Today's News-Friday, March 28th

Former President Bill Clinton will attend the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Girardville tomorrow. After a week filled with rumors that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton would attend the annual celebration, the official confirmation was received by WPPA/T102 News yesterday afternoon by county Democratic party chairman Ed Kleha. The Clinton campaign has not released formal details of his visit as of this morning. The former President, along with daughter Chelsea Clinton, have been stumping across the Commonwealth on Hillary's behalf. The New York Senator is reported to hold a comfortable margin in Pennsylvania over Barack Obama, with less than a month to the pivotal April 22nd primary. Security will no doubt be tight, with local and state officials working with the Secret Service to ensure Clinton’s safety during his visit. The annual parade, sponsored by the Kehoe Division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, will step off at noon. A large crowd was already expected, and that can only grow with Bill Clinton's visit.

A county-based amusement vendor has been stung by theft over the winter. The owners of Otto's Amusements discovered that during the off-season, someone cut locks on storage trailers located on Keystoker Lane in North Manheim Township, removing power cables from numerous rides and carnival generators. The thieves also removed about 450 gallons of diesel fuel from the parked trucks. State police believe that the stolen goods were removed from the scene by a tractor trailer. Total value of the items is in excess of $30-thousand-dollars, although an itemized inventory could push that total further. Anyone with information about the theft should contact state police at Schuylkill Haven at 593-2000.

A West Lawn man is lodged in Berks County Prison after attempting to kill his estranged wife yesterday morning. Hamburg state police say that 38-year-old Ronald Marks entered the home of 37-year-old Drema Marks on First Street around 4:30am by jumping through a window. He went to her bedroom and began attacking her with a knife. She was able to fight off the attack without suffering life threatening injuries. The Marks' two small children came to the bedroom, running to their mother. Ronald Marks stopped the attack, then Drema Marks and her two children fled the home. State police and Hamburg officers picked up Marks. A Protection from Abuse Order was in place against him. Ronald Marks was arraigned on attempted murder charges, along with a host of other offenses. His bail was set at $1-million-dollars.

The fourth annual Downtown Pottsville Business Plan competition gets underway on Tuesday, April 1st. PADCO is sponsoring the program to attract and retain new business in Pottsville. PADCO Executive Director Amy Burkhart tells us more:

There are three phases to the competition. Entrants must complete a preliminary questionnaire by May 9th. The completed business plan is due by July 11th, and a formal presentation by finalists will take place in August. The prize package is valued at more than $20-thousand-dollars, including a $10-thousand-dollar, zero percent loan from PADCO, reduce rent at select locations in the city and a host of in-kind services from area businesses to help the winner succeed in their new business. Applications for the Pottsville Business Competition are available by calling PADCO at 628-4647.

A Mount Carmel man is charged with arson and burglary. Police say 28-year-old Kevin Mazur set the blaze Easter morning that caused about $150-thousand-dollars damage to the office of state Representative Bob Belfanti. A police affidavit filed against Mazur on Thursday says Mazur confessed to the crime after a probation officer found a baseball bat, glass shards, two hammers and drug paraphernalia in Mazur's home in Mount Carmel. Court records don't indicate why Belfanti's office was targeted, but it's located on the same street where Mazur lives. Mazur's bail is set at $100,000. Court officials say he doesn't have a lawyer.

Cass-Foster Township police announce several arrests. A Philadelphia man was arrested after officers on patrol observed ATV's on the roadway. Officers patrolling in the area of Valley Road and Sunbury Rd observed three ATVs traveling west on Sunbury Road. Officers pursued the ATVs and they were observed traveling on SR901 towards I-81 at a high rate of speed, passing vehicles. David Guiteras of Philadelphia was apprehended. Charges were filed in District Court. In a separate incident, a Cass Township woman was arrested after a traffic stop near Flag Lane and Condor Lane. 36-year-old Pamela Ann Maley was observed driving without a valid license in the area and she was stopped. During the traffic stop, it was learned that Maley was wanted on an outstanding warrants from Shenandoah Police, Minersville Police and the Schuylkill County DA's office. Maley was arraigned on the outstanding warrants and the traffic violations.

Subsidized child care in Schuylkill County is in line for an increase in state funding in the upcoming fiscal year. The County Commissioners Wednesday approved a request from the Child Development office to submit a continuation grant to the PA Department of Welfare. The grant for just over $4-million-24-thousand-dollars represents an increase of just over $3-hundred-4-thousand-dollars above the present year's funding. At last week's work session, Mary Ann Devlin of Child Development said over 2-thousand county children were helped during the year. Child Development was also given approval to submit an application to the state Department of Education for a $236-thousand-dollar HeadStart supplemental assistance grant. The money will be used to serve 107 HeadStart eligible children and families in the county. In other business, the Commissioners approved a contract with Orwigsburg Ambulance for non-emergency transport services for residents at Rest Haven. The fee for the service is estimated at $30-Thousand dollars per year. Also approved was a $25-Thousand Dollar contract with Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center for laboratory services for Rest Haven residents.

Emergency life-support equipment specifically designed for children has been donated to the Pottsville Hospital and Warne Clinic. The Schuylkill County Medical Society contributed two Broselow Pediatric Advance Life Support Carts, worth more than $5-thousand-dollars. Each cart contains items used in emergency situations, and are color coded to match a child's size. One will be used in Pottsville Hospital’s Emergency Department, the other on the "Just for Kids" Pediatric Unit.

Court says famed death-row inmate deserves new penalty hearing

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A federal appeals court has ordered a new penalty hearing for celebrity death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says Abu-Jamal's conviction for the 1981 murder of a Philadelphia police officer should stand. But it says he should get a new sentencing hearing because of flawed jury instructions. If prosecutors don't want to give him a new death penalty hearing, Abu-Jamal would be sentenced automatically to life in prison. A Philadelphia jury convicted Abu-Jamal of killing Officer Daniel Faulkner after the patrolman pulled over Abu-Jamal's brother in an overnight traffic stop 27 years ago.

States, cities scramble to refinance debt, limit budget damages

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - States, cities, hospitals and major public agencies are getting battered by wild interest rate swings in one sector of the municipal bond market. They are scrambling to refinance the debt as they add up the damages to their budgets and nurse some hard feelings. The highest-profile fallout so far is the tightening of the student-loan market. Agencies in Pennsylvania, Iowa and Michigan have suspended new student loans. Budgetmakers had planned on paying around 4 percent on borrowed funds as recently as December. Now they are searching for ways to fit rates of 5 percent to 10 percent into their budgets. So far, most affected institutions appear to be withstanding the tens of millions of dollars in additional costs without laying off workers or shutting down crucial services.

Comcast to stop hampering file-sharing, will treat data equally

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Comcast Corp. says it will treat all types of Internet traffic equally. That's an about-face for the Philadelphia-based Internet service provider under investigation for hampering online file-sharing by its subscribers. Comcast says it will collaborate with BitTorrent Inc. to come up with better ways to transport large files over the Internet instead of delaying file transfers. BitTorrent Inc. is the company founded by the creator of the popular BitTorrent file-sharing protocol. Since user reports of interference with file-sharing traffic were confirmed by an Associated Press investigation in October, Comcast has been vigorously defending its practices. Consumer and "Net Neutrality" advocates have been equally vigorous in their attacks on the company.

Jefferson Co. man charged with killing parents

BROOKVILLE, Pa. (AP) - A Jefferson County man is charged with killing his parents to avoid going to rehab and then attempting to flee to Canada. Forty-four-year-old Richard Reed is in the custody of Pennsylvania State Police and awaiting extradition from New York. He has been charged with killing his 74-year-old parents John and Mary Lou Reed. According to court documents, Reed confessed to customs officers at the Canadian border that he had killed his parents after they found a .38 caliber handgun and other suspicious items in the car he was driving. Reed told police he first shot his father and then his mother. He then says he spent a couple of nights in a Clarion hotel and headed to the Canadian border to avoid being caught. State Police Trooper Jamie Levier says it is unclear when the Reeds died. An autopsy will be conducted in Erie in the coming days.

Standoff on Philadelphia to New Jersey bridge ends peacefully

GLOUCESTER CITY, N.J. (AP) - A three-hour stand-off on a major bridge connecting Philadelphia to New Jersey has ended peacefully. officials say a man is in custody and a woman and child who were also inside the sport-utility vehicle on the Walt Whitman Bridge are unhurt. Police say a toy gun and baseball bat were recovered from the SUV. Shortly before the stand-off ended, an armored police vehicle pulled up bumper-to-bumper facing the SUV, and SWAT officers positioned themselves behind it. Authorities say they tried to stop the vehicle in New Jersey for speeding, but it continued to the middle of the bridge. The standoff blocked bridge traffic on both sides at the height of the evening rush hour.

Police: Philadelphia subway attack victim was chosen at random

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Philadelphia prosecutors say the 16-year-old boy arrested shortly after a subway attack has been arraigned as an adult on charges of murder and criminal conspiracy. Kinta Stanton is being held without bail pending a preliminary hearing scheduled for Tuesday. Police say Stanton was among a group of teens who attacked 36-year-old Sean Conroy on Wednesday afternoon at random for no apparent reason. Conroy died and the medical examiner says his death was caused by asthma contributed to by blunt force injuries. It happened in a subway concourse near Philadelphia City Hall.

Scher appeals conviction in 1976 love triangle slaying

MONTROSE, Pa. (AP) - A doctor is challenging his conviction in the 1976 murder of his good friend. Stephen Scher was convicted of first-degree murder earlier this month for shooting 30-year-old attorney Martin Dillon. Prosecutors say Scher killed Dillon so he could marry Dillon's wife. Scher's lawyer has filed a series of motions challenging the conviction. Joshua Lock alleges judicial misconduct and asks for either a hearing on the allegation or a new trial. Scher was also convicted of Dillon's murder in 1997 but an appeals court later vacated the conviction and ordered a new trial.

BAGHDAD (AP) - A British military official says coalition jets have dropped bombs on Basra. Iraqi security forces have been fighting Shiite militias in the city all week. The British official says the Iraqis requested the airstrikes on at least two locations.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic Party chief Howard Dean says the party's presidential contenders and their supporters need to stop tearing each other down. Dean says it's demoralizing the Democratic base and could harm either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton's chances of winning the White House.

WHITE HOUSE (AP) - President Bush is looking to put a spotlight on administration efforts to save struggling homeowners from foreclosure. He's planning to visit a mortgage counseling company in New Jersey this afternoon. It's part of the "Hope Now" alliance, an industry group organized by the Bush administration to coordinate a response to the mortgage crisis.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Alabama's former governor is getting out of prison today. A federal appeals court ordered Democrat Don Siegelman's release pending his appeal in a corruption case. The order came just hours after the House Judiciary Committee said it wants Siegelman to testify about possible political influence behind his prosecution.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - An audio historian has discovered a recording which scientists say appears to be from 1860. That would make it the oldest known recording of the human voice. It's a spooky, 10-second clip of a woman singing "Au Clair de la Lune." The recording was made with a needle that etched sound waves onto paper coated with soot and was found in France's patent office.