Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Route 61 south detoured in Coal Township after crash
COAL TOWNSHIP – Investigators are still on the scene of a crash on Route 61 in Coal Township. A detour for southbound traffic is also still in place. A crash involving a tractor-trailer and a pickup truck near the Burger King is the reason why. Lifeflight reportedly had to take two injured persons away for treatment. They were entrapped in the wreckage and unconscious when responders arrived. Coal Township Police is handling the investigation. (Matt Farrand)
Northumberland County “attorney’s up” against prison lawsuit
SUNBURY – Northumberland County is taking action to defend themselves in a lawsuit brought against the Prison Board by the Lewisburg Prison Project. The suit was filed last month by the non-profit group on behalf of several inmates who allege unsafe conditions, overcrowding and poor medical and mental health treatment at the facility. Prison Board Solicitor Todd Kerstetter says they hired Attorney Robert Hanna from Harrisburg, who specializes in these types of cases. Hanna also comes on high regard from Northumberland County District Attorney Tony Rosini.
Kerstetter has previously refuted the allegations of the Lewisburg Prison Project, and Prison Warden Ralph Reish denied any indecent treatment of inmates. Reish also commented on the overcrowding issue, saying that the female population of the prison has been reduced to a more manageable level. Currently the Prison houses 206 inmates: 182 male and 24 female. The new Attorney is working on a response to the lawsuit, which will be filed in the upcoming weeks. (Sara Bartlett)
Army Corps looks to build facility in Montour County
DANVILLE – The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers is looking to build a combined National Guard and Army Reserve Center along Route 642 in Valley Township, Montour County. Todd Hornback, public affairs director of the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers says they are currently looking at a potential site, but nothing is official. The center would be the first of its kind in the county and would consolidate armories in Lewisburg, Sunbury and Berwick along with reserve units in Lewisburg and Bloomsburg. He says they will also get public input on the project to determine that the residents in the area would support or oppose the plans.
The Army Corp of Engineers will handle the construction of the facility, which they hope to have open by spring of 2011. No agreement has been reached yet for a 36 acres parcel of land being considered and a zoning variance will be needed. (Ali Stevens)
Belfanti on panel in search of smoking compromise
HARRISBURG – Critics say a revised state anti-smoking bill would fail to protect workers at businesses where smoking would still be permitted. But it looks like such a bill is advancing. The Patriot-News reports the plan being developed by a panel of lawmakers offers an option for casinos, bars, restaurants and private clubs that cater to smoking customers. House member Bob Belfanti is on the panel and is considered an advocate for smoker’s rights.
The six-member panel is charged with reconciling competing bills that have been approved by the state House and Senate. The legislative panel took no formal action Tuesday, in part because Belfanti and Republican Ron Miller say they more time to refine the air-testing requirements and other parts of the proposal. The latest revision allows businesses to let customers smoke, provided the businesses don't serve children, and submit to air-quality tests. The law would give those businesses the option of deciding whether or not they want to go smoke free. (Matt Farrand)First daughter makes first local presidential campaign visit
LEWISBURG – The former “first daughter” will visit Bucknell University Thursday. Director of Media Relations Tom Evelyn confirms that Chelsea Clinton will make an appearance at 12 noon, at a campus site to be determined. Meantime, The Hillary Clinton for President campaign confirms other Central PA appearances for Chelsea Wednesday.
They include stops at York College, an elementary school in Hanover, and art gallery in Harrisburg. The younger Clinton is active in Hillary’s campaign for the Democratic nomination for president, as is husband Bill Clinton. The 41st President appeared in Girardville and Williamsport Saturday. Hillary and Barack Obama were in Wilkes Barre yesterday. (Matt Farrand)
A woman critically injured in a Columbia County crash still critical
BERWICK – A Nescopeck woman who was critically injured in a Columbia County crash on Saturday is still critical. 47-year-old Paula Novak was hit by a van driven by 18-year-old David Nolte of Scott Township. Police say Nolte was fleeing the scene of a previous accident when his van hit Novak’s pick-up. Novak was taken to Geisinger and is listed in critical condition. Nolte is facing charges for the crash and the investigation continues. He was listed in serious condition at Geisinger on Monday. (Ali Stevens)
Tuesday crash inures Montandon man, Selinsgrove woman
SHAMOKIN DAM – One man and one woman were injured in a two-vehicle crash Tuesday on the Route 11 & 15 strip in Shamokin Dam. A nursing supervisor at Geisinger Medical Center says 45-year-old Sandra Puig of Selinsgrove is in serious condition.
Shamokin Dam Police say 29-year-old Thomas Dreisbach of Montandon attempted to make a left turn using a large commercial vehicle from a parking area and head south. He drove into the path of Puig, who was heading northbound. Dreisbach was also injured and taken to Geisinger Medical Center, though a nursing supervisor had no record of his treatment last night.
Both northbound lanes of Routes 11&15 were closed for about an hour until Puig was freed from her vehicle. Shamokin Dam Police, Shamokin Dam Fire, and Dauntless Hook & Ladder EMS were among the responder to the 1:15p.m. crash. (Matt Farrand)
Local banks all enter new day higher
NEW YORK – It was only the first day of the second quarter on Wall Street, but it was said to be the was the best first day of a second quarter in more than 70 years. Analysts say traders are more confident that the end is in sight for the banking and credit crisis.
Lehman Brothers Holdings and UBS AG are reportedly taking steps to raise capital, also raising speculation that banks can weather further credit losses. Dow component JP Morgan Chase gained more than 4.0% and Citigroup opens the new day more than 2.0% higher.
Local banking stocks all advanced. Among them, West Milton Bancorp continued a series of positive days, gaining more than 8.0% to settle at 45.75. Sovreign Bancorp, M&T Bank and Susquehanna Bancshares each gained more than 5.0% and FNB Corp closed nearly 4.0% higher at 16.22.
Other stocks of local interest also followed the market higher, as Community Health Systems gained nearly 5.5% to 35.40, Weis Markets is nearly 5.0% higher, ConAgra is up a fraction, and Sara Lee enters the new day up more than 3.0% to 14.42. Utility PPL corp also gained nearly 3.0% on the day. (Matt Farrand)
Sunbury man killed in accident at Reinhart FoodService
COAL TOWNSHIP – A Sunbury man died of asphyxiation Tuesday after an industrial accident in Coal Township. Northumberland County Coroner James Kelley says 67-year-old Robert Kratzer was killed at the Reinhart FoodService Distribution Center on Route 61.
The incident happened around 2:00a.m. as Kratzer was examining two tractor-trailer rigs. He stepped between the two rigs to examine a problem, when one began to roll backwards, causing the other to jackknife. Kratzer was caught between the two rigs and was crushed.
Kelley pronounced Kratzer dead about an hour later. He says the death was accidental and listed the cause as compressional asphyxia. Reinhart FoodService is the third largest privately held foodservice distributor in the United States. Their Coal Township business is located in the SEEDCO Coal Township Industrial Park.
Richfield man a homicide suspect, held without bail
SELINSGROVE – 26-year-old Travis Graham, of Richfield, was one of many people interviewed in the past few weeks as state police searched for the killer of 46-year-old Jeffrey Stock. Trooper Matt Burrows says Graham was asked Monday to come back to the barracks for questioning and he was eventually taken into custody.
At a press conference Tuesday Snyder County District Attorney Mike Sholley said Stock’s stepdaughter, who is dating Graham, was also called into the barracks for questioning Monday, where she told police that Graham had admitted shooting her stepfather.
Sholley says Graham left Stock’s home the night of the homicide after having an argument with his girlfriend. He then took a single shot with a 25-caliber rifle at Stock, who was outside on the back porch of his home. Sholley says the shot came from 150-200 yards away.
On Monday, Graham led police to an area where he revealed the scope he used in the shooting, the torch he used to melt the rifle and the melted metal of the rifle. Graham is being held without bail in Snyder County Prison on charges of criminal homicide. He will face a preliminary hearing April 10th in Middleburg. (Sara Bartlett)
Vegetable oil found in Middle Creek
BEAVER SPRINGS – Crews from the Department of Environmental Protection will be in Beaver Springs again today following a spill of vegetable oil into Middle Creek. DEP spokesman Dan Spadoni says they were called to a home along Middle Creek on Friday for possible pollution.
They were able to determine that an family at an old feed mill disconnected a tank of vegetable oil that made its way through a floor drain and into Middle Creek. About 30 gallons of oil ended up in the creek and the oil is slow to dissipate due to a debris dam down stream that is causing a back up.
Spadoni says they installed containment booms and absorbent pads to soak up the oil and will check in tomorrow to see if they need to be replaced. The Fish and Boat Commission was also contacted in case of a fish kill in Middle Creek, although there was no evidence of that as of Friday. (Ali Stevens)
Ninety warrants served by Milton Police
MILTON – Ninety warrants were served during a sweep in Northumberland, Union and Montour Counties Tuesday. Detective Todd Ulrich, of the Milton Police Department, coordinated the sweep, which involved numerous agencies including the Union and Northumberland County Sheriffs Department, Northumberland County Adult Probation, U.S. Marshals Office in Harrisburg, and the U.S Office of Inspector General through HUD.
Ulrich says the investigation with the Federal Housing and Urban Development department originated as they were targeting fraud in low-income housing areas, where they found numerous people who lied or gave false information on their applications. The warrants ranged from parking tickets to felony drug delivery and assault charges.
Those served with warrants were taken to the Milton Borough Building, where they were fingerprinted. They were then either arraigned before District Justice William Kear or sent directly to Northumberland County Prison. Ulrich says Milton PD has conducted warrant roundups before, but have never worked with the Office of the Inspector General. Sunbury Police recently conducted a similar sweep in the city. (Sara Bartlett)
Sunbury Riverfront Project: Let The People decide?
SUNBURY – Should creating openings in the Sunbury floodwall be put to referendum? In recent months, many residents have been opposed to the idea of floodwall openings and believe a referendum is needed before proceeding with the idea.
WKOK spoke with Sunbury City Councilman John Shipman on the matter of a referendum, and he says city officials are elected to oversee changes in the city and make important decisions for the residents. He believes if all decisions go to referendum, it will slow the process of getting things done in a timely matter.
Shipman says a number of people have expressed their concern about openings in the floodwall and the topic keeps coming up at council meetings and other public meetings. However, he says people don’t have enough information on the project to understand that the floodwall openings pose no danger to the city.
The idea is to bring the city of Sunbury closer to the river visibly and bring recreational opportunities to the city. The riverbank will also be stabilized as part of the project. Shipman spoke about the project on today’s edition of “On The Mark”. (Ali Stevens)
“Good landlords” vs. “slumlords”
SUNBURY – There is quite an extensive history when it comes to rental properties coming to the city of Sunbury. City Councilman John Shipman spoke about rentals in Sunbury on today’s On the Mark program on WKOK. He says the problem goes back several decades when HUD built three high-rise buildings and one development in the city to help low-income families.
As the elderly sold their properties to move into the high rises, many of their homes were purchased by local business-owners for investments. Shipman says to be a landlord; you can’t do it for a hobby, but need to be actively involved in the upkeep of the property.
Shipman says there are a lot of good landlords in Sunbury, but there are also some slumlords too. He says they let the property go and then no one wants to buy it or live there and it becomes abandoned. Shipman says the city tried to get rid of one low-income development and HUD and state officials said there was nothing they could do because the state owns it. (Ali Stevens)
Final master plan for Sunbury to be presented April 21st
SUNBURY – The Penn State landscape architecture students will present a final comprehensive master plan for parts of Sunbury on Monday, April 21st. The students were able to identify 10 key points through responses from the community on Cameron Park, Stroh Alley, the Hill Neighborhood and the historic district.
The students also hung posters at city hall and other locations in Sunbury to reach citizens and answer several questions on the survey. All residents of Sunbury are invited to fill out a survey card and they are also encouraged to attend the final master plan meeting at 6:30 p.m. on the 21st in the 2nd floor council room at City Hall. (Ali Stevens)
Latest Pennsylvania news, sports, business and entertainment:
MIDDLETOWN (AP) - The Pennsylvania Lottery has started a new baseball-themed scratch-off game featuring the Phillies and Pirates. Lottery officials are promoting the game by giving one free ticket to the first 50 adults who attend certain major and minor league games in the state. The first giveaway is planned for Thursday night's Phillies-Nationals game at Citizens Bank Park. The last is a Williamsport Crosscutters home game on June 23. Each game ticket costs $5 and players can win $5 to $100,000.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The need to relieve overcrowding at county jails and state prisons is the subject of discussion on the floor of the state House of Representatives. The debate on Wednesday focused on proposals designed to cut recidivism, establish new probation guidelines and allow certain terminally ill prisoners to die at hospices. One of the major components would require most prisoners sentenced to between two years and five years to do their time in state prisons. Current law gives judges more latitude in sending them to county jails, which can be costly for counties. The legislation also would set up a new program under which nonviolent offenders could qualify for early release.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Senate Republicans are refusing to consider Gov. Ed Rendell's nominee for the job of state insurance commissioner, forcing the governor to withdraw the nomination. Aides say Rendell plans to resubmit Joel Ario as his pick. The aides say the Senate Republicans are essentially holding him hostage. Health insurance has emerged as a major flashpoint between the Democratic governor and the Republicans who control the state Senate. Among the issues they disagree on are how to insure more people and improve rates for employees of small businesses. Rendell's legislative secretary, Steve Crawford, says the Senate GOP is wrong if they think they can force Rendell to back off his plans. Senate GOP spokesman Erik Arneson says the caucus has serious concerns about Ario's performance as the acting insurance commissioner since his nomination last year.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Here are the winning numbers selected Wednesday in the midday Pennsylvania State Lottery drawing:
Daily Number
1-3-0
Big 4
9-4-6-4
Treasure Hunt
9-13-18-20-23
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)