ASSAULT CHARGES RELEASED

Frackville state police have released details of an assault that took place in New Philadelphia on Memorial Day weekend. Saturday night, May 29th, a 17 year old man began knocking on doors on Valley Street, looking for his friend's home which he was unsure of. After knocking at the same address twice, an argument ensued between the teen and 38 year old Kyle Bartashus. The teen, fearing for his and two female companions safety, showed a pocketknife. Bartashus then struck the boy in the face and mouth. Bartashus is charged with simple assault and harrassment, while Corey Cromyak, Edward Braukus and Cherie Breisch, of New Philadelphia, are charged with harassment.

THEFT OF EQUIPMENT

An investigation continues in the case of theft of equipment belonging to a Kempton man. Over the past two weeks, someone removed two front end skid loader attachments, a loader bucket and a post hole digger from a property on McKeans Ridge Road, belonging to Charles Warren of Kempton. State police at Frackville are handling the investigation.

MONIES DOLED OUT

An area charitable foundation presented checks this week to several non profit organizations. First Federal Charitable Trust made the presentations Thursday totaling more than $25 thousand dollars. Organizations benefitted include healthcare and emergency medical professionals, Schuylkill County Council of the Arts, Avenues of Pennsylvania, the Railway Restoration Project and the Schuylkill Haven Free Public Library. Foundation Executive Director Megan Kennedy talks about their mission:

KENNEDY ON FOUNDATION

For more information about the First Federal Charitable Foundation, check out their website 1stfederalcharitable.com.

EVENTS HELD FOR ANCZARSKI FAMILY

Folks are continuing to come together throughout Schuylkill County in honor of the Ringtown cyclist who died after being struck by a car on a cross country trek to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research. This Monday you can participate in "Golfing in John's Memory" at Mountain Valley Golf Course in Barnesville. The event will be held from 8 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. All donations will go directly to the family of the late John Anczarski and will be matched by Mountain Valley. You can play a round or just go out to meet the North Schuylkill golf team. For questions, please call Derrick Reese at 570-640-1772. There will also be a softball tournament held July 10th and 11th at the Ringtown Softball Complex, entrance is $15 per player, for more information you can contact Rich Schlauch at 570-889-3752 or 570-590-2567. Today a 5K race will be held in Ringtown, pink bows will be for sale at Boyer's Food Markets in Ashland, Frackville, and Shenandoah. The Tri Valley Relay for Life will have a presentation tonight and donation cans have been placed in various businesses in Shenandoah and the Schuylkill Mall.

MOUNT CARBON MAYOR WOULD LIKE POTTSVILLE TO BUY FOREST ROAD

Mount Carbon Mayor Jeff Dunkle would like to see the City of Pottsville buy Forest Road from Forest Hills Incorporated and Ridge Terrace Incorporated for one dollar and maintain it. The road is privately owned and locals have raised ire over the maintenance of the road which needs to be paved. According to the Republican and Herald, City Administrator Tom Palamar is cited as stating the City has nothing to do with the Forest Road issue. Dunkle said that with the road being privately owned, the borough of Mount Carbon and the City of Pottsville have not received any funding to maintain the road. On May 10th City Council agreed to maintain the road if it is deeded to Mount Carbon, however Mount Carbon officials have not voted to accept the deed due to trepidations about liabilities
　
SHORTAGE OF FED MONIES PUSHES STATE TO FIND NEW REVENUE

The Democratic Vice-Chairman of the Appropriations Committee says in light of the fact that funding problems in Washington could leave an 800 million dollar hole in the state budget, the state cannot afford to overlook ways to generate new revenue. Don Rooney has more.

ROONEY

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania regulators are allowing a company that had a blowout at one of its natural gas wells to resume work after a review found no violations. Houston-based EOG Resources has been given permission to resume fracturing the rock to free the gas but is not yet allowed to do the finishing work that allows the gas to be extracted.

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) - A founding faculty member of the School of International Affairs at Penn State University with extensive experience in Chinese business practices is joining the University of Oregon as a vice provost. Denis Fred Simon will join Oregon in September.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell says he's "had it with the media," and partisanship in Harrisburg and media treatment are making him eager to wrap up his second term in office. Rendell told The Patriot-News of Harrisburg yesterday that he's "ready to get out" and is looking forward to relinquishing the governorship in January.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A spinach recall prompted by tests in North Carolina has expanded to additional states, including Pennsylvania. Lancaster Foods says the recall affects bagged spinach sold under the names Krisp-Pak, Lancaster Fresh, Giant and America's Choice. Listeria monocytogenes was found in some samples this month.

MIAMI (AP) - Forecasters say Tropical Storm Alex is not headed for the Gulf oil spill. The first tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season formed in the Western Caribbean today. Hurricane center forecaster Jack Bevins says prediction models no longer have it going across the oil spill. But Bevins noted that storm tracks can change so it's not a sure thing.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama says the compromise financial overhaul bill will be a boon to consumers and will help deflect the next global financial crisis. In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama says anti-overhaul forces "fought tooth and nail to preserve the status quo." He also pressed legislators to send him a tax on big banks supporters say would recoup some of the billions taxpayers spent to bail them out.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Republicans say President Barack Obama needs to focus on "creating more jobs, not more debt." In the weekly GOP radio and Internet address, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis, says Republicans have already identified $1.3 trillion in specific spending cuts that could be implemented right now. He also criticizes the compromise financial overhaul bill, saying it ignores Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two mortgage giants that received huge federal bailouts.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) - Fire officials say they're halfway home containing a 15,000-acre wildfire near Flagstaff, Ariz. Officials say the blaze that threatened homes in Flagstaff has been declared 50 percent contained. U.S. Forest Service officials say full containment of the so-called Schultz fire isn't expected until at least July 2.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - A coalition statement says a senior Taliban commander disguised as a woman has been killed by Afghan and international forces. The statement says the man opened fire with a pistol south of the capital Kabul. He was shot and dropped a grenade he was holding, which went off, injuring a woman and a child. NATO is a U.S. military member died today in a roadside bomb attack in southern Afghanistan.