Today's News-Monday, October 5, 2009

HOME BURGLARY IN PINE GROVE TOWNSHIP

Police are investigating a home break in sometime Saturday night in Pine Grove Township. Burglars rummaged through the home of Paul and Tara Karenda on Maple Avenue while the couple was away. A jewelry box was taken, as well as a guitar and 12-track-recorder from a downstairs room. Estimated value of the items is not available. Schuylkill Haven state police are handling the investigation.

ARREST MADE IN EAST MINES BURGLARIES

A Pottsville teen has been apprehended for break ins at several storage sheds on Ann Street in East Mines. State police report that early Friday, 18 year old Jeffrey Leinheiser allegedly committed the crimes. In one case, Leinheiser was trying to cut a chain that locked an ATV down at the home of Bryan Gradwell. Leinheiser fled on foot but was picked up by troopers on Ann Street. He was arrested on burglary and other offenses and taken to Schuylkill County Prison.

NEW PHILADELPHIA WOMAN HURT IN MOTORCYCLE CRASH

A New Philadelphia woman had to be taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital for injuries suffered in a motorcycle crash on New Street in Norwegian Township Sunday afternoon. 51 year old Joann Hollywood lost control of the motorcycle, hitting an embankment. The motorcycle landed on her left ankle. She was taken via ambulance for treatment. State police say Hollywood was wearing a helmet.

TEN YEAR OLD STRUCK BY CAR

A 10 year old boy was hit by a car, suffering minor injuries, in an accident Saturday night. The boy and two friends were walking on Oak Road when 72 year old Norman Brown's vision was apparently blocked by sun glare and his vehicle drifted to the edge of the road and his car hit the boy's shoulder with the passenger’s side mirror. The boy was taken to the hospital for medical evaluation.

TEEN HURT IN CRASH SUNDAY MORNING
A 17 year old girl had to be taken to the hospital following a crash on Route 443 Sunday morning. She apparently pulled into the path of an SUV driven by Douglas Dean of Schuylkill Haven while attempting to turn onto Route 443. The unidentified girl was taken to Schuylkill Medical Center East for evaluation. A 13 year old passenger was not hurt. Dean, nor his passenger were injured.

Gov: Pa. budget differences narrower after talks

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell says legislative leaders are making progress again toward a budget agreement after the collapse of a previous deal. Rendell spoke briefly with reporters while leaving his Capitol offices Sunday night following a meeting with top House and Senate Democrats. Rendell says he believes "there's going to be a compromise" and that the differences between Democrats and the Senate's Republican majority "are narrowing substantially." The state's budget is already three months late, while the politically divided Legislature has struggled over how to resolve a multibillion-dollar revenue shortfall. A deal on a nearly $28 billion budget was announced Sept. 18. But rank-and-file House Democrats forced key changes to the deal's tax package that Republicans oppose.

Pa. high court candidates have contrasting styles

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Two Superior Court judges with contrasting styles are vying for an open seat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in an election contest that could determine the partisan lineup on the state's highest court for the next five years. Northampton County Democrat Jack Panella comes across as friendly and eager to please. In a recent speech, he recalled his freewheeling days as a lawyer representing such celebrities as former world heavyweight boxing champion Larry Holmes. Allegheny County Republican Joan Orie Melvin is more businesslike and has a combative streak. She achieved notoriety by refusing to accept the judicial pay raise that emerged from the 2005 legislative pay-raise mess, and she continues to return to the state treasury the after-tax portion of all salary increases granted since then. Both are in their 50s and labored as county judges for years before being elevated to the Superior Court. And each was accorded the top "highly recommended" rating from the state bar review panel. The Supreme Court contest is the main attraction in the Nov. 3 statewide election that also will decide races for four open seats on the Superior Court and two on the Commonwealth Court.

Ex-Harrah worker: I was fired over Big Ben's beef

RENO, Nev. (AP) — A former Harrah's employee at Lake Tahoe claims he was fired in July 2008 because Ben Roethlisberger complained to the hotel-casino's regional boss that the worker had demanded to see identification for a young-looking woman at the NFL quarterback's table at a Harrah's restaurant where they were drinking. Alvaro Brito, former assistant manager at the Cabo Wabo Cantina who had worked for the company 12 years, leveled the allegations in a lawsuit filed against Harrah's and its Lake Tahoe president John Koster. The new lawsuit does not name Roethlisberger as a defendant. But it potentially has a connection to a separate lawsuit another ex-Harrah's employee has filed against him, Koster and others alleging that the Steelers quarterback raped her at the hotel in July 2008 and that Harrah's officials covered it up. In that suit, the woman said one reason she did not report the alleged sexual assault to police was because she had been told that another employee was being fired as a result of Roethlisberger's restaurant complaint.

4 dead in Philly crash of car, tractor-trailer

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — State police in Philadelphia say a car went out of control and slid under a tractor-trailer early Sunday on I-95 just north of the city center, killing all four occupants. Police say the four were in a 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer heading south on the interstate "at a high rate of speed and making several lane changes." The car was approaching Girard Avenue when the driver suddenly turned the wheel to the right, and the car went out of control and collided with the rig at 1:24 a.m. Police say one of the car's occupants was ejected, and all four were pronounced dead at the scene. Their names are being withheld pending notification of relatives. The driver of the rig was uninjured. The cause of the crash remains under investigation, and any witnesses are being asked to call state police. Due to the crash, the southbound lanes of the interstate were closed until 7 a.m.

Officials: Pa. man wounds wife, then kills self

READING, Pa. (AP) — Authorities in eastern Pennsylvania say a man shot and seriously injured his wife and then killed himself. The Berks County coroner's office says 55-year-old Warren Bowman Jr. of Reading was pronounced dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in his car at an overlook shortly before 5 a.m. Saturday. Less than an hour earlier, authorities said, 45-year-old Sheila Bowman was shot in the head and chest outside the Berks Area Reading Transportation Authority, where she worked. Authorities said a witness identified Warren Bowman as the gunman. Sheila Bowman was taken to Reading Hospital, where she was listed in serious but stable condition. Officials said the woman had moved out of the couple's home in September. City officials said the man had worked for the city for at least two decades, in the streets department until he transferred to the parks department six months ago.

Body of man who fell into Pa. creek recovered

FOLCROFT, Pa. (AP) — Police in suburban Philadelphia say the body of a man has been recovered more than 14 hours after he fell into a fast-moving creek in the dark. Folcroft police say the 26-year-old man was drinking with relatives and a friend in Montgomery Park when he apparently slipped and fell into Darby Creek at about 10 p.m. Saturday. Patrolman Dan White says the friend jumped in and tried to rescue him, but the current was too strong. White says rescue boats from four fire departments and the Chester police department's dive team searched until 4 a.m. without sucess. The search resumed at 6 a.m., and authorities say a rescue boat found the man's body at 12:20 p.m. about 100 yards downstream from where he fell in. The Delaware County medical examiner has not yet released the man's name.

Waves of new fund cuts imperil US nursing homes

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The nation's nursing homes are perilously close to laying off workers, cutting services — possibly even closing — because of a perfect storm wallop from the recession and deep federal and state government spending cuts. Industry experts say a new Medicare rate adjustment will cut about $16 billion from nursing homes over the next 10 years. That comes atop state-level cuts that already had the nation's 16,000 nursing homes reeling. Congress may also slash billions more in Medicare funds in the name of health care reform. The funding crisis comes as the nation's baby boomers age ever closer toward needing nursing home care, surging beyond the 1.85 million people in nursing homes last year.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani authorities say a suicide bomber attacked the World Food Program offices in Islamabad today, killing three people, including an Iraqi working there. Several people were wounded. The United Nations says it has temporarily closed its offices in Pakistan following the attack.

BANGKOK (AP) — Officials in Thailand say a train has derailed during heavy rains, killing at least 10 people, including a two-year-old girl. Eighty-eight others were injured. The wreck occurred near the coastal city of Hua Hin. The train jumped the tracks before dawn today as it approached a station near the popular resort. Police say all of those killed were Thais.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is hoping the Senate Finance Committee health care overhaul measure will be approved this week. Today, Obama is rallying doctors at the White House. He's convinced they're the best advocates for reform because they see first hand how broken and cruel the current system is. An aide says doctors know best that inaction is not an option.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The credibility of the $700 billion financial rescue program was damaged by claims a year ago that all of the initial banks receiving support were healthy. That's according to a new government report that says the fact some banks needed billions in additional support soon afterward highlighted the inaccuracy of the claim and raised questions about the whole effort.

UNDATED (AP) — With about 15 million people looking for work, why are so many good jobs going unfilled? Economists say it's due to a mismatch between available work and people qualified to do it. Analysts say it's become especially hard to find accountants, health care workers, software sales representatives, physical therapists and electrical engineers.