Today's News-Tuesday, October 28, 2008

McCain rally draws thousands

A crowd of nearly 5-thousand men, women and children packed Martz Hall in Pottsville to see Republican nominee John McCain and his wife Cindy as he fights for the state's 21 electoral votes. Opening remarks were made by legislative candidates Gary Hornberger and Dave Argall before McCain took the stage. Beth Laubaugh, a longtime Republican supporter and her son, 12 year old Dean, of Bloomsburg said that vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin helped bring her on board to support McCain's candidacy:

LAUBAUGH

A large number of teenagers under voting age were in attendance to support McCain and to learn more about the political process, as explained by Brianna Rauenzahn, a student at Blue Mountain High School.

RAUENZAHN

Several dozen Barack Obama supporters were outside, protesting McCain's visit.

The fire that destroyed the engine house at the Forestville Fire Company in Schuylkill County was determined to be an accident. The fire is believed to have started from radio and flashlight chargers in the engine room. The fire which was reported around 12:30 Monday morning destroyed three engines and all the company's fire gear resulting in about $750-thosuand dollars in damage. A special fund has been established to help the Forestville Fire Company. Donations can be sent to the First National Bank of Minersville, care of Forestville Fire Company Fire Loss Fund, 260 Sunbury Street, Minersville, PA 17954.

McCAIN 1

A spirited John McCain rallied thousands of Republican party faithful Monday night at a Road to Victory Rally at Martz Hall, knowing full well that the 11th hour is at hand in the race for the White House. McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin have spent a large amount of time and money in Pennsylvania, and is running behind in pre-election polls in the Commonwealth. With money largely on people's minds, McCain pointed directly at the economy and creating jobs:

McCAIN 2

McCain and Palin will be together today for rallies at the Giant Center in Hershey, with a week to go until Election Day.

Obama targets red states

ST. DAVID'S, Pa. (AP) - Barack Obama is almost exclusively targeting tossup states that trend Republican over the final week of the campaign. Still ahead in the polls, Obama is spending time defending only one state that's leaned Democrat recently: Pennsylvania. Both he and John McCain have events in the state today. Obama will start things off with a rally Tuesday morning at Widener University in the Philadelphia suburb of Chester. After that he heads to Virginia, a state that hasn't given a Democrat its electoral votes since 1964. Rallies are planned in Harrisonburg and Norfolk. The coming days include more stops in North Carolina, Florida
and Missouri -- all states President Bush won in 2004.

McCain and Palin together today

HERSHEY, Pa. (AP) - John McCain and running mate Sarah Palin are reuniting to rally the faithful in largely conservative areas of Pennsylvania. They plan to attend rallies at the Giant Center in Hershey on Tuesday morning before going their separate ways. McCain goes to North Carolina, another hotly contested state, while Palin stays in Pennsylvania. She'll attend an event in Shippensburg on Tuesday afternoon and another one in State College on Tuesday night.
McCain has been trailing Barack Obama in the polls but he's sounding scrappy, telling a noisy rally in Pottsville last night that he's "not afraid of the fight" and his supporters shouldn't
be, either. McCain vows to "shake up Washington" if elected.

PPL vows investigation of alert at Pennsylvania nuclear plant after nitrogen leak

BERWICK, Pa. (AP) - PPL says there will be a follow-up investigation of an alert at the Susquehanna nuclear plant in northeastern Pennsylvania. The Allentown-based utility says a worker fixing a water line was evacuated Monday morning after higher-than-acceptable levels of nitrogen were detected inside the room. The worker had been using a device containing the gas at the time. PPL says workers used the plant's ventilation system and fans to return oxygen levels to normal. They were then able to get into the room and shut off the source of the nitrogen, and the alert ended at 5:26 p.m. The company says both reactors at the plant continued to operate normally and no injuries were reported.

Philly mayor delays for a week city's plan on how to deal with growing deficit

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter says the city is delaying for a week an announcement of how it will deal with its growing deficit. Nutter says the most recent estimates put the city's five-year deficit at $650 million to $850 million. He pleaded for more
federal assistance and says major cities across the country are facing similar challenges.
Nutter signed a $4 billion spending plan in April. The budget was his first and called for eliminating the city's gross-receipts tax over the next 10 years. It also included reductions in the city's net income business tax and wage tax. But last month, Nutter told City Council that the nationwide economic downturn could mean a city revenue shortfall of up to $450 million over five years. He says that all departments are being ordered to cut spending.

Fumo's estranged son-in-law testifies

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - State Sen. Vincent Fumo's estranged son-in-law says Fumo lived like a medieval lord in a 33-room mansion with a large staff of state-paid underlings to heed his
demands. Christian Marrone says taxpayers footed the bill for the time he spent overseeing the restoration of the historic mansion. Marrone, now a Pentagon lawyer, says he spent more than 80 percent of his time on the project in the late 1990s. Fumo and an aide, Ruth Arnao, are charged with defrauding the state Senate, a nonprofit group and a maritime museum of more than $3.5 million. The trial is expected to last several months. Defense lawyer Dennis Cogan has suggested that any work Fumo's staff did for him came after a full day for the Senate. But
Marrone's e-mail messages appear to support his contention that he spent most of his Senate work days over an 18-month period on the house renovations.

Jury in Fort Dix case to hear from informant

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) - An informant is expected to take the stand Tuesday to talk about his role in the investigation of five men accused of planning to shoot soldiers at the Army training base in New Jersey. A witness told jurors in the case Monday that the informant in the Fort Dix case has been well-paid. John Stermel, an investigator assigned to an FBI counterterrorism task force, says informant Mahmoud Omar wore a wire for 16 months and recorded 200 conversations. Beginning in August 2006, Omar went with one of the men to check out Fort Dix
and other military installations in New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania. By year's end, Omar will have received nearly $240,000 for his help, and authorities will recommend that he be offered legal resident status and perhaps even citizenship. Defense lawyers say it was Omar who tried to plot an attack, not their clients - all foreign-born Muslims in their 20s who are all
charged with conspiracy to kill military personnel and attempted murder. The men lived for years in the Philadelphia suburb of Cherry Hill. They have been in custody since they were arrested in May 2007. No attack happened.

Pa. high court says police were allowed to suspend DUI checkpoint to keep traffic moving

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The Pennsylvania Supreme Court says police did not need prior authorization to temporarily suspend a sobriety checkpoint to relieve traffic congestion.
The high court ruled Monday that police in Monroeville didn't violate constitutional search and seizure rights when they let some cars go by at three different times to prevent traffic backups in May 2002. The decision overturned an Allegheny County judge and the Superior Court, which had sided with defendant Mark Worthy. Two judges who dissented said administrative guidelines should be established ahead of time to deal with whether or when to suspend or resume a checkpoint. Worthy's lawyer Tim Sheerer says he doesn't think decisions about how to run sobriety checkpoints should be left to field officers.

Game 5 suspended because of rain

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Philadelphia Phillies had hoped to be soaked in champagne Monday night. They were soaked all right. The Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays were tied 2-2 after five and
a-half innings in Game 5 of the World Series at Philadelphia when play was suspended by rain. Commissioner Bud Selig wasn't sure when the game would resume, saying "we'll stay here if
we have to celebrate Thanksgiving" in Philadelphia. There has never been a rain-shortened game in Series history. It will resume with the Phillies about to hit in the bottom of the
sixth. But more rain is in Tuesday's forecast, which could force the teams to try to finish the game Wednesday. The Phillies lead the series three games to one.

NEW YORK (AP) - Some signals point to a rebound on Wall Street, as investors await the start of a Federal Reserve meeting today. Another reduction in interest rates could come tomorrow. Markets in Europe traded higher after Asia finished with major gains.

ST. DAVID'S, Pa. (AP) - It's clear both presidential candidates really want to win in Pennsylvania. Barack Obama starts his day with a rally near Philadelphia before he moves on to Virginia. John McCain is holding two rallies in Pennsylvania with Sarah Palin, who also headlines two other events in the state later today.

BAGHDAD (AP) - An Iraqi court has sentenced a militant to death by hanging for the grisly 2006 killing of three U.S. soldiers south of Baghdad. That, after two other suspects were found not guilty for lack of evidence.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Washington area's subway and bus system plans to start randomly searching passenger bags in an effort to deter terrorist attacks. Officials say it's not a response to any specific threat. Transit systems in New York, Boston and New Jersey conduct similar searches.

ST. LOUIS (AP) - A federal judge says parts of Missouri's new law restricting the activities of registered sex offenders on Halloween are unenforceable. But the judge found no fault with
requirements that sex offenders remain inside their homes with the outside lights off and post signs saying they have no candy.