Today's News-Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Accidents reported on Route 61

Traffic is backed up at this hour due to an accident near Deer Lake. Reports of snow squalls whitenened the ground in northern Berks and southern Schuylkill counties. There are reports of injuries. Motorists should expect delays.

Crashes due to black ice

Light snow Tuesday afternoon left spots of black ice on area roadways, causing several accidents. On Route 183 near the Berks county line, Sandra Bowers of Pottsville and her passenger, Christine Johnson, were traveling north when she lost control and struck an embankment and rolled over due to icy roads. Both suffered minor injuries. Also on Route 183 in Wayne Township, Randall Heller lost control on an icy patch and struck an embankment. He also suffered minor injuries.

On Interstate 81, a Camp Hill woman lost control near mile marker 118 in Butler Township. Aubrey Sledzinksi's car was hit by a Mercury Sable operated by Sandra Betz of Philadelphia, who was also headed north. Both vehicles incurred heavy damages, and Betz was taken to the hospital for treatment. And a Wyalusing man's car ended up in a ditch along I-81 in Ryan Township when it fishtailed on an icy bridge. Barry Wenrich escaped injury in that crash.

Hobbs announces for 29th seat

A Pottsville attorney and son in law of the late Senator Jim Rhoades has announced his intention to run for the 29th Senate seat. Christopher Hobbs announced his bid in a press release to the media Tuesday, citing his intent to continue the work of his father in law Jim Rhoades, who died in October from injuries sustained in a car crash near Broadheadsville. A special election will be held to fill the seat sometime next year, and Republican committee members will have to chose from Representative Dave Argall, Deer Lake attorney Gretchen Sterns and Hobbs as to who will run in that election. Several names have been mentioned as potential Democratic candidates for the special election, but no one has officially announced as yet.

Bankruptcy sale of Boscov's near completion

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - The proposed bankruptcy sale of regional department store chain Boscov's to two former executives is close to being a done deal. A bankruptcy court hearing on Tuesday brought the proposed sale of the Reading, Pa.-based company one step closer to completion, with a final sale order up for approval by the judge at another hearing on Friday. The proposed purchase agreement calls for Boscov's to be bought by the families of Albert Boscov and Edwin Lakin, the son and the son-in-law of the privately held company's founder, in a deal valued at between $275 million and $300 million. Boscov is former chairman of the company. Lakin is a former president and co-owner. The two men made a last-minute bid for the company, which terminated an earlier agreement to sell its assets to Versa Capital Management, a Philadelphia-based private equity firm, for $11 million and the assumption of debts.

Drilling companies: Pa. DEP hampering business

DALLAS, Pa. (AP) - Executives of drilling companies exploring a huge untapped reserve of natural gas say regulations are making it hard to operate in Pennsylvania. One executive told Republican state senators at a hearing in northeastern Pennsylvania that her company has moved drilling equipment to West Virginia because of permitting delays. Part of the problem may be a lack of manpower to cope with a record number of natural gas applications. The Department of Environmental Protection is on track to issue 8,000 permits in 2008, up from 2,000 in 1999. Yet staffing in the agency's oil and gas division has remained stable at about 80.
Sympathetic GOP senators pressed acting Environmental Secretary John Hanger for answers at the hearing at Misericordia University.

McCall gets Democratic nod as speaker of Pa. House

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Democrats with adjoining state House districts in northeastern Pennsylvania have come out on top in caucus elections. Rep. Keith McCall of Carbon County was unopposed in becoming his party's candidate for speaker in the January vote. His election as
speaker is nearly assured, but is not a certainty. Rep. Todd Eachus of Luzerne County was elected floor leader, taking over from Rep. Bill DeWeese of Greene County. DeWeese has
been Democratic floor leader or speaker since 1990. He won a four-way contest to be named to the vote-gathering position of whip. Meanwhile, the Republican floor leader beat a former speaker to win re-election. Rep. Sam Smith of Jefferson County defeated Rep. John Perzel of
Philadelphia. Smith retains the floor leadership job he has held since Perzel gave it up to become speaker in 2003.

Funeral scheduled for Philadelphia officer killed in crash

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A funeral is scheduled Monday for a Philadelphia policeman killed in the line of duty. Sgt. Timothy Simpson is the fifth Philadelphia police officer killed in the line of duty in just over a year. He died from a Monday night car crash that police say was caused by a Levittown man who was fleeing officers after making a drug run on a suspended driver's license.
Simpson's funeral is scheduled for Monday at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in downtown Philadelphia. Police have charged 41-year-old William Foster with vehicular
homicide while driving under the influence, third-degree murder, drug offenses and related counts. Police say Foster has been arrested at least 20 times in various jurisdictions dating to 1986, including twice this month alone. Most charges were theft- and vehicle-related.

Pa. activist wins lawsuit against mayor

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) - A federal jury has sided with a northeastern Pennsylvania activist in her dispute with Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tom Leighton. Denise Carey tried unsuccessfully to stop a fire station from closing. The mayor tried to get her to reimburse the city for more than $11,000 in legal fees related to her petitions. Carey's lawyer argued that the mayor was seeking the money in retaliation for Carey exercising her constitutional rights. Defense attorney Mark Bufalino argued the city and Leighton had the right to challenge Carey's petitions and publicly defend that action. The jury found in Carey's favor Tuesday and awarded her $67,000
total in compensatory and punitive damages. Bufalino says the city plans to appeal.

Pa. man accused of trying to have witness killed

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) - A Wilkes-Barre man already charged in a shooting in Scranton is now accused of trying to get someone to kill a witness. Scranton Police Detective Sgt. Timothy Harding says 23-year-old Stephen Reid had letters in his jail cell written in gang slang.
Several of the letters appeared to order the murder of a witness who testified in September that Reid shot a man in June. Harding says the witness has been put into a relocation program.
After a hearing on Tuesday, District Judge Robert Russell found enough evidence to send the new charges to a Lackawanna County judge.

Hillary Clinton slated to attend lt. gov. memorial

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A spokesman for Pennsylvania's governor says Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is scheduled to speak Friday at a Capitol ceremony to honor the late Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll. Gov. Ed Rendell's spokesman Chuck Ardo said Tuesday that Knoll campaigned "tirelessly" for the New York senator and her husband, Bill Clinton, during their respective presidential campaigns. A spokesman for the senator says her plans could change depending on the Senate's schedule. Knoll died Wednesday after a four-month battle with neuroendocrine cancer. Her casket will be displayed in the Capitol Rotunda from noon Friday to 2 p.m. the following day. It will then be on display Sunday at St. Paul's Cathedral in Pittsburgh. A funeral Mass and divine liturgy will be held Nov. 25. Burial will be private.

Federal judges hear Murtha defamation case

WASHINGTON (AP) - A Marine who sued Rep. John Murtha for defamation wants a federal appeals court to order the Pennsylvania emocrat to testify under oath in the case. An attorney for Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Tuesday that he needs Murtha's deposition to determine how often the congressman made the claim
that Marines in Iraq engaged in "cold-blooded murder and war crimes" in the slayings of civilians in Hiditha. A government lawyer representing Murtha told the judges that the
lawmaker has immunity from the lawsuit because he was acting in his official role when he made the comments to reporters. Wuterich filed the lawsuit in 2006. He is the only person still
facing charges in the Hiditha slayings.

Pa. man guilty of murdering son's accused molester

ERIE, Pa. (AP) - A northwestern Pennsylvania man has been convicted of third-degree murder for shooting a man who was accused of molesting the suspect's 10-year-old son. Thirty-four-year-old Terry Sherlock, of Erie County, will face up to a 20- to 40-year prison sentence when he's sentenced Jan. 15 on the murder charge, and more time on four lesser charges including reckless endangerment. Erie County prosecutors say Sherlock purposely shot and killed
28-year-old Kenneth Himrod on Nov. 20, while Himrod was being investigated on allegations he molested Sherlock's son. Sherlock's attorney argued at trial that he killed Himrod in a
rage and should have been convicted of the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. A jury agreed with prosecutors instead.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The heads of the Big Three carmakers will be back before Congress today, pleading for a $25 billion bailout. They got a cool reception Tuesday, with one senator saying they were asking for "an awful lot."

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Concern about American automakers is one factor that pushed stocks lower today in much of Asia. Indexes in Japan, Australia, and Hong Kong slipped, while China's index rose.

WASHINGTON (AP) - America's first black president will apparently have America's first black attorney general. Barack Obama is ready to name Eric Holder, a former deputy attorney
general, to the top job.

HOUSTON (AP) - As any handyman knows, if you lose your tool bag, you've got to improvise. That's what NASA will have to do now that a crucial tool bag has drifted off during a spacewalk. There are three spacewalks left in the mission of shuttle Endeavour.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Cockpit voice recordings from the private jet accident that killed four people two months ago in Columbia, South Carolina, shows one pilot knew they were going off the runway. He calls for rescue equipment.