Today's News-Friday, December 5, 2008

Auto theft suspects sought

Two vehciles were vandalized at a local car lot recently. State police are looking for those who damaged the cars at Don's Auto Sales in East Norwegian Township between November 29th and December 1st. A car stereo/CD player was stolen from the dash, with damages over $1-thousand-dollars. Anyone with information is asked to contact Schuylkill Haven state police at 593-2000.

Hit and run perp sought

Schuylkill Haven state police are looking for help in identifying a driver who caused a hit and run earlier this week in North Manheim Township. Troopers say the vehicle, possibly a white SUV, struck an orange Chevy Cobalt on Route 61. Anyone with information is asked to call state police.

Haven continues on in playoffs

High school football fans from all across the region are rallying behind the Schuylkill Haven Hurricanes for their showdown against defending state champion Steel-High tonight at Blue Mountain High School. The 'Canes are the last local team left in the the playoffs, and go into the contest a perfect 14 and oh. Message boards on businesses up and down the Route 61 corridor wish the team good luck, and red and black warning flags fly everywhere you look. The winner of tonight's Class A semifinal moves on to the state championship next Friday afternoon at 1pm. Our coverage of tonight's game begins with a tailgate party at 5pm at the Eagles Nest. Pregame begins at 6:30 and kickoff at 7pm on WPPA/T102 and wpparadio.com and t102radio.com.

W.Pa. woman guilty of conspiracy in man's death

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A northwestern Pennsylvania woman has pleaded
guilty in a case in which she was accused of helping her husband kill a man suspected of molesting the husband's son. Thirty-six-year-old Crystal Sherlock, of Corry, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit aggravated assault on Thursday in Erie County Court. She had been charged with homicide as an accomplice. Police say Crystal Sherlock drove her husband, 34-year-old Terry Sherlock, to the shooting and helped hide the gun. Terry Sherlock was convicted in November of third-degree murder and other charges in the shooting of 28-year-old Kenneth Himrod on Nov. 20, 2007. Police say Terry Sherlock killed Himrod, who was being investigated on allegations he molested Terry Sherlock's
10-year-old son.

NY soldier found not guilty in officers' deaths

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) - A military jury has acquitted a New York
Army National Guard soldier in the 2005 bombing deaths of two officers in Iraq. Staff Sgt. Alberto Martinez was found not guilty Thursday after
a six-week trial at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. He has been in
military custody since his arrest in the deaths of Capt. Phillip Esposito of New York and 1st Lt. Louis Allen of Pennsylvania. Both men died when an anti-personnel mine went off outside their room on a U.S. military base in June 2005. All were members of the 42nd Infantry Division.
Witnesses had testified that Martinez and Esposito's relationship was tense because the officer believed Martinez was lax in operating the unit's supply room.

Split verdict for Pa. mom in sex sleepover case

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) - A suburban Philadelphia mother accused of
getting drunk, dancing suggestively and partially disrobing at a teen sleepover has been acquitted of the most serious charges against her but convicted of corrupting minors. Prosecutors had also accused 38-year-old Angela Honeycutt of having sex with two boys at the party last April, but jurors on Thursday afternoon acquitted her of statutory sexual assault, indecent assault and unlawful contact with minors. Honeycutt says she is pleased with the verdict, but she is apologizing for making poor decisions throughout the night. The party in Lower Makefield Township was hosted by Honeycutt's neighbor, who earlier pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of children and corrupting minors.

Pa. man gets probation for using stun gun on girl

BEAVER, Pa. (AP) - A western Pennsylvania man has been sentenced
to probation for two years for using stun gun on a 9-year-old girl. Thirty-eight-year-old Jeffrey Young, of Brighton Township, was sentenced Thursday in Beaver County Court for his guilty plea to child e ndangerment. Authorities say Young used the gun on his friend's daughter in October to get her to behave. He says it was a mistake.
The girl's mother, Michele Hopkins, of Bridgewater, has been ordered to take parenting classes. If she completes them, charges of child endangerment and related counts will be dropped. Authorities say Hopkins' 11-year-old daughter said her mother regularly threatened her and her 9-year-old sister with the gun so they'd do chores.

Paper: AG clashes with Republicans over subpoenas

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A newspaper says Pennsylvania state prosecutors are asking a judge to force Republican leaders in the
Legislature to comply with subpoenas in an investigation of employee bonuses. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, citing unidentified sources, says
prosecutors are frustrated by the level of cooperation they've been receiving. The paper says Commonwealth Court Senior Judge Barry Feudale held a closed hearing on the matter Thursday. House Republican spokesman Steve Miskin says the caucus has been "fully cooperative" and has turned over hundreds of thousands of e-mails, thousands of documents, and computer hard drives. Miskin isn't commenting on the report of a hearing before Feudale. A spokesman for Attorney General Tom Corbett had no comment.

Philadelphia prison saves money with solar panels

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A Philadelphia prison hopes to save money -
and the environment - by using solar panels to provide hot water at the facility. City officials say the project will save about $1.1 million and
1 million pounds of carbon emissions over the anticipated 25-year life of the system. The new solar-powered system at the Riverside Correctional
Facility replaces traditional oil- and gas-fired water heaters. The prison houses about 800 female inmates, who need access to hot water for personal hygiene, laundry, cooking and cleaning. The prison system and the mayor's Office of Sustainability provided about $665,000 for the project.

Rite Aid settles with NY over expired products

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - New York officials say they've reached a $1 million agreement with Rite Aid, a national pharmacy chain, to stop sales of expired products - including food, medicine and baby formula.
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sued after investigators bought expired goods in 22 percent of Rite Aid stores statewide. The Camp Hill, Pa., company will pay a penalty of $1 million and up to $300,000 more if it fails to comply with the agreement in the next three years. Cuomo is also suing pharmacy chain CVS. Investigators found 39 percent of its stores were selling expired items. A Rite Aid official says the company opposes such sales and has created policies to prevent it. CVS officials say they're
disappointed by the suit, but will cooperate and remove expired products.

Jelenic, former Journal Register CEO, dies

YARDLEY, Pa. (AP) - The former chairman and chief executive officer of Journal Register Co. has died. Robert Jelenic was 58. Bill Higginson, a senior vice president at the newspaper publishing company, told The Associated Press that Jelenic died Wednesday night after a three-year bout with cancer. Jelenic spent more than three decades in the newspaper business. He was considered the driving force at the Yardley-based company for 20 years before resigning in November 2007. Journal Register owns 22 daily newspapers and approximately 300 non-daily publications. It is now struggling under heavy debt accumulated from its numerous acquisitions. Jelenic grew up in Sudbury, Ontario. He is survived by his wife, Joy; son, Lee; and daughter, Laine.

Former W.Pa. borough council head guilty of fraud

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A former Pittsburgh-area borough council president has been convicted of credit card fraud. On Thursday, an Allegheny County jury found 48-year-old Mary Dytko used a Brentwood Borough card for more than $2,500 in personal purchases. She repaid most of the outstanding balance but owed about $720 when she was arrested in June 2007. That's also been repaid. Dytko's attorney, Stephen Greenberg, says using borough credit cards was common and that Dytko's political enemies were behind the prosecution. Dytko also pleaded guilty this week to hiding a previous credit card fraud conviction from a decade ago on required disclosure forms when she ran for office.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Another tough day of questioning could be ahead for the CEOs of the Big Three automakers. They'll appear before a House committee after testifying yesterday to a Senate committee. There's still strong skepticism about their bailout request.

UNDATED (AP) - The federal government's investments in banks as part of the big financial bailout aren't doing very well. An analysis by The Associated Press shows options to buy up common bank stock have lost a third of their value in one month -- about $9 billion. The Treasury Department says that's not unexpected.

MUMBAI, India (AP) - India's Home minister is admitting government "lapses" in last week's attacks in Mumbai. He says he's doing his "utmost" to correct them. There's evidence an Indian national scouted for the attacks as far back as last year.

LAS VEGAS (AP) - O.J. Simpson learns today how much prison time
he'll do for his kidnapping and armed robbery conviction in Las Vegas. He could get as few as six years, or as much as life. The state parole agency is calling for at least 18 years.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) - Beverly Hills police say they're seeking two "persons of interest" in the shooting of actor Mark Ruffalo's brother. They're wanted for questioning. Scott Ruffalo remains in critical condition after being shot in the head early Monday.