Today's News Saturday January 28th, 2012

The former Cardinal Brennan Junior/Senior High School property will now be taxed under an agreement reached this week in Schuylkill County Court. As reported in the Republican Herald, under the agreement, the 95.5-acre property at 130 Academy Lane, Fountain Springs, has a fair market value of $825,000 - $650,000 for the buildings and $175,000 for the land. Judge Jacqueline L. Russell signed an order approving the stipulation and canceling the trial in the case, which had been scheduled for Feb. 21. The diocese conceded that the property can be taxed, since the school is closed and no religious activity is conducted there. As a result, the diocese will pay real estate taxes on the property to the county, township and district for the first time. Lawyers for the diocese, district, county and township signed the agreement Thursday to settle the real estate tax assessment appeal the diocese had filed Oct. 20, 2011. In the settlement, the parties accepted the appraisal of Raymond C. Geiger Jr., a certified appraiser with Raymond C. Geiger Real Estate, Allentown, in setting the property's fair market value.

McAdoo police are searching for the man who robbed the Fegley Mini-Mart at gunpoint Thursday night. According to police, the man entered the convenience store about 9:13 p.m. and pointed a black handgun at the clerk and demanded money. No one was hurt, police said. The robber made off with an undetermined amount of money, cigarettes, a pack of Mentos gum and a cigarette lighter, police said. He fled on foot, police said. Police said the man was wearing blue jeans, boots, a black hoodie, and a full red ski mask. The clerk believed the man had facial hair, possibly a goatee, and had a very soft voice. Police are checking surveillance videos and following up on leads. The Kline and Rush township police departments assisted. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 570-929-2590.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama and Republicans used
their weekly radio and internet messages to express differing views
about lack of action in Washington. Obama is calling for government
reforms to ease gridlock. For the Republicans, Florida Sen. Marco
Rubio says the lack of progress mostly reveals Obama's lack of
achievement and failed leadership.

UNDATED (AP) - The two leading candidates in Florida's
Republican primary are maintaining a sharp emphasis on wooing
voters ahead of Tuesday's ballot. Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich
have multiple events today and through the weekend.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is
acknowledging publicly for the first time that a Pakistani doctor
charged with treason in Pakistan provided key information to the
U.S. for the Osama bin Laden raid. Panetta told CBS's "60
Minutes," in a profile to be broadcast on Sunday, that he's "very
concerned" for the doctor.

CAIRO (AP) - Syria's ambassador to Egypt is accusing Cairo of
failing to protect the Syrian embassy after it was stormed
yesterday. He's also accusing oil-rich Gulf Arab nations of backing
opponents of President Bashar Assad. Numerous Syrian activists have
taken refuge in Egypt.

LONDON (AP) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai is in Britain for
talks with Prime Minister David Cameron, a day after France
announced it would withdraw its troops a year earlier than the 2014
date agreed by NATO. Britain's Foreign Office says the meeting "is
about long-term partnership and commitment beyond 2014."