Monday, May 31, 2010
Memorial Day 2010

Memorial Day ceremonies held in numerous communities

UNDATED – Numerous communities in the Central Susquehanna Valley took time to host Memorial Day ceremonies today to remember the soldiers that died while fighting for our country.  Ron Cowan is commander of American Legion Victory Post 25 and was the master of ceremonies at the Memorial Day observance in Selinsgrove at the borough building. He told the crowd our nation honors the heroic dead from 1,000 battles of land and sea. 

Also speaking at the ceremony was Selinsgrove Mayor Sean Christine, who said Memorial Day is truly a day of mourning as we remember and honor some of the finest human beings that ever walked the earth.  Christine however says it’s also a day of celebration and a day not to dwell on the past, but to take stock in the gifts we have been given. 

The keynote speaker was Ernest Renninger, who is retiring from the Selinsgrove American Legion after 33 years of dedicated service. Renninger spoke about patriotism and the feeling we all should have when in the presence of an American flag. Also participating in the ceremony was the area Boy Scouts of American and the VFW Post 6631.

Some of the veterans on hand in Sunbury and Selinsgrove were reportedly overcome by the warm and humid conditions.  (Ali Stevens)

Selinsgrove teen improving, prom date still critical

DANVILLE -- There is some improvement in medical condition of one of the two teens badly hurt in a prom night car accident over a week ago. Seth Lauver is now in fair condition. That is an improvement from the 'serious condition' designation last week.

The stand out athlete and member of the Selinsgrove Seal's state championship team remains at Geisinger Medical Center. Lauver was hurt in a traffic accident May 22nd. That crash still has Alexandra Mullen in critical condition at Geisinger Medical Center.  Both 17-year-olds are from the Winfield area.

To help the families with uncovered medical expenses--and to show community support--there are a number of support and community efforts underway. The Support Seth and Alex Fund is growing at the Northumberland National Bank. That effort is supported and endorsed by Newsradio 1070 WKOK and you can find the link at www.wkok.com.

A Walk-a-Thon will be held this Friday at the Harold Bolig Stadium in Selinsgrove. There are some hoagie sales in the weeks ahead as well. Orders can be placed with various students and athletes in the Selinsgrove schools and at the Sunbury Motor's Kia dealership on Routes 11 & 15 Hummels Wharf.

Additionally, fundraising wristbands are being sold by the Selinsgrove Football Booster Club and over 1,300 people have signed onto the Praying for Seth and Alex page on Facebook.

Motorist hits utility pole after losing control of SUV

SELINSGROVE --  A Snyder County motorist sustained what were described as moderate injuries after a crash late Friday morning.  State troopers say 69-year-old Dorothy Nace of Selinsgrove lost control of her vehicle after driving onto the gravel shoulder of Old Colony Road in Penn Township.  the vehicle stuck a utility pole and debris from it damaged an oncoming vehicle.  Nace was taken to Evangelical Community Hospital, and will be cited for careless driving.  The driver of the oncoming vehicle was not injured in the crash near Route 204.  (Matt Farrand)

Susquehanna River Confluence Celebration combines lessons with fun

SUNBURY -- The two-day Susquehanna River Confluence Celebration started in the Sunbury area Saturday and continued yesterday. Calling attention to The Valley's river resource and celebrating the Inflation of the fabridam were the dual purposes of the celebration.

The goal was to call attention to, and educate the public about the dam which creates recreational Lake Augusta. There was also a food court and educational displays set up at the Shikellamy State Park Marina. Sam Nicola is the Northumberland County 4-H Coordinator and was among those with river related lessons for the youngsters.

He says the water cycle was demonstrated to kids by letting them take different colored beads and pretend to be water molecules. The region-wide celebration included a Saturday night concert by Nate & the Aces at Cameron Park in Sunbury. Activities continued Sunday with airplane rides, and a watercraft parade in the afternoon. (Matt Farrand)

Police officer assaulted, man charged in Watsontown

WATSONTOWN -- Watsontown Police are charging 46-year-old Kevin E. Houser of Watsontown with a series of offenses after he resisted arrest and had to be restrained using a Taser. Police were summoned to a call for a domestic argument, and say Houser became uncooperative while they were investigating. They also say he assaulted Milton Police Officer Eric Goodbrod, who was assisting.

Houser was restrained using an electronic device and is charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, and resisting arrest. Houser was arraigned before on-call District Judge John Gembic and committed to Northumberland County Prison in lieu of $15,000 cash bail. Milton Police assisted at the scene and during the video arraignment of Houser. (Matt Farrand)

Holiday weekend accidents keep crews busy

MILTON -- Milton, White Deer, and Turbotville area rescue crews were kept busy Saturday. Injuries were reported to at least two persons following a two vehicle crash in the afternoon on White Deer Pike, White Deer Township.

A motorcycle rider was airlifted from a crash scene on Red Hill Road, in Turbot Township. Milton and Turbot Township Fire personnel, Warrior Run Ambulance and state troopers were among those who responded to the 6:00 p.m. crash.

Union County Communications reports one injury in a 4:25 a.m. single vehicle crash Sunday morning along Hockley Hill Road in Lewis Township. Names have not yet been released, pending police investigations. (Matt Farrand)

Lewisburg honors girls track champs

LEWISBURG -- The Lewisburg high school girls two-mile relay team returned from the state championship meet with gold medals. The 4X800 meter relay team of Hannah Bowen, Julia Buffington, Shannon Wright and Kayln Fisher covered the distance in just a little over 9 minutes and 19 seconds.

Fisher also took the Class AA gold medal in the individual 800 meter run. The Lewisburg girls also earned the silver medal in the PIAA class AA team championship. West Catholic took the gold.

They were honored with a fire department escort down Market Street in Lewisburg on their return from Shippensburg University. (Matt Farrand)

Latest Pennsylvania news, lottery and entertainment

BUSHKILL, Pa. (AP) - An engaged eastern Pennsylvania couple were born on the same day in the same hospital - and their mothers even shared a room in the maternity ward.  Amy Singley and Steven Smith were born at St. Luke's Hospital in Fountain Hill on April 17, 1986. After the mothers were hospital roommates, the two families continued to interact through their church in Easton. Smith asked Singley on a date to the movies when they were sophomores in high school.  Singley says she knew Smith was the right guy for her after their second date. She says people are convinced the 23-year-olds were "destined to be together."  They are planning to get married June 12.

ALBION, Pa. (AP) - Residents of northwestern Pennsylvania are remembering a series of powerful tornadoes that cut through the region 25 years ago, killing dozens. The twisters that touched down May 31, 1985, also injured hundreds, destroyed buildings and scarred portions of eastern Ohio and the Erie region of Pennsylvania.  The scars are still visible in Albion, where a hill at the borough park was built from the ashes of leveled buildings and unclaimed belongings.  Bonda Dahlin is a retired educator who served as Albion's mayor in 1985. She says residents worked hard to rebuild the community and make it whole again.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Authorities in Philadelphia say dozens of prisoners who could be freed under electronic monitoring remain in jail because of a shortage of ankle bracelets. Court administrator David Lawrence says there are about 773 people on electronic monitoring and 73 on the waiting list.  Deputy Mayor Everett Gillison says the cash-strapped city hopes to buy 100 more bracelets by early this week. They cost about $1,300 each.  Electronic monitoring, also called house arrest, can be used as a way to keep track of defendants awaiting trial. It can also be ordered as a punishment for a variety of convictions.  Tom Innes, the director of prison services for the Defender Association of Philadelphia, says usually only 10 to 15 people are waiting for bracelets.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Gov. Ed Rendell is defending the White House's actions in enlisting former president Bill Clinton to try to ease U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak out of Pennsylvania's Senate primary with a job offer. It was intended to clear a path for Sen. Arlen Specter to the Democratic nomination, which Sestak eventually won. On "Fox News Sunday," Rendell called it "hard-knuckle politics." He said he did the same thing in 2006 in asking former congressman Joseph Hoeffel to drop out of a race and later named him a deputy secretary of commerce. But Rendell said for the administration to dodge questions about the issue for months was "not smart." Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the House oversight committee, again called for an investigation and said the episode showed that Obama had become a part of the Washington culture he decried as a candidate.

BEAVER, Pa. (AP) - Five pilots from western Pennsylvania and Ohio will fly historic biplanes into Washington later this week for the premiere of a 3D IMAX film about the history of aviation. The planes are Stearman biplanes. US Airways pilot Jack Roethlisberger of Beaver says if you could learn to fly one of them, you could fly just about any World War II aircraft. He and the others are flying restored biplanes in for the Washington premiere of "Legends of Flight," a 3-D IMAX film about aviation history, on Saturday at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. They will fly to Virginia the day before to meet up with four Virginia-based pilots of the plane before heading for the nation's capital. Ken Miles, director of operations for the nonprofit Stow, Mass.-based Collings Foundation, which preserves and flies vintage planes, calls the Stearman "iconic." After the war, many were auctioned off and used as crop-dusters, sport planes and on barnstorming tours. Miles says of the 10,000 planes built in the late 1930s and early '40s, more than 1,000 remain in use today.

WASHINGTON (AP) - People say they don't like partisan gridlock in Washington. But they're voting in ways almost certain to increase it. In recent elections, Democratic voters ousted one of Congress' best-known centrists, Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, and forced another, Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, into a difficult primary runoff. Republican activists ended the career of conservative Sen. Bob Bennett of Utah in part because he had worked with a Democrat on a health care bill. In Arizona, they have sent a once-famous maverick, Sen. John McCain, scurrying to the right to save his political skin. Efforts to develop new energy, immigration and other policies have stalled largely because of partisan divisions, especially in the Senate.

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

Update on the latest in business:

US markets closed for Memorial Day holiday.  Closing quotes, Friday, May 28th:

Dow: 10,136.63

S&P 500: 1,089.41

NASDAQ: 2,257.04

Tourists head to beaches despite Gulf oil spill

BILOXI, Miss. (AP) - Tourists along the Gulf coast are enjoying the beaches despite the nation's worst oil spill.  Tourism officials from Mississippi to Florida have fought the perception that oil has come ashore, and hotels have offered lower rates and other incentives to vacationers. Though some tar balls have been found on Mississippi and Alabama barrier islands, oil from the spill has not significantly fouled the shores. On Biloxi beach, Paul Dawa and a friend drove from Tennessee to see for themselves whether the oil had hit the white sands.  The men were chased off the beach by a summer storm, not oil.  Linda Hornsby of the Mississippi Hotel and Lodging Association, says the perception threatens to cripple the tourist economy.

Apple: iPad sales top 2 million since launch

CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) - Apple Inc. says that iPad sales have topped 2 million since its launch nearly two months ago.  The Cupertino, Calif., company began selling the iPad in Asia and Europe on Friday. The iPad launched in the United States April 3.  A company representative was not immediately available Monday to say what portion of the sales were abroad. The company had previously said it sold 1 million iPads in the United States just 28 days after its launch. As a result of the strong demand at home, Apple had pushed back the start date of its international sales.     The iPad can be used to send e-mails, draw pictures and play games. It can also be used as an electronic reader. The basic model costs $499 in the United States, not including extras.

Pennsylvania Lottery Numbers:

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

 Midday Big 4

     6-2-1-6

 Midday Number

     1-0-4

 Midday Quinto

     8-2-6-1-0

 Treasure Hunt

     07-12-14-20-29

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

Temptations singer Ali-Ollie Woodson dies at 58

DETROIT (AP) - Ali-Ollie Woodson, who led the legendary Motown quintet The Temptations in the 1980s and '90s and restored them to their hit-making glory with songs like "Treat Her Like A Lady," has died. He was 58. Motown Alumni Association President Billy Wilson says Woodson died Sunday in southern California after battling cancer. He says Woodson's wife, Juanita, told him about the death.  Woodson wasn't an original member of The Temptations but helped keep them from becoming a nostalgia act.  Woodson joined the group after it produced classic hits in the 1960s and '70s that included "Papa Was a Rolling Stone," "My Girl" and "I Wish It Would Rain."  But his fiery voice helped the group notch "Treat Her Like a Lady" and other R&B hits from 1984 to 1986.

Charles Taylor lawyers oppose Campbell testimony

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - Defense lawyers for former Liberian President Charles Taylor are opposing a request by prosecutors at his war crimes trial to call supermodel Naomi Campbell as a witness, branding the move "a publicity stunt."  Prosecutors earlier this month filed a motion seeking to have Campbell subpoenaed to testify about claims Taylor gave her so-called blood diamonds in South Africa in 1997.  Lawyers defending Taylor against charges of arming and supporting murderous rebels during Sierra Leone's civil war filed a response to the motion Monday saying prosecutors should not be allowed to reopen their case to call Campbell and two other witnesses, including actress Mia Farrow, to testify.