Today's News- Wednesday, May 14th

Pottsville police have found that a city man set a brush fire on Sharp Mountain last month. The blaze, which burned 5 to 10 acres on April 19th, was ruled arson. Charges will be filed against the 25-year-old man, whom we are not identifying at this time. The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and Pottsville police conducted the joint investigation. Police have seized a sizeable quantity of marijuana plants growing near Branchdale.

Cass-Foster and Branch-Reilly Township police seized 126 live pot plants growing in the woods. Officers received a tip from a confidential informant about the plants. Each mature marijuana plant will yield about a pound of the drug, worth $28-hundred dollars each. Police estimate that the total yield had a street value of over $36-thousand-dollars. The investigation continues.

Two bills, sponsored by a Schuylkill County legislator, will ban spot appeals on property tax assessments. Spot appeals were being done when a property was sold, and jacked up tax bills for the purchasers. The passage of House Bills 1438 and 1439 would eliminate them in 62 of the state's 67 counties, including Schuylkill. Representative Tim Seip, who brought the issue and the House Local Government Committee to the county in February, comments on the passage.

SEIP

Little known gems about Pottsville and Schuylkill County were unveiled yesterday as part of National Tourism Week. The Pottsville Commission on Tourism introduced their newest brochure, a self-guided walking tour map, at Maroons Sports Bar and Grill. Its chock full of stops that visitors can see in the city, including 5 new sites. The map was last updated during the Pottsville Bicentennial in 2006. Commission Chairwoman Billie Payne comments on the new brochure:

PAYNE

The Schuylkill County Visitors Bureau unveiled a new county tourism map at the Schuylkill Mall, Frackville. The map includes additional attractions for visitors and county residents to see, and is located just outside of the Black Diamond Antiques store. It’s the fifth such map located in the county. The mall, located off of Interstate 81, provides a key location for people who are looking for some of the many amenities that bolster tourism.

Another theft of copper pipe from a home has been reported by state police.
Troopers from the Frackville barracks report that unknown individuals broke into a home in Girardville and took the pipe from the basement of the vacant home. The incident is still under investigation.

A Mahanoy City police officer has been terminated from his job. Sgt. Guy Antolick, who was already on leave, was terminated by borough council last night. Antolick had a protection from abuse order in force against him from his former girlfriend, and his weapon surrendered. A court judge denied his appeal about the weapons suspension. According to the Republican and Herald, the termination was in accordance with provisions in the borough code regarding a police officers neglect or violation of official duties and conduct unbecoming an officer.

TAMAQUA - In Schuylkill County, a Berks County man was arraigned Monday on charges stemming from a knife-point robbery at a McAdoo, convenience store in 2007. The Republican Herald reports, 30-year-old Scott Girton, of Temple, was brought from a prison in Maryland where he is serving a 29-year sentence for five robberies. Girton was then placed in the Schuylkill County jail on $50-thousand dollars bail. Kline Township Police say, Girton entered the M&A Sunoco Quik Mart on Kennedy Drive, in McAdoo, just before six p.m. August 29th, 2007, and asked the clerk for a pack of cigarettes, then pulled out a knife and demanded all the money from the cash register. A video picture linked Girton to the crime. Authorities say Girton and an accomplice, Tracy Logan of Beech Creek, were involved in several robberies throughout Pennsylvania and Maryland.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Production of Chinook helicopters at Boeing's suburban Philadelphia plant is halted. It's so possible irregularities discovered in two military helicopters can be investigated. Rep. Joe Sestak, whose district includes the Ridley Park plant, says he was told that wires that appeared to be broken or severed were found in one helicopter and a suspicious washer was
found in a second.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Four men nominated by Gov. Ed Rendell to fill temporary openings on the state's three appellate courts are expected to be voted down in the Senate. Senators and Senate aides say most of the Republican majority will vote against the nominees on Wednesday, while most Democrats will support them. A two-thirds majority vote is necessary to confirm a judicial nominee.

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) - Lackawanna County election officials are still considering who won the Democratic primary for a state representative seat. The 113th District seat is held by Democratic Rep. Frank Shimkus, but he was kept off the ballot because he didn't file his paperwork properly. He tried running a write-in campaign in both the Democratic and Republican primaries.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania's education department says a new Web site will make college transfers much easier. Officials say students can use the Pennsylvania Transfer and Articulation Center to search for transferable courses and get detailed instructions on how to transfer. Thirty-two schools are
participating in the system.

SHILLINGTON, Pa. (AP) - Gov. Ed Rendell says he doesn't think he will ever run for president of the United States. But he says being governor is like being president of Pennsylvania. Rendell answered questions Tuesday from Karen Houck's fifth-grade class at Gov. Mifflin Intermediate School in Shillington. Rendell says his proudest accomplishments include helping raise the minimum wage.

UNDATED (AP) - Hillary Clinton, buoyed by a trouncing of Barack Obama in yesterday's West Virginia primary, hopes Democratic superdelegates will give her another look. Obama, still the frontrunner, campaigns today in Michigan.

HANWANG, China (AP) - Two days after a powerful, 7.9 earthquake crumbled whole towns in central China, people are still being pulled alive from the rubble. The government says nearly 15,000 people are known to have been killed, but tens of thousands more are buried or missing.

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - The U.N. warns of a "second wave of deaths" in cyclone-ravaged Myanmar. The U.S. sent five more relief flights today, but 11 days after the storm killed tens of thousands of people, little aid is reaching two million survivors.

JERUSALEM (AP) - President Bush says the U.S. and Israel have built an "enduring alliance" that is confronting "terrorists and tyrants." Bush began a Middle East trip today in Israel, helping it celebrate its 60th anniversary as a nation.

WASHINGTON (AP) - It's music for the ages and it now includes Michael Jackson's "Thriller." The album is on this year's list of 25 recordings being added to the National Recording Registry maintained by the Library of Congress. Among the other top tunes: Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman."