Today's News-Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Icy weather expected

The next 24 hours could be a real adventure for travelers, as another wintry mix is expected to hit the region. The National Weather Service has issued an Ice Storm Warning from midday through Wednesday afternoon. The system moving from the Tennessee Valley will move north, starting as snow, then freezing rain and sleet through midday Wednesday. Temperatures will hover around freezing, which could create significant ice buildup. Stay tuned for more updates.

Fire blamed on chimney

We now know the cause of the New Year's Day fire that destroyed a Pottsville apartment building. Fire officials say that the accidental fire at 1324-1326 Mahantongo Street started in the chimney, and spread to an adjoining wall. Three people were displaced from the blaze. Damages are in excess of $250-thousand-dollars.

Theft at auto lot

State police are looking for the individuals who took auto parts from an area car lot. Sometime over the weekend, thieves took a number of items from B&B Pre Owned Autos on Route 61. The investigation continues.

Spring Glen woman hurt in Wayne Township crash

A Spring Glen woman suffered minor injuries in a crash Monday on Route 183. 62 year old Catherine Santai was attempting to turn onto 183 from Schwartz Valley Road, and pulled into the path of a car driven by a 17 year old Auburn boy. The teen's car spun after impact. Santai was taken to Schuylkill Medical Center East for treatment of minor injuries. State police say the crash happened before 10pm last night.

Stats for New Years travel

Seven people died on the state's roads during the New Year's travel period. State police Commissioner Frank Pawlowski says four of those fatalities were alcohol related. Two hundred seventy eight people were injured in the nearly 1-thousand-crashes investigated by troopers. Five of those killed were not wearing their seat belts. Last year, 8 people were killed and 334 people injured in more than 12-hundred crashes investigated by state police.

Blood Donor Days

If your 2009 to-do list includes becoming a blood donor, you have several opportunities to make a difference in someone's lives during the American Red Cross Blood Donor Days. WPPA and T102 are proud to partner with the Red Cross for blood drives at the following locations...Wednesday at Fairlane Village Mall, Thursday at Jerusalem Lutheran Church in Schuylkill Haven and Friday at the Auburn Fire and Ambulance building. Take a moment...make an appointment now by calling 1-800-GIVE-LIFE. You'll be glad you did.
A large number of people turned out yesterday at Mahanoy Area High School to donate blood in memory of the late Senator Jim Rhoades.

Bush to discuss education law in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - George W. Bush is visiting Philadelphia one last time as president.
Bush will be in the city on Thursday, the seventh anniversary of the day he signed the No Child Left Behind law. Bush plans to offer up a final defense of the law, which tries to force schools to improve test scores each year. The law has grown more unpopular since it was enacted. That's
partly over funding issues and partly because some parents think schools spend too much time on test preparation. President-elect Barack Obama pledged during the campaign to overhaul the law, but his campaign also said he would not stop the annual tests. Bush's event will be held Thursday morning at General Philip Kearny School in the Northern Liberties neighborhood

Pa. legislative session to start with swearing-in

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Newly elected state lawmakers preparing for their inauguration as the two-year legislative session gets under way. In the state House of Representatives, 12 Republicans and 15 Democrats are expected to take the oath for the first time today. There will be five Republican freshmen in the Senate and two newly elected Democrats. Rep. Keith McCall is expected to be elected speaker of the House, but the Carbon County Democrat faces a challenge from Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, a Butler County Republican. Democrats control the House, 104-99. The Senate is in Republican hands, 29-20, with one vacancy. A special election to fill the vacancy created by the October death of Sen. Jim Rhoades is scheduled for March 3.

Philladelphia prosecutor plans to speak about Harrison investigation

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham plans to announce the results of an investigation involving Marvin Harrison. Abraham has a news conference scheduled Tuesday about the Indianapolis Colts receiver's case. Harrison has been questioned by police about a shooting near his North Philadelphia car wash in the spring. He's also being sued by Dwight Dixon, who says he was the victim of that shooting and that Harrison was the gunman. Calls to Harrison's attorney, Jerome Brown, and his agent, Tom Condon, were not immediately returned.

Phone exec says Fumo sought $50 million in demands

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The former president of Verizon Pennsylvania says Vincent Fumo sought $50 million worth of demands during negotiations over phone-industry deregulation.
Retired executive Daniel Whelan has testifed against the former state senator in his corruption trial. Whelan says Fumo's demands included $15 million for a small South Philadelphia charity linked to ex-Sen. Vincent Fumo; $10 million for neighborhood redevelopment in Fumo's district; and $10 million in deposits in Pennsylvania Savings Bank. That's the Philadelphia Democrat's family bank. Fumo is not charged with any wrongdoing in the Verizon matter, and his lawyers fought to keep Whelan off the stand. Fumo's lawyer, Dennis Cogan, is expected to cross-examine Whelan when the trial resumes Tuesday.

Constable in Philly suburbs removed by judge

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A constable in the Philadelphia suburbs says he will appeal a judge's order that says he can no longer serve. West Conshohocken Constable Michael Solow is accused
of improperly evicting a family and searching another home without a warrant. Solow says he didn't evict the family, but rather the landlord locked them out. With the search, he says he didn't need a warrant because he had permission from the resident. Montgomery County prosecutors sought Solow's removal. Assistant District Attorney Anthony Gil says Solow's history of improper acts goes back to the 1990s. Constables serve legal papers, transport prisoners and perform other duties for district courts.

SEC watchdog undertakes wide-ranging Madoff review

WASHINGTON (AP) - A Pennsylvania congressman says perhaps the Securities and Exchange Commission failed to uncover an alleged $50 billion fraud because its budget was too small.
Democrat Paul Kanjorski made the remark at a hearing over Wall Street figure Bernard Madoff. Kanjorksi is the charman of the committee. But an Alabama Republican on the panel, Rep. Spencer Bachus, says the problem was regulatory gaps, not the level of funding. Bachus says Congress should create a regulatory structure "for the 21st century." The SEC's internal watchdog, Inspector General H. David Kotz, says his office's probe will go beyond specific issues that SEC Chairman Christopher Cox asked him to investigate. He says his office also will examine the operations of the SEC's enforcement and inspection divisions and will make recommendations.

No appeal in Pittsburgh-area drink tax ruling

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato says he won't appeal a ruling restricting how money from a drink tax can be spent. A county judge says the tax on alcohol drinks sold in bars and restaurants can only be used for the county's transit agency. Onorato wanted to spend a $12 million surplus from the tax on road and bridge improvements and said the county faced a $12 million to $22 million budget deficit if it couldn't use the excess money.
Onorato said Monday he will give the money to the Port Authority for future capital improvements. He says that frees up money the county would have borrowed in the future.
Onorato pushed for the tax to raise $27 million a year to fund the transit agency, saying property taxes would rise without it. Onorato says there are no plans to raise property taxes.

Boeing ex-worker gets prison for copter damage

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A former Boeing employee who vandalized a $24 million military helicopter says he was frustrated at work. The lawyer for 33-year-old Matthew Montgomery, of Trevose, says he took out his frustration on a machine because he couldn't harm a person. The helicopter would not have been able to fly, so there was no risk of injury. The damage was readily spotted by plant officials two days later. Montgomery told a judge at Monday's sentencing that he now knows factory work isn't for him. He's getting five months in prison and
five months on home confinement and was ordered to pay $110,000 in restitution.

Philly judge insists that libraries stay open

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A Philadelphia judge has refused to rescind her decision ordering the city to keep 11 library branches open. The libraries had been slated for closure on Dec. 31 due to
budget cuts. But Common Pleas Court Judge Idee Fox ruled last week that the branches must remain open. She issued a written decision codifying the ruling on Monday, despite last-minute arguments from City Solicitor Shelley Smith. Fox cited a 1988 ordinance requiring City Council approval to close any city-owned building. She also noted that land under two branch sites would revert to its original owners if libraries stopped operating there. Mayor Michael Nutter plans to appeal. He says all 54 libraries will now operate on reduced schedules.

US Steel to halt production of some pipes in Texas

DALLAS (AP) - A Texas-based unit of United States Steel Corp. says it will stop making certain steel pipes used in the automotive and mining industries in an effort to focus on core businesses.
U.S. Steel Tubular Products Inc. says its departure from the drawn-over-mandrel pipe business will affect about 50 employees and result in a pretax charge of $25 million in the fourth quarter of 2008. The company will close lines that make the pipes in Lone Star, Texas. The pipes accounted for less than 3 percent of U.S. Steel's tubular steel shipments last year. The product line was part of Lone Star Technologies Inc., a Dallas-based welded pipe maker that U.S. Steel bought for $2 billion in 2007.

Man caught in Pennsylvania family's attic 'sorry and upset'

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) - An Arkansas man who allegedly squatted in the attic of a Pennsylvania family's home over Christmas and helped himself to their belongings says he's "sorry and upset" it happened. Police say 21-year-old Stanley Carter stole food, clothing, cash
and Christmas presents from the home of Stacy Ferrance outside Wilkes-Barre. Carter waived his right to a preliminary hearing Monday. His attorney, public defender Basil Russin, says Carter is "very sorry and upset it happened. He was very peaceful up there and kept to
himself." Carter had been staying with friends who are Ferrance's neighbors in a twin house. He apparently accessed the shared attic through a trap door in a bedroom ceiling and lived their for
several days. Police found Carter Dec. 26 when they took a dog to search the home.

Woman who bowled with Obama to attend inauguration

WASHINGTON (AP) - Roxanne Hart beat President-elect Barack Obama at bowling, but apparently he has no hard feelings. The Altoona, Pa., woman and her husband, Donald James Hart, are expected to attend Obama's swearing-in on Jan. 20. They were invited by Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey. In March, Roxanne Hart was bowling in her hometown when Obama and Casey stopped in for a campaign visit. Hart gave Obama pointers and was later invited to join their bowling game. Despite her help, Obama bowled a paltry 37. He later joked that, if elected, he would replace the White House bowling alley with a basketball court.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The new Congress convenes today and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says lawmakers "will hit the ground running." Democrats are ready to get to work on an economic
recovery package worth as much as $775 billion.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The economic stimulus package pushed by President-elect Barack Obama would allow some businesses posting losses in 2008 to get refunds on taxes they paid as far back as five years. Under current law, businesses can use losses to offset profits the two previous years.

BAGHDAD (AP) - Five former Blackwater security guards are expected to plead not guilty to manslaughter charges today. Witnesses say an unprovoked shooting in Baghdad in 2007 left 17
Iraqis dead. But radio logs seem to back Blackwater's assertion that the guards reacted after they were attacked.

GAZA CITY, Gaza (AP) - International pressure has been mounting on Israel to end its assault on Gaza, but Palestinians say the attacks have only intensified this morning. At least 18 people have been killed, and only two were immediately confirmed as militants.

NEW YORK (AP) - Even New York City's high-end housing market is struggling. A new report says the median sales price of a luxury apartment slipped nearly 4 percent between October and December compared to the same period a year ago. The median price is still more than $4 million.