Today's News-Monday, December 1, 2008

Today is a Big Day for outdoor enthusiasts and hunters alike. Reporter Kerry Dowd spoke with the Pennsylvania Game Commission and has more:

DOWD HUNTING

Two escape injury in Sunday evening crash

Two people escaped injury when their cars crashed Sunday evening in Wayne Township. 29-year-old Carlos Perez was northbound on Route 183 and attempted to turn on to Route 443. State police say Perez was concentrating on another vehicle coming into the intersection and his vehicle was struck on the passenger's side by a car driven by 50 year old Teresa Scranta from Auburn, who was traveling south on 183. The impact caused Perez's car to spin. Both drivers were wearing their seatbelts. The crash happened around 5:30 last night.

Theft of food at Ruth Steinert SPCA

Schuylkill Haven state police are investigating a break in at the Ruth Steinert SPCA. An unknown thief broke a window at a storage shed at the facility on Airport Road and took animal food. The investigation is continuing.

Icy road causes accidents

A Virginia man crashed his vehicle on icy Interstate 81 Sunday morning. 29 year old Brian Wooley of Leesburg, Virginia was southbound on the interstate in Kline Township and lost control, hit a guard rail and came to rest on the berm of the road. His vehicle was heavily damaged, but Wooley was not hurt. In another mishap, 23 year old Charis Loomer of Union Bridge, Maryland lost control on the snow covered interstate, also in Kline Township as she traveled southbound. Loomer wasn't hurt, but her car was also heavily damaged and had to be towed from the scene.

Hunters buy for first day of buck

Even before the most seasoned huner hits the woods, they'll need to be prepared. The owner of Ed's Sports Shop-Ed Kennedy-talks about what his customers are looking for:

ED

Kennedy and his family have been serving the hunters of Tamaqua and all of Schuylkill County for close to 30 years. For more information, log on to edssportshop-dot-com.

Its a new law that will better protect our state's wildlife. State House Bill 22-05-known as the enhanced penalties bill-crimes against wildlife will now fall under a more serious offense as opposed to the more common summary. Wildlife Conservation Officer Will Dingman explains:

DINGMAN BITE HOUSE BILL

Dingman says those who poach or rather take multiple big game will face a more serious charge:

DINGMAN BITE TWO

For more information on the enhanced penalties bill, log on to the game commission website at pgc-dot-state-dot-pa-dot-us.

World AIDS Day

Today is World Aids Day. Its a time for all of us to get the facts to prevent the spread of the virus and to show concern for those already infected. Current trends indicate that one in four new infections occur in people under the age of 22, and an average of two young people are infected with HIV every hour of the day. Schuylkill Wellness Services is holding HIV general testing from 10am till 5pm tomorrow at their offices at 514 North Centre Street, Pottsville. Walk ins are welcome and services are free and confidential. For more information, contact Schuylkill Wellness Services at 622-3980.

Obama, governors to meet in Philly

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The city of Philadelphia is preparing to host President-elect Barack Obama and a meeting of governors from around the country. Independence Hall will be the site of the meeting on Tuesday. The location was selected by Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who is the head of the National Governors Association. Obama and the governors are to discuss how the economic crisis is crimping states and their budgets. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is scheduled to be among the 40
governors and governors-elect planning to attend the conference.

Stormy weather causes delays of more than 3 hours at Philadelphia International Airport

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A Philadelphia International Airport official says stormy weather has been delaying flight arrivals on one of the busiest travel days of the year. Airport spokesman Victoria Lupica says arriving flights were delayed by an average of a little more than three hours for the better part of Sunday evening. Lupica says flights had been delayed throughout the day as many people returned home after the long Thanksgiving weekend. But she says the weather worsened later in the day, and some fog further reduced visibility, which caused longer delays Sunday night. Departing flights have been on schedule and Lupica says there have been no other problems at the airport.

Man charged with homicide in death of Pa. bar worker pinned against wall by pickup truck

BENSALEM, Pa. (AP) - Authorities in suburban Philadelphia have
charged a man with homicide, saying he ran a pickup truck into an
employee of a bar that had kicked him out. Police say 35-year-old Jose Maldonado-Luzuriaga was arraigned Sunday and sent to Bucks County prison in lieu of $3 million bail in the death of 30-year-old takeout clerk William Sullo III, of Philadelphia. Police say the defendant, an illegal immigrant from Ecuador, was intoxicated when he entered the Salute Restaurant Bar in Bensalem on Saturday night. He was refused service and was later escorted out. Outside, authorities say, he got into a pickup truck and circled the parking lot several times, then revved the engine and sped toward Sullo and another man at 10:20 p.m. The truck jumped the curb and pinned Sullo to the wall, killing him.

'12 Days of Christmas' items would cost $86,609

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Given the economic downturn, the price tag of
the items in the carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is staggering.
The annual "Christmas Price Index" compiled by PNC Wealth Management says this year's cost is $86,609. That is the expense
for a single partridge in a pear tree to the 12 drummers drumming,
purchased repeatedly as the song suggests. The price is up $8,508 or 10.9 percent from last year's $78,100. While PNC does the index humorously, the company says it mirrors actual economic trends.

Deer season opens in Pennsylvania

UNDATED (AP) - Pennsylvania's two-week deer hunting season gets
under way today. Pennsylvania Game Commission spokesman Gerald Feaser says between 850,000 and 900,000 men, women and children ages 12 years and older are expected to take part in the first day of the
two-week firearms deer season. Feaser says the game commission has no projections on how many deer will be taken by hunters this season.
He says in 2007 the count was 323,070, which was down from 361,560 in 2006.

Specter: 'I'll be prepared' for 2010 race

WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., says he's ready for
a tough re-election race in 2010, whether it's against MSNBC pundit
Chris Matthews or someone else. The 78-year-old Specter declined to speculate on whether he would face Matthews. Matthews reportedly met with Pennsylvania Democratic Party leaders last week about a run. But Specter, a moderate, expects challenges from the left and right as he seeks a sixth term. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., the head of his party's campaign arm, said he has neither spoken with Matthews, a native Philadelphian, nor any intermediaries for him about a possible challenge to Specter. The 62-year-old Matthews' contract with MSNBC expires in June. He has worked in Democratic politics before, running unsuccessfully for a northeast Philadelphia congressional seat in 1974 and working for former President Jimmy Carter and former House Speaker Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill Jr.

Safety system creating delays on Philly trolleys

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Officials say a $25 million collision-avoidance system on Philadelphia trolley lines is creating delays for riders. The system controls Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority trolleys going to and from West Philadelphia. It was designed to prevent rear-end collisions. But riders and SEPTA officials say it's slowed cars too often and sometimes backed up trolleys five or six deep. SEPTA says it's still having several failures a day. Last week, city officials complained to SEPTA about the delays. The control system's manufacturer is scheduled to try to resolve the problems this week. Officials believe the automatic control system can't keep up with the rapid arrival and departure of trolleys during peak hours. Five Green Line subway-surface routes carry about 90,000 riders a day.

3 killed in crash of pickup truck in central Pennsylvania

BREINIGSVILLE, Pa. (AP) - Authorities in central Pennsylvania say a pickup truck went out of control and crashed over the weekend, killing three people. Mifflin County Regional Police say 19-year-old Michael Herbster, of Reedsville, was driving the 2003 Dodge Ram in Armagh Township at about 11:40 p.m. Saturday. Officials say the pickup sheared off a utility pole and went onto the guardrail before hitting two trees.
Herbster and two other people were thrown from the vehicle and died in the crash. Police have identified the other victims as 21-year-old Devin Mattern, of Milroy, and 20-year-old Casey Marthouse, of Belleville.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Head-on crash in eastern Pennsylvania kills 2

MILROY, Pa. (AP) - State police in eastern Pennsylvania say two men thrown from a car after a head-on collision died of their injuries. Police say a car heading east at high speed on Holbens Valley Road in Lehigh County's Weisenberg Township went out of control and collided with an oncoming car at 10:20 p.m. Saturday. Police say the car was sheared in half, and both occupants were thrown from the vehicle. The driver, 25-year-old Giuseppe Tripoli, of New Tripoli, and his passenger, 22-year-old Joseph Nivar, of Corona, N.Y., were pronounced dead at the scene by a county coroner. The 67-year-old driver of the other car is listed in stable
condition at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest.

Perfume, cologne capture scent of Penn State

BERWICK, Pa. (AP) - The scent of Penn State is now available in
a bottle. The State College, Pa., university has an official perfume and
cologne that the developer says captures the essence of the school's blue and white colors. Harrisburg-based Masik Collegiate Fragrances developed the scent and says the Penn State perfume exudes vanilla, lilac, rose and white patchouli. The company says the cologne smells of blue cypress and cracked pepper vapor. Masik president Katie Masich says the products should appeal to Penn State's vast alumni and football fans. The company says the unique scents are based on "school colors,
campus flowers and trees" and other features. Masik also has perfume and cologne for the University of North Carolina, and plans a number of other collegiate scents.

LONDON (AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice tells reporters en route to London that Pakistan must cooperate with India's probe into last week's terrorist attacks in Mumbai. She says that means Pakistan must let the evidence lead wherever it takes investigators. Rice will be in India later this week in a show of support.

CHICAGO (AP) - Bad weather made for lots of delays at airports
from the Great Lakes to the northeast, and for some travelers those
delays turned into cancellations. Parts of northern Illinois could get 8 inches of snow. Snow also closed parts of I-70 through Colorado.

NEW YORK (AP) - Some analysts are predicting that at best, holiday shoppers spent as much this weekend as they did at the same time last year. ShopperTrak RCT is expected to release data for the combined Friday and Saturday period today.

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) - After 16 days in space, astronauts will reunite with their families today in Houston. Family members spent the weekend waiting for the shuttle to return to Florida, but stormy weather forced Endeavour to land in California instead.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Officials in San Francisco want to help people celebrate a green Christmas. Instead of typical Christmas trees, city officials are offering alternatives for $90. They come in pots, and after Christmas will be picked up for planting along city streets.