Today's News- March 23, 2009

DUI ENFORCEMENT FOLLOWING PARADE

While revelers enjoyed the Girardville St. Patrick's Day Parade Saturday, area law enforcement were looking for people who were drinking underage and those driving under the influence. A Cops In Shops enforcement wave was checking ID's in Girardville, with 132 people contacted and 94 ID's checked. There were no arrests. A Regional Sobriety checkpoint was set up in Shenandoah on Saturday evening, with 8 police departments taking part. Of the nearly 600 vehicles checked, 27 vehicles were detained and 12 tested for DUI. Six adults were charged with driving under the influence and 1 arrest for underage drinking and driving. Eight police departments took part in the checkpoint.

MISSING PERSON FOUND

An Aristes man, reported missing by state police has been found. Twenty one year old Kyle Pogash was reported missing by his family last Wednesday afternoon after he left work around lunchtime. Frackville state police report that Pogash was located Saturday afternoon.

PROTESTS TARGET BANKS AND BAILOUTS

Banks were the major target of demonstrations in Pennsylvania and across the country late last week and now the focus of those same protestors is on Washington. Tom Joseph reports:

JOSEPH

PHILADELPHIA POLICE SHOOTING

Man shot by Philadelphia officer at traffic stop
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Philadelphia police say an officer shot a man during a traffic stop after he allegedly reached for a revolver tucked in the waistband of his pants. Lt. Frank Vanore says police pulled over a car with two occupants shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday in West Philadelphia for a traffic violation. The passenger was allowed to get out, and police say he reached for a six-shot revolver in his pants, and an officer fired and hit him. Vanore says the 28-year-old man was wanted on an escape charge, which he believed to be failure to appear at a court hearing.
The man was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in critical but stable condition but had been upgraded to fair condition Sunday. Police say he is being charged with
aggravated assault as well as weapons and drug offenses.

HAZARDOUS MATERIAL-EVACUATION

Deer blamed for Pa. crash that prompted evacuation
WIND GAP, Pa. (AP) - The driver of a tractor-trailer carrying a hazardous chemical says he swerved to avoid a deer and his rig overturned, prompting a nine-hour evacuation of about 5,000 people in northeastern Pennsylvania. State police in Northampton County say two people were in the Honeywell truck carrying 33,000 pounds of corrosive hydrofluoric acid, a component for household detergents, from Ontario to Philadelphia. The driver was treated at a hospital after the 2:30 a.m. Saturday crash and released. His sleeping co-driver was uninjured.
Police say none of the material in the self-contained tank spilled, but a small amount dripped from a vent valve and dispersed in the air. As a precaution, officials ordered an evacuation of 944 households, amounting to about 5,000 people. The truck was eventually loaded onto a flatbed and hauled to Philadelphia to allow offloading of the cargo.

OBAMA-INFRASTRUCTURE

Officials: Obama must turn AIG anger into support
WASHINGTON (AP) - Three prominent elected officials want President Barack Obama to channel the public anger over the AIG bonuses into action that supports public works projects.
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have joined New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in a coalition that promotes rebuilding roads, bridges and other projects. Rendell says the controversy over the bonuses paid to executives at the insurance giant American International Group Inc. has taken attention away from Obama's efforts to get the country moving again. Bloomberg says Obama faces a challenge in focusing the nation on shoring up the banking system and other aspects of the financial system. The three appeared Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."

WEAPONS SHOW SALES

Weapons sales still strong, Pa. vendors say
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The battered U.S. economy may be hurting businesses hurting most everywhere, but vendors at a Pennsylvania weapons show say their business is booming.
That's despite - or maybe because of - the poor economy as well as the political shift in Washington. Nick Jubinski is manager of the Eastern National Gun, Knife and Military Collectibles Show at the state Farm Show Complex. He says the whole industry is doing well.
A spike in gun sales was reported after the Democratic victory in November's election. Mark Pochron, of western Pennsylvania's Dry Tavern Service, says there is still concern over gun availability or new taxes. And he says the economy is also a factor, since gun sales go up when the market goes down. Vendors say sales of war memorabilia, on the other hand, are a little slower than usual.

AFTER-HOURS CLUB STABBING
Brooklyn man, 20, stabbed to death in Pa. club

PLAINS, Pa. (AP) - State police say a New York man was stabbed to death in an after-hours nightclub in northeastern Pennsylvania early Sunday. Police say 20-year-old Ronald Gabriel, of Brooklyn, was stabbed in the neck at about 3 a.m. at Energy 21, formerly known as Diablo's, in Plains Township, Luzerne County. He was taken to Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:25 a.m. Police say no suspects have been arrested.

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS CLOSING
Pittsburgh diocese announces closure of 4 schools
PITTSBURGH (AP) - The Diocese of Pittsburgh has announced that four Catholic schools in the area will close at the end of the school year. Officials say St. Titus School in Aliquippa, St. Elizabeth Seton Regional School in the city's West End, Bishop McDowell Regional School in Baldwin and St. Valentine School in Bethel Park will close in June. They attributed the decision to declining enrollment and reduced financial support. Two preschool programs will remain in operation as Bishop McDowell Early Childhood Center and Saint Valentine Early Childhood
Center.

OBIT-WEBER

Radio reporter George Weber found dead in NYC apt.
NEW YORK (AP) - ABC News Radio says longtime New York news reporter George Weber has been found dead in his Brooklyn apartment, the victim of an apparent homicide. Police say Weber was found Sunday with a wound to his neck. Autopsy results are expected Monday.
No arrests have been made. The 47-year-old Weber worked at WABC-AM for 12 years as the
on-air reporter for popular shows such as "Curtis and Kuby." Since last year, he had worked as a freelancer for ABC News Radio, the national network. His last newscast was on March 15. Weber recounted on his blog how he was fascinated with radio from an early age and even set up a makeshift radio station in the basement of his childhood home in Philadelphia. He later worked for a radio station in nearby Doylestown, Pa. Weber previously worked at stations including KGO in San Francisco and KTLK and KMPC in Los Angeles.

BUTTE, Mont. (AP) - Seven adults and seven children are dead in the crash of a single engine turboprop airplane as it approached the Butte, Mont., airport. The plane nosed into a cemetery short of the runway. The plane was believed to be taking people on a ski trip.

TOKYO (AP) - Investigators say wind shear or a sudden gust of wind may have been a factor in the deadly crash of a FedEx cargo plane in Japan. The American pilot and copilot were killed when the plane smashed into a runway and burst into a ball of fire.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration is hoping its latest formula will help banks get back to more normal lending patterns. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner today unveils a plan to wipe as much as $1 trillion in bad assets off bank balance sheets.

CHICAGO (AP) - An AP investigation finds Younger, stronger residents with schizophrenia and other mental illnesses are being dumped into nursing homes in increasing numbers. Interviews and analysis of data shows its been a recipe for violence on frail senior citizens.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - There's a baby boom at a zoo in Indonesia. A spokesman says 32 Komodo dragons have hatched in the past two weeks -- and 14 more eggs are still being watched. The lizards that can grow to 10 feet long are endangered -- it's believed there are less than 4,000 in the wild.