Today's News-Wednesday, May 7th

A routine traffic stop resulted in drug related charges being filed against a Coaldale man. Tuesday evening around 7pm, a Frackville state police patrol pulled over 20-year-old Brandon Leslie for a traffic violation. During the stop, troopers suspected criminal activity and requested to search Leslie's vehicle. The consent search uncovered a small amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Charges against Leslie will be filed in District Court.

A Mahanoy City woman suffered moderate injuries in a crash on Interstate 81 Tuesday morning. 34-year-old Wendy Fronczak was northbound on the interstate near mile marker 134. After passing a tractor trailer, she lost control of her vehicle and struck an embankment, and it rolled over. Fronczak was flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital for treatment of her injuries.

A Schuylkill Haven man was injured in a three vehicle crash in Berks County yesterday afternoon. 28-year-old Alan McGuire was southbound on Route 61 on a motorcycle in Shoemakersville. Vehicles driven by Kenneth Smith of Reading and Regan Hermany of Kutztown were stopped at a traffic light at the intersection with Route 662. McGuire failed to stop at the red light and struck Smith's motorcycle as it passed through the intersection, then hit Hermany's vehicle. McGuire was taken to Reading Hospital. Smith was treated and released at the same facility. Hermany was uninjured.

A Maryland man, accused of a convenience store robbery in McAdoo last year, is expected to be returned to the county to face charges. Scott Girton, a prisoner at a Maryland prison, will be picked up by Kline Township authorities and returned to face robbery and other offenses in connection with an armed robbery at the Sunoco Mini Mart in August, 2007. Girton, and an accomplice, Tracy Logan, went on a crime spree in Pennsylvania and Maryland, and were caught there in September. Logan was extradited in April to the state to face charges that she was the getaway driver. She is lodged in Schuylkill County prison. The Republican and Herald indicate that Girton was identified by a store employee as being the armed bandit.

A group of state Senate and House members have formed a bipartisan committee to emphasize the importance of coal in the Commonwealth. Senator Jim Rhoades joined the Coal Conference, a forum through which government and industry leaders can determine the needs of the coal industry, focusing on the utilization and consumption of coal to reduce consumer demands on foreign fuels and to highlight new coal technologies within the industry. Rhoades explains:

RHOADES (click to listen)

Industry representatives include Dan Blaschak of the Blaschak Coal Company in Mahanoy City and Duane Feagley, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Anthracite Council. Today is National Anxiety Disorders Screening Day. A local hospital is providing free screenings for area residents. Anxiety can take many forms. Worrying all the time, being afraid in social situations, panic attacks can be signs of an anxiety disorder. Every year over 35 million Americans suffer from anxiety and depression. To help individuals learn about anxiety and depressive disorders, Pottsville Hospital's Pathways program is holding free screenings from 9am till 5pm at 312 Mauch Chunk Street. Appointments are recommended, but walk ins are welcome. For more information, call Pathways at 621-5910.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Philadelphia's police commissioner says the video taken by a TV helicopter during a traffic stop "does not look good" but warns against a rush to judgment. A half-dozen officers are seen kicking and beating three men. It happened two days after a Philadelphia officer responding to a bank robbery was fatally shot.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Officials say a gun linked to the weekend slaying of a Philadelphia police officer came from a Harrisburg-area teen who had sold it for drugs. Police say 19-year-old Levi Swigart of Duncannon had stolen the revolver from his mother. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says the gun was found at the crime scene but had not been fired.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pittsburgh's planning commission is giving the green light for construction to begin on the Penguins' new $290 million arena. The commission unanimously approved the final design at a meeting Tuesday. The vote was taken after architects made slight changes to the plan after commission members initially criticized the design as bland.

KIRKLAND, Wash. (AP) - Clearwire and Sprint Nextel are planning to combine their wireless broadband units to create a $14.55 billion communications company. The new company, to be named Clearwire, will receive a $3.2 billion investment from Intel Corp., Google Inc., Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc. and Brighthouse Networks. Sprint Nextel Corp. will be the majority owner.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - State police made a record number of arrests last year for driving under the influence, up 3 percent over the number of DUI arrests in 2006. Last year, troopers made 15,583 DUI arrests. Troopers investigated 4,775 alcohol-related crashes last year, up 1 percent from 2006. PennDOT says the number of alcohol-related crash deaths dropped to 525 last year from 544 in 2006.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Fresh off her narrow victory in Indiana, Hillary Rodham Clinton will make a campaign stop in West Virginia today to court supporters ahead of the state's Tuesday primary. Barack Obama will be in his home town of Chicago a day after a sizable win in North Carolina. He'll return to the campaign trail tomorrow.

WASHINGTON (AP) - A campaign aide to Hillary Rodham Clinton says the candidate loaned herself 6.4 million dollars in the past month. The money more than doubles Clinton's personal investment in her bid for the Democratic nomination. She gave her campaign 5 million dollars earlier this year.

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Hungry crowds have stormed the few shops that have opened in a region of Myanmar devastated by the weekend cyclone that's left more than 22,000 people dead. A massive international aid effort is being kept on hold by the military leaders who rule the country.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Worker productivity has jumped by a better-than-expected 2.2 percent in the first quarter. Meanwhile, labor cost growth has slowed. Analysts say the latest figures are a good sign that inflation pressure on the labor front remains under control. The stock market has opened mixed.

SAN DIEGO (AP) - San Diego State University has suspended six fraternities following the arrest of 75 students on suspicion of openly dealing drugs on campus. Members of three fraternities were among those arrested.