Today's News - Saturday, July 18th

A new provision in the Post-9/11 GI Bill will offer qualified military veterans the chance for tuition-free education at Alvernia University, including the Schuylkill Center location. According to the Republican and Herald, the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which goes into effect Aug. 1, is a federal act that provides funding for veterans' college expenses and pays up to the highest public in-state undergraduate tuition rates. The Yellow Ribbon Program, a provision in the bill, would allow universities, including private institutions, to voluntarily enter into a matching grant with the Department of Veterans Affairs to cover tuition costs above the highest public in-state rates. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs Web site, veterans may be eligible if they: served an aggregate period of active duty after Sept. 10, 2001, of at least 36 months; were honorably discharged from active duty for a service-connected disability and served 30 continuous days after Sept. 10, 2001; or are a dependent eligible for Transfer of Entitlement under the Post-9/11 GI Bill based on a veteran's service under the eligibility criteria listed above. Alvernia University has signed up to fund an unlimited number of veterans for the 2009-10 school year.

Tonight's the night for collectors to meet with polished chrome and big motors as the St. Clair Car Cruise is set for 6 p.m. Recent years have seem approximately 300 car enthusiasts travel through the borough showing their vehicles. This is the eigth year of existence for the cruise that will wrap up around 8 p.m. with a fireworks display at Veterans Memorial Stadium. There will be commemorative magnetic dash plates for the first 150 cars. For spectators the cruise route will start north on Second Street, turn right onto Franklin Street, turn south onto Nicholas Street, make a right turn west onto Patterson Street, then turn right to return to Second Street. Registration and line-up will be along Industrial Park Road.

All five members of the North Schuylkill school board, including those appointed in June by a county judge, will have their terms end in December, although the four newest are almost assured of winning full four-year terms. As reported by the Republican and Herald, the quintet waits for Wednesday's 9:30 a.m. hearing before county Judge D. Michael Stine to determine who will join them, the four picked by Stine to replace half of those he threw off the board for violating the state School Code have the luxury of spots on the Republican and Democratic ballots for the Nov. 3 election. Board President Robin Hetherington, Grace Glowacki, Debra Hampton and Kelly Moran won those spots in the May 19 Primary Election. In the Nov. 3 election, Suzanne A. O'Neill will join them on the Democratic ballot, while Daniel J. Holderman will fill the fifth spot on the GOP ticket. The five who are elected in November will be on the board through 2013. On Wednesday, Stine will hear from any citizens who want to replace the other four members - former board Vice President Jane Rapant, John Misiewicz, John Motsney and Robert Wetzel - he removed from the board. As of Friday, 26 people had sent letters to the office of county Prothonotary Peter J. Symons Jr. to indicate an interest in joining the board. A new lawyer for Mark Semanchik, who was the interim superintendant and the eight board members, Victor P. Stabile, Harrisburg, has asked Stine to reconsider his decision. Stine has not yet ruled on that request. On Thursday, attorney Lloyd Hampton discontinued a lawsuit that had sought to bar the district from seeking the third mandate waiver for Semanchick to remain the superintendent.

A man who traveled from Spain to Schuylkill County to sexually abuse a toddler was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison. According to the Republican and Herald, through an interpreter, 28-year-old Eduardo Sanchez-Morangues, Barcelona, told U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo he wanted to apologize to his family and the family of the 18-month-old he abused in the summer of 2005. Sanchez-Morangues has been held at the Lackawanna County Prison since early this year, after he was extradited from Spain. He pleaded guilty in April to traveling here to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor. According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Zubrod, Sanchez-Morangues met Daniel Witmer, Pine Grove, online through a group that traded child pornography. Witmer invited Sanchez-Morangues to Pine Grove to sexually abuse an 18-month-old while Witmer filmed it, Zubrod said. Witmer is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty in 2005 to sexually exploiting a minor for the purposes of producing visual depictions. Sanchez-Morangues is also serving 14 1/2 years in prison for similar crimes in Spain, according to defense attorney Jerry Russo. Although Caputo ruled that Sanchez-Morangues' 20-year sentence will be served concurrently to the prison sentence in Spain, it was not clear exactly how much time he will end up serving. Zubrod said once Sanchez-Morangues is sent to a federal prison, U.S. Immigration and Customs will begin proceedings to decide whether to remove him from the country. If they do, Sanchez-Morangues would serve both sentences in Spain. If he is not removed, Sanchez-Morangues will return to the U.S. to serve the remaining time on his U.S. sentence after completing his prison sentence in Spain, Zubrod said.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The U.S. Department of Justice is reviewing the case of a suburban Philadelphia swim club that has been accused of racial discrimination after it canceled the memberships of dozens of minority children. Justice Department spokesman Alejandro Miyar said Friday that the review will determine whether the department's Civil Rights Division would officially investigate the matter.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A labor union has filed a grievance on behalf of state workers who aren't getting paid in full. More than 33,000 executive-branch employees received only partial paychecks Friday because the state lost legal authority for much of its spending when July 1 arrived without a budget.

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) - A northeastern Pennsylvania district attorney says it's not prosecutors' fault that a corrupt judge systematically violated the rights of juvenile defendants. District Attorney Jackie Musto Carroll says she's asked a judge for the right to retry youths who were locked up for serious crimes including rape and arson.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Philadelphia's mayor says the city won't be paying its vendors and suppliers until state lawmakers pass a budget.Mayor Michael Nutter said Friday that the city will pay vendors once the state budget is resolved. Philadelphia faces a $1.4 billion, five-year budget deficit.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell is hoping to add the title of "author" to his resume. The governor says he's writing a book about his more than three decades in politics and government. He says he's sketched out about 15 chapters so far, but has yet to land a deal with a publisher.

NEW YORK (AP) - Former colleagues, fans and even the president are paying tribute to Walter Cronkite and his legacy. President Barack Obama has been recalling the longtime TV newsman's "integrity" and "rich baritone," which he says calmly guided America through riots and wars. Cronkite died last night after a long illness. He was 92.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is spending a sixth straight day pushing for his top domestic priority -- an overhaul of the nation's health care system. In his weekly radio and Internet address, he takes an aggressive tone and urges Congress not to waste its moment to pass reform. He also accuses those who criticize his plan of using "scare tactics."

WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona says a congressional analysis shows the Democrats' health-care plan wouldn't cut costs, but instead add to the deficit. In his party's weekly message, he points to Republican "common-sense" ideas for improving access to health care, which he says don't require massive spending or a government takeover.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Two astronauts head out today at high noon (Eastern) to start work on Japan's huge billion-dollar lab. They'll work on attaching a platform that can be used for science experiments. This will be the first of five spacewalks planned during the shuttle Endeavour mission.

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) - Hundreds of friends and family have turned out to mourn a Florida couple killed last week in a home-invasion robbery. Melanie and Byrd Billings were the parents of 17 children, most of them adopted. Eight arrests have been made, though exactly why the two were targeted remains a mystery. The local sheriff calls the case a "humdinger."