Today's News- Friday, May 8, 2009

COPS NAB ONE OF TWO ACCUSED IN NIGHT DROP HOLDUP
The hunt for two Shenandoah men who robbed a woman making a night depository drop last weekend has resulted in the arrest of one man. 21 year old Fabian Diaz was arraigned Thursday on robbery, conspiracy and other charges in connection with the incident at M&T Bank on South Centre Street Saturday. Diaz and Roldan are alleged to have taken more than $2-thousand-dollars from an employee of Supershoes who was making a night drop. Roldan is still at large. Diaz was jailed after arraignment.

SENTENCING SET
Schuylkill County President Judge William Baldwin has set the date for sentencing of two Shenandoah teens found guilty of charges relating to the beating death of a Mexican illegal immigrant. June 17th, Brandon Piekarsky and Derrick Donchak were found guilty of simple assault and alcohol related counts last Friday night, but acquitted of more serious charges. According to the Republican and Herald, the simple assault charges carry a 1 to 2 year sentence. Donchak's three corruption of the morals of a minor charge carry 2 to 5 year sentences, and furnishing alcohol to minors hold a 6 to 12 month maximum sentence.

AGGRAVATED ASSAULT CHARGES ISSUED
Two Hegins area teenagers are under arrested, charged in the beating of another boy in Hubley Township last weekend. Schuylkill Haven state police report that 19 year olds Dylan Schreffler and Drew Kline were arraigned yesterday. The pair allegedly attacked the 18 year old while he sat in his car at St Paul's Church on State Route 25. The boy reportedly fled after Schreffler and two others began punching him, and fell on the ground, where he was continually beaten. The boy was treated at Hershey Medical Center, and continues to recover at home. Schreffler is charged with aggravated assault and related counts, while Kline is charged with conspiracy. Schreffler couldn't post bail and is lodged in the county prison. Kline did post bail and was released. Two others will be charged through juvenile authorities.

MINER CHARGES DROPPED
A county District Judge has dropped charges against one of the miners implicated in an explosion and subsequent death of a Donaldson man in 2006. Judge Carol Pankake of Tremont dropped charges against 43 year old Jeffrey Klinger. He was charged with involuntary manslaughter, causing or risking a catastrophe and other counts relating to the accident at R&D Coal Company in Tremont Township. Dale Reightler died in the explosion. The Republican Herald reports that Pankake ruled the prosecution didn't prove their case against Klinger. Charges against Klinger were re-filed by the state attorney general's office after they were originally dismissed by county Judge Jacqueline Russell. The court said that no evidence existed that Klinger knew the explosion would happen. The owner of the mine, Steven Zimmerman and his son Steven Zimmerman, are still facing charges in that fateful mine explosion.

WESLEYAN SHOOTING
Police: Suspect in Conn. college killing arrested
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. (AP) - A man who Connecticut police say sparked two fearful days on a university campus by killing a student and threatening a campus shooting spree surrendered
Thursday night after seeing his photo in a newspaper. Stephen P. Morgan, 29, was taken into custody about 9:15 p.m. after stopping at a Cumberland Farms convenience store in Meriden,
about 10 miles from the Wesleyan University campus. Clerk Sonya Rodriguez told WFSB-TV that she didn't recognize Morgan when he got a drink and scanned the newspapers. She said he
had trouble using the phone and asked her to call police, but she wasn't suspicious. When police arrived, they told her the man she had been talking to was wanted for Wednesday's fatal shooting of 21-year-old Johanna Justin-Jinich in Middletown. Justin-Jinich would have graduated next year from Wesleyan. She was a 2006 graduate of the Westtown School, a Quaker boarding school outside Philadelphia. Morgan is being held on $10 million bond and is due in court today.

2006 TAVERN SLAYING
NYC man suspected in 2006 Pa. murder arraigned
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) - A New York City man charged in a 2006 shooting death in northeastern Pennsylvania has been arraigned. He is 27-year old Marc Smith of Brooklyn, who is accused of shooting two men outside a troubled Wilkes-Barre tavern. One of them, David Keeley, died. The other managed to run off. The tavern, the White House Cafe, has since closed.
Smith was arrested in December and had an extradition hearing last month.

MILITARY HELICOPTER CRASH
2 killed in Marine helicopter crash identified
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Military officials have identified the two Marine Corps pilots killed when a helicopter crashed in a remote section of a Southern California forest. They are Capt. Jessica Conkling of Pennsylvania and 1st. Lt. Aaron Cox of Pulaski, Ark. Conkling was 27 years old and Cox was 26. A military news release said Conkling is from Centre, Pa., but did not specify
which of the localities with that name in Pennsylvania she is from. A public affairs official reached by phone Thursday night said that information would not be available until Friday morning. Officials say they were on a training exercise when the AH-1W Super Cobra helicopter crashed shortly before midnight Tuesday in the Cleveland National Forest in eastern San Diego County.

BANKS-STRESS TESTS-REGIONALS
5 regional banks must raise $8.2B after tests
WASHINGTON (AP) - Five of the nation's largest regional banks are vulnerable to a worsening recession and need to raise a total $8.2 billion in new capital based on results of government "stress tests." The tests found that Birmingham, Ala.-based Regions Financial Corp. needs to raise $2.5 billion; Atlanta-based SunTrust Banks Inc. needs $2.2 billion; Cleveland's KeyCorp. needs $1.8 billion; Fifth Third Bancorp in Cincinnati needs $1.1 billion; and Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services Group Inc. needs $600 million. The tests were designed to gauge whether any of the nation's 19 largest banks would need more capital to survive a deeper
recession.

PHILADELPHIA NEWSPAPERS-BANKRUPTCY
Philly newspapers get 60-day stay from lawsuits
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A bankruptcy judge is giving Philadelphia's two major daily newspapers a 60-day stay of proceedings in pending defamation cases or other lawsuits. Philadelphia Newspapers LLC said Thursday it needs the time to focus on its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. The company operates The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News.
The pending suits include one filed by U.S. Rep. Robert Brady. Brady's lawyer says an Inquirer editorial alleged Brady steered a Capitol lighting contract to his district. Brady and other litigants are unsecured creditors in the bankruptcy. Philadelphia Newspapers filed for bankruptcy protection in February, citing about $395 million in debt.

RIDGE-SENATE
Ridge declines PA Senate run
WASHINGTON (AP) - Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge says he's not going to challenge Sen. Arlen Specter next year. Ridge is a moderate Republican who was the nation's first
homeland security chief. He said in a statement Thursday that his party is facing challenges and he will work with the GOP, but he will not seek the nomination. A Quinnipiac University poll this week showed Specter and Ridge running about even in a hypothetical general-election race. Party officials have said he was considering a run. Former Republican Rep. Pat Toomey has announced his candidacy for the Senate. Specter recently split with the Republican Party after four decades to become a Democrat. Earlier Thursday, Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak says he's
considering running.

PHILADELPHIA TAXES
Philly tax board members say they won't resign
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Philadelphia's mayor has asked the city's embattled property tax board to resign, but board members say they won't do so. Mayor Michael Nutter's announcement comes amid reports in The Philadelphia Inquirer that have raised questions about the
management of the Board of Revision of Taxes and the accuracy of its assessments. Nutter asked the seven-member board to resign on Thursday. But six of the seven members told reporters they would fight to keep their $70,000- to $75,000-a-year part-time jobs. Board members noted that the agency has just recently released a new set of "full value" assessments and see no reason to resign now.

FLIGHT CUTS
Regional W.Pa. airport to lose flights to Detroit
LATROBE, Pa. (AP) - Delta Airlines is ending flights from a regional western Pennsylvania airport to Detroit in July. Delta reviewed its services after merging with Northwest. As
part of its streamlining, it is cutting the flight from Arnold Palmer Regional Airport to the Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Delta says it is cutting the route because it has been underperforming.
Airport official Duane Pickels says once that service ends on July 31, the airport will only have charter service to casino locations. It will also service private jets. The airport is trying to renew service to Pittsburgh.

MISSING HOSPITAL PATIENT
DA: No charges in Pa. dementia patient's death
PITTSBURGH (AP) - A prosecutor says he won't file charges against a Pittsburgh hospital where a dementia patient wandered onto the roof in subfreezing temperatures and died.
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. says there's not enough evidence to charge UPMC Montefiore or any employees with criminal negligence in the Dec. 3 death of
89-year-old Rose Lee Diggs. Zappala said Thursday a civil suit filed by the woman's family
and remedial measures required by the state department of health are sufficient to address her death. Diggs went missing Dec. 2 and was found the next morning. Police say she wandered through a fire door and up some steps to a rooftop door. Diggs' family has filed a civil suit accusing the hospital of negligence and trying to cover up her death.

FATHER-SON BURGLARIES
Father, son charged in 72 Philly-area burglaries
MEDIA, Pa. (AP) - Authorities say a father and son are charged in 72 burglaries in suburban Philadelphia that happened between September and January. The 41-year-old father from Akron, Lancaster County, is accused of breaking into homes along with his 20-year-old son from the Philadelphia suburb of Clifton Heights. Police said Thursday that they broke into homes when most people are at work and stole valuables that they pawned or traded for heroin.
Police say a third man is considered a person of interest in the burglaries in Delaware, Montgomery, Bucks and Chester counties.

MYSTERY GIFTS-TEMPLE
Temple U wonders if $5M mystery gift fits pattern
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Temple University officials aren't sure if an anonymous multimillion-dollar gift received last year is part of a string of mysterious donations to colleges led by women.
At least 13 schools with female presidents have received anonymous contributions totaling nearly $75 million in the last two months. Temple is led by Ann Weaver Hart. The Philadelphia university received $5 million in February 2008, with $4 million of it earmarked for scholarships. University officials said Thursday that the first 25 scholarships were awarded
this academic year. Last fall, Hunter College in New York received the same amount
with the same stipulation. Hunter is also led by a woman.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The government is releasing a key indicator of economic health this morning. The latest employment numbers are expected to show some improvement over the previous month. It could be a sign that the worst has passed in terms of job losses during
the current recession.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) - A southern California wildfire has been gaining strength and threatening residential areas. A Santa Barbara county official says about 18,000 people have been told to evacuate. It's already scorched roughly four square miles.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - A New Zealand gunman continues to keep police at bay, more than a day after an officer was killed and three other people were wounded. The siege has closed down a section of the city of Napier. Police say a 51-year-old former army reservist opened fire yesterday, when officers showed up with a warrant to search for marijuana.

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. (AP) - The man suspected of gunning down a Wesleyan University student and threatening a shooting rampage makes a court appearance in Connecticut later today. Authorities say the suspect may have been planning an attack on Jews and Wesleyan students. He's accused of killing a woman he'd known and allegedly harassed for years.

BOLINGBROOK, Ill. (AP) - Prosecutors say they're "very confident" in their case against former police sergeant Drew Peterson. He's been indicted in the 2004 drowning death of his
third wife. That death was initially ruled an accident. Peterson is also suspected in the disappearance of his fourth wife three years later.