Today's News- Thursday, October 9, 2008

The economic crisis plaguing the country has hit close to home with a steep drop in Schuylkill County's employee retirement plan. The drastic downturn in the stock markets has taken a bite out of the retirement fund. At Wednesday's retirement board meeting, Controller Melinda Kantner reported that the more than 450 retirees receiving benefits have requested a cost of living adjustment to their monthly checks. However, the fund, whose assets totaled nearly $88 million dollars at the end of August had fallen to $76.2 million dollars at close of business Tuesday, a drop of more than $11 million dollars. While the payments to retirees are guaranteed, Schuylkill County taxpayers are kicking in more money to help pay for health benefits. County Commissioners Chair Mantura Gallagher explains the dollars and cents:

Gallagher

The pension plan has approximately 720 active participants, in addition to the retirees.

Budget projects no new taxes in county

Everyone in the county courthouse has been sharpening their pencils in developing a budget for the next fiscal year. Since mid summer, department heads have been hunkered down in working on the spending plan, and Commissioner Mantura Gallagher says that they continue to trim the spending plan:

GALLAGHER BUDGET

Schuylkill County's preliminary spending plan will be presented at the end of November, and is expected to be ratified on Christmas Eve.

Friendensburg convenience store robbed

Schuylkill Haven state police are investigating the theft of cigarettes at C&C Candies and Country store on Route 443 Wednesday. Between 8:30 and 10:30 AM, unknonwn thieves entered the rear of the store and removed four boxes containing 99 cartons of cigarettes. Anyone with information about the incident should contact Haven state police at 593-2000.

Truck flips catches fire on I-81

A Bangor man escaped injury following a crash on I-81 in Mahanoy Township Wednesday morning. 31-year-old Ralph Werner Jr. was northbound when his pickup left the roadway and struck a small embankment and a bridge abutment, then flipped on its roof and slid across the highway. The truck caught fire and came to rest on the side of the road. Werner escaped and fire crews extinguished the blaze.

High rate of speed is said to be the cause of a multiple vehicle accident in Pottsville. It happened Wednesday on Route 61 south near the intersection at the Palo Alto cut. State police in Schuylkill Haven say 24-year-old Nick Carusella failed to stop as stop as 33-year-old Nimeshkumar Vesuwala attempted to turn left on Bacon Street. Three were taken to a local hospital. Both vehicles sustained severe damage and were towed from the scene. Carusella will be cited for causing that crash on Route 61.

Its an after school program that gives area students a jump start on subjects that are most important. Tomorrow marks the first completed week of St. Clair's highly regarded after school program. Susan Miller-instructional support teacher at the Elementary and Middle schools explains what parents can expect from this state funded program:

MILLER

The program starts at 3:30 and ends at 5:30 and is available for any student in fifth through eighth grades-free of charge. WPPA News will bring you an indepth report on St. Clair's after school program next week as the school opens their doors to the taxpayers of that community in a special "lights on after school" presentation on Thursday, October 16th.

Obama, Biden, Palin to campaign in Pa. on weekend

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is returning to Pennsylvania, a key battleground state. Obama will make four campaign stops in Philadelphia on Saturday while his running mate, Joe Biden, travels to Biden's hometown of Scranton for a rally Sunday. Biden will be joined by former President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, the Alaska governor and self-described "hockey mom," will be in Philadelphia on Saturday evening to drop the ceremonial first puck when the Flyers open their NHL season against the New York Rangers. Palin will also attend a private fundraising dinner in Pittsburgh on Friday evening and a rally in Johnstown on Saturday morning. Republican John McCain campaigned with Palin in Bethlehem on Wednesday.

National Rifle Association endorses McCain

WASHINGTON (AP) - The National Rifle Association is endorsing John McCain for president despite its differences with the Arizona senator on gun-show rules and campaign finance restrictions. NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre says the group and McCain agree on many issues important to the gun lobby. LaPierre says McCain has "cast more than 60 votes in the Senate in support of the Second Amendment." The NRA's Political Victory Fund has spent more than 2.3 million dollars opposing Barack Obama. The chairman of the political action committee says its spending in the presidential race will grow to "eight figures" by Election Day. Chris Cox says besides the ads, there will be an effort to encourage battleground-state gun owners to vote. The NRA doesn't always endorse presidential candidates. It has backed President Bush but declined to endorse Bob Dole in the 1996 race or the first President Bush in 1992.

Pa. counties mull policy on campaign buttons, hats

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) - Some Pennsylvania counties are still sorting out their policies on wearing campaign buttons and the like in polling places in light of a recent state memo. Lancaster County's election board adopted a policy Wednesday saying voters won't be turned away from polling places for wearing
campaign buttons, hats or T-shirts as long as they don't involve active displays such as sound or lights. Lancaster County formerly barred such items because of a state prohibition on electioneering. A recent Department of State memo
says each county must set its own policy, but the department doesn't consider wearing campaign paraphernalia to be electioneering. York, Lebanon, Berks and Erie counties have adopted policies similar to Lancaster County, while Cumberland, Adams and Montgomery counties will ban the buttons. Some counties are still considering the question.

Broken pavement causes delays on I-95 in Philly

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A missing chunk of concrete is causing motorists headaches on Interstate 95 in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesman Gene Blaum says a recently repaired concrete seal and metal expansion joint in an elevated portion of the highway broke apart toward the end of the Thursday morning commute. Blaum says PennDOT inspectors have determined that there is no structural damage to the road, but repairs will take several hours. The two center lanes of the four-lane highway are closed at the I-676 interchange for downtown Philadelphia. Blaum says the repairs should be completed long before traffic begins getting heavy with cars heading to Citizens Bank Park for the opening of the Dodgers-Phillies National League Championship Series.

Attorney wants Pa. family bomb suspect in juvenile

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The attorney for a suburban Pittsburgh teenager accused of trying to kill family members with homemade chemical bottle bombs wants the case moved to juvenile court. For now, 16-year-old Christopher Janney, of South Fayette, is jailed awaiting trial as an adult on attempted homicide and related charges. Defense attorney Kevin Abramovitz says Janney's family supports him even though police say Janney placed the bombs by the heads of
five family members as they slept early Saturday morning, then fled the house. The bottles did not explode and no one was injured. Prosecutors aren't saying if they'll fight to keep the case out of juvenile court, which would only have jurisdiction until Janney turns 21.

Pittsburgh detective resigns amid investigation

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A Pittsburgh police detective has resigned days after the district attorney said he's investigating whether the detective did anything wrong by discussing a drive-by homicide case with a defendant. The allegations came to light last week at an Allegheny County Court hearing on evidence in the upcoming trial of 19-year-old Joseph Hall of Penn Hills. A prosecutor has tape recordings of Detective Talib Ghafoor speaking by phone to Hall at the county jail. In the calls, Ghafoor tells Hall the evidence is weak and that officials "will pay for every second you're in here." Ghafoor acknowledged being "aligned" with the defendant in later testimony at the hearing.

Landmark Pa. obscenity case gets March trial date

PITTSBURGH (AP) - An obscenity case over videos that depict simulated rape and murder will finally go to trial more than five years after federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh brought the charges. The case involves a California company called Extreme Associates Inc. that distributed the images by mail and the Internet. A grand jury in Pittsburgh jury found the images met the U.S.
Supreme Court's test for obscenity. But a federal judge agreed with defense attorneys and dismissed the charges, saying prosecutors overstepped by trying to block the material from children and adults who didn't want to see it. An appeals court reinstated the charges and the Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal. The case is now scheduled for trial March 16.

Ex-TV weatherman helps cops foil break-in at home

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - A former longtime Philadelphia TV weather and sports reporter helped police catch two burglary suspects who broke into his Atlantic City home. Tom Lamaine handed officers his house key after the pair locked themselves inside to elude capture. Lamaine, who retired in May from KYW-TV, went for a walk Wednesday and returned to see police cars. An alert neighbor had called police after seeing two people break into a side door. When officers tried to enter, one felt the door lock from inside. Lamaine handed them the key. Inside, the cops caught a 19- and a 17-year-old. They face burglary, theft and other charges.

IAC to close 1,200-employee Pa. plant

CARLISLE, Pa. (AP) - International Automotive Components North America is closing a Pennsylvania plant as auto sales nosedive. IAC said Wednesday it will close the Carlisle plant on Dec. 12. The plant makes carpet and other parts for cars. Its main customer is Ford. IAC spokesman David Ladd says high gasoline prices and the credit crisis are having a negative impact on auto sales nationwide. U.S. auto sales in September ran 25 percent below year-earlier levels. IAC is also closing plants in Indiana, Ohio and Canada as it sheds excess capacity and consolidates operations. The Carlisle plant was formerly owned by Lear Corp. and once employed 1,200 people. IAC North America, led by billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, acquired majority ownership in 2007. The work force is currently just over 150.

BONY-Mellon pledges $3M for Pittsburgh arena area

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The Bank of New York Mellon will spend $3 million on economic redevelopment in a blighted neighborhood near the Pittsburgh Penguins' new arena. Some neighborhood groups opposed the arena unless the
predominantly black Hill District nearby got economic development funds as part of the deal. The team and neighborhood groups agreed to that in August, but the money didn't exist until BONY-Mellon agreed to provide it. In return, the bank gets a tax credit of 80 percent, or $2.4 million, under a state program. Activists pushed for the money because a black neighborhood was razed to make room for the Penguins' current home, Mellon Arena. It was built in 1961, six years before the Penguins franchise existed. The new $290 million arena opens in 2010.

Pittsburgh high school could become sports magnet

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A social work professor wants to convert a failing Pittsburgh high school into a sports-related magnet school for grades 6 to 12.
Pitt Professor John Wallace wants Westinghouse High School to instead target students interested in sports-related careers in business, medicine, social science and computers. The school has just 336 students - one-third of its capacity - and its tiny enrollment prevents it from offering a full range of electives. Also, more than half of Westinghouse students are less than proficient in reading and 63 percent are scoring less than proficient in math. The district spent $26 million renovating the school in 2002 and Superintendent Mark Roosevelt says he'll recommend future plans after this school year.

Mormon Church plans Center City Philly temple

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Mormon Church plans to build a temple on
a one-acre lot just north of Center City Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports Thursday that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints confirms the plans. The temple is to be on a Broad Street site about four blocks north of City Hall. City records show the church paid $4 million for the land in October 2007. The Mormon Church has 128 temples worldwide but none in Pennsylvania. Mormon chapels and meetinghouses are open to the public for Sunday worship, but only members in good standing may enter temples. That is where the highest sacraments such as marriage occur. The Mormon Church says it has 48,000 members in 111 congregations in Pennsylvania.

Helicopters, SWAT teams over Philly only a movie

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Hovering helicopters, men dressed as SWAT team members and gunfire will be no cause to flee Center City Philadelphia this weekend. It's only a movie. Executive Director Sharon Pinkenson of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office says the action planned over Market Street on Saturday is part of the filming of a so-called "Bollywood" thriller by a film company from Mumbai, India. Signs on a downtown building have been changed to read "Federal Bureau of Investigation," and stuntmen dressed as SWAT team members will be shooting blanks in an exchange of movie gunfire on the roof. Pinkenson says despite the aerial adventures, no streets will be
blocked off.