WGRC Christian Radio

MIDDLEBURG - A Middleburg man was taken to the hospital Thursday evening following a two-car crash. That happened right around five p.m. on ROute 204 in Snyder County's Jackson Township. Police say 83-year-old Ralph Conrad hit the rear of a truck parked along the roadway. Conrad was taken to Evangelical Community Hospital with what police called moderate injuries. The driver of the truck 26-year-old Eric Donnelly of Selinsgrove wasn't hurt.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

SELINSGROVE - A Selinsgrove man is jailed on $100-thousand dollars bail charged with child sexual assault charges in Snyder County. Police say over the last two years 21-year-old David Miller Jr. sexually assaulted a nine, ten and eleven year-old girls. He is also being investigated for the sexual assault of two girls ages ten and eleven in Schuylkill County.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)
   
BEAVERTOWN - A State Police Fire Marshal says a fire yesterday in Snyder County was accidental.
The fire tore through the 420 East Market Street side of the home at 420/422 East Market Street in Beavertown. The fire was called in around 3:30 yesterday afternoon. The homeowner, Steril Knepp of Beavertown, does not have insurance on the property. Kevin and Nicole Walter who live there do have renters insurance. State Police Fire Marshal Norman Fedder says the fire started on top of a computer desk near a computer monitor and speakers. The blaze was contained to the room where it started but the home suffered heavy smoke and heat damage with the other half of the double home being affected by light smoke. The accidental fire did an estimated $50,000 worth of damage. No one was home on either side of the duplex when the fire started. The Red Cross is assisting the Walters.
John Callahan (WGRC w/Daily Item)
     
BLOOMSBURG - A woman took the stand this morning to testify against her husband in a Columbia County theft trial. Randy Pratt is accused of taking advantage of a bank error in Columbia County.
Authorities said Pratt and his wife, Melissa, noticed a mistake that added more than $177,000 in their bank account. Prosecutors said the couple spent the money, even moving to Florida, instead of reporting the mistake. Melissa Pratt has already been sentenced to one to two years in prison for the theft.
(WNEP)

HARRISBURG - In Centre County, eleven people were charged by the Attorney General's Office today with being part of a $6 million multi-state marijuana distribution ring that delivered hundreds of pounds of marijuana to the State College area. The investigation began in 2007, when Paul Spara, at the time a Penn State student, and New York resident Jason Remington were identified as large-scale marijuana distributors. Seven people, including Spara, were arrested in April 2009.  Evidence and testimony regarding the case was presented to a statewide investigating grand jury, which recommended the criminal charges being filed today. According to the grand jury, Spara was involved in a multi-state marijuana network headed by John Murray of Utica, N.Y. Agents estimate that Murray's organization distributed about 2,000 pounds of marijuana, with a street value of $6 million, in New York and Pennsylvania from December 2005 to June 2008.
(WGRC)

ASHLAND - In Schuylkill County, if all goes well, the Ashland Boys Association could have a state historical marker placed at the Mothers' Memorial by the Labor Day weekend of 2011. The New-Item reports, during Wednesday's meeting, Ashland Borough Council heard the plan to secure the marker from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission by the ABA/Ashland Mummers Club.
(WGRC)

UNIONVILLE - A tractor trailer truck slams into a house in Centre County. That happened right around three this morning in the 100 block of Unionville located just west of Bellefonte. The crash was said to be located near the Unionville Cafe. We are being told power lines were ripped down in the crash. No word at this time on any injuries.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

MILTON - A motorcycle crash in Northumberland County claims the life of a Milton man. The crash happened on Route 405 in Turbot Township around 4:30 Thursday afternoon. Police say 67-year-old Ray Rothfuss of Muncy turned into the path of the motorcycle driven by 36-year-old Brett Paulhamus. Paulhamus was not wearing a helmet and was thrown off his cycle onto the roadway and died at the scene. Rothfuss suffered minor injuries. A 16-year-old boy in his truck wasn't hurt.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

WATSONTOWN - A Montgomery woman struck a cow that had wandered onto Route 54 in Northumberland County early Thursday, killing the animal and badly damaging her car. Police say 37-year-old Shawn Wommer, was driving her SUV west on Route 54 around 1 a.m. when she hit the cow. Wommer was taken to the Muncy Valley Hospital with minor injuries.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

BLOOMSBURG - Bloomsburg Police tasered a woman who walked out to the middle of the East Bloomsburg Bridge and called a suicide hotline, threatening to jump. That happened around 7:30 last evening. The Press Enterprise reports, officers pulled hoped to talk the woman into walking back to a police car, but she wouldn't listen and threatened to cut herself with a knife. Police concerned the woman might try to jump over the bridge, felt they had no choice but to Taser her so she would not harm herself. The stunned woman was quickly handcuffed and calmly walked to a waiting patrol car and was taken to a hospital for evaluation.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

KULPMONT - Route 61 in Northumberland County is open to traffic today after being closed for most of the day yesterday in Kulpmont to to a massive blaze. The roadway re-opened shortly after three p.m. after demolition crews finished knocking down the brick walls which once housed the Pappy Baluta's Plumbing and Heating business and two apartments. No one was hurt in the blaze. One man who lived above the business lost everything but was at work when the fire broke out. While a cause of the blaze could not be determined, Kulpmont Fire Chief Kevin O'Hearn has ruled the fire accidental. The owner of the business says he will rebuild.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

LOCK HAVEN - A man from Clinton County will be sentenced next week for his role in a deadly boat crash. 37-year-old John Englert of Mill Hall is not fighting the charges against him by pleading no contest, but he is not admitting guilt either. He will be sentenced as if he was guilty. In court in Lock Haven, prosecutors said Englert had a blood alcohol level of nearly three times  the legal limit, when the crash happened on the Susquehanna River last July 10th. Englert's motorboat collided with another boat, killing 12-year-old Valerie Heidt, of Hublersburg. Englert will likely be sentenced to between three and five years in prison on charges of homicide by  watercraft while under the influence.
(WNEP)

MIFFLINTOWN - A Honey Grove man charged in connection with a friend's death that occurred in October 2009, pleaded no contest Thursday to involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence. 23-year-old Kevin Groce, of Honey Grove, made the plea before Juniata County President Judge Kathy Morrow. Police say Groce injected 33-year-old Charles Garman, of Honey Grove, with a lethal dose of heroin that caused his death. He then threw away syringes used in the drug overdose. Charges of drug delivery resulting in a death and recklessly endangering another person were dismissed. Groce could be sentenced to 9 to 16 months in prison. A sentencing date has not been scheduled. He remains jailed in the Juniata County prison.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

LEWISBURG - A 16-year-old Allenwood boy sent his charges on to Union County Court Thursday for allegedly threatening to slit his parents' throats with a 10-inch butcher knife. The teen will face felony assault charges in Union County Court stemming from the June 30th incident. Police found the boy hiding in his bedroom in his Gregg Township,  home after they were called there by the boy's parents, who were hiding in their own bedroom, a room they equipped with a heavy-duty lock to protect themselves from their son's violent outbursts.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

 WILLIAMSPORT - A former registered nurse at the Rose View Center on Rural Avenue in Williamsport has been charged with allegedly stealing 17 vials of a prescription anti-anxiety drug from the facility while she was employed there. The Sun Gazette reports, 55-year-old Linda Wentzler, of Lock Haven has admitted that she stole "a lot" of the drug while she worked her shifts at the nursing home between April 19th and April 28th.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

 SUNBURY - Two Northumberland County officials say a union arbitrator's report provides further evidence that money may have been stolen from the tax office, and that the county or state should continue to investigate the case. The News Item reports, Commissioner Vinny Clausi and chief clerk Kymberly Best Thursday commented on the 49-page report, in which the arbitrator denied Linda Gilligbauer's request for reinstatement to her position in the Tax Claims Bureau, and in doing so ruled the county had ample reason to first suspend her on April 8th, 2008, and then fire her on December 16th of that year. Gilligbauer, of Shamokin, testified that she did not take the money. District Attorney Toni Rosini will likely be asked to take another look at the case or to turn the case over to Attorney General's office.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

RIVERSIDE - A $10,000 contribution from Cherokee Pharmaceuticals  should help speed the removal of trees which are a safety hazard to pilots landing at the Danville Airport. Cherokee Pharmaceuticals presented the money Thursday to the authority of the airport, which sees up to 30 flights a day. The state Department of Transportation's Aviation Bureau has asked the airport, along Sunbury Road, to remove the trees, which stand up to 70 feet tall on 25 acres owned by the Burrows, Whitenight and Spotts families. The airport authority engineer says it will cost cost $100,000, to remove the trees. The state will pay 75 percent. The $10,000 from Cherokee Pharmaceuticals, of Riverside, will be applied toward the authority's $25,000 contribution.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

MIFFLINTOWN - More than 100 Juniata County residents packed into the Fermanagh-Mifflintown Elementary School Thursday to hear a presentation of the three school district building project options. The presentation was interrupted several times by angry comments and questions from the public, despite the school district advertising that there would be no questions taken during the presentation. Most of the comments surrounded how folks in Juniata County are going to pay for new school buildings. The School board has scheduled two presentation meetings that include a question-and-answer time for the public. One will be held at 7 p.m. August 2nd at the Juniata High School and 7 p.m. August 4th at the East Juniata High School.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)