Today's News-Monday, May 12th

Autopsy results of a Tamaqua woman determined that she died with high levels of drugs in her system. 39-year-old Jennifer McArdle was found in her Tamaqua home Friday night. The autopsy, conducted by Dr. Richard Bindie, determined that McArdle had prescription and opiate drugs in her body, which caused her death, according to the Republican and Herald. County Coroner Joseph Lipsett announced those findings Sunday. Tamaqua police had reported that McArdle's death was suspicious. She was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:30 Friday night.

A Tamaqua man is facing several charges following a traffic stop in Walker Township Saturday night. Troopers from the Frackville barracks were dispatched for a traffic violation on Route 309 near Leiby's. They say that 19-year-old Jeffrey Tee threw a beer can from a moving vehicle and struck a passing car. The driver of the other car followed Tee to Reynolds Road and Mountain Road, and Tee confronted the other driver and attempted to punch him. State police found that Tee was under the influence of alcohol, and found a case of beer in the car. Charges of harassment and underage purchase and consumption of beer are expected to be filed against Tee.

A Schuylkill Haven man was involved in a truck crash in Bethel Township Friday. According to Hamburg state police, 40-year-old Gurmit Singh was traveling east on Hershey Road, at the intersection of Route 419 Friday and hit a stop sign head on, and his rig jack-knifed. The trailer ended up on an embankment. Singh was charged with driving under the influence.

A Pottsville man is facing charges following a crash Saturday night in East Norwegian Township. Schuylkill Haven state police report that 36-year-old Thomas Landers was traveling on Louisa Avenue when the car he was driving left the roadway and hit a parked car owned by Michael Moore. Landers' car ended up in the middle of the roadway. Troopers suspected he was driving under the influence and was taken to Pottsville Hospital for a blood test. Landers refused the blood test. Charges will be filed pending completion of the investigation.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The cost of mailing a letter goes up a penny to 42 cents today. The boost is part of what's expected to be an annual price adjustment by the Postal Service. A new law regulating the post office makes it easier to raise rates as long as the agency doesn't exceed the rate of inflation. Rates are to be adjusted each May. Customers, however, can buy Forever stamps, which remain valid regardless of any postal rate increase. However, when the rate goes up, so does the price of Forever stamps. Postal officials say they have printed an additional 1.5 billion 1-cent stamps in anticipation of the demand from people trying to get rid of their 41-cent stamps.

Second man charged with aiding fugitive in officer's death

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Police say a second friend has been charged with aiding the fugitive in last week's shooting death of a Philadelphia police officer. Homicide Sgt. Robert Wilkins says 33-year-old Issac Albright helped Eric DeShawn Floyd elude a police dragnet after the murder of Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski. Wilkins says Albright took Floyd and Floyd's girlfriend to a boarded-up house, where the couple stayed until police raided the hideout on Wednesday. Albright is charged with obstruction of justice, hindering apprehension and conspiracy. Wilkins says officials found Albright in Graterford Prison. He was being held on a parole violation in relation to a conviction for auto theft. It was not known when Albright had entered Graterford.

The Rev. Al Sharpton meets with victim of police beating in a Philadelphia jail

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Rev. Al Sharpton says one of the victims of a videotaped police beating is still in pain and does not know why Philadelphia police were chasing him. The civil-rights leader visited the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, where Dwayne Dyches is being held. Sharpton and the
suspect's mother spent about an hour praying and talking with him Sunday.
He says Dyches told him he doesn't know why police were chasing him. Dyches was traveling in a car with two other men when they were pulled over and beaten by police last week. A television helicopter captured the incident on video. Police say the men had been involved in a triple shooting. Dyches' attorney says that's not true. Sharpton says he wanted Dyches to be able to see his mother on Mother's Day. He also says it was a fact-finding mission and that
the family has not decided whether to take legal action.

Police: 6 Michigan tourists dead in crash near Pa.-Ohio border

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Pa. (AP) - Police say six Michigan tourists on their way to Niagara Falls were killed in a two-car crash outside Erie. Authorities say the victims' minivan was traveling east on Interstate 90 Saturday afternoon when it crossed the median. It began flipping and rolling, coming to rest on its roof.
The van was then struck by an oncoming car driven by a 25-year-old Ohio woman. Police say she and a single survivor from the minivan were treated and released from a hospital Saturday. The accident happened about three miles inside the Pennsylvania-Ohio border. The six people who died lived in suburban Detroit but were citizens of India. Most worked for an information technology firm in Troy, Mich.

Transplant agency reviews liver surgeries after report

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A national transplant agency has begun a review of liver transplants after a Pittsburgh newspaper reported that hundreds performed annually were unnecessary and caused patients to die earlier than they would have without a transplant. The Virginia-based United Network of Organ Sharing says it's looking into the transplants after a series of articles published
in March by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review following a four-month investigation. The newspaper said only about 3,400 of the 16,000 people on the national liver transplant waiting list are so sick that having a transplant would increase survival odds. Liver transplant hospitals singled out in the newspaper investigation defended their practices when contacted by The
Associated Press at the time. They insisted they do not perform transplants on people too soon or on anyone who is not a good candidate.

Pickup hits Amish buggy, injuring five family members

HADLEY, Pa. (AP) - State police say a pickup truck slammed into an Amish buggy in Mercer County, injuring five members of a family, including four children. Police say the truck driven by 38-year-old Jennifer Crenshaw of Geneva, Ohio, crossed into the opposite lane on State Road 358 in Perry Township and struck a utility pole around 6:50 p.m. Saturday. The Toyota pickup rolled once before hitting the buggy. Everyone in the buggy was ejected.
Police say 29-year-old Benjamin Kempf, 5-year-old Erma Kempf and 1-year-old Miriam Kempf suffered major injuries. Six-year-old David Kempf and 4-year-old Melvin Kempf suffered moderate injuries. Crenshaw has been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, five counts of aggravated assault while driving under the influence, and numerous other traffic offenses. She suffered minor injuries.

World's fair landmark in Philly getting new life as museum

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Memorial Hall, one of the jewels of the Centennial Exposition of 1876, is in for a grand reopening after years of deterioration.
The breathtaking Beaux Arts building in Philadelphia is regaining its luster in anticipation of a new role as home of the popular Please Touch Museum. Work is expected to be completed in time for a grand opening Oct. 18. Memorial Hall was designed by Hermann Schwarzmann for the Centennial International Exhibition of 1876. Its most recent uses included a recreation center, city offices
and a police station. It was suffering from a badly leaking roof, crumbling plaster, facade damage and other problems.

Report: $15M a year in Pa. taxpayer money goes to vehicles

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania taxpayers spend more than $15 million a year to maintain, service, insure and fuel about 3,650 vehicles used full time by state employees. That's according to a report in The Patriot-News of Harrisburg. The newspaper reports that the annual cost of vehicles used by
cabinet officers, deputy secretaries, chief counsels, bureau directors, state troopers and others totals about $15.6 million. Some employees are also allowed to use their state cars for personal use. That's according to a spokesman for Gov. Ed Rendell. But the executive director of the public watchdog group Common Cause Pennsylvania says the number is excessive. Two state legislators are asking Auditor General Jack Wagner to do an audit of the use of state cars.

Police: Man bites off part of taxi driver's ear during robbery in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Philadelphia police say a taxi passenger bit off part of the driver's ear during a robbery. Two police officers saw the men struggling in the cab shortly before 6 a.m. Saturday in the city's Tioga section. Police say 47-year-old passenger Kenneth Williams demanded money from the driver, then bit his ear and kicked him out of the cab. Williams then tried to drive away but hit a parked car. After fleeing on foot, Williams was caught by police, who say
they recovered $183 and a knife that was allegedly used in the robbery. Police say doctors could not reattach the lost portion of the 59-year-old driver's ear.
Williams, a Philadelphia resident, was charged with robbery, aggravated assault, theft and other offenses.


YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - An American military cargo plane with cyclone relief has landed in Myanmar. It has enough aid for 30,000 people and a Navy commander says lots more could be on the way if Myanmar's military rulers just give the go-ahead.

BEIJING (AP) - Thousands of people fled swaying buildings as far away as Vietnam and Thailand following a powerful earthquake in western China. Some injuries are reported and China's president has ordered all-out effort to rescue victims. The country's premier is heading to the epicenter near the eastern edge of the Tibetan plateau.

SENECA, Mo. (AP) - President Bush has discussed recovery needs with the governors of states affected by tornadoes that ripped though the Plains and the South over the weekend. At least 22 people were killed in Oklahoma, Missouri and Georgia.

WHITE HOUSE (AP) - The Bush administration is warning Israeli and Palestinian leaders that they need to show progress soon in peace talks aimed at a two-state solution. President Bush embarks this week on his second visit to the Middle East this year to pressure negotiations.

ELEANOR, W.Va. (AP) - It may have been a Freudian slip for Hillary Rodham Clinton. Speaking to a crowd in West Virginia, Clinton referred to the next president as a "he" before correcting herself with a "she." West Virginia is expected to deliver the former first lady a badly needed win for her campaign
when it votes tomorrow.