Today's News- Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

Fire at Shenandoah welding shop

Fire damaged a welding shop in Shenandoah last night. According to a supervisor at the Schuylkill County Communication Center, fire crews from Shenandoah, Frackville and Mahanoy City were called out before midnight to the building in the 400 block of East Arlington Street. Firefighters were released from the scene around 2:30 this morning, but several personnel remain on scene at this hour to watch for hot spots. The extent of the damage is not yet known.

Break in at clinic in Ringtown

Frackville state police are looking for the burglars who broke into a clinic in Ringtown. Sometime between Sunday night and Monday, unknown persons forcibly entered the Northern Valley Medical Center. Police are unsure if anything was taken. Anyone with information should call the Frackville barracks at 874-5300.

Schuylkill VISION expanding

Schuylkill County's VISION program is expanding, thanks to a large grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Economic Development. The monies will be used to bolster staff, by adding two full time employees. The Schuylkill Education Project will teach area students about Schuylkill County businesses, culture and products made here. The Schuylkill Information Project will give young people the opportunity to use technology in the community. Other monies from the Regional Development grant will enhance VISION's website, www.schuylkillvision.com, and the Media Development Project is expected to build communications with the county's media outlets. VISION was started in 1997 to address quality of life issues in Schuylkill County.

Fires

The investigation into the fire at Mr. D's Interiors continues. WPPA/T102 News spoke with State Police Fire Marshal Michael Kowalick in Reading yesterday about the Friday night blaze that destroyed the business in Minersville. Kowalick said that Trooper Kevin Reichert is conducting the probe into the cause of the multi-alarm fire. Residents in the apartments to the rear of the building are cleaning up from smoke and water damage. A fire from a piece of equipment reportedly sparked a fire at Silberline Manufacturing in Tamaqua on Saturday afternoon. WPPA Reporter Kerry Dowd was the first to provide details from the scene shortly after it happened at the Tamaqua manufacturing plant. Fire Marshal Kowalick says that his office is not conducting an investigation into that fire.

Two County men face jail time on drug charges

Two Schuylkill County men are going to jail for selling drugs. Judge Cyrus Palmer Dolbin sentenced 53-year-old Ronald Harper Sr. of Pottsville to three consecutive terms of 27 to 54 months for delivering heroin in the city in 2007. According to the Republican and Herald, Harper pleaded guilty to drug charges earlier this year. 35-year-old Phillip Tilghman of Saint Clair faces three to 6 years in state prison for selling cocaine. Tilghman was found guilty in June on drug related charges. He was sentenced by Judge Jacqueline Russell.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Federal Communications Commission will have to think twice before penalizing a television station for flashing its audience. In a victory for CBS, a federal appeals court in Philadelphia has thrown out a $550,000 indecency fine for Janet Jackson's
breast-baring "wardrobe malfunction" in the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. A panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the FCC "acted arbitrarily and capriciously" in issuing the fine for the fleeting image of nudity. The panel noted it lasted just over
half a second. But the long-term significance of Monday's ruling remains unclear. The Supreme Court has decided to take up a broadcast indecency case this fall - the first since 1978.

NEWS ANCHOR CHARGED

Fired Philly TV anchor charged in e-mail scandal

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The lawyer for fired Philadelphia newscaster Alycia Lane says there's no doubt that former co-anchor Larry Mendte acted out of jealousy. Lawyer Paul Rosen says it started when Lane was offered a new contract in 2005 that paid her about $100,000 more a year than Mendte made. Federal prosecutors say Mendte snooped into Lane's e-mail
accounts hundreds of times. Prosecutors say he then leaked information that appeared in gossip columns. Lane was fired in January when the station said her personal life made so much news that she couldn't report the news effectively. Mendte was fired from Philadelphia's CBS affiliate last month after FBI agents searched his home and seized his computer. His attorney says Mendte "will accept full responsibility for his actions."

POLICE SHOOTING

Phila. officers fired on; suspect wounded

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - More than 50 shots were fired as Philadelphia police confronted a murder suspect, but no officers were injured. The suspect, whose name wasn't immediately released, was shot in the hip and arm during Monday's shootout in Southwest Philadelphia.
A police spokesman, Lt. Frank Vanore, says the suspect fired directly at a police car when police first confronted him. He later shot out a police car's back window and the officer in that car
fired her gun through the windshield. The wounded suspect was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

HAIRDRESSER KILLED

Arrest made in 1999 murder of Elk County woman

ST. MARYS, Pa. (AP) - Police have made an arrest in a nine-year-old murder case in Elk County. Authorities have charged 33-year-old Lawrence Donachy of St. Marys with criminal homicide and other counts in the 1999 slaying of hairdresser Irene Challingsworth. Police have said the 57-year-old Challingsworth was stabbed in the neck several times at her home in St. Marys, which she also used to run her beauty shop. Her partially nude body was found by a
customer. St. Marys police Sgt. Thomas Niklas says Donachy has been arraigned in district court, but referred additional comment to District Attorney Bradley Kraus. A message left late Monday for Kraus was not immediately returned.

GRADUATION PARTY SHOOTING

3 to stand trial in Pa. graduation party shooting

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) - Three men have been ordered to stand trial in Lehigh County Court in a homicide that happened at a graduation party in May. Charges against 20-year-old Tahreel Maleek Townsend, of Brooklyn, N.Y., and 17-year-old Brandon Anthony Figueroa, of Allentown, were held for court at a hearing Monday. The third defendant, 29-year-old Tariq Qaadir Bailey, of Allentown, waived his right to a hearing. Figueroa is charged as an adult with homicide and conspiracy to commit homicide, while Townsend and Bailey are charged with conspiracy to commit homicide. All are being held without bail. They are charged in the death of 22-year-old Jimmy Ortiz. He was among dozens of people at a party May 10 to celebrate his brother's
graduation from Moravian College.

COLLEGE STUDENTS KILLED

Man gets life for killing Robert Morris students

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A Pittsburgh-area man avoided the death penalty and will instead spend life in prison for killing two Robert Morris University students and wounding his girlfriend.
Twenty-three-year-old H. Paul Visnansky, of West View, has pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted homicide in the Jan. 22 shootings. Police say he fatally shot 22-year-old Jonathan Gilbert, of Monaca, and 20-year-old Michael Tatalovich, of Aliquippa. Police say Visnansky shot the men when he found them studying at the North Fayette apartment of his 20-year-old girlfriend Michelle Machusko. Machusko still has trouble speaking and her right side remains paralyzed. Visnansky isn't commenting on the pleas.

YONKERS, N.Y. (AP) - A gathering for professional wrestlers at a suburban New York City restaurant ended with the arrest of a wrestler known as "The Sandman." Yonkers police say that when officers arrived at the restaurant Sunday night, 45-year-old James "The Sandman" Fullington was flinging glasses from a tray at employees. A police spokeswoman says the 6-foot-4-inch, 280-pound Fullington, from Wayne, Pa., also threw several glasses at police, injuring two officers. Charges against Fullington include felony second-degree assault. He has been ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. Fullington wrestled in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment.

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) - The operator of two Bucks County landfills says it is suspending plans to dump radioactive sludge from the Limerick Nuclear power plant until public concerns can be addressed. Waste Management officials say the company is responding to public reaction to the plan following news reports in the Bucks County Courier Times. The company planned to accept 750 tons of sludge containing radioactive Cesium-137 and Cobalt-60 at its Falls and Tullytown landfills. Nuclear Regulatory Commission health physicist Betsy Ulrich says the "extremely small quantities" pose "extremely small risk" to the public. Department of Environmental Protection official David Allard says no increased risk of radiation exposure exists even for truckers and landfill operators handling the material. The Tullytown Council says it will fight any plans to dump radioactive waste.

TROPICAL WEATHER

Texas prepares for Dolly

McALLEN, Texas (AP) - Forecasters don't expect Tropical Storm Dolly to turn into a major hurricane, but people in Texas are getting ready for bad weather. Residents along the Texas-Mexico border are stocking up on plywood, generators and flashlights as emergency officials track a storm that could dump 10 to 20 inches of rain and trigger serious flooding. A hurricane warning is up and Dolly could make landfall late today or early tomorrow. Texas Governor Rick Perry has activated 1,200 National Guard troops for storm duty. During Hurricane Rita in 2005, more people died in accidents fleeing the storm than were killed by the severe weather on the Texas Gulf Coast. Shell Oil says it's evacuating workers from rigs in the Western
Gulf of Mexico.

Obama heads to Jordan and Israel next

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama intends to visit Sderot in southern Israel tomorrow. That town is a frequent target of rockets fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza. The Illinois senator also intends to meet with Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on the West Bank tomorrow, as well as with Israeli leaders. He is due in Jordan later today for talks with King Abdullah. Aides say Obama wanted to visit Sderot to gain a firsthand view of life in a part of Israel that has come under military attacks. His schedule indicates he intends to spend only slightly more than an hour on the ground.

Another McCain lobbying controversy

WASHINGTON (AP) - A top foreign policy adviser to John McCain has lobbied on behalf of a long-time GOP fund-raiser caught up in a controversy over whether he sought to sell access to the Bush White House. According to records on file with Congress, Randy Scheunemann
lobbied the House and Senate, the State Department and the National Security Council on behalf of two of Stephen Payne's companies. Earlier this month, the Sunday Times of London published an article and released a videotape in which Payne suggested to a politician from Kazakhstan that he could help arrange meetings with top Bush administration officials. A contribution to the Bush library was suggested. The McCain campaign said Scheunemann did not lobby on any
specific legislation on behalf of either company. Payne says he did nothing wrong.

UPDATE: Oil speculation the focus of vote today

WASHINGTON (AP) - A bill aimed at cracking down on oil price speculation faces a test vote today in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says tighter controls on speculation in the oil markets will help lower prices at the gas pump. Republicans are looking to add a provision to the bill, calling for more offshore exploration. Meanwhile, oilman T. Boone Pickens goes before a congressional panel, touting his plan to reduce U-S dependence on foreign sources
of oil. He envisions thousands of wind turbines in the country's midsection and says they would provide 20 percent of the nation's electricity needs. Pickens also sees natural gas taking the place of gasoline and diesel fuel in transportation.

Lawyer: Karadzic arrest 'against the law'

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) - A lawyer for Radovan Karadzic says the former Bosnian Serb president was arrested Friday on a bus, not Monday evening in a raid as authorities have claimed. The attorney tells AP Television News that on Friday, Karadzic "was taken to some place and kept in" a room. He calls that "absolutely against the law." Karadzic is accused of orchestrating mass killings, including the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica. In the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo, streets have been jammed with Bosnian Muslims celebrating the arrest. Heavily armed special forces have been deployed around the war-crimes court in Belgrade as dozens of Karadzic supporters gathered nearby.

Blackwater plans shift from security business

MOYOCK, N.C. (AP) - Blackwater Worldwide says it's moving away from private security contracts, and focusing instead on other types of military contracts. The contracts have earned the company hundreds of millions of dollars. But Blackwater executives say they've unfairly become a symbol for all contractors in Iraq. The company says it will no longer bid on security contracts, though it will continue guarding U.S. officials in Iraq for the time being. Its future now lies in training, aviation and logistics areas. Blackwater has expanded its aviation division, offering airplane and helicopter maintenance and dropping supplies into hard-to-reach military bases. Blackwater contractors are under investigation for their involvement in a shooting in Baghdad in September that left 17 Iraqis dead.

Gates questions combat training by contractors

WASHINGTON (AP) - The military's use of private contractors for combat and security training is coming under scrutiny from the Pentagon chief. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is asking Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen how widespread the outsourcing is and
how much it has cost over the past decade. In a memo released to The Associated Press by Virginia Senator Jim Webb's office, Gates asks if the military fully understands the "implications in terms of quality, responsiveness and sustainability." Gates also asks if "appropriate red lines" have been established to determine what types of security training can be contracted out and what can't. Gates' memo came after Webb raised concerns about the role of private contractors, specifically Blackwater Worldwide.

Plant recalls jalapenos after salmonella found

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Texas plant where health officials found salmonella on a single Mexican-grown jalapeno is recalling its fresh peppers. The Food and Drug Administration's food safety chief says the discovery of the same strand of salmonella in the nationwide outbreak on the pepper is a "very important break." But the case isn't closed yet. And tomatoes, the original suspects in the outbreak that has sickened more than 1,200 people in 43 states, aren't totally exonerated yet. The FDA hasn't said how far produce from the plant near the Mexican border may have traveled, although it's not considered a major processor. Investigators are trying to figure out where the pepper became tainted -- on the farm, in the plant in McAllen, Texas, or at some stop in between. For now, the FDA is warning against eating fresh jalapenos and
products made with them, such as fresh salsa. Tomatoes now on the market are considered safe to eat.

Two confirmed killed

HONOLULU (AP) - The Coast Guard is backing off from a report that three bodies have been recovered off Guam after the crash of a B-52 bomber. It now says two bodies have been found, not three. Both of the dead crew members were wearing life vests. Roughly 3,000 square miles of ocean are being searched for the remaining members of the six-person crew. The unarmed B-52 was en route from Guam's Andersen Air Force Base to conduct a flyover in a parade on another part of the island when it crashed into the Pacific.

GM, utilities join to study electric car impact

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - General Motors is looking down the road to solve potential problems for the electric cars it plans to roll out in about two years. G-M has joined with more than 30 utility companies to address potential issues from tax incentives for the vehicles to where and when they can be plugged in for recharging. GM hopes to bring the Chevrolet Volt rechargeable car to
showrooms in late 2010. It's being designed to run on an electric motor powered by lithium-ion batteries. When fully charged, it will be able to go 40 miles on battery power. For longer trips, a small internal combustion engine will recharge the batteries to keep the Volt moving. GM and the utilities plan to announce the partnership Tuesday at a conference on plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in San Jose, California.