Sunday, February 28, 2010

Nuisance snow blankets Valley

UNDATED – Some on and off snow showers have once again blanketed the Central Susquehanna Valley. The accumulation totals about an inch and AccuWeather says the occasional snow fall will continue today. The forecast also calls for another ‘nuisance snowfall’ again Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. There are no delays posted today—you can review the Winternet at www.wkok.com.

Bucknell excels in volunteerism

LEWISBURG – An after school tutoring initiative, a program to alleviate poverty in Uganda, and free hot meals for local residents are among the ways Bucknell University students volunteered their services last year. The university has once again received a national community service award.

 In a news release today, the school says 85% of its student body volunteers in some way, placing it on a federal list of universities recognized for volunteerism.  Bucknell says, “Among Bucknell's many community service projects are Bucknell Buddies, an after-school tutoring program offered in Lewisburg.”

Additionally, the university cites; Bicycles Against Poverty, a student-initiated program to help alleviate poverty in war-torn areas of Uganda; and Community Harvest, a free hot meal program in nearby Milton.

It’s the second year in a row Bucknell has landed on the Community Service Honor Roll, the highest recognition an institution can earn for service learning and civic engagement. A news release from explains more about the honor. You can see that information at www.bucknell.edu. (Matt Farrand)

Two shootings injure four in Williamsport 

WILLIAMSPORT – Gunfire injured four men in two separate incidents Saturday in Williamsport.  Police are not releasing names, but say three were injured in a shooting at the rear of a residence in the 12-hundred block of West Fourth Street shortly after 4:15 p.m. 

One sustained a gunshot wound to the chest and needed surgery, another is in stable condition at Williamsport Hospital with wounds to the legs, and a third was treated and released.  State troopers and local officials are analyzing evidence, including vehicles that reportedly left the scene but were later found and seized by police in the parking lot of Williamsport Hospital.

Bloomsburg woman killed in crash

Police officer dog bit during Norry fugitive bust

NORTHUMBERLAND – Two people were taken into custody (including a fugitive sex offender) and a dog bit a police officer, during a violent incident this week in Northumberland. The incident happened Wednesday evening at a home in the 500 block of Queen Street.

Officers tell us they went to the home to arrest 25-year-old Maurice Whitchsett Jr. They say he was no known address but was staying with a woman who rents a home there. He was found hiding in the attic of the home and in the process of taking him into custody; police say they arrested 20-year-old Nicole Hafer of Northumberland.

In an ensuing struggle with her, her pet pit bull attacked and bit a Sunbury police officer. The officer sustained a leg wound and did receive medical treatment. The state Department of Health is in on that aspect of the investigation.

The fugitive was jailed and Hafer was arrested for aggravated assault on a police officer, hindering the apprehension of a suspect, resisting arrest and recklessly endangering another person. He is wanted in Texas as a convicted sex offender on $50,000 bail. She was jail on $25,000 bail. The dog was subdued with the use of a Taser.

Boil water advisory in Beavertown

BEAVERTOWN – A boil water advisory is in effect for Beavertown while a water leak is being repaired on Zechman Street.  All residents east of Zechman Street to the borough line are advised to boil their water until further notice. 

Local trainer says good health starts with the…foot

WATSONTOWN – Experts at Geisinger Medical Center and elsewhere say sugary soft drinks are largely what is driving the obesity rate among local children to 42%. That’s measurably higher than the national average. However, a local fitness expert says the sedentary lifestyle lived by many in the area is as big a factor as too many sodas and juice boxes.

Michelle Simons of Lewisburg says many kids are simply stuck in front of computer screens and watching video. Simons now runs a fitness related business based in Lewisburg, but has also coached college basketball, following a distinguished playing career.

She says fitness starts with strong feet, thanks to nerve receptors there that contribute to balance, awareness, and thus strength. Simons spoke last week at the annual meeting and awards ceremony of the Central Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce. (Matt Farrand)

Wolfgang trial delayed

SUNBURY – The trial has been delayed for the Mount Carmel man charged with killing his wife and dumping her body in a creek. The trial was set for mid-March, but has been delayed until late summer or early fall. The Northumberland County District Attorney’s office tells us the trial has been postponed for Steven Wolfgang, who is charged with killing his wife Sherry Wolfgang of Mount Carmel in January of 2007.

President Judge Robert Sacavage ruled Wolfgang competent to stand trial last week, so the D-A’s office says additional testing needs to be done, since the prosecution is seeking the death penalty. Wolfgang is charged with an open count of homicide after police say he killed his wife and put her body in a box before dumping it in a creek. (Ali Stevens)

Encore ‘mental health update’ with the Dr’s Paolucci

SUNBURY – This weekend on our Roundtable program we have an encore broadcast of one of our award winning ‘mental health updates.’ Dr.s Stephen Paolucci and Susan Paolucci are the guests on the program recorded on the Geisinger campus in Danville—in 2009. We discuss new medicines, the fight against stigma and the federal health care legislation.

Susan Paolucci, a staff psychiatrist at Geisinger tells us, so far mental health coverage has been carved out of the Washington DC discussions, and that is not ideal. Dr. Stephen Paolucci, the head of the division of psychiatry is the other guest on the program. We discuss the importance of the electronic health record when it comes to mental health care and mental health research.

You can hear the encore Roundtable (Sunday) on Eagle 107 (107.3FM) at 6a.m., 100.9 (100.9FM), The Valley, at 6a.m., Newsradio 1070 WKOK (1070AM) at 9a.m., Talkradio 1380 WMLP (1380AM), 11a.m., 94KX WQKX (94.1FM) at 11p.m., and anytime, at www.wkok.com.

Former congressman: Specter needs to retire

DANVILLE – Former Congressman John Peterson believes it’s time for Arlen Specter to retire. The conservative, formerly from the 5th District, says it’s time for a change and he believes Pat Toomey is the right choice.

Peterson says no one should be elected to congress at the age of 80 and despite being friends with Specter for 40 years, Peterson says now is the time for him to go. Peterson believes Toomey will win the seat held by Specter for 30 years. Peterson also talked about President Barack Obama’s Healthcare Summit.

He says American’s want reform other than what Obama wants. Peterson believes Obama’s plan is a socialized takeover of the healthcare system, where the government will determine what healthcare you get and how much it will cost. Peterson says American’s want market based reforms that will cut costs and improve efficiency with more preventative care. (Matt Bowen)

Gordner questions the A-G’s audits

HARRISBURG – Senator John Gordner (R-27th, Berwick) says he questions performance audits done by Auditor General Jack Wagner regarding mass transit agencies such at the Port Authority. Gordner says a good portion of the revenue is based on the tolling of I-80, which doesn’t exist.

Gordner says tolling hasn’t happened to date, and come July of this year, if the tolling of I-80 hasn’t occurred, there will be about a 50 percent reduction in monies that are available to PennDOT and mass transit agencies. Gordner and many other area politicians are strongly opposed to the tolling of Interstate 80, with a decision looming on whether or not it can be done.

However, the governor has budgeted proceeds from the tolling of I-80 for various projects in the proposed budget, totaling about $460-million in revenue. Gordner is an outspoken critic of this, along with Congressman Chris Carney (D-10th, Dimock) and State Representative Merle Phillips (R-108th, Sunbury). (Ali Stevens)

Latest Pennsylvania news, lottery, sports, business and entertainment

NORWOOD, Pa. (AP) – Officials say two teenage girls who were struck and killed by a high-speed Amtrak train committed suicide.  An Acela train traveling from Boston to Washington, D.C., hit the 10th-graders about 10:30 a.m. Thursday in Norwood, about 10 miles southwest of Philadelphia.  The Delaware County Medical Examiner's Office said Saturday that autopsies concluded the deaths were suicides.  Norwood Police Chief Mark DelVecchio says an examination of the girls' e-mail and text messages showed they spoke of their desire to end their lives. He said police did not know what led the girls to suicide.  Family members and classmates at Interboro Senior High School said 16-year-old Gina Gentile and 15-year-old Vanessa Dorwart were upset about the death of Gentile's boyfriend. Seventeen-year-old William Bradley was killed by a car while riding his bicycle last month.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - The storm-weary Northeast heard a new word this week as the latest storm bore down: "snowicane." It was coined by meteorologists at AccuWeather, who said the storm promised hurricane-like dangers, from high winds to flooding.  This winter, storms have been dubbed "snowmageddon" and "snowpocalypse." They lived up to their hype - delivering the snowiest winters some cities have ever recorded. But "snowicane" got the best of some forecasters at the more staid National Weather Service, which said its for-profit competitors were overhyping the situation.  State College, Pa.-based AccuWeather defended the word choice. Chief operations officer Evan Myers says his firm does not intend "to panic people" but that the storm "performed as advertised."

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - It's been quite a winter in Pennsylvania, where records have been broken, budgets have been busted and Philadelphia has received nearly as much snow as Erie.  And spring is still three weeks away.  The state has been hit by four major storms this season, but the flakes fell more heavily in some places than others.  A storm over the past couple of days dumped more than a foot of snow on Scranton but left Philadelphia fairly unscathed; a storm that buried Philadelphia with 20 inches in December left Pittsburgh with only a few.  Ruth Miller, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, says about a third of the state's 67 counties are seeking federal reimbursement for snowfall expenses during back-to-back blizzards in early February.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Crews have reopened the Pennsylvania Turnpike in both directions after as many as 20 tractor-trailers were involved in crashes that forced the shutdown of a 60-mile stretch of highway. Spokesman Carl DeFebo says the turnpike had reopened to all traffic by 3 p.m. Friday. A long stretch of the turnpike had been closed in central Pennsylvania since around 8 a.m. when wintry weather led to a series of crashes in the westbound lanes. Officials reported two people sustained non-life threatening injuries. DeFebo says emergency personnel helped motorists from a total of about 90 vehicles. Many were transported to service plazas for food, water and shelter. PennDOT lifted most speed and vehicle restrictions related to the storm by Friday afternoon and utility companies across the state were reporting few outages.

UNION DALE, Pa. (AP) - It could be another day before 57 students at a Philadelphia high school and their chaperones can get home after getting stranded by a strong winter storm during a class trip. The students from Calvary Christian Academy were staying in a hastily assembled Red Cross shelter Friday in northeastern Pennsylvania while they wait for one of their vehicles to be repaired. After being forced to cut short a ski trip to the Elk Mountain resort their buses got stuck in 4-foot snowdrifts Thursday night. Emergency workers transported everyone to a church in Union Dale, about 35 miles northeast of Scranton. Seventeen-year-old Sarah Miller says it's been a bonding experience for the senior class. It was already a star-crossed trip - one boy broke his collarbone while skiing and two girls were also hurt.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - More legal fireworks accompanied the end of the fourth week of testimony in Pennsylvania's legislative corruption trial. Judge Richard Lewis cautioned defense attorney Dan Raynak not to "push it" at the end of the day Friday after Raynak complained about a prosecutor's reaction to a witness' testimony. At issue is whether prosecutors in the theft, conspiracy and conflict-of-interest trial of former Rep. Mike Veon will be able to delve into the prior conviction of another former state representative for using his staff to campaign. If Lewis allows jurors to hear details of former Rep. Jeff Habay's case, it could help prosecutors argue that a recent case demonstrated to lawmakers and their staff the legal hazards of using public resources for political campaigns. Three former aides are on trial with Veon.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) - The Sierra Club and the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy are threatening to sue Consol Energy if it doesn't meet federal water-quality standards within 60 days. The Canonsburg, Pa.-based coal company is developing long-term plans to build mine water treatment plants in the Dunkard Creek watershed, with the first operating by May 2013. The 43-mile long creek runs along the Pennsylvania-West Virginia border and was the site of a massive fish kill last fall. Consol stopped discharging water from the Blacksville No. 2 mine after that. Regulators say golden algae killed the fish, but pollutants created conditions that helped it bloom. Sierra Club's Jim Kotcon says Consol must act faster. He says the creek can't afford years of continuing pollution.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Update on the latest in business:

Toyota's president to visit China on Monday

TOKYO (AP) - Toyota says its president Akio Toyoda will speak to reporters in Beijing on Monday about the company's recent quality problems.  A company spokeswoman said Sunday that Toyoda, who testified at a U.S. Congressional hearing last week about the spate of global recalls plaguing Toyota Motor Corp., will be speaking at a Beijing hotel.  Toyoda was in Washington this past week meeting with Toyota dealers and facing questions from skeptical U.S. lawmakers over the company's recall of more than 8.5 million vehicles due to cases in which its vehicles sped out of control.

Reports: Prudential PLC may buy AIG unit

NEW YORK (AP) - Prudential PLC, Britain's largest life insurer, is exploring a bid for the Asian life-insurance arm of American International Group Inc., according to media reports Saturday. Sky News television put the deal's potential value at $25 billion. The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site that the deal could be worth about $30 billion.  AIG has said it plans to sell the unit, American International Assurance Co., or spin it off into a separate company, part of an effort to pay off the debt it owes to the U.S. government.

Pennsylvania  Lottery numbers:

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - These Pennsylvania lotteries were drawn on Saturday:

 Big 4

     3-0-6-7

 Cash 5

     06-07-12-14-39

 Daily Number

     6-0-0

 Evening Quinto

     7-6-6-8-0

 Midday Big 4

     5-0-6-8

 Midday Number

     3-3-3

 Midday Quinto

     3-7-6-6-1

 Powerball

     18-47-51-53-58, Powerball: 30, Power Play: 2

 Treasure Hunt

     05-13-18-22-30

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Marie Osmond's son dies in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Marie Osmond says her 18-year-old son Michael Blosil has died.  In a statement through her publicist Saturday, Osmond said her family is devastated by the "tragic loss," but did not provide

details on the death.  Entertainment Tonight is reporting on its Web site that Blosil jumped to his death Friday night from his downtown Los Angeles apartment building.  A Los Angeles Police spokesman says officers responded to an apparent suicide in the area, but the victim has not been identified.  Blosil reportedly left a note, which referred to a lifelong battle with depression.  Donny Osmond, Blosil's uncle, told ET: "Please pray for my sister and her family."  Blosil was one of Marie Osmond's five adopted children.

Stars rock out for Tibet at Carnegie Hall

NEW YORK (AP) - Patti Smith, Iggy Pop and other musicians came together to create sonic cocktail for a good cause.  They rocked Carnegie Hall on Friday night at the 20th Annual Benefit Concert for Tibet House US, a non-profit organization charged with preserving Tibetan culture.  The line-up was curated by the event's artist director and noted composer, Philip Glass.  Proceeds from the concert will be used to fund the Tibet House and other charitable organizations.

'Lockergate'?: Producer apologizes for e-mails

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is considering action against a producer of "The Hurt Locker" who sent multiple e-mails urging academy members to vote for his movie in the Oscar best-picture category and not close-competitor "Avatar."   Academy spokeswoman Leslie Unger says the e-mails by Nicolas Chartier, one of four nominated producers for "The Hurt Locker," violated the academy's rule against sending mailings that "attempt to promote any film or achievement by casting a negative light on a competing film or achievement."  The initial e-mail was sent Feb. 19 and obtained by The Associated Press. Chartier has apologized for his actions.