Today's News- Saturday, March 14, 2009

TAMAQUA FIRE CAUSED BY CARELESS SMOKING

Investigators have determined a cause for Friday's fire in Tamaqua. State police fire marshal John Burns, in a press release, determined that the fire at 208 Bowe Street was caused by careless smoking. The blaze broke out around 1:30am, occupied by Joann Berger, her daughter Stacy Duch and a teenaged boy. The fire started on the second floor and caused $75-thousand-dollars damage. Homes at 210 and 212 Bowe Street had smoke damage as well.

SHELTER TO RELOCATE

The Ruth Steinert Memorial SPCA will have a new place to call home in the next few weeks, as they relocate to a site near Pine Grove. The board has closed on a 5 acre location at 18 Wertz Road, the former Dog's House Boarding Kennel. There are buildings to house both cats and dogs, along with buildings for offices and a treatment facility. The Steinert SPCA has called their Airport Road location near Minersville, home for nearly two decades, but now, they'd like to expand their service area and services, like their spay/neuter clinic. President Mary Ellen Smith says they have land in that area, but aren't able to build there right now:

SMITH

The purchase price was $225 thousand dollars. Volunteers are always needed to help the work of the Ruth Steinert Memorial SPCA. Contact Kim Pribilla at 717-813-5284. The shelter currently has about 40 dogs and 40 cats available for immediate adoption.

Y YOUTH EXPERIENCE

Kids...get ready. The Schuylkill Y is set to open the Y Youth Experience will open for business tomorrow at the former Pottsville Armory on North Centre Street. A recording studio, games, exercise equipment all center around fun and will give kids a place to hang out. Services are available for kids of all ages...like Wii gaming systems, skateboarding and fishing...all indoors. And, within another month or so, a full service fitness center will open in the building's lower level. Senior Project Manager Chris Grassley previews those improvements:

GRASSLEY GYM

The grand opening is Sunday from 3 to 6 pm with a live remote here on WPPA and sister station T102.

ST PATRICKS DAY PARADE

Even though St Patricks Day isn't till Tuesday, the streets of Pottsville will feature Irish music, marching units and more today as the 34th annual parade steps off at 12th and Market Streets at 11am. Mary Ann Lubinsky, local and state AOH auxiliary President is the parade grand marshal. Following the parade, its the annual Grand Irish Party at the Humane Fire Company, with great food, and the music of Celtic Heart. The John F Kennedy AOH Division Number 2, one of the oldest in the nation, hosts the annual event.

STIMULUS FUNDS AND EDUCATION

Pennsylvania is receiving federal stimulus funds for a wide range of projects, including education. But the House Republican leader is concerned about the way Governor Rendell wants to dole it out. Mike Davies reports:

DAVIES

HOUSE DEMS WANT TO SOFTEN BLOW OF ELEC RATE HIKES

Pennsylvania House Democrats are drafting legislation to take the sting out of rate hikes when electric rate caps come off next year. Roseann Cadau reports from Harrisburg:

CADAU

ROCKIN FOR THE CIVIL AIR PATROL

A rockin' good time is in store at Tri Valley High School Sunday afternoon, with the Brad Crum Elvis Tribute Show, in a benefit to help the local Civil Air Patrol chapter. Black Diamond Composite Squadron 336 helps train young cadets about aviation safety and rescue. What's unique about the local chapter is what it offers to their cadets, according to Public Relations Coordinator Steve Bixler:

BIXLER

Tickets are $15 dollars in advance, $18 dollars at the door. To reserve in advance, call 682-3093 or 682-1201.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - State Auditor General Jack Wagner says he will review the awarding of a contract to teach state liquor store employees how to be more courteous. The contract went to a Pittsburgh firm whose president is married to a regional manager of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A man has pleaded guilty to committing six sexual assaults on women in downtown Philadelphia that got him known as the foot-fetish rapist. Authorities say 50-year-old Richard Casey attacked women at gunpoint, licked and sucked their toes, sexually assaulted them and physically attacked them.

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) - A Hazleton man has pleaded not guilty to killing two men following an argument in July 2007. Twenty-six-year-old Brandon McClendon is charged with killing
Eugene Henry and Jason Dixon. McClendon pleaded not guilty in Luzerne County Court on Friday.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pittsburgh police say they've nabbed one of their most wanted graffiti vandals, who they say has caused about $212,000 in damage. Police say 21-year-old Ian Debeer, of Buffalo, N.Y., has sprayed "HERT" on 100 locations around the city since April 2007.

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) - A new exhibit at a museum in Doylestown spotlights objects of beauty created from the byproducts of warfare. "From Swords to Plowshares" at the James A. Michener Art Museum shows how the makers of "trench art" during both World Wars combined those seemingly incongruous ideas.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama and his top aides are offering a sunnier view of the economy in hopes of building confidence. At the same time, Obama cautions that the country has to "get through this difficult period."

WASHINGTON (AP) - Republicans are seeking to capitalize on bipartisan misgivings over President Barack Obama's budget plan. In the weekly GOP radio address, Sen. Charles Grassley says the president and his allies in Congress "want to spend too much, tax too much, and borrow too much."

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama says the nation's decades-old food safety system is a "hazard to public health." He's using his weekly radio and video address to announce an overhaul, starting with the selection of a new head of the Food and Drug Administration.

VIENNA (AP) - Iran's oil minister says OPEC should cut the glut of oil that's on the market. The cartel meets later this weekend, and influential members say the group should reduce production. They haven't said how.

NEW YORK (AP) - An appeals court will hear an appeal next week from Bernard Madoff's lawyers. They're appealing his jailing after his guilty plea in a massive Ponzi scheme, saying he should be released until sentencing.