TODAY'S NEWS: SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 2011

On Friday, Schuylkill County youth tood a stand to help stop their peers from getting hooked on deadly tobacco products. “Tobacco Free: It’s About Me!” was a collaborative effort of the Schuylkill County Tobacco-Free Coalition, Schuylkill Teens Kickin’ Nicotine, and Penn State Schuylkill Campus. Jasmine Brooks has the story. KICK BUTT Mahanoy Township police are looking for information on the owner of a dog that was found shot to death Thursday along the Yatesville Road. Police said the black pit bull had one or two bullet holes in its abdomen and had been in the area long enough for the body to decompose. Police said the state dog warden was notified and will be looking into the matter as well. Police are asking anyone with information on the dog's owner or how it got where it was found to call them at 773-1239 or through the Schuylkill County Communications Center at 462-1991. An 18-year-old Ringtown man and his father were arrested by Frackville borough police in connection with an incident early March 2. According to the Republican and Herald, Sgt. Marvin Livergood charged Trevor G. Beaver with a slew of traffic related offenses. Trevor's father, George Beaver, was charged with false reports to law enforcement. Livergood said that he stopped a vehicle driven by Beaver for a traffic violation March 2. During the stop, he said the man identified himself as Justin Klinger. When Livergood determined Klinger was not the man's real name, he told him to get out of the vehicle. Instead, Beaver put the car in gear and sped away, turning his lights off to avoid being caught. Livergood called a phone number obtained via computer and spoke to George Beaver, who owns the car. Beaver told Livergood his car was stolen from the Turkey Hill Minit Mart, Shenandoah, but he never reported the theft to police. When confronted with the fact that his son was driving the vehicle with a suspended license, Livergood said the man admitted he lied about the theft because he wanted to protect his son. Democratic and Republican State Senators have introduced legislation to implement a severance tax on the extraction of natural gas in Pennsylvania. Don Rooney has details. ROONEY WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama travels to Philadelphia next week to continue pressing his energy policies. The White House says Obama will hold a town hall meeting Wednesday at Gamesa Technology Corp. The company makes wind turbines. WAYNESBURG, Pa. (AP) - Thousands of union coal miners and supporters from several states rallied in Waynesburg yesterday, proclaiming themselves ready to mobilize for the war they say is being waged on organized labor. Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Rick Bloomingdale called unions the last line of defense for the American middle class. AVELLA, Pa. (AP) - State regulators say a company failed to properly manage flammable byproducts that caused a gas-well fire in Avella and injured three workers in February. Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy Corp. says it is working with government agencies to properly store and manage condensate, a liquid byproduct. HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Most people who want to use Pennsylvania's 29 public shooting ranges on state gamelands now need a $30 permit or a current general hunting or furtaking license. The state Game Commission says the new rules are in effect. They were imposed after upgrades to the ranges that included lead remediation and safety barriers. PHOENIX (AP) - The National Transportation Safety Board calls it an "in-flight fuselage rupture." Passengers on a Southwest Airlines flight from Phoenix to California say they could see the sky through a hole in the top of the plane. The airliner made a safe emergency landing in Yuma. The FBI says it was not terrorism. RIKUZENTAKATA, Japan (AP) - Japan's prime minister has visited what's left of towns and villages on the country's earthquake and tsunami-devastated northeastern coast. He stopped for a moment of silence at one wrecked town hall and promised full support to the hundreds of thousands of people who lost everything. Officials say radioactive water is leaking into the ocean from a crack in a stricken nuclear plant. KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - A protest against the burning of the Muslim holy book has killed at least five civilians in southern Afghanistan. A government spokesman says the crowd of hundreds of protesters turned violent. Meanwhile, the Taliban deny they were behind an attack Friday on a U.N. compound in northern Afghanistan that left seven foreigners dead. LOS ANGELES (AP) - Police in Los Angeles say they're pretty sure there were witnesses to a savage attack after a baseball game and they'd like the public to share any information. The beating after Thursday's season opener between the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers outside the stadium left the victim in critical but stable condition. CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) - A federal jury in New York has found that Toyota is not liable for a 2005 crash that the driver said was caused by a floor mat. In a written statement, Toyota called the verdict an "early indicator of the strength of the legal theories behind unintended acceleration claims" against it. The 2008 lawsuit was the first to go to trial since Toyota recalled millions of vehicles beginning in 2009.