TODAY'S NEWS: SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

LOCAL AIR TOURS

BRIGHT SKY AVIATION LOCATED AT THE POTTSVILLE-SCHUYLKILL COUNTY-JOE ZERBEY AIRPORT IS KICKING OFF THEIR SPRING FLING AIR TOURS OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY THIS WEEKEND. SPRING HAS ARRIVED THE WEATHER LOOKS MUCH BETTER, SO NOW IS THE TIME TO SCHEDULE YOUR SCENIC AIR TOUR OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY. FOR THE PRICE OF LESS THAN TAKING THE KIDS TO A MOVIE, YOU CAN HOP ABOARD YOUR AIRCRAFT AND TOUR THE COUNTY OR YOUR HOME TOWN BY AIR. YOU CAN TAKE PICTURES OF YOUR HOME BUSINESS OR FARM FROM THE AIR, POINT OUT HISTORICAL LANDMARKS OR JUST TAKE IN THE BEAUTY OF SPRING FROM AN AIRPLANE! YOU ACTUALLY TAKE CONTROL AND FLY THE AIRPLANE! FOR RESERVATIONS OR INFORMATION CALL THE SCHUYLKILL COUNTY AIRPORT BUSINESS OFFICE BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 8A.M. AND 4P.M. @ 570-544-6002.

TROOPERS JUSTIFIED IN SHOOTING

SCHUYLKILL COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY JAMES GOODMAN SAID TODAY THAT STATE TROOPERS WERE JUSTIFIED IN SHOOTING A MAN WHEN THEY SERVED A SEARCH WARRANT AT HIS HOME MAY 4TH. 56-YEAR OLD JEFFREY WOLFE OF WAYNE TOWNSHIP, DIED AFTER HE WAS SHOT TWICE IN THE CHEST AND SUFFERED A PERFORATED LUNG, ACCORDING TO COUNTY CORONER JOSEPH LIPSETT. LIPSETT RULED THE MANNER OF DEATH A HOMICIDE AFTER AN AUTOPSY THE NEXT DAY BY FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST DR. RICHARD BINDIE. LIPSETT TELLS THE REPUBLICAN HERALD, WOLFE TESTED POSITIVE FOR UNSPECIFIED CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES AND THAT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION WOULD BE AVAILABLE WHEN RESULTS OF TOXICOLOGY TESTS WERE RECEIVED. WOLFE DIED IN THE BEDROOM OF HIS HOME AFTER HE ALLEGEDLY POINTED A LOADED 12-GAUGE SHOTGUN AT POLICE WHO WERE EXECUTING A SEARCH WARRANT FOR A METHAMPHETAMINE LAB.

ANOTHER TENANT LEAVES SCHUYLKILL MALL

FAMOUS LABELS OPENED IN NOVEMBER 2009 IN THE SCHUYLKILL MALL. ON FRIDAY, THE SELF-DESCRIBED "OFF-PRICE" RETAILER'S STOREFRONT WAS DARK, METAL GATES LOCKED TIGHT AT ITS ENTRYWAYS BARRING ANYONE ACCESS WITHOUT PERMISSION. ACCORDING TO THE REPUBLICAN AND HERALD, A "NO TRESPASSING" SIGN BY ORDER OF MAGISTERIAL DISTRICT JUDGE DAVID A. PLACHKO WAS TAPED TO A GATE, WARNING THAT ANYONE ENTERING THE PREMISES WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE SCHUYLKILL MALL COULD FACE UP TO 10 YEARS IN JAIL OR A FINE OF $25,000, OR BOTH. THE WARNING WAS POSTED AT THE COURT'S ORDER BY PENNSYLVANIA STATE CONSTABLE JOHN BONDURA. THE DATE THE SIGN WAS POSTED WAS NOT AVAILABLE. IN ADDITION TO FAMOUS LABELS, THE MALL HAS ALSO LOST KAY JEWELERS AND LIBERTY TRAVEL WITHIN THE PAST MONTH. THE PREVIOUS TENANT WAS STEVE AND BARRY'S, A RETAIL CLOTHING CHAIN THAT CAME TO THE MALL IN OCTOBER 2007 BUT CLOSED ITS DOORS IN JANUARY 2009 WHEN THE 276-STORE CHAIN WENT OUT OF BUSINESS. THE ORIGINAL TENANT WAS HESS'S DEPARTMENT STORE, WHICH WAS PART OF THE MALL OPENING IN NOVEMBER 1980. HESS'S, ALONG WITH SEARS AND KMART, WERE THE ORIGINAL THREE ANCHOR STORES. THE FOURTH ANCHOR, THE BON-TON, MOVED INTO AN ADDITION BUILT ONTO THE MALL A FEW YEARS LATER.

DUI CHECKPOINTS SCHEDULED

THE NORTH CENTRAL REGIONAL SOBRIETY CHECKPOINT DUI TASKFORCE ANNOUNCED THAT SOBRIETY CHECKPOINTS AND ROVING DUI PATROLS WILL BE CONDUCTED TODAY THROUGH MONDAY ON ROUTES 61, 183, 901, 209, 1006, 309, 443, 895, 125, 25, 924 AND 54. TRAVELERS ARE REMINDED TO CALL 911 IF THEY SUSPECT A DRUNK DRIVER OR TO CALL, TOLL-FREE, 888-UNDER21 TO REPORT UNDERAGE DRINKING.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Gov. Tom Corbett goes into the hospital
Monday for back surgery. His office describes it as a routine
procedure for treatment of spinal stenosis. He expects to be back
home the next day.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A new $27.3 billion Pennsylvania state
budget written by House Republicans would ease some spending cuts
on schools and universities. But the proposal would shift money
away from shelters for women and the homeless and hospitals that
treat the poor.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The head of the Philadelphia archdiocese's
panel on priest sex-abuse is blasting the cardinal's response to
the pedophilia crisis. Chairwoman Ana Maria Catanzaro says Cardinal
Justin Rigali and his bishops "failed miserably at being open."
The archdiocese says its review of complaints continues to evolve.

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) - A southeastern Pennsylvania man accused
of trading a tattoo for sex with an underage girl now faces sex
charges involving more than a dozen other children. Walter Meyerle
of Falls faces nearly 200 sex crime counts on allegations that he
sexually assaulted two adults and 14 children.

LAKE PROVIDENCE, La. (AP) - The raging Mississippi River has
forced a difficult decision on Louisiana. Army engineers say when
they open the Morganza spillway for the first time in 38 years
Saturday, tens of thousands of homes and farms over 3,000 square
miles of Louisiana's Cajun country could be submerged. The trade
off is protection of Baton Rouge and New Orleans, along with oil
and chemical facilities.

WASHINGTON (AP) - It's not clear who it belonged to, but U.S.
officials say a sizable stash of pornography was seized from Osama
bin Laden's compound by U.S. forces. There were three other adult
males living at the compound.

CLARENCE CENTER, N.Y. (AP) - A special House election election
in western New York could be a little more important than first
thought. It was supposed to be an easy Republican victory but polls
two weeks before the May 24 vote suggest a competitive race and the
first electoral test of GOP budget policies. There's been a lot of
outside spending.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The National Park Service says two more
injured climbers have been rescued on Alaska's Mount McKinley. Park
officials say the two climbers, including a guide, were rescued
from 17,200-foot high camp Friday afternoon. The rescues follow the
death of one climber and the rescue of another on North America's
tallest mountain.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Officials in Oregon say a U.S. Forest
Service survey crew found a man's body in a sleeping bag in the
back of his pickup truck, where he had been stranded for nearly 70
days. It was found along with his diary on a remote mountain road.
Jerry McDonald had made notations about being snowed in in the
remote foothills of the Cascade Range. He hadn't been reported
missing.