Today's News-Wednesday, January 28, 2009

ANOTHER MIXED BAG

Forecasters pegged the latest winter weather just right. Snow began last evening, blanketing the region. That precipitation will change over to sleet, freezing rain and possibly plain rain as the day wears on. Road crews have been out all night, but that doesn't mean that travel will be easy. The Winter Storm Warning remains in effect until 8pm tonight. Allow for extra time today when traveling. A Weather Watch is in effect.

CATS, CATS EVERYWHERE

Police say a Pine Grove woman stockpiled cat food donated to her purported animal sanctuary and resold some of it to finance a drug habit. Police say 50-year-old Virginia Kresge Justiniano let dozens of animals go hungry. Mary Ellen Smith of the Ruth Steinert Memorial SPCA says storage sheds on Justiniano's Pine Grove property were filled with donated cat food. Smith says the food has been sitting unused for months and possibly years. Pine Grove police Officer Mark Resue says the fenced-in facility called Cats With No Name once operated as a shelter for unwanted animals. But he says it degenerated when Justiniano and her boyfriend became hooked and began selling large quantities of cat food at auctions to buy heroin and other drugs.

PRECISIONAIRE WON'T REBUILD

An Auburn area business will not reopen their fire damaged plant. Precisionaire, which made air filters, was heavily damaged by an arson fire in September, and now the company has decided to close the plant, leaving more than 100 employees without jobs. In a company statement, Precisionaire parent, Flanders Corporation says the current economic climate determined it wasn't feasible to reopen. A former employee, 31 year old John Yerusavage of Auburn, admitted to setting the fire.

FORMER POTTSVILLE CHIEF ANNOUNCES FOR SHERIFF

A retired Pottsville police chief has announced his candidacy for the office of Schuylkill County Sheriff. 57 year old Dale Repp of North Manheim Township used the county courthouse steps to announce his bid for the Republican nomination Tuesday afternoon. Repp cites his experience for the job:

REPP

Repp has been on the faculty of McCann School of Business and Technology since his retirement in 2003. He is a graduate of Penn State University and has completed several law enforcement management programs.

BOIL ADVISORY IN PINE GROVE AREA

A boil-water advisory is in effect for Pine Grove water customers starting at the intersection of Route 125 and Shultz Road to Jecks Service Center in Ravine. This will affect approximately 50 homes. A water main break was repaired yesterday.

COAL STOLEN FROM BREAKER

State police are investigating the theft of several tons of coal from a New Castle Township breaker. Sometime between Monday and Tuesday, unknown thieves took more than 4 tons of coal from the St Nicholas Breaker, owned by Reading Anthracite. Anyone with information should call Frackville state police at 874-5300.

Rendell administration plans to cut 1,000 to 2,000 jobs

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Gov. Ed Rendell's administration expects to cut 1,000 to 2,000 jobs from the state work force. The job cuts would represent 1.3 percent to 2.6 percent of the
state's 78,000 full-time, salaried employees. Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo declined to identify which departments will be cut. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dwight Evans says he figures the state will need to plug a $5.6 billion hole as it develops a spending plan for the coming fiscal year. The Philadelphia Democrat says the state faces a $4.3 billion
income shortfall, plus nearly $1.3 billion in "increased bills." The figures combine the current year's deficit with what's needed to balance the budget in the fiscal year that starts July 1.

Pa. city struck by arsons orders porch items gone

COATESVILLE, Pa. (AP) - Another suspicious fire has broken out in Coatesville, but an official says it did no damage. The city about 30 miles west of Philadelphia had a blaze that ripped through 15 row homes over the weekend. A spokesman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says the latest fire broke out at about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in a trash can outside a residence. It was extinguished by the owner of the property, and the fire department also responded. City officials warned residents Tuesday to remove items such as
upholstered furniture, trash and debris from their porches within 24 hours or face fines. Many of the nearly 30 suspected arsons reported in the city of 11,000 since January 2008 have begun among such items.

Pa. judge denies taking kickbacks for sentencing juveniles

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) - A judge is denying allegations that he took millions of dollars in exchange for placing juvenile offenders into privately owned detention facilities. Two Luzerne County judges, including President Judge Mark Ciavarella, have agreed to plead guilty to
honest services fraud and tax fraud. But Ciavarella's lawyer says that could fall apart because his client doesn't concede all the accusations in the government's criminal complaint. He says Ciavarella won't go through with his guilty plea if the allegations remain at the time of sentencing. Specifically, he's denying that he had any child locked up because of money he was paid. Also charged in the alleged scheme is Senior Judge Michael Conahan.

Man shot by gun owned by Colts' Harrison on trial

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The former lawyer for a 32-year-old Philadelphia man shot with Marvin Harrison's gun says police had him kicked out of the hospital -- then questioned his client. Dwight Dixon is headed to trial Wednesday, accused of lying to police. Joseph Santiguida says he went to the hospital immediately after Dixon called and said he'd been shot. He says Dixon told him the Colts receiver shot him, but he didn't want to tell police that for fear of retaliation. Santiguida says when detectives entered the room to interview Dixon, he told police that Dixon didn't want to talk. Santiguida says he and the officers got into an argument, that police had hospital personnel order him to leave and then questioned Dixon.

2 survivors of double-fatal Pa. crash discharged

DANVILLE, Pa. (AP) - Two Drexel University students who survived a double-fatal crash in north-central Pennsylvania have been discharged from a hospital. Tuesday's discharges of 19-year-old driver Andrew Cardamone and 18-year-old Kevin MacDonald means only two remain hospitalized with injuries from Sunday's crash. A nursing supervisor at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville says 18-year-old Eric Rayburn was in fair condition Tuesday night. Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre reported Adam Marsh also in fair condition. Sunday's pre-dawn one-vehicle crash killed 21-year-old John Williamson Jr. and 22-year-old Ian Alexander. All involved were
from Philadelphia and its suburbs. It remained unclear Tuesday what caused Cardamone to lose control of the vehicle.

Phila. police report vehicular assault on officer

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A Philadelphia police officer is hospitalized from what police say was a deliberate car crash. Police say it happened during a Tuesday night traffic stop in the city's Grays Ferry neighborhood. Police say the driver who was pulled over put the car into reverse and slammed into the police car, pinning the officer in between. The officer has a hip injury but is expected to recover.

Human error suspected in Philly train accident

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A transit agency spokesman says human error is suspected as the cause of an accident that delayed Philadelphia commuter rail but caused no major injuries.
A work train ran into the back of a commuter train at about 4:40 a.m. Tuesday near the Fern Rock station in North Philadelphia. At the time of the crash, two Southeastern Pennsylvania
Transportation Authority employees and 16 passengers were on the commuter train and five crew members were on the work train. Nine people were treated and released at a hospital.
SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney says initial inspections of the signal, communications and mechanical systems showed all were working properly.

Pa. man gets life for high school athlete's death

BEAVER, Pa. (AP) - A western Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to life in prison for the first-degree murder of a high school football and basketball player. Beaver County Judge Richard Mancini sentenced 19-year-old Dennis Hauser Jr. on Monday for the shooting death of 19-year-old Tyler Wade-Epps, a Rochester Area High School student. Mancini also added
three to seven years for illegal gun possession. A jury convicted Hauser in September. Authorities say Hauser shot Wade-Epps several times in a parking lot of Aliquippa's Linmar Terrace housing complex on April 7, 2007. Wade-Epps' mother, Brenda Epps, asked Hauser in court why he shot her son, but Hauser didn't answer.

Pa. Sen. Specter explains Geithner vote

WASHINGTON (AP) - Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter says he ultimately voted against President Barack Obama's nominee for treasury secretary over a tax issue. Timothy Geithner was confirmed by a 60-34 Senate vote Monday, after paying back more than $42,000 in unpaid taxes and interest that he owed before he was nominated. Specter told reporters Tuesday that when Geithner was audited, he only paid the taxes that were within the statute of limitations.
Specter says Geithner knew how much he owed for 2001 and 2002 and should have paid that even though he couldn't be prosecuted for it. Specter joined most other Republicans in voting against Geithner, though he said earlier Monday that he was inclined to vote yes.

WASHINGTON (AP) - An $825 billion economic stimulus plan of tax cuts and new spending is likely to pass the Democrat-controlled House today. President Barack Obama has promised to consider Republican ideas, but they likely won't be incorporated before the House vote.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama heads to the Pentagon today to talk about Iraq with the four U.S. military service chiefs. Obama has promised to withdraw combat troops and the service chiefs are among those who have expressed concerns about long, repeated deployments.

BAGHDAD (AP) - The main voting isn't until Saturday but Iraqis who are needed to work that day can cast ballots today in provincial elections. Authorities hope the election will open the
political process to more groups and further erode support for extremists.

WASHINGTON (AP) - A report from top engineers suggests much of America's infrastructure is essentially on life-support. The American Society of Civil Engineers says the cost to fix it all is
roughly three times the amount of the president's stimulus package.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - An MP3 player containing U.S. military files is now in American hands. A New Zealand man discovered the files, including names and telephone numbers of American soldiers. He says he bought the player at a thrift shop in Oklahoma last year.