Today's News- Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Special election set

The clock is ticking to determine who will take the place of late State Senator Jim Rhoades. Lieutenant Governor Joe Scarnati filed notice Tuesday that March 3rd, 2009, a special election will be held to elect a replacement for Rhoades, who died from injuries in a car crash in October. Scarnati is hoping that the Republicans will keep the seat:

SCARNATI

Schuylkill County GOP Chair Bob Ames told WPPA/T102 News yesterday that a convention of Republican delegates in the 29th District will be held within the next few weeks to pick a candidate. Representative Dave Argall, Attorneys Chris Hobbs and Gretchen Sterns have already announced their intentions to seek the seat. Hobbs, Senator Rhoades son-in-law, has been endorsed by Mary Edith Rhoades, the Senator's widow. The convention date and details are expected to be announced today.

Health Centre dedicated at Schuylkill

Students at Penn State Schuylkill now have a new place to get healthy, thanks to the generosity of local supporters. The $1.9 million dollar center, an addition to the multi-purpose building was dedicated Tuesday afternoon. Monies from the University and donations from Attorney Fred Wiest and Betty Tobias brought the project to completion. Wiest and Tobias, and their late spouses, have been active supporters of Penn State for many years. The building includes a state of the art gymnasium and fitness center, and also houses offices for campus staff. Tobias says that her late husband, A. Roger, lived the Blue and White tradition:

TOBIAS

An East Brunswick Township man is in Schuylkill County Prison after being involved in a standoff with state police Tuesday. Troopers from the Frackville barracks were serving a search warrant at a hunting cabin on Beechnut Road where 43-year-old Clint Parks was inside. Parks was allegedly involved in several thefts in East Brunswick and West Penn Township. He fired a shot at police as they tried to enter the cabin, and held troopers at bay for 6 hours. Parks was taken into custody without incident and arraigned on charges of aggravated and simple assault and other counts. He was unable to post $25-thousand-dollars bail.

Storage trailers taken

Thieves took tools and the trailers they were stored in in Delano Township overnight Monday. Frackville state police say two storage trailers owned by Anrich Inc. of Wayne, PA were kept at a job site on Lakeside Avenue. The bandits moved the trailers, busted the locks and removed tools. The abandoned trailers were found near Delano Road. State police are looking for help in finding the robbers. If you have information, call 874-5300.

Pa. officials must write checks to refuse raises

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Refusing automatic pay raises isn't simply a matter of just saying "no" for Gov. Ed Rendell, state lawmakers, and other government officials who have pledged to do so because of Pennsylvania's faltering economy. By law, the 2.8 percent cost-of-living increases must be included in their paychecks. Lawmakers and judges started receiving the increases Dec. 1, and Rendell and his Cabinet secretaries are in line for similar raises to kick in next month. Instead, anyone rejecting the raise must send a refund to the state treasury if they want the money to remain in the general fund. Treasury Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Kupchinsky says the agency has received refunds from five to 10 lawmakers so far. She says she doesn't know how much money they paid.

Pa. teen faces attempted murder charge in plot

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) - Authorities say a 15-year-old boy stole his father's guns as part of a suicidal plan to attack enemies at a suburban Philadelphia high school. Montgomery County prosecutor Risa Vetri Ferman says the boy was charged Tuesday with attempted murder and is being held in a mental health center. Ferman says the freshman gave the three guns to a friend to take to Pottstown High School. The friend instead threw the weapons in a river. The father reported the guns missing, and police investigated. Ferman describes the suspect as a loner with a history of depression. She says he does not have a lawyer.

Police add rape charges against ex-officer

YORK, Pa. (AP) - A former York City police officer facing rape charges in Baltimore is also accused of two rapes in York three months ago. York Police said they were searching for Michael Johnson Junior after he didn't turn himself in to be arraigned on the latest charges Tuesday.
Johnson is president of the Penn Township Board of Commissioners
and was a York City police officer in the late 1990s. Baltimore police previously charged him with rape for a Nov. 2 attack on a 21-year-old woman. The 40-year-old Johnson was arrested in that case after a
stand-off at his home near Hanover last week, but was freed on $100,000 bail. York District Attorney Stan Rebert says the facts in the three cases are very similar. Johnson's lawyer Christopher Ferro declined comment.

Ex-college student pleads no contest in baby death

MEDIA, Pa. (AP) - A suburban Philadelphia woman has pleaded no
contest to involuntary manslaughter in the death of the son she delivered on New Year's Day 2007. Twenty-year-old Mia Sardella of Drexel Hill faces a possible five to 10 years in prison. Sardella's mother has said she found the baby's body three weeks later in a duffel bag in the trunk of her car. Prosecutors say the college freshman delivered the baby at her parents' house. Documents show she told family member she did not feel a heartbeat. Sardella is the granddaughter of Albert Piscopo, the chief
executive of the Glenmede Trust investment firm. Her sentencing is set for Jan. 22. She remains on electronic monitoring.

Inmate dies in Erie police station holding cell

ERIE, Pa. (AP) - A 52-year-old man who was arrested for public drunkenness has died in an Erie police station holding cell. Erie police say they are not identifying the man because his family has not yet been notified. They say he was arrested late Monday on outstanding sheriff's warrants and for public intoxication. He died early Tuesday. Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook says the man was asleep in a holding cell in the Erie police station. He says police checked on him a short time later because he had stopped snoring. An officer noticed the man had stopped breathing and called for an ambulance. Cook says an autopsy will be conducted.

Ethics panel weighs fate of NE Pa. county judge

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Misbehavior by a northeastern Pennsylvania county judge has resulted in her removal from the bench. The Court of Judicial Discipline on Tuesday voted 6-to-1 to strip Luzerne County Common Pleas Judge Ann Lokuta of her judgeship and ban her from holding judicial office in the future. Lokuta is vowing to appeal but didn't make any further comment after the hearing. The ethics panel had previously described her behavior as "antithetical to standards of common decency" and ruled she failed to perform her duties, terrorized courthouse workers and had employees run personal errands. A lawyer for the Judicial Conduct Board, which brought the case against Lokuta, says the court "got it right."

Most 11th-graders flunk new Pa. science test

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania's top education official says nearly two-thirds of all 11th-graders failed the state's new science test.
Education Secretary Gerald Zahorchak said Tuesday that only 36
percent of 11th-graders scored at grade level on the Pennsylvania
System of School Assessment science test. The science test was given in the spring to students in grades four, eight and 11. The PSSA has tested students in math, reading and writing since 2002. Eighty-two percent of fourth-graders and 53 percent of eighth-graders scored at grade level on the science test. Zahorchak says the 11th-grade scores show that Pennsylvania needs to apply more rigorous statewide graduation standards.

Feds want FBI slaying suspect jailed until trial

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Federal prosecutors want a magistrate to jail
a suburban Pittsburgh woman until she stands trial on charges she
fatally shot an FBI agent who came to arrest her husband on drug charges. Prosecutors asked for detention at Christina Korbe's initial
appearance before U.S. Magistrate Robert Mitchell on Tuesday.
Mitchell ordered Korbe to remain jailed until he can hold a detention hearing on Monday. That's when prosecutors must prove she is a flight risk, or too dangerous, to be freed on bond until trial. Mitchell also explained the murder and firearms charges and their potential penalties to Korbe at the brief hearing. Korbe is charged with shooting Special Agent Sam Hicks, who went with other law enforcement officers to her Glenshaw home Nov. 19 to serve a warrant for her husband, Robert. Her previous attorney says Korbe thought she was shooting at an unidentified intruder.

CHICAGO (AP) - Illinois has seen three governors go to prison in the last 35 years, and now there could be a fourth. Federal prosecutors say Gov. Rod Blagojevich hoped to sell an appointment to President-elect Barack Obama's now-vacant Senate seat.

WASHINGTON (AP) - A few details still need to be worked out, but
lawmakers could vote on a bailout package for the U.S. auto industry later today. But there aren't many Republicans in Congress who seem to be on board and they could squash the $15 billion plan.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan's prime minister says two men
reportedly wanted by India in connection with last month's Mumbai
attacks have been arrested. Both are alleged members of a banned
militant group blamed for other attacks in India.

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - An eighth letter containing suspicious powder and addressed to a governor's office has been intercepted in Alaska. It was addressed to Gov. Sarah Palin's predecessor, Frank Murkowski, who has been out of office for two years now.

BOSTON (AP) - Veterinarians in Boston have reattached a face to a cat. It's thought the cat was injured by a car's fan belt while it was under the hood staying warm. Its owner says she found part of the cat's face dangling from its head. Remarkably, there was no major blood loss and the cat is expected to recover.