Monday, August 9, 2010
Some Danville residents told--keep windows closed
DANVILLE – A blazing hot day for a fire fight in Danville and that's what crews got today. A smoky blaze broke out in a garage attached to the former Cabinet Industries plant. That building is along Water Street in Danville and crews are still dealing with hot spots.
The smoke covered Danville and residents are being asked to 'avoid the smoke' and keep windows closed. Witnesses at the scene tell WKOK there were no injuries and the damaged mainly the garage on the property. Not involved is the bulk of the Cabinet building.
Unaffected was the main brick structure that fronts Water Street and recently housed both a gym and a dry cleaning business. No official word on what touched off that blaze this afternoon in Danville, Montour County. Several streets in and around Market Street and Railroad Street are affected. Traffic was tied up in that area and several local streets were closed.
Volunteers responded from Danville, Southside, and the township fire departments from Mahoning, Liberty, Valley, Montour, and Point, as well as crews from Catawissa, Northumberland and Sunbury. The fire is not yet listed as 'under control' but the active firefight has subsided. (Matt Farrand)
Sunbury Administrators job not needed says the Mayor
SUNBURY – Mayor David Persing will ask that the City Administrator’s job be eliminated during a meeting this evening of Sunbury’s City Council. Persing says the post held by Stuart Graybill doesn’t warrant the salary and benefits it carries. Sunbury’s Mayor says once the city puts it’s comprehensive plan in place, there will be the need for a person to manage that plan.
Persing says he has nothing personal to say about Graybill’s job ability. Graybill’s contract states that if his job is eliminated for no just cause, he is entitled to four months of pay. If his job is kept past August of 20-10, Sunbury City Council would have to budget a part or the entire salary in next year’s spending plan.
Investigation continues after multiple military vehicles collide
MILLERSTOWN -- The investigation continues after a convoy of military vehicles were involved in a crash in Juniata County. Five Army National Guard Stryker vehicles were involved in the crash Friday on Route 322 near Millerstown.
Eight people were transported to local hospitals following the crash. Officials say an unsecured jack from one of the vehicles, which caused a convoy of 13 vehicles to start swerving. Several of the vehicles collided. None of the injured motorists have been identified. (Ali Stevens)
Danville police are out with details on their big search Sunday
DANVILLE – More information is coming out about the extensive search for a missing person in Danville Sunday morning. Danville police Chief Eric Gill tells us today, that a woman was reported missing around 5am Sunday and police were concerned about her safety.
Gill said a mental health issue was a factor in their concern for the missing woman. Danville police had help from Danville and Southside volunteer fire fighters. A state police helicopter also assisted in the search. The search started around 5am and the person was found okay around 8am.
Sunbury garage fire: suspicious
SUNBURY -- Sunbury police are investigating a suspicious garage fire in Sunbury Sunday morning. Firefighters were able to quickly douse the fire in a garage at 7th and Packer Streets just before 6 a.m. A state police fire marshal was called to the scene to investigate and damage was reported to be heavy.
Police are investigating a series of arsons in the city. Police say firefighters have been busy with a number of fires in the last two weeks including a garage fire in the 800 block of Edison Avenue and a brush fire in the same area on July 24th. No word from the fire marshal yet on how the Sunbury fire started. (Ali Stevens)
Work on Route 61 in Sunbury is now complete
SUNBURY -- Work on the bridge crossing Shamokin Creek on Route 61 in Sunbury is now complete. The bridge was reopened to traffic on Saturday and the detour was lifted. The bridge had been closed for about two weeks for painting, sending motorists on a lengthy detour. Traffic is now back to normal on Route 61 near Zimmerman Motors in Sunbury. (Ali Stevens)
Latest Pennsylvania news, business, lottery numbers and entertainment
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania environmental regulators say they will tap the expertise of a Texas company to help control blowouts and other accidents at natural gas wells. Environmental Secretary John Hanger announced Monday that the state will use Cudd Well Control to assist with emergency response. He says the Houston-based company is opening an office in Bradford County, in the heart of Marcellus shale country. Previously, crews had to fly in from Texas to help deal with accidents at Pennsylvania well sites. On June 3, a well blowout in Clearfield County spewed gas and wastewater for 16 hours until a crew arrived from out of state to bring it under control. Hanger says Cudd's presence in Pennsylvania means that emergency crews will be no more than five hours from any natural gas well in the state.
CONNELLSVILLE, Pa. (AP) - State police say a woman wiped a dirty diaper on the window of another woman's vehicle during a dispute in a traffic jam as both were leaving the Fayette County Fair. Twenty-three-year-old Jessica Hollis, of Mount Pleasant, has been charged with harassment in the incident which state police in Uniontown say happened about 10:50 p.m. Saturday. Police say Hollis smeared the diaper on the rear window of a vehicle driven by 36-year-old Melanie Campbell, of Hopwood. Police say the women began arguing while they were stuck in traffic leaving the fairgrounds in Dunbar Township. Online court records don't list an attorney for Hollis, and a phone number listed in her name was disconnected Monday.
SALINA, Pa. (AP) - Federal investigators are interviewing witnesses and recovering debris as they try to determine what caused a small plane to crash into a home in western Pennsylvania, killing two men onboard. Westmoreland County officials say the plane was on a certification flight when it nosedived just minutes after taking off from Arnold Palmer Regional Airport around 9 a.m. Saturday. The crash happened about 90 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. The plane crashed into a house, but the homeowner escaped. Family members identified the victims as 65-year-old Unity resident Edward Francis Sobota, who had recently purchased the plane, and 66-year-old Theodore P. Kokolis, of Moon, a flight instructor. The Westmoreland County coroner's office says both died as the result of blunt force trauma and burns.
Update on the latest in business
Dow: + 45 Points
AP source: Negotiations completed for $20 fund
WASHINGTON (AP) - A Justice Department official says negotiations with BP have been completed to ensure that the oil company follows through on a commitment to establish a $20 billion compensation fund for victims of the Gulf oil spill. The official calls the conclusion of negotiations an important step forward for BP to honor the promises it made regarding the fund. Speaking on condition of anonymity about the arrangements that will be announced later Monday, the official says the Obama administration looks forward to completing a security agreement with BP so that all necessary funds will be there. The security agreement is necessary in case something were to happen to a company subsidiary that established the trust.
Magazine newsstand sales slip 5.6 percent
NEW YORK (AP) - Magazine newsstand sales in the U.S. slipped 5.6 percent in the first half of 2010. Industry auditors from the latest figures release that. Meanwhile, the Audit Bureau of Circulations says the number of magazine subscriptions fell 2 percent, making for an overall sales decline of 2.3 percent. Newsstand sales are an important gauge because publishers charge full cover price at retail outlets, while discounting subscriptions to boost the overall circulation they can promise advertisers. While the latest figures show newsstand sales are still dropping, the decline has eased since the worst of the recession. The 5.6 percent decline in the January-June period compares with a 9 percent decline in the six months before that and a 12 percent decline in the same period a year ago.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Pennsylvania Lottery Numbers:
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - These Pennsylvania lotteries were drawn Monday:
Midday Big 4
6-1-3-1
Midday Number
5-2-0
Midday Quinto
2-6-8-2-4
Treasure Hunt
02-11-16-23-30
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Campbell's ex-agent: model flirted with Taylor
LEIDSCHENDAM, Netherlands (AP) - Naomi Campbell's former business agent has told a war crimes court the fashion model flirted with former Liberian President Charles Taylor at a 1997 dinner and he arranged to send her a gift of uncut diamonds. Carole White's testimony contradicts the British model's statements at the Sierra Leone Special Tribunal. Campbell downplayed her contact with Taylor, saying she received an unexpected gift of "dirty looking" pebbles the night after the dinner. She told judges Friday she did not initially realize they were diamonds or who sent them. Prosecutors say White's testimony Monday could help prove Taylor traded guns for uncut diamonds with rebels in neighboring Sierra Leone during its 1992-2002 civil war. Taylor says he's innocent of war crimes.
Rod Stewart to become father again at age 65
LONDON (AP) - Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster have announced they are expecting their second child - and the 65-year-old rocker's seventh. The couple said in a statement Monday that they learned the "happy news" in June as they celebrated their third wedding anniversary. Stewart and 39-year-old Lancaster have been a couple for a decade and have a 4-year-old son, Alastair. The Rock and Rock Hall of Famer also has five children from previous relationships. The couple said they were "thrilled and delighted to be able to tell Alastair that he was going to be the big brother to a little baby, expected just before Mummy's 40th birthday."
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Three more motorcycle crashes over the weekend in our area
UNDATED – There were three more motorcycle crashes over the weekend in our area.
Two crashes were reported on Saturday. 57-year-old Robin Reigle of Shamokin was traveling east on County Line Road in Union Township, Union County just before 8 p.m. when he lost control of his motorcycle. State police say the pavement was fresh chipped and the motorcycle slid off the road and struck a ditch. Reigle sustained moderate injuries in the crash and was taken to Evangelical Community Hospital for treatment.
Also on Saturday, 50-year-old Dennis Ashley of Milton was traveling north on Route 405 at Housels Run Road in West Chillisquaque Township just before 11 p.m. Ashley lost control of the motorcycle and it crashed to the pavement. Ashley was not wearing a helmet and sustained a major head injury. \
He was flown to Geisinger Medical Center for treatment. He is listed in critical condition. The intersection of Route 405 and Housels Run Road was closed for about 2 hours following the crash. The investigation continues.
And on Sunday, 41-year-old Douglass Cocker of Kunkletown lost control of his motorcycle on Route 125 in Upper Mahanoy Township around 3 p.m. The motorcycle struck an embankment and Cocker was thrown from the bike. He was taken to Geisinger Medical Center for treatment. Cocker was wearing a helmet. He was treated and released.
There have been multiple motorcycle crashes this summer with several people seriously injured or killed. There are a series of reports online at www.wkok.com. (Ali Stevens)
Liverpool woman improving after fall from RV
MILTON -- A Liverpool woman is still at Geisinger Medical Center, but improving, after falling out of a moving RV onto Route 147 last Thursday morning. A nursing supervisor says 67-year-old Mary Jane Humphrey is now in serious condition after being admitted in critical condition.
Humphrey was a passenger in the RV driving north near Route 642 in West Chillisquaque Township and apparently got up to walk toward the back of the RV, lost her balance and fell through an unlocked rear door. (Sara Bartlett)
State troopers ask for help after break-in
WATSONTOWN -- Nothing of value was taken, and only about $50 damages, but State troopers are asking for the public's help in figuring out who broke into the Moser Sports Complex concession stand in Northumberland County's Lewis Township.
The break in is believed to have happened some time between mid-July and Thursday. Entry was gained via a window, and the most of the damage was done in the kitchen area of the complex. A call to 524-2662 is requested if you have information. (Matt Farrand)
Missing person found after search
DANVILLE -- The search for a missing person on the Susquehanna River in the Danville area concluded at about 7:45 a.m. Sunday. However, officials are providing little information, other than the search began at about 4:00 a.m., and that the person was found.
A Pennsylvania State Police helicopter was reportedly used in the search, and Danville Police coordinated the effort from the Washies Playground area. Neither the circumstances of the search nor the condition of the person when found were immediately released. (Matt Farrand)
Driver cited after rollover crash
NEW BERLIN -- A Millmont motorist was injured after a Friday night crash along Route 304 in Limestone Township. State troopers say 17-year-old Kevin Heimbach was driving west near the intersection with Red Ridge Road when he attempted to turn left, but drove off the roadway and stuck an embankment.
His vehicle then overturned and came to rest on the driver's side. Heimbach sustained minor injuries and was taken via Mifflinburg Ambulance to Evangelical Community Hospital after the 10:40 p.m. crash. Heimbach was wearing a seat belt, but will be cited for careless driving. (Matt Farrand)
Fire call to Sunbury garage
SUNBURY -- Firefighters made quick work of a Sunday morning garage fire in Sunbury. The blaze at 7th and Packer Streets was called in at about 5:55 a.m. Initial reports indicated it was spreading from the garage, however there was no indication of whether a residence was also involved.
Northumberland County Communications reports all but one unit was clear from the scene by about 6:45 a.m. There have been a series of suspicious fires in Sunbury. (Matt Farrand)
Mental health update was on Roundtable
DANVILLE -- Roundtable over the weekend is a mental health update. Dr. Stephen Paolucci and Dr. Susan Paolucci are on the show talking about new medicines; new treatments and the new advertisements for psychotropic drugs you can see these days.
Dr. Susan Paolucci told us, that prompt patients to ask their family doctors about the drugs they’ve seen advertised on TV. She said advertising helps reduce the stigma of mental health issues, but it can also oversimplify the complexity of mental health treatment.
The Paolucci’s are both are Geisinger psychiatrists and they discuss mental illnesses and treatments on Roundtable this weekend. You can hear the entire Mental Health Update on Roundtable anytime at www.wkok.com.
Cherokee Pharmaceutical plant to be reacquired by Merck & Co.
RIVERSIDE -- The Cherokee Pharmaceutical plant in Riverside is being acquired by its previous owner. Merck & Co. will apparently buy back the plant it had sold to PRWT of Philadelphia in 2008. Terms were not disclosed, nor was a timetable for closing the deal released.
Northumberland County Commissioner Vinny Clausi says it's good news for employees of the plant that began producing pharmaceutical ingredients in the 1950's, in that the larger company would have more money to spend on the plant and its workforce.
Clausi notes that the county granted the plant a Keystone Opportunity Zone designation, which exempted it from property taxes for 10 years, in exchange for annual payments of about $25,000 to Riverside Borough.
Meantime, Merck confirms that the current workforce of more than 450 will be maintained, and that a contract with 270 union members will be renegotiated. The current union contract expired in April and has been extended, pending the sale. (Matt Farrand)
Motorist injured when hit by car she was driving
FREEBURG – A Freeburg motorist was injured by her own car when she left it in gear after a minor accident, and was run over when she got out. 61-year-old Diane Kinslow was taken to Geisinger Medical Center via Life Flight, then treated and released Friday.
Kinslow apparently got out of the vehicle while it was in reverse after clipping the mirror of a parked car on Market Street in Middleburg. She then tripped and was struck by the car while pursuing it down the street. Market Street in Middleburg was closed for a time Friday night following the 9:20 p.m. accident. (Matt Farrand)
Latest Pennsylvania news, sports, business and entertainment
SALINA, Pa. (AP) - Federal investigators have been working to remove the wreckage of a plane from a western Pennsylvania house hit by the aircraft, killing both men aboard but missing the homeowner. Dan Stevens, spokesman for Westmoreland County, says workers and the National Transportation Safety Board were making "slow progress" in trying to extricate the fuselage. Safety board spokesman Keith Holloway said the effort would probably continue into Monday. Autopsies are also slated on the bodies of the victims. Holloway says officials are also interviewing witnesses and are reviewing maintenance records as well as air traffic control and radar data. He says some witnesses report hearing the engine of the BE58 Beech Baron sputtering before it crashed in the rural area about 90 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. Saturday morning's crash came 11 minutes after takeoff.
LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) - A religious relief and service organization says a south central Pennsylvania man was one of 10 members of a medical team gunned down in Afghanistan. The Mennonite Central Committee says the family of 40-year-old Glen Lapp of Lancaster was informed of his death Sunday morning. He was part of the International Assistance Mission providing eye care and medical help. The Taliban says it was responsible, alleging that the workers were trying to convert Muslims to Christianity. The committee says Lapp was a graduate of Eastern Mennonite University and had a nursing degree from Johns Hopkins University. He also volunteered to help the response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita and worked as a nurse in Lancaster, New York City and Supai, Ariz. Lapp's mother, Mary, said Sunday the family was referring all calls to Mennonite Central Committee.
POTTSVILLE, Pa. (AP) - A proposal being discussed in Pennsylvania would put two county offices under the authority of the state court system and have officials appointed rather than elected. Under the proposal, the state's Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, under the authority of the state Supreme Court, would assume oversight of clerks of courts and prothonotaries across the commonwealth. Clerks of courts manage records for criminal cases while prothonotaries handle civil cases and passport applications. Schuylkill County Clerk of Courts Stephen M. Lukach tells the Republican & Herald of Pottsville that he and other clerks of courts from across the state were briefed last month on five options for changing the system. The change would have to be approved by the state Legislature, although it is unclear whether it would also require a constitutional amendment.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
AP-Morning BusinessMinute
NEW YORK (AP) - The recent upward trend on Wall Street paused after Friday's employment report suggested a weakening recovery. The Dow begins the week at 10,653.56, having fallen 21 points on Friday. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 were each off about 4 points.
TOKYO (AP) - Asian stock markets were mixed today. The Nikkei lost 1 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped less than 0.1 percent and the Shanghai Composite Index was flat. South Korea's Kospi was off less than 0.1. Stocks in Malaysia and Vietnam also fell. Among gaining markets, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.3 percent. Markets in Taiwan, Indonesia, India and New Zealand were higher. Singapore was closed for a public holiday.
BANGKOK (AP) - Oil prices rose above $81 a barrel Monday in Asia, clawing back part of a big fall triggered by weak U.S. jobs figures as regional stock markets steadied. Benchmark crude for September delivery was up 65 cents at $81.35 a barrel at late afternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.31 Friday to settle at $80.70.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - BP says its cost to respond to the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has risen to about $6.1 billion. That includes expenses for relief well drilling, and sealing up the blown-out well. BP PLC says as of Saturday, more than 145,000 claims had been submitted and more than 103,900 had been paid, totaling $319 million.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Among the news that could influence investors in the coming week, the Federal Reserve announces its decision on interest rates tomorrow. On Friday, the Commerce Department releases retail sales figures for July and business inventories for June, and the Labor Department provides an update on consumer prices.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Pennsylvania Lottery Numbers
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - These Pennsylvania lotteries were drawn Sunday:
Big 4
8-4-8-2
Cash 5
03-09-23-36-37
Daily Number
8-7-1
Evening Quinto
9-4-5-9-8
Midday Big 4
5-6-2-3
Midday Number
2-2-1
Midday Quinto
3-6-5-6-3
Treasure Hunt
04-05-10-11-27
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Oscar-winner actress Patricia Neal dies at age 84
EDGARTON, Mass. (AP) - Oscar-winning actress Patricia Neal has died at the age of 84. She'd had lung cancer -- and her family says she faced it with "grace" and "stubbornness." Neal had suffered a series of strokes at the age of 39, and after struggling to again walk and talk she earned another Oscar nomination. She died at her home in Edgarton, Mass., on Martha's Vineyard. The Kentucky-born Neal, famous for her husky voice, was already a Tony-winning stage actress when she made her film debut in 1949. She was best known for her Oscar-winning role in "Hud" -- but her movies also included "The Fountainhead" and "A Face in the Crowd."
Court throws out 'expressive' permits at parks
WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal appeals court has thrown out National Park Service rules requiring a Minnesota man to get a permit before distributing religious materials at Mount Rushmore. Michael Boardley sued the U.S. Interior Department, National Park Service and five federal officials in 2007 after he was told he would need a permit to distribute "gospel tracts" at the monument. A federal judge ruled against him last year, But Boardley, with the help of the ACLU and others, has now won his case on appeal. The federal appeals court, in a decision that applies nationwide, said the National Park Service rules were unconstitutional and violated Boardley's free-speech rights.
UK Muslim youths in summer camp against extremism
LONDON (AP) - An "anti-terror" summer camp has opened in Britain, aimed at teaching young Muslims how to rebuff extremists who try to recruit them at schools and in online chat rooms. Some of the hundreds of young British Muslims at the camp say such enticements happen regularly. The three-day event, which began Saturday, hopes to equip them with arguments from the Quran on how to respond to people with radical beliefs. In March, the Islamic scholar who organized the conference issued a religious edict against terrorist acts like suicide bombing. But the Islamic Society of Britain condemned the conference as a public relations exercise and said it does not target youths who are most vulnerable to radicalism.
Godzilla trademark dispute
DAMARISCOTTA, Maine (AP) - It's Godzilla versus Grill Zilla, a barbecue stand in Maine. They're in a trademark fight with the Japanese entertainment conglomerate that owns the rights to the famous movie monster. Sarah Burnham and Jay Swett operate Grill Zilla out of a converted Frito-Lay truck. They tell the Portland Press Herald they were told they could keep the Grill Zilla name, or their green creature logo, but not both. They ignored the warning. The next move is now up to Godzilla's lawyers.
Hunley raised 10 years ago today
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - Today is the 10th anniversary of the raising of the Hunley, the first submarine in history to sink an enemy warship. And scientists now say they're close to finding out what caused the Hunley's demise. On Friday, they announced that early next year they'll be rotating the 23-ton, hand-cranked sub to an upright position to expose sections of hull not examined in almost 150 years. In February, 1864, the Hunley and its eight-man crew rammed a spar with a powder charge into the Union blockade ship Housatonic off Charleston, S.C. The Confederate sub was found buried in sand and listing at 45 degrees to starboard. State Sen. Glenn McConnell, the chairman of the South Carolina Hunley Commission, says the sub could be displayed in a museum by 2015. A non-profit group call Friends of Hunley says about $22 million has been spent excavating and preserving the sub.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)