February 16, 2012

GIRARDVILLE – A Schuylkill County man is arrested for abusing a child.  State Police investigated an incident last September after being notified by Geisinger Medical Center that abuse may have occurred.  37-year old Peter Howard of Girardville was watching his children while their mother was at work on September 15th.  Howard later called her to tell her he accidentally sat on their 2-month old son while disciplining their 14-month old daughter.  The baby was taken to Geisinger where staff found the boy had a broken leg, bruising around an eye, brain trauma and other injuries they believed were the result of abuse.  Howard was arrested and jailed yesterday on $250,000 bail, charged with aggravatd assault and related counts.  State Police tell the Republican Herald that Howard was previously charged with manslaughter in Australia in the death of an 8-month old boy in 1997.
John Callahan (WGRC)

BLOOMSBURG - A man accused of stealing a donation jar while threatening a store employee with a knife waived a hearing Wednesday and will now face robbery charges in Columbia County.  32-year old Alexander Santiesteban-Zaldivar, a Cuban national with a work visa, remains locked up in Columbia County Prison with an immigration detainer lodged against him. He allegedly stole the donation jar at Symplegades Requiem shop on December 22nd. Two employees chased him down Iron Street, where he dropped the jar that contained money for sick children.  Santiesteban-Zaldivar escaped, but he was later captured in Danville. The Press-Enterprise reports, he last resided at Stone Castle Motel, had also lived in the Milton area but said he was homeless when arraigned on robbery charges a day after the crime. He also said he holds a residency card and has been in the United States since 2006.
(WGRC)

SALLADASBURG - A dump truck rolls and loses its load of dirt closing a road this morning in Lycoming County.  Emergency responders were sent to the area of Route 287 and Dam Run Road in Mifflin Township for a dump truck crash just before 3:30 this morning.  The truck’s load of dirt spilled onto the roadway after the truck came to rest on its side after the crash.   The driver wasn’t hurt.  Crews were working to clean up the mess.
John Callahan (WGRC)

CUMBOLA – A Schuylkill County woman arrested for D-U-I after a crash last night.  State Police say 26-year old Cinthia Shaffer of Pottsville was driving along Route 209 in East Norwegian Township near the Boardman Brothers car dealership when she drove off the roadway, and up an embankment.  Her car then rolled onto its passenger side.  The accident happened just before 11 last night.  Shaffer was arrested for D-U-I after failing field sobriety tests.  Police say she had a minor injury and was taken to Schuylkill Medical Center South for treatment and blood alcohol testing.  Charges are pending the blood test results.
John Callahan (WGRC)

ALFARATA -     A Union County man is suspected of D-U-I after a crash in Mifflin County.  Troopers say 49-year old Timothy Camp of Mifflinburg was driving along Route 522 in Decatur Township just before 1 a.m. on January 24th when his car went off the road hitting a utility pole and a tree.  He was not injured.  Police believe Camp was intoxicated at the time of the crash.
John Callahan (WGRC)

MONTOURSVILLE – In Lycoming County, a Loyalsock Township man has been jailed on charges of allegedly sexually assaulting a woman he met on Facebook.  Police say 29-year old Sherman Russell Keller II is accused of raping the woman in his home during the early-morning hours of February 5th after she fell asleep while they watched a movie.  The Sun-Gazette reports, Keller remains in the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $100,000 bail.
(WGRC)

DANVILLE - In Montour County, a Danville High School senior was suspended from school when officials discovered a box cutter in his backpack earlier this month.  The teen carries the utility knife for work and had forgotten it was in his bag.  Superintendent Cheryl Latorre tells the Press-Enterprise despite it being an honest mistake, the knife is still considered a weapon under school code, and the teen will have to be moved to an alternative school until graduation.  He may instead drop out.  School officials are hoping to talk the teen into sticking it out at the alternative program until June, when he can get his diploma.
(WGRC)

WILLIAMSPORT – In Lycoming County, a resident of the Timberland Apartments in Williamsport has been jailed on burglary and assault-related charges after she allegedly stormed into another woman's apartment and scratched her face with her fingernails after punching her.  22-year old Britney Taylor and Lashanda Bullock had the altercation Saturday afternoon.  The Sun-Gazette reports, Taylor is charged with burglary, simple assault and harassment jailed in lieu of $15,000 bail.
(WGRC)

BLOOMSBURG - A suspected marijuana dealer on a bicycle was jailed after allegedly selling pot to an informant in Columbia County.  The drug deal went down at an arranged meeting in the Giant parking lot in Scott Township last Friday.  20-year old Ryan Cool of Bloomsburg, was arraigned yesterday on drug possession and delivery charges and held in lieu of $25,000 bail.
(WGRC)

LEWISBURG - Evangelical Community Hospital and Geisinger Health System are now linked in a virtual intensive care system that will let physicians and nurses in Danville contribute care to critically ill patients in Lewisburg without the need of transfer.  The Daily Item reports, both hospitals announced the collaboration yesterday. Evangelical is the third health system to link with Geisinger's eICU technology, which it brought online in 2010.
(WGRC)

SUNBURY - Pennsylvania's 66 county conservation districts will benefit from a new state fee imposed on Marcellus Shale developers. The Northumberland County Conservation District anticipates receiving at least $56,000 annually for the next 15 years as a result of the fee approved last week by Governor Tom Corbett.  Robert B. Maiden, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, tell the Daily Item, the fee will provide resources to keep up with the rising need for environmental protection and education as companies extract natural gas from underneath much of the state.
(WGRC)

WILLIAMSPORT - The abandoned U.S. Army Reserve Center on Northway Road in Loyalsock Township, Lycoming County,  remains empty, but officials are hopeful that the structure will have new life in the near future.  Shannon Lukowsky, recreation and parks director, tells the Sun-Gazette it could be September when the township may hear back from the Department of Defense about the building's re-use. The government ordered the center closed through the Base Realignment Closure Commission's recommendation. An updated facility was constructed along with the Army National Guard facility on Penn and Grove streets in Williamsport.
(WGRC)

GOOD SPRING – In Schuylkill County, the proposed $800 million power plant in Porter Township passed another major milestone this week. The project has been in the works for about four years and could create more than 1,000 temporary jobs during construction and about 100 full-time permanent positions once completed.  Nick Cohen, EmberClear's chief operating officer, tells the Republican Herald the plant is designed to be the cleanest coal powered plant in the world.  Future Fuels originally proposed the project but was bought last year by EmberClear, a publicly-traded company based in Canada.  EmberClear owns about 560 acres in the village of Good Spring.
(WGRC)

MIFFLINBURG - A vote on a proposed charter school and an earlier start to the school year were among the issues discussed at Tuesday night's Mifflinburg school board meeting. Whether to approve the application of the New Berlin Charter School will be the chief subject of a public hearing and special school board meeting at 7 p.m. February 28th in the large-group instruction room in the Mifflinburg Area Middle School. The proposed New Berlin Charter School would be a kindergarten to fourth-grade institution that would seek to incorporate the environment into regular class time and lessons. About 40 potential students are pre-registered for the school, pending the vote. In other business Tuesday, the board voted to begin the 2012-13 school year on Monday, August 20th, about a week earlier than usual.  The Daily Item reports, that would give more preparation time for the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests, which occur in the spring.
(WGRC)