Today's News- Wednesday, April 8, 2009

STATE POLICE TO HANDLE SLASHING CASE
The slashing case of an off duty Ashland police officer by a Drums man will now be investigated by state police. Richard Haraschack responded to an altercation during the early morning hours Sunday at the Turkey Hill Minit Market on Centre Street, and was injured by Shawn Mulligan of Drums. The Republican Herald reports that state police at Frackville will take over the investigation, since the incident involved Haraschack and another police officer, Gennaro Dallatore. Mulligan was arrested after the incident by Hazleton State Police. Haraschack has been released from St. Catherine's Medical Center.

CHARGES FILED AGAINST PINE GROVE MAN
A Pine Grove man is facing theft charges following an incident last month in Pine Grove Township. Schuylkill Haven state police now say that 29 year old Christopher Kaufman and Kristy Mangini were arguing in the parking lot of the Paradise Pub on Sweet Arrow Lake Road early March 20th. Kaufman pushed the woman into a car, then cracked Mangini's windshield with his fist and caused other damages. The pair drove away together. A short time later, they began arguing again, and Kaufman took Mangini's car keys and fled the scene. Charges are being handled through the office of District Judge Carol Pankake.

PPL HELPS OUT PADCO
A financial shot in the arm from PPL Resources will help several endeavors of the Pottsville Area Development Corporation. Five thousand dollars will help with PADCO's revolving loan programs to aid businesses in the city of Pottsville, the annual Business Plan Competition, the Sovereign Majestic Theatre and the recruitment of new businesses at the Technology Incubator.

SANDWICH SHOP SHOOTING
Suspect charged after 2 killed after Pa. robbery
ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) - Police have identified the man charged in the shooting deaths of two people following a robbery at a west-central Pennsylvania sandwich shop. Nicholas Horner faces two counts of criminal homicide and other charges in connection with the shootings Monday afternoon in Altoona. The 28-year-old Altoona resident was arraigned Tuesday and sent to Blair County Jail without bail. Police say Horner shot two workers at a Subway shop, killing
one. Authorities say the suspect then fled and shot another man about four blocks away who was retrieving his mail. State police say it appears Horner was trying to take a car when he encountered the second victim. Horner was taken into custody a short time later.

PITTSBURGH SHOOTING
911 worker didn't warn Pittsburgh police of guns
PITTSBURGH (AP) - The head of Pittsburgh's police union says officers would have responded differently on a 911 call Saturday if they'd known they were about to face a heavily armed man.
Apparently, they didn't get that information. The mother of a man charged with killing three officers told a 911 dispatcher he had weapons -- but the official in charge of dispatchers says the information wasn't relayed to officers. Allegheny County Chief of Emergency Services Robert Full has told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette there's "no excuse," and that the situation "could have been handled better." Union chief James Malloy says officers approach cases where they know weapons are involved with "a different attitude." Police say the shooter was wearing a bulletproof vest and was armed with a variety of weapons, including an AK-47 assault rifle.

PITTSBURGH-OFFICER SHOOTING
Police charge suspect wounded by Pittsburgh police
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pittsburgh police say they've charged a man with attempting to kill two officers who wounded him after one had stopped to help the man because he was bleeding.
Thirty-seven-year-old Luis Morales, of Pittsburgh, is recovering from gunshot wounds to the torso. Police say he was in critical condition following Monday night's shooting. His condition after emergency surgery is not immediately available and it's not clear if Morales is to be arraigned in the hospital or in court on Tuesday. Police say Morales shot at the officer who stopped when he saw the man's head bleeding. Police later learned Morales was hit in the head with a bowl by a woman who claims he stole money from her. Police say that officer and another shot Morales after he fired shots at the first officer and wouldn't drop his gun.

FLIGHT 93 MEMORIAL
Mineral rights sought for memorial
WASHINGTON (AP) - The National Park Service will acquire mineral rights on a major portion of land at the Flight 93 crash site in western Pennsylvania to ensure memorial construction isn't delayed. Just who would retain the oil and gas rights - the landowner or the government - was one of the last open issues in negotiations. Following talks with the key landowner, the Park Service decided it would be best if the government held those rights, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press. An agreement to purchase the major property owner's land was reached earlier this year. Officials have pledged to dedicate the Flight 93 memorial by the
10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

SENATOR INVESTIGATION
Pa. prosecutors aim to shut down Fumo's nonprofit
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - State prosecutors are filing a lawsuit against a Philadelphia nonprofit organization founded by a former state senator convicted of using its money for his personal
benefit. Attorney General Tom Corbett says the lawsuit is the first step toward shutting down Citizens Alliance for Better Neighborhoods. Sen. Vincent Fumo used his powerful position as the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee to fund Citizens' Alliance with state grants and a $17 million donation from a state-regulated utility, Peco Energy. Last month, a federal jury convicted Fumo of corruption. The lawsuit seeks a full accounting of the nonprofit's assets and the repayment of funds found to have been mismanaged or misappropriated.

GUN SEIZURE
W.Pa. felon gets prison for weapons violations
PITTSBURGH (AP) - A western Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to two months in prison and probation for three years for violating federal gun laws. Authorities say 39-year-old Curt Radovich, of Butler, had hundreds of guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Radovich
was unable to own guns because of an assault conviction. Authorities say he also illegally sold firearms. Authorities seized more than 325 rifles, handguns and assault-type weapons from his home on Feb. 7, 2008, which authorities said was one of the largest seizures in the state.
He was sentenced Tuesday is U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh.

MUSEUM ART VANDALIZED
Ex-guard must pay $245K for slashing painting
PITTSBURGH (AP) - A former guard at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh who slashed a $1.2 million painting has been sentenced to house arrest and ordered to pay $245,000.
Twenty-eight-year-old Timur Serebrykov must wear an electronic monitoring device for 11
to 23 months and may only leave home for appointments with his lawyer, doctor and to attend religious events. He must also perform 500 hours of community service and will be on probation for four years. The museum paid $5,000 to repair the painting. But the museum says it's now worth $240,000 less because of the damage. Serebrykov slashed "Night Sky 2" by Latvian artist Vija Celmins on May 16 because he didn't like it. He was sentenced Tuesday in Allegheny County Court.

PHILLY SCHOOLS-AUDIT
Audit: Philadelphia student funds mishandled
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - An audit has found that student activity funds are widely mishandled in Philadelphia's public schools. City controller Alan Butkovitz wants the Philadelphia School
District to better manage the funds. He says there were problems at all 15 high schools that were reviewed. Butkovitz says a manual provided to principals, staff and students isn't being followed. But he says there was no evidence of criminal wrongdoing. The student funds are raised through class dues, bake sales and other fundraising activities. The problems ranged from a $47,000 certificate of deposit that could not be located at one high school, to student funds diverted toward staff meals and salaries at another school.

WEEKEND CRIME
Philadelphia anti-crime program targets weekends
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A new law enforcement initiative begins this weekend in Philadelphia that's targeting violent crime when and where it happens most. Philadelphia police are the lead agency, but local, state and federal agencies have also committed to the effort. Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey says most violent crime - including nearly two-thirds of all murders in the city - happened between March and October. And Ramsey says half of those crimes happened between 4 p.m. and 8 a.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So the program is focusing on those peak hours in the 12 police districts with the highest crime.

READING POLICE BEATING
Officer's use of force gives man brain injury
READING, Pa. (AP) - A prosecutor in Reading has promised to investigate a beating by a police officer that left a suspect with brain damage. Francis Nunez was struck with a heavy-duty
flashlight early March 14 by officer Mark Groff. Nunez is accused of aggravated assault and resisting arrest after officers say he fled a car crash and threatened Groff with a pair of pliers.
Groff says he hit the suspect with the flashlight three times, then pounced on him. He says he felt his life was threatened. The officer stands 5 feet 9 and weighs 260 pounds. Nunez is four
inches shorter and more than 100 pounds lighter. The Reading police are reviewing the matter. Berks County prosecutor John Adams pledges his own investigation.

POLICE OFFICERS-THEFT
Ex-Pa. police officer charged with theft is dead
DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) - A former suburban Philadelphia police officer charged with stealing more than $87,000 from a police group she helped run has been found dead at her home.
Authorities say 42-year-old Katherine Leese, of Langhorne, was found by her mother on Monday. The former Falls Township officer had pleaded no contest to theft charges and was to have been sentenced Tuesday for diverting funds from Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 53 while she was its treasurer. The group's past president, 66-year-old Gerald Conaway of Southampton, embezzled another $5,500. Conaway is retired from the Upper Southampton force. He was sentenced in January to 23 months in prison. An autopsy is pending to determine the cause of Leese's death.

COLD CASE KILLING
Eastern Pa. DA to look into 30-year-old murder
BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) - An eastern Pennsylvania prosecutor is looking to reopen the investigation into the brutal murder of a teenage girl 30 years ago. Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli says he believes the 1979 killing of Holly Branagan in Bethlehem can still be solved. Morganelli plans to meet Bethlehem police and the county coroner later this month to discuss the case and the possibility of a grand jury investigation.
Branagan was stabbed 18 times in her home on March 28, 1979. The attack was so violent the kitchen knife that was used to kill her broke off in her back. Police suspect the cheery high school senior knew her attacker. Investigators say the initial investigation bogged down when
Branagan's friends and others who may have had information refused to talk to police.

DUI ARRESTS
Pa. troopers set record for DUI arrests in 2008
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania state troopers have a new record for the number of arrests for driving under the influence. State police announced Tuesday their officers made more than 16,000 arrests for driving under the influence last year. That's a 3 percent increase over 2007 and the highest yearly total in the department's history. Officials are crediting education, training and targeted enforcement. They're also conducting more evaluations to find
drivers under the influence of illegal or prescription drugs. The number of alcohol-related crashes fell 3 percent last year, while the number of fatalities from those crashes were down by 9 percent from the prior year.

TEMECULA, Calif. (AP) - Police say a language barrier is making it difficult to sort out details after the country's latest mass shooting. A gunman shot four people at a Korean Christian retreat in Southern California last night. One person is dead and two have been critically injured.

KOROLYOV, Russia (AP) - Video from their landing in Kazakhstan shows the three-man crew of a Russian Soyuz capsule smiling, giving thumbs-up and speaking on satellite phones. Two of the crew members are Americans Michael Fincke and repeat space tourist Charles Simonyi.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama's debut on the world stage has ended. He is back at the White House after returning from Baghdad -- the final stop of his overseas trip -- early this morning. In Baghdad, Obama declared that "there is still a lot of work to do here."

WASHINGTON (AP) - A California congresswoman who met with Fidel Castro Tuesday says it's her sense that Castro "really wants President Obama to succeed." Members of the Congressional Black Caucus met with Fidel and his brother Raul as the White House considers a major shift in policies toward the island.

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) - R. Lee Ermey has lived up to the Marine Corps' mantra: "A Few Good Men." The actor, TV host and former Marine drill instructor found a bag with several thousand dollars in cash and checks on a road in Montana. It belonged to a Native American fund. Ermey took it to a bank for deposit.