Today's News-Tuesday, January 27, 2009

POTTSVILLE MAN CHARGED WITH MISAPPROPRIATING FUNDS

A Pottsville man is facing charges of theft of funds from a city business. Thomas Wiley Jr. currently jailed in Schuylkill County Prison for running an investment scheme, is now charged with taking money from Seltzer Meat Products, where he was running the day to day operations. Between February and May of last year, Wiley allegedly took more than $24-thousand-dollars from the company, and a $5-thousand-dollar payment from Paul Lazarchick. Lazarchick was making a down payment to buy Seltzer, but Wiley put the money in his own account. Wiley is charged with theft by deception, deceptive or fraudulent business practices and other counts. A preliminary hearing on the new charges is set for Friday.

BLUE MOUNTAIN STUDENT'S CASE TRANSFERRED TO JUVENILE COURT

A 17 year old Blue Mountain student is having his case transferred to juvenile court. In December, the teen allegedly plotted to do harm to students at the school, and was originally charged as an adult with attempted homicide. Now, if found guilty, the boy would face possible confinement in a juvenile facility until he is 21 years old. Several weapons and military paraphernalia were found at the boy's home after the plot was uncovered in mid-December. The Republican and Herald reports that the boy's attorney contends that the allegations against his client were without facts to back up the charges, and that the weapons confiscated were locked up and not accessible to him.

SNOW AND ICE FORECAST

Snow and ice is expected to pass through Schuylkill County by tomorrow morning. The snow portion of the storm will move in later today into early this evening, then continue and mix with sleet into Wednesday. Possible accumulations of 3 to 6 inches are predicted and a Winter Storm Watch posted by the National Weather Service for tonight through Wednesday evening.

FIRE IN SHEPPTON ACCIDENTAL

A Sunday evening fire in Sheppton was apparently caused by a heat lamp. A state police investigation determined that yesterday. The blaze at 21 West Market Street in Sheppton started around 6:30pm Sunday. Four people lived there. The heat lamp was located in the basement. Damages to the property are estimated in excess of $50-thousand-dollars.

Luzerne County DA promises to review juvenile cases

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) - Luzerne County District Attorney Jackie Musto Carroll says her office will review cases in which offenders may have been improperly placed into juvenile detention.
This comes after federal prosecutors say two judges got $2.6 million in kickbacks in return for placing juvenile offenders into certain detention facilities. Court papers say that in some cases, Mark Ciavarella ordered children into detention even when juvenile probation officers didn't recommend it. He's charged along with Judge Michael Conahan. They have agreed to plead guilty to honest services fraud and tax fraud. The district attorney hasn't said exactly how many cases her office will review.

Judge to consider dismissing counts in Fumo trial

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A federal judge says he will consider a defense motion to dismiss some of the charges in the corruption trial of former state Sen. Vincent Fumo. U.S. District Judge Ronald Buckwalter says he will rule Tuesday on dismissing five fraud counts involving the Independence Seaport Museum. The 65-year-old Philadelphia Democrat is charged in a 139-count indictment with defrauding the state Senate, the museum and a South Philadelphia charity run by a co-defendant of more than $3.5 million. He is also charged with obstruction related to the destruction of e-mail evidence. Fumo returned to court Monday after spending two nights in the cardiac unit of a hospital where he was taken after he fell ill in court Thursday afternoon.

Pa. Sen. Specter reverses course on Geithner vote

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter voted against President Barack Obama's nominee for treasury secretary. Specter said earlier in the day that he was leaning toward supporting Timothy Geithner, who was confirmed by a 60-34 Senate vote. Geithner was confirmed after paying back more than $42,000 in unpaid taxes and interest that he owed before he was nominated. Specter joined most other Republicans in voting against Geithner.
Specter said at a Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon before the vote that he was inclined to overlook Geithner's unpaid taxes because he doesn't want a long delay in the selection of a new
treasury secretary. Geithner has described his failure to pay the taxes a matter of careless mistakes.

Eastern Pa. student, 12, hit, killed by school bus

NORTHAMPTON, Pa. (AP) - The Lehigh County coroner says the death of a 12-year-old boy killed by a school bus is a homicide. Dakota Galusha was hit Monday morning outside the Northampton Area Middle School in Northampton. Northampton School District Superintendent Linda Firestone says some students told school officials that Galusha had been pushed, causing the accident. She said investigators hoped surveillance footage from a camera near the site would help clarify what happened. Firestone says the boy had just been dropped off at the school by a parent and was climbing the hill to the school's entrance at the time.

Arson-plagued city addresses issue at City Council meeting

COATESVILLE, Pa. (AP) - More than 170 people crammed into a Coatesville City Council meeting following a spate of arson there. At Monday night's meeting, council members formalized the state of emergency called Sunday by the city manager. They added $5,000
to a reward fund and authorized the purchase of 1,000 motion sensor lights for residents to buy at cost. Police Chief William Matthews asked for the authority to impose a citywide curfew as needed. Council members said they would consider that but took no action. Coatesville is a distressed steel town of about 11,000 people that's about 35 miles west of Philadelphia.

Pa. judge keeps 9-18 year sentence for baby killer

ERIE, Pa. (AP) - A judge has reaffirmed the nine-to-18-year prison sentence he gave to a former Erie college student who killed her newborn. Erie County Judge William Cunningham said Monday that 20-year-old Teri Rhodes displayed cunning in hiding her pregnancy
and concealing the crime. He says she had other options. Rhodes' attorney, Philip Friedman, had appealed the sentence, calling it too harsh. But Cunningham says Friedman wanted to focus
only on the stress Rhodes was under while pregnant. The former Mercyhurst College student pleaded guilty to manslaughter for killing her newborn in August 2007 after hiding her pregnancy and researching ways to kill a fetus on the Internet. Cunningham has scheduled a Feb. 4 hearing on whether to release Rhodes on bail pending further appeal.

Plea solves 2006 Pa. police shooting

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A guilty plea by a Philadelphia man solves a 2006 case in which someone fired shots at suburban police officers. Federal prosecutors say 59-year-old Willie Brooks pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The plea comes from Brooks leading Newtown Township police on a high-speed chase into Tyler State Park in the summer of 2007. Police found a loaded handgun and burglary tools in his van. State police later determined that Brooks' gun was the same one used to fire shots at several Radnor Township police officers on Dec. 6, 2006. Brooks could get anywhere from 15 years in prison to life when sentenced April 27.

W.Pa. school rape suspect sentenced to supervision

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A western Pennsylvania teenager accused of raping girls on and off a suburban Pittsburgh school campus has been sentenced, but the judge isn't giving details.
Allegheny County Judge Jack McVay only says the boy will under juvenile court supervision, but he isn't saying for how long. The boy pleaded guilty to some charges last month, but the judge isn't saying to what. The Upper St. Clair High School student was charged with rape,
terroristic threats and assault. Three teenage girls say he raped them and a fourth says he
sexually assaulted her. The boy left court Monday with his family and his attorneys, all of whom declined comment. The victims and their families also declined comment. One of the victims has sued the school.

Rendell praises Obama's step on vehicle emissions

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Gov. Ed Rendell is praising a decision by President Barack Obama that could result in Pennsylvania dealers selling cars and trucks that are more earth friendly.
Obama on Monday ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider allowing California, Pennsylvania and 15 other states to control the amount of greenhouse gases in truck and car exhaust. In 2006, the Rendell administration approved a new rule following California's lead. It would have required that 2009 model year cars and light-duty trucks bought by Pennsylvania residents emit less carbon and other gases thought to contribute to global
warming. But the Bush administration rejected those efforts, and instead ordered improvements to fuel economy in cars and trucks as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Injured US soldier says he was shocked in shower

WASHINGTON (AP) - An Army military police officer from Hamburg, Pa., says he was knocked unconscious and severely burned by an electric shock in a shower trailer in Iraq. The trailer was installed by the same contractor an Army criminal investigation has pegged in an electrocution death of a soldier from Pittsburgh. Pfc. Justin Shults says he suffered his injuries last October in a shower trailer that KBR Inc. had delivered to his unit. Shults is recovering in an outpatient unit at Fort Sam Houston in Texas. He said in a telephone interview he has burns on his limbs and groin. The circumstances of Shults' injuries are similar to those that led to the death of Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, a Green Beret from Pittsburgh. Maseth was electrocuted in January 2008 while showering in his barracks in Baghdad.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Republicans will get a chance to vent their concerns about the economic stimulus package to President Barack Obama today. An Obama spokesman says the president expects to hear some good ideas. Some GOP lawmakers say the tax provisions are flawed and the price tag too high.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The executives in charge as banks started failing are generally the ones being asked to save them. An Associated Press analysis of banks receiving federal bailout money
finds nearly nine out of every 10 of the most senior executives from 2006 are still on the job.

WASHINGTON (AP) - A Senate panel will question federal regulators about the multibillion-dollar pyramid scheme allegedly spawned by disgraced money manager Bernard Madoff. The Securities and Exchange Commission has faced heavy criticism over its failure to discover the multibillion dollar Ponzi scheme.

JERUSALEM (AP) - Violence is flaring up again in Gaza. Palestinian militants have detonated a bomb targeting an Israeli army patrol along the border. Palestinian security officials also say Israeli troops shot and killed a 27-year-old man and wounded two others.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - An ice storm is making roads treacherous in several states. Ice is blamed for at least five traffic deaths. Dozens of accidents have been reported in Oklahoma and Texas, and officials as far east as Kentucky are bracing for more.