Today's News-Saturday, April 11, 2009

CRASH CLAIMS LIFE OF NEW YORK WOMAN
A New York woman died from injuries in a two vehicle crash on Route 209 Friday afternoon. The 2pm crash occurred in the village of Brockton, where state police say 56 year old Mary Elizabeth Hoysock of Endwell, New York was traveling south and 27 year old John Miller of New Philadelphia was northbound. Endwell crossed into Miller's lane to pass another vehicle and they collided head on. Endwell was pronounced dead at the scene by Deputy Coroner Melissa Sommers. Miller remains in critical condition at Lehigh Valley Hospital. The investigation continues.

JUVENILES ARRESTED ON SUSPECTED BURGLARY
Orwigsburg police nabbed two juveniles in connection with burglaries at borough businesses. Valenti's Restaurant and the Brickhouse Grill had been burglarized in recent weeks, and the pair were observed on Wednesday attempting to pry a fan from the kitchen at Valenti's during the overnight hours Wednesday when they were apprehended. Both juvenile males were charged with attempted burglary, loitering and prowling and committed to the Berks County Juvenile facility.

EASTER WEEKEND
Good Friday's solemn services to mark the crucifixion was observed by re-enactors in one Schuylkill County community. For three decades, the Trek of The Cross has wound its way through the borough of Gordon to mark the path that Jesus Christ took, carrying his own cross and accompanied by Roman soldiers. The event, begun in 1979 by Elmer Yost of Allentown, to bring Christ's plight to the aged and shut in in Gordon. Beginning and ending at the Simpson United Methodist Church, the trek follows the shape of the cross, finishing with a community Good Friday service.

STATE HAS TO BORROW TO BOOST UNEMPLOYMENT FUND
The Rendell administration has borrowed $310 million from the federal government to help cover the surging cost of unemployment benefits amid rising jobless claims. Department of Labor and Industry spokesman Troy Thompson said Friday the state borrowed the money earlier this week, the third time in the last six years that Pennsylvania has had to seek such a
loan. Thompson says the loan doesn't begin accumulating interest until 2010, but the administration expects to pay it back well before then. The state says more than 295,000 people have been approved for benefits through April 4 of this year. That's compared to fewer than 180,000 at this point last year.

LAWMAKER PROPOSES TOUGHER LAWS AGAINST DRUNK DRIVERS

A state House Democrat says Pennsylvania laws are too lenient on drunk drivers and it's time to get tough. Dave Washburn reports from Harrisburg.

WASHBURN

Several injured in crash at Pittsburgh area church
FOREST HILLS, Pa. (AP) - Authorities and witnesses say a woman lost her leg and at least five other people were injured when a priest drove into a group of people in a church parking lot. The crash happened following an afternoon Good Friday service at St. Maurice Catholic Church in Forest Hills, just east of Pittsburgh. Authorities and witnesses say the priest drove into a group of people on a patio where older people typically wait for rides.
Angela Thomas, a nurse and parishioner, says she saw the woman's severed leg and gave her belt to use as a tourniquet. She also tended to a man pinned under the car. Thomas says the priest told her the accelerator just went. At least five people have been taken to the hospital.

Crash at toll plaza snarls NE Pa. Turnpike
PITTSTON, Pa. (AP) - Northbound lanes remained closed well into Friday night on part of the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, more than six hours after a tractor-trailer crash. No injures were reported in the Friday afternoon crash at the Wyoming Valley interchange, which brought down a number of overhead signs. Northbound lanes were closed between the Pocono and Wyoming Valley interchanges. A hazardous materials team was called to the scene because of leaking fuel.

Pa. police shoot, kill motorist armed with knife
BRISTOL, Pa. (AP) - Authorities say police shot and killed a knife-wielding man after he lunged at an officer in the Philadelphia suburbs. Bristol police were called around 10 p.m. Thursday to investigate reports that a sport utility vehicle had damaged several cars in that Bucks County community. Officers spotted the vehicle behind Bristol High School. After several failed attempts to get the driver to get out of the SUV, officers broke a window and reached inside to remove the keys. The prosecutor's office says the driver then grabbed a
butcher knife and lunged at one officer's neck. Police opened fire, striking the unidentified driver. He was later pronounced dead at Frankford Torresdale Hospital. The officers were uninjured.

Autopsy: Stabbing, choking, caused student's death
GETTYSBURG, Pa. (AP) - Authorities say an autopsy shows that a Gettysburg College student found dead in her former boyfriend's apartment died of a combination of stabbing and choking. Adams County District Attorney Shawn Wagner said Friday the autopsy concluded 19-year-old sophomore Emily Rachel Silverstein was still alive when she was stabbed. Wagner says the examination showed she was stabbed repeatedly with a knife blade nearly 5 inches long. Twenty-one-year-old Kevin Robert Schaeffer, a senior at the college, is being held without bail in Adams County Prison on criminal homicide and other charges. Schaeffer's preliminary hearing is set for Wednesday before Gettysburg District Judge Thomas Carr.

Man to trial in Penn State-Altoona student's death
ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) - Text messages show a western Pennsylvania college student found dead in the trunk of her car might have been trying to buy marijuana from the man accused of strangling her. That man, 19-year-old Sean Louis Allen, of Hollidaysburg, has been ordered to stand trial on a count of criminal homicide. He's accused of killing 20-year-old Penn State-Altoona student Margo "Maggie" Davis at his home on March 3. At a preliminary hearing Thursday, state police say texts showed Davis wanted to buy drugs from Allen but that he was wary of a police set up. Davis and Allen knew each other from high school. Davis' body was found two days later. Allen's attorney says there's no physical evidence linking Allen to the killing, but tests on items in the car could change that.

Witness to alleged abuse of RI detainee released
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - A key witness to the alleged abuse and medical neglect of a Chinese immigrant detainee who died in custody in Rhode Island has been released from detention. Immigration officials were holding Roger Gracias Lozano in York, Pa. He was released Friday to return to his family in Phoenix. Gracias was a cellmate of 34-year-old Hiu Lui "Jason" Ng who died of liver cancer last year while in custody of the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls. Ng had lived in New York City. Gracias reported seeing staff drag Ng, who could not walk, out of his cell screaming in pain. Federal criminal investigators want to question Gracias and sought a stay of his pending deportation to El Salvador. He cannot by law be detained indefinitely.

CT sprouts recalled due to possible health risk
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) - Amalgamated Produce, Inc. of Bridgeport has announced a voluntary recall of sprouts because they may be contaminated with listeria. The company said there have been no illnesses reported in connection with the Specialty Farms, Vermont Sprout House, Nature's Promise or BroccoSprouts products, which were distributed with sell-by date codes of March 31 through April 27. The company said the products were sold in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware. The recall came after laboratory analysis in a finished product sample tested positive. API says it's determining where the potential contamination could be occurring.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - The hostage standoff continues several hundred miles off the coast of Somalia. That's where an American ship captain is being held for ransom by pirates. Both pirates and U.S. forces are rushing reinforcements to the scene. The captors are said to be ready to kill Capt. Richard Phillips if they are attacked.

MIDWEST CITY, Okla. (AP) - Oklahomans and Texans are finding charred buildings, ruined cars and glowing rock as they return home in the wake of several wildfires. Three people were killed, well over 100 homes were lost and some small towns turned largely to ash in the fires that raged Thursday in western and central Oklahoma and in Texas.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) - A tornado has killed a woman and her 9-week-old daughter in Tennessee. Severe weather is also blamed for dozens of injuries near Murfreesboro. The violent weather is part of the same storm system that killed three people Thursday in Arkansas.

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) - Southwestern Pakistan is seeing a third day of riots over the killing of three political leaders. Police say six men have been shot dead. The bodies of six coal miners were found today east of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.

CHICAGO (AP) - Officials say hundreds of patients and staff at three Chicago-area hospitals may have been exposed to tuberculosis by a contagious health care worker. The Chicago Tribune reports the health care worker is a resident in Northwestern's training program
who had rotated through three hospitals.