TODAY'S NEWS: MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

BREAKING NEWS: FIRE IN MINERSVILLE

A FIRE THAT BROKE OUT THIS MORNING IN THE BOROUGH OF MINERSVILLE IS NOW UNDER CONTROL. EMERGENCY CREWS TELL US THE BLAZE AT 239 SPRUCE STREET WAS PUT OUT JUST BEFORE 10AM. NO ADDITIONAL HOMES WERE DAMAGED AND ALL OCCUPANTS ARE ACCOUNTED FOR. FIRE CREWS ARE STILL ON SCENE AT THIS TIME. WE WILL HAVE MORE INFORMATION AS IT BECOMES AVAILABLE.


FIRE FIGHTERS FROM THE AREA GATHERED SATURDAY TO DEDICATE THEIR NEW HISTORICAL SOCIETY. BOBBY BECHTEL HAS MORE:

RELAY FOR LIFE

THIS WEEKEND POTTSVILLE CELEBRATED THE 18TH ANNUAL AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY RELAY FOR LIFE. A GRAND TOTAL OF $162,000 WAS RAISED BETWEEN 3PM FRIDAY AND 12PM SATURDAY. THAT MONEY WILL SUPPORT CANCER PATIENT SERVICES, LIFE-SAVING RESEARCH, PREVENTION EDUCATION AND ADVOCACY EFFORTS. THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO RAISE $203,000 BY THE END OF AUGUST.

AMERICAN WAY FAIR

POTTSVILLE OPENED ITS’ STREETS SUNDAY TO WELCOME THE 36TH ANNUAL AMERICAN WAY FAIR. DESPITE THE RAINY WEATHER, HUNDREDS PACKED THE FAIR THROUGHOUT THE DAY. THE ONE-DAY EVENT FEATURED FOOD, GAMES AND ENTERTAINMENT.

PAVILION DEDICATED TO LATE SENATOR

THE JOSEPH C. CAPPELLA VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL HOME ASSOCIATION DEDICATED ITS OUTDOOR PAVILION TO LATE SENATOR JAMES J. RHOADES SUNDAY. THE REPUBLICAN HERALD REPORTS, A 3-BY-3 FOOT PAINTING OF RHOADES WAS ALSO UNVEILED. THE MEMORIAL HOME IN SCHOENTOWN DEDICATED ITS PAVILION TO THE SEVEN-TERM SENATOR WHO HELPED THE VETERANS ACQUIRE $35,000 IN STATE FUNDING TO BUILD THE PAVILION NEARLY A DECADE AGO.

SHOOTING WITH PELLET GUN

CHARGES ARE BEING FILED AGAINST A LYKENS MAN AFTER AN INCIDENT FRIDAY AFTERNOON. POLICE SAY 19-YEAR-OLD JAMES YOUNG BRANDISHED A PELLET GUN AT ANOTHER MAN, STRIKING HIM IN THE FACE MULTIPLE TIMES. THE VICTIM’S NAME HAS NOT BEEN RELEASED, BUT POLICE SAY BODILY INJURY WAS CAUSED.

STATE NEWS:

HARRISBURG, PA. (AP) - STATE POLICE SAY A 12-YEAR-OLD CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA BOY SHOT BY HIS TWIN BROTHER AS THEY WERE PLAYING WITH GUNS IS NOW IN STABLE CONDITION. OFFICIALS SAY THE TWINS WERE ALONE IN THEIR EAST HANOVER TOWNSHIP HOME ON SATURDAY AND APPARENTLY PLAYING WITH A .45-CALIBER SEMI-AUTOMATIC PISTOL AND A .357 MAGNUM REVOLVER.

ALLENTOWN, PA. (AP) - AN EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA MAN HAS BEEN SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON WITHOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF PAROLE IN THE STABBING DEATH OF A MAN TWO YEARS AGO. IN MARCH, A LEHIGH COUNTY JURY CONVICTED PETER ROJAS OF SECOND-DEGREE MURDER AND ROBBERY IN THE 2009 DEATH OF MARK HOLDREN. ROJAS INSISTS IT WAS SELF-DEFENSE.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER SAYS PENNSYLVANIA JURIES HAVE OPTED FOR THE DEATH PENALTY IN ONLY 3 PERCENT OF FIRST-DEGREE MURDER CASES IN THE PAST FEW YEARS. THE PAPER CITES AN ANALYSIS OF ALMOST 2,000 PENNSYLVANIA HOMICIDE CASES BETWEEN JANUARY 1ST, OF 2007 AND FEBRUARY 3RD.

WILKES-BARRE, PA. (AP) - OPENING STATEMENTS ARE SCHEDULED TO BEGIN TODAY IN NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA IN THE RETRIAL OF A HITCHHIKER ACCUSED OF KILLING A DRIVER WHO PICKED HIM UP ALMOST THREE DECADES AGO. JAMES STRONG IS CHARGED IN THE MURDER OF JOHN STROCK OF GLENSIDE ALONG INTERSTATE 81 IN DORRANCE TOWNSHIP IN 1983.

NATIONAL NEWS:

KROTZ SPRINGS, LA. (AP) - SOME OF THE MANY LOUISIANA TOWNS KNOWN FOR THEIR CAJUN CULTURE ARE VIRTUALLY EMPTY TODAY, EVACUATED AHEAD OF WATER FROM THE SWOLLEN MISSISSIPPI RIVER. THE WATER IS FLOWING INTO THE REGION FROM FLOODGATES OPENED TO PROTECT THE MORE DENSELY POPULATED CITIES OF BATON ROUGE AND NEW ORLEANS, ALONG WITH OIL AND CHEMICAL FACILITIES.

ISLAMABAD (AP) - THE FIRST AMERICAN EMISSARY TO VISIT PAKISTAN SINCE THE OSAMA BIN LADEN RAID HAS GIVEN THE COUNTRY'S ARMY CHIEF A LIST OF "SPECIFIC DEMANDS" ABOUT SUSPICIONS THAT PAKISTAN HARBORS MILITANTS. A PAKISTANI OFFICIAL SAYS SEN. JOHN KERRY, THE CHAIRMAN OF THE SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE, HAS MEETINGS TODAY THAT COULD SHAPE A PARTNERSHIP DANGEROUSLY STRAINED BY THE RAID.

NEW YORK (AP) - AUTHORITIES HAVE SUBJECTED THE HEAD OF THE INTERNATIONAL MONEY FUND TO A FORENSIC MEDICAL EXAMINATION FOR EVIDENCE THAT COULD INCRIMINATE HIM IN THE ALLEGED SEXUAL ASSAULT OF A HOTEL MAID. DOMINIQUE STRAUSS-KAHN FACES ARRAIGNMENT TODAY ON CHARGES OF ATTEMPTED RAPE AND CRIMINAL SEXUAL CONTACT. HE WAS ARRESTED SATURDAY IN NEW YORK.

NEW YORK (AP) - A MAJOR CREDIT REPORTING AGENCY SAYS HOMEOWNERS ARE GETTING BETTER ABOUT PAYING MORTGAGES. TRANSUNION SAYS THE DELINQUENCY RATE FELL DURING THE FIRST QUARTER FOR THE FIFTH QUARTER IN A ROW. IT STOOD AT 6.19 PERCENT, COMPARED TO 6.77
PERCENT A YEAR AGO. BUT IT'S STILL HIGH, COMPARED TO THE 2 PERCENT DELINQUENCY RATE BEFORE THE RECESSION.

JERUSALEM (AP) - THE ISRAELI MILITARY SAYS IT HAS TURNED BACK A SHIP BOUND FOR THE HAMAS-RULED GAZA STRIP. THE MOLDOVAN-FLAGGED VESSEL LEASED BY A MALAYSIAN ANTI-WAR GROUP TURNED BACK TOWARD EGYPT AFTER WARNING SHOTS WERE FIRED.