WGRC Christian Radio

DANVILLE - A fire last night in Montour County has been determined to be an accident. The fire was reported around 11:30 p.m. at the home along Old Valley School Road in Valley Township. State Police fire Marshal Norman Fedder say the fire at the home of 44-year-old Julie Dent started in some faulty electrical wiring at the base of a stair case. Dent was able to escape the burning home by crawling out a window of the second story of the home. Damages estimates are around $100-thousand dollars to the home.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

MIFFLINBURG - A crash in Union County sends three people to the hospital with what police called moderate injuries. That crash happened just before noon Wednesday on Dreisbach Church Road in Buffalo Township. Police say 49-year-old Lori Smith of New Berlin tried to pass another vehicle when her car skidded sideways into the path of an SUV driven by 65-year-old John Norton of Port Orange, Florida.
Both Norton and his passenger 63-year-old Patricia Norton and Smith were taken to Evangelical Community Hospital.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

WILLIAMSPORT - A Lycoming County woman arrested for stealing from her employer. Old Lycoming Township Police say 43-year old Lily McDaniel of Williamsport was arrested today on felony charges of forgery and theft.  Her employer, Munchies Cheesesteaks, Wings, Pizza and More on Lycoming Creek Road, reported the theft and forgery of a business check on Tuesday. Through the investigation it was learned that the stolen business check was cashed at a local bank by McDaniel. She admitted to stealing the check and forging her employer's and cashing the check for $950 at a local bank. McDaniel was arraigned and jailed today in lieu of $8,000.00 bail.
John Callahan (WGRC)

PINE CREEK - There's a crime spree taking place in Clinton County. Pine Creek Township Police Chief Dave Winkleman tells the Express, his department has been very busy in recent days investigating a "rash" of entries into vehicles and sheds - 18 in the past five days to be exact. The majority of the incidents occurred in Pine Creek Township with some reports in Wayne Township and Avis borough. Most of the vehicles and buildings were unlocked when thieves opened them and took items, from tools and electronics to money and even a handgun with holster. There have also been some similar reports in Jersey Shore and Antes Fort in Lycoming County. Winkleman urges all area residents to lock their vehicles, sheds and other out buildings.
John Callahan (WGRC)

SUNBURY - The air in the Northumberland County courthouse is clean, according to county commissioner Vinny Clausi. He said this morning the result of air quality tests of the Register and Recorder's Office showed the air is clean. Air scrubbers in the office have now been disconnected.
They were installed as a precaution after workers in the office said they were getting sick from something. The county is still awaiting the results of mold tests. They are expected next week.
(WNEP)

POTTSVILLE - Empire Education group has secured more than $7m in funding to expand its current headquarters along Route 61 in East Norwegian Township. Construction is currently underway on the 30,000sq ft, 2-story addition, which will allow empire to bring its home office workforce close to 400 employees. The 18-month project will be funded through a variety of sources, the largest of which tax exempt is financing made possible by the Schuylkill County Industrial Development Authority and funded by M&T Bank. Along with the new building, the project includes plans for an extension of nearby Tunnel Road. Empire Education group currently has 100 beauty schools located in 21 states across the country. Empire is the largest, centrally owned and operated beauty school system in North America.
(WPPA)

LIME RIDGE - Motorists traveling Interstate 80 westbound in Columbia County are advised that traffic is currently backed up several miles through the work zone between the Lightstreet Exit and Lime Ridge Exit. Delays of up to half an hour are being experienced now and could grow through the early evening hours. Motorists are advised to plan extra time for their travels or consider alternate routes. The backlog is expected to clear between 6 and 8 tonight. The single-lane work zone condition will continue through tomorrow; then be lifted for the weekend, and reinstated on Monday.
(WGRC)

SHAMOKIN - Fire crews were called out around four this morning to a two alarm fire in the city of Shamokin in Northumberland County. The fire was reported at 131 South Second Street in Shamokin. Police first arrived on the scene and found smoke pouring from the building. Shamokin City Public Safety Director Bill Milbrand tells us there was fire on the first floor of the three story home occupied by one man. Milbrand says the home owner got out safely and will be staying with family. He says it appears the fire started from faulty electrical wires in a wall and then spread up the wall into the ceiling and second floor of the home. The home was under renovation. An investigation is being conducted to determine an exact cause but Milbrand says he believes the fire to be an accident. Crews from Shamokin Coal Township and Kulpmont responded and returned to service around seven this morning.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)
    
DANVILLE - Fire was reported last night at a home in Montour County. The fire was reported around midnight at the home on Old Valley School Road in Valley Township. There's no word today on the extent of damages. Everyone in the hose escaped the blaze unharmed.
(WPGM)

SELINSGROVE - A fire in Snyder County Wednesday afternoon leaves two adults and a small child homeless. The fire was reported just after one p.m. at a unit of the Pine Meadow Apartments in Selinsgrove. About 30 volunteers arrived to find smoke pouring from the apartment. Deputy Fire Chief Jason Kaufman tells us the blaze started after one of the residents left a pair of shoes in an oven and forgot about them when the oven was turned on. The fire cause several thousand dollars in damage to the kitchen  and there was heavy smoke damage throughout which made the unit unliveable. No one was hurt.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)
    
BERWICK - Police in Berwick, Columbia County are looking for a robber who held up the Dunkin Doughnuts on West Front Street in the Borough early this morning. That happened around 3:30 a.m. Police say a Hispanic man wearing a dark T-shirt with a large hole on its right side and a black bandanna over his face walked into the doughnut shop with a black handgun and demanded money. The bandit then fled the store on foot with an undetermined amount of cash and was last seen headed toward Second Street. Anyone with information on the robbery is asked to call Columbia County 9-1-1.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

TOWER CITY - Some tense moments in Schuylkill County Wednesday, after a device resembling a bomb was found in an unoccupied building. The owner of the property at 159 West Grande Avenue in Tower City was performing a check of the building around 2 p. m. when he stumbled upon the device on the second floor. The State Police Hazardous Device and Explosives unit was summoned to the scene as well as state and local police. They determined that the device was not a bomb, and are continuing to investigate the situation.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

MIFFLINBURG - An 18-year-old New Berlin girl has been charged with supplying marijuana to two minors involved in a fatal shooting in Union County. State Police have charged Kali Kenton with two felony and four misdemeanor drug charges for supplying the pot to a 16-year-old New Berlin boy and 17-year-old Anthony Hernandez at 18-year-old Alexander Shoemakers home the night Hernandez was accidentally shot and killed. Police say Kenton and two others were at Shoemaker's home prior to the shooting and Kenton sold Hernandez and the 16-year-old a gram of marijuana for ten dollars each. Hernandez, Shoemaker, and the 16-year-old were smoking pot when Shoemaker retrieved a gun which went off striking Hernandez killing him. Shoemaker is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting. Later that day police say the 16-year-old New Berlin boy took the pipe used to smoke the drug and other items from the shooting scene and gave them to Kenton who destroyed them.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

LEWISTOWN - A Lewistown man has been charged with a crash back in July that injured himself and his passenger. 21-year-old Kyle Baxter is being charged with causing the crash July 21st on New Lancaster Valley Road near Milroy that injured himself and his passenger Ryan Natanni. While Natanni was able to escape the vehicle and fled the scene, Baxter was entrapped and had to be cut free of the wreckage and was flown to the Altoona Trauma Center. Police later found out Baxter was driving without a license, he was speeding and possibly driving drunk, but blood alcohol tests taken at the hospital showed his blood alcohol level had dropped to below the legal limit since leaving the crash scene. Witnesses reported seeing Baxter at a bar prior to the crash.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

LEWISBURG - A Lewisburg man is being charged as being an accomplis in a robbery and assault after his son beat up another man and stole an i-pod from the victim. State Police have charged 47-year-old Gregory Garman with the beating and robbery of Kelton Rojas on July 18th. Police say Garman was driving a truck along Pawlings Road in Kelly Township when his son Joseph Garman got out of the vehicle and punched and kicked Rojas and stole the i-pod, a lighter, cigarettes and two dollars in cash from him. Rojas was taken to Evangelical Hospital where he was treated for facial fractures, and bruises.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

WILLIAMSPORT - A Berwick native accused of $16,000 in checking-account schemes has agreed to plead guilty to one charge involving a $1,000 bank fraud charge. The Press Enterprise reports, 42-year-old Harry Joline could face up to 20 years in prison, a $1 million fine and probation for up to 10 years. Federal prosecutors allege Joline wrote four checks totaling $1,000 from a closed First Columbia Bank and Trust account in November and deposited them into a First Keystone National Bank account he owned.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

SUNBURY - Officials could know by today what might have been causing workers at the Northumberland County Courthouse to get sick. The Office of Register and Recorder was closed late last week when employees there got sick. Air scrubbers are being used as a precautionary measure while officials wait for test results to come back. Northumberland County officials passed out a letter Wednesday saying while they are waiting for test results, there are no concerns about the relocation of any office from inside the courthouse. Commissioner Vinny Clausi believe there may be mold growing in one of the walls.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

BLOOMSBURG - In Columbia County a Judge has ruled that Centralia landowners can keep the rights to coal under their properties in case there is any future mining there. But the government still plans to move forward with buyouts of the few remaining homes in the borough plagued by an underground mine fire. The Press Enterprise reports, Columbia County Judge Thomas James says owners can have the rights to coal but along with coal rights comes the responsibility for getting out of there. The recent issue was whether the government takeover of the homes also includes "subsurface" or mineral rights. James will preside over a jury trial scheduled to begin in two weeks to set property values on remaining homes and parcels owned by Helen Hynoski; her son Steve and wife Bonnie Hynoski; Carl and Helen Womer; and late Centralia Mayor Lamar Mervine Jr. and wife Lana. But that won't be the last legal chapter in Centralia's long fight for survival since condemnation declarations were made in Harrisburg on January 28th, 1993. Harrisburg attorney Bart Holmes and Don Bailey, representing the Centralians' say the property owners plan to appeal after the trial, and take the matter to a higher court.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

WILLIAMSPORT - While people from all over the world converge on Williamsport for the Little League World Series, another group of international visitors arrived Wednesday to Lycoming County with other interests - the development of shale gas. The U.S. State Department sponsored the visit, which followed the two-day Global Shale Gas Initiative Conference in Washington, D.C. David Goldwyn, coordinator for the State Department's office on International Energy Affairs, tells the Sun Gazette the development of natural gas resources from shale is "a terrific boon" for the United States and global energy security. Other countries want to develop their own shale gas deposits, but lack the experience needed to do it safely and efficiently. The conference was held so "we could teach them what they need to know."  Representatives from Armenia, Bulgaria, China, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Lithuania, Morrocco, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Ukraine and the U.S. arrived in Williamsport by bus from Washington. The tour made its way along Route 220 in Picture Rocks to two water withdrawal sites, Beaver Lake Road in Penn Township where there's a gas compressor station, and fresh water impoundments and then to a gas rig near Lairdsville.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT - It's coming down to the wire this week for baseball teams from all over the world to focus on South Williamsport. Hundreds of volunteers are making an effort to welcome the hundreds of thousands of people feel welcomed to be attending. Lycoming County's Chief Detective William Weber is among them.  He is volunteering as an "uncle" the team from Pearland, Texas and reflected on their arrival to the Little League World Series. He told us they were in awe of the fields and the complex, while the players told us it was like seeing a major league field. Weber says his father worked for Little League and now it is his turn to give back and that it's a rewarding experience.
(WRAK)     

SUNBURY - With the summer coming to a close and students headed back to school the Sunbury Pool and OPG playground are getting ready to close shop. City officials tell us the Sunbury Community Pool will be closing for the season at the end of business today. The last day for the OPG playground will be Friday, August 27, 2010 Ron Pratt, Director of Pool and Playground says he would like to thank everyone for another great season.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

UNIVERSITY PARK - Penn State's Homecoming week will be held October 3rd through the 9th and this year's Homecoming Grand Marshal is up to speed for the event. Penn State Alumnus and speed skating Olympian, Allison Baver has been selected as the 2010 Homecoming Grand Marshal. Baver was chosen because not only is she a distinguished alumna, but also her youth makes bo th students and alumni able to relate to her. Baver graduated from Penn State Berks in 2003 and has competed in three Winter Olympics. In 2010, she placed 3rd in the 3,000-meter relay at the Vancouver Olympic Games.    
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

DANVILLE - Geisinger Health System President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Glenn Steele Jr. has been named among Modern Healthcare magazine's 100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare for the second consecutive year. Steele ranked No. 35, up from No. 90 in 2009. Steele, in a new release sent out Wednesday says, "Inclusion on this highly regarded list is very gratifying, and I appreciate being part of such an influential list of individuals," said Steele in a press release from Geisinger Wednesday. "It is an honor that Geisinger's innovative approaches to enhancing quality and value for our patients and health plan members are being recognized." Steele also has appeared previously in Modern Healthcare's 50 Most Powerful Physicians ranking.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

LEWISBURG - The 24th Annual Evangelical Golf Classic, sponsored by the Savitz Organization, was held last Friday, August 20 at the Susquehanna Valley Country Club. Hospital officials say nearly 225 golfers took part in the event, which raised more than $30,000 for Evangelical's Pre-Hospital Services.   
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

LEWISTOWN - Mifflin County residents got a chance to ask questions of U.S. Representative Glenn Thompson, at the Union Fire and Rescue Wednesday night in Lewistown. Most of the concerns dealt with the current state of the economy and healthcare. When Thompson asked how many people thought the country were headed in the right direction, only one hand was raised. It was clear that many of the community members in attendance had issues with what they perceive to be massive government spending. Thompson said more than 50 percent of the debt that the U.S. has accumulated is owed to China, the second largest economy in the world.  In addressing healthcare Thompson says his four goals were to decrease the cost, increase access, expand upon innovation and quality and protect the relationship between a patient and physician.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)