Today's News-Thursday, March 5, 2009

VACANCY NEEDS TO BE FILLED

Now that Representative Dave Argall has been elected state Senator for the 29th District, a vacancy in his district needs to be filled. And once again, the window for candidates to wage a campaign to replace Argall will be a small one. After the results are certified, which will happen in the next few weeks, party conferees for the Republican and Democratic parties in Schuylkill and Berks counties would choose a candidate to run, with the hope that the special election would coincide with the May 19th primary. Special elections like the one held Tuesday are costly to hold, more than $200 thousand dollars for this week's contest. Leaders in the state Legislature are hoping that the 60 day requirement will be met to roll the 124th district race into May's primary.

POTTSVILLE CRASH, MAN DIES

Pottsville police are investigating a crash in the city yesterday in which a man died. Reports indicate that 67 year old Hubert Muldowney was driving north on Third Street when his vehicle crashed into a van driven by Nancy Yeastedt, Pottsville. Muldowney's car continued on to strike a parked car, pushing it into another parked car on Mahantongo Street. Emergency crews tried to resuscitate Muldowney, and he was taken to Schuylkill Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. The investigation into the circumstances of his death are continuing.

FIGHTING IN COURTHOUSE CONTINUES

Tensions between Schuylkill County officials continue. Required budgetary transfers that were to be completed by the Controller's office after an employee moved to the Commissioner's wing weren't done, and now the county Commissioners mandated they be done. Controller Melinda Kantner has been at odds with the Commissioners over a host of issues, and now Kantner is questioning travel and other expenses and spending from the county Contingency Fund. That fund is a line item that is used for unforseen expenses and non-line item budget costs. During a press conference following the work session, Kantner provided the media a detailed list of items spent from the contingency fund in 2008 and this year to date. Commissioner Mantura Gallagher responded to each of the items, stating that the majority of expenses from that fund were related to the New World computer software litigation, renovations to improve security and construction of an office in their wing and for expenses at the 1912 building at Rest Haven. Kantner also contended that the taxpayers paid $18-hundred dollars for a county employees picnic. Travel expenses for Kantner's husband who accompanied her to a conference were also raised again. The Controller's solicitor, Sudhir Patel, was unable to attend the conference last summer. The $350 dollars was paid back by Kantner after a request from the County Administrator.

Times-Shamrock offers buyouts at 4 Pa. papers

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) - Times-Shamrock Communications has offered buyouts to employees at four of its Pennsylvania newspapers, including two in our area. The Scranton-based media conglomerate says it offered incentives to workers at newspapers in Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, and at the News Item in Shamokin and the Pottsville Republican and Herald. Full-time employees with at least five years' experience qualify. Meanwhile, the families that own and run the company have taken a 10 percent pay cut. Other managers have agreed to cuts of 3 to 5 percent, depending on salary. CEO Scott Lynett says the economic downturn has forced the company to cut costs. Lynett also said that he has informed employees that layoffs will be "unavoidable" if the cost-cutting measures don't meet financial targets.

Pa. gov. promises stimulus cash will be well-spent

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Gov. Ed Rendell has officially accepted the federal stimulus
money and is promising to ensure that it is well spent. Rendell told reporters Wednesday that the stimulus will bring about $18 billion in benefits to Pennsylvania over three years, up
from an earlier estimate of $16 billion. He outlines the goals of the bounty:

RENDELL STIM

Secretary General James Creedon has been appointed to oversee the infrastructure spending. The state will also maintain a website to allow the public to view how the money is being spent at www.recovery.pa.gov.

Jurors to start deliberations in Fumo case

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Jurors are to start their deliberations Thursday in the case of former Pennsylvania state senator Vincent Fumo. The Philadelphia Democrat is fighting the third and most serious criminal case of his long career. Jurors were seated on Oct. 22, and appear to have grown friendly over the months. Three alternate jurors were sent home, although they could be recalled if needed. Prosecutors called 82 witnesses and introduced 1,300 exhibits to demonstrate their view that a power-mad, money-hoarding Fumo used state workers as minions. He employed three state-paid drivers and deployed others to clean his mansion, run his farm and spy on enemies and an ex-girlfriend. The defense argued that Pennsylvania law gives senators broad discretion over the use of their staffs.

Pa. officials agree on need for stronger standards

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania school boards would relinquish some control over locally designed graduation tests under a compromise with state education officials. The deal will let districts use their own tests for math, English, social studies and science as long as they meet state standards. The Education Department says it will split the cost of verifying the tests' quality with local districts. The agreement cleared a major hurdle to graduation competency
tests by preserving some of the local control that the Pennsylvania School Boards Association had sought. The proposal also delayed implementation of the tests for an additional year. They will be in place for students who graduate high school in 2015.

Ohio couple sues Erie hospital for son's death

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The parents of an Ohio man injured while snowboarding claim in a lawsuit that doctors at an Erie hospital killed him so they could harvest his organs. The suit says 18-year-old Gregory Jacobs, of Bellevue, Ohio, fell on March 8, 2007, while snowboarding at Peek 'n Peak Ski Resort in New York. He was flown to Hamot Medical Center, where the suit says
doctors and a representative of the Center For Organ Recovery and Education caused his death by administering medication and by removing his breathing tube. The suit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh by Gregory Jacob's parents, seeks more than $5 million. A spokeswoman for Hamot Medical Center in Erie says the hospital didn't harvest a man's organs when he was alive. She says the hospital will vigorously defend against any allegations of
wrongdoing.

Pa. teens accused of school break-ins

BIRDSBORO, Pa. (AP) - Police say it was no accident when a Pennsylvania school flooded last year. A 19-year-old man and an 18-year-old man are charged with burglary and theft in the Jan. 22, 2008, flooding of Daniel Boone High School that police say was caused by vandalism. There was more than $120,000 in damage to the school and its contents. Police say one of the men recorded video of the vandalism. Police say those two returned to the school in September along with another 18-year-old man and two 18-year-old women. They say the men stole six security cameras while the women acted as lookouts. Also, some computers were stolen from the school about 40 miles west-northwest of Philadelphia in 2007. The suspects in that break-in are charged in juvenile court.

Pa. Supreme Court hears drink tax balloting case

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The Pennsylvania Supreme Court must now decide whether voters will have a chance to accept or reject Allegheny County's 7-percent drink tax. The central question is whether the levy is a "tax on residents." Such a tax cannot be placed on a ballot question under the county's home rule charter. The tax took effect in January 2008 as a levy on poured drinks in bars and restaurants. The revenue was set aside for mass transit. Supporters of the referendum say it doesn't count as a "tax on residents" because it affects visitors from out of the county who buy drinks. Opponents say the charter defines "residents" as not just people who live in the county, but those who do business in it. A lawyer opposing the referendum told the court that includes people who buy drinks.

W.Pa. councilman gets probation for mortgage fraud

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A western Pennsylvania city councilman has been sentenced to three years' probation for participating in a mortgage scheme run by his daughter that cost lenders more than $1 million. Prosecutors say Uniontown councilman Marlin Sprouts Jr. was a
straw buyer. Straw buyers are people usually used to obtain loans who don't plan to live in the homes. U.S. District Judge Terrence McVerry says the 53-year-old Sprouts was manipulated after trying to repair his relationship with his estranged daughter. Sprouts was sentenced Wednesday; he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mortgage fraud in April. He lost his teaching job and could lose his seat. Tiffany Lynn Sprouts is awaiting sentencing after pleading
guilty to conspiracy and money laundering.

Tyco Electronics lays off more employees across US

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Electronics and telecommunications components maker Tyco Electronics Ltd. says it is laying off more employees across the United States. Spokesman Mike Ratcliff said the company told a "substantial" number of employees Wednesday morning that they are losing their jobs, although he wouldn't say how many. The layoffs affect employees at many different facilities, including those in central Pennsylvania, the Greensboro-Winston-Salem area in North Carolina and Menlo Park and Redwood City in California. Ratcliff blamed the layoffs on a steep drop in demand for Tyco products that has accompanied a global economic plunge. The layoffs are another step by the company toward reducing its worldwide work force by 20,000 by the end of September. The Bermuda-based company is headquartered in Berwyn, Pa.

CD maker Cinram idles 200 at Scranton-area plant

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) - A northeastern Pennsylvania manufacturer of CDs and DVDs has laid off 200 people at its plant outside Scranton. Cinram Manufacturing Inc. cites declining work volumes. The company is a division of Toronto-based Cinram International Income Fund. It employed about 1,400 people at its Olyphant plant before Wednesday's announcement.

Conn. AG office objects Journal Register bonuses

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Connecticut attorney general's office has filed an objection in Journal Register Co.'s case in bankruptcy court. The attorney general's office objects to a plan that would pay up to $1.7 million in bonuses to executives. The Yardley, Pa.-based newspaper publisher filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month. The proposed bonuses would be earned in part by meeting employee layoff targets. It must be approved by a U.S. bankruptcy judge in New York. The attorney general's office filed its objection Wednesday. It
says the proposed bonuses violate federal bankruptcy law. An attorney for Journal Register declined comment. The newspaper company based in Yardley, Pa., owns the New Haven
Register and other newspapers in Connecticut, Pennsylvania and other states.

Toll Brothers fiscal 1st-qtr loss narrows

HORSHAM, Pa. (AP) - Toll Brothers Inc. says its loss in the fiscal first quarter narrowed despite plummeting revenue as the luxury homebuilder slashed expenses. For the quarter ended in January, suburban Philadelphia-based Toll Brothers lost $89 million, or 55 cents per share, compared with a year-ago loss of $96 million, or 61 cents per share. Excluding pretax write-downs of $156.6 million, the quarterly profit was 6 cents per share. Revenue declined 51 percent to $409 million. Analysts on average expected a loss of 52 cents per share on
revenue of $425.3 million. The company says it expects to deliver 2,000 to 3,000 homes this
year, based on its quarter-end backlog of $1.04 billion. Toll Brothers says it won't provide more specific financial guidance.

HOUSTON (AP) - A family spokesman says an episode of shortness of breath is what led to open heart surgery for former first lady Barbara Bush. The spokesman says she's resting comfortably at The Methodist Hospital in Houston after her aortic valve was replaced.

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - The brother of a man shot dead in a California courtroom as he attacked a judge says the man was crazy. And David Paradiso's defense lawyer says police were right to shoot his client. Paradiso was accused of killing his girlfriend. The judge says she's OK.

BAGHDAD (AP) - At least ten people are dead in a car bombing in a crowded cattle market south of Baghdad. Authorities say 32 others were wounded. The parked car exploded at the height of the morning buying and selling.

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is attending her first NATO meeting even as the alliance moves toward resuming ties with Russia. Such a move could boost President Barack Obama's efforts to build a stronger bond with the Russians after years of tensions.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea is threatening South Korea with "merciless and powerful retaliatory actions" if Seoul holds joint military maneuvers with the U.S. The rhetoric comes a day after Pyongyang warned Washington, too. North Korea charges the exercise is a preparation for war.