Today's News-Tuesday, November 4th-ELECTION DAY

Election Day

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last 18 months, today the voters speak at the polls to elect a new President of the United States. Over 94-thousand-Schuylkill County residents are registered for today’s vote. If predictions are correct, a large majority will participate in the process at 167 municipalities. Polls open at 7am, and will remain open until 8pm. Listen for live election coverage on a special edition of Step Up to the Mic beginning at 8pm, along with national coverage from CBS News. (T102 News will keep you up to date with election results after 8pm until winners are declared).

Election Two

While the presidential race is the glamorous contest on the ballot today, there are a number of other candidates for voters to consider. In the 17th Congressional District, incumbent Democrat Tim Holden of St. Clair is being challenged by Republican Toni Gilhooley of Dauphin County. In the state Senate, the late Senator Jim Rhoades of Mahanoy City remains on the ballot for the 29th District, facing county Prothonotary PJ Symons, a Democrat, and Dennis Baylor of Hamburg, an independent. In the state House, Democrat Neal Goodman is unopposed in his re- election bid in the 123rd. In the 124th, Dave Argall is running against Democrat Bill Mackey for re-election. Tim Seip is seeking a second term in Harrisburg in the 125th District, being challenged by Republican Gary Hornberger.

Other news:

Three men arrested in sexual assault

Three Virginia men are charged with having sex with two teenaged girls at an area motel over the weekend. Pottsville police arrested the trio, 21-year-old Matthew Wright and 25-year-old Antonio Wilson of South Hill, Virginia, and 38 year old Keith Jones of Lacrosse, Virginia, and charged them with providing alcohol to and corrupting the morals of 14 and 15 year old girls who stayed with them at the Pottsville Motor Inn. Wilson and Jones are alleged to have had sexual intercourse with the teens. Wright posted bail and was released. Wilson and Jones are locked up in the county prison. Officials say the men were working in the area. Jones is a registered sex offender in Virginia.

Reminder from county election officials

To make your visit to the polls as smooth as possible today, Schuylkill County election officials remind voters to have identification handy as they enter their respective polling sites. Bureau Director Betty Dries also reminds those persons who want to have access the STS voter tabulation site in St. Clair this evening must be authorized by the voter registration bureau today.

Huge Pa. turnout forecast for Election Day in Pa.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Presidential candidates, surrogates and volunteers are swarming across Pennsylvania on the last full day of campaigning. Meanwhile, local officials are bracing for a deluge of voters that's expected to be the largest turnout in decades. Republican nominee John McCain, a frequent visitor to the state in recent days, appeared at a rally at Pittsburgh International Airport as a part of a seven-state barnstorming tour. He criticized Democratic nominee Barack Obama on a range of issues, from taxes to energy policy to foreign policy. Polls show Obama maintaining a double-digit lead in the battle for Pennsylvania's 21 electoral votes. Pennsylvania voters also will be deciding statewide contests for state attorney general, treasurer and auditor general. There are also competitive races for Congress and the state Legislature.

Pa. voter registration, already a record, climbs

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The final Pennsylvania voter registration figures to come out before the election show the record total climbing even higher. The Department of State said Monday that 8.76 million residents are signed up to vote. The previous record, set four years ago, was 8.37 million. Nearly 713,000 new voter applications were processed since January. They've run 3-to-1 in favor of Democrats. Officials are predicting the turnout of registered voters will approach 80 percent. To prevent waiting, voters should avoid polling places around rush hour.

Biden rallies Democrats in South Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Speaking in South Philadelphia, Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden calls for strengthening the middle class and uniting the country. Biden, along with his wife, Jill, concluded his campaigning Monday night at Marconi Plaza in the heart of South Philadelphia and just miles from his home state of Delaware. Biden touched on a number of topics, including health care, the war in Iraq and the struggling economy. The Delaware senator says: "If we help Wall Street, we can help Main Street and every other street in Philadelphia."
Biden was introduced by shortstop Jimmy Rollins of the World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies. The Philadelphia rally concludes a three-state, election-eve blitz for Biden, who campaigned earlier Monday in Missouri and Ohio.

McCain appears at Pittsburgh airport as part of barnstorming

IMPERIAL, Pa. (AP) - Republican presidential nominee John McCain has appeared at a rally at Pittsburgh International Airport as a part of a seven-state barnstorming tour. He criticized Democratic nominee Barack Obama on issues including taxes, energy policy and foreign policy.
McCain hopes to become the first Republican in two decades to carry Pennsylvania. He is counting on support from Republican strongholds in the central and northern regions. He's also homing for crossover votes from working-class Democrats in the western and northeastern areas who helped Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton defeat Obama in the April primary.

Judge OKs news photographers outside polling spots

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A county judge says news photographers can take pictures around polling places after the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette sued for the right to do so. Allegheny County Judge Joseph James says photographers can shoot in the direction of polling places as long as they stay outside the polls and beyond a 10-foot buffer zone. The newspaper sued Friday saying Allegheny County elections workers had prevented photographers from taking pictures from
outside polling places but toward an open door or window, for example. The county says it was trying to safeguard secret balloting, while the newspaper says photos are needed to safeguard against voter fraud and other abuses.

Clinton praises Murtha's effectiveness at rally

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) - Former President Clinton says Democrats shouldn't be resentful over recent comments by Rep. John Murtha. He's asking people in the western Pennsylvania district to return the 17-term congressman to Washington for another term. Speaking before a crowd of university students and veterans, Clinton was referring to Murtha's recent controversial comments that western Pennsylvania was racist. Murtha's Republican challenger, Bill Russell, pounced on the comments and Murtha has admitted he was blindsided by the momentum of his opponent's campaign. But Clinton said Murtha's effectiveness in bringing jobs and money to the area outweighs anything else.

Control of Pa. Legislature rests in voters' hands

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Republican control of the Pennsylvania Senate is not expected to change much, if at all, on election day. But Democrats risk losing their tenuous one-seat edge in the House. Most are predicting only a slight shift in either direction. House Democrats are focusing on five districts in Philadelphia and its suburbs, a region where longtime GOP incumbents are retiring at the same time that voter registration is turning more Democratic.
House Republicans see a road map to reclaiming the majority in southwestern Pennsylvania, where a handful of Democratic incumbents narrowly survived the last election and many Democratic voters have moderate or conservative positions on the issues. In the Senate, which Republicans control by a 29-21 margin, Democratic campaign strategists expect to still be one vote short of a tie.

Brothers go on trial in death of Pa. student

READING, Pa. (AP) - A jury has been selected for the trial of two Allentown brothers charged in the 2007 beating death of a Kutztown University student. Twenty-one-year old Kenneth Kline and 22-year-old Terry Kline are charged with third-degree murder for allegedly attacking
19-year-old Kyle Quinn on Main Street in Kutztown. Jury selection was completed Monday and opening statements are scheduled for Wednesday. A third man, Timothy Gearhart, pleaded guilty in August to hitting Quinn in the head with a wooden chair leg a few blocks from campus. He was sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison. Police have said the Kutztown sophomore was attacked at random after the three men left a bar looking for someone to beat up.

Pa. woman gets prison for lying about having AIDS

EASTON, Pa. (AP) - A Pennsylvania woman who pretended to have AIDS to collect medical and welfare benefits is getting 18 months to seven years in prison. Cassey Jo Weierbach will be eligible for parole in a few months with time served. The 29-year-old woman apologized for duping people. Northampton County Judge Stephen Baratta read through a long list of mental problems that Weierbach has been diagnosed with and said he hopes she gets the help she needs. Before her arrest in 2006, Weierbach had traveled the lecture circuit with her account of being raped and infected with AIDS as a child. She told her story for years to news reporters, churches, youth groups and medical conferences. She was charged with defrauding the state of Pennsylvania of $66,000 after The Morning Call of Allentown published a story in which a pastor accused Weierbach of duping her congregation.

Pa. coroner probing man killed by freight train

ERIE, Pa. (AP) - A Pennsylvania coroner is hoping toxicology tests and more investigation will help him figure out why a man was killed by a passing freight train. Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook says the body of 23-year-old Timothy Villa, of Erie, was found near the CSX railroad tracks in the city Sunday about 2 a.m. Cook says the investigation indicates Villa may have left a Halloween party shortly before he was struck and killed by the train. An autopsy Sunday confirmed the man died of massive trauma. Cook says police are trying to contact the train's crew. Cook is waiting for toxicology tests on Villa's body before ruling whether the death was an accident, but says it does not appear to be foul play.

Police: Man kills wife, young son, then kills self

YORK, Pa. (AP) - Police in the York suburbs say a man killed his wife and 2-year-old son before committing suicide inside their home. Spring Garden Township Chief George Swartz said Monday that 39-year-old John Goodman didn't leave a note before he shot and killed his wife Julia and their son Langon early Sunday morning. Swartz says investigators are trying to determine a motive. The chief says there's no evidence that the couple was divorcing or that any protective orders were in place regarding the couple. York County Coroner Barry Bloss Sr. told The York Dispatch that John Goodman may have been recently laid off from his job as a surveyor in Lancaster. The family had lived in the neighborhood near York Hospital since 2003, and before that they lived somewhere else in the same township.

CHICAGO (AP) - There's not much left to do but vote. However, Barack Obama and John McCain both plan Election Day campaign stops before settling in to await the results of their contest for the presidency.

DIXVILLE NOTCH, N.H. (AP) - Some New Hampshire voters cast ballots at midnight, as is their tradition. Barack Obama came out ahead of John McCain, 15-6 in Dixville Notch and 17-10 in Hart's Location.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Even Republican-leaning states where Barack Obama has little chance of winning are seeing record voter registration numbers and early voting. Elections officials forecast record turnouts in places where the two major presidential candidates didn't even bother to campaign.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrats are seeking to tighten control of Congress. Analysts look for them to gain at least 20 seats in the House and win several Senate seats that are open because of Republican retirements. Leaders in both parties say a filibuster-proof 60-seat Senate majority for Democrats is a long shot.

MOSUL, Iraq (AP) - Today's voting could decide the future of the U.S. mission in Iraq. But American troops in Mosul seemed more interested in sports this morning. Only one of four televisions in their dining hall was tuned to election coverage.