Today's News-Monday, May 24, 2010

MAN INJURED IN CRASH
An Auburn man was injured in a one vehicle crash last night in South Manheim Township. State police report that 57 year old Robert Steffie Sr. was westbound on Summerhill Road at an apparent high rate of speed when he lost control and the pickup went up an embankment, flipping over on its roof. Steffie had to be flown from the scene to Lehigh Valley Hospital for treatment of his injuries. Troopers say that DUI charges are pending in the crash. The accident happened just before 8pm Sunday evening.

THEFT AT R&R
A theft has been reported at a Schuylkill County auto dealership. Overnight Friday, someone broke into a 1999 Jeep Wrangler parked at the R&R Auto Group lot on Route 61 by smashing a rear window. Two doors were removed from the vehicle, and the suspects fled the scene with the stolen parts. Schuylkill Haven state police are investigating.

ST CLAIR MAN ASSAULTED
A St. Clair man was injured during a bush party in Blythe Township early Saturday. State police say 21 year old Jonathan Bowers was at a party on 8 Ton Road when he was assaulted, suffering facial injuries. The assailants are still being sought by state police. If anyone has information about the incident, you should call state police at Frackville at 874-5300.

BUSINESS BURGLARIZED
An East Brunswick Township business was burglarized early Saturday. According to state police, someone entered a building owned by Steve Dunn of New Ringgold. Money was taken from a cash box located inside a truck parked on the property. Frackville state police are continuing the investigation into the incident.

RIDERS FOR CANCER
ASHLAND - Four friends' 3,100-mile cross-country bicycle journey with a cause kicked off at 8 a.m. Sunday in Schuylkill County. The cyclists - who dubbed themselves "The Pink Pedal: Riding Hard to Fight Breast Cancer" - won't stop riding until they make it all the way to the Pacific Ocean. 19-year-old John Anczarski of Ringtown, 21-year-old Nicholas Gober, 20-year-old Travis Brown, and 19-year-old Ty Bereskie all of Ashland began peddling down Route 54 toward Lavelle. The group has raised about $2,000 so far towards their cause and hope to raise much more. All donations will be given to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure effort, which was launched in 1982. On Sunday, the group rode about 95 miles, stopping for the night in State College. They plan to ride about 100 miles each day, and hope to make it to California within 30 to 45 days.

PRE EXISTING CONDITIONS
It's estimated more than two million people in Pennsylvania under age 65 have diagnosed pre-existing medical conditions. That's nearly one in four Pennsylvanians, according to a new report from Families USA. Nurse practitioner Elizabeth Kostas-Polston says the numbers are not surprising, based on the patients in her practice. She says pre-existing conditions don't just impact those who are older...they also affect adults who are working and raising families, all of whom she says will benefit from the federal health reform bill.

Kostas-Polston

The problem isn't limited to the poor. The report says nearly three-quarters of those with the kinds of medical conditions that could lead to denial of insurance coverage are middle-class and higher-income Americans. Advocates for the federal health reform package are concerned the referendum could jeopardize coverage for pre-existing conditions. They believe implementing the bill as it was passed is the best way to ensure it stays intact.

QUARRYVILLE, Pa. (AP) - Planners in southern Lancaster County are at odds with state officials over a proposal to put an 80-acre solar farm on agricultural land. The glass panels would harvest the rays of the sun, but the Intelligencer Journal of Lancaster reports planners fear allowing the solar farm would spur other developers to make other requests for agricultural land.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Officials in Philadelphia say a proposed change by the federal government could hurt a program that provides free lunches to tens of thousands of students in poor schools. One official tells The Philadelphia Inquirer that a federal change could deny free lunches to as many as 46 percent of the Philadelphia children who now receive them.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Jurors in Philadelphia resume deliberations today on the fate of a 74-year-old man who shot a police officer in 1966 and was charged with murder after the officer's death in 2007. The jury must decide whether the shooting that left Officer Walter Barclay paralyzed from the waist down was the direct cause of his death 41 years later.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A Tennessee woman has begun a 981-mile swim of the length of the Ohio River. Mimi Hughes began the trek over the weekend in Pittsburgh. She plans to swim about eight hours a day for 60 days until she reaches Cairo, Illinois. The marathon swim is aimed at raising money for groups working to improve education for women and girls.

BEIRUT - Lebanon's prime minister is in Washington for his first official visit. Saad Hariri meets with President Barack Obama to discuss Middle East security issues and peace efforts. Today's visit comes amid claims from Israel that Hezbollah has acquired Scud missiles from Syria.

BEIJING (AP) - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is in intense consultations with China and other nations on what to do about North Korea sinking a South Korean warship. Clinton is in
Beijing, where she told reporters China and the rest of North Korea's neighbors understand how serious the incident is and want to contain it. South Korea is set to take the matter to the U.N.

LONDON (AP) - British Airways' cabin crews are on strike for the next five days. The airline says it will still be able to carry 70 percent of passengers who have booked flights.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - The Atlantis astronauts have some surveying work ahead of them before they return Wednesday. The six shuttle astronauts will pull out their newly repaired inspection boom today to check for any space-dust damage. Atlantis undocked
from the space station yesterday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are moving their protests from the street to the boardroom. The group owns stock in at least 80 companies, including Safeway supermarkets and Ruby Tuesday restaurants. Those two companies have
agreed to buy products from suppliers that abide by what the group says are more humane rules.