Today's News-Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Three injured in I-81 crash Monday

Three people were injured in a crash on Interstate 81 in Butler Township Monday afternoon. 31-year-old Lameen McBryde of Dunn, North Carolina was driving north on the Interstate near mile marker 117 when the car rolled over. State police at Frackville say that 19-year-old Amy Bandish of Bensalem, PA was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the vehicle. McBryde and Bandish were flown to Geisinger Medical Center where they remain in serious condition. 25-year-old Michael Sam of Albany, New York was also injured. Sam was taken to Schuylkill Medical Center-East. The crash happened before 1pm yesterday.

Senior singers wanted for Idol competition

Vocally talented men and women over the age of 50 are being sought to compete in the Second Annual Schuylkill Senior Idol competition. Contestants will be judged on talent, appearance, stage presence and overall appeal. Auditions will be held on Wednesday, October 22nd at the Sovereign Majestic Theatre in Pottsville. The top ten finalists will perform on November 2nd. A $300 prize package will be awarded to the winner. The contest is being sponsored by Diakon Living & Learning After 50. For information, contact Susan Long at 624-3018.

Reiley joins Pa. mayors to plan gun safety ordinances

Eight central- and eastern-Pennsylvania mayors plan to introduce ordinances modeled on a Philadelphia gun-safety law. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter is expected to join the mayors at a meeting Tuesday in Reading. Pottsville Mayor John D.W. Reiley will also participate. Philadelphia adopted an ordinance earlier this year requiring owners to report lost or stolen handguns within 72 hours. CeaseFire Pa executive director Joe Grace says the reporting requirement is designed to help police track weapons they recover when investigating a crime. The National Rifle Association is challenging the constitutionality of the Philadelphia requirement. The mayors of Easton, Bethlehem, Allentown, York, Lancaster and Reading say they'll introduce similar ordinances.

Geiger hearing postponed till next month

A Pottsville man's preliminary hearing in a 23 year old murder case has been postponed till next month. 43-year-old Joseph Geiger was charged August 21st with third degree murder d related counts in the death of 13-year-old David Reed. Reed's remains were found in December, 1985 in a wooded area near Schuylkill Haven. The Republican and Herald reports that the hearing will be held at District Judge James Ferrier's office in Orwigsburg on October 14th. Geiger remains in Schuylkill County Prison.

Fugitive who fled to S. Korea after '96 Philly murder arriving in custody Tuesday for trial

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A teenage murder suspect who fled to his parents' homeland of South Korea a decade ago is scheduled to return to Philadelphia in handcuffs on Tuesday. Prosecutors say 31-year-old David Heyon Nam was awaiting trial in the home-invasion killing of a retiree when he severed his
electronic-monitoring bracelet and fled. In South Korea, he married, had several children and started a career teaching English. FBI agents working the case secretly plucked a beer bottle from Nam's trash and matched the prints to those on file. They also confirmed his identity through a tattoo he had gotten in his youth. Nam is due to arrive at Philadelphia International Airport in FBI custody Tuesday afternoon. He will be handed over to Philadelphia police to stand trial for the shotgun slaying of 75-year-old Anthony Schroeder. Three 14-year-old accomplices who pleaded guilty to third-degree murder said the shooting was done by Nam, who was 19 years old at the time.

Month after 80 dogs shot in Pa. kennel, House nears vote on overhaul of state dog regulations

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A comprehensive overhaul of Pennsylvania's state dog law could get a final vote in the state House as early as late Tuesday or Wednesday. Lawmakers have rejected efforts to loosen the bill's lighting and cage-material standards. They also declined to remove limits on how far off the ground dogs can be housed or to put a cap on potential civil penalties. Also rejected were attempts to restrict the use of search warrants, give out-of-town business owners the ability to delay inspections until their return or allow kennel owners more than six months to comply with the new provisions.
The bill would ban wire flooring, expand the size of cages, require yearly veterinary checkups and mandate outdoor recreation areas twice the size of a dog's enclosure. The dog law revisions took on new momentum last month, when operators of two Berks County kennels shot 80 dogs after being ordered to let veterinarians examine some of them.

Pa. state university system forces students, employees to quit smoking indoors and outside

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The chancellor of Pennsylvania's 14 state-owned universities has decided to ban students, employees and visitors from lighting up anywhere on campus - even outdoors. The action has sparked protests around the state by some of the 110,000 students in the State System of Higher Education. They were told about the ban late Wednesday, a day before a new state law forbidding smoking in most workplaces and public spaces took
effect. Chancellor John Cavanaugh says he interprets the law to extend beyond buildings to include all campus grounds, such as courtyards, parking lots and athletic fields. The move to completely smoke-free campuses systemwide is
apparently unprecedented among state-funded Pennsylvania universities. But the American Lung Association says more than 130 colleges and universities across the country have such policies. Students who feel the policy is too extreme have organized peaceful protests on at least three of the 14 campuses, and there is talk of a coordinated statewide demonstration later this week.

Coroner rules western Pa. van, tractor-trailer crash that killed 5, injured 7 an accident

WASHINGTON, Pa. (AP) - A western Pennsylvania coroner has ruled that an April 24 crash that killed five people and injured seven others was an accident.
Authorities say a van carrying mentally disabled people on a trip to the Pittsburgh Zoo pulled into an intersection and was struck by a tractor-trailer on a rural highway in Somerset Township, Washington County. Washington Coroner Tim Warco ruled the crash an accident on Monday. The van was carrying 11 people. Five of them were killed - three residents and two Enhanced Personal Care Home staff members, one of whom was the driver. Six other residents inside were taken to area hospitals. The tractor-trailer driver also was treated and released from a hospital.

Federal, local authorities investigate discovery of explosive device in suburban Philly garage

WEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP) - Federal and local authorities in suburban Philadelphia are trying to find out who left an explosive device just outside a downtown parking garage in West Chester. Police say the device was reported by a parking attendant at the Mosteller Garage at about 7:25 a.m. Monday. The box left just outside the west end of the garage contained wires, something that
may have been an electrical circuit board and a container of fluid and pipe.
West Chester police chief Scott Bohn calls it "a dangerous device" left by someone who "obviously intended to do harm." Two other suspicious packages were also found, but authorities say it appears they were not explosive devices.
Members of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were called and about a city block was evacuated. West Chester is about 25 miles west of Philadelphia.

Rendell touts new voting tools for Pa. residents in the military or living overseas

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Some Pennsylvanians living overseas or serving in the military may find it easier to cast absentee ballots this November. Gov. Ed Rendell says about half of the state's 67 counties are taking part in a program that will allow voters to get electronic copies of their absentee ballots through an Internet program administered by the Department of Defense. That's faster than mail service, although they'll still need to print out and mail back the completed ballots. Rendell also says the Pennsylvania Department of State is
instructing counties to accept absentee ballots shipped by express or overnight delivery. Previously, each county decided whether to accept mailings outside the U.S. Postal Service.

Libertarian presidential hopeful Bob Barr wins a round in Pa. court case over ballot access

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A state judge says Bob Barr can stay on Pennsylvania's ballot as the Libertarian Party candidate for president.
Commonwealth Court Judge Johnny Butler has rejected arguments that the party tricked voters by gathering signatures under another candidate's name and substituting Barr's name in August. The challenge to Barr - a former Republican congressman from George -- was challenged by Victor Stabile, a Harrisburg lawyer who is also chairman of the Cumberland County Republican Party. Butler said the party was trying to comply with state election laws, not to mislead voters. He said the original candidate, Rochelle Etzel, always understood that she was only a placeholder and that the national party's nominee would eventually be substituted.

Judge dismisses lawsuit filed by long-missing Pa. woman, says statute of limitations expired

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A woman who says she was held captive for 10 years is appealing a federal judge's dismissal of her lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Gary Lancaster of Pittsburgh ruled Friday that the suit by Tanya Kach of McKeesport failed to meet the statute of limitations. Kach resurfaced in March 2006 after secretly living with Thomas Hose, a 50-year-old school security guard she met when she was 14. She sued Hose, the McKeesport School District and local police for not doing more to find her. Hose kept Kach in a bedroom at his parents' home, where she said she used a bucket for a toilet. He is serving five to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to various sexual assault and other
charges last year.

TOKYO (AP) - Asian stock markets have taken another hit as investors react to the demise of two of Wall Street's biggest names. Japan's Nikkei finished down nearly 5 percent, its lowest close since July of 2005. Hong Kong's benchmark lost 5.4 percent. Those are Asia's two biggest markets.

WASHINGTON (AP) - With so much uncertainty in the financial world, the Federal Reserve could decide to cut interest rates when it meets today. Economists seem to agree a rate cut will at least be considered in the coming weeks if the markets remain unstable.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush today makes his third trip in two weeks to survey Gulf Coast hurricane damage. Bush plans to talk to residents battered by Ike and get briefed by local officials from Houston and Galveston.

BAGHDAD (AP) - General David Petraeus is handing over command of U.S. forces in Iraq to Lt. General Ray Odierno. Over the last 20 months, Petraeus has brought some stability to a country that was on the brink of civil war. He'll take over as head of U.S. Central Command, which oversees all U.S. military involvement in the Middle East.

DENVER (AP) - Oscar-winning singer and actress Barbra Streisand headlines a fundraiser for Barack Obama in Beverly Hills, California, tonight. Streisand first backed Hillary Clinton, and she's been extremely critical of John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate.