TODAY"S NEWS - FRIDAY APRIL, 2, 2010

TODAY'S NEWS - FRIDAY APRIL, 2 2010

LOCAL NEWS

James Gaffney, 59 of Kempton Pa, is the victim of identity theft. Gaffney reported that his credit cards and ID were stolen out of his car while it was parked at his residence, 233 Stony Run Valley Road in Berks County, early January of this year. One of his credit cards was used 4 times in Lehigh County. Purchases were made at a Wal-Mart and a gas station, and attempted purchases were made at the Sands Casino Resort and an additional Wal-Mart before surveillance identified the man as Thomas DiGregorio, 41 of Whitehall. DeGrigorio is charged with Access Device Fraud, receiving stolen property, and identity theft. He is currently being housed in the Warren County Jail in NJ on un-related charges, and a warrant for his arrest was faxed to NJ from PA so that he may then be extradited subsequent to answering his current charges in NJ.

Alan Robert Bush, 46 of Lykens Pa, is charged with simple assault after throwing a Mickey’s Malt Liquor bottle at a female, 42 of Lykens, at 5901 State Road 209 in Washington Twp. The incident happened Tuesday night around 10:30 pm. The victim suffered lacerations, bleeding and confusion, but refused EMS treatment. Bush was charged and arraigned at Night Court, and committed to Dauphin County Prison where he was later released on $5,000 bail. A preliminary hearing will be set for a later date.

Unknown suspects damaged a batting cage at 40. N. 4th Street in Upper Bern Twp, Berks County earlier this week. Shartlesville Park, which houses the batting cage, suffered about $900.00 in damages due to the mischief. Anyone with information concerning this incident is to contact the PSP of Hamburg.

State Representatives, Neal P Goodman and Tim Seip, area asking the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to deny PPL Electric Utilities rate increase request. PPL is adding about $7.41 to the average residential customer’s monthly bill, as it seeks a 16.5% increase in its retail distribution rates. They announced the rate plan back in March of this year, and the Northeast Democratic Delegation of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives acted swiftly asking the company to reconsider. Goodman, chairman of the delegation, said he was disappointed in PPL’s move towards higher rates and is preparing a letter to the Public Utility Commission to deny the request. PPL defended its hikes saying that it needs to make improvements to its electric distribution system and that this is the way to recoup its losses at this time. The latest increase would affect all PPL residential customers, including those that switched to another supplier in order to save money when the generation caps expired three months ago. PPL rates have increased already as much at 30 percent since the caps were lifted.


State Senator David Argall applauded the announcement Wednesday that a heavily traveled road in western Schuylkill County will be receiving a much needed improvement. A portion of Route 25, west of Route 125 in Higgins to the Dauphin County line, will be repaved, and Argall said he has been working tirelessly to find resources to make these critical improvements to the roadway happen. He states that “ It is vitally important to make these investments in our transportation infrastructure for the public safely and well-being of all who live near or travel through that corridor.” And that “Or legislative delegation is always working to bring more dollars home to our district for projects such as this.”

In recognition of World Health Day next Wednesday, the Sears Hearing Aid Center in Frackville will be educating local residents on the hidden causes of hearing loss. Tho many residents are aware that aging and exposure to high-decibel sounds can cause hearing damage, there are also several other health conditions that can have a negative effect on an individual’s hearing such as diabetes, arthritis and cancer. According to the Better Hearing Institute, 65% of people with hearing loss are under 65 years of age. Furthermore, there are more than 6 million people in the US between the ages of 18 and 44 with hearing loss and nearly 1.5 million people are of school age.


STATE NEWS

GAMBLING ARRESTS
2 Pa. brothers charged with running gambling ring

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Authorities say two Pennsylvania brothers
have been charged with running an extensive sports gambling ring a
day after police dug up one of their yards and found $1 million.
John and Joseph Mastronardo are being held on $1 million bail on
charges filed Thursday in Montgomery County.
Police and FBI agents used a backhoe to search the lawn in front
of the suburban Philadelphia mansion where 60-year-old Joseph
Mastronardo lives with his wife, Joanna. She is the daughter of the
late Frank L. Rizzo, the former Philadelphia mayor and police
commissioner.
Defense lawyer Dennis Cogan says the brothers are charged with
running a corrupt organization and money laundering. He says
there's a fine line between legal betting and illegal bookmaking.

VALLEY FORGE-ULTRALIGHT CRASH
Ultralight crashes into tree in Valley Forge park

VALLEY FORGE, Pa. (AP) - An ultralight pilot has been rescued
after crashing into a tree in Valley Forge National Historical
Park.
The accident happened around 4:30 p.m. on a trail near George
Washington's headquarters. The pilot was stuck in the plane about
75 feet in the air for two hours.
Officials say the man wasn't hurt and that he lives near the
park. Investigators are still looking into exactly what happened in
the crash.
The historic park is about 20 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
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Information from: WPVI-TV, http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi

PENNSYLVANIA PRIMARY-HOUSE-LENTZ
Lentz asks Justice Dept. to probe Meehan petitions

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A Democratic congressional hopeful in
suburban Philadelphia is asking federal authorities to probe
alleged fraud in his rival's nominating petitions.
The request by state Rep. Bryan Lentz is his strongest attack
yet on the Republican candidate, former U.S. Attorney Patrick
Meehan.
Lentz alleges widespread forgeries and deception on Meehan's
petitions. Candidates need 1,000 signatures to appear on the
primary ballot May 18.
Lentz asked the Justice Department's Public Integrity Unit
yesterday to investigate.
The Justice Department would not comment. Meehan campaign
spokesman Pete Peterson says Lentz is engaging in "political
grandstanding."

PHILADELPHIA CASINO
Developer files documents for Philly casino

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A Las Vegas-based casino developer trying to
rescue the stalled Foxwoods project on Philadelphia's waterfront
has submitted information to state regulators on how it would
finance it.
Wynn Resorts gave the documents to the Pennsylvania Gaming
Control Board Wednesday. Neither the board nor Wynn officials
released details of the filing.
At a public hearing next week, the board will hear a report from
its Office of Enforcement Counsel on the Wynn submission.
In February, Wynn offered to take over the embattled project
from a group of local investors and the Connecticut Indian tribe
that owns the Foxwoods Casino there.
The project won one of two licenses set aside for Philadelphia
in 2006, but has since encountered significant neighborhood
opposition and financial troubles.

BODY IN TRUNK
Mistrial in case of slain Penn St-Altoona student

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. (AP) - A judge has declared a mistrial for a
man charged in the death of a Penn State-Altoona student.
Blair County Judge Tim Sullivan said jury selection in the
first-degree murder case against 20-year-old Sean Louis Allen could
not be completed in time for testimony to start Monday.
Prosecutors say Allen, of Hollidaysburg, strangled 20-year-old
Margo Davis in March 2009. Her body was found in the trunk of her
car.
Nearly three-fourths of 32 potential jurors questioned said they
had heard about the case. Four were removed after admitting bias.
The lead prosecutor says it could be months until the case is
tried again. Sullivan said he needs to determine if an
out-of-county jury must be selected.
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Information from: Altoona Mirror, http://www.altoonamirror.com

DOORWAY SLAYING
4th suspect pleads guilty in Pa. doorstep slaying

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) - The fourth suspect in the slaying of a
central Pennsylvania man on his own doorstep will spend at least
three decades in prison following a guilty plea.
Twenty-four-year-old Lorenzo Schrijver was sentenced to 30 to 60
years in prison after pleading guilty to a third-degree murder
charge in Lancaster County Court in the slaying of business owner
Ray Diener.
Investigators say Schrijver and three other men lured Diener out
of his Elizabethtown home and killed him as part of a 2007 robbery
plot.
Schrijver, a citizen of the Netherlands, went home after the
killing but returned to Pennsylvania and was arrested.
A second suspect pleaded guilty. Two others were convicted last
year; one faces the death penalty and the other life in prison.
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Information from: Intelligencer Journal,
http://www.lancasteronline.com/pages/paper/sundaynews/

PITTSBURGH-SECURITY CAMERAS
Pittsburgh, colleges seeking fed money for cameras

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pittsburgh officials are partnering with
Carnegie Mellon University and the Community College of Allegheny
County to try and get about $14 million in federal stimulus money
for new security cameras.
The cameras will be placed around the city and at the community
college. Officials at Carnegie Mellon would develop programs for
using data captured by the cameras.
The city announced the grant application yesterday and said the
cameras would operate on a wireless network.
Last year, the city received about $2 million from the federal
government to install cameras in some neighborhoods along the
rivers.

FACEBOOK-PROFESSOR SUSPENDED
Pa. prof reinstated over hit man Facebook posting

EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. (AP) - A professor at a northeastern
Pennsylvania university has been reinstated after her suspension
for what she thought was a humorous Facebook post.
East Stroudsburg University sociology professor Gloria Gadsden
was suspended for a month because administrators thought she was
making threats.
Gadsden says she jokingly posted in January that she was looking
for a discreet hit man. She removed another comment in February
that she didn't want to kill any students but "Friday was a
different story."
She said university officials referred to February's shootings
at the University of Alabama-Huntsville.
A university spokesman did not return a call seeking comment.
East Stroudsburg is a state university in the Poconos.
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Information from: Pocono Record, http://www.poconorecord.com/

FUNERAL PROTESTS
Donations pour in to father of fallen Marine

BALTIMORE (AP) - The attorney for a fallen Marine's father says
the donations pouring in to his client will go toward court costs,
and any unused money will be given to military veterans.
Albert Snyder of York, Pa., is suing an anti-gay church that
picketed the funeral of his son, who died in a vehicle accident in
Iraq. The Westboro Baptist Church contends U.S. military deaths are
God's punishment for tolerance of homosexuality. The Supreme Court
has agreed to hear the case.
The appeals court ordered Snyder to pay $16,510 in court costs
to Westboro and its pastor, Fred Phelps. Fox News commentator Bill
O'Reilly has pledged to donate that amount. An American Legion
spokesman says the veterans' group has collected more than $12,000
in donations. People can also donate directly to Snyder on a Web
site in his son's name.

MOUNTAINTOP MINING
EPA: New mining policy would protect water quality

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - The Obama administration has spelled
out tighter water quality standards for surface coal mining permits
across Central Appalachia.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson
announced a policy yesterday the EPA hopes will clarify the water
permitting process for mountaintop removal mines in the region.
The agency also released two reports that discuss the damage to
watersheds by the mining practice.
The EPA says the practice of burying streams with mine wastes
increases salt levels in waterways downstream, hurting fish and
other aquatic life. Officials say the new policy is designed to
protect 95 percent of aquatic life and streams in the region.
Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune says the tough new
standards should severely limit surface mining.

PIRATES-PHILLIES
Phillies 47-year-old Moyer shuts down Pirates

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) - Jamie Moyer pitched six strong innings
as the Philadelphia Phillies closed out their spring training
schedule with a 4-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates yesterday.
Moyer was named the fifth starter two days ago. He gave up solo
home runs to Ryan Church and Ryan Doumit but held Pittsburgh in
check the rest of the way. The 47-year-old left-hander scattered
six hits while striking out three and walking none.
Moyer underwent three offseason operations, but is entering his
24th major league season healthy and coming off a strong spring.


NATIONAL NEWS

US-CHINA
Obama talks to Chinese leader while plane idles

ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. (AP) - The White House says
President Barack Obama has spoken for about an hour with China's
president.
The call was made from Air Force One as the President was
returning from New England. The lengthy talk lasted about 15
minutes after Air Force One landed at Andrews Air Force Base in
suburban Washington.
Obama is said to have welcomed President Hu Jintao's (hoo
jin-tow) decision to attend a nuclear security summit in Washington
in two weeks. The White House says the two leaders also discussed
how to deal with Iran's nuclear program.
Relations between the U.S. and China have been cool recently.

KAZAKHSTAN-SPACE LAUNCH
Rocket with NASA astronaut blasts off for ISS

BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (AP) - A Russian rocket has blasted off
from a space center in southern Kazakhstan, transporting a NASA
astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts to the International Space
Station.
The Soyuz craft carrying California native Tracy Caldwell Dyson
and Russians Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko rose into
brilliant blue skies from the Baikonur cosmodrome on schedule
Friday. The craft docks Sunday with the space station, orbiting
about 200 miles (320 kilometers) above the Earth.
Caldwell Dyson, Skvortsov and Kornienko as Expedition 24 will
join the Russian, American and Japanese crew on board.
Their missions ends in September, just before the last-ever
shuttle flight - from the Kennedy Space Center.
The Discovery Shuttle is set to blast off for the station Monday
for a 13-day mission.

AVIATION SECURITY
Official says new checks set for travelers to US

WASHINGTON (AP) - Travelers from 14 countries that have been
home to terrorists will no longer automatically face extra
screening before they fly to the U.S.
A senior Obama administration officials says that beginning this
month, anyone traveling to the U.S. will instead be screened based
on specific information about potential terrorist threats. A person
would be stopped if he or she matches a description, even if
officials do not have a suspect's name.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss
sensitive security issues.

ABORTION SHOOTING
Kan. abortion doc's murderer gets life prison term

WICHITA, Kan. - Anti-abortion zealot, Scott Roeder (ROH'-der)
faces a half-century behind bars.
Roeder showed no remorse today when he was sentenced for
murdering one of the few U.S. doctors who performed late-term
abortions.
Roeder told a Kansas judge that Wichita is a safer place for
unborn babies without Dr. George Tiller. He was convicted of
gunning down Tiller in the back of the doctor's church last May.
The 52-year-old Roeder got the longest sentence he could get for
the murder -- life in prison and he won't be eligible for parole
for 50 years. Judge Warren Wilbert said he gave Roeder the harsh
sentence because evidence showed Roeder stalked Tiller before
killing him.
He was also sentenced to two additional years for threatening
two church ushers in the melee.
As he was being led away in handcuffs, Roeder shouted, "Blood
of babies on your hands."

OBAMA-FLOODS-RHODE ISLAND
Obama calls Rhode Island governor about flooding

BOSTON (AP) - President Barack Obama has spoken with Rhode
Island's governor about the devastating flooding in his state.
White House spokesman Bill Burton says Obama called Gov. Don
Carcieri (kuh-CHEER'-ee) during the president's trip to New England
on Thursday. No other details about the call were immediately
available.
Flooding has caused havoc across much of New England, hitting
Rhode Island the hardest. Carcieri said the flooding is
unprecedented in the state's history.
Obama made an unscheduled stop at state emergency management
headquarters in Framingham, Mass., for a briefing on recovery
efforts in that state. He did not visit Rhode Island. Homeland
Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and a top FEMA official will be
there Friday.

CHURCH ABUSE-CATHOLICS
Catholics reflect on scandal in Holy Week

WASHINGTON (AP) - Roman Catholics attending Holy Week services
in Washington say they remain faithful to the church despite
emerging reports of more clergy abuse and cover-ups.
Most worshippers departing St. Matthew's cathedral Thursday
declined to comment on the scandals. Several, however, said they
still believe the Catholic church is the one founded by Jesus
Christ.
Worshipper Stephen White said the scandals are horrible, but the
church has always been made up of sinners, including the apostles
who betrayed and abandoned Jesus before his crucifixion.

MEXICO-US BORDER VIOLENCE
Mexico asks more US cooperation on border violence

MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexican officials are responding to the
decision of New Mexico's governor to send more National Guard
troops to the border by calling for more cooperation with the U.S.
on border violence.
The Foreign Relations Department says Mexico respects the right
of U.S. authorities to determine how to provide security along
their side of the border, but adds that increased cooperation is
the answer.
The department's Thursday statement says U.S. officials should
step up efforts to curb smuggling of weapons and cash into Mexico.
New Mexico ordered more National Guardsmen to the border this
week to beef up surveillance after an Arizona rancher was shot to
death. Investigators believe he was killed by an illegal immigrant
who fled to Mexico.

MISSING FAMILY
FBI joins search for missing Calif. family

FALLBROOK, Calif. (AP) - The FBI is joining the search for a
Southern California family that has been missing for almost two
months.
San Diego County Sheriff's Lt. Dennis Brugos says the federal
agents will be briefed on the case Friday.
Brugos says the FBI has more resources in Mexico, where
businessman Joseph McStay, his wife, Summer, and their two young
sons are believed to be.
The family was last heard from Feb. 4. Their white Isuzu Trooper
was found four days later in a strip mall in San Ysidro, about 70
miles from their home in Fallbrook.
Investigators say surveillance video may have captured images of
the McStays crossing the border on foot.
Relatives say their disappearance is out of character. The
couple left their dogs at home and food rotting in their kitchen.
Detectives have found no evidence that the McStays had financial
problems or were facing threats.

MISSING TEEN
MySpace removes link to Calif. child sex predator

SAN DIEGO (AP) - The social networking site MySpace says it
removed the profile of John Albert Gardner III, a convicted child
molester who is charged with killing a 17-year-old San Diego area
girl.
The company said Thursday that Gardner used a false name, false
hometown and false birthday to register for the account. MySpace
confirmed it was his site by working with the FBI and San Diego
County Sheriff's Department.
A copy of the profile uses the names Jason Stud and Energizer
Bunny. It lists Playboy Mansion as his hometown, uses sexually
explicit language to describe his interests, and lists "CSI" and
"Bones" among his favorite television shows.
MySpace says Gardner set up the account in December 2007, nine
months before he ended parole.

SWINE FLU-VACCINE
UPDATE: Rhode Island leads nation in swine flu vaccinations

ATLANTA (AP) - Rhode Island leads the nation in swine flu
vaccinations, thanks to an aggressive campaign.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 39 percent
of people in the state were inoculated. Among children the rate was
about 85 percent.
New England is the top region in the country for vaccinations,
while the South has the lowest rates.
One CDC expert says the flu hit the Southeast before the vaccine
was available. But there was an ample supply when the demand was
high in New England.