Today's News-Monday, January 26, 2009

THREE SERIOUSLY INJURED IN SUNDAY CRASH

Three Auburn residents were seriously injured in a two vehicle crash Sunday afternoon in Deer Lake. 22 year old Timothy Hostetter was driving southbound on Route 61 and 68 year old Barry Deeds was headed north. After passing the intersection with Route 895, Hostetter's car left the roadway and hit the guiderail and careened across Route 61, hitting Deed's SUV head on. Hostetter and 66 year old Abby Deeds, a passenger in the second car, were flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital. Barry Deeds was taken to Reading Hospital via ambulance. State police say the crash happened around 2:30pm Sunday.

STABBING IN CITY

An apparent family argument led to the stabbing of a Pottsville man Saturday night. Pottsville police say that 41 year old Todd Richter of Cressona pulled a switchblade on 25 year old Travis Kromer and stabbed him in the stomach. Richter reportedly waited at the 20th Street home in Pottsville until police arrived. Kromer is in the hospital in critical condition. Richter was arraigned on charges of aggravated and simple assault and other counts. He is lodged in Schuylkill County Prison in lieu of $25-thousand-dollars bail.

FIRE HEAVILY DAMAGES WAYNE TOWNSHIP HOME

A Sunday afternoon blaze heavily damaged a Wayne Township home. The fire broke out after lunchtime at 5 June Avenue, owned by Steven Michael. The Republican and Herald reports that someone was using a blowtorch in the basement, causing the fire. Michael's wife and two children escaped without injury. Fire crews from Friedensburg, Schuylkill Haven and surrounding communities battled the smoky blaze.

MCADOO MAN CHARGED WITH FLEEING POLICE

A McAdoo man is charged with fleeing from police on an ATV. State troopers from the Frackville barracks say that 49 year old Brian Kolbush was driving an ATV on Sherman Street and Route 309, without a helmet and without a license plate. He was also going the wrong way on a one way street. When troopers tried to stop Kolbush, he fled. He was stopped a short time later, and was charged with several vehicle code violations. The incident happened Saturday afternoon in McAdoo.

Fire strikes 15 row homes in southeastern Pa.; city declares state of emergency amid arson string

COATESVILLE, Pa. (AP) - The suburban Philadelphia city of Coatesville has declared a state of emergency after the latest in a string of suspicious fires heavily damaging 15 row homes,
displacing dozens of people. City Manager Harry Walker says authorities believe the 11:30
p.m. Saturday blaze was deliberately set. He says damage is estimated at $1.2 million, bringing the total fire damage since last summer to $3 million. The American Red Cross of southeastern Pennsylvania says it is helping 50 people in 14 families - 32 adults and 18 children. At least 30 arsons have been reported since the beginning of last year, about half of them in the last three weeks and following three arrests in December. The latest fire came despite stepped-up
police patrols and investigative help from county, state and federal agencies. Several rewards have been offered in exchange for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the string of arsons.

2 Drexel students dead, 4 injured in Pa. crash

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Drexel University officials say two students were killed and four other students were seriously injured in a one-car crash in north-central Pennsylvania. Drexel spokesman Noah Cohen has confirmed to The Associated Press that the six-men, ages 18 to 22, in the car that crashed early Sunday on southbound Route 15 in Lycoming County were
students at the Philadelphia school. Pennsylvania state police say no information about the accident near Liberty, about 30 miles northwest of Williamsport, is being released pending an investigation. State police identified those killed as 21-year-old John P. Williamson Jr., of Havertown, and 22-year-old Ian Alexander, of Royersford. Police say it was not known whether they were wearing seat belts. Trooper Travis Doebler says in a report that the other four men
were wearing seat belts and are hospitalized in serious condition. They are identified as Andrew F. Cardamone, 19, of Philadelphia, the driver, and Eric S. Rayburn, 18, of Quakertown; Kevin A.
Macdonald, 18, of Philadelphia, and Adam D. Marsh, 20, of Collegeville.

Delaware State Police say aggressive driving a factor in I-95 crash that killed 3

CLAYMONT, Del. (AP) - Delaware state police say aggressive driving was a factor in a crash that killed three people on Interstate 95. Police say witnesses reported that shortly before the crash the driver of a sports utility vehicle was speeding and aggressively passing other vehicles.
Three people were killed and a fourth was critically injured after the SUV crossed the median on Interstate 95 into oncoming traffic. The accident happened around 1:30 p.m. Saturday on I-95
north of Marsh Road. Police say a 50-year-old Wilmington man and 47-year-old Wilmington woman in the Explorer and the 72-year-old driver of the sedan died. The 78-year-old Philadelphia woman who was a passenger in the sedan was taken to Christiana Hospital in critical condition.

Pa. slots revenue, race purses yield breeding boom; studs include 1998 Derby winner Real Quiet

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania is the rare state enjoying an upswing in horse breeding with the help of millions of dollars in new funding from slots revenues. In fact, Penn Ridge Farms in Swatara Township, near Harrisburg, is the home of 1998 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Real Quiet. Breeder Mike Jester is the majority owner of both the farm and
the prized horse, which commands a $7,500 stud fee. Jester says it's not easy to get a Kentucky Derby winner out of that state. The Jockey Club says the number of mares bred in Pennsylvania
last year climbed more than 30 percent last year, although there was a drop in the number in the nation as a whole. The state Gaming Control Board says purses in Pennsylvania soared from $55 million in 2006 to $144.3 million in 2007.

Pa. charter school has ice rink, needs skaters; critics say money is being wasted

BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) - Critics are questioning whether the figure skating program at Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Performing Arts is worth the cost. Students in the classroom-on-ice spend two hours a day working on their turns, jumps and spins. But only 17 of the school's 420 students are enrolled in the figure skating program five years after its inception. Their home districts pay about $135,000 combined for their education. The school's mission is to offer a comprehensive education program "for students with proven, exceptional talents." But Superintendent Tom Lubben and skating director Bill Fitzpatrick acknowledge that they have allowed students with minimal skating ability to enroll. Some were steered to the program after failing auditions for the school's dance, theater, music and visual arts programs.
They defend the policy, saying there's more to skating than the ability to perform a camel spin.

Lawyer: Ex-Pa. Sen. Fumo's trial to resume Monday

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Former state Sen. Vincent Fumo is scheduled to be back in court Monday for the resumption of his corruption trial despite medical problems that sent him to the cardiac unit of a hospital for two nights. Sixty-five-year-old Fumo was taken to Hahnemann University Hospital from the courthouse Thursday with chest pain, dizziness and other symptoms. His condition was upgraded from fair to good on Saturday morning, and a hospital spokesman said Saturday night he had been discharged. Defense attorney Dennis Cogan would not disclose whether Fumo will testify and also declined to detail Fumo's medical condition.
Prosecutors are nearly finished with their three-month parade of witnesses, and the defense could start putting on its case by Tuesday. Fumo's health problems in recent months have included a heart attack in March and an apparent dizzy spell in June that caused him to collapse on the Senate floor.

Prosecutors withdraw attempted murder charge in stabbing of elderly housemate near Philly

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) - Prosecutors in suburban Philadelphia have dropped an attempted murder charge against a 75-year-old woman with apparent dementia in the stabbing of a sleeping housemate. But Christine Peters of Audubon is still charged with aggravated assault and a weapons count. She remains in a Montgomery County emergency facility after an involuntary commitment. Prosecutors allege that she stabbed the 81-year-old housemate in
the torso and knee on Jan. 3. He has been released from a hospital. Assistant District Attorney Tracey Potere says police were frequently called to the home last year. The prosecutor says it's a sad case all around.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrats are warning against lofty expectations of a quick fix despite efforts to pump billions of dollars into the economy. Leaders made the rounds of the Sunday
talk shows. President Barack Obama meets with Republican lawmakers this week in hopes of drumming up support.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Critics are asking a serious question about pumping billions into education as part of a plan to help jump-start the staggering economy. Republicans say schools will get too used to all that money and the funding may become impossible to roll back.

NEW YORK (AP) - There could be a big drug deal announced this morning. Drugmakers Pfizer and Wyeth are closing in on a deal worth $68 billion. The New York Times and Wall Street Journal report Pfizer, the maker of Lipitor and Viagra, is working on final financing.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - The impeachment trial that could remove Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich from office starts today -- without the defendant. He's refusing to take part, claiming the deck is stacked against him. Instead, Blagojevich will be on a national media blitz.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Meryl Streep and Sean Penn are the lead actor winners at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Streep won for the Roman Catholic drama "Doubt." Penn wins for the Harvey Milk film biography "Milk." Overall cast goes to "Slumdog Millionaire."