Monday, June 14, 2010
Milton man killed in Williamsport shooting
MILTON- A Milton area man was killed in a Williamsport shooting early Monday. Police say 33-year-old Abdul Miller was found suffering from a gunshot wound after a burglary was reported at 1510 Scott St. in Williamsport. Police received a call from the house around 2a.m. Before police arrived gunshots were fired. Miller was found and taken to Williamsport Hospital where he succumbed to injuries. No arrests have been made but police continue the investigation. (Stephanie Klock)
Dozens of car emblems stolen in Sunbury
SUNBURY -- Sunbury Police are investigating nearly a dozen cases of theft in the eastern 'Hill' section of the city. The thefts involved emblems from cars and happened in the early morning hours Monday. Police say the front and rear car emblems from multiple types of vehicles were taken. Total damage of the thefts and vehicle damage is in the hundreds of dollars. Anyone with information is asked to call Sunbury Police at 286-4584. (Sara Bartlett)
Shamokin woman in fair condition after crash
SHAMOKIN – A Shamokin woman remains in fair condition at Geisinger Medical Center following a crash Saturday night in Shamokin at around 10:30 p.m. 62-year-old Dawn Clark was driving a vehicle struck by 62-year-old Geraldine Noll of Shamokin. Noll, whose condition is still unknown, was attempting to turn left from Route 61 onto Reading Turnpike when she came into the path of Clark. Noll was cited for making the left turn and Clark was cited for driving without a license. (Sara Bartlett)
Tip leads to drug charges in Northumberland
NORTHUMBERLAND -- A Watsontown teen is facing drug charges. Northumberland Police say they got a complaint in April that on numerous occasions, a vehicle would park along Front and King Streets and two occupants in the vehicle would smoke out of a pipe. Police say following the complaint, an undercover officer took post in the area of Front and King Streets and noticed the behavior of the two occupants. Both 19-year-old Christopher Dwulet and a 17-year-old female from Northumberland were found to be smoking marijuana. Dwulet is facing charges of drug possession and corruption of minors. The 17-year-old will appear at Northumberland County Juvenile Court. (Sara Bartlett)
Major remodeling project at Aubrey Alexander Toyota in Hummels Wharf
HUMMELS WHARF -- If you drive down Routes 11 and 15 this week in Hummels Wharf, you may see construction crews demolishing the showroom at Aubrey Alexander Toyota. It's part of a major remodeling project that will take about a year to complete. Blaise Alexander tells us the current showroom building will be torn down and a new building will be added onto the former gas station building on the corner of their lot. Alexander says the time is right for a new facility because they have outgrown the other building and can only fit one car into the showroom.
He says construction gets underway this week and it will take about a year to finish the project, so customers will experience some inconvenience. Alexander says he hopes folks will be patient with them until the new facility is built. Aubrey Alexander Toyota is just one of nine dealerships that are part of the Blaise Alexander Family Dealerships company. (Ali Stevens)
Suspicious fire reported Sunday near Trevorton
TREVORTON – A state police fire marshal will investigate a fire that destroyed a cabin in the Trevorton area Sunday night. Fire officials tell us the fire was at a large cabin in a remote area between Trevorton and Coal Township. The cabin, whose owner has not yet been identified, was reported to be fully involved in flames when firefighters from Trevorton, East Cameron Township and Coal Township arrived on scene. The fire is suspicious and a state police fire marshal is on the scene Monday to determine if the fire was arson. (Ali Stevens)
Several elected officials asking for a delay in the Milton School Board budget vote
MILTON – The White Deer Township Supervisors, State Representative Russ Fairchild and State Senator Gene Yaw have all asked the Milton School Board to not vote on the 2010-2011 budget on Tuesday night. The Daily Item reports a letter was sent to district Superintendent Cathy Groller by the township supervisors requesting a delay in the vote.
The delay is requested because the State Tax Equalization Board determined that property values in the White Deer Township, Union County portion of the district increased by $53-million between 2007 and 2008. That leads to a proposed increase in property taxes of 14 percent. The school board meeting is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday at Milton Area High School and some of the board has indicated that a vote will still take place, despite the requests for a delay. (Ali Stevens)
Break-in at a skating rink in Snyder County
MIDDLEBURG -- Someone broke into a skating rink in Middleburg over the weekend. Police say sometime late Friday night or Saturday morning, someone entered the Criss Cross Skating Rink in Middleburg, off of Route 522. Police say the suspect broke into the rink through a storage room door and removed cash from two cash boxes inside the building. The total amount of money stolen was approximately $500. State police continue to investigate. (Ali Stevens)
Rape arrest in Northumberland County
STONINGTON -- State police say they have arrested a Northumberland County man charged with rape. 22-year-old Nathan Weaver, whose address is not disclosed, is charged with the sexual assault a woman May 30th. Troopers at Stonington say the incident happened in the early morning hours at a location in Rockefeller Township.
Arrest papers say the victim has identified Weaver as her attacker. Weaver was arraigned this past weekend and is in jail on $100,000 bail. Nathan Weaver will face a hearing in the next week on the rape charge in Northumberland County.
Illegal alien taken into custody in Selinsgrove
SELINSGROVE – State police have taken an illegal alien into custody at their barracks in Selinsgrove. Troopers tell us 43-year-old David Silva Martinez of Mexico came to the barracks to be fingerprinted and it was discovered that he is an illegal alien. Martinez is locked up in the Snyder County Prison temporarily and will then be turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials for deportation. (Ali Stevens)
Beavertown crash injuries one
BEAVERTOWN -- A McClure man is still in fair condition following a crash on Route 522 Friday morning. 40-year-old Kevin Weader was driving near Beavertown around 6:15a.m. when he ran into the back of a pickup truck.
Weader then struck a modular home being pulled by a tractor-trailer. He had to be pulled from his vehicle and taken by Life Flight to Geisinger Medical Center. The crash shut down Route 522 for 90 minutes Friday morning. There were no other injuries reported. (Ali Stevens)
Residents, pets escape household fire without injury
ZERBE TOWNSHIP -- A Zerbe Township man and six pets escaped injury after a fire broke out at his two-story home on Trevorton Road. The News Item says the fire at the home of 58-year-old Robert Mayton was quickly contained, and was likely electrical in nature. He lived there with a 17-year old daughter, who was not at home at the time of the 8:00 p.m. fire Saturday night. (matt Farrand)
Injuries after DUI crash in Columbia County
BENTON -- A Freeland man is suspected to DUI after crashing into two parked cars in Columbia County's Benton Borough. State troopers say 26-year-old Sean McCoy was driving on Route 487 in Benton around 10:30p.m. Friday when he struck a parked vehicle on Main Street.
He is suspected of also crashing into a second vehicle on Third Street a few minutes later. McCoy's vehicle sustained severe damage and he was taken to Bloomsburg Hospital for treatment of unknown injuries. Police say he was arrested for DUI, and will be formally charged following results of a blood test.
Trooper honored for response after accident
HARRISBURG -- A state trooper based in Montoursville is being honored for his actions in the aftermath of an accident that killed one Lycoming County teen, and injured another. 36-year-old Justin Bieber of Troop F came to the aid of a young driver and his passenger after their SUV crashed into his patrol car in Loyalsock Township.
State Police Commissioner Frank Pawlowski says Bieber crawled out of the driver side window of his car, summoned help with a cell phone and tried to free 15-year-old Cordell Page from the SUV. Cordell Page was a passenger in the SUV and died several days later at Geisinger Medical Center.
16-year-old William Page was driving the vehicle when it collided head-on with the patrol car on the night of January 25th. For his action in spite of being injured, Bieber received a State Police Commendation Medal for heroism. (Matt Farrand)
Love-n-Care Street Fair draws crowd to Cameron Park
SUNBURY -- The annual festival that supports the Sunbury Health Foundation drew a robust midday crowd to Cameron Park Saturday. Among the attractions, a cash drawing. Winners included, $1,000 for Amy Price of Northumberland, a 37" flat screen TV for Steve Fisher of Sunbury, and Bob Barnesconi won a wristwatch from John Dagle Jewelers.
Don Steese continues to serve as announcer for the fair and says the mission of the fundraiser has changed through the years. It once offered direct support for Sunbury Community Hospital, and now supports a foundation.
The foundation offers help with health care for the uninsured or underinsured, and aid for persons working toward medical careers. Love-n-Care Street Fair officials say they'll release the total amount of money raised on Monday. (Matt Farrand)
Milton swimming pool open after delay
MILTON -- Local community pools have struggled to stay afloat in the last few years, but their value becomes apparent during days of high heat and humidity. The Milton Community Pool opened Saturday, following a delay caused by a broken filter.
The Milton Community Pool Association reports that staff members worked all week to refill the pool, check the chemicals and replace the filter. (Matt Farrand)
Latest Pennsylvania news, sports, business and entertainment
WEST TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - The anticipated Marcellus shale drilling boom has been put on hold in the Delaware River basin, at least for now. The Delaware River Basin Commission announced Monday that it has placed exploratory drilling under its jurisdiction, meaning that energy companies must obtain regulatory approval before sinking any new exploratory wells. Commission Executive Director Carol Collier says Monday's decision will help project ground and surface water. She says it will also remove any incentive for gas companies to classify their wells as exploratory and sink them without DRBC review. The move temporarily halts all Marcellus drilling in the Delaware basin. The commission last month declared a moratorium on new shale drilling projects until regulations are drafted, but exploratory wells had been exempt.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - A Penn State study which paints a rosy forecast on the economic potential of natural gas drilling has been greeted with skepticism from a citizens group and a think tank which favors a severance tax because the research was funded by an industry group. The university says the Marcellus Shale Coalition will pay more than $50,000 for the study released last month co-authored in part by researchers at Penn State's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. The industry group in a release on its website boasts that among the key findings are the potential to create more than 200,000 jobs over the next decade. Critics say the findings are overblown, but a study author and the coalition say the methods used to arrive at the findings are fairly common.
BALTIMORE (AP) - Chesapeake Bay Foundation president Will Baker says President Obama should use the gulf oil spill as an opportunity to call for conservation. Baker says conservation provides the one strategy for immediately reducing oil consumption and cutting pollution that washes into the bay and other waterways nationwide. Baker was on hand Monday at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, where Rep. Elijah E. Cummings and Sens. Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski discussed their recent visits to the Gulf Coast. The foundation president also called on Obama to permanently ban drilling off the Mid-Atlantic coast.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A Pennsylvania National Guard official says two members from western Pennsylvania have been killed in a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan. Guard spokesman Cory Angell says the guardsmen were Sgt. First Class Robert Fike of Conneautville in Crawford County and Staff Sgt. Bryan Hoover of West Elizabeth in Allegheny County. He says the attack happened Friday in Zabul Province in southeastern Afghanistan. Fike, a corrections officer at SCI Albion, had been deployed to Saudi Arabia in 2002 and to Iraq in 2007. His father, James Fike of Stafford, says he loved the military and also loved hunting and fishing as well as being with his daughter. Hoover was a track coach with the Elizabeth-Forward school district. Students gathered at the high school on Saturday to place a memorial there and to remember the man one student called a "nice, inspirational coach."
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Leaders of Pennsylvania's state-owned universities are proposing that students be able to enroll in collaborative degree programs that would combine courses and instructors from more than one of the system's 14 universities. Officials say a report to be presented to the faculty union Monday in Harrisburg is expected to include recommendations for "shared programs" in foreign languages and in physics. The pilot
programs could use software that enables distance learning. The proposal stems from a review of undergraduate and graduate programs that have low enrollments on individual campuses of the State System of Higher Education. Karen Ball, vice chancellor for external relations, says the idea is not to have the student be "campus-bound." Administrators are expected to outline Monday which programs they plan to discontinue or impose an enrollment moratorium on, and which will continue unchanged or with modifications.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Update on the latest in business
Dow: 10,190.89, down -20.18
S&P 500: 1,089.63, down -1.97
NASDAQ: 2,243.98, up.36
NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks have extended their climb to a third day following signs that Europe's economy might not be badly hurt by its debt crisis. With two hours left in today's trading session, the Dow was up 30 points, the Nasdaq was up 13 and the S&P was up 3.
LONDON (AP) - Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Greece's government bond ratings into "junk" territory, citing the risks in the rescue package for the debt-ridden country from the Eurozone and International Monetary Fund. Moody's cut the rating by four notches, to "Ba1" from "A3."
LONDON (AP) - Shares in BP plunged again today as the company's board discussed U.S. demands that it suspend dividend payments until it pays for the cleanup of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. BP shares closed 9 percent lower at $5.25 on the London Stock Exchange.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - A federal judge has given preliminary approval to a settlement under which The Hartford Financial Services Group will pay $72.5 million to more than 21,000 people nationwide. The deal will settle a class action lawsuit involving allegations the insurer engaged in fraud in settling injury claims.
CHICAGO (AP) - Starbucks will begin offering unlimited free Wi-Fi at all of its company-operated U.S. locations next month as part of an ongoing effort to bring more customers in the door. The free wireless Internet will be available July 1 at about 6,700 locations.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Pennsylvania Lottery Numbers
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - These Pennsylvania lotteries were drawn Monday:
Mega Millions
Estimated jackpot: $12 million
Midday Big 4
9-0-8-6
Midday Number
8-6-0
Midday Quinto
1-3-1-9-4
Powerball
Estimated jackpot: $60 million
Treasure Hunt
04-16-21-22-26
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - These Pennsylvania lotteries were drawn Sunday:
Big 4
9-8-1-5
Cash 5
09-11-14-15-30
Daily Number
3-0-2
Evening Quinto
8-0-0-9-7
Midday Big 4
3-7-6-9
Midday Number
7-7-8
Midday Quinto
0-2-3-1-9
Treasure Hunt
11-13-16-26-29
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Doc charged in Jackson death to keep Calif license
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A judge has refused to suspend the California medical license of the doctor charged in Michael Jackson's death. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor made his ruling Monday, declining a request by California authorities to suspend the ability of Dr. Conrad Murray to practice medicine in the state. Murray's attorneys fought the restriction, arguing that it would prompt authorities in Texas and Nevada to take similar action. Murray operates clinics in both states, which have ordered him not to use anesthetics on his patients. California authorities sought the suspension after Murray was charged with involuntary manslaughter in February. Murray is accused of giving the pop star a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol last June. He has pleaded not guilty.
Teen sailor reality show
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Abby Sunderland's failed attempt to sail around the world alone wasn't just for the adventure. It's also part of a reality show. "Adventures in Sunderland" will show how Abby's parents have encouraged a sense of adventure in her and her six brothers and sisters. The New York Post says filming began four months ago.
Microsoft makes big push for new game audience
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Microsoft wants to invade your living room. The software company is betting that its new video game controller, now called Kinect but previously known as Project Natal, will appeal to families ready to graduate from the Wii. Kinect recognizers users' gestures and voice. This means they can say "pause" or "play" instead of reaching for the remote when watching a movie. And they can play video games without a controller. If it takes off, Kinect could add tens of millions of customers to Microsoft's entertainment and devices business. The segment hasn't been a big moneymaker for Microsoft. In 2009 it amounted to less than 1 percent of the company's overall operating income.
Jim Joyce, who blew perfect game call, voted best umpire in ESPN poll
Jim Joyce has been voted the best umpire in Major League Baseball in a poll of 100 players conducted by ESPN the Magazine. Joyce made national headlines when he missed a call at first base that cost Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game on June 2. After seeing a replay, the 22-year veteran acknowledged he blew the call and apologized to Galarraga. ESPN says Sunday that 50 active players from each league were asked confidentially within the past week to select the three best umpires in baseball. Joyce was named on 53 percent of the surveys, topping Tim McClelland (34 percent). CB Bucknor was voted the game's worst ump.
Metropolis unveils statue of Lois Lane
METROPOLIS, Ill. (AP) - The southern Illinois city that calls itself the "official home of Superman" has unveiled a statue of the superhero's lady love, Lois Lane. Metropolis leaders unveiled the statue on Friday. The city already has a 15-foot bronze statue of Superman in Superman Square. The Lois Lane statue is modeled on actress Noel Neill, who played playing the female reporter with a crush on Superman in movies and on television in the 1940s and 1950s. Artist Gary Ernest Smith created the statue and says making the piece was a dream come true because he grew up watching Superman. Neill says she was honored to memorialized with the statue. Metropolis Mayor Billy McDaniel says the statue will be a source of pride for the city for years to come.
Woman barred from entering jail with or without bra
MIAMI (AP) - A Florida lawyer says her bra kept her from visiting a jailed client. The attorney says her underwire bra set off a metal detector at the Miami Federal Detention Center. Guards wouldn't let her inside. The Miami Herald reports the attorney removed the bra in a bathroom and again tried to enter the detention center. This time, she says guards wouldn't let her in because she was bra-less. The woman later e-mailed other attorneys about the bra flap. Officials at the federal detention center aren't commenting.
Kids use Nintendo to read classic books
REDMOND, Washington (AP) - If you see a child's nose buried in their hand-held game system this summer and tell them to go read a book and they reply: "But I AM reading" - they may not be a smarty pants - just smart. Nintendo is out with a title that it's billing as a portable bookshelf. "100 Classic Books" is a title for the Nintendo DS system that is more than one title. It features a hundred classics, including adventure books, romance and suspense. Among the complete books on the disc are "Alice In Wonderland," "Call of the Wild," "The Time Machine," "A Tale of Two Cities" and "Frankenstein." And if the idea of reading books on a hand-held device doesn't thrill you as a parent - consider that it takes up a lot less space in the minivan than lugging all the paper and ink version of the classics on vacation. And you won't have to worry about replacing lost books or paying overdue library fees.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)