Monday, February 22, 2010

Wolfgang’s attorney: He’s not competent

SUNBURY – A competency hearing is underway in Northumberland County Court for a Mount Carmel man accused of killing his wife.  Two psychiatrists who evaluated 49-year-old Steven Wolfgang in December 2009 say he is not competent to stand trial because he is psychotic and delusional.  Dr. Elaine Martin, testifying through videoconference from the University of Pennsylvania, said during the evaluation Wolfgang showed signs of depression and paranoia. 

She said he believed he heard voices and that there was also a microchip implanted in his head so that police and doctors could monitor him.  Martin said Wolfgang also expressed distrust of his public defender Paige Rosini.  From these findings, the doctor determined Wolfgang could not stand trial or cooperate with his attorney.

Northumberland County District Attorney Tony Rosini refuted the physiatrist’s statements, saying in an evaluation of Wolfgang done last summer he was found competent.  In addition, corrections officers and a nurse testified that Wolfgang did not seem incompetent in prison; he interacted with others and was seen on occasion reading in the law library about mental health and competency used as a defense in trial.

Wolfgang, who was present in court, remains in Northumberland County Prison after being accused of killing his wife Sherry in 2007, then putting her body in a box and throwing it in a creek.  If he is found competent by President Judge Robert Sacavage, he will face a trial next month, where DA Tony Rosini plans to seek the death penalty. 

Congressional hopeful doubts Carney’s promises

SUNBURY – Congressman Chris Carney (D-10^th, Dimock) stated on WKOK’s On The Mark program that he will get the Susquehanna Valley Transportation Project completed by securing the needed funding to move the project ahead.  However, a challenger for the 10^th District, Snyder County Commissioner Malcolm Derk, doesn’t think Carney can get it done and stated that during his own interview on WKOK’s On The Mark.  He says there is Democratic control of all branches of government and if Carney can’t get the throughway done with massive amounts of economic stimulus dollars available, Derk doesn’t think Carney will get it done. 

Derk believes public-private partnerships may be the way to get the bypass done. Derk believes talk about the thruway needs to be a constant, ongoing discussion and pledges to keep the project in the forefront.  He says the local chambers have given this project first priority, so their congressman needs to do that as well. 

You can listen to Malcolm Derk talk about a number of other topics from Thursday’s On The Mark program online at www.wkok.com.  (Ali Stevens)

Road deaths down

HARRISBURG – The number of traffic fatalities in Pennsylvania continues to decline, according to new statistics released by PennDOT.  Preliminary numbers show that 1,258 people were killed in traffic crashes in the state in 2009.  That’s significantly less than in 2008, when 1,468 people were killed.  The number of fatalities has dropped over the last several years, which is encouraging news for PennDOT.  Officials say in 2009, significant decreases were recorded across the state in unrestrained, alcohol-related and aggressive driving fatalities. 

Orangeville man had road rage

ORANGEVILLE – An Orangeville man is awaiting sentencing for a road rage incident in New York that left a man seriously injured.  52-year-old Walter “Butch” Snyder was convicted of felony assault in January in Yates County, New York, for the incident that took place in November of 2008.  Police say Snyder assaulted the man on the side of the road after a road rage incident, breaking his teeth and nose. 

The Press-Enterprise reports that just a few weeks before the road-rage fight, Snyder was wrapping up renovations on a pizza shop in Orangeville.  However, the shop was set on fire by serial arsonist Colton Barrett, who was recently sentenced for a number of arsons in the Orangeville area.  Snyder is now behind bars in New York and will be sentenced March 30^th.  (Ali Stevens)

Man killed near the Lycoming-Columbia County line

UNITYVILLE – One man was killed in a crash near the Lycoming-Columbia County line.  Police say 47-year-old Jeffrey Feister of Unityville was killed in the crash along Route 42 early Sunday morning.  Feister was killed after loosing control of his car, which plunged down a wooded embankment and struck several trees.  The wreckage was not discovered until the next morning around 7 a.m., by some fishermen who called police.  Feister’s body was found inside the vehicle and a coroner says he died of multiple blunt force trauma injuries sometime between 2 and 3 a.m. (Ali Stevens)

Mifflinburg man caught biggest fish
 

Crash near Aristes claims two lives

ARISTES – A man from Ringtown and a woman from Hegins were killed in an early (Sunday) morning crash north of the Columbia County village of Aristes. Troopers say 43-year-old Brian Foley of Ringtown crossed into the opposite lane of Route 42 and collided head on with another car.

58-year-old Gertrude Troup of Hegins drove the other vehicle. Both were pronounced dead at the scene by a Columbia County deputy coroner. Neither driver in the crash reported at 1:13 a.m. Sunday was wearing a seat belt. (Matt Farrand)

Driver says steering problem contributed to Friday crash

TURBOTVILLE – A motorist who claimed her car had a steering problem was injured in a Friday crash near Turbotville. State troopers say the vehicle of 35-year-old Misty Gray of Turbotville spun, hit an embankment and ended up on its roof along Route 44.

Gray said the steering problem contributed to her losing control of the car. Gray was taken to Geisinger Medical Center for treatment of what were described as moderate injuries. Warrior Run fire and ambulance personnel responded to the crash shortly before noon Friday. (Matt Farrand)

Fire call attracts local firefighters

SUNBURY – Sunbury firefighters were among several companies called to an automatic fire alarm Sunday afternoon at Scott Towers. Northumberland County Communications says burnt food may have triggered it. No word on injuries, though firefighters stayed on scene through the noon hour. (Matt Farrand)

Carney questions Rendell’s I-80 toll decision

LEWISBURG – An official decision awaits on whether I-80 will be tolled. Congressman Chris Carney (D-10th, Dimock) says he has been fighting very hard to make sure that does not happen, but says he is confused by a recent budget decision made by Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. Rendell included revenues from I-80 tolls in the 2010-2011 budget. Carney says it’s premature to expect money from something that doesn’t exist yet.

Carney says we are at a point in our region where we’re poised to take off economically, and if I-80 is tolled, it would be a job killer. He says one more ‘no’ to the proposal would put the issue to rest, because the state has already denied it twice.

Carney says news will come fairly soon, likely in the next month, on the decision to toll I-80. This was one of Carney’s topics as he spoke at meeting in Lewisburg, sponsored by the Central Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce. (Sara Bartlett)

Susquehanna Greenway Symposium previewed on Roundtable

SUNBURY – The ‘sense of place’ that a community exhibits might not be a phrase that lots of folks think about every day, but it is critical to tourism and other forms of economic development. Dan Shilling, the Project Director at the Arizona State University tells us, the ‘sense of place’ is the intelligence that residents learn about their own community, and their knowledge that they are the key to its bright future.

Shilling said the tourism agencies and others were already been urging tourism for years, but it wasn’t until entire communities bought into the idea—that their home was a destination, and that their home towns were ‘sacred ground’ that they bought into the destination idea and began bring in friends and visitors.

On our Roundtable program over the weekend, we talk to Shilling, along with two others involved in the upcoming Susquehanna Greenway Symposium. The symposium is set for March 18th at Bucknell’s Langone Center. More information at www.susquehannagreenway.org. You can hear at www.wkok.com

Road Progress II: More stimulus funded project coming to The Valley

HARRISBURG – About half the statewide highway projects funded by the $787 billion dollar American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 are now complete. However, the stimulus bill signed into law a little more than one year ago will fund some of the work you’ll likely see this summer. More than eight miles of Sunbury Street and Snydertown Road from Snydertown to Paxinos will be resurfaced.

PennDOT says the $2.6 million dollar project should start in the spring and continue through late August. $3.1 million dollars worth of rehab is also planned for bridges on I-180 near McEwensville. Those bridges cross Route 44; the work is scheduled to start in April and will likely continue into November.

In Union County, expect to see work on a Route 15 bridge over Cross Road Drive in West Milton. The 1.3 million dollar project is planned for April to September. Elsewhere, Snyder County’s Paxton Street Bridge over Middle Creek near Paxtonville is still slated for replacement. The $1.8 million dollar project is planned for June to November. Likewise, three other bridge rehab projects in the area could extend through November.

They include a structure on Route 35 over a tributary to Middle Creek near Kantz, and two in Locust Township, Columbia County. A Route 42 bridge over Roaring Creek and a Mill Road crossing of a tributary to Roaring Creek. PennDOT notes they’d awarded bids on all but one of the 326 stimulus bill projects by the end of January, two months before the federal deadline to have funds reserved for all projects. (Matt Farrand)

Latest Pennsylvania news, lottery, business and entertainment

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Senate candidates Joe Sestak and Pat Toomey plan to debate each other again without their opponents in the May 18 primary.  Sestak, a congressman opposing Arlen Specter for the Democratic nomination, and former congressman Toomey, who is opposed for the Republican nomination by Johnstown activist Peg Luksik, staged a similar event last fall. Toomey accepted Sestak's latest challenge Monday, but no date has been set.  Both men accuse the fifth-term Specter of trying to hide from his record as a longtime Republican.  Specter's campaign manager said he and Sestak squared off at a Democratic Party gathering earlier this month and their planned May 1 debate will be televised statewide.  Luksik campaign spokesman Steve Clark said Toomey needs to remember he is running against Luksik - not Specter or Sestak.

EBENSBURG, Pa. (AP) - Cambria County Controller Ed Cernic Jr. says he'll run for the 12^th District Congressional seat vacated by the death of John Murtha.  Cernic, a Democrat, says his experience in politics and business have prepared him for the job.  The special election to fill the rest of Murtha's term will be held on Pennsylvania's May 18 primary. Also decided that day will be the Democrat and Republican nominees for November's general election to decide who will serve a full two-year term in the seat.  Former Pennsylvania treasurer Barbara Hafer and former lieutenant governor Mark Singel, both Democrats, are also running.  Prospective Republican candidates include William Russell, who unsuccessfully challenged Murtha in 2008, and Eighty Four businessman Tim Burns.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - State Sen. Anthony Williams says he is running for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination and that he has nearly $2 million in cash and financial commitments. Williams spoke Monday at a Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon, less than three months before the May 18 primary.  Williams says some of his fundraising is coming from nontraditional Democratic sources, including school choice proponents and union opponents.  He says he is concerned with ensuring that public schools do a better job of preparing graduates to get jobs and rerouting job training money directly to small employers.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Three young Pittsburgh-area residents are dead after the car they were in went off I-376, plunged down an embankment and crashed into some trees. The victims of the accident early Sunday were identified as Derek Phillips and David Rizzo - both 20 - and 18-year-old Tara Schulz. The 18-year-old driver and another passenger survived.

WASHINGTON (AP) - A governor who once led national Democrats say President Barack Obama's White House needs to change its political strategy. Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania calls Obama "the best communicator in the history of political campaigning." But Rendell says it turned out that Obama didn't communicate very well in his first year in office - and that Republicans were able to "take the spin" right from the start. For example, Rendell says Democrats didn't do a good job explaining the stimulus package and thus lost the PR war to the GOP. Rendell, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, doesn't see a need for a White House shake-up. But he says White House officials "need to take a deep breath, look at what happened and revamp their strategy" - and rely on Obama's skills from there. Rendell spoke on ABC's "This Week."

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Lots of Penn State students probably have pretty sore feet. More than 700 students danced the night away and then some. They raised a record $7.8 million at this year's Dance Marathon. The 46-hour event wrapped up Sunday afternoon. They stayed on their feet to raise money for The Four Diamonds Fund, which benefits pediatric cancer research and care. Organizers say the Dance Marathon is the largest student-run charity in the world.

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

Update on the latest in business

Dow: 10,383.38, down –18.97

S&P 500: 1,108.01, down –1.16

NASDAQ: 2,242.03, down –1.84

NEW YORK (AP) - A market analyst says "corporate America is being cautious with their earnings predictions." Roy Williams says that wariness comes because a consumer recovery hasn't happened as fast as executives have hoped. Stocks have been mixed today after big consumer companies gave a cautious outlooks for economic growth.

WASHINGTON (AP) - A Federal Reserve official says record-low interest rates are still needed to help the economic recovery and to relieve high unemployment. Janet Yellen is the latest Fed official in recent days to stress that the central bank isn't in any rush to boost rates for millions of Americans. The remarks come after the Fed took a surprise step Thursday and bumped up the rate banks pay for emergency loans.

CHICAGO (AP) - A new survey shows economists expect the recovery to remain "firmly on track" over the next two years. But they don't expect unemployment to drop below 9 percent for another year. Economists predict consumer spending will be relatively sluggish and inflation is expected to remain subdued. Home prices should rise at a rate slightly above inflation in this year and next.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House is demanding an up-or-down vote in Congress on the revised health care plan, or something close to it. President Barack Obama unveiled an almost $1 trillion, 10-year health care compromise today. Republicans are virtually unanimous in opposing it, and some Democrats are having second thoughts in an election year. It would provide coverage to more than 31 million uninsured Americans without adding to the federal deficit.

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

Pennsylvania Lottery Numbers

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

 Midday Big 4

     1-7-2-3

 Midday Number

     3-9-5

 Midday Quinto

     0-8-4-5-0

 Treasure Hunt

     15-16-18-22-30

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

Big 4 0-1-5-1

Cash 5 07-11-23-29-39

Daily Number 8-4-9

Evening Quinto 8-3-5-7-1

Midday Big 4 7-9-0-1

Midday Number 6-9-3

Midday Quinto 9-8-1-0-9

Treasure Hunt 04-05-19-20-27

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

JoePa's glasses net $9,000 at charity auction

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Two Penn State graduates are paying $9,000 for a chance to see through Joe Paterno's glasses.  The bid from Michelle and Kevin Coppola won an auction for the pair of smoky, thick-rimmed spectacles donated by the Nittany Lions' football coach. The auction which benefited Penn State Public Broadcasting started online and wrapped up at a dinner Saturday.  Famous for wearing his glasses on the sideline, the farsighted Paterno had eye surgery last month to improve his vision. The 83- year-old Hall of Famer still needs glasses to read, though he appears to be done wearing the Coke bottle-thick glasses.  A spokesman for JoePa says the timing of the surgery and auction was a coincidence.  Paterno leads major college football coach with 394 career victories.            

First Superman issue = $1 million

NEW YORK (AP) – The first comic book featuring Superman has sold for a record $1  million. Action Comics Number One from 1938 originally sold for 10 cents. It was sold by a private seller to a private buyer. The million-dollar sales price breaks the record set just last year when someone paid $317,000 for the same issue. The comic that just sold was in better condition.

Obama, Shakira meet at White House
 

Mennonite college lifts 116-year ban on national anthem

GOSHEN, Indiana (AP) - For more than a century, there's been no playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Goshen College – a small Christian college with ties to the Mennonite Church. That's about to change. For the first time in the school's history, Goshen College will play an instrumental version of the U.S. national anthem before many campus sporting events. The decision to reverse the ban on the anthem is aimed at making students and visitors outside the faith feel more welcome, but it has angered some at the Indiana college who feel the song undermines the Mennonite Church's pacifist message and puts love for country above love for God. Since the decision was announced last month, about 900 people have joined the Facebook group "Against Goshen College Playing National Anthem" and hundreds have signed an online petition protesting the move.

Dalai Lama comments on Tiger Woods, Buddhism and adultery

BEVERLY HILLS, California (AP) - The Dalai Lama has commented on Tiger Woods' marital infidelity, saying self-discipline is among Buddhism's highest values. During a weekend visit to California, the Tibetan Buddhist leader initially said he had not heard of Woods, who confessed Friday that he had strayed from his Buddhist faith. But when the circumstances were explained to him, the Dalai Lama said "all religions have the same idea" when it comes to adultery. He said Buddhism, like other faiths, demands "self-discipline with awareness of consequences." Woods said Friday that he was raised Buddhist and needs to focus anew on finding balance between his religion and professional life.

School spying laptop case goes to FBI

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - That matter of a Pennsylvania school district accused of secretly switching on laptop computer webcams inside students' homes is now a federal case. A law enforcement official with knowledge of the case tells The Associated Press that the issue is now under investigation by federal authorities. The FBI will be looking into whether any federal wiretap or computer-intrusion laws were violated by the Lower Merion School District. Days after a student filed suit over the practice, Lower Merion officials acknowledged that they remotely activated webcams 42 times in the past 14 months. But the officials say they did so only to find missing student laptops. They insist they never did so to spy on students, as the student's family claimed in the federal lawsuit. School officials says families weren't told of the possibility that the webcams might be fired up in their homes without their permission.

Penn St. Dance Marathon raises record $7.8 million

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Penn State students raised a record $7.8 million at this year's Dance Marathon. The annual 46-hour event wrapped up Sunday afternoon at the Jordan Center on the University Park campus. Organizers said 708 dancers took part with the aid of about 15,000 student volunteers. They stayed on their feet to raise money for The Four Diamonds Fund, a charity which benefits pediatric cancer research and care. Dance Marathon is billed as the largest student-run philanthropy in the world.

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