Today's News-Wednesday, June 9, 2010-7:45AM

TAMAQUA WOMAN HURT IN CRASH
A crash in eastern Schuylkill County sends a Tamaqua woman to the hospital. That crash happened just before midnight last night on Route 309 near the village of Ginther. olice say 29-year-old Jessica Linkhorst was not wearing a seat belt when she went across both the median and both oncoming lanes of the highway and slammed into a rock embankment. She was flown to the Lehigh Valley Medical Center where she remains in critical condition.

CRASH VICTIMS IDENTIFIED
Several people involved in a three vehicle crash on Route 309 Monday are still hospitalized. Police in West Penn Township say 84 year old Dana Taft of Tamaqua was operating a van that struck a car driven by Daniel Reppy of Hamburg. Helen Giancinto of Tamaqua and Stanislaw Calka of Allentown were thrown from the van. Calka was flown to St Luke's Hospital for treatment, Giancinto and Taft airlifted to Lehigh Valley Hospital. Reppy and a passenger, Randy Hoffman, along with a third driver, Heather Harris, were taken by ambulance to St. Luke's Miners Memorial Hospital.

VFW ROBBED
State police at Lykens are reporting a robbery at the Williamstown VFW Post Monday night. An unknown male rang the doorbell at the club on East Market Street around 10pm and was let in by the bartender. The suspect was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and a black ski mask, and pointed a gun at the bartender, demanding money from the bar and the safe, believed to be in excess of $4-thousand-dollars cash. Police are still looking for the man, believed to be about 5 feet nine inches tall, of very skinny build. Anyone with information should call State Police at Lykens at 717-362-8700.

LOCAL LEG'S VOTE FOR BILL PREVENTING IMMIGRANTS FROM WORKING PA CONSTRUCTION
Two local legislators have voted for bills aimed at preventing illegal immigrants from working on Pennsylvania construction sites. Democratic representatives Neal Goodman and Tim Seip say the bills would require public work contractors and their subcontractors to verify employees Social Security numbers before they can be awarded public contracts. The second would require construction industry employers to verify Social Security numbers. Contractors who violate rules under the bills could be barred from state projects or, in the case of private construction work, face forfeiture of state licenses or certifications. The bills offer protection for whistle-blowers who report construction sites hiring illegal workers. The Center for Immigration Studies estimates that in April 2009, there were between 18,000 and 35,000 illegal construction workers in Pennsylvania. The bills move to the Senate for consideration.

FIRE RULED ACCIDENTAL
Fire investigators have ruled that a blaze that damaged two unoccupied properties in Girardville Monday night was accidental. Authorities say the fire apparently started in the bathroom at 44 West Main Street, then spread to an adjoining property at 46 West Main. The Republican Herald reports that a plumber was soldering pipes in the bathroom at the home owned by Cesar Pena when some insulation caught fire. No one was injured.

TAX AMNESTY COUNTDOWN
Tax delinquents have only 10 days left to take advantage of PA's Tax Amnesty program, which waives all penalties and half the interest for anyone who pays delinquent Pennsylvania taxes by June 18th. Governor Ed Rendell says during the last PA Tax Amnesty 14 years ago, 74 percent of applications and payments were submitted in the final two weeks of the program. Only 10 days are left in our Tax Amnesty program that ends at midnight on June 18th. This is a hard deadline that will not be extended. Rendell urges people not to wait until the last minute to take advantage of the tax amnesty program. After the deadline an additional 5-percent penalty will be tacked on to all outstanding tax delinquencies. The Department of Revenue will step up enforcement efforts on tax collections after the deadline. To be considered for PA Tax Amnesty, online applications must be completed and submitted at www.PATaxPayUp.com by midnight Friday, June 18th. Help is available by calling, toll-free, 1-877-34-PAYUP. As of Tuesday morning, the PA Tax Amnesty program received more than 38,000 completed, or in-process, applications disclosing more than $101 million in previously unpaid Pennsylvania back taxes.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - An expert on child sex abuse says she and several colleagues on the attorney general's medical advisory board advised state prosecutors about the questionable findings of a forensic nurse who examined alleged child sex victims. The doctor says she and her colleagues sent a letter to several prosecutors questioning the findings of nurse Rhonda Henderson.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania Democratic chairman T.J. Rooney is calling it quits after more than seven years. Rooney says he will step down when the Democratic State Committee picks a new chairman on June 19th. Rooney has played a major role in every
major state political campaign since being tapped for the post by Governor Ed Rendell in 2003.

FANNETTSBURG, Pa. (AP) - A Franklin County man is charged with criminal homicide in a fatal hit and run outside a tavern last month. Gerald Buterbaugh faces counts in the death of Dale Henry. Police say Henry was found unconscious early May 31st outside the Hillside Tavern in Metal Township and was later pronounced brain-dead.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - With 2 1/2 weeks remaining in Philadelphia's tax amnesty program, the city says it has collected more than $7 million in back taxes so far. The program began May 3rd and runs until June 25th. Under the terms of the program, all penalties and half the interest owed are being waived.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Tea party activists have flexed some muscle in the South Carolina and Nevada GOP primaries. State Rep. Nikki Haley finished ahead of three rivals in South Carolina's Republican gubernatorial race but there will be a runoff. Another tea party favorite, Sharron Angle, won the right to challenge Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada in November.

WASHINGTON (AP) - California Republicans have picked two wealthy businesswomen for top spots. Carly Fiorina, a former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, will challenge three-term Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer in the fall. Republican Meg Whitman, the former CEO of eBay, will run for governor this fall against former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The ongoing oil spill continues to take up much of the time on Capitol Hill and the White House. A trio of hearings are on tap today on Capitol Hill. "Waterworld" star
Kevin Costner is expected to talk about a centrifuge he says can clean oil from more than 200-thousand gallons of water a day. President Barack Obama is making plans to head back to the Gulf next week.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - The Portland, Ore., metro area is the central focus of the search for a missing 7-year-old boy. A sheriff's officer says investigators are limiting the search despite tips from as far away as Washington state. Kyron Horman disappeared Friday after a science fair at the rural Skyline Elementary School.