Today's News-Tuesday, April 7, 2009

HOLDUP AT FAMILY DOLLAR

Pottsville city police are looking for two Hispanic males who held up the Family Dollar store Monday afternoon. Officers were called to the West Market Street discount store after 2pm. Employees at the store say the pair waited in line at the cash register and presented a note demanding money from the cashier, threatening to shoot everyone. After they got the money, they fled west on Market Street. One of the theives is described as being 5 feet 11 inches tall, chubby build wearing a hooded jacket and sunglasses, with a wool hat and baseball cap. The other bandit is 5 feet 2 inches tall, chubby build with dark hair, wearing a wool hat and sunglasses, wearing a dark blue hooded sweatshirt. If you have information that can aid authorities, call Pottsville Police at 622-1234.

SUNDAY EVENING ATV ACCIDENT

Two people were injured in a car-ATV accident Sunday night in Cass Township. Frackville state police indicate that Jonathan Kintzel of Pottsville and his passenger, Jean Kroh of Frackville, were riding a Yamaha ATV on Schaeffer's Hill Road when Kintzel crossed the center line while negotiating a right hand curve. The ATV hit a car driven by Kathleen Motuk of Pottsville. Kintzel and Kroh were thrown from the ATV. Kintzel took off on a dirt bike operated by Jason Grady of Schuylkill Haven. Troopers caught up with Kintzel later. He will be charged with hit and run.

DUI CRASH INJURES PINE GROVE MAN

A Pine Grove man was severely injured in an early morning crash Monday in Berks County. Hamburg state police report that 22 year old Darryl Shadle Jr. was southbound on Route 501 in Bethel Township when he lost control on a right curve. His pickup truck hit a utility pole, traveled back across the highway and rolled over several times with Shadle ejected from the vehicle. Shadle was flown to Reading Hospital. Troopers are charging him with driving under the influence. He was not wearing his seatbelt.

STIMULUS MONIES AID HOUSING AUTHORITIES

While Schuylkill County has been excluded in energy projects from the federal economic stimulus, the Pottsville and Schuylkill County Housing Authorities will benefit with over $2 million dollars for four projects. Congressman Tim Holden presented $992 thousand, 895 dollars to Craig Shields, PHA Executive Director, and $1.1 million to Tim Hale of the Schuylkill County Housing Authority Monday morning at the Michael Close Apartments on West Norwegian Street. ng. Pottsville Housing projects include plumbing and new windows at the city's high rises. Tim Hale explains that the million dollars will be used for several capital improvement projects:

TIM HALE

Both sets of projects are part of a 5 year plan. Work will commence as soon as bids are awarded, and expect to be completed within the year.

GUARD INJURED IN ASSAULT

Frackville state police are investigating a case where a state prison guard was assaulted by an inmate. That happened Sunday evening at the State Correctional Institution/Frackville. The guard and two others who came to his aid received minor injuries in the scuffle. No charges have yet been filed.

PAXINOS MAN SENTENCED IN BOMB THREAT CASE

A 19 year old Paxinos man has been sentenced in a bomb threat case in Northumberland County. Casey Raab was charged with a third degree felony charge of threatening to use weapons of mass destruction. Raab called in a bomb threat to the Shamokin Middle/High School on November 5, 2008. Northumberland County President Judge Robert Sacavage reminded Raab how serious the threats were before he sentenced him to 6 to 23 months in the Northumberland County prison. The bomb threat last fall caused alot of chaos and a feeling of terror throughout the community, and pressed alot of police and firefighters into service and forced the school to be evacuated. Raab also has to pay $12 hundred dollars in fines and costs and serve 100 hours of community service. He also is prohibited from possessing a firearm.

PITTSBURGH SHOOTING
Man charged in deaths of Pittsburgh police officers posted on racist Web site

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Police investigating the killing of three Pittsburgh police officers have been looking at the shooting suspect's Internet postings. Internet rantings found on a white supremacist Web site indicate that 22-year-old Richard Poplawski was preoccupied with fears. They indicate that he feared that President Barack Obama was going to overturn the right to bear arms and that Jews were secretly running the country. Friends had said Poplawski had been booted out of Marine boot camp for throwing a lunch tray at a drill sergeant. The Marines confirmed he was discharged from boot camp in Parris Island, S.C., in 2004, but said they could not disclose details because of privacy laws.

FLIGHT DELAY-BIRD
Fla. to Pa. flight delayed by bird strike
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) - Some Florida-to-Pennsylvania travelers had their flight delayed when the plane struck a bird on takeoff. Spokeswoman Tyri Squyres says the Allegiant Air flight was
taking off from Sanford-Orlando International Airport about 5 p.m. Monday for Lehigh Valley International Airport at Allentown when it struck and killed the bird, believed to have been an eagle. Squyres says the plane carrying 133 passengers and five crew members returned to the Orlando airport as a precaution. The bird struck the body of the twin-engine jet, not an engine, and damage appeared minimal. Allegiant said a second aircraft was chartered to depart for
Pennsylvania about 9 p.m.

SALLIE MAE JOBS
Sallie Mae to add 2,000 jobs to US in 18 months
NEW YORK (AP) - The nation's largest private student lender says it will bring 2,000 jobs to the U.S. within the next 18 months. And 600 of those positions are to go to Sallie Mae's Wilkes-Barre, Pa., facility. The move marks somewhat of a turnaround for Sallie Mae, which two years ago was faced with the need to slash costs amid collapsing capital markets. Sallie Mae quickly scuttled jobs overseas as part of a plan to save about $300 million over a 12-month period.
Once the cost cuts were made, Sallie Mae started to look into returning those positions to the U.S. The impending influx of jobs is welcome news to the country's unemployed, whose numbers have climbed past 13 million.

SANDWICH SHOP SHOOTING
3 shot at Pa. sandwich shop; at least 2 die
ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) - Three people have been shot, at least two fatally, in violence that began with the robbery of a western Pennsylvania sandwich shop. Police responded to a Subway shop in Altoona shortly after 5 p.m. Monday and two people were taken from that store by ambulance. Witnesses say the gunman escaped to a wooded area and fled toward a baseball field. A third person was shot at the ball field. Blair County Coroner Patty Ross was called to the hospital about 20 minutes after the initial robbery. One person was taken into custody, but it was not immediately clear if that person was connected to the shootings. Police did not
immediately release the names of those involved.

HOUSE GOP-REFORMS
Pa. House Republican leader outlines reform agenda
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Republicans in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives are proposing a set of ethics reforms they say will improve the public's trust in government. Minority Leader Sam Smith announced a set of proposals called Pennsylvania's Agenda for Trust in Harrisburg at a press conference in the State Capitol on Wednesday. The proposals include limits on staff campaigning and the use of nonprofit organizations by public officials. Those activities have figured into recent high-profile criminal prosecutions of Democrats in the Legislature. Other planks include greater disclosure of lobbying activities, campaign contributions and state spending. House Republicans also want an ethics code of conduct for the
state government's executive branch employees.

JUDGE INDICTED
Retired Pa. judge's wife challenges fed forfeiture
ERIE, Pa. (AP) - The wife of a retired Pennsylvania Superior Court judge convicted of insurance fraud is challenging efforts by federal prosecutors to seize the judge's home. Prosecutors claim former Judge Michael Joyce bought the home in Millcreek Township, near Erie, using some of the $440,000 he received from two insurance companies for an August 2001 fender bender. The 60-year-old Joyce was convicted in November of mail fraud and money laundering for allegedly exaggerated neck and back injuries to make the claims. But Joanne Joyce says her name has been on the deed since 2005 and that marital assets were used to pay the mortgage and improve the home. If she is successful, Joanne Joyce could stop the forfeiture or, at least, receive a share of the money if the government sells the house.

EMERGENCY DIRECTOR FIRED
Former Pa. county workers charged in theft
MIDDLEBURG, Pa. (AP) - A central Pennsylvania prosecutor is pursuing charges against his county's former emergency management director and that man's former top deputy. Snyder County District Attorney Michael Sholly filed charges Monday against the two men following a two-year investigation. Sholly says former Emergency Management Director David Nichols is
accused of selling county communication equipment on eBay. Also, former first deputy William Michaels faces a theft charge related to the misuse of county money. Both men were fired in February 2008. They were released on their own recognizance after Monday's arraignment.

SCOTUS-MUMIA ABU-JAMAL
High court lets Abu-Jamal's conviction stand
WASHINGTON (AP) - Mumia Abu-Jamal has lost his bid for a new trial in the killing of a Philadelphia police officer in 1981. The Supreme Court says in an order Monday it will not take up Abu-Jamal's claims that prosecutors improperly excluded blacks from the jury that convicted him of murdering Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia upheld Abu-Jamal's conviction but held his death sentence invalid. The appeals court said it would not second-guess state court rulings rejecting Abu-Jamal's claims of bias in the composition of the jury. The high court considered only the conviction. The state has separately asked the court to reinstate the death sentence, but the
justices have not acted on that request.

CATHOLIC COLLEGES-BIRTH CONTROL
NE Pa. Catholic college leaders reassure bishop
SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) - The presidents of four Roman Catholic institutions of higher learning in northeastern Pennsylvania say their schools don't provide condoms or other contraceptives.
The presidents of Marywood University, the University of Scranton, Misericordia University and King's College jointly wrote to Scranton Bishop Joseph Martino on Monday to tell him that.
They were writing in response to a letter sent Wednesday by the bishop, in which he asked them to assure him that they were not providing contraception. Roman Catholic teachings forbid artificial birth control. Officials from the Diocese of Scranton said the bishop's letter was prompted by a March 25 article in the student newspaper at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia. The article said Saint Joseph's finds "middle ground" between church doctrine and health care.

CORPS-RIVER DREDGING
Feds complete dredging environmental study
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says an updated environmental assessment has found nothing that would preclude the proposed dredging of the Delaware River shipping channel. The new study analyzed the potential impact of events that have occurred since a supplementary environmental impact statement was issued in 1997. It found nothing that would have a significant adverse impact on the environment over and above factors that had addressed in previous environmental studies. The project, which requires a permit from Delaware, stalled in 2003 amid disputes over its costs and environmental impact. Shippers say the dredging is needed to accommodate large vessels and keep area ports competitive. Environmentalists argue that it will benefit only a few oil refineries and threaten wildlife and
water quality.

CROSSING GUARD-SEX CHARGE
Pa. crossing guard accused of sex with minor
SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) - An 85-year-old man who had worked as a school crossing guard in Dunmore is accused of sex crimes involving a 16-year-old boy. Joseph Gyuriska surrendered Monday at a district judge's office in Dickson City. The Scranton man was charged Wednesday with several offenses and held on $200,000 bail until a preliminary hearing set for April 15. Police said Gyuriska had been employed for at least a decade by the borough of Dunmore as a school crossing guard, but would only work from late August to November. Gyuriska is charged along with 28-year-old Joseph Burns of Throop, who is accused of recording sex acts between Gyuriska and the boy on video.

FATAL AMISH CRASH
4 young Amish men now dead in Pa. crash
GORDONVILLE, Pa. (AP) - State police report a fourth person has died as a result of an accident that killed three Amish men in south-central Pennsylvania. The Berks County coroner says 20-year-old Amos Beiler, of Kinzers, died Sunday at Reading Hospital two days after 20-year-old Stephen Beiler Jr., of Ronks, died at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. The two men were injured in a crash involving two pickup trucks in Leacock Township, in Lancaster County, on March 29. Three other young people were hurt. A relative says the other two who died, 19-year-old Mervin Lapp and his 18-year-old brother, Mahlon Lapp, were from Nickel Mines, the same community where a gunman killed five girls at an Amish school in 2007.

PHILADELPHIA NEWSPAPERS-BANKRUPTCY
Bankrupt Philadelphia papers granted delay
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A bankruptcy financing hearing that could determine who controls Philadelphia's two major newspapers will take place in May. Philadelphia Newspapers and its lenders agreed Monday to postpone the hearing on debtor-in-possession financing until the
week of May 11 at the earliest. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February, citing $395 million in debt. Philadelphia Newspapers argued for a delay by saying it is doing well enough financially to forgo debtor-in-possession financing for now. Senior lenders have agreed to multiple delays for the hearing. Investors have offered $25 million in temporary financing, if
Chief Executive Brian Tierney stays. Creditors oppose that condition and have offered their own $20 million plan.

PHILLY CASINO FIGHT
Philly casino plans temporary slots parlor
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The developers for one of Philadelphia's two proposed slots parlors plan to open a temporary casino next year. SugarHouse casino's developers say they hope to open the 1,700-machine temporary facility before the middle of 2010. The temporary slots parlor would be incorporated into the final design for the site on the Delaware River waterfront. The developers say they can move forward with construction after the state Gaming Control Board approves the design changes. The temporary parlor will take about nine months to build. Opponents have challenged the locations of SugarHouse and the city's other proposed casino, Foxwoods Casino Philadelphia. But developers say design changes released Monday are intended to increase the public's access to the river.

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) - A senior adviser to President Barack Obama says the eight day European trip has been "enormously productive. David Axelrod says it might take time to realize specific benefits. Obama wraps up his Turkish stop today by reaching out to Muslim students.

HONG KONG (AP) - Most major Asian stock markets stumbled today, tracking selling that pulled Wall Street lower yesterday for the first time in five days. Fresh concerns over banks and upcoming results from U.S. companies led many investors to book profits, interrupting a global rally. U.S. futures are slightly lower.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - The Veterans Affairs Department is expanding an investigation into unsterilized colonoscopy equipment that may have exposed thousands of veterans to infectious diseases. The VA is looking for a link between the equipment and a patient's
positive HIV test.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Police investigating the killing of three Pittsburgh police officers have been looking at the shooting suspect's Internet postings on a white supremacist Web site.
Meantime, mourners lined up yesterday for the first of a week of viewings and funerals.

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - An environmental group says outdated water management and poor flood planning have made California's two longest rivers the most endangered in the country. American Rivers says a collapse of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers could endanger the water supply of 25 million Californians.