Today's News-Friday, August 8th, 2008

Cupola and clock to be returned to Orwigsburg

An important piece of county and Orwigsburg history will become a part of the redesigned Orwigsburg Community Memorial Hall. About 175 years ago, the Schuylkill Masonic Temple had a town clock built and installed on the original courthouse located in Orwigsburg. The Cupola presently on the 1912 building orginally held the clock. Several organizations from the borough are working together to have the clock and cupola restored. At Wednesday's County Commissioners work session, County Engineer Lisa Mahall said returning the cupola and having the clock restored will permanently preserve that piece of county and Orwigsburg history. The Commissioners are expected to approve the return of the cupola to the borough at next week's board meeting. Mahall said the organizations participating in the project include Veterans Memorial Development task force, Orwigsburg Borough, Orwigsburg Lions Club and the Schuylkill Masonic Temple. The cupola at some point in time was installed on top the 1912 building which the county recently sold to Penn State University along with surrounding land.

Gen X sound off draws best of the best

Loud was the word of the night at the Gen X Sound Off Competition, another event of this year's Great Pottsville Cruise. Vehicles of all shapes and sizes gathered at the Yorkville Coney Island to show off their elaborate sound systems in competition. Judges used sophisticated metering equipment to measure how many decibels of output the cars could muster. Kolten Carl of Tremont was the first place winner in the competition. Tonight, its time to dance to the oldies at the Sock Hop at Pine View Acres, sponsored by VIST Financial. The dance gets underway at 9pm. Saturday is Cruise In Day in downtown Pottsville, where car enthusiasts roll their rods in to show them off. Cruise Day is Sunday,beginning at 4pm.

Solar farm to be built near Nesquehoning

A pristine mountainside in northeast Pennsylvania is the proposed site for a 100-acre solar panel field that would be the state's largest and the second-biggest in the nation. The planned PA Solar Park in the borough of Nesquehoning, about 35 miles northwest of Allentown, is expected to produce enough electricity to power 1,400 homes. Plymouth Meeting, Pa.-based Green Energy Capital Partners will build the solar farm, which will be financed by private investors and state and federal money. Green Energy CEO John Curtis says 43,200 state-of-the-art, ground-mounted solar panels will be on trackers that follow the
sun. The project must get building permits and go through local planning and zoning boards. It could be operating by May.

Pa. approves utility plan for electric rate spike

Pennsylvania regulators are giving the green light to a power company's plan to help customers brace for the coming spike in electric rates. The Public Utility Commission on Thursday unanimously approved a rate stabilization plan by PPL Electric Utilities. It involves customers paying slightly higher bills in the coming year and a half in order to minimize a drastic increase expected when the company's rate cap expires in 2010. The voluntary plan requires the company to pay 6 percent interest on the advance payments. Information about the program is going to be included in PPL electric bills. People can also sign up through the PPL Web site or by calling 866-597-2010.

Man hurt in hit and run in Minersville

Minersville police are investigating a hit and run between two trucks. A tractor trailer and an oil truck were traveling in opposite directions on Sunbury Street when apparently their side mirrors collided. Mark Hottenstein of Lehighton, who was driving the oil truck, was cut by flying glass. Police are looking for the tractor trailer driver. The incident happened around 11:15am Thursday.

Crimestoppers offering reward for information in Reed case

Pennsylvania Crimestoppers is offering a reward for information in the David Reed homicide case. 13-year-old Reed went missing in Schuylkill Haven in 1985, and his body was found near Cressona in December of that year. State police received new information earlier this year and asked to have his remains exhumed to determine a cause of death. Now, Crimestoppers are offering a cash reward for information leading to the arrest of Reed's killer. To report any information, call PA Crimestoppers at 1-800-4-P-A-Tips.

Judge accused of misconduct with protective order

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A state watchdog panel has filed misconduct charges against a Philadelphia judge who allegedly issued a protective order for a Romanian diplomat without holding a hearing or keeping any record of it. The state Judicial Conduct Board lodged the charges yesterday against Municipal Judge James DeLeon. The board says George Sfedu, Romania's consul general to the city of Philadelphia, told DeLeon at a social gathering in 2005
that he wanted to stop a male neighbor from bothering his daughter. It says the judge instructed his secretary to prepare a protective order without any hearing or court action.
The board says DeLeon vacated the order five months later after the neighbor's lawyer questioned its validity. Neither Sfedu nor DeLeon's lawyer immediately returned calls
seeking comment.

Pa. man faked war record, and federal credit union

NORTH EAST, Pa. (AP) - A Pennsylvania man has pleaded guilty to faking his military record, and to cashing more than $188,000 in counterfeit checks at a federal credit union. Thirty-three-year-old Dale Farr will be sentenced by a federal judge in Erie on Nov. 25. Farr has pleaded guilty to claiming to be an Army captain who was wounded in Afghanistan in 2001, while winning the Purple Heart, Silver Star and two Bronze Stars. In reality, federal prosecutors
say Farr was a private discharged for misconduct in 1995. Farr faked his military record to get a Purple Heart license plate and to qualify for a Veteran's Day sale discount on a car. Farr lived in Erie County when he ripped off the Erie Federal Credit Union, but has since moved to Troy, Bradford County.

US senator demands NRA response on spying charge

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A Democratic U.S. senator is demanding that the National Rifle Association respond to charges it placed a paid spy in rival gun-control organizations for more than a decade. The powerful firearms lobby has remained silent on reports that 62-year-old Mary McFate of Sarasota, Fla., was allegedly snooping on several nonviolence groups by posing as a gun-control activist. Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey asked the NRA yesterday
to confirm or deny the charges. He also wants the NRA to reveal how much McFate was paid; to disclose the names of any other informants in the gun-control movement; and to stop the practice. The gun-control group CeaseFirePA plans a vote Friday to expel McFate from the board. The spying charges were first raised last week in Mother Jones magazine.

Pa. gas company to be fined $40K for explosion

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) - State regulators are fining a natural gas company $40,000 for an explosion that collapsed a home in central Pennsylvania and buried a sleeping family in rubble.
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission says it is fining UGI Utilities Inc. because the company didn't take proper emergency measures after the explosion two years ago. Regulators say UGI failed to turn off the gas supply in the area before allowing emergency responders, inspectors and residents into the explosion zone. Six people inside the house in West Lampeter Township sustained minor injuries. The commission found that the explosion was caused by a ruptured coupling outside the home. The coupling was installed by a construction company under contract by UGI at the time.

Agency fires 2 social workers in starvation death

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Two Philadelphia social workers charged in the starvation death of a disabled teen are being fired from the city's Department of Human Services. Laura Sommerer and Dana Poindexter had been suspended with pay following a grand jury report charging them with child endangerment. Authorities allege they failed to look after 14-year-old Danieal
Kelly, despite reports of abuse. Danieal died of starvation in August 2006. Human Services Commissioner Anne Marie Ambrose decided to fire Sommerer and Poindexter yesterday following disciplinary hearings this week. They will be suspended without pay for 30 days before they are officially dismissed. The agency is investigating seven other suspended employees linked to the case.

One-time Pa. subjects of anthrax probe glad to move on

NEW YORK (AP) - Three people with Pennsylvania ties who were mistakenly singled out in the government's anthrax investigation are relieved now that the case has been solved. Dr. Irshad Shaikh and his brother, Masood, were living in Chester when armed FBI agents raided their home in November 2001. The raid was broadcast live on TV, but Shaikh assured the public
everything was OK. But he was not vindicated until this week, when authorities declared Dr. Bruce Ivins was responsible for the anthrax mailings that killed five people. Ivins committed suicide last week. Dr. Kenneth Berry lost his job at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center after authorities raided several homes linked to him in 2004. A friend says the doctor has gotten back on track in recent years.

Ex-leader of Pa. symphony pleads guilty in Mich.

DETROIT (AP) - The former executive director of the Allentown Symphony Orchestra has pleaded guilty to a charge in Michigan. Lou Pavledes pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court to structuring. The charge relates to allegations he received nearly $100,000 in kickbacks from a contractor while he headed a Detroit convention center. Structuring is making a series of bank deposits of just less than $10,000 to avoid triggering a report to the government. Pavledes had been head of Cobo Center from 1996 to 2004. He resigned from the Allentown symphony on Wednesday.

Iraq vet questions gun raffle for Pa. kids league

MILLERSTOWN, Pa. (AP) - A father says a central Pennsylvania youth football league is using inappropriate raffle prizes for a fundraiser - rifles. David Diaz of Millerstown says he doesn't want his 9-year-old daughter, who is a cheerleader, to sell raffle tickets for the Greenwood-Newport Midget Football Association. Diaz is an Iraq war veteran who says that "it doesn't seem right that we are using guns to raise money so they can play football." But football association vice president Pat Dorman says she doesn't see a problem. She says people use guns to hunt, and the weapons will attract ticket buyers. State and local officials say it is legal for children to sell tickets for a gun raffle.

BEIJING (AP) - The Olympics get underway today in just hours in China. Aside from tonight's opening ceremonies at Beijing National Stadium, action gets underway in sports like badminton, cycling and beach volleyball. Officials have asked Beijing residents to watch the opening ceremony at home on television in an effort to reduce congestion.

BEIJING (AP) - President Bush gets to turn his attention primarily to the Olympics for the weekend. He'll attend tonight's opening ceremonies in Beijing. This weekend he plans to catch some swimming, and the men's basketball game between Team USA and China.

BEIJING (AP) - Tiananmen Square is closed off. Foreigners, including five Americans, have all been deported for protesting, and locals who did the same are in custody. Tightened security has
so far kept protests in Beijing small and relatively quiet, though rallies around the world have been decidedly different.

DETROIT (AP) - Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is in a jail cell right now, after violating his bond in a criminal case that's been dogging him for months. His legal problems could get much worse, with more charges likely coming today after a detective claims he was pushed while trying to serve a subpoena on the mayor's friend.

SAEGERTOWN, Pa. (AP) - A Pennsylvania man is facing a litany of charges after authorities say he rammed his house with a semitrailer during a fight with his roommate, and then tried to run
down police called to the scene. While the house is a mess, no one was injured.