Today's News-Thursday, June 10, 2010

TAMAQUA WOMAN DIES FROM CRASH INJURIES
A Tamaqua woman died Wednesday evening at Lehigh Valley Hospital from injuries suffered in a car crash. We reported yesterday that 29 year old Jessica Linkhorst was involved in a crash on Route 309, the Mile Hill near Ginthers, Tuesday night. State police at Frackville report that Linkhorst was pronounced dead after 6pm last night by Lehigh County Coroner Jason Nicholas. Troopers indicated that Linkhorst was not wearing a seatbelt when her car slammed into a rock embankment.

FIRE DAMAGES FOUR BUILDINGS IN PINE GROVE
Several buildings and a business were damaged by fire in Pine Grove Wednesday night. Crews from the borough and surrounding communities battled the fire for several hours, which appears to have started at 56 South Tulpehocken Street. Other properties and a jewelry store are also reported to have been damaged by the blaze. Pine Grove and state police fire investigators are expected to be on scene to investigate a cause of the blaze today.

NEW CHIEF IN SHENANDOAH
Shenandoah borough council has elevated a patrolman to Chief of Police. The Republican Herald reports that 35 year old Joseph Hall, a 10 year veteran, was promoted to the top law enforcement officer during a special meeting last night. Hall has been serving as officer in charge since the former chief Matthew Nestor and three other officers were charged by the FBI for their alleged roles in the Luis Ramirez beating death in July, 2008. In other moves, George Carado was promoted to Captain and Gary Keppel to Lieutenant.

MT CARMEL MAN COMPETENT TO STAND TRIAL
A Mount Carmel man, accused of murdering his wife in 2007, is competent to stand trial, according to Northumberland County President Judge Robert Sacavage. The judge was asked by Steven Wolfgang's attorney to rule if her client is mentally competent to stand trial for murdering Sherry Wolfgang in January, 2007, then dumping her body in a creek in western Schuylkill County. A psychologist had initially diagnosed Wolfgang as mentally ill. Wolfgang's trial is scheduled to begin in September. The 49 year old Mt Carmel man originally pleaded no contest to criminal homicide charges, but changed his plea to not guilty.

PENNSYLVANIA FARMLAND BEING EATEN UP BY DEVELOPMENT
According to a new U-S-D-A report, farms are being displaced and replaced by development at an accelerated pace nationwide...and Pennsylvania is one of the biggest losers. Tom Joseph has the story.

JOSEPH FARMLAND

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. (AP) - The college student who accused Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger of sexually assault said she didn't try to fight him off because he appeared to
have a short temper. Twelve hours after the alleged assault, the woman told police that she figured resisting wouldn't help. Prosecutors later determined there wasn't enough evidence to bring a case against Roethlisberger.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - State officials are ordering a contractor on the natural gas well that blew out last week to stop some of its work in Clearfield County, hand over equipment records and provide access to employees. Officials say they need to fully investigate the equipment used by the company to ensure other sites are not in similar danger.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Some state lawmakers want to allow games of chance to be played in bars to raise money for the cash-strapped state and charities. Philadelphia Democrat Vince Hughes says the extra money could save some state programs from being cut amid a
$1.2 billion shortfall this year.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - President Barack Obama says the latest U.N. sanctions against Iran are "the toughest sanctions ever faced by the Iranian government." The U.S. and its allies won approval for the sanctions for Iran's refusing to negotiate on its suspect nuclear program.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The foreclosure crisis appears to be leveling off. A report from a private foreclosure listing service says the number of people facing foreclosure is nearly flat from a year ago. Still, the number of foreclosures remains high.

LIMA, Peru (AP) - Peru's criminal police chief says the murder case against Joran van der Sloot goes to prosecutors today so they can file formal charges. Van der Sloot is accused of murdering a 21-year-old woman. The young Dutchman has also been a suspect in the May 2005 disappearance of American teen Natalee Holloway on the island of Aruba.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - More than 12,000 nurses in Minnesota are ready to hit the picket lines this morning. The one-day strike by the Minnesota Nurses Association is to call attention to nurses and hospitals increasingly under pressure to cut costs. A similar planned strike in California was temporarily blocked by a federal judge.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korea has launched a rocket carrying a satellite meant to study climate change. The ambitious project was delayed a day because of malfunctioning firefighting equipment.