Today's News-Saturday, December 10, 2011

Strong Arm Robbery Nets Arrest of Two Women

Two area women are jailed following their arrest, accused of a strong arm robbery of a Tuscarora man. Port Carbon police were called to Pottsville Street in Mechanicsville Thursday evening. Twenty three year old Joshua Generella was jumped by two females inside the house, beating the man and taking his wallet. The women, identified as Justine Myro of Port Carbon and Amanda Strimboulis of Hegins. As the pair wanted more money from the victim, they left on foot, heading towards Pottsville. Myro reportedly put a box cutter to Generella's throat. A short time later, Generella sought refuge at a relatives house and police picked up the pair. Both women were arraigned and locked up.

Electronics Thief Apprehended

Rush Township police have apprehended a Quakake man, accused of stealing thousands of dollars in electronics from the Hometown Walmart. The incident happened early Thursday morning, where 21 year old Franklin Kunkel III took various iPods and iPads from the store, valued at nearly 8-thousand dollars. Kunkel was picked up Friday and charged with retail theft. He will be arraigned on those charges.

Cressona Fire Co, No. 1 Receives Trophy From NASCAR

A group of members from Cressona Fire Co. No. 1 decided to take a bus trip to the October 2 "AAA 400" NASCAR race at Dover International Speedway. That date was also a special day for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, as they welcomed firefighters to their hospitality tent outside the track. One of the day's events was the Firehouse Challenge, where the fire house with the most members in attendance would receive an award. When the results were announced, the group from Cressona won the award with 35 people signed in. Representatives from Dover Speedway and the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation will be in Cressona today to present the fire company with their own Miles the Monster trophy, the same trophy that is presented to Nationwide and Camping World Truck series race winners. There will be a parade through town that will include the pace truck from Dover along with many local fire companies, then the presentation of the trophy will take place at the fire station. Events are scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The owner of a downtown park wants the Occupy
Pittsburgh camp to leave the property. BNY Mellon says it wants the
occupy protestors to remove all structures from the small park next
to its offices by noon tomorrow. The bank says that if the
protestors don't leave voluntarily it will seek a court order
Monday to force their removal.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Penn State has hired a prominent
Washington attorney and former White House counsel Lanny Davis to
advise its new leader. Penn State spokeswoman Lisa Powers says
Davis "has been engaged" to provide legal advice and counsel to
Penn State President Rodney Erickson. Trustees appointed Erickson
last month to replace Graham Spanier.

FAWN GROVE, Pa. (AP) - More than 30 central Pennsylvania
students went to the hospital after a bumpy school bus ride. State
police initially reported that the bus hit a pothole. Department of
Transportation officials who went to the scene in York County said
they found no pothole.

BROOKVILLE, Pa. (AP) - Authorities in northwestern Pennsylvania
say a man published an obituary for his living mother in a ploy to
get paid bereavement time off from work. Relatives called The
Jeffersonian Democrat newspaper in Brookville after the obit
appeared to report the woman was actually alive and well. The woman
herself then visited the paper. Brookville police have charged
Scott Bennett with disorderly conduct.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) - Islamabad denies it but a Pakistani
Taliban commander says talks with the government are ongoing and
"progressing well." The statement today is the first time that a
named commander has said the group is negotiating with the
Pakistani government. The United States regards the Pakistani
Taliban as a terrorist group.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - The U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan is
downplaying the possibility of sectarian war between religious
factions. Ryan Crocker says he does not think this week's deadly
suicide bombing at a Shiite shrine in Kabul will degenerate into an
all-out Sunni-Shiite Muslim conflict.

SANAA, Yemen (AP) - A Yemeni military official says
al-Qaida-linked militants have attacked a military barracks in an
embattled southern town, leaving two soldiers and 11 militants
dead. The official said Saturday that another 36 soldiers were
injured in the base in the capital of Abyan province.

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) - Investigators are still trying to unravel
a motive for the Thursday slaying of Virginia Tech police officer
Deriek W. Crouse during an unrelated traffic stop. Thousands of
people gathered for a candlelight vigil on campus last night.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A convicted child molester who worked under
an alias in casting children's movies has been arrested on charges
of violating sex-offender registration laws. The Los Angeles Times
reports that prosecutors charged Jason James Murphy with two
felonies yesterday, failure to file a name change and a change of
address. The investigation was sparked by other Times stories.