Today's News - Saturday, November 21, 2009

LOCAL NEWS

UNITED WAY MAKES ITS GOAL

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE TOUGH GET GOING. AND BOY DID THEY EVER, AS THE SCHUYLKILL UNITED WAY EXCEEDED THEIR MILLION DOLLAR TARGET FOR THE 2010 CAMPAIGN, GIVING HOPE TO THOSE WHO NEED IT MOST. THE TWO MONTH CAMPAIGN USED THAT HOPE, AND THE GENEROSITY OF THOUSANDS TO BRING THE 1 MILLION, 30 THOUSAND DOLLAR TALLY TO FRUITION, OR 103 PERCENT OF TARGET. FIFTEEN AGENCIES BENEFIT FROM THE PUBLIC'S GENEROSITY, AND ALL MONIES COLLECTED HERE STAY RIGHT HERE IN SCHUYLKILL COUNTY.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL INVOLVED IN THE SCHUYLKILL UNITED WAY CAMPAIGN THIS YEAR.

KANE STEEL TO CLOSE

AN AREA BUSINESS CLOSED ITS DOORS YESTERDAY AFTER MORE THAN THREE DECADES OF OPERATION. REPORTS SAY KANE STEEL ON ROUTE 901 BETWEEN POTTSVILLE AND MINERSVILLE CEASED OPERATIONS FRIDAY. THE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS ARE TO BLAME FOR THE CLOSING, LEAVING FOUR PEOPLE WITHOUT JOBS. AT ONE POINT, THREE DOZEN PEOPLE WORKED AT THE BUSINESS.

SURVIVORS VIGIL TONIGHT IN POTTSVILLE

HOPE AFTER A LOVED ONE'S SUICIDE, OR HALOS, SCHUYLKILL COUNTY'S SUICIDE SURVIVORS SUPPORT GROUP IS SPONSORING A CANDELLIGHT VIGIL TONIGHT AT 6 P.M. IN YUENGLING BICENTENNIAL PARK IN THE CITY OF POTTSVILLE. THE SERVICE IS BEING HELD IN CONJUCTION WITH NATIONAL SURVIVORS OF SUICIDE DAY AND THE PUBLIC IS WELCOME TO ATTEND.

STATE NEWS

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A labor agreement for Philadelphia transit workers has been ratified overwhelmingly by union members. Transport Workers Union Local 234 spokesman Bob Wolper said Friday night that 2,806 members voted to ratify the pact. Another 242 voted against it. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority buses, subways and trolleys began running again Nov. 9 when a tentative agreement was reached, ending a strike that took up much of the previous week. The ratification ends the possibility of another strike.

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) - Two former Pennsylvania judges accused of taking millions of dollars in kickbacks to send juveniles to private detention facilities have been granted partial immunity from civil liability. In an opinion issued Friday, U.S. District Judge Richard Caputo says former Luzerne County Judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella are entitled to partial immunity from civil lawsuits filed by former juvenile defendants. Saying he realizes his decision will be unpopular, Caputo says the doctrine of judicial immunity requires him to shield the judges from civil liability for any actions they took from the bench. However, Caputo says the judges can still be sued for their actions off the bench. Conahan and Ciavarella have both pleaded not guilty to federal racketeering charges.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Harley-Davidson has already laid off more than 600 workers this year at its plant in south-central Pennsylvania, now employing fewer than 2,000 people. The company says it's looking to cut even more -- down to about 1,000 hourly union workers. But a tentative labor agreement makes it less likely the plant will close entirely and take the work out of state. Union negotiator Tom Santone told The York Dispatch that he believes the contract contains enough cost savings to compel the company to keep the plant in York. The York plant consists of two motorcycle factories that assemble its Touring and Softail motorcycles.

NEW YORK (AP) - Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter is making good on his World Series bet with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Nutter joined Bloomberg Friday for some community service in the Bronx, but he had to wear a Yankees jersey while doing it. Bloomberg and Nutter made a wager that said the loser had to come to the winner's city to do a community service project, while wearing the jersey of the winning team. So they helped paint walls in a hallway at a junior high school in the Bronx. Nutter wore no. 55 - honoring World Series Most Valuable Player Hideki Matsui. Bloomberg wore No. 27, which marks the Yankees' 27th World Series win. Nutter said he will still help to paint a mural with the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program.

DIMOCK, Pa. (AP) - More than a dozen families have filed suit against one of the nation's largest natural gas drillers after the company polluted their water wells in northeastern Pennsylvania. State environmental regulators fined Houston-based Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. for allowing gas to escape into groundwater supplies in rural Susquehanna County near the New York border. The Department of Environmental Protection says 13 wells were polluted. Cabot agreed earlier this month to take steps to prevent a recurrence. The company also promised to restore or replace the affected water supplies. The problem was discovered Jan. 1 when a well exploded at a home near Cabot's operations.
Cabot is among a slew of exploration companies that are drilling in the potentially lucrative Marcellus Shale formation.

NATIONAL NEWS

WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House is praising a Senate bill up for a test vote tonight. The Obama administration says the measure "provides the necessary health reforms that the administration seeks." Democrats are optimistic the legislation will make it past its first crucial test.

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - Authorities have removed dozens of protesters from a University of California, Berkeley building. The demonstrators had barricaded themselves in the building to protest fee hikes and budget cuts.

FAIRFIELD, Ala. (AP) - Alabama police say one woman was killed and at least six children taken to the hospital after a woman plowed into a group standing outside a middle school. Police say they believe the woman hit the gas when she meant to hit the brake.

BEIJING (AP) - Power, ventilation and communication links are reportedly severed to 66 people trapped after a gas explosion in a Chinese coal mine. Forty-two people died in the blast at the state-run mine.

ROME (AP) - Italian police say they've arrested two Pakistani men accused of providing logistical support for last year's terror attacks in Mumbai, India. Police say the suspects managed a money transfer agency and helped fund the November 2008 attacks.