Today's News-Wednesday, February 18, 2009

WEATHER WATCH

DISMISSALS

BLUE MOUNTAIN: HIGH SCHOOL & MIDDLE SCHOOL 1:30,
ELEMENTARY 2:00

MAHANOY AREA: HIGH SCHOOL & MIDDLE SCHOOL 1:00,
ELEMENTARY 1:30

MINERSVILLE: TWO HOUR EARLY DISMISSAL

POTTSVILLE AREA: HIGH SCHOOL 1:00, MIDDLE SCHOOL 1:30, ELEMENTARY 1:45

SAINT AMBROSE: 1:50 DISMISSAL, NO PREP CLASS TONIGHT

SAINT CLAIR AREA: 1:45 DISMISSAL

SAINT NICHOLAS/MINERSVILLE: 12:30 DISMISSAL, NO AFTER-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES

SAINT STEPHEN’S/PORT CARBON: 1:30 DISMISSAL

SCHUYLKILL HAVEN AREA: 1:30 DISMISSAL

TAMAQUA AREA: TWO HOUR EARLY DISMISSAL

TRINITY ACADEMY: 1:00 DISMISSAL

WILLIAMS VALLEY: HIGH SCHOOL 1:00, ELEMENTARY 1:30, NO AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES

OTHER
DALINDA DANCE STUDIO CLASSES CANCELLED
DISTRICT 24 LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL MEETING PPD TO MARCH 4TH.
SCHUYLKILL YOUTH SYMPHONY PRACTICE CANCELLED
SCHUYLKILL YWCA TUMBLE TUNS TONIGHT CANCELLED





NURSING HOME THEFT

A former nursing home administrator, accused of theft, will have her case move to county court. 55 year old Sharon Haley, the former head of Pinebrook Personal Care Center, Orwigsburg, waived her right to a preliminary hearing yesterday. The Republican and Herald reports that Haley is accused of taking monies from the nursing home and four residents, resulting in 5 counts of theft being lodged against her. Haley is alleged to have written checks totaling nearly $9-thousand-dollars from the nursing home patient trust fund and received monies from other patients, but reportedly didn't use the monies as intended. Haley said she used the monies for Pinebrook residents or to pay bills for the nursing home. She remains free on bail pending court action.

SEX CHARGES WILL GO TO COURT AGAINST POTTSVILLE MAN

A Pottsville man remains in prison, and waived his right to a preliminary hearing on charges that he sexually assaulted two boys in Schuylkill Haven late last year. 42 year old Gene Edwards admitted to two counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault and other charges for alleged inappropriate contact with the boys, ages 4 and 2. District Judge James Ferrier bound the charges over for court.

TWO ESCAPE INJURY IN LATE NIGHT CRASH

Two women escaped injury when the car they were riding in rolled over on Second Mountain Road last night. 20 year old Amanda Breidigan was traveling west when she swerved off the road, and her car struck a PennDOT sign and a tree. After impact, the car spun counterclockwise and rolled down an embankment. The car came to rest on its roof. Breidigan and her passenger were not wearing their seatbelts, according to state police. The car was severely damaged.

Sprague to rebut Fumo's testimony in corruption trial

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Prominent Philadelphia attorney Richard Sprague is expected to testify for the government in the corruption trial of former state Sen. Vincent Fumo. Sprague is being called to rebut Fumo's testimony that he was following Sprague's advice that e-mail messages could be destroyed lawfully. The government says that was obstruction of justice. Sprague was Fumo's longtime friend, lawyer and a man he has described as a "father figure." Sprague represented Fumo from the investigation's early stages in 2003 through the February 2007 indictment, but left the case before trial after an apparent falling out.

Jury selection begins in Pa. porn murder trial

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) - Jury selection has begun in the case of a Virginia man accused of killing a rival gay porn producer in his northeastern Pennsylvania home. Luzerne County prosecutors say 27-year-old Harlow Cuadra and another man killed Bryan Kocis in his Dallas, Pa., home, then set his house on fire. Jury selection began Tuesday. Cuadra's co-defendant, 35-year-old Joseph Kerekes, pleaded guilty in December to second-degree murder and got life in prison without parole. Kerekes said he would not testify against Cuadra. Cuadra and Kerekes are both from Virginia Beach, Va.

2 security guards injured at Pa. high school basketball game

STROUDSBURG, Pa. (AP) - Two security guards injured in a fight after a high school basketball game in northeastern Pennsylvania haven't been able to return to work a week and a half later. Police say the guards were injured Feb. 6. They were trying to break up a fight between players from the visiting Stroudsburg Area High School boys team and supporters of the home team, Pleasant Valley High School. Police say one of the injured guards had a broken back, ribs and knee. Pleasant Valley Superientendent Douglas Arnold said Tuesday that both guards were unable to return to work. Six students have been suspended from their schools and are charged with assault and disorderly conduct.

Temp agency owner faces prison for unpaid taxes

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A man who ran a temporary staffing agency faces prison time after piling up unpaid taxes on income he earned by employing illegal immigrants. The U.S. attorney's office in Harrisburg says Jimmy Nguyen was sentenced Tuesday to nearly six years in prison. The 50-year-old Nguyen pleaded guilty in November to conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud state and local governments. The Danville resident operated H&T Staffing in Wilkes-Barre. Nguyen supplied workers to an Iridium Industries Inc. plant in East Stroudsburg that made plastic squeeze tubes for lotions and other products. Immigration authorities raided the facility in 2007. Authorities say Nguyen must repay the nearly $214,000 he owed to the Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation Program and $345,000 to the U.S. Medicare Trust Fund.

2 Utah children missing since July found with father in Pa.

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) - Two children missing from Utah since July have been found with their father, walking along a central Pennsylvania highway. East Lampeter Township police say the man would not identify himself when questioned Tuesday morning, but police eventually learned he is 44-year-old Wayne Frederick Brown. Police say Brown is wanted on kidnapping and family abduction charges by the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Department in Utah. East Lampeter Officer Greg Berry says Brown has no known ties to central Pennsylvania and appeared to be traveling aimlessly. Brown was held in the Lancaster County Prison on $150,000 bail. Brown's 4-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter had been missing since July 18, 2008. They were turned over to child welfare officials.

Pa. pension funds warn lawmakers of major losses

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania's two major public-sector pension plans together reported that the value of their investments dropped more than $28 billion last year. The separate funds for state workers and public school employees warned of a sharp increase ahead in taxpayer subsidies as they disclosed their 2008 losses Tuesday. The funds' top executives also were to testify Tuesday before the state House Appropriations Committee. The percentage losses are nearly identical. The value of the State Employees' Retirement System investments dropped 28.6 percent last year. The value of the Public School Employees' Retirement System investments fell nearly 30 percent. Both funds are warning that they expect a long-anticipated 2012 rate spike to be much higher than had been projected in recent years.

Magid named US attorney for eastern Pennsylvania

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - For the first time, the top federal prosecutor in eastern Pennsylvania is a woman. Acting U.S. Attorney Laurie Magid has been named to the position and can drop the "acting" from her title. Court officials announced the move Tuesday, nearly a week after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder made the appointment. It is an interim appointment until President Barack Obama names someone to the post. Magid began serving as acting U.S. attorney in July after predecessor Patrick Meehan resigned. He is expected to run for governor of Pennsylvania next year. Magid, who is based in Philadelphia, oversees more than 250 federal prosecutors and support staff for the eastern district of Pennsylvania. The office has jurisdiction over nine counties with more than 5 million residents.

3rd guilty plea entered in Pa. corruption scandal

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) - A court administrator in northeastern Pennsylvania has pleaded guilty to embezzlement. William Sharkey Sr. is the third figure to plead guilty in an unfolding corruption scandal in Luzerne County. Prosecutors say the 57-year-old court administrator embezzled more than $70,000 in seized gambling proceeds. Sharkey pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Scranton. He faces up to 10 years in prison. Luzerne County Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan pleaded guilty last week to fraud charges after prosecutors accused them of taking kickbacks to send juvenile offenders to private detention centers. Federal prosecutors say their corruption probe is ongoing.

Pa. gaming board had sought to investigate leaks

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board acknowledged Tuesday that it sought to investigate its own employees for allegedly violating a contractual obligation not to disclose certain information. The gaming board says it wants to investigate the source of information about license applicants or licensees that appeared in newspaper articles in 2007 and 2008. It's not clear what confidential information was supposedly disclosed. The gaming board said it abandoned its efforts to hire an investigator partly because of state funding cuts. The Morning Call of Allentown reported that the board sought bids from five investigative firms before calling off the discussions on Feb. 6 - the same day the paper filed a Right-to-Know Law request seeking copies of all board procurements. The agency says it will monitor the situation internally.

Penn St. study finds levels of contaminants down in private wells, though still problems

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - A study from Penn State Cooperative Extension finds that levels of lead and nitrates in private water wells across the state have fallen sharply over the last 25 years. But the same study also finds that 40 percent of the more than 700 wells tested over the last two years still failed to meet the state's safe drinking water standards for at least one contaminant. One researcher says most of the owners of the dirty wells were unaware of the problems, in part because the pollutants tested had no obvious taste, stain or odor. The only way to detect the contaminants was through lab testing. The study was funded mainly by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, a legislative agency of the General Assembly.

Car hits Pa. house, 2 die, lab tests pending

KUTZTOWN, Pa. (AP) - Police say they're nearing the end of the investigation of a deadly high-speed crash of a car into a house in Berks County. Fleetwood police say they're waiting for toxicology results in the accident in Maxatawny Township near Kutztown, Chief Ray Nester says witnesses report seeing the car going 80 to 100 mph toward Kutztown shortly before noon Friday, passing cars in the center turning lane. The car went out of control, struck a utility pole and crashed into the unoccupied house, killing the driver, 24-year-old Scott Lieber of Temple, and his passenger, 22-year-old Brandon Blasko of Coaldale. Investigators say the two weren't wearing seat belts.

Pa. 19-year-old accused of rape of toddler

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) - A 19-year-old man has been jailed in eastern Pennsylvania on charges of forcing a 1-year-old girl to perform a sex act. Shekir Thomas was arraigned Tuesday night in Allentown on a charge of rape. Police say his address isn't known. District Judge David Leh sent Thomas to the Lehigh County Prison in lieu of $100,000 bail. It's not immediately clear if he has an attorney. Police say Thomas was with the girl's father at a house in Allentown. The father told police he caught Thomas in the kitchen with the 1-year-old, forcing her to perform a sex act. He says Thomas rushed out of the house, and the child was taken to the hospital for evaluation. The father went to police.

Police watch Pa. school Wednesday after fights

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) - Police say they'll be keeping watch on a north-central Pennsylvania school where they've been called to deal with student altercations. Police Capt. Raymond Kontz III says officers will be on hand Wednesday to keep the peace at Williamsport Area High School. Fights broke out Tuesday in the school's bus loop area and cafeteria. School district official Jodi Harris says police were called to escort a small number of students from the building, and several students she didn't identify were suspended. Harris says no weapons were involved, no injuries were reported, and the schedule returned to normal after lunch. Kontz says police are still trying to determine what started the fights.