Today's News- Monday, April 7th

April is Community Bank Month in Schuylkill County. One local financial institution is observing it by helping local animal shelters. Minersville Safe Deposit Bank and Trust Company is observing Community Bank week this week and are helping to raise funds for the Hillside and Ruth Steinert SPCA's. Vice President Karen Sakowski explains:

SAKOWSKI

Customers are encouraged to stop by one of their four full service banking offices. They are accepting donations to help the shelters, and all proceeds will be divided equally between the Hillside and Ruth Steinert SPCA's. The company will also be making a donation to the organizations as well.

Pennsylvania loses two people every day because they didn't have health insurance according to a new report from Families U-S-A. Deborah Smith reports.

SMITH

If you think that you drive too aggressively, you should pay very close attention on the roads over the next two weeks. Smooth Operator, which target those who are speeding, those who tailgate and others on area roadways is in full swing. The effort, going on through April 20th, also coincides with National Work Zone Awareness Week. Law enforcement officials say that work zone delays and frustration can contribute to aggressive driving and cause crashes. Enforcement events will be taking place until noon in St. Clair. In Pottsville, Smooth Operator enforcement zones will be working until 1:30am, then from 3 to 6pm. In West Penn Township on Route 309, from noon to 6pm and in Schuylkill Haven, from noon to 2pm. Local and state police will be involved in the effort.

Luzerne County carousel, hand-carved in 1909, faces auction

DALLAS, Pa. (AP) - A hand-carved carousel from 1909 that graced a popular Luzerne County amusement park until 1984 is up for auction. It could fetch more than a million dollars. But locals with memories of the carousel from Harveys Lake are trying to raise money to keep it in northeast Pennsylvania.
Mary Ann Wintersteen co-owns the brightly painted carousel with her son. She decided to sell the family heirloom when she could not find an area civic group to take it. The Wintersteen "Menagerie Machine" boasts 44 animals carved by a team of artists and powered by steam until 1930. Experts at Carousel News and Trader magazine consider it a rare find. The carousel is slated for auction in Florida on April 23rd.

Hundreds turn out to mourn 10 victims of house fire

BROCKWAY, Pa. (AP) - Hundreds of people turned out to pay their respects at a viewing for the 10 victims of a house fire in Jefferson County last week. Nine members of the Peterson clan died in the blaze, along with a family friend staying in the two-story frame home in Brockway. Many of the victims were children. Patriarch Douglas Peterson Jr. and the surviving members of his family greeted mourners Sunday at the auditorium at the local high school, which many of the victims had attended. Visitors filed past five closed caskets set in front of the stage, adorned with flowers and pictures. Funeral services are today, and some of the victims will be buried together.

Rendell, Casey promote rival Democrats on 'Meet the Press'

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Big spending by the Obama campaign may narrow Senator Hillary Clinton's lead, but Governor Ed Rendell still expects Clinton to win the Pennsylvania primary. Rendell is a Clinton supporter. He said on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that anytime a candidate is outspent 3-to-1, they can't be overconfident. He says Clinton will win the state by somewhere between 5 and 10 percentage points. Senator Bob Casey was also on the program. He acknowledged Obama faces an uphill fight in the April 22nd contest. Casey says what Obama does in the spring will lay a foundation for the fall.

Obama and Clinton press for youth vote in aging Pennsylvania

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton are hustling for the youth vote in Pennsylvania. Campuses in the cities and mountainsides are alive with political activism. There is a vigorous effort to get out the vote by both Obama and Clinton supporters. That is making the April 22nd primary a can't-miss event for the young instead of just another why-bother one on the political calendar. Pennsylvania ranks third in the nation in the percentage of people 65 and older. That group has favored Clinton elsewhere and appears strong for her in the state. Obama is counting on a big showing from the state's nearly 700,000 college students on more than 150 campuses.

103M museum-visitor center to help orient visitors to Gettysburg

GETTYSBURG, Pa. (AP) - Gettysburg's 6,000-acre battlefield is getting easier to navagate. Park officials are hoping that a 103 million dollar museum and visitor center will give visitors a better starting point in exploring the expanse dotted with nearly 1,400 memorials and monuments to North America's bloodiest battle. The complex is a red and gray stone structure reminiscent of a 19th-century barn. It covers nearly three football fields near the battlefield where Union armies beat back Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's assault on northern territory, and where Abraham Lincoln delivered his most famous speech. It is scheduled to open April 14th. The new center also provides a new home for the famous "Battle of Gettysburg" cyclorama painting that gives viewers the feeling of being placed in the middle of Pickett's Charge.

Slowdown hurting gamblers' casino comps

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - The economic slowdown is making Atlantic City's casinos reconsider whether to give out comps to gamblers. Last year for the first time in the history of gambling in the coastal city, revenues at the city's 11 gambling halls declined. Handing out freebies like drinks or hotel rooms is expensive. The amount of comps handed out in Atlantic City declined last year by 2.4 percent. Six casinos actually spent more on giveaways, while five spent less. Some casinos feel that the slowdown justifies cutting back on giveaways to help the bottom line. Others feel that a slow period is when freebies are needed most to keep loyal customers.

Driver climbs on roof, crashes; hospitalized after naked chase

READING, Pa. (AP) - A Reading man whose minivan crashed after he climbed on its roof while driving about 55 miles per hour is in fair condition. Police in West Reading say the 38-year-old man later stripped naked and led them on a chase along the highway. Authorities are not identifying the man, who is not charged. He remains in a Reading hospital recovering from what witnesses call a deep gash in his side. Police say they used Taser jolts and pepper spray during the chase Friday but only subdued the man when they tackled him.

DIET-SCHOOL FOODS
Philly school program stopped weight gain in 2-year experiment

NEW YORK (AP) - Five Philadelphia elementary schools replaced sodas with fruit juice. They scaled back snacks and banished candy. They handed out raffle tickets for wise food choices. They spent hours teaching kids, their parents and teachers about good nutrition. And they have plenty to show for it. The number of kids who got fat during the two-year experiment was half the number of kids who got fat in schools that didn't make those efforts. The bad news: There were still plenty of new overweight kids in the five schools - over 7 percent of them became overweight compared to the 15 percent in the schools that didn't make changes. Gary Foster is director of the Center for Obesity Research and Education at Temple University. He is also the lead author of the Philadelphia schools study being published today in the April issue of Pediatrics. He says the study signals that there is lots more work to do.

Judge won't give Wecht jury instructions on partial verdict

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A federal judge in Pittsburgh has refused a prosecutor's request to give a "partial verdict" instruction to the jury deliberating in the fraud trial of celebrity pathologist Cyril Wecht. Jurors have deliberated for nine days after a seven-week trial. They said Thursday they are deadlocked. U.S. District Judge Arthur Schwab has ordered the jury to continue deliberating at 8:30 a.m. Monday. But prosecutors also wanted the judge to tell the jury they can return a "partial verdict" if they are unanimous on some but not all charges. Online court records show the judge has refused that request, without comment. Wecht is charged in a 41-count indictment with allegedly using his former Allegheny County Coroner's staff to do work for his lucrative private practice.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran and the U.S. could be holding more talks on Iraq. Iran's Foreign Ministry says it will continue discussions on Iraqi security with the "necessary conditions," but doesn't give a possible date for the next round. There have been three contacts since last spring.

WHITE HOUSE (AP) - President Bush is back from a trip across Europe and is turning his attention back to the struggling economy. Bush is calling a group of business executives to the White House today to help him highlight investment tax breaks in the economic stimulus package.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Travelers are growing more dissatisfied with the airlines, according to a new survey. Consumer complaints against carriers jumped 60 percent last year, with passengers filing more grievances about late flights and lost luggage.

SAN ANGELO, Texas (AP) - Authorities are planning another day of searching at a polygamist compound in west Texas as they continue to investigate reports of a marriage between a 16-year-old girl and a 50-year-old man. More than 220 women and children have been taken from the compound. Some children are in state custody.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - California first lady Maria Shriver is among 32 high-profile patients whose medical records were breached at the UCLA Medical Center. Officials say the woman responsible also got access to the files of actress Farrah Fawcett. The hospital fired the woman almost a year ago and calls her a rogue employee.