who began serving a sentence in August. Authorities say Inlow was followed, photographed, and investigated by private investigators. Walker is accused of making phone calls, sending harassing e-mails, driving around Inlow's house and harassing him in court and in public places. Police say he has made rape accusations against Inlow that were investigated and found untrue.

Police say marijuana amid the mushrooms at Berks County farm
READING, Pa. (AP) - Federal agents say they found more than mushrooms being stored and shipped out of a Berks County farm. Authorities say the seizure of 1,500 pounds of marijuana with a street value of $3.4 million is one of the largest drug seizures ever in the county. A federal indictment unsealed Tuesday says the January raid at a Maiden Creek Township farm has been kept under wraps while an investigation continued. Investigators say two men arrested in the raid have been arraigned on charges of conspiracy and possessing and intending to distribute marijuana. A federal warrant has been issued for a third man in charge of transporting the marijuana. Officials say the farm is not being identified because the owner was not involved in the drug operation.

Pa. college owners settle consumer-protection allegations
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The parent companies of a for-profit college near Allentown that plans to close soon have settled allegations that the college violated consumer protection laws. The Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office had alleged that Lehigh Valley College misrepresented information about student loans, job placement and the ability to transfer credits elsewhere. The college says it didn't break any laws and it cooperated with the investigation. The state and the college's owners signed an agreement in which the owners agree to pay $200,000 to settle the allegations. The agreement was filed in court Tuesday. Earlier, the college had announced it planned to close by the end of 2009. It was formerly known as the Allentown Business
School.

Families of NJ victims of serial killer nurse settle lawsuit
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - The families of New Jersey patients murdered by serial killer nurse Charles Cullen have reached a settlement with the hospitals where Cullen worked. That's the word tonight from Michael Barrett, an attorney representing two of the families. Barrett says the confidential settlement with five hospitals was
reached Friday after a court-ordered mediation that lasted four days from late January into early February. The lawsuit was filed in New Jersey Superior Court more than four years ago. Cullen told investigators he might have killed as many as 40 patients in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He pleaded guilty to killing 29 people and attempting to kill six others. He's now serving life in New Jersey State Prison.

Abu-Jamal loses bid for hearing into claims of witness perjury
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has rejected a request from Mumia Abu-Jamal. He says witnesses in his trial for the murder of a Philadelphia police officer lied on the stand. The court says he waited too long to request a hearing for that claim. Abu-Jamal was convicted of killing Officer Daniel Faulkner in 1981. In 2001, a federal judge overturned Abu-Jamal's death sentence but upheld his conviction. Both sides are appealing that ruling. Prosecutors are seeking to have the death penalty reinstated and Abu-Jamal's lawyers are trying to overturn the conviction. His case has attracted international notoriety.

NYC officials work to identify burned body dumped in boiler
NEW YORK (AP) - The New York City medical examiner is still working to identify the remains of a burned body found stuffed in a boiler. Police believe the remains are from a 14-year-old Allentown, Pa., girl killed by her father. Police say 34-year-old Miguel Matias called 911 on Saturday morning, claiming he had strangled 14-year-old Ana Matias the night before. Police say he told officers he was upset with her for text-messaging a boy. When officers searched his apartment building, where he served as superintendent, they discovered the body in the boiler believed to be his daughter. Police say Ana had been visiting Matias but lived in Allentown, Pa., with her mother and two sisters. The parents were separated.

Pa. legislative primary challenges down by half from '06 level
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - About half as many incumbent Pennsylvania lawmakers are facing opponents in the April primary as did two years ago. That's a sign that the 2005 pay raise's potency in state politics may be on the wane. Sixty-one incumbents found themselves locked in primary battles in May 2006. When 17 of them lost, it rattled the political establishment. This time around, only 32 legislative elections feature a primary battle, and that's an unofficial number that could be
reduced by candidate dropouts or court fights over nominating petitions. Opposite-party challenges have been launched against 97 incumbents for the fall campaign. That includes leaders of both parties in the House, and the two highest-ranking Senate Republicans. Twenty-four incumbents are retiring this year, compared to 31
who left voluntarily in 2006.

Gaming board, police spar over secrecy of DeNaples probe
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A noisy debate over how a man now charged with perjury received a casino license has gone up a notch. Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board chairwoman Mary Colins says police had no legal reason to stay silent about their perjury investigation into Louis DeNaples. She says her agency would have put off a vote on DeNaples' license application if officials there had known about the
investigation. But state police, who charged DeNaples with lying to the gaming
board to win a license, say the law prohibits such a disclosure. DeNaples' lawyers say he is innocent of the perjury charges filed by state police, and they are asking the state Supreme Court to intervene. DeNaples opened Mount Airy Casino Resort in October.

WASHINGTON (AP) - In taking his ninth and tenth straight presidential nominating victories, exit polls show Democrat Barack Obama cutting into what's been viewed as Hillary Rodham Clinton's usual base. That includes a majority of white and working-class people and women. John McCain won two more Republican contests yesterday.

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) - President Bush says the people of Pakistan have spoken in their election yesterday that handed a major defeat to President Pervez Musharraf's party. Bush says the vote was fair and the opposition parties' win is a "victory in the war on terror."

PENTAGON (AP) - The Navy could use a heat-seeking missile as early as tonight in an effort to destroy a dead spy satellite spiraling back to Earth with dangerous fuel aboard. The Navy had to scramble to reprogram its system, which is really designed to knock down enemy ballistic missiles.

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Six people are in custody and about 150 dogs have been confiscated by sheriff's deputies who busted an alleged breeding operation for fighting dogs in Arizona. The raid capped a yearlong investigation. One of those arrested is a man described as one of the top breeders of fighting dogs in the
country.

LONDON (AP) - A former top British intelligence official says the MI6 agency did not assassinate Princess Diana as alleged by the father of Diana's boyfriend. Sir Richard Dearlove, who was the director of special operations at the time of the Paris car crash, also says rogue agents couldn't have pulled it off.