Today's News- Monday, April 20, 2009

PSP ON HUNT FOR VANDALS
Frackville state police are on the hunt for vandals who shot up windows at two homes in Gilberton over the weekend. Someone with a BB gun shot at and broke windows at 437 and 500 Main Street. Troopers say they believe the culprits fled in a vehicle with a loud muffler. The investigation continues.

MEDS THEFT IN PALO ALTO
State police are looking for the individual who took prescription meds from a home in Palo Alto between Friday and Saturday. Someone took Methocarbannol and Endocet belonging to Brenda Stoffregen. Troopers from the Schuylkill Haven barracks are investigating.

SPEED LEADS TO CRASH IN MT CARBON
A Hamburg teen was hurt in an early Saturday crash in North Manheim Township. Sch Haven state police report that 19 year old Ashley Jones was southbound on Route 61 at a high rate of speed, changed lanes and struck the median. Her car traveled nearly 50 feet before hitting the guide rail. Troopers say Jones had been drinking earlier in the evening, and they believe she may have been driving under the influence. Investigation is continuing.

BURGLARY IN PINE GROVE TOWNSHIP
State police are looking for your help to catch thieves who made off with electronic equipment from a home in Pine Grove Township. While the owners were away from home, a flat screen TV, gaming systems, DVD's and games were taken from the Tremont Road property. Estimated value of the items is over $25 hundred dollars. If you have any information, call Schuylkill Haven state police at 593-2000.

HAVEN MAN ESCAPES INJURY
A Schuylkill Haven man escaped injury when his truck crashed Saturday morning on Summerhill Road, South Manheim Township. 80 year old Ernest Mease appeared to be disoriented, possibly due to a medical condition, when the pickup left the road, shearing off a utility pole. As a precaution, Mease was taken to Schuylkill Medical Center East for evaluation.

ONE HURT IN WAYNE TOWNSHIP CRASH
A woman from Auburn had minor injuries when her vehicle rear ended a Minersville man's truck Sunday morning in Wayne Township. 29 year old Brian Stine was stopped in the southbound lane of Route 183, waiting to turn left onto Route 895. 71 year old Charlotteann Petlansky didn't see Stine's pickup stopped in front of her, and struck it in the rear. Petlansky was taken to Schuylkill Medical Center South for treatment. Her vehicle had to be towed from the scene. Stine nor his 17 month old passenger were hurt.

COBRA HELP FOR THOSE OUT OF WORK
A little bit of good news for many who have lost their jobs in Pennsvlvania. If you worked in a company with more than 20 employees, you're now qualified not only to continue your healthcare coverage, but to get a big chunk of it paid for by the federal government. The deal is available through the COBRA health insurance system to those who were laid off between September 1st, 2008 and the end of this year. Sharon Ward, executive director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center says it can save folks thousands of dollars:

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Ward says a just-passed deadline requires your employer to make you aware of the change, although research from Families USA shows some employers have not met the deadline. Even people who decided not to pay for COBRA, or who dropped out because of the cost, are eligible for the new, lower rates. The plan doesn't include workers in companies with less than 20 employees, but there is legislation on the table in PA, Senate Bill 442, which would extend them the same coverage:

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DOG MAULS GIRLS IN KULPMONT
KULPMONT - Two girls were mauled by a dog in Northumberland County Sunday afternoon, one having to be flown to Geisinger Medical Center. The Daily Item reports, the two 12-year-old girls were walking the Mastiff in Kulpmont when another dog ran out barking at the girls. The Mastiff enraged by the other dog turned on the girls who were trying to restrain it. Police have not released the names of the girls or who owned the dog which is being held at an animal hospital for observation.

RESTAURANT RAMMED
PA restaurant rammed, several patrons injured
POTTSTOWN, Pa. (AP) - Officials in Pottstown say several patrons were injured when a pickup truck rammed into a restaurant. The accident was reported during the dinner hour Sunday evening at the King Buffet on Shoemaker Road. WPVI-TV reports three people were flown to nearby hospitals and others were transported by ambulance. Pottstown police are investigating the accident.

OFFICER'S TAVERN JOKES
NAACP head calls for Pa. officer to resign
ERIE, Pa. (AP) - The head of the NAACP says a western Pennsylvania police officer should resign over an Internet video showing him in a bar, apparently intoxicated, joking about a
homicide victim. Erie patrol officer James Cousins II was suspended for the profanity-laced off-duty rant in which he talks about 31-year-old Rondale Jennings Sr. who was shot in the head outside a bar last month. The victim's mother told CNN on Sunday that she was "shocked
and disturbed" by the video posted online. Benjamin Jealous, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, told CNN the officer should resign. The president of Erie's African American Concerned Clergy has called for the officer's dismissal.
Erie police say they are investigating. Cousins has been suspended with pay from his full-time job and without pay from a part-time position with a neighboring borough.

HINDU TEMPLE LAWSUIT
Pa. township sued over proposed Hindu temple
CHESTER SPRINGS, Pa. (AP) - A group seeking to build a Hindu temple has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that a suburban Philadelphia township's zoning and land development ordinances are infringing on the group's constitutional rights. Adhi Parasakthi Charitable, Medical, Educational and Cultural Society of North America filed suit Friday against West Pikeland Township. The society says township ordinances violate the group's religious, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly rights. The group wants to build a 26,000-square-foot temple and a 9,000-square-foot auxiliary support building on a 24.5-acre site along Route 401. Township supervisors last month approved a scaled-back plan, saying they were trying to mitigate adverse effects on the surrounding community.

WALK FOR TIBET
Dalai Lama nephew walks 900 miles to NYC for Tibet
NEW YORK (AP) - The Dalai Lama's nephew has walked 900 miles from Indiana to New York City to protest what he calls Chinese suppression of Tibetans. Jigme Norbu led a rally Saturday outside the Chinese consulate in Manhattan. His feet are blistered after the four-week " Walk for Tibet." Step by step, Norbu covered about 30 miles a day on roads and small highways. He passed through Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. In the big cities, he led rallies, speaking about Tibetans' struggles. The walk coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Tibetans' uprising against Chinese rule. It ended Friday. Norbu is the son of the late Taktser Rinpoche, a lama who fought for Tibetan rights along with his brother the Dalai
Lama. A telephone message seeking comment from the Chinese consulate hasn't been returned.
China claims Tibet as part of its territory, but many Tibetans say Chinese rule deprives them of religious freedom and autonomy. Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama of pushing for Tibetan independence and fomenting anti-Chinese protests.

HAMPTON FALLS FATAL
1 dead in Hampton Falls, NH, crash
HAMPTON FALLS, N.H. (AP) - A Pennsylvania man was killed early Sunday when his car ran off Interstate 95 in Hampton Falls, N.H. and hit a tree. Police say 29-year-old Jesse Fredericks of Green Lane, Pa., was headed south on the highway when he ran up a steep embankment just
before 2 a.m. A passenger is hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.

CIVIL WAR MUSEUM
Philly Civil War Museum lacks home, funding
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Civil War Museum of Philadelphia won a fight to stay in the city and the commonwealth a few years ago. But it now finds itself in limbo without a new home and with its collection of artifacts and documents in storage. The museum was established by former Union officers in 1888 and has some 3,000 artifacts. A furor erupted when the museum said in 2001 that it intended to move much of its collection to a museum planned for Richmond, Va. Lawmakers passed a $15 million bill to help keep the museum in Philadelphia, and the museum reached a deal two years ago to move into the historic First Bank of the United States building. But the state has now declined to release the money, saying it is not available.
Museum officials say they are trying to find another home in the city's historic district.

STUDENTS-AUTO X PRIZE
Pa. auto students focused on $10 million X Prize
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - With the Big 3 automakers on life support, a multimillion-dollar contest to create fuel-efficient cars is not just a lark for inventors - it could reveal the future of the
industry. More than 100 teams are vying to win the $10 million Progressive Automotive X Prize for environmentally friendly, production-ready vehicles that finish a long-distance race and get the equivalent of at least 100 miles per gallon. An unlikely top prospect is a team of inner-city students from West Philadelphia. The West Philly Hybrid X Team is one of only two
high schools in the field. Popular Mechanics ranked it in the Top 10 early contenders last year.
Contest officials earlier this month announced the final field of 111 teams from 11 countries. Cristin Lindsay, vice president for prize operations, says that was more than double the number of entrants expected.

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) - A gunman who hijacked a Canadian charter plane on the tarmac near the resort city of Montego Bay, Jamaica, is being called "mentally challenged." Canjet Airlines says the flight crew is being held hostage. Airport officials say nobody has been injured. Officials say the "youngster" demanded to be flown to Cuba.

UNDATED (AP) - A national business economics association is offering a ray of hope that the recession could be easing. Their quarterly survey finds that although the economy continues to
decline, more firms are seeing rising demand for their products and better profit margins and plan fewer job cuts.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama plans to turn his attention to domestic issues this week. At a Cabinet meeting today, the president will ask department and agency heads for specific proposals for trimming their budgets. He says "there will be no sacred cows and no pet projects."

WASHINGTON (AP) - When lawmakers return to Capitol Hill this week, they'll be hammering out budget details. Republicans call resident Barack Obama's spending plan a "disaster." Obama says e wants the GOP to adopt a more constructive attitude toward ealth care, energy and other administration initiatives.

LITTLETON, Colo. (AP) - Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, will be closed today, the 10th anniversary of the assacre that took the lives of 13 people. A private service for
families of victims is planned tonight at a memorial next to the school. Hundreds attended a sunset candlelight vigil yesterday.