Today's News-Tuesday, December 14, 2010

COUNTY BUDGET EXPECTS TO COME UP SHORT

SCHUYLKILL COUNTY OFFICIALS ARE PROJECTING A SHORTFALL AS THEY GET SET TO UNVEIL THEIR 2011 SPENDING PLAN TOMORROW. THE REPUBLICAN HERALD REPORTS THAT EXPENSES ARE ANTICIPATED TO BE $47-POINT-5 MILLION DOLLARS, WHILE REVENUES ARE EXPECTED TO BE AROUND $44 MILLION DOLLARS. WHILER THERE ARE MANY OPTIONS ON THE TABLE, A TAX INCREASE IS NOT ONE OF THEM. COUNTY OFFICIALS ALL OPTIONS TO BALANCE THE BUDGET ARE ON THE TABLE, AND THEY MAY DRAW DOWN THE UNRESTRICTED FUND BALANCE, OR SURPLUS, TO BALANCE THE BUDGET. COUNTY PROPERTY TAXES REMAIN AT 11 POINT 96 MILLS.


GUILTY PLEAS

TWO MEN PLEADED GUILTY ON MONDAY TO DRUG RELATED CRIMES FROM INCIDENTS IN JANUARY IN POTTSVILLE. 43-YEAR-OLD ALLAN BITTLE OF POTTSVILLE AND 19-YEAR-OLD JERRY SINKO OF NEW PHILADELPHIA WERE SCHEDULED FOR NONJURY TRIALS IN SCHUYLKILL COUNTY COURT, BUT INSTEAD PLEAD GUILTY. BITTLE PLEADED GUILTY TO POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA AND PUBLIC DRUNKENNESS. SINKO PLEADED GUILTY TO POSSESSION OF A SMALL AMOUNT OF MARIJUANA. AFTER ACCEPTING BOTH GUILTY PLEAS, JUDGE CYRUS PALMER DOLBIN SENTENCED BITTLE TO SIX MONTHS PROBATION AND FINES, WHILE SINKO WAS ALSO FINED.
　
TWO CAR CRASH

A BETHEL WOMAN WAS FLOWN TO READING HOSPITAL AFTER RUNNING A STOP SIGN MONDAY AFTERNOON. 30-YEAR-OLD LORI HURST FAILED TO YIELD RIGHT OF WAY AND PULLED OUT FROM A STOP SIGN WHEN SHE WAS STRUCK BY 62-YEAR-OLD GRACE MYERS OF TELFORD. HURST SUFFERED MODERATE INJURIES AND WAS TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL BY BETHAL AMBULANCE AND MED-EVAC.


STATE NEWS:


ALLENTOWN, PA. (AP) - A FEDERAL JUDGE HAS ORDERED A BETHLEHEM MAN TO REMAIN BEHIND BARS WHILE AWAITING TRIAL ON CHARGES OF POSTING A THREAT ON THE INTERNET TO CARRY OUT "THE MOST HEINOUS SCHOOL SHOOTING EVER IMAGINED." ANTHONY ELONIS WAS CHARGED LAST WEEK AFTER THE FBI SAID HE MADE THAT THREAT AND OTHERS ON FACEBOOK AFTER HE WAS FIRED IN OCTOBER FROM NEARBY DORNEY PARK AND WILDWOOD KINGDOM.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - PLANNERS IN SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA HAVE NARROWLY APPROVED GOVERNOR ED RENDELL'S PLAN TO PROVIDE $45 MILLION IN EMERGENCY FUNDING TO STAVE OFF SWEEPING CUTS IN PITTSBURGH-AREA TRANSIT SERVICE. THE PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE THAT MEMBERS OF THE SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA COMMISSION VOTED 27-22 LAST NIGHT TO REDIRECT UNSPENT FEDERAL FUNDS TO THE PORT AUTHORITY OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY.

SCRANTON, PA. (AP) - A FORMER NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA COUNTY OFFICIAL WHO PLEADED GUILTY TO BRIBERY HAS BEEN SENTENCED TO 15 MONTHS IN PRISON. AUTHORITIES SAY DOUGLAS RICHARDS, FORMER HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR OF LUZERNE COUNTY, ACCEPTED MORE THAN $5,000 IN CASH FROM A NEW YORK STAFFING AGENCY THAT HAD A NO-BID CONTRACT WITH THE COUNTY.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS HAS RECEIVED A GIFT OF 400 WORKS OF ART BY WOMEN SPANNING A CENTURY. THE PRESTIGIOUS PHILADELPHIA ART SCHOOL AND MUSEUM SAYS THAT THE GIFT FROM ARTIST AND COLLECTOR LINDA LEE ALTER IS UNPRECEDENTED IN ITS HISTORY. IT INCLUDES WORKS BY ARTISTS INCLUDING LOUISE BOURGEOIS, KIKI SMITH, ALICE NEEL, LOUISE NEVELSON AND MANY OTHERS.

NATIONAL NEWS:

WASHINGTON (AP) - HE'S BEING REMEMBERED AS A GIANT OF U.S. DIPLOMACY. THE STATE DEPARTMENT SAYS RICHARD HOLBROOKE HAS DIED. HE HAD SURGERY SATURDAY TO REPAIR A TORN AORTA. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA PRAISED HOLBROOKE FOR WHAT OBAMA CALLS "TIRELESS DIPLOMACY, LOVE OF COUNTRY AND PURSUIT OF PEACE."

LAPORTE, IND. (AP) - A SLOW-MOVING STORM THAT'S DUMPED DEEP SNOW ON PARTS OF THE MIDWEST IS MOVING OVER THE GREAT LAKES AND INTO CANADA. FORECASTERS SAY MORE SNOW IS POSSIBLE FOR PARTS OF OHIO, PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW YORK. BITTER COLD HAS STRETCHED INTO THE SOUTH.

BABYLON, N.Y. (AP) - FOUR BODIES HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED ALONGSIDE A PARKWAY AT A BEACH ON NEW YORK'S LONG ISLAND. THE DISCOVERIES WERE MADE DURING A SEARCH FOR A MISSING WOMAN. THREE BODIES WERE FOUND MONDAY AT OAK BEACH, A REMOTE BARRIER ISLAND THAT DIVIDES THE GREAT SOUTH BAY AND THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. THE REMAINS WERE NEAR WHERE SKELETAL REMAINS WERE DISCOVERED OVER THE WEEKEND.

LONG BEACH, CALIF. (AP) - RELATIVES OF A CALIFORNIA MAN KILLED SUNDAY BY LONG BEACH POLICE ARE EXPRESSING ANGER AND CONSIDERING LEGAL ACTION. POLICE SAY DOUGLAS ZERBY HELD A PISTOL-GRIP WATER NOZZLE AS IF IT WERE A GUN. TWO OFFICERS OPENED FIRE, KILLING ZERBY. RELATIVES SAY HE HAD BEEN DRINKING.

WASHINGTON (AP) - AMERICA'S NEIGHBORHOODS ARE BECOMING MORE INTEGRATED. RECENT CENSUS DATA SHOW THAT INTEGRATION INCREASED LAST YEAR TO A HIGHER LEVEL THAN AT ANY TIME IN AT LEAST A CENTURY. SEGREGATION AMONG BLACKS AND WHITES FELL IN ROUGHLY THREE-QUARTERS OF THE NATION'S 100 LARGEST METROPOLITAN AREAS.