Today's News- Monday, March 9, 2009

BOYS SOLICITED BY MEN IN A PICKUP

Ashland borough police are investigating an incident where two men tried to lure two young boys into a pickup truck. It happened Saturday before noon, when a pickup truck pulled up at 22nd and Spruce Streets in the borough, and tried to lure the teens. The boys fled, and the men, driving an old blue pickup truck, left the area. The driver of the truck was wearing a blue shirt and had shaggy, dirty blonde hair. The passenger was wearing a blue shirt. If anyone has information about the incident, please call Ashland police at 875-2600.

DRIVER NOT HURT, VEHICLE HEAVILY DAMAGED IN CRASH SUNDAY

A Nuremburg man is charged with several counts following a crash in North Union Township early Sunday. 30 year old Jeremy Schmidt was northbound on State Route 1005 near the back entrance to Eagle Rock development when his truck left the roadway and knocked off a PPL utility pole. His vehicle became disabled and was left in a yard about a mile from the crash scene, and Schmidt fled. Frackville state police cited Schmidt for careless driving and other offenses.

UPenn student critical with suspected meningitis

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The University of Pennsylvania says an undergraduate student has been hospitalized in critical but stable condition with a suspected case of meningitis, the fourth such case in the past month. Officials with the Ivy League university's student health service say close contacts of the students who need preventative treatment have been notified. They say only those with close contact need such treatment, and there are no additional suspected cases. Officials say there is no evidence suggesting a connection between the new case and three confirmed cases of meningitis among Penn students last month, which prompted the university to cancel weekend activities. The university's spring break is this week, meaning relatively few students are expected to be on campus.

Philly mayor supports arts groups even amid cuts

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Arts and cultural organizations are often the first to go when the budget ax swings. In Philadelphia and around the country, the arts are suffering amid drained municipal and state budgets and eroded donations. But Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter says the arts are even more valuable in tough economic times when people need a boost. He says arts funding needs to be protected as much as possible. The Philadelphia Cultural Fund's budget for fiscal 2009 was cut by 24 percent from the initial spending plan. However, that's still an overall budget increase from the previous fiscal year. Nutter says arts and culture in the region employs 40,000 people and generates more than $1 billion in economic activity every year.

Officials testing possible asbestos at Pa. school

BRISTOL, Pa. (AP) - Investigators are trying to determine if a material found at a suburban Philadelphia high school is asbestos. Bristol School District Superintendent Broadus Davis Jr. says he's waiting for reports from air quality experts who did tests at Bristol Borough Junior-Senior High School on Friday and Saturday. The district said on its Web site that Bristol High School and Snyder-Girotti Elementary School would open at the normal times Monday but gave no further details. The suspicious material was found in the auditorium on Friday. Students weren't in school because of a staff development day, but staff were transferred to an elementary school. A musical that was scheduled for the weekend also was postponed.

Report: Quecreek miners settle lawsuit in western Pa.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Eight miners trapped underground for more than three days in western Pennsylvania have settled lawsuits against the mine's operator and an engineering firm. That's according to a report in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Nine men became trapped in a flooded tunnel at Quecreek Mine in Somerset on July 24, 2002. They were rescued 77 hours later. The Tribune-Review reports that eight of the miners settled lawsuits against Quecreek Mine, the mine operator, PBS Coals, and the engineering firm that certified the maps they were using. The monetary award to the miners remains confidential. The companies will not admit to any negligence.

Missing Pa. student found safe on camping trip

SWARTHMORE, Pa. (AP) - A Swarthmore College spokeswoman says a student missing for a week has been found safe on a camping trip. Authorities located 21-year-old Matthew Baldwin on Sunday morning at the French Creek State Park in Chester and Berks Counties. Swarthmore spokeswoman Alisa Giardinelli says police began combing area parks after being told that the junior from Little Rock, Ark., was last seen Monday with a sleeping bag and other supplies. She says college officials are relieved by the news that he has been found. Swarthmore, which is about 15 miles from Philadelphia, is on spring break this week.

Coroner: Penn State-Altoona student found in trunk was strangled

ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) - A coroner says a western Pennsylvania college student whose body was found in the trunk of her car was strangled. The body of 20-year-old Penn State-Altoona student Margo "Maggie" Davis was found Thursday. Blair County Coroner Patty Ross says Davis died from strangulation and a head injury. Police have charged 19-year-old Sean Louis Allen, of Hollidaysburg, with homicide. Prosecutors have said the two were acquaintances. Davis was last seen around 1 a.m. Tuesday and had sent a text message to her brother that she was visiting Allen. Investigators are analyzing evidence, including bloody towels, a pair of rubber gloves and a smashed flashlight. An attorney who is representing Allen declined comment.

Fire damages 153-year-old western Pa. farmhouse

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. (AP) - Authorities in western Pennsylvania say a fire damaged a vacant 153-year-old brick farmhouse in Hollidaysburg - but a fire official says the structure may be salvageable. The blaze at the old Stowell farmhouse was reported at 9:45 p.m. The structure was to be the centerpiece of a 120-unit elderly housing village. Chief Allen Rhine of the Phoenix Volunteer Fire Company says it may be salvageable due to the thick walls, but the roof burned through on the left side of the house. Owner Tim Albright's proposed Northland Farm Cammuna Care project would include 50-plus cottages and 60 or 70 apartments and some assisted living units. Albright says the farmhouse was to be the library and village gathering place after a $100,000 renovation.

16th dog dies the day after kennel explosion in northeastern Pennsylvania

LEHIGHTON, Pa. (AP) - Another dog has died in the aftermath of a propane explosion at a northeastern Pennsylvania kennel. Fifteen dogs died Friday after the 2 p.m. explosion at Pazzazz Pet Boarding kennel in Franklin Township. Another thirteen dogs were taken to nearby animal hospitals. But one of the kennel's owners, Karen Tracy, says a three-year-old Chow Chow named Shamrock didn't make it through the night and died Saturday. Six other dogs were released. Tracy is calling the driver of a propane delivery truck a hero. She says he was filling the tank when the explosion happened and tossed a terrier to safety before escaping himself. Officials say a spark or static electricity may have started the blaze.

Authorities ID pilot of plane that caught fire

MILLVILLE, N.J. (AP) - Authorities have identified the pilot who safely landed a vintage aircraft at a New Jersey airport this weekend after it caught fire in midair. Terry Rush of Cherry Hill sustained second- and third-degree burns, but his injuries aren't considered life-threatening. He remained in critical but stable condition at Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland, Pa. on Sunday. The 63-year-old Rush apparently was doing "touch and go" exercises with the Grumman TBM Avenger bomber at Millville Airport when the fire occurred just before 5 p.m. Saturday. Once on the ground, it was consumed by flames. But authorities say Rush got out of the plane, walked onto the wing and jumped off as the plane was slowly rolling. Rush was the only person in the plane, and no one on the ground was hurt. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Pa. liquor board tries to improve worker's manners

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board is spending more than $173,000 to try to improve the manners of workers at state stores across Pennsylvania.
The board wants to make sure clerks are saying things like "hello," "thank you" and "come again" as people walk through the door to buy wine or liquor. The board's chief executive, Joe Conti, says it's all part of the agency's attempt to improve its image. The board has hired a Pittsburgh-based consulting firm, Solutions 21, to help coach store managers on how to get their staff to be good sales reps. The managers will then go into the 620 stores and instruct clerks on things such as how to greet a customer, how to read a customer's cues and where to stand.

HONG KONG (AP) - Asian stock markets continue to sink amid deepening worries that economies in the U.S. and elsewhere will take far longer to emerge from recession. Japan's benchmark tumbled to a 26-year closing low.

DETROIT (AP) - Members of President Barack Obama's automobile task force visit the Detroit area today. An official says task force members will meet with top executives of GM and Chrysler, as well as UAW officials, and will also tour GM and Chrysler facilities.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is preparing to overturn President George W. Bush's limits on federally funded stem cell reasearch. Obama's advisers say the move is part of a broader declaration that science will trump ideology in the new administration.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Dozens of homes have been damaged or destroyed by severe weather that raked parts of the Midwest. A tornado was reported in Lawrence County, Ind., although that has yet to be confirmed by the National Weather Service.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez is scheduled for hip surgery that will sideline him for six to nine weeks. A-Rod's injury was yet another jolt to the three-time MVP during a tumultuous month in which he admitted using steroids from 2001-03 while with Texas.