Today's News-Saturday, January 17, 2009

SENAVITIS POSTS BAIL

The Carbon County man who is charged with vehicular homicide and related counts in the death of Senator Jim Rhoades has posted bail. Reports indicate that 45-year-old Thomas Senavitis of Towamensing Township paid the $25 thousand dollars cash to get out of jail. He was arrested Wednesday at the District Judge's office in Palmerton, where his wife Dolores was to have a hearing about assault charges against her. Investigators say that Senavitis was too drunk to be driving on October 17th when his truck went into the northbound lane of Route 209 in Broadheadsville, and struck Senator Rhoades Cadillac head on. He died from his injuries the next day, and Mary Edith Rhoades was seriously hurt. Senavitis has maintained his innocence in the crash throughout the investigation.

BREAK IN AT GROCERY STORE

State police from Schuylkill Haven are investigating an overnight Thursday break in at a Cressona grocery store. Someone entered the Chestnut Street Market on Route 183 through the rear of the building, pried open an ATM inside and removed cash. The bandits also went through other parts of the store, taking lottery tickets, cash, a laptop computer and other items. The investigation continues, and state police need your help. If you have any leads, call them at 593-2000.

SCHUYLKILL LAW ENFORCEMENT JOINS VICTIM NOTIFICATION SYSTEM

Schuylkill County law enforcement officials have unveiled another way for victims of crimes to know where their offender is. District Attorney Jim Goodman said Friday that the county has joined SAVIN, the statewide automated victim information and notification system. Goodman says that crime victims deserve to know where those who committed crimes against them are. The system has been implemented on a county by county basis. Residents can register to receive information about an offender's transfer, release or escape, either through a toll free number or on the web.

TRUCK PEELED BACK UNDER CRESSONA BRIDGE

It only took 15 days in the new year for a truck to hit the Cressona railroad bridge. This one didn't get stuck. Schuylkill Haven state police have charged a Harrisburg truck driver, Guy Cordaro, for driving a box truck under the bridge on Route 183, peeling the top back. This is the first time in nearly 7 months that a vehicle struck the bridge, after Penn DOT put new warning signs up to alert drivers of the 11 foot 8 inch underpass.

MARTIN LUTHER KING WEEK

This week is Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Week in Pennsylvania, thanks to a resolution passed unanimously in the state Senate. The sponsor of the resolution says Dr. King's birthday celebration is a special one this year. Don Rooney has more:

ROONEY KING

CRIME PREVENTION

Crime does not just happen. There are three elements that must be present. As Sid Michaels says, crime prevention means being aware and using common sense.

MICHAELS

FARM SHOW ENTERS FINAL DAY

The 93rd annual Pennsylvania Farm Show wraps up today in Harrisburg. Chuck Gill has a preview:

GILL

Deal reached on Flight 93 crash site in W. Pa.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A western Pennsylvania land owner has agreed to sell land where a hijacked plane crashed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks so a memorial can be built to the victims.
The National Park Service, Families of Flight 93 and land owner Svonavec, Inc. announced the agreement Friday night. The agreement allows the National Park Service access to the
274-acre site in Shanksville, Pa., to plan and construct the memorial. The parties also agree to allow a court to determine the value of the land. The planned memorial is to cover more than 2,200 acres.

Ordinary Pennsylvanians share inaugural limelight

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - President-elect Barack Obama is in Philadelphia, preparing for a symbolic train trip to Washington that follows the trip Abraham Lincoln took in 1861. Ordinary Pennsylvanians involved in the events include a Fairless Hills Amtrak conductor who will ride on the train as a special guest. The conductor worked on the train Vice President-elect Biden took from his Delaware home to Washington every day. And the parade following the inauguration will include a Boy Scout troop from Philadelphia, a high-school marching band from the
Pittsburgh area and a drum-and-bugle corps from Allentown.

Obama's rail car embodies 'grandeur of 1930s'

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - The rail car President-elect Barack Obama will ride to Washington for his inauguration contains the trappings of a fine hotel or yacht. It has painted walls, cherry wood, brass Pullman lamps and modern amenities for a comfortable ride. The Georgia 300, a shiny blue car built in 1930, can hold six to eight people comfortably for Saturday's ride from Philadelphia. The leased car is plush and upholstered with a kitchen and two living areas as well as a bedroom and dining room. Obama is already acquainted with the rail car, which he used in
April on a whistle-stop tour from Philadelphia to Harrisburg.

Phila. police seize 68 kilograms of cocaine

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Philadelphia police say they've arrested tree people who were trafficking 68 kilograms of cocaine. eputy Commissioner Bill Blackburn says the cocaine was hidden inside furniture that was filled a rental truck. Police stopped the truck Friday afternoon in the Juniata Park neighborhood of Philadelphia and got a search warrant. In addition to the cocaine, Blackburn says police seized three handguns and "an undetermined amount of U.S. currency." Blackburn says investigators are still trying to determine the real names of the three people arrested. He says city police will ask federal authorities to take over the investigation.

3 groups interested in Pittsburgh-area toll road

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Three private groups are interested in building part of a toll road connecting the Pittsburgh area with West Virginia. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission doesn't have enough money to finish the Mon-Fayette Expressway, so it sought interest from
private operators to finish a 24-mile section around Pittsburgh. The groups - Mon Valley Public Private Partners; Global Via Infrastructuras and URS Corp.; and Infrastructure Development and Dragados USA - notified the turnpike commission by Friday's deadline. A turnpike commission spokesman says the groups said more analysis is needed before estimating the cost. It will likely be months before a winning bidder is chosen.

Police: 13-year-old boy kills 14-year-old in Pa.

PORT ROYAL, Pa. (AP) - Police say a 14-year-old boy is dead after being shot by a 13-year-old boy in central Pennsylvania's Juniata County. Police say the boys were alone in a home in Port Royal at the time of Friday afternoon's shooting. The older boy was dead when police arrived.
Juniata County School District Superintendent Kenneth Albaugh says counseling will be available when children return to school on Tuesday following the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. Port Royal is a little over 30 miles northwest of Harrisburg.

Body found in Pa. motel parking lot

STROUDSBURG, Pa. (AP) - Police say the death of a man whose body was found in a northeastern Pennsylvania parking lot is suspicious. The body of 22-year-old Blake Natal of Tobyhanna was found Thursday night in the lot of a Stroudsburg motel. Stroud Area Regional Police say an autopsy found there were no obvious signs of trauma. More tests will be needed to determine Natal's cause of death.

Pa. man convicted of murdering McDonald's manager

READING, Pa. (AP) - An eastern Pennsylvania man faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison after being convicted of the 2007 murder of a McDonald's restaurant manager. Berks County authorities say 29-year-old Yonel Hernandez-Payero helped plan the botched robbery that led to the death of 40-year-old Shawnee Koch. Hernadez-Payero was convicted Friday of second-degree murder, robbery, aggravated assault and related charges. Defense lawyer Robert Kirwan told the jury that the prosecution had not proven his client's guilt. He says it's ironic that the triggerman is expected to get a shorter sentence because of a plea bargain. Xavier Rodriguez-Colon, who's now 17, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and faces a sentence of 20 to 40 years.

Home repossessions nearly doubled in Pa. last year

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The number of Pennsylvania homes repossessed from homeowners who fell behind on their mortgage payments nearly doubled in 2008 as more people lost their jobs, businesses and nest eggs. New figures from RealtyTrac Inc. show that the percentage
increase of repossessed homes in Pennsylvania last year is similar to the nation's. Lenders repossessed more than 10,800 Pennsylvania homes in 2008, up from about 5,500 in 2007 and nearly 6,700 in 2006. Still, Pennsylvania is in better shape than many other states since it avoided much of the nation's heaviest job losses and real estate speculation. Overall, Pennsylvania's 2008 foreclosure rate ranked 33rd among the 50 states and Washington, D.C., or about one-third the national average.

Heinz drops pickle, adds tomato to ketchup label

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Goodbye gherkin, hello tomato. After more than 110 years, Pittsburgh-based H.J. Heinz Co. is giving the tomato top billing on its namesake ketchup and bumping the pickle from the label of one of America's most iconic brands. Bottles of the market-leading ketchup with the new label are shipping now and should arrive in stores next week. The ketchup doesn't contain any pickles. Founder H.J. Heinz used a "pickle pin" to attract attention to his booth at the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893. The pins were popular, and the branding stuck. The company still gets as many as 15,000 pickle pin requests a year through its Web site and a consumer hot line.

WASHINGTON (AP) - A nationwide salmonella outbreak is leading Kellogg to recall 16 products that contain peanut butter. The outbreak has sickened people in 43 states. Six people have died.
Officials have confirmed contamination at Georgia-based Peanut Corporation that supplies peanut products to 85 food companies.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Israeli leaders are nearing a vote on an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire. In the meantime the Israeli military has kept up its offensive against Hamas, both through the air and on the ground in Gaza.

NEW YORK (AP) - Divers and sonar operators will head for a murky Hudson River today in search of two engines from a US Airways jetliner that splashed down after colliding with birds. It's thought the engines have been carried somewhere cold and dark by the river's strong tides.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The National Park Service has reached a deal to buy the land in western Pennsylvania where Flight 93 crashed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. A court will decide how much the 274 acres in Shanksville is worth. Victim's families consider the land the "soul" of a future memorial.

VALEMOUNT, British Columbia (AP) - A snowmobiler has died after being buried by an avalanche on a mountain in British Columbia. One person survived. In the past several weeks, avalanches have killed 15 people in the region.