WGRC Christian Radio

DANVILLE - Traffic tie ups at a busy Montour County intersection. Danville Police Chief Eric Gill tells the Daily Item, fire police and police were forced to direct traffic at the busy intersection of Routes 54 and 11 after a contractor accidentally cut the main line to the traffic signals. According to a PennDOT spokesman in Montoursville, an estimated 18,000 vehicles travel through that intersection daily. Gill said the contractor that severed the main line to the signals was cutting through asphalt and cement at the time. The incident occurred at about 2 a.m. The line controlling the lights has since been repaired and the lights are again working normally at the Routes 11 and 54 intersection in Danville.
John Callahan (WGRC)   

WILLIAMSPORT - In Lycoming County, Old Lycoming Township Police have petitioned a 14-year old juvenile male into Juvenile Court charging him with robbery and related offenses. The Williamsport boy was charged with punching an 11-year old boy in the face and stealing his bicycle last Friday night around 8:30. The incident took place near the bicycle path at Memorial Avenue and Race Street in Old Lycoming Township. Police were also able to recover the victim's bicycle.
John Callahan (WGRC)

WILLIAMSPORT - A military banner honoring a hometown hero from Old Lycoming Township, Lycoming County, is now a banner to his memory. The banner is near the parking decks in downtown Williamsport. Marine Abe Howard was killed in Iraq when an improvised explosive device was set off as his convoy was passing by. Howard, who is in his early 20's was scheduled to arrive back home in about three weeks.
(WRAK)

NEWPORT - In Perry County a Newport man is being charged with aggravated assault involving a shooting incident. Just before two Tuesday morning, police say 48-year-old William Nickel discharged a 12 gauge shotgun into a second story bedroom window of a home in the 400 block of North 4th Street in Newport where a woman was sleeping. The gunshot struck the wall and ceiling near the woman's bed nearly hitting the woman.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)    

WILLIAMSPORT - A Williamsport man has been arrested on charges of allegedly trying to set a fire in his home on Tuesday night. Police say 25-year-old Timothy Reed, of Hammond Place set fire to a shirt using the gas stove, and then tossed it on his basement steps. Firefighters were sent to Reed's home to investigate "a reported furnace fire," and when they arrived, "they found a smoke-filled basement and a burned shirt. Reed is free on bail facing arson charges.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

HOWARD - State Police are warning about some internet scams that are netting thieves thousands of dollars. Rockview State Police say a 57-year-old Howard man lost nine thousand dollars after he thought he purchased a vehicle using e-bay. Police say the scammers set up an elaborate Website that looks like an authentic e-bay website. After a transaction has been made the scammer then delete all account information and cease all communication.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

POTTSVILLE - In Schuylkill County, Cass-Foster Township police are searching for a man who allegedly robbed a woman at her home at knife-point around eight Tuesday morning. The woman, suffered minor injuries during the robbery and was treated by medical personnel. The robber is described by police as a white man, about 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet tall and in his 40s. Police said he has a tattoo on one of his forearms, short light brown hair, and was described as being "husky" in build. The suspect fled from the home in the 300 block of High Street in Pottsville with jewelry and a wallet.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

WILLIAMSPORT - Police in Williamsport found a man inside a Trenton Avenue home late Sunday night and have charged him with burglary. Police say a woman called them reporting someone was breaking glass at the home of John and Judy Graden. Police found 30-year-old Wayne Matthews, of Williamsport, in the second-floor bedroom of the Graden home. He's now jailed on $35,000 bail.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

ORWIGSBURG - In Schuylkill County a Cressona man had charges against him sent to court in three separate cases. 26-year-old William Kistler, is charged with three counts each of theft and receiving stolen property, and one count each of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, theft of lost property, forgery and identity theft. District Judge James Ferrier bound over all charges for Schuylkill County court. State police charge Kistler with stealing a minivan June 29th and the 30th in Cressona. In another case, they allege he stole $400 from a money box in the West Brunswick Township home of Arthur Kistler April 17th. And Orwigsburg police filed charges against Kistler in the third case, which involved a stolen credit card which was used to buy various items in Schuylkill and Berks Counties. Kistler also faces charges of robbery, and related counts for the  June 30th armed robbery of the Red&White Market on Route 61 in North Manheim Township.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

MIDDLEBURG - A Snyder County Prison inmate faces additional time in jail, fines and charges after an incident on Monday that sent on corrections officer to the hospital with bruised ribs. Refusing to obey a routine request at the Snyder County Jail 29-year-old Kevin Stuckey of Mississippi took on five correctional officers, kicking one of them in the chest. He now faces charges of aggravated assault, a felony that can be punished by up to 10 years in jail and a $25,000 fine, plus simple assault. He was returned to the Snyder County facility on $50-thosuand dollars bail. Stuckey is lodged in the Snyder County jail where he awaits a court appearance in Union County on theft charges.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

CATAWISSA - A driver with drugs in his system blamed his dead passenger for a crash last fall, but then changed his story and admitted he was behind the wheel of the fatal crash. 28-year-old Christopher Phillips, spun a tale saying 43-year-old Donnamarie Curreli's driving forced him to grab the wheel and swerve a car into a ditch on Route 42 just north of Aristes to avoid an oncoming car, on November 12th. But witnesses saw Phillips in the driver's seat, and medics could clearly see the bruising from a driver's-side seat belt across his chest. Curreli of Shenandoah was thrown from the car and was killed. Phillips appeared before District Judge Craig Long Tuesday and is facing charges of homicide by vehicle and DUI. The Press Enterprise reports, Phillips is already in the state prison at Dallas for a drug-delivery conviction in Schuylkill County.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

POTTSVILLE - A state Superior Court panel of judges has ruled that a man who murdered his wife, son and two other people in 2002 does not deserve another chance to seek a new trial. In an 18-page opinion filed Tuesday in Pottsville, the panel ruled 34-year-old Michael Bechtel, of Morea, waited more than two years too long to file his petition to withdraw his guilty plea and offered no evidence justifying the delay. The panel affirmed the September 4th ruling by county Judge D, Michael Stine dismissing Bechtel's petition. As a result, Bechtel will remain behind state prison bars for the rest of his life. Bechtel pleaded guilty on January 21st, 2004, to four counts each of first-degree murder, in the shooting deaths of 22-year-old Raienhna Bechtel, three-year-old Jacob Bechtel, 34-year-old Kristen Tragus of Lost Creek; and 30-year-old David Barkus, of Delano, on August 15th, 2002.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

DANVILLE - Montour County District Attorney Robert Buehner Jr. has busted the American Automobile Association. The Daily Item reports, the prosecutor caught AAA charging some consumers an extra $2 when they renewed their memberships without telling them how the money was to be used or any way to opt out of the charge. The extra money went to the AAA Foundation. Buehner, a longtime AAA member, filed a complaint in February 2008 with the Bureau of Consumer Protection in Harrisburg on behalf of his wife, Alice. State Attorney General Tom Corbett found AAA had violated Consumer Protection Law by sending billing and renewal statements to members without including on statements a description of the charge for the $2. And also found that AAA was adding a contribution of $2 to the foundation from automatic renewal members without obtaining their consent. In a settlement with the state, AAA agreed to pay the commonwealth $10,000 and agreed to identify on renewal statements a line about the annual fee, as well as requesting consent from members prior to automatically charging any amounts to their accounts.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

CATAWISSA - A word to motorists in Columbia County today as traffic will be delayed due to the funeral procession of a fire fighter and EMT. Locust Township Police say starting at nine this morning McIntyre Road in Catawissa Township will be closed to traffic at the intersections of Route 42, 487 and Quarry Drive. Then from around 12:30 until around 1:30 this afternoon traffic on Route 487, 42, Mill Street in Catawissa and Old Berwick Road in Columbia County will be slowed due to the funeral procession for Shawn Richendrfer. Richendrfer died at Geisinger Medical Center over the weekend following a motorcycle crash on July 4th. Motorists can expect long delays and are being asked to plan an alternate route if needing to travel through the area today.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

SHAMOKIN - Several hundred people came to Shamokin Area High School on Tuesday night to take part in a special meeting by the Northumberland Planning Commission to gather opinions about the proposed Off Highway Recreation Park. Northumberland County owns about 6,500 acres of coal land and wants to build the park to create a safe area for ATV riders and to stop illegal ATV use. Patrick Mack, Northumberland County planning director, tells the Daily Item, the county has about $250,000 for the project and has applied to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for a $3.6 million grant. The crowd was shown a Power Point slide presentation on some of the ideas for the park, including riders being able to use their off-road motorcycles, 4x4s, snowmobiles and ATVs, as well as non-motorized recreational activities, including hiking, bicycling, horseback riding, hunting and camping. While some feel the park is a great idea not everyone in the crowd thinks it's a good idea. Some citizens cited noise, pollution and safety issues as a down side to the proposal. The planning commission is expected to schedule another meeting in early fall.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

SUNBURY - A new leader is being sought for the Susquehanna  Valley's community college initiative. Lenaire Ahlum, who has volunteered countless hours toward getting a community college established since she helped found the Susquehanna Valley Community Educational Project in 2007, is stepping away from the chair at the head of the table, but remaining on the board. The Daily Item reports, the board is looking for someone who has business and governmental connections.   
Jim Diehl (WGRC)

WILLIAMSPORT - State Representative Rick Mirabito, of Lycoming County will host a public forum on the development of the Marcellus Shale on Thursday, August 5th. The representative says "While there have been several public hearings on natural gas exploration, none have given the public the opportunity to speak. This forum will allow residents most affected by drilling operations to ask questions and share their concerns."  The forum will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, August 5th at South Williamsport High School Auditorium, 700 Percy Street in South Williamsport.
Jim Diehl (WGRC)