Today's News-Tuesday, December 23,2008

Attack was well thought out

Investigators believe a 17 year old Blue Mountain high school student intended to harm others, according to court documents filed by state police. Gregory Nason was taken into custody and charged with attempted homicide, solicitation to commit homicide and making terroristic threats last week after he told a fellow student that if a hearing on charges against him didn't go well, he would come to the school to do harm. Students alerted school administrators who in turn contacted state police. Nason is jailed on $100-thousand dollars bail.

New company coming to Highridge

A Michigan based food distributor is planning to build a new distribution center at the Highridge Business Park. Gordon Food Service and SEDCO announced the deal yesterday. The 150-thousand square foot facility expects to be in operation by late next year. Officials from SEDCO say the bidding was tight among several states to bring the company to our area. Gordon Food Service expects to hire 98 employees.

Crash in Blythe Township may be DUI related

A St Clair woman escaped injury but faces charges of driving under the influence following a Sunday morning crash in Blythe Township. Schuylkill Haven state police say that 22 year old Samantha Snukis was traveling too fast for conditions on Route 209, lost control and struck a parked car on Market Street in Cumbola. After impact, the car continued down an embankment and hit a home at 176 Market Street. Snukis was charged with suspicion of driving under the influence and other traffic offenses.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - An outdoor smoking ban at Pennsylvania's 14 state-owned universities is the focus of a state labor board hearing. The State System of Higher Education's faculty union has filed an unfair labor practice complaint over the ban imposed in September by Chancellor John Cavanaugh. The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board scheduled a hearing on the complaint for Tuesday morning.

WASHINGTON (AP) - New government population estimates suggest congressional seats could be moving to the south and west and out of the rest of the country. The Census Bureau numbers through July 2008 suggest the nation's migration west and south has slowed because the housing crisis has made it hard to buy homes. But states in the Northeast and Midwest are still projected to lose political clout in Washington after the 2010 census.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania's banking regulators are imposing tougher rules for the mortgage industry to better protect homebuyers from the prospect of foreclosure. Banking Secretary Steve Kaplan says lenders and brokers will have to make sure that consumers can afford to repay and clearly understand of the terms of their loan.

CARLISLE, Pa. (AP) - Police are seeking the public's help in solving a 2001 murder in south-central Pennsylvania. The body of 33-year-old Tina Myers was found on Dec. 4, 2001, in a wooded area of Cumberland County just south of Mount Holly Springs. Police told reporters Monday that they have no suspects in the death of the woman from the Harrisburg suburb of Lower Paxton Township.

YORK, Pa. (AP) - York County District Attorney Stan Rebert says
the suicide of a rape suspect is justice in the sense that he won't
be able to commit more rapes. But a lawyer for Penn Township
Commissioner Michael Johnson Jr. says his client is entitled to the
presumption of innocence. Defense lawyer Christopher Ferro notes
that the charges against Johnson hadn't gone before a judge or
jury.