Today's News-Thursday, October 30, 2008

Armed robbery in Shenandoah

An afternoon strong armed robbery in Schuylkill County has officials looking for suspects. Borough police in Shenandoah say it happened in the 100-block of East Centre Street. Shenandoah Valley School Superintendent Dr. Stanley Rakowsky relesased students from the school around 4:15pm. We can confirm that two of the perps have been caught and were arraigned before District Judge Charles Moran. Both are locked up in Schuylkill County Prison. There are conflicting reports from borough officials this morning as to the number and description of those still on the run. Late last evening, police said they were looking for a hispanic male, last seen in the Brownsville section of West Mahanoy Township wearing a white t shirt, with a leg injury. Anyone with information is being asked to call Shenandoah borough police at 462-1008.

A water boil advisory has been issued for about 100 homes and the Pine Grove school district buildings after repairs had to be made to a cracked water main valve. Officials say the repairs were to be completed overnight, but the boil advisory will remain in effect for three days for residents in Whispering Pines, Pine Crest Village Drive, Pine Ridge Road, American Legion Boulevard from Lover's Lane to Pine Hill Drive, School Street from Pine Hill Drive to First Street and from Second Street to American Legion Boulevard and Oak Lane, and the Pine Grove school district buildings.

Parade set Friday to honor Phillies' World Series championship

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter says a parade will be held Friday in honor of the Phillies' World Series championship. Philadelphia defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 on Wednesday in the final 3 1/2 innings of the first suspended game in World Series history. The parade is to begin at noon Friday at 20th and Market Streets and travel south down Broad Street ending at the sports complex.

Fans celebrate first Phillies title in 28 years

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - At least two cars have been overturned in Philadelphia and the windows of a TV van smashed as a few of those celebrating the Phillies' World Series victory turned to vandalism. Some have been celebrating the championship by climbing light poles and knocking down traffic signals, spraying beer and shooting off fireworks. But police say most revelers have been well behaved, just whooping it up. Police had Broad Street cordoned off for more than a mile in South Philadelphia, turning the area into a giant street festival. Fans waved flags and towels, crowd-surfed and climbed on each other's shoulders.

Judge: Pa. must allow paper votes if machines fail

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The state won't appeal a federal judge's ruling requiring paper ballots available to Pennsylvania voters if half the machines at a polling place break down. The state had argued that such an order will cause chaos because poll workers have already been trained. Poll workers had been instructed to make paper ballots available only if all the machines are broken. Voter-rights groups said having half the machines not working at a polling place could cause lines to get unacceptably long. The federal judge's ruling only applies to Pennsylvania, but a lawyer for the plaintiffs says other states should take notice.

Judge promises swift ruling on GOP's lawsuit against ACORN

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A Commonwealth Court judge is promising a ruling as soon as possible on the Pennsylvania Republican Party's lawsuit against the community activist group ACORN. The GOP accuses ACORN of fostering voter-registration fraud, which ACORN denies. Spokesmen for the group say it carefully inspects registration applications and flags any suspicious ones for local election officials. The Republican Party's lead witness at the eight-hour hearing was vague on many details during nearly two hours of testimony. Anita Moncrief, who worked for an ACORN affiliate in Washington, acknowledged that she had never visited ACORN's Pennsylvania operation. Moncrief also acknowledged that she had been fired from the ACORN affiliate in January for using its credit card to cover personal expenses.

Hazleton's illegal immigration crackdown appeal due in court

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A federal appeals court in Philadelphia is about to hear arguments about Hazleton's law cracking down on illegal immigration. The Hazleton City Council approved the Illegal Immigration Relief Act in July 2006. The law sought to deny business permits to companies that employ illegal immigrants, fine landlords who rent to them and require tenants to register and pay for a rental permit. A federal judge struck down Hazleton's ordinance as
unconstitutional. Arguments before the appeals court are to be heard Thursday.

Kanjorski, Barletta square off in only debate

PITTSTON, Pa. (AP) - Republican congressional candidate Lou Barletta is trying to tie incumbent Democratic Congressman Paul Kanjorski to the Wall Street crisis. In their only debate, Barletta assailed the 12-term incumbent for accepting thousands in campaign contributions from mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Barletta says Kanjorski also is tied to other financial firms he helped to regulate as the chairman of a House subcommittee.
For his part, Kanjorski repeatedly linked Barletta to President Bush, whom he blamed for the financial meltdown. Kanjorski has the toughest re-election battle of any Democrat in Congress. Barletta is the mayor of Hazleton. He rose to national prominence when he cracked down on illegal immigrants in his small city.

AP poll: Obama maintains lead over McCain in Pa.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Barack Obama is winning the battle for working-class whites in Pennsylvania. They are a highly coveted group in a state where the economy and concern about the country's overall direction weigh heavily on voters' minds. An Associated Press-GfK poll released Wednesday shows Obama leading John McCain 52 percent to 40 percent among likely voters. The margin is wider among white voters earning less than $50,000 a year - the kinds of voters who helped Hillary Clinton beat Obama in the state's April primary. Fifty-nine percent said they supported Obama, while 31 percent said they would vote for McCain. The two candidates' support among whites earning more than $50,000 a year was about even. The poll, taken over five days consisted of telephone interviews with a nationally representative random sample of 607 adults deemed likely to vote. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Nighttime trick-or-treating returns to Pa. town

OIL CITY, Pa. (AP) - Nighttime trick-or-treating is returning to Oil City. The city about 80 miles north of Pittsburgh limited the Halloween tradition to daytime hours after an 11-year-old girl was abducted off the street and murdered in 1992. A child's petition drive got city officials to allow nighttime trick-or-treating again.

Pa. Sen. Fumo defense questions estranged protege

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The estranged son-in-law of indicted state Sen. Vincent Fumo says he felt "betrayed" when he realized work he was doing for Fumo was improper. Christian Marrone was a Senate aide to the Philadelphia Democrat before marrying Fumo's daughter. He says he did extensive personal
and campaign work for Fumo on Senate time. Marrone says a rift between the two began as he started to date Fumo's daughter Nicole more seriously. Christian Marrone ended up marrying Fumo's eldest daughter and says he treated her poorly. According to Marrone, Fumo had once written a letter to the private Baldwin School asking that Nicole be denied admission. The Marrones, married for five years, live in Virginia. They have two children that Fumo has never met.

Fatalities on the rise in vehicle-animal crashes

WASHINGTON (AP) - Pennsylvania has the third-largest number of people killed from traffic accidents involving deer and other animals. A study by by an auto insurance-funded highway safety group says since 1993, 112 people have been killed from crashes with animals. The only states with more such crashes over the last 15 years are Texas with 227 and Wisconsin with 123. The Highway Loss Data Institute and its sister organization, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, looked at both insurance claims and federal crash data. According to the report, most accidents involving animals are with deer. The Governors Highway Safety Association cautioned that the numbers need to be looked at in context. That group says there are more than 12,000 drunk driving deaths each year.

UNDATED (AP) - Fresh off his 30 minute prime-time commercial and two raucous rallies in Florida, Barack Obama begins the day with another event in Florida. He'll then head to Virginia and Missouri. John McCain has several events planned in Ohio, beginning in the town of Defiance.

HONG KONG (AP) - A record 12 percent gain in South Korea's stock market set the pace across Asia. The major markets there all finished up for the day after the Federal Reserve announced another cut in interest rates.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The finance industry and consumer advocates are pushing a pilot program for those with too much credit card debt. They want permission to cut the amount of debt some people owe, so banks can recoup some of the money they'd otherwise write off as defaults soar.

GAUHATI, India (AP) - Police say at least 30 people have been killed and dozens wounded after 12 bombs and one hand grenade exploded across a state in northeastern India. Four blasts in the state capital have killed 15 people, while explosions killed 15 more elsewhere.

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) - Barack Obama says he's not too concerned about the "Bradley Effect," telling Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" he doesn't "think white voters have gotten this memo." Staying with that theme, he also joked about how having a black father and white mother could influence him in the voting booth.