Saturday, August 27, 2011

TODAY'S NEWS: SATURDAY, AUGUST 27, 2011

LOCAL HURRICANE IRENE UPDATE

GOVERNOR TOM CORBETT DECLARED A STATEWIDE DISASTER EMERGENCY TO ENABLE STATE, COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS TO RESPOND EFFECTIVELY TO THE IMPACT OF HURRICANE IRENE, A MASSIVE STORM EXPECTED TO IMPACT MUCH OF THE EASTERN HALF OF THE STATE. THE PROCLAMATION AUTHORIZES STATE AGENCIES TO USE ALL AVAILABLE RESOURCES AND PERSONNEL AS NECESSARY TO COPE WITH THIS EMERGENCY SITUATION.

CORBETT

AS HURRICANE IRENE BEARS DOWN ON THE EAST COAST, IT IS EXPECTED TO BRING A HALF-FOOT OF RAIN OR MORE ALONG WITH IT. JASON KREKELER, METEOROLOGIST WITH THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE, SAYS THE RAIN WILL ARRIVE LATER TONIGHT, BUT THE EYE OF THE STORM WON’T HIT UNTIL SUNDAY. EXPECT THE STRONGEST WINDS SUNDAY AFTERNOON BETWEEN NOON AND FOUR. AN AVERAGE RANGE WILL BE 15-25MPH, BUT MORE DANGEROUS GUSTS ARE EXPECTED AT 35-40MPH. THE EYE OF THE STORM WILL PASS SUNDAY, LEAVING NEXT WEEK POSSIBLY DRY.

CRASH ON SELTZER ROAD

TWO ELDERLY WOMEN SUFFERED MODERATE INJURIES AT 5:24 P.M. FRIDAY IN A TWO-CAR ACCIDENT AT BULLS HEAD AND SELTZER ROADS IN NORWEGIAN TOWNSHIP, ACCORDING TO STATE POLICE AT SCHUYLKILL HAVEN. ACCORDING TO THE REPUBLICAN AND HERALD, TROOPER MICHAEL RYAN SAID THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED WHEN MARY C. POTHERING, 81, OF MINERSVILLE, DROVE A GRAY NISSAN ALTIMA INTO THE INTERSECTION NORTHBOUND ON BULLS HEAD ROAD. RYAN SAID POTHERING RAN THE STOP SIGN AND ENTERED THE INTERSECTION, WHERE SHE ENCOUNTERED A WESTBOUND RED ACURA RSX DRIVEN BY ZACHARY L. DIXON, 19, OF POTTSVILLE. AFTER THE CRASH, THE ALTIMA TRAVELED THROUGH THE INTERSECTION, RYAN SAID. DEBRIS, INCLUDING THE DOWNED STOP SIGN, LITTERED ONE OF THE LAWNS AT THE INTERSECTION. ABOUT 50 PEOPLE WATCHED EMERGENCY PERSONNEL WORK TO CLEAR THE SCENE. BOTH POTHERING AND HER PASSENGER, ELIZABETH M. RYNDOCK, 87, OF MINERSVILLE, SUFFERED MODERATE INJURIES. BOTH WOMEN WERE FLOWN BY LIFE FLIGHT AND PENN STAR HELICOPTERS TO GEISINGER MEDICAL CENTER, DANVILLE, AND WERE IN STABLE CONDITION FRIDAY NIGHT, RYAN SAID. IT IS UNKNOWN IF POTHERING WAS WEARING A SEAT BELT, BUT TROOPERS SAID RYNDOCK WAS NOT WEARING A SEAT BELT. DIXON SUFFERED ONLY MINOR SCRAPES AND HIS PASSENGER, PAUL J. SCHRINER JR., 18, OF MINERSVILLE, WAS NOT INJURED. BOTH MEN WERE WEARING SEAT BELTS, RYAN SAID

STATE NEWS

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The Pennsylvania National Guard is calling up 1,500 Army and Air Force guard members in advance of Hurricane Irene. Pennsylvania National Guard spokesman Major Ed Shank said the guard is stepping up its joint emergency operations center at its
headquarters at Fort Indiantown Gap, located north of Harrisburg. Shank said guard members will provide rescue missions, sandbagging and basic aid to civilians as needed. An additional 250 guard members will be on standby in flood-prone areas.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Mass transit in Philadelphia and beyond to the suburbs will be shut down early Sunday morning because of anticipation of strong winds and copious rain from Hurricane Irene. Mayor Michael Nutter said Friday that SEPTA, the mass transit agency that provides bus and rail service in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties, will cease operations at 12:30 a.m. Seven regional rail lines are set to stop operating on Saturday afternoon because Amtrak is also canceling service. The SEPTA move also involves buses and trolleys, too.

WEST ALIQUIPPA, Pa. (AP) - Health officials say ice cream from a western Pennsylvania dairy that's had problems with milk may also be tainted. The state Department of Health says consumers and retailers should discard all ice cream purchased from the Brunton Dairy as a
precautionary measure, after a test showed the same bacteria that sickened 16 people who drank the dairy's milk. The family-owned Brunton Dairy in Independence Township, Beaver
County continues to cooperate with the Department of Health's investigation into Yersinia bacteria and voluntarily stopped producing milk and ice cream since the last week in July. The bacteria were discovered in an unopened container of ice cream.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A man who had been reported missing is in custody after police say he set fire at a central Pennsylvania apartment. Harrisburg police arrested 32-year-old Leon Smith on Thursday, hours after he allegedly started the fire that displaced eight people. Smith had been classified as missing by suburban police after authorities say he disappeared and made phone calls to family members that indicated he was in distress. Police in Harrisburg say Smith's unusual behavior was likely drug-related. Smith is being held at Dauphin County Prison on $250,000 bail on charges including reckless endangerment and dangerous burning.

PENN HILLS, Pa. (AP) - Police say a 15-year-old suspect has surrendered in connection with a fatal shooting outside a fast-food restaurant in a Pittsburgh suburb. Authorities say Akeem Willie is charged with criminal homicide, robbery and related crimes in Wednesday's shooting of 18-year-old Dalyn Jones, a recent Penn Hills High School graduate. Allegheny County Police say Willie surrendered Friday evening. Police claim Willie shot and killed Jones after a marijuana deal went bad. The shooting happened outside a busy McDonald's restaurant. It's not immediately clear if Willie has an attorney.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Gov. Tom Corbett is threatening a takeover of the state's financially troubled capital if city leaders do not produce a recovery plan. Harrisburg Mayor Linda Thompson spoke to reporters Friday to relay the governor's comments from her meeting with him earlier in the day. The Patriot-News of Harrisburg reports that Corbett took the same position in a Tuesday letter to her. City Council has scheduled a Wednesday meeting to consider
Thompson's plan to relieve about $300 million in debt tied to the city's trash incinerator. Last month, it rejected a plan by a state-appointed task force. If City Council defeats Thompson's plan, Corbett told her that he'd sign a bill to create a management board to oversee the city. That bill is pending in the state House of Representatives.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - U.S. Sen. Bob Casey is in Pakistan with three fellow Democratic senators to urge action to stem the flow of roadside bomb ingredients into Afghanistan. Casey said Friday that he spoke with Pakistani government officials about their plans. He calls roadside bombs the biggest killer of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The senators' three-day agenda includes a meeting with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. Calcium ammonium nitrate fertilizer is a key ingredient in roadside bombs made by Afghan insurgents. The delegation is scheduled to leave Pakistan on Saturday, returning to the U.S. on Tuesday. Casey is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs. Joining Casey were Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Michael Bennet of Colorado and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Is it time to get rid of the School Reform Commission? That's the question many people are asking in Philadelphia after the ugly and expensive buyout of district Superintendent Arlene Ackerman. The state-controlled commission was created 10 years ago to oversee the financially and academically troubled schools. It replaced the appointed local school board. Yet some wonder if the panel is living up to its mission. Test scores have improved but the district has still encountered fiscal problems. Many state lawmakers from Philadelphia say it's time for the state's largest district to have an elected school board. But Sen. Jeff Piccola, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, says he doesn't think there is a real groundswell to change the governing structure.

NATIONAL NEWS

MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. (AP) - A slightly weaker Hurricane Irene is bearing down on North Carolina as a Category 1 storm but forecasters are still emphasizing the potential danger. Some power has already been knocked out and New York City ordered the nation's biggest subway system shut down for the first time because of a natural disaster. Airlines have canceled thousands of flights.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is back at the White House. He flew home from a Martha's Vineyard vacation a bit early, taking his own advice after warning residents and visitors in Irene's path to take the storm seriously. Obama says he's assured state and local officials the Feds will be ready with all available aid.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Republicans continue to take issue with President Barack Obama's economic policies. In the weekly radio and Internet address. Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada says Obama has created "more government that continues to impede economic growth at every
turn."

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is asking Americans to rekindle the spirit of unity felt after the Sept. 11 attacks. In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama says it can be a lasting, every day virtue. Coming in the aftermath of bitter partisan fights over government spending and tough criticism by Republican presidential candidates, his remarks were an overt call for greater cooperation.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - The embargo is making it hard for Iran to get carbon fiber so Tehran says the country is now making its own. Carbon fiber is part of the U.N. embargo because of its potential use in the country's controversial nuclear program.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home