Today's News-Thursday, August 7th, 2008

Hearing date set for move to juvenile court for two Shenandoah teens

Schuylkill County President Judge William Baldwin has set a date to hear motions about moving two Shenandoah teens cases to juvenile court. As reported earlier this week, attorneys for 16-year-old Brandon Piekarsky and 17-year-old Colin Walsh filed motions to have their clients cases changed from adult to juvenile court in the beating death of Luis Ramirez in Shenandoah last month. The pair are charged with criminal homicide, ethnic intimidation and related offenses, and are currently locked up at the Schuylkill County Prison. A third suspect, 18-year-old Derrick Donchak, is charged with assault, ethnic intimidation and other counts, and is free on bail. The trio face a preliminary hearing a week from Monday in District Court. Piekarsky and Walsh's hearing is scheduled for August 26th. A move to juvenile court could affect possible punishment the two could face if found guilty. The Schuylkill County DA has said his office would contest the move from adult to juvenile court.

SWIC gets shot in the arm for fundraising effort

Fundraising efforts by Schuylkill Women in Crisis got a shot in the arm yesterday with a state matching grant. The agency, which helps victims of domestic violence, has been working to raise $2 million dollars during their capital campaign to add on to their shelter. Representatives Neal Goodman and Tim Seip presented a $1-million-dollar challenge grant, which requires SWIC to raise a million dollars locally. To date, the campaign has raised $689-thousand-dollars.

Cruise underway

The 15th annual Great Pottsville Cruise got underway last night with an event at the Pottsville Club. Several hundred people gathered to kick off the Cruise. This evening, young car enthusiasts will make it loud and proud at the Generation X Sound Off and Car Show at the Yorkville Coney Island beginning at 6pm. Several TV celebrities are participating in this year's Cruise, including Speed TV's Dennis Gage and ESPN2's Genevieve Shappell. The Great Pottsville Cruise rolls through the streets of Pottsville at 4pm Sunday. Listen for live call ins from the Gen X Sound Off tonight with dMike of the 5 O'clock Somewhere Morning Show on T102.

Simodejka speaks about joining two city hospitals

Challenges and opportunities have brought two Pottsville city hospitals together. But for patients who need their services, it will be business as usual for Schuylkill Health System. Good Samaritan and Pottsville Hospital began the process of combining operations nearly a year ago, and now, the real work begins. WPPA/T102 News sat down with John Simodejka, Schuylkill Health President and CEO yesterday to discuss the jointure, what prompted it, and what it will mean going forward. Simodejka said that discussions began several years ago among all of the parties about joining the hospitals together, for many reasons. Hospitals are getting fewer reimbursement dollars from state and federal programs like Medicare and Medicaid, which makes up about 60 percent of their business. Doctor recruitment and adding new products and services have also been a challenge, but now, Schuylkill Health can use the benefits of a larger organization to meet those challenges. One thing that Simodejka is certain of, the same level of excellent healthcare will be available at both facilities:

SIMODEJKA

As with any business combination, the integration will take some time. Simodejka said that some items will be addressed in a short order, but others make take several years to come to fruition. You will be able to listen to the entire interview with John Simodejka at wpparadio.com. Click on the "For Your Information" link on the home page.

More copper thefts

State police are investigating a theft of copper wire at a work site in Shenandoah Heights. Between Tuesday and Wednesday, someone entered a windmill construction site along Route 924, and took an undetermined amount of wire, worth about $4 dollars a foot. The materials are owned by Windconnect Energy of Madison, Wisconsin.

Authorities confirmed yesterday that a 17-year-old Northumberland County boy has been charged in connection with six threatening mailings sent to public offices and private businesses between July 18th and July 29th. Shane Clements of Trevorton, faces six felony counts each of terroristic threats and threatening to use weapons of mass destruction. The charges were filed yesterday at Northumberland County Juvenile Court Services. The News-Item reports if Clements is prosecuted as a juvenile he could remain under supervision or be placed in a juvenile detention facility until he turns 21, at which time he would be released. If Clements were to be tried as an adult, he could face a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment.

AG: Aide to plead guilty before Fumo corruption trial; marks first plea in Pa. case

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Authorities say a computer technician accused of illegally destroying years' worth of state Senate computer records is scheduled to plead guilty next week. It will mark the first plea in the corruption case against Sen. Vincent Fumo. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Zauzmer says Leonard Luchko will plead guilty at a hearing Monday in Philadelphia. He declined to specify terms of the plea agreement, which has not yet been filed. Luchko is charged in 29 obstruction or conspiracy counts, all relating to attempts to delete e-mails or computer records during the FBI investigation. The FBI alleges that he and a colleague destroyed e-mails from computers at Fumo's Senate offices, New Jersey shore home, and at a South Philadelphia nonprofit he controlled. Fumo is stepping down after 30 years in office to prepare for his Sept. 8 trial, which is expected to last several months. The powerful Philadelphia Democrat is charged with misusing more than $1 million in state resources and another $1 million from a seaport
museum and the nonprofit.

Lawyer: Ex-convention center head to plead guilty

DETROIT (AP) - The attorney representing the executive director of the Allentown Symphony Orchestra says his client plans to plead guilty to a charge in Michigan. Lou Pavledes is the former head of Detroit's downtown convention center. Attorney Craig Tank says he will enter
a guilty plea Thursday in federal court to a charge related to receiving nearly $100,000 from a contractor. The felony charge of structuring means making a series of bank deposits of just less than $10,000 to avoid triggering a report to the government. Pavledes was head of Cobo Center from 1996 until spring 2004. Prosecutors allege that he deposited $97,940 in 10 separate transactions at Standard Federal Bank in January 2003. Tank declined to disclose details about the payments but said Pavledes is cooperating with investigators. He predicts "scores" of indictments from federal prosecutors in Detroit, all related to corruption in city government.

5 sentenced in scheme to bring in illegal immigrants to work at Pa. plastics plant

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Authorities say five people with ties to Malaysia or Indonesia could be deported after being sentenced in a conspiracy to bring in illegal immigrants to work at a northeastern Pennsylvania plastics plant. The defendants received sentences of 14 months in prison, although they have already served the time, and two years on probation. The federal charges concern the use of illegal immigrants at Iridium Industries Inc.'s Artube division in East Stroudsburg during the first six months of last year. Eighty-one suspected illegal immigrants were arrested during a raid at the plant in June 2007. The plant makes plastic squeeze tubes for lotions and other products.

FBI opens investigation into death of Pittsburgh-area man subjected to police Taser

SWISSVALE, Pa. (AP) - The FBI has opened a preliminary investigation into the case of a Pittsburgh-area man who died after being subdued by police with a Taser. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette quotes Bill Crowley, an FBI spokesman in Pittsburgh, as saying that the agency will be
monitoring the Allegheny County police investigation into the death of 37-year-old Andre Thomas. Thomas died early Tuesday after being arrested by police in Swissvale, a suburb just east of Pittsburgh. His father and witnesses said a police officer stomped on Thomas after he had been stunned by the Taser. Crowley says the FBI will forward its preliminary findings to
the Justice Department's civil rights division. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner is waiting for toxicology tests and has not released a cause of death.

Pa. police seize car in fatal hit-run

SHARON HILL, Pa. (AP) - Police in suburban Philadelphia have seized a car in connection with the hit-and-run accident that killed a 16-year-old girl. Sharon Hill police say Faith Sinclair was crossing Chester Pike with two friends when she was struck by a black luxury car at about
10:15 p.m. Sunday. The Ridley High School student was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators on Wednesday executed a search warrant at a garage in Upper Darby and towed away a vehicle. Delaware County Assistant District Attorney Erica Parham confirmed that a black Mercedes was in the possession of authorities but declined to elaborate. Authorities are also seeking a person who may have been a passenger in the car. No arrests have been made in the case.

Authorities studying bones found in W. Pa. creek

OHIOVILLE, Pa. (AP) - Authorities are trying to determine if bones found in a creek near the Ohio border are animal or human. The Beaver County Coroner's Office is investigating the bones
found in the Little Beaver Creek in Ohioville, about 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. Authorities say children found the bones while they were swimming under a train trestle. One of the children told their mother who called police. A fire department dive team was called to search the water Wednesday evening and found even more bones. State police say it's too early to tell if the bones are human. A pathologist plans to examine the bones Thursday.

W. Pa. senior home drenched by sprinkler mishap

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) - More than 90 residents of a western Pennsylvania assisted-living center are waiting for it to dry out enough so they can go home. The residents of the Golden Living Center near Johnstown had to be evacuated when the home's sprinkler system malfunctioned about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday. Officials say a water line to the sprinklers broke at the facility in Richland Township. Various parts of the home had water on the floor from three inches to one foot deep. The residents are being cared for by the home's staff while they
stay at some area hospitals. The state Department of Health and other agencies must determine that the building is dry enough before residents can return. It's not immediately clear how soon that will happen.

Pittsburgh seeking cable TV competition for city

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pittsburgh City Council wants to give residents a choice of cable television providers for the first time since the city began awarding franchise agreements for the service
in 1980. Comcast is the city's sole cable provider, but city council has asked a law firm to study letting Verizon offer its service in the city, too. Comcast has had exclusive rights in the city since 2002. Before that, the city has not had more than one cable TV provider at a time since its first franchise agreement with Warner Cable 28 years ago. The city gets 5 percent of Comcast's gross revenues in the city, or about $4.1 million a year. City officials say opening up the agreement shouldn't cost the city money, unless Verizon and Comcast wage a price war.

Pitt-Johnstown gets $4 million for nursing school

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) - The University of Pittsburgh's Johnstown campus has received $4 million from the state to build a facility for its nursing school. Pitt-Johnstown's Bachelor of Nursing degree program will produce about 50 nurses each year. Gov. Ed Rendell and Pitt-Johnstown president Jem Spectar say more nurses are needed as laws change that enable nurses and nurse practitioners to perform more tasks once reserved for physicians. The $4 million appropriation is the largest the Johnstown campus has received in nearly 20 years.

Tiny Pa. borough of Weatherly wants to go green

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) - The tiny northeastern Pennsylvania borough of Weatherly has a plan to go green. The Carbon County borough is dusting off a 30-year-old idea of putting a hydroelectric plant on the Lehigh River at the Francis E-Walter Dam. Borough manager Harold Pudliner said Wednesday the borough has applied to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a preliminary permit to study building two generating units that could produce up to 26 gigawatt hours a year. That is more than 1,000 times the amount of megawatt hours used by Weatherly's 2,600 residents in a year. The application says the excess energy would be sold to a local utility.

76ers return to Spectrum for regular-season game

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Philadelphia 76ers are returning to the Spectrum - for one game.
Officials announced Wednesday the Sixers will face the Chicago Bulls in a regular-season game on Friday, March 13 in the Wachovia Spectrum as a highlight of the franchise's 60th season.
Comcast-Spectacor chairman Ed Snider says the game gives fans a chance to relive 76ers memories at the Spectrum, where the team played for nearly 40 years before moving to the Wachovia Center in 1996. The Flyers will play one last time in the Spectrum on Sept. 27,
in a preseason game against the Carolina Hurricanes. Comcast-Spectacor announced last month that the Wachovia Spectrum will close in 2009 and be demolished to make room for entertainment development.

Polish immigrants walk in pilgrimage from NJ to PA

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - Polish immigrants from the Eastern United States begin a four-day trek from New Jersey to Pennsylvania on Thursday. The walk replicates an annual religious pilgrimage to the shrine of their nation's patron saint. They are to arrive Sunday at The National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Doylestown, Pa. The American version of the pilgrimage has grown so large since its 1988 inception that more than 2,000 participated last year. Most walk 57 miles to Doylestown from Great Meadows in Warren County. Smaller groups take shorter routes from Trenton and Philadelphia.

BEIJING (AP) - There's some tension in US-Chinese relations as President Bush begins his Olympic visit to Beijing. China is responding to the speech he gave earlier today with a terse
statement saying no one should interfere with China's internal affairs. Bush says he plans to talk with China's president about human rights and other bilateral issues.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan's ruling coalition says it's moving to impeach President Pervez Musharraf. A two-thirds majority of support from lawmakers in both houses of Parliament is needed, and Musharraf loyalists say that may be tough to muster.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A wildfire raging through rugged, dense terrain is making it hard to recover victims and evidence from the site of a helicopter crash in a Northern California forest. Eight of the nine are firefighters who were there to battle the fire.

NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks are sharply lower so far today. Getting the blame are a sharp rise in oil prices, and a jump in new unemployment claims to a six-year high. There are also disappointing sales numbers from retailers.

HOUSTON (AP) - Opening statements are beginning in Houston in a civil lawsuit involving the wife of well-known evangelical pastor Joel Osteen. Victoria Osteen is accused of attacking a flight
attendant on a plane going from Houston to Vail, Colorado in 2005.