Today's News-Monday, March 2, 2009

WEATHER

The work and school week begin with snow, but not as much as originally predicted. A Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect until noon today for Schuylkill County, with several inches of snow predicted, some heavy at times. Forecasters now say that the storm is further east than originally predicted. The high winds are causing some power disruptions today for PPL customers in Pine Grove Township. More than 800 customers are without power as of 5am this morning.

DUI RELATED INCIDENTS

Two men were cited for driving drunk in the region early Sunday. Around 2am, 26 year old Braxton Moore of Pottsville was stopped in Cass Township after failing to stop at an intersection on Valley Road. He failed a field sobriety test and was taken to an area hospital for blood alcohol testing. State police will file charges against Moore after they get the test results. After 6am Sunday, 36 year old Roy Snyder Jr. of Trevorton fell asleep at the wheel on State Route 4016 and his car ended up in a ditch. Snyder was taken for blood alcohol testing, and is expected to have drunk driving charges lodged against him.

29TH DISTRICT SPECIAL ELECTION TOMORROW

The special election in the 29th Senatorial District is on tap for tomorrow to replace the late Senator Jim Rhoades. Voters will choose between Democrat Steve Lukach, Schuylkill County's Clerk of Courts, and Republican legislator David Argall. The 29th district encompasses Schuylkill, and portions of Berks, Lehigh, Monroe, Carbon and Northampton counties. Polls will open at 7am Tuesday. In Schuylkill, voters in Mechanicsville are reminded that they will vote at the new Mechanicsville Fire Company at 921 East Norwegian Street, not at the old fire company site. You can hear complete coverage of the special election throughout the day Tuesday on WPPA News.

Eastern Pa. braces for up to a foot of snow

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Residents of eastern Pennsylvania are bracing for a nor'easter expected to bring blustery winds and up to a foot of snow. The city of Philadelphia has declared a snow emergency with forecasters expecting 8 to 12 inches of snow during the night into Monday. City officials warn that cars parked on roadways designated snow emergency routes would be towed. They have also declared a Code Blue weather emergency, giving officials power to bring homeless people into shelters. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation says it will have
all available equipment working to keep roads clear in the five-county Philadelphia region. The 400 trucks will use as much of the 77,000 tons of salt stockpiled as needed. Forecasters also warn that increasing winds could mean blowing and drifting snow that could cut visibility to below a quarter-mile at times. Meteorologists are predicting 4 to 7 inches in Berks, Lehigh,
Northampton, Carbon and Monroe counties. In central Pennsylvania, the storm is expected to drop 5 to 8 inches in York and Lancaster counties by noon, with increased amounts possible at higher elevations. Dauphin, Adams, Schuylkill and Lebanon counties could see 3 to 7 inches.

Pa. mother charged in stabbing death of girl, 17

SHARON HILL, Pa. (AP) - Authorities in suburban Philadelphia have charged a woman in the stabbing death of her 17-year-old daughter. Officials and court documents say Maribel Rodriguez of Sharon Hill was charged with third-degree murder and related offenses in the death early Saturday of Yeydilyss Acevedo. Rodriguez was arraigned later in the day and taken
to Delaware County Prison without bail. Investigators say the defendant told them that she and her daughter had argued, the teen began striking her, she grabbed an object from behind her and the girl was injured when she "lunged" at her. The teenager was pronounced dead at Crozer-Chester Medical Center at about 2:15 a.m. Saturday. A knife was recovered from a
nearby sewer drain. Rodriguez remained in custody and it was unclear whether she had
an attorney.

Erie approaching season-record for snowfall

ERIE, Pa. (AP) - Erie is closing in on a season record for snowfall. So far this year, the city in northwestern Pennsylvania has seen nearly 142 inches of snow - that's just under 12 feet.
Erie needs approximately seven more inches to set a new record, which currently stands at just over 149 inches. That mark was set in the winter of 2000-01. The forecast for the next week doesn't call for any significant snowfall for the region. But National Weather Service meteorologist Marty Mullen says there's still plenty of time to break the record. March typically brings more than 11 inches of snow to the region.

Father, daughter killed in western Pennsylvania accident

MERCER, Pa. (AP) - State police say a father and daughter have died in a traffic accident in western Pennsylvania. Police in Mercer County say a car pulled out from a stop sign into the path of another vehicle at about 5:25 p.m. Saturday in Lackawannock Township. Police say the occupants of the first car, 84-year-old Robert Stumpf and 44-year-old Amy Stumpf of Mercer, were pronounced dead at the scene.

Sunoco refinery workers call off strike, stay on the job for now as contract talks continue

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - More than a thousand union workers at Sunoco refineries in the Philadelphia area will stay on the job - for now - as contract talks continue. Union employees at the oil company's plants in the city and in Marcus Hook were poised to walk out at noon on Sunday. But officials with the United Steelworkers say they're making progress in talks with the company, and pushed back the deadline. The union has been fighting to keep staffing at current levels. They say Sunoco wants to cut nearly 200 jobs from the 1,300 working at the two refineries. The company says those plans are in line with what's happening at its refineries across the country. They say those plants continue to operate safely.

Murals stamp history onto Pa. post offices

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A colorful new museum exhibit tells Pennsylvania's history through the New Deal-era murals painted on the walls of dozens of post offices across the state. The images include shipyard scenes in Philadelphia and railroad shops in Renovo, as well as agriculture in Selinsgrove and the Revolutionary War's Wyoming Massacre in Tunkhannock.
The exhibit is called "A Common Canvas: Pennsylvania's New Deal Post Office Murals." It is on view at the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg through May 17. Co-curator Dave Lembeck and architectural photographer Michael Mutmansky traveled the state for years documenting the artwork. Then a dispute over rights to the images of the murals almost
forced the cancelation of the exhibit. The Postal Service says it owns the rights, but eventually gave the museum permission.

Pa. police find constable's car commandeered by prisoner, but suspect still at large

MANCHESTER, Pa. (AP) - Police have found a constable's car that they say was stolen by a shackled prisoner in central Pennsylvania. However, they still haven't found the prisoner.
Police located the missing SUV in Newberry Township on Saturday, a day after they say robbery suspect Erik Peterson drove off in it. Peterson was being driven to a preliminary hearing by Constable Larry Brunner. At one point, Brunner got out of the car to try to
restrain the shackled suspect in the backseat. Police say Peterson then climbed into the front seat and drove off. The keys to his handcuffs and leg irons were on the car's key ring. The shackles were found in the car, about nine miles from where Peterson commandeered it.

Maverick Specter's toughest vote could be ahead

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Arlen Specter cast what he calls his most difficult vote ever nearly 30 years into his U.S. Senate career. That would be last month's "yes" on the $787 billion economic
stimulus bill. It's a vote that made him the only Republican facing re-election next year to support it. Now, with GOP anger still simmering, Specter is under pressure to buck the party again and support "card check" legislation. That bill would make it easier for workers to form unions. It's only the latest tight spot for the 79-year-old Pennsylvanian. Specter is a political moderate and maverick who is stretched between the wishes of an increasingly conservative party in an increasingly liberal state. Specter says he is in meetings every day about the card check bill. But he's not revealing to anybody which way he is leaning.

UNDATED (AP) - Officials are canceling flights and classes as a winter storm lumbers up from the South. Parts of New Jersey are already covered in 5 inches of snow just hours before the Monday morning commute and forecasters say the worst is yet to come. Sections of the Northeast can expect more than a foot of snow.

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) - Despite three powerful hurricanes in 2008, Texas' agricultural industry is watching water supplies dry up. The state is suffering through its driest winter in decades, forcing cattle producers to cull their herds and keeping many crop farmers from planting.

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt (AP) - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has arrived at an international donors conference in Egypt with a pledge of about $300 million in aid to help Gaza recover from Israel's January offensive. She plans to meet with several of her Mideast counterparts as part of her first foray into the region as America's top diplomat.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama plans to announce Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is his pick for health secretary later today. Sebelius could come up against resistance during confirmation in the Senate. She has clashed with abortion opponents in her home state and they may carry the fight to Washington.

GENEVA (AP) - A new report suggests cell phones have exploded in popularity worldwide, especially in developing countries. A U.N. report says six in 10 people around the world -- an estimated 4.1 billion people -- now have cell phone subscriptions. That number was just 1 billion in 2002.