Today's News-Wednesday, March 11, 2009

AMBULANCE ROLLS OVER

The driver and passenger of an ambulance had minor injuries when their rig crashed Tuesday morning. David Bittner was driving the Shenandoah EMS unit northbound on the Frackville grade, Route 61 when the vehicle went on to the shoulder of the road, crossed back across the road and eneded up on the passenger side. Police say that Bittner, and the paramedic, Keith Bolish, were on the way back to Shenandoah after a patient drop off. Bittner was treated at the hospital, while Bolish was not hurt. The crash happened around 11am.

SPECIAL ELECTION VOTE CERTIFICATION

The first part of last Tuesday's special election vote certification has been completed according to county officials. Anyone wishing a recount must petition the Schuylkill County Court of Common Pleas within 5 days. After that time has passed, Dave Argall will be certified the winner in the 29th Senatorial District seat.

TWO STOPPED IN SHENANDOAH FOR DRUG POSSESSION

Two people are arrested for drug related charges in Shenandoah. Late Sunday, borough police stopped a vehicle on Franklin Street, Route 54. Using a search warrant issued because of suspected drug activity, officers found cocaine in the car and arrested 32 year old Christina Fletcher of Tamaqua and 33 year old Robert Whildin of Coaldale. They are charged with drug and conspiracy charges. Both were taken to Schuylkill County Prison in lieu of bail.

HAMMOND APPEAL DENIED

A West Reading man will remain in prison for murder after his appeals to higher court were turned down. Lawyers for 26-year old Desmond Hammond asked the state Superior Court to grant a new hearing to him, relating to the third degree murder conviction for killing Clinton Hallick in 2004 in Minersville. The ruling, according to the Republican Herald, finalizes the Superior Court ruling in 2007, which reversed Judge William Baldwin's grant of a new trial for Hammond. Hammond was convicted in 2005, and is serving a 9 to 20 year sentence in state prison. The State Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal.

Thousands struggling in Pa. may be able to get aid

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Gov. Ed Rendell plans to speak further about his economic relief plan at a high school in Pittsburgh. As Rendell speaks Wednesday at Brashear High School, his top
Cabinet officials will fan out to schools statewide to host regional meetings on the plan. Among other moves, Rendell is ordering the state's 67 CareerLink offices to expand their hours into the evening, and possibly Saturdays. The different offices do not have standard hours. A spokesman for the state Department of Labor and Industry says the department is working to figure out how to extend those hours. The offer a range of services to jobseekers. The Rendell administration has set up a Web site called Here to Help that leads to information about various relief efforts.

Conservative Peg Luksik to challenge Sen. Specter

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A spokeswoman for former congressman Pat Toomey says he still hasn't decided whether to run in the Republican primary against Sen. Arlen Specter next year.
This comes after conservative activist Peg Luksik said she will challenge Pennsylvania's senior senator and won't back down if Toomey enters the race. Specter recently drew the wrath of many members of his party when he cast one of three Republican votes for the $787 billion
economic stimulus package that President Barack Obama signed in February. That increased speculation that he would face a primary challenge, as he did from Toomey in 2004. Specter won that race by less than 2 percentage points. Luksik says she's not worried about splitting the conservative vote. She says she entered the race first, so if that happens, it will be Toomey's fault.

Retired Pa. judge convicted of insurance fraud plans appeal

ERIE, Pa. (AP) - A retired Pennsylvania Superior Court judge convicted of insurance fraud still says he's innocent and plans to appeal. The lawyer for 60-year-old Michael Joyce of suburban Erie says he will seek to keep his client free while the appeal is in progress. Joyce was convicted in November and sentenced Tuesday to three years and 10 months in federal prison. He was also ordered to pay $440,000 restitution to the insurance companies and forfeit his bank accounts, his house and Harley Davidson motorcycle. He is getting three years of probation after his release. Prosecutors say Joyce exaggerated neck and back injuries from a fender bender to collect the insurance money. Joyce has maintained his injuries were real, even if he golfed, scuba dived and learned to fly a plane after the wreck.

Fumo jury ends third day of talks without verdict

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A jury has finished a third day of deliberations without a verdict in the 137-count corruption case against former state Sen. Vincent Fumo. The 65-year-old Philadelphia Democrat is charged with defrauding the state senate, a nonprofit and a museum of more than $3.5 million. He is also charged with trying to destroy evidence during the FBI probe.
A former aide, Ruth Arnao, is charged in 45 counts. The federal jury is working four days a week and is expected to resume deliberations on Wednesday. The jurors heard opening arguments on Oct. 22. The trial featured more than 100 witnesses and 1,300 exhibits.

Philadelphia pet store gets human corpse

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Employees of a Philadelphia pet store expecting to get a shipment of tropical fish and salt water by air cargo ended up getting a human body instead. Mark Arabia owns the Pets Plus store in Northeast Philadelphia where the mix-up was discovered Tuesday. He says he eventually learned that the body he got was that of a 65-year-old San Diego-area man who died of early onset Alzheimer's Disease. The body was supposed to go to a laboratory in Allentown so samples could be taken for medical research. US Airways released a statement saying the problem was caused by a "verbal miscommunication between a delivery driver and the cargo representative." The airline says it's deeply sorry. Arabia says he believes the fish died as a result.

Former Pa. prosecutor gets house arrest, probation

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) - A former prosecutor in suburban Philadelphia is getting three to 23 months of house arrest and seven years of probation for corrupting three teenage boys. Anthony Cappuccio was sentenced Tuesday in Bucks County Court, where he used to work.
Cappuccio pleaded guilty to all charges he faced: three counts each of endangering the welfare of children, corruption of minors and giving alcohol to minors. He also pleaded guilty to one count
of criminal use of a telephone and a computer. Deputy Attorney General Marc Costanzo says he's not satisfied with the sentence since Cappuccio isn't going to jail. Defense lawyer Louis Busico says going from being a member of an elite prosecution team to infamy is a serious punishment.

Painting, potentially by Haring, sells for $1,525

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) - A 7-foot painting that was marketed as potentially the work of famed pop artist Keith Haring has sold for more than $1,500 on eBay. The seller was a Pennsylvania man, Ed Oswald, who believes the painting titled "Hope" to be an original Haring. But his cousin,
Kermit Oswald, one of the world's leading authorities on Haring's work, says it's a knockoff. As a result, the eBay listing did not claim "Hope" is the genuine article. Instead, the description said buyers were bidding on a painting that looked remarkably like Haring's work. Auctioneer Norb Novocin says the winning bid of $1,525 was submitted by a Massachusetts woman. He says he's disappointed it didn't command a higher price. Haring mounted shows worldwide before his 1990 death from AIDS at age 31.

Pittsburgh Symphony to save $400K with staff cuts

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will save $400,000 a year by cutting nine full-time administrative staff and not filling two other vacancies. The orchestra is making the move partly because the stock market plunge has cut into its endowment. The fund was $130 million in 2007 but now stands at about $100 million. Investment income from the endowment pays for some of the orchestra's $30 million annual budget. Orchestra president Larry Tamburri says the move is not a "traditional layoff" but an internal restructuring to make the orchestra financially healthy in the long run. The orchestra's senior executives are under a salary freeze. The cuts leave the orchestra with 72 full-time administrative positions in addition to its 99 unionized musicians.

Pa. cop's stepson to plead guilty in '05 crash

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) - The stepson of a state police sergeant will plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter for causing a fatal crash in the Poconos four years ago. Twenty-six-year-old Dean O'Halloran of Scranton was charged last July in the death of 45-year-old Diane Glynn of Hawley, an English professor and single mother of three. State police reopened their investigation after an attorney for the victim's family uncovered evidence that O'Halloran was driving drunk. The Wayne County district attorney's office says in a letter to attorney Mark Tanner that O'Halloran will plead guilty on March 16 to involuntary manslaughter and drunken driving.

Sanofi abandons plan to move jobs out of Poconos

SWIFTWATER, Pa. (AP) - Sanofi Pasteur is staying put in the Poconos. The vaccine maker says it has abandoned a plan to shift hundreds of jobs from its Poconos campus in northeastern Pennsylvania to the Lehigh Valley. Sanofi Pasteur supplies 40 percent of the flu vaccine used in
the United States. It's a subsidiary of Paris-based drug company Sanofi Aventis. The company said in December it had outgrown its Swiftwater campus. Company officials met with Lehigh County commissioners to discuss a possible move to a corporate center outside Bethlehem.
After reviewing its options, the company now says it will look for additional space closer to Swiftwater.

Pittsburgh planning for family-friendly St. Pat's

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pittsburgh police will be augmented by 20 state Liquor Control Enforcement officers to make this year's St. Patrick's Day parade safer and more family-friendly. For last year's parade, police reduced the hours that open containers of alcohol were allowed in downtown's Market Square from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. In prior years, open containers were allowed from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The restriction remains in effect this year. Police made more
than 100 alcohol-related arrests last year and are prepared for more this year with 95 city police and 20 LCE agents. Officials say public drunkenness and unruly behavior among the
250,000 people who come to the parade has increased over the years. This year's parade begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 14.

Pa. lawyer accused of faking will seeks dismissal

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) - A prominent criminal defense lawyer in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley says the U.S. government secretly recorded a conversation with a client. John Karoly Jr. is accused of helping produce a fake will for his brother and sister-and-law. Prosecutors say they had cut him out of their will before dying in a plane crash in 2007. In court papers filed Tuesday, the Allentown lawyer alleges that his Sept. 18 conversation was protected by attorney-client privilege. Karoly says recording it violated his constitutional rights. Karoly's lawyer, Robert Goldman, says charges should therefore be dismissed. Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth Weber says once he's read the motion, he will file a response.

HONG KONG (AP) - One analyst says the Asian stock market surge today on the heels of Wall Street's rally is just a technical bounce after days of losses. Major indexes jumped on news that
Citigroup is turning a profit. But other economic news remains bleak.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is set to sign a $410 billion spending measure to keep the government running. The bill is loaded with pet projects but the administration calls it last year's business. Obama plans to announce curbs on so-called earmarks.

SAMSON, Ala. (AP) - Authorities in Alabama say Michael McLendon is the shooter who killed at least nine people in two counties, including relatives and strangers. His mother's body was found
inside her burned home, but it's not certain if she's a 10th victim.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - The attorney for alleged al-Qaida sleeper agent Ali al-Marri says he hopes no one in else the U.S. has to go through what his client did. Al-Marri now faces civilian
terror charges after five years in a Navy brig without charge as an enemy combatant.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - A month of delays could end tonight with the launch of space shuttle Discovery to the international space station. The shuttle and its seven-man crew will deliver one last set of solar wings for the station. Everything looks good so far.