Today's News- Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Conferees named to pick 29th Republican candidate Saturday

The following link is a list of people who will serve as conferees chosen to select the Republican candidate to run in the 29th Senatorial district special election March 3.

CONFEREES

Lukach is nominee

A Schuylkill County row office holder is the nominee for the Democratic party in the 29th Senatorial District. Clerk of Courts Steve Lukach of Mahanoy City has held that office for more than two decades, and wants to advance his political career by seeking the seat held by the late Senator Jim Rhoades. Lukach explains why he's running:

LUKACH

Republican committee people from the six counties that make up the 29th meet Saturday to choose their nominee from Dave Argall, Christopher Hobbs and Gretchen Sterns. Hobbs and Sterns will appear on Step Up To The Mic on WPPA Wednesday and Thursday.

Wintry mix expected tonight into Wednesday

The afternoon commute may present some travel problems as a mixed bag of precipitation is expected to overspread the area. The National Weather Service has posted a Winter Weather Advisory from this afternoon until tomorrow afternoon, as rain, sleet and freezing rain changes to periods of snow this afternoon, then back to a frozen mix of sleet and freezing rain tonight. Temperatures should fall throughout the day, so take your time as you travel this Tuesday.

Scrooge hits Cressona

State police are looking for the Scrooge who vandalized two locations in Cressona borough. Over the past week, someone used a car to tear up grass at the Cressona Grove, and took Christmas lights off of an evergreen tree at the borough playground. The investigation continues.

Ashland woman suffers minor injuries in crash

An Ashland woman suffered minor injuries in a one vehicle crash Monday in North Manheim Township. 26 year old Heather Sullivan was traveling east on the Adamsdale Road, near the Nutty Pear Restuarant when she lost control on a right hand curve. The SUV hit a utility pole. Sullivan was taken to Schuylkill Medical Center for treatment. Her vehicle was moderately damaged and had to be towed from the scene.

Hegins woman dies from injuries in crash

A Hegins woman has died from injuries she suffered in a crash on Interstate 81 in Pine Grove Township. The original crash happened last week when 31 year old Mary Ellen Clark was driving into a pull off area on I-81. A car driven by 18 year old Robert Olavarria of Olyphant hist Clark's vehicle. A passenger in her vehicle, 55 year old Jennie Clark had to be life flighted to Hershey Medical Center, where she died from her injuries. Two children in Clark's car were not hurt. Olavarria and a passenger were also injured in the crash.

No respite as wintry storms spread over nation

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) - Winter storm warnings are up from New Jersey to Nevada. Frigid temperatures, sleet and snow are spreading to virtually all corners of the nation. The arctic air that blustered across the Midwest and West on Monday is now targeting the East and South.
Snow and sleet warnings are posted for parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Wisconsin, Colorado, Utah, Nebraska, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada. The cold air mass slammed into northern Texas early today,
prompting officials to shutter some overpasses because of treacherous driving conditions. The storm and ensuing cold have been blamed for at least 10 deaths since the weekend.

Gas drillers may have to pay more in Pa.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A Pennsylvania environmental review board may give approval to increase gas-drilling permit application fees for the first time in 24 years. A vote on the proposal by the Environmental Quality Board is scheduled Tuesday. The proposal by the state Department of Environmental Protection would mean an average 26-fold increase in the fees to be paid by exploration companies rushing to drill on the Marcellus Shale gas formation.
Department officials say they need to raise the fees to hire dozens more field inspectors to monitor whether drilling companies are obeying state environmental rules. The department estimates that it will bring in another $3 million if the new fee structure is approved.
The current fee is $100.

Pa. school pension fund staff bonuses ending

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania's public school pension fund lost $1.8 billion for the 2007-08 fiscal year. That didn't stop 21 investment staff members from receiving bonus payments totaling more than $854,000. The board of the Public School Employees Retirement System is putting an end to that. Bonuses for the 21 investment staff members for the fiscal year ended June 30 ranged from $9,720 to $106,223. The board says because of market conditions and other factors it is rescinding the practice at the end of December. Gov. Ed Rendell sent system officials a letter saying awarding the bonuses this year would be inappropriate given the fund's performance.

PNC wants receiver to protect homeless shelter

PITTSBURGH (AP) - PNC Bank has begun foreclosing on a Pittsburgh building that houses more than 250 homeless, drug-addicted or mentally ill people. PNC wants an Allegheny County judge to appoint a receiver to protect the residents of Wood Street Commons. A hearing on that
request is set for Friday. The building is the brainchild of Tom Mistick who leads the group who owns the building. He says its financial problems resulted when the county decided to stop leasing office space there in September. Those payments largely financed the building's
maintenance. But county and city redevelopment officials say they had a $4 million plan to pay off the mortgage, but it would require Mistick to sell the building.

Philly firefighters say budget cuts pose threat

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Philadelphia firefighters say proposed fire department spending cuts are a dangerous way to deal with the city budget shortfall. About 1,500 people marched to Philadelphia's City Hall on Monday to object to the cuts. The group included firefighters from
Philadelphia and across the state and supporters including trade union members. Philadelphia officials say they would expect to save more than $10 million a year by deactivating five of the city's 61 engine companies and two of its 29 ladder companies. No stations would be closed and no firefighters would be laid off, but nearly 150 firefighters could be reassigned. Officials say even with the cutbacks, response times would still meet national guidelines.

Closings wrapping up in Fort Dix plot trial

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) - Four defense lawyers and the government are making their final arguments to the jury Tuesday in the trial of five men accused of plotting to attack soldiers on the Army's Fort Dix. The jury is expected to begin deliberating later Tuesday. On Monday, the government and one defense lawyer talked to jurors to start summations for a trial where testimony lasted 26 days. The suspects are all foreign-born Muslim men who lived for years
in Cherry Hill. They face life in prison if they've convicted on the most serious counts, which include conspiracy to kill military personnel and attempted murder. Their lawyers argue that they were not seriously planning anything and say two paid FBI informants prodded them toward action.

Jail, fines possible under Pitt. new gun law

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pittsburgh has a new law that would fine or jail gun owners who don't report their gun stolen or missing within 24 hours after they realize it's gone. Mayor Luke Ravenstahl allowed the bill to become law on Monday when he returned it to council without his signature. Ravenstahl says he doesn't believe the measure will be enforceable and that it will be pre-empted by state law. But he says he appreciates the effort to reduce gun violence. Some council members say they realize the measure may be illegal, but they feel they must do something to address a rash of recent gun violence in the city.

Supreme Court won't hear rabbinical murder appeal

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear the appeal of a Pittsburgh-area man convicted in the murder of a Canadian rabbinical student 22 years ago. Forty-six-year-old Steven Tielsch, of Penn Hills, was convicted in 2002 of third-degree murder at his fourth trial in the April 1986 slaying of 25-year-old Neal Rosenblum of Toronto. Three
earlier juries had deadlocked. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court had previously rejected an appeal claiming prosecutorial misconduct and double jeopardy. Tielsch is serving 10 to 20 years in prison. Prosecutors say Rosenblum was shot because he looked Jewish. Rosenblum was wearing traditional Orthodox Jewish garb when he was shot in Pittsburgh.

Pa. mother pleads guilty in kids' fire deaths

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A woman has pleaded guilty to criminal homicide and other charges in a house fire near Harrisburg that killed two of her children. Debbie Donachy entered her plea Monday before opening arguments began in the trial of her husband, Ryan Donachy. She has agreed to testify against him. The couple's 1- and 2-year-old children died in the November
2007 fire at their Swatara Township home. Debbie Donachy and their 5-month-old daughter were injured. The home's electricity had been cut off because of an unpaid electric bill, and investigators say a candle in the children's bedroom started the fire. The jury must determine whether Ryan Donachy's actions amounted to murder. The verdict will also apply to his wife under her plea agreement.

Police: Pa. student burned with blowtorch at dance

BIRDSBORO, Pa. (AP) - Police say a 12-year-old Pennsylvania boy burned another boy with a makeshift blowtorch at a school dance. The suspect has been charged as a juvenile with aggravated assault and related offenses following Friday night's incident at Daniel Boone Middle School outside Reading. Authorities say the suspect made the torch with an aerosol can and a lighter. He shot the flames at a 12-year-old boy in the middle of the crowded dance floor.
Police say the victim's eyelashes and nasal passages were singed. He was taken to a hospital for treatment and released Sunday. The suspect has been placed on house arrest and suspended from school.

Teen's miscarriage suit moving against Pa. center

ERIE, Pa. (AP) - A lawsuit by a Pennsylvania woman who miscarried in a juvenile detention center is headed to federal mediation. Deborah McIntosh, who is now 19, is suing Erie County because of the miscarriage she suffered in April 2006 at the Edmund L. Thomas Adolescent Center. McIntosh claims the center's staff did too little when she complained of back pain and other problems while she was about 17 weeks pregnant. McIntosh was at the center waiting for an opening at another shelter specifically for pregnant teens. A federal judge has rejected her claims of cruel and unusual punishment, but says claims that the center otherwise violated her
rights can be mediated in hopes of settling them short of trial.

Son, 9, saw father killed by stray shot at deer

HOOKSTOWN, Pa. (AP) - State police say a 9-year-old boy was present when his father was fatally shot by another member of their deer hunting party in southwestern Pennsylvania.
State police Sgt. Erik Hermick says 21-year-old David Logan was in a group of hunters who were pushing deer toward 35-year-old Duane Smith, of Frankfort Springs, on Saturday afternoon. Police say Logan fired at a deer from more than 40 yards away and the bullet instead hit Smith. Police and the Pennsylvania Game Commission are trying to determine if criminal charges are warranted. Smith died at the scene in a wooded area near his hometown, about 25 miles west of Pittsburgh.

Pa. police say runaway truck trailer killed woman

CANONSBURG, Pa. (AP) - Police and a coroner continue to investigate a crash in which a 36-year-old woman was killed when her car was hit by a runaway trailer that disconnected from a
passing pickup truck. Police are not identifying the driver of the pickup that was towing the trailer that broke loose and killed Michelle Kott of Ellsworth. The Washington County coroner says Kott was driving north on Route 19 in North Strabane Township when the trailer came free from a southbound pickup, jumped the median, and crashed into her windshield shortly before 3 p.m. Monday. Kott's vehicle then struck another truck. A woman and girl in Kott's vehicle are also being treated for injuries that aren't life-threatening.

Pittsburgh offices reopen day after chemical leak

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The Allegheny County Office Building in Pittsburgh reopened a day after chemicals used by the medical examiner's office leaked causing 500 workers to be evacuated.
Hazardous materials crews responded about 6:30 a.m. Monday after workers reported an odor. The building was shut down more than two hours later so the chemicals could be removed. The 55-gallon drum that leaked was one of four awaiting disposal. It contained methanol and chloroform. Chloroform is used to extract DNA from body tissues by the medical examiner's office. Investigators are still trying to determine why the chemicals leaked from the drum.

Pa. National Guard members get free trees

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Some members of the Pennsylvania National Guard are receiving free Christmas trees. The Trees for Troops program sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, state Christmas tree growers and National Guard presented the free trees Monday at the Farm Show complex. Strathmeyer Forests of Dover donated trees to the Pennsylvania National Guard's 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team. The team is to send 4,000 troops to Iraq in January, and 2,000 more in March.