Saturday, July 10, 2010
Hot and Dry I: Busy night for some Valley emergency responders overnight
SUNBURY – The overnight rainstorm may have been a factor in some overnight emergency calls in The Valley. Volunteer fire fighters were summoned in Sunbury for automatic alarm at the Dollar General store on Market Street in Sunbury.
There was no fire in the building and crews helped deal with an internal issue in that building. Northumberland’s ‘house siren’ alarm also sounded twice for mutual aid for Sunbury but no additional volunteers were needed.
Sunbury police also had a scattered series of calls overnight for various incidents. No major crimes were reported. Union County Communications responded to a series of scattered power outages. Most were short in duration, in Union County.
Hot and Dry II: Valley’s overnight soaker much needed
SUNBURY – Our drought parched Valley got some much-needed rain overnight. About a half-an-inch to 1.5” fell in our area (depending up on the exact location you measure). Union County rain gauges averaged about a half-inch. One Columbia County gauge measured 1.4 inches overnight.
As for our rainfall deficits, as of today, were down about a 4.5” for the past 60-days. Meaning for most of May, June and July, we would have received about 7.5 inches of rain but we only received a little over three inches.
The National Weather Service or DEP has issued no drought declarations or warnings but USGS (which also monitors ground water and rainfall levels) has issued a drought declaration primarily targeting agriculture interests. (Mark Lawrence)
Hot and Dry III: Electricity demand spikes to almost record levels
UNDATED -- As homes and businesses cranked their air conditioning over the past four days, the demand for electricity has nearly reached record-setting levels for PPL Electric Utilities. PPL spokeswoman Teri MacBride tells us levels spiked Thursday. She says around 2:00p.m., the grid peaked at 7,362 megawatts. It didn't quite reach a record, which was set August 1, 2006, when the peak was 7,554.
MacBride says the electric grid is functioning very well, and during this week's extreme hot weather, the company brought in extra personnel to respond to any local problems. MacBride says there were no major issues. MacBride says customers can help keep electricity use down themselves. Some tips include keeping thermostats at around 75 degrees, pull down window shades, and limit the use of lights and laundry appliances. (Sara Bartlett)
Hot and Dry IV: Burn ban violator cited after fire spreads to field
MILTON -- An East Chillisquaque Township woman is being cited after violating Northumberland County's ban on outdoor burning. State troopers say 44-year-old Natalya Karpeshov was burning household rubbish Friday at about 7:00 p.m., when the fire spread to a nearby field.
The Pottsgrove Fire Company responded to the fire, off of Dance Hall Road. Northumberland County's burn ban went into effect Thursday afternoon. Snyder, Union and Northumberland Counties all have a burn ban in effect. (Matt Farrand)
Propane truck loses brakes, crashes
SHAMOKIN – We first told you with WKOK News Alert that Route 125 in East Cameron Township was closed for about four hours Friday afternoon. The road was closed after a truck carrying propane rolled over and struck a tree.
State troopers say they will continue to investigate, but the truck may have lost its brakes and its driver was unable to negotiate a curve while traveling downhill. 46-year-old Scott Wieand of Milton sustained minor injuries in the 4:00 p.m. crash, and was taken to Geisinger Medical Center via Area Ambulance. Troopers say charges may be filed pending results of their investigation. (Matt Farrand)
Democrat supports limited amnesty for illegal immigrants
SUNBURY – The divisive immigration issue came on our talkshow Friday and one man running for U. S. Senate says he is not in favor of Arizona controversial new law. Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7th, Media) is a Democrat running for the US Senate seat currently held by Democrat Arlen Specter, and was a phone guest on Friday's On The Mark program.
Sestak opposes the Arizona law that allows police to question the immigration status of people who are already suspected of other crimes, and supports a limited amnesty program proposed a few years ago by then-president Bush, and US Senators John McCain and Ted Kennedy. The retired naval officer says border patrol officers can use the images generated from unmanned aircraft to find people crossing the border with Mexico illegally.
Sestak's support of the replacement of General Stanley McChrystal as US leader in Afghanistan and extension of benefits for the long term unemployed were also among the topics covered. You can hear Friday's On The Mark program in its entirety online at www.wkok.com. (Matt Farrand)
The health of the Chesapeake Bay is improving
UNDATED – Water quality is improving along the Chesapeake Bay according to Chesapeake Bay Foundation president and CEO Will Baker, who was a recent guest on WKOK’s Leaders & Lawmakers program. Baker says underwater grasses have never been as abundant as they are now in the last 25 to 30 years.
He says blue crabs have rebounded in the last two years and the so called “dead zones,” which are parts of the bay that have very low dissolved oxygen, have been retreating. Also, there are some early signs that oysters may be developing a resistance to two toxins that had decimated their population.
However, Baker says there is still much work to be done. Baker says the Chesapeake is still a system dangerously out of balance. The bay area adds about 1.5-million new residents every decade, which means you have to work faster to keep the bay healthy.
Baker says we can do plenty to help the condition of the Susquehanna River, which dumps into the Chesapeake Bay. Something as simple as what you drive can make a difference in the health of the bay. You can hear more from Baker on the state of the Chesapeake Bay from a recent Leaders & Lawmakers program online at www.wkok.com. (Ali Stevens)
94KX Cares for Kids Radiothon will soon be here
SUNBURY – As the 94KX Cares for Kids Radiothon draws closer, we will start to meet and preview the stories of some of the Miracle Children that will be featured during the three day event at the end of the month.
Chloe Dickson of Sunbury is 9-months-old and was born with Spina Bifida, a birth defect that involves the incomplete development of the spinal cord or its coverings. She is now crawling and wearing braces on her feet so she will soon be able to stand.
However, Chloe still faces serious health challenges, living her life with one kidney and a very fragile spine. Her mother, Jessica is also balancing a busy schedule, taking care of Chloe’s health needs, while also raising her two other children, 7-year-old Trent and 5-year-old Savannah.
Jason Dickson says he wouldn’t change a thing because Chloe is their special little girl and they love her no matter what. Jessica Dickson says the Children’s Miracle Network is special to them because of the care they received for Chloe at the Janet Weis Children’s Hospital.
Find out more about Chloe Dickson and other area Miracle Children during the 94KX Cares for Kids Radiothon, which will be held July 30th, and 31st and August 1st at the Susquehanna Valley Mall, to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network.
Saturday will feature Ashley’s Auction at the mall with hundreds of items to bid on as part of the massive silent auction that raised more than $13,000 last year. There will also be a Princess and Pirate Party at the mall that day for all children to attend. Find out more about the 94KX Cares for Kids Radiothon in the coming weeks here on WKOK. (Ali Stevens)
Roundtable this weekend goes on a ‘REAL’ diet
SUNBURY – Roundtable goes on the road to Geisinger this weekend as we find out about the Medical Center’s latest effort to combat childhood obesity. The REAL program stands for Recording, Eating, Activity and lifestyle change.
The effort involves physicians, counselors, children and their families working together to make long-term lifestyle changes. The goal of the program is to reduce obesity immediately and alter eating habits for a lifetime. You can hear Roundtable this weekend on WKOK and on www.wkok.com.
Latest Pennsylvania news, sports, business and entertainment
PITTSBURGH (AP) - A string of thunderstorms across Pennsylvania brought relief from the recent heat wave but also caused some flooding. The National Weather Service estimates about two inches of rain fell in the State College area in one hour yesterday evening. The agency issued a flood advisory for Bedford, Huntingdon and Fulton counties, and parts of Mifflin and Blair counties. There were reports of streets and basements flooded in some areas around Pittsburgh. Some areas received more than one inch of rain and temperatures were expected to drop into the 60s. In the Pittsburgh suburb of Oakmont, heavy rain caused play to be suspended for the day at the U.S. Women's Open.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Two days after a barge crashed into a stopped tourist boat, leaving two Hungarian tourists missing, authorities in Philadelphia have recovered two bodies from the Delaware River -- including a girl identified as one of the victims. Identification of the second body is pending. The body of a girl later identified as 16-year-old Dora Schwendtner was spotted by a crew on a fishing boat before dawn yesterday about two miles downriver from the site of Wednesday's crash. The second body was retrieved yesterday afternoon, after a barge brought in to help to lift the duck boat off the river's bottom was moved. Authorities could not immediately confirm whether the body was that of 20-year-old Szabolcs Prem -- the other missing Hungarian tourist.
DUBOIS, Pa. (AP) - Tuition is going up again at Penn State. The Board of Trustees has approved a tuition increase of 5.9 percent for freshmen and sophomores from Pennsylvania enrolled at the main University Park campus in State College. That represents an $800 increase per year to about $14,400. Tuition will rise 4.5 percent, or by roughly $1,100, for out-of-state freshmen and sophomores to more than $26,000 a year. University president Graham Spanier says the school is trying to keep tuition as low as possible despite rising costs and stagnant state funding. Trustees approved tuition and the university system's $4 billion budget at a meeting yesterday in DuBois. The budget includes modest faculty and staff pay raises following a salary freeze last year.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner says a newly signed bill does virtually nothing to improve the makeup of the 20-member board of the state's student-aid agency. Gov. Ed Rendell signed the bill yesterday; a day after Wagner asked him to veto it. Wagner had advocated for eight lawmakers on the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency's board to be replaced by top banking and economic development advisers to the governor, college and university leaders and a student. The bill calls for no more than four of the board's 16 legislators to be replaced by a non-legislator, and such an appointment can only be made if a legislator wants to leave. PHEAA has come under fire in recent years for its high executive salaries and spending on lavish board retreats.
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. (AP) - Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett says some Pennsylvanians would rather collect unemployment checks than go back to work. During a campaign stop in Elizabethtown yesterday, Corbett told Harrisburg radio station WITF that jobs are available, but some construction companies told him laid-off workers refused to come back until their unemployment checks run out. Democratic candidate Dan Onorato says Corbett's comments are unfair to Pennsylvanians who are struggling with the pain of joblessness. He says Corbett's comments show he doesn't recognize that this is a problem. A state Labor and Industry Department spokesman says unemployment provides temporary payments of about half of a worker's weekly pay, up to a maximum of $564. Spokesman David Smith says recipients can't refuse any offer of suitable employment.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Update on the latest in business
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The Interior Department is offering oil and gas leases on 1.8 million acres of Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve while promising to protect critical migratory bird and caribou habitat. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says the Bureau of Land Management will offer 190 tracts with bids to be opened Aug. 11 in Anchorage. The sale is one of dozens, mostly in Western states, that Salazar announced in November. The petroleum reserve covers 23 million acres on Alaska's North Slope. That's an area slightly smaller than the state of Indiana. The BLM withdrew for consideration lands in a buffer zone around Teshekpuk Lake because of its importance to migratory birds. Eric Myers of Audubon Alaska says the agency took a reasonable approach with its measures to protect birds and calving caribou.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - The Associated Press has found H.J. Heinz CEO William Johnson's total compensation value rose more than 6 percent in the company's most recent fiscal year. An Associated Press calculation of a regulatory filing found Johnson's total compensation grew from nearly $14 million to $14.9 million. Heinz said Friday that the compensation reflects the CEO's leadership and the company's strong results.
The Associated Press attempts to isolate the value of the CEO's total compensation, including salary, bonus, perks, stocks and other items. It does not include changes in the present value of pension benefits and may differ from the company's calculated total. Heinz is based in Pittsburgh.
NEW YORK (AP) - Stock prices rose for a fourth straight session. The Dow gained 59 points to 10,198. The S&P added nearly 8 points and the Nasdaq surged 21 points. The Dow chalked up a 5 percent gain this week.
BEIJING (AP) - Google has won renewed permission to operate in China. The matter had been in question after Google began automatically redirecting users in China to an uncensored Hong Kong search site. But the company dismantled the virtual bridge to Hong Kong last week after regulators objected to the sleight of hand and threatened to revoke its Internet license.
DETROIT (AP) - A decade ago, Chrysler's PT Cruiser blazed on to the scene with an unusual retro look. The last Cruiser today rolled off the assembly line in Mexico after years of declining popularity. Chrysler sold only 18,000 of them last year.
UNDATED (AP) - Oil prices have gained ground for three days running, helped by improving stock prices and lower crude supplies. Benchmark crude added 65 cents to settle at $76.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Hopes are riding high that the Gulf oil spill could be effectively contained soon. The federal official leading the effort says between a new containment cap and additional ship collecting oil, leaking crude could be contained beginning next week.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Pennsylvania Lottery Number
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - These Pennsylvania lotteries were drawn Friday:
Big 4
8-1-0-7
Cash 5
03-06-11-25-40
Daily Number
2-1-6
Evening Quinto
9-2-8-3-3
Mega Millions
01-31-33-34-50, Mega Ball: 41
Megaplier
4
Midday Big 4
6-1-7-6
Midday Number
0-2-8
Midday Quinto
9-3-0-7-4
Treasure Hunt
01-07-18-20-30
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Boston judge cuts penalty in song-sharing case
BOSTON (AP) - A federal judge has drastically trimmed a $675,000 verdict against a Boston University graduate student who was found guilty of illegally downloading and sharing songs online. Judge Nancy Gertner on Friday cut a jury's damage award against Joel Tenenbaum of Providence, R.I., to $67,500, saying it was "unconstitutionally excessive" and "wholly out-of-proportion." Music companies who said he violated copyright rules sued Tenenbaum. He admitted downloading songs between 1999 and 2007. The jury found him guilty and assessed the damage award last July. His lawyers appealed, calling the award "severe" and "oppressive." Gertner said the reduced penalty is still severe enough to deter illegal file sharing and adequately compensate the companies. A spokeswoman for the plaintiffs did not immediately return calls for comment. Tenenbaum said Friday he was happy Gertner recognized the award is unconstitutional.
Website posts recording of racist Gibson rant
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A celebrity website has posted audio of a recording it says is Mel Gibson engaging in a racist and sexist rant toward his ex-girlfriend. The recording posted Friday by RadarOnline.com includes segments in which a man's voice that sounds distinctively like the Academy Award-winner is heard telling his then-girlfriend, Russian singer Oksana Grigorieva, that she looks like a "whore." The man then uses the N-word. The website reported that the recording was made by Grigorieva. The former couple is engaged in a bitter custody dispute, and the singer has accused Gibson of physical abuse. Detectives are looking into her claims. RadarOnline has been posting transcripts of audio it says it obtained of Gibson ranting and threatening Grigorieva, but Friday's post is the first time the actual recording was released.
Come on, baby! Checker marks 50 years of the Twist
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Fifty years to the day after the release of the hip-swiveling tune "The Twist," the man who made it famous is celebrating in his hometown. Chubby Checker performed Friday at a free noontime concert at Philadelphia City Hall. About 1,000 people enthusiastically joined in on the gyrations. The singer even invited some onstage. The 68-year-old Checker says it's a celebration of 50 years of people dancing on the floor by themselves. He says it was the first time people danced without a partner.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)