Sunday, March 30, 2008
Multiple injuries after teen tries to outrun police
SOUTH CENTRE TWP— A portion of Old Berwick Road in Columbia County’s South Centre Township was closed for nearly two hours last night, after a crash involving three vehicles. State Police in Bloomsburg say an officer from the South Centre Police Department was on the way to a hit and run crash around 6pm when he saw 18-year-old, David Nolte of Bloomsburg, coming towards him at a high rate of speed. State Police say Nolte was trying to outrun the officer when he rear-ended the vehicle driven by 21-year-old, Lonnie Lee Gordner Jr. of Nescopeck. Nolte’s vehicle then collided head-on with another vehicle driven by 65-year-old, Gerard Owens of Berwick. Police say all three drivers and one passenger, 48-year-old Paula Novak, were injured and taken to area hospitals. No conditions are available at this time. They ask anyone with any information regarding the crash to contact State Police in Bloomsburg. (Sara Lauver)
Torch accidentally causes fire at Elysburg business
ELYSBURG— A fire at Jeff’s Auto Body and Recycling Center in Northumberland County consumed nearly 100 vehicles yesterday afternoon. Dispatchers say the fire call came in around noon and about 40 firefighters were on the scene. The Daily Item reports that a trespasser using a cutting torch, accidentally sparked the blaze at the business along Snydertown Road in Shamokin Township. Reports say officials know who the trespasser is, but it’s not known at this time whether charges will be filed. Crews from five area fire companies responded to the scene and were there for over three hours. Jeffrey Kurtz of Paxinos owns the business, which has a salvage yard of nearly 1,500 vehicles. There are no estimates on damages at this time, but reports say that Kurtz is not insured for the loss.
Fire crews from Stonington, Upper Augusta Township, Riverside, Elysburg and Overlook responded. (Sara Lauver)
Clinton campaigns for Clinton in “Billtown”
WILLIAMSPORT – Bill Clinton says talk that his wife Hillary ought to drop out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination is out of line. The 42nd US President spoke on her behalf Saturday at Lycoming College. Barbara Sundin of Lewisburg is a long time supporter and was among the more than 2,000 on hand. She says she’s been a fan of Clinton since the early 1990’s, and his charisma helped her convince her husband to switch party affiliation to Democrat.
Sundin is the Treasurer of the Union county
democratic committee, but she says she personally supports Hilary
Clinton and cites her experience working inside the Washington
community. She notes though opponent Barack Obama is skilled as an
orator, the notion that he can change Washington DC from the
“inside” is a “naďve position.” (Matt Farrand)
Local issues finish week mostly lower
NEW YORK – Changes are expected in local banking this week. The deal that will see Hermitage based FNB Corp take control of State College based Omega Financial is expected to close April 1st. Omega shareholders will get slightly more than two shares of FNB stock for each share of Omega stock they hold.
Omega will be known as the Omega Division of FNB. No other plans have been announced to date. Both Omega and FNB stock finished trading Friday on a down note. In fact, most local bank stocks enter the new week after retreating, as Sovreign, M&T, and Susquehanna Bancshares all lost. But West Milton Bancorp continues to rebound, up more than 8.0 percent, and will open this week at 45.75.
ConAgra Foods announced Thursday that it is selling its commodities trading group for $2.1 billion to the Ospraie Special Opportunities Fund. The company will focus on its core consumer foods business to free up operating capital. Conagra also increased its earnings outlook for the full year, and finished the week at more than 24 dollars per share after two days of strong gains.
Other stocks of local interest: Food retailer Weis Markets enters the new week at 34.67 after a positive day Friday, gaining 1.4%, Sara Lee enters the new week after gaining a fraction to 13.66, and Community Health Systems was up nearly 1.5%. But Utility PPL corp was down more than one percent to 45.92. (Matt Farrand)
Woman in critical condition after Friday’s crash
MIDDLECREEK TWP— A Trevorton woman is listed in critical condition after an accident in Snyder County Friday afternoon. State Police in Selinsgrove say that 20-year old, Kimberly Buganza, was taken by LifeFlight helicopter to Geisinger Medical Center after the crash along Route 522 in Middlecreek Township. Police say Buganza was traveling east when her vehicle crossed the centerline of the roadway and struck another vehicle head-on. 75-year old, Cletus Clotfelter of Middleburg, was the driver of that second vehicle and he was not injured. (Sara Lauver)
No halfway house in Montour county; Commissioners happy
DANVILLE – Members of the community are still reacting to the decision by the State Department of Corrections to pull its plan to place a halfway house in Montour County. State Representative Bob Belfanti confirmed Friday that plans for the site on the Danville State Hospital grounds are off the drawing board. Area residents and elected officials from state, county and local levels have been very vocal in recent weeks about their opposition to the plans. Montour County Commissioner, Jack Gerst, says everyone worked really hard during the past month to make this happen. He says there was a huge threat and there is still a threat to the other counties where the state is trying to establish plans for the facilities. He says there is a lot of movement to bring these houses into the area because Governor Ed Rendell wants to empty the prisons, due to the fact that they are overcrowded.
Montour County Commissioner Trevor Finn says the decision shows that when the people of Montour County, and surrounding areas, stand together they can accomplish anything. The decision to nix plans for the halfway house in Danville came just days after nearly 200 residents voiced their opposition at a meeting in the borough’s town hall. Many residents said their safety would be in jeopardy if the halfway house came to PA’s smallest county. They also feared an increase in crime. (Staff)
Accident causes lift to crash into home causing damages
WEST BUFFALO TWP— An accident involving a tractor-trailer truck and a cherry picker caused damages to a home in Union County Saturday morning. State Police in Milton say that 41-year-old, John Lauver of Liverpool, was driving his truck northbound along Forest Hill Road in West Buffalo Township just before 5:30am. That’s when Lauver failed to stop at the intersection of Route 192 and his truck hit a tree, causing it to jackknife. The truck then crashed into a cherry picker that was parked outside of a residence along Gast Road. The impact from the crash caused the lift to be pushed into the “Kapp” residence, causing extensive damages to one side of the home. Police say the lift was totaled. No word on injuries and no estimate on damages. (Sara Lauver)
Latest Pennsylvania news, sports, business and entertainment:
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) - Barack Obama says some industrial and manufacturing jobs may not return to the Johnstown steel region. But Obama tells residents that other jobs could take their place. Rival Hillary Rodham Clinton also stressed job creation at campaign stops in Indiana and Kentucky. She is vowing to help manufacturers transition to new industries like clean energy and ending tax breaks for American companies that ship jobs overseas. Jobs and the economy are front and center in the remaining primary contests between the two Democratic hopefuls. Pennsylvania, which votes April 22nd has seen its manufacturing base and especially its steel industry weakened in recent decades, as has Indiana, which votes May 6th.
GIRARDVILLE, Pa. (AP) - Former President Bill Clinton is telling Democrats who want his wife to drop out of the presidential race to "just relax." Clinton was in Girardville in northeastern Pennsylvania's coal region. Reporters asked him about a statement by Virginia Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, a supporter of Barack Obama, that Hillary Rodham Clinton can't win enough delegates. Bill Clinton says that Leahy doesn't want his wife to compete in states like Pennsylvania because "she might win." He says"People should just relax and let the process go on." Pennsylvania holds its primary April 22nd.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Joe Paterno says he isn't thinking about retirement, and he's not worried about his contract situation. Penn State's 81-year-old head coach is entering the final year of his contract. The 2008 season would be his 43rd on the sideline. He first said at a news conference Saturday that he doesn't care if he gets a new contract. He added later that he would feel comfortable going year-to-year.
Paterno also says he hopes his replacement comes from his staffwhen he does finally retire. But he says he doesn't see a need to establish a succession plan now. He says any final decisions would be made with schooladministrators, though he joked that he could coach another 10 years.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Penn State football coach Joe Paternosays he thought long and hard about greeting Bill Clinton when theformer president made a campaign stop at the campus on behalf ofhis wife. But Paterno, a noted Republican, says he finally decided againstwelcoming the former president. He says the fact that he couldn'tvote for either Democratic candidate made up his mind. Clinton pitched the Penn State ties of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton during the March 27 stop in State College. He reminded the mostly youthful audience that her father and brother both played
football at Penn State. In fact, brother Hugh Rodham, a 1972 graduate, was a backup quarterback under Paterno. Bill Clinton also fondly recalled the "Peachy Paterno" ice
cream at the school's creamery during an earlier visit to Happy Valley. Hilary Clinton's father grew up in Scranton and is buried there, and the former first lady still has relatives in Pennsylvania.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - In its 45-year history, the State Board of Education has never included a student. That may be about to change. The 22-member board is moving ahead with the idea of allowing a high school student on its council of basic education and a college student on its council of higher education. The state would be joining a national movement toward including student representatives on state education boards. If the bylaw change is adopted, the board hopes to have the student representatives in place as soon as this fall. According to the National Association of State Boards of Education, 16 states, the District of Columbia and Guam have students serving on their state education boards.
Here are the winning numbers selected Saturday in the Pennsylvania State Lottery:
SATURDAY NIGHT
Daily Number
5-6-3
Big 4
7-0-4-4
Powerball
18-20-25-31-36
Powerball: 7
Estimated jackpot: $37.8 million.
Power Play: 5
SATURDAY MIDDAY
Daily Number
6-2-8
Big 4
4-5-3-0
Treasure Hunt
4-12-14-27-30
Sunday's "Pennsylvania Cash 5" jackpot will be worth at least $425,000 because no player matched the five winning numbers drawn in Saturday's game.