Saturday, April 26, 2008
Driver flees scene of crash; State Police investigate
BENTON— State Police in Bloomsburg are investigating a hit and run crash in Columbia County. Police say the crash occurred along PP&L Road, just north of Route 487, around 5:45 p.m. Friday. The crash occurred when the unknown driver lost control of his pickup truck along PP&L Road in the borough of Benton. Police say the truck hit a tree and rolled onto its roof before the driver fled the scene. State Police continue to investigate and are looking for the driver that 2001 Ford pickup truck. They ask anyone with information to contact them. (Sara Lauver)
Local stocks enter week mixed in advance of economic data
NEW YORK -- It’ll be a busy week on the economic calendar, as figures will be released that some believe will confirm the extent of an economic slowdown. They include April auto and truck sales as well as personal income and personal spending data for March. Analysts expect personal income to be down slightly, but personal spending to be up when figures are released Thursday. Meantime, big retailers Target and Wal-Mart finished the week up a fraction, but food retailer Weis Markets settled more than a percentage point lower at 33.29.
Food producer Sara Lee gained a fraction Friday to 14.07, but Conagra enters the new week down slightly at 22.91. Banking stocks of local interest head into the new week mostly higher. Sovereign Bancorp rebounded after hitting a 52-week low Thursday and gained more than 7.0% Friday and settle at 7.65. Fulton Financial, M&T Bank, FNB Corp and MidPenn Bancorp all advanced. Susquehanna Bancshares lost more than 1.1% Friday to close at 20.79.
PPL Corp will release first quarter 2008 earnings Friday, May 2nd. The utility recently revised year-end earnings for 2007 down to $3.35 per share after again looking at the value of its natural gas distribution and propane businesses. (Matt Farrand)
BBQ lunch and dance to benefit Wayne Hawley
WATSONTOWN – A Chicken Barbeque benefit lunch will be held today to raise money for Wayne Hawley, the Warrior Run firefighter who was seriously injured in November while fighting a barn fire. The money raised will help Hawley’s family with additional expenses while he remains at a Philadelphia hospital. Hawley was paralyzed from the waist down after a beam fell on him during the firefight. That fire turned out to be arson and last week a Danville man was placed into custody for starting that and many other blazes in the area.
The benefit lunch will be held at noon in Watsontown at Main and Brimmer Streets. The meal is $7.00. Later in the evening, at 7:00p.m., there will be a benefit dance at the Warrior Run Area Fire Department’s social hall in Allenwood. The dance is $15.00 and includes musical entertainment, food and drinks. All of the money raised will go to the Hawley family. (Sara Bartlett)
Earth-friendly events going on in Bloomsburg
BLOOMSBURG— Today is Earth Day at the Children’s Museum in Bloomsburg. Head out from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and you can plant seeds, making earth day hats, and take part in other earth-friendly activities. Anyone riding a bike or walking to the Museum gets $1 off his or her admission. The Children’s Museum is located along West 7th Street in the borough of Bloomsburg.
Art and wine in Sunbury…all for a good cause
SUNBURY – The annual Art and Wine Auction, to benefit the Sunbury Chapter of the American Red Cross, was held last night at Spyglass Ridge Winery. The event included wine tastings, and an art auction that included jewelry, watercolors, carvings and prints. Tom Webb, owner of Spyglass, says it was a good night and many area residents and businesses donated great pieces of art for the event. Webb says the winery has hosted the event for the past several years and he’s always glad to do it. He says the Red Cross is a great organization that does a lot of wonderful things for the community. Michelle Shaffer, with the Red Cross, says the auction is their biggest fundraiser of the year. She says it’s a fun way to raise a lot of money for a good cause.
More than 40 fugitives rounded up
SUNBURY – More than 40 fugitives have been rounded up in the past two weeks in Northumberland County. Sheriff Chad Reiner says the warrants ranged from domestic incidents and lack of child support to drug violations and contempt or failure to show up for court.
There were 14 criminal suspects and 27 domestic relations suspects taken into custody. The suspects are then held in prison until they are scheduled for a court hearing. Reiner says there is a better way for those in violation to take care of the charges against the. He says if they turn themselves in at the office, they can save themselves the embarrassment of getting arrested and avoid spending time in jail.
Reiner says the warmer weather is a good time to round up suspects because they are out and about. He says they are constantly getting arrest warrants from the courts and they need to work night shifts and second shifts to get all the suspects in compliance with the law. (Ali Stevens)
Lewisburg woman PPL’s new regional community relations director
BLOOMSBURG – PPL has named a new regional community relations director. Lewisburg resident Teri MacBride will be in charge of the Bloomsburg, Sunbury, Danville and Shamokin areas. She will work with her predecessors Joe Scopelliti, who was recently named manager of community relations for PPL’s Susquehanna plant in Berwick and Rod Keller, who retired in 2006.
MacBride has previously worked with the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, as well as spent time in the Peace Corps. She also serves on many boards in Lewisburg including the League of Women Voters, the Slifer House Museum and the Merrill W. Linn Land and Waterways Conservancy. (Sara Bartlett)
Danville man charged for DUI in registered school vehicle
DANVILLE – A Danville man faces charges after driving drunk in a registered school vehicle. According to the Press Enterprise, it happened on April 12th when police say 34-year-old Matthew Schoppy was driving on Route 11 in Danville. He was reportedly driving in the wrong lane. After being pulled over, police found that Schoppy had been drinking. He was taken to Geisinger Medical Center for a blood test, and was found to be intoxicated well over the legal limit. Schoppy was charged with DUI in a registered school vehicle, failing to drive in a single lane and not wearing a seatbelt. He was also charged with disorderly conduct after reportedly acting unruly in front of Geisinger nursing officials. (Sara Bartlett)
Summer travel may be impacted by high gas prices
BLOOMSBURG – In the final segment of our weeklong series on high gas prices impacting summer travel plans. Gas prices are expected to reach $4.00 a gallon by the end of the summer, just as the Bloomsburg Fair is preparing to get underway. However, Todd Lehman of the Fair Committee says they are taking steps to keep the event an affordable family vacation.
Gate admission is still just $4.00 and he says people who aren’t going on vacation can come to the fair and feel like they are on a trip away from home. There will also be discounted tickets in August available at Giant grocery stores. He says the food will be priced low also, since they have so many food stands. Also, the company that runs the rides at the fair will have a hand-stamp day where you pay one discounted price for rides all-day.
The fair committee admits that there costs to run the fair, including electricity and other utilities have impacted them, but they have still been able to keep the admission price at $4.00, at least for this year. Lehman says most that come to the fair are coming in from a 50 to 60 mile radius, so this is a great way to take a vacation without spending too much on gas. (Ali Stevens)
Two Mifflinburg men break into Middleburg home
MIDDLEBURG – Two Mifflinburg residents are charged after allegedly breaking into a Middleburg home. Selinsgrove Police say 20-year-olds Michael Shetterly II and Joshua Lancaster took a crow bar and forced the rear door open of a home on Hackenburg Road in Middleburg. The men removed alcohol from the refrigerator, left the residence and then returned a short time later. The incident happened early this (Friday) morning around 2:00a.m. Both Shetterly and Lancaster are charged with burglary, theft and criminal mischief. They are on probation in Union County. (Sara Bartlett)
Here is the latest Pennsylvania news from The Associated Press:
PITTSBURGH (AP) - A mother has been ordered to stand trial in the death of her 6-year-old son in a Pittsburgh house fire. Authorities charged 29-year-old Mia Marshman with involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment after her son Isaiah perished in the March 4 blaze at the family's house in the city's Larimer neighborhood.
MCKEES ROCKS, Pa. (AP) - Four western Pennsylvania counties have been awarded federal grants totaling $1.75 million for the cleanup and redevelopment of former industrial sites. A representative of the federal Environmental Protection Agency presented the brownfield funds during an event Friday in McKees Rocks, about five miles northwest of Pittsburgh.
COALDALE, Pa. (AP) - A Pennsylvania man has survived a 500-foot fall into an inactive strip mine. Police say 23-year-old Nathan Bowman of Tamaqua was trespassing on coal-company property when he slipped and fell into the massive Springdale Pit overnight Friday. Coaldale Police Chief Timothy Delaney says Bowman survived a sheer drop onto a rock ledge hundreds of feet down. Rescuers used a basket to lift Bowman out. He's in serious condition at Saint Luke's Hospital in Bethlehem. Delaney says Bowman is obviously extremely lucky to be alive. He says, "It wasn't his time."
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A top Federal Aviation Administration official says planes using Philadelphia International Airport are sometimes directed to fly an alternate route over residential suburbs -- even when the path isn't needed to alleviate congestion. The admission came out of repeated questioning by Republican Senator Arlen Specter, who held a hearing at the National Constitution Center to discuss new takeoff routes.