TODAY'S NEW: SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2010

LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

FRIDAY GAMES

POTTSVILLE 51TWIN VALLEY 15
MARIAN 47TAMAQUA 7
MAHANOY AREA 27SHENANDOAH VALLEY 8
MINERSVILLE 20PANTHER VALLEY 15
JIM THORPE 18LEHIGHTON 0
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN 41STEEL-HIGH 14
TRI-VALLEY 28UPPER DAUPHIN 0
MT CARMEL 27SHAMOKIN 6
SOUTHERN COLUMBIA 48SELINSGROVE 7
BERWICK 45HAZLETON AREA 26

SATURDAY GAMES
BLUE MTN @ WYOMISSING
BANGOR @ PEN ARGYL
COCHRANTON @ LOURDES

A Friday morning vehicle crash sent two to the hospital. State Police say 40-year old Rana Baer of Pottsville was driving along Second Mountain Road in North Manheim Township just after 8 this morning when she drifted off the road and slammed into a tree. Baer and a 15-year old male passenger where flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital with what police say were moderate injuries. Both were wearing seat belts. Police will continue to investigate the cause.

A long-awaited audit of Schuylkill County's financial records found 22 material weaknesses, leading county officials to call on Controller Melinda Kantner to immediately implement major reforms in her office. As reported by the Republican and Herald, the county's external auditor, Pottsville accountant Sam Deegan, officially unveiled his audit at a meeting Friday afternoon in the courthouse. Among the 22 material weaknesses - an accounting synonym for serious problems and systematic failures - the most damning, officials said, has nothing to do with money and everything to do with attitude. Deegan said the accounting errors in Kantner's office are a red flag for something bad to happen, adding that the poor records mean it is possible no one would know if money was stolen. However, of the 22 weaknesses, Deegan stressed that no money is missing and there is nothing fraudulent happening in Kantner's office. Most of the weaknesses center on bills or revenues being recorded in the wrong time period. He said those mistakes have led to the county's books not following generally accepted accounting principles. Kantner was not at Friday's meeting, which included Deegan, his staff, the three county commissioners, county administrator Mark Scarbinsky and other members of the county's financial team. After the meeting, Kantner said she had not yet read Deegan's audit. Scarbinsky said Kantner was not invited to the meeting, which he called an informational session. Kantner said that many of the weaknesses are the result of her office being provided with incomplete or inaccurate information from other county departments or agencies, particularly records related to federal grant money.

It's time to apply for help with heating bills through the Low-Income Heating Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Don Rooney has details:

ROONEY

Two of the four men who admitted murdering a Hazleton man in September 2009 in East Union Township will spend decades behind state prison bars after a Schuylkill County judge sentenced them Friday. According to the Republican and Herald, Curtis T. Foose and Shane D. Roof must serve 47 1/2 to 95 years and 47 to 94 years, respectively, in a state correctional institution, Judge Charles M. Miller ruled after calling their actions in the killing of Anthony Locascio brutal, cowardly (and) depraved. Miller sentenced each man to 20 to 40 years in prison for conspiracy and 20 to 40 for third-degree murder, while he sentenced Foose to 7 1/2 to 15 years and Roof to seven to 14 years for robbery. Miller made all sentences consecutive to each other. After Miller announced the sentence, Roof asked to withdraw his guilty plea, but Miller said it was too late. Miller also sentenced Foose and Roof to pay costs, $50 to the Criminal Justice Enhancement Account and $22,927 restitution. The restitution consists of $18,001 to the state police crime laboratory in Bethlehem, $4,800 to the Victims Compensation Assistance Program and $126 to the state police crime laboratory in Harrisburg. The restitution is joint and several, meaning Foose and Roof are each responsible for the entire amount, but each recipient will be entitled to receive it only once.

State police at Frackville are still searching for a runaway teenager last seen Oct. 20. Police said Sandra Lynette Stoever, 17, of 10 Catawissa St., Tuscarora, left for school that day and never returned. She was originally reported missing Oct. 24 by her grandmother. Trooper Brian L. Waters said Friday nobody has heard from her since, but there is reason to believe she may be in the Tamaqua area. Stoever is about 5-feet 4-inches tall, 125 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a pink golf shirt, blue jeans and brown sneakers. Anyone with knowledge of her whereabouts should call state police at Frackville immediately at 874-5300.

The month of November is "Assistive Technology Awareness Month" in Pennsylvania. Don Rooney tells why this is important:

ROONEY

NEW YORK (AP) - A fan of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" from
Philadelphia has been convicted on one of two counts charging him
with stalking star Kathryn Erbe. Jurors deliberated less than a day
before reaching the split verdict Friday against Charles Nagel in
federal court in Brooklyn.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A suburban Philadelphia man who authorities
describe as a repeat offender in securities fraud has been charged
with overseeing a $17 million Ponzi scheme. A federal indictment
released yesterday says more than 260 investors were victimized by
Robert Stinson Jr. of Berwyn, who claimed to operate several real
estate hedge funds.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Governor Ed Rendell says the
administration of Republican Governor-elect Tom Corbett will show
Pennsylvanians a very different approach to government. The
Democratic governor said he is disappointed that progressive
programs built under his administration are likely to be cut or
dismantled, but pledged his cooperation in the transition.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A Philadelphia auto dealer who admitted
filing false tax returns has been sentenced to three years of
probation, including one year of home confinement. Gary Barbera of
Gladwyne was sentenced Friday in federal court. He pleaded guilty
in May to filing false returns in tax years 2003 and 2004 for the
car dealership bearing his name.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama says the government
must bring down the nation's deficit and avoid the pending
expiration of tax cuts for the middle class. In his weekly radio
and Internet address, Obama's message to Republicans now that the
midterm election is over is that it's time to "focus on our shared
responsibilities and work together." Obama is in India to start a
10-day Asia tour.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The new Republican Senator-elect says
lawmakers owe voters a course correction on government spending and
deficits. In the weekly GOP radio and Internet address, Marco Rubio
says both parties have been to blame and it would be a mistake for
Republicans to misread the election as an embrace of the GOP. He
says America's current direction "is nothing short of a path to
ruin."

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - NATO says the deaths of two coalition
service members in southern Afghanistan are being investigated to
determine if an Afghan National Army soldier did the killing. The
Taliban issued a statement early Saturday saying that an Afghan
soldier shot and killed the American service members on their base
and then defected to the insurgency.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - Forecasters have downgraded
Hurricane Tomas (toh-MAHS') to a tropical storm after it moved up
Haiti's northwestern coast, where four people died. The storm
spared most earthquake-refugee camps in the capital. The storm sent
panicked residents fleeing a coastal city that has been slammed
twice already this decade by floods in 2004 and 2008 that killed
thousands.

KYOTO, Japan (AP) - A two-day gathering of Asian finance chiefs
has produced an agreement to avoid using their currencies as trade
weapons and try to shrink global trade gaps. There's been a
swelling chorus of world leaders calling for deeper cooperation to
safeguard global growth. Heads of state converge on Asia for twin
summits next week and the agenda will be heavy on economic matters.