Today's News-Monday, June 1, 2009

TEEN DRUNK, INVOLVED IN CRASH WITH SHEN POLICE CAR

A Shenandoah teenager is in hot water on several counts, underage drinking, being too young to drive and crashing into a Shenandoah police car. The incident happened last night before midnight. The 15 year old was stopped by a Shenandoah police officer for a current police investigation on East Cherry Street, and put the vehicle in reverse, crashing into the cop car. The boy was apparently drunk and taken for blood tests at Schuylkill Medical Center. The case will be handled by juvenile authorities. Both vehicles had minor damage.

PINE GROVE MAN HAS MINOR INJURIES

A Pine Grove man escaped serious injury when his vehicle hit a utility pole early Sunday in Tremont Township. 25 year old Russell Dissinger was driving his SUV on Lincoln Road around 1:20am when he lost control negotiating a curve, leaving the roadway, hitting the pole and a parked car. Schuylkill Haven state police investigated the crash.

SCUFFLE LEADS TO ARREST

A scuffle between a couple over the weekend led to an arrest and leaves one with injuries. The incident happened at a trailer court in Pine Grove Township where Michael and Brenda Schaeffer lived. The pair got into an argument, and during the scuffle, Michael Schaeffer bit Brenda Schaeffer on the right elbow while she was pushing him away. Harrassment charges were filed against Michael Schaeffer by state police.

PAIR ESCAPE INJURY IN I 81 CRASH

Two people from St Clair avoided injury when the vehicle they were riding in crashed on I-81 Sunday afternoon. Cynthia Hertz and her passenger, Richard Neade, were traveling near mile marker 127 when a front tire failed, sending the car into a slide and up a small embankment. The accident happened around 1pm.

ATTEMPTED ABDUCTION NEAR LYKENS

State police at Lykens are continuing their investigation into a possible attempted abduction of two children Saturday near the northern Dauphin County community. Troopers report that the 8 and 10 year olds were returning from fishing when the man offered them money to go with him. Reports indicate the boys threw a tackle box at the man and ran to their home. The suspect is described as being 25 to 35 years old, about 6 feet tall wearing all black clothing. Anyone with information that could lead to the apprehension of the suspect should call Lykens state police at 717-362-8700.

NEW PHILLY MAN WANTED FOR ASSAULT

Hamburg state police are looking for a New Philadelphia man wanted in connection with an alleged assault of a Berks County woman late last week. 27 year old Haitham Hassan allegedly punched a 26 year old woman while she was driving on Interstate 78. The woman asked Hassan to leave the van, and he smashed her cell phone. She went directly to state police to file a report. Hassan is still being sought by troopers. If you have any information, please call them at 610-562-6885.

SPECTER-PRIMARY
Specter says he wasn't guaranteed free ride in Dem primary, is 'ready to take on all comers'
WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Arlen Specter says he did not seek and was not given any assurance that he would not face a primary challenge when he made the decision to leave the Republican Party to rejoin the Democratic Party. Specter said on "Fox News Sunday" when asked about a possible Democratic primary challenge by Rep. Joe Sestak that he did not ask that the field be cleared. He said he was ready to take on all comers. Sestak, a 57-year-old former Navy vice admiral from the Philadelphia suburbs, has said he is seriously considering taking on 79-year-old Specter. Specter is seeking a sixth term. Asked whether he could beat Sestak in a primary battle, Specter said "in a political campaign there's no such thing as certainty." Specter had been facing a tough Republican primary challenge from former Rep. Pat Toomey, who narrowly lost to him in 2004. The senator stunned Washington with an April 28 announcement that he was switching parties to run as a Democrat. The moderate's defection has left Democrats one vote shy of the 60 needed to overcome filibusters.

ABDUCTION HOAX
Lawyer for woman accused of faking Pa. abduction says she'll stay with relatives, get help
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The lawyer for a Pennsylvania woman accused in an abduction hoax says she'll stay with relatives following her release from a county prison. Attorney Louis Busico also tells The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Bucks County Courier Times that 38-year-old Bonnie Sweeten will start receiving mental-health treatment next week. Sweeten was released Saturday after posting $100,000 in cash- 10 percent of her $1 million bail. She's charged with identity theft and false reporting. Authorities say Sweeten phoned 911 on Tuesday from downtown Philadelphia, claiming she and her 9-year-old daughter had been carjacked and stuffed in the trunk of a Cadillac near their suburban home. A frantic search for them ended 30 hours later at Walt Disney World in Florida.

PA. DAIRY FARMS
State dairy official: Pennsylvania dairy farms at risk
HARRISBURG, PA. (AP) - The head of the state Agriculture Department's Center for Dairy Excellence says 25 percent of dairy farms in Pennsylvania and nationwide are at risk. John Frey says the current milk prices, high costs and huge losses that occur in dairy operations are to blame. With the loss of these farms, Frey says, the state's economic landscape will change dramatically. In the last 12 to 15 months, Pennsylvania's dairy farmers have seen the price they receive for every 100 pounds of milk -- the wholesale unit -- plunge by almost 48 percent, to $12 per hundredweight. Pennsylvania has 7,670 dairy farms -- 530 fewer than two years ago.

NUCLEAR PLANT EMERGENCIES
Pa. hearings set on nuclear plant emergency prep
KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. (AP) - Federal hearings are planned in six states on revamped rules to safeguard nuclear power plants from emergencies, including terrorist attacks. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Federal Emergency Management Agency hearings this month are to begin with two sessions Tuesday in King of Prussia, Pa. Other hearings will be in
Atlanta; Lisle, Ill.; Irving, Texas; Estero, Fla.; and Bethesda, Md. Officials will hear testimony from the public on new rules that would govern the nation's 104 commercial nuclear power plants as well as research and test reactors. Most emergency plans have been based on accident scenarios, and authorities said the plans must be revised to address the possibility of terrorist attacks meant to cause maximum damage.

MISSING PENNSYLVANIA BOATER
Police: Body of missing man found in Pa. lake
QUAKERTOWN, Pa. (AP) - State police say divers in a suburban Philadelphia lake have recovered the body of a man who has been missing for several days. Police say the body of the 23-year-old Philadelphia man was recovered at about noon Sunday in Lake Nockamixon in rural upper Bucks County north of the city. Authorities believe the man, whose name was not released, came alone to the 1,450-acre lake on a fishing trip. He was last seen Wednesday and was reported missing Saturday morning after his van was found in the parking lot. A small rowboat that may have been his was found Saturday on the bank near the Route 563 bridge with a paddle and fishing gear nearby.

TEACHER SENTENCED
Teacher sentenced for having sex with NJ girl
BELVIDERE, N.J. (AP) - A former middle school teacher in New Jersey who sexually assaulted her female student has been spared additional jail time. Keri Ann Brekne has been sentenced to seven years in prison for several incidents that occurred in 2007. But that term will run
concurrently with a 15-to -30-year term that the 29-year-old Brekne is now serving in Pennsylvania. Brekne carried on a six-month sexual relationship with the Lopatcong Middle School student, who was 13 when the relationship started. The victim said her teacher showered her with gifts and treats and told her she was special. Brekne was arrested in January 2008 after the teen's parents found lurid text messages on a cell phone Brekne gave her and the
girl told authorities about incidents that occurred in New Jersey and at the teacher's home in Bethlehem, Pa.

DRUG DEAL SHOOTING
Pa. man on trial in shooting death in alleged drug deal gone bad
BEAVER, Pa. (AP) - A western Pennsylvania jury resumes deliberations Monday on the fate of a man accused of killing another man during a soured drug deal last fall. Twenty-one-year-old Kipp Jordan, of West Mayfield, is charged with homicide as well as weapons and drug counts in the Oct. 24 death of 27-year-old Demetrius Schofield of Coraopolis. Defense attorney Stephen Colafella says Jordan acted in self-defense and didn't have time to think when he fired at
Schofield. But prosecutors say Jordan's account of events doesn't ring true. Jurors deliberated for more than three hours Friday before Beaver County Judge Richard Mancini sent them home for the weekend.

EX-MARINE SHOT
Deliberations resume Monday in execution-style murder of northeastern Pa. marijuana dealer
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) - A northeastern Pennsylvania jury will resume deliberations Monday in the second trial of a man accused of the execution-style murder of a marijuana dealer.
Twenty-nine-year-old Kendall Richardson could face the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder in the death of 23-year-old Alfredo Suarez Jr. The victim, a Marine Corps veteran, was shot during a June 2007 robbery at an Allentown apartment. Public defender Karen Schular says her client had no reason to kill Suarez, who joined the Marine Corps in 2005 but left the service after less than a year.

WASHINGTON (AP) - General Motors is expected to announce the closings of 11 plants and the idling of three others as it files for bankruptcy today. Taxpayers will get a 60 percent ownership
stake in the humbled auto giant , as the deal expands the government's reach into big business.

MINGORA, Pakistan (AP) - Seven towns in Pakistan's Swat Valley no longer have curfews in a further sign of army confidence that its offensive against the Taliban is making progress. There was violence elsewhere in the northwest as a blast at a busy bus terminal in Kohat town killed at least two people.

WASHINGTON (AP) - A court fight important to the Senate resumes today. The Minnesota Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the battle between Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken for a vacant Senate seat. Franken leads the vote count and a win would
give Democrats 60 votes, the so-called veto-proof majority.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Today is the official start of hurricane season and emergency officials are stressing preparedness. National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read says it's time for people to
review their emergency plans, or make them if they don't have one.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Disney knows which end is "Up." The animated action comedy "Up," from Disney-owned Pixar, took the top spot with a $68.2 million opening weekend. Pixar Animation's 10 films all have been commercial and critical hits.