Friday, March 12, 2010

Spring flooding in Pennsylvania

UNDATED – With steady rain expected throughout Pennsylvania this weekend, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency is reminding residents to monitor water levels. Although our area is expecting less rain, PEMA Director Robert French says there are some flood warnings.

French says those across the state in more flood prone areas should always be ready, just in case, with an emergency kit including with water, batteries, flashlight and a radio. AccuWeather says rain can be heavy at times, especially into Saturday morning, which could push steams out of their banks. For more information on flood preparedness you can go online to www.readypa.org. (Sara Bartlett)

Shik school debt carries uncertain tax consequences

SUNBURY – The Shikellamy School District hopes plans to finance improvements at district buildings will not be derailed by a spike in energy prices, or other unforeseen expense. The school board approved issuing a total of $3 million dollars in bonds Thursday night.

That includes $2.6 million dollars for energy saving projects experts say will pay for themselves. However, Business Manager David Sinopoli says the tax consequences of the new debt are still uncertain, as is the exact impact it will have on finances.

Sinopoli says the next step is to sit down with a financial advisor and decide whether the district will start to pay down the debt in the upcoming budget year, or after savings from the long-term project start to be noticed. Sinopoli hopes energy savings realized from better lighting, and conversion from oil to natural gas heat in district buildings will prevent having to raise taxes.

Work on some of the project is expected to start this year. Replacement of a boiler installed when the CW Rice Middle School was built in the 1950’s is among projects to be financed. $400,000 of Thursday’s bond issue will cover other improvements across the district, including improvements to security and interiors at some school buildings. (Matt Farrand)

PPL: Power line will improve service in our area

BERWICK – A new PPL power line will cross Northumberland County. Three possible routes for the 12-mile power line were announced last year, and it was announced Thursday that the new line will cross the Susquehanna River in an area about two miles south of Dalmatia.

The line will connect an existing line east of Dalmatia to another existing line near Richfield, Snyder County. A new substation will also be built near Meiserville. The new line and substation will improve service for customers in Northumberland, Snyder and Juniata Counties.

There will be two public meetings to discuss the project. The first will be held Wednesday, March 24th at 5:00p.m. at the St. Thomas Independent Brethren Christ Church in Mount Pleasant Mills. The second is Thursday March 25th at 5:00p.m. at Hickory Corners and Community Fire Company in Dalmatia. (Sara Bartlett)

GSVCC hosts Maryland gov and gives annual awards

SELINSGROVE – The Greater Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce hosted their annual meeting Thursday at Susquehanna University. Several awards were given including the 2009 Business of the Year Award, which went to Mifflinburg Bank & Trust, founded in 1872 and has since expanded to employ 80 people at five local branches.

The Small Business of the Year Award went to Keystone Mobile Shredding of Williamsport, founded by Rick and Karen Metz in August of 2002.

The Karen L. Hackman Star of Excellence Volunteer of the Year Award went to Judi Karr, director of public relations and marketing at Nottingham Village in Northumberland. Karr is a volunteer on the chamber’s special events committee and serves as a member of the Chamber Ambassador Team, along with many other volunteer positions.

The Dan Foss Heritage Award was given to Charlie Benner, chairman of the Governmental Relations Committee for the Snyder County Farm Bureau. The award is given to someone with outstanding commitment and leadership within the chamber.

The guest speaker at the annual meeting was former Maryland Governor, Bob Ehrlich, who spoke about the importance of small business in political decision- making. WKOK has audio excerpts from Ehrlich and the award recipients in newscasts later today and tomorrow morning. (Ali Stevens)

100 new jobs coming to Shamokin

SHAMOKIN – A Shamokin production plant is expecting to add 100 new employees thanks to a partnership with a 3D glasses company. D/E Associates, Inc will soon begin manufacturing a new kind of 3D glasses for the big screen and home high definition TV market. Co-Owner of D/E, George DeLellis, says this is the first product of its kind in the United States, and it’s in a market that is booming.

He says they will work hard to keep up with the demand of the new product. DeLellis says in recent years, overseas competition has eroded D/E’s market share and profit margins, and he hopes this new production will help out the company, bringing more jobs to the region. He says after adding equipment and ramping up the facility, they should have 100 new employees by the end of the year.

DeLellis says they will begin production on a limited scale next week. According to D/E’s partner company, 3D Global Glasses LLC, there are 2 million TVs that are 3D ready in the U.S., and an additional 25 million are expected to be sold by the end of the year. (Sara Bartlett)

Grant could help fix Penns Creek sewer plant

PENNS CREEK – Snyder County is onboard with applying for a state grant that could bring in money to fix the wastewater treatment plant in Penns Creek. Snyder County Commissioners say the community development block grant would be a great help to the project, but it is a competitive grant, but it is a competitive grant throughout the state. The grant would be worth $500,000.

The plant are required by DEP. Changes would include upgrades to take out organic compounds in order to meet new DEP requirements. The Snyder County Commissioners have already allocated about $50,000 to be used in early work at the plant, and there are other loans and grants that could be obtained. The process of getting the CDBG grant could take nearly a year. (Sara Bartlett)

Cemetery vandal to stand trial

BLOOMSBURG – A Wilburton man has been ordered to stand trial after police say he vandalized a cemetery in Centralia, causing more than $8,000 in damages. 19-year-old David Pavloski is charged along with three teen girls for toppling about 65 tombstones at the Odd Fellows Cemetery in December.

Officials say some of the tombstones were more than 100 years old and are irreplaceable. Pavloski was in court Wednesday and gave up his right to a preliminary hearing. He is locked up in the Columbia County Prison on other charges. The teen girls will face their charges in juvenile court. (Ali Stevens)

Candidate didn’t quit

SUNBURY – A Sunbury man who was expected to be on the Republican ballot for the 108th legislative district says he didn’t “quit”. Stanley Geiswhite tells us the State Department disregarded 100 signatures he obtained for technicalities that he should have been permitted to fix.

He says he was told to go back to all 100 people and get them to sign a new petition. Geiswhite say it took until Sunday night to get all the signatures needed and he had no time to correct the problems the State Department identified to meet this week’s deadline.

Geiswhite says the process is designed by lawyers and not for “the common man” and he will know better in the future. (Ali Stevens)

Latest Pennsylvania news, lottery, business and entertainment

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Republicans in Pennsylvania have nominated a political newcomer to fill the congressional seat of the late Rep. John Murtha. Forty-one-year-old Tim Burns is a millionaire businessman and a native of Murtha's hometown of Johnstown. Burns now lives in the town of Eighty Four. Burns beat out retired Army officer Bill Russell, who mounted a strong challenge against Murtha in 2008. Burns bested Russell 85 to 46 at a GOP meeting Thursday at St. Vincent College near Latrobe. Burns will face Democrat Mark Critz in the May 18 special election to fill the remaining eight months of Murtha's term. Critz was Murtha's former district director. The district represents a large swath of southwestern Pennsylvania. Murtha died Feb. 8 following complications from gallbladder surgery.

SUTERSVILLE, Pa. (AP) - Just weeks after dealing with record-setting snowfall, residents in Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Jersey are preparing for the possibility of flooding. A large portion of Pennsylvania and all of New Jersey is under a flood watch. Parts of Ohio, along the Ohio River, are under a watch, too, with the threat of heavy rain combining with melting snowpack. The National Weather Service says warm weather and several days of rain will cause deep snow in the mountains to melt. Flooding in Pittsburgh could begin Friday night, and the Ohio River in the city is forecast to crest about two feet above flood stage on Sunday afternoon. River towns south and east of Pittsburgh are especially vulnerable to snowmelt coming downstream from the mountains. The Army Corps of Engineer's Pittsburgh district said it has 107,000 sandbags and 650 linear feet of temporary floodwall available.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Defense closing arguments are over in the six-week-old public corruption trial in Harrisburg. Lawyers for the four defendants argued today that jurors should acquit their clients of theft, conspiracy and conflict of interest. Former state Rep. Mike Veon and ex-aides Brett Cott, Steve Keefer and Annamarie Perretta-Rosepink are accused of diverting state resources and employees to wage political campaigns. The prosecution's closing is scheduled to begin Friday morning. Jury deliberations are expected to begin later in the day.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A state judge will not grant an injunction stopping new changes to Pennsylvania's residential and commercial building codes. Commonwealth Court Judge Johnny Butler said in a Wednesday order that the petition by the Pennsylvania Builders Association and private developers does nothing to address the underlying issue they are citing. The builders' January lawsuit is still standing. It says changes written by an outside code commission and adopted Dec. 31 by the state is an unconstitutional delegation of lawmaking authority. It also says the recent code updates, such as a requirement for fire sprinklers in new homes, will increase construction costs and hurt homebuyers. But Butler says the 2006 codes to which the builders and developers want to return were also produced by the same process that they call unconstitutional.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Update on the latest in business

WORLD MARKETS Asian stocks are mixed

HONG KONG (AP) - Asian stock markets were mixed Friday as investors held out for additional clues to the strength of economic recovery. Most markets were little changed, a recent pattern that analysts say reflects uncertainty surrounding the U.S. rebound, China's policies and debt troubles in Europe. Many investors are awaiting further insight into the state of the U.S. economy. Reports due out Friday on retail sales and consumer sentiment could provide information about the current spending appetites of Americans at a time of high unemployment. The sideways trade comes after global markets were mostly higher the day before, with gains limited amid wariness after China may start raising interest rates to keep a lid on mounting inflationary pressures. The source of concerns was a report showing inflation in the fast-growing economy jumped last month. In Japan, Nikkei 225 stock average was up 0.8 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was off 0.1 percent and South Korea's benchmark was flat. Shanghai's market was also little changed, while Australia inched up 0.1 percent and India rose 0.3 percent.

OIL PRICES Crude hovers above $82

SINGAPORE (AP) - Oil prices hovered above $82 a barrel Friday in Asia as investors mulled whether extending a month long rally is justified amid evidence of weak U.S. crude demand. Benchmark crude for April delivery was up 8 cents to $82.19 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 2 cents to settle at $82.11 on Thursday. Crude has jumped 18 percent from $69.59 a barrel on Feb. 5 as economic data pointed to slow but steady U.S. economic growth. However, high crude inventories belie a rosy economic outlook, and suggest consumer spending remains sluggish. In London, Brent crude was up 11 cents at $80.39 on the ICE futures exchange.

DAY AHEAD-ECONOMY Reports due on retail sales, business inventories

WASHINGTON (AP) - The government tells us today how retail sales fared last month. Analysts look for a decline of 0.2 percent. Excluding autos, a slight gain is expected. Also today, the Commerce Department weighs in on January business inventories. They are seen posting a slight gain.

BANK CLOSURE Regulators shut LibertyPointe Bank in NYC

WASHINGTON (AP) - Regulators have shut down LibertyPointe Bank in New York City, boosting to 27 the number of bank failures in the U.S. so far this year following the 140 brought down in 2009 by mounting loan defaults and the recession. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Thursday took over LibertyPointe, with three branches, $209.7 million in assets and $209.5 million in deposits. Valley National Bank, based in Wayne, N.J., agreed to assume the assets and deposits of the failed bank. In addition, the FDIC and Valley National Bank agreed to share losses on $181.5 million of LibertyPointe Bank's loans and other assets.

US REGULATOR-WALL STREET SEC head urges Congress to act on derivatives

WASHINGTON (AP) - The government's top securities regulator is calling anew for Congress to impose new oversight on financial derivatives, warning that allowing risky instruments like credit default swaps to continue unfettered could bring new economic damage. The chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mary Schapiro, says banks that deal in the swaps must be subject to rigorous requirements for holding capital and business conduct, and price information must be transparent. Schapiro made the statement as credit default swaps, a form of insurance against loan defaults, have come under heightened scrutiny in the US and Europe. The leaders of France, Germany and Greece on Thursday called for a clampdown on trading in the swaps, blamed for worsening Greece's debt crisis.

TOYOTA RECALL-SAFETY Gov't may seek more authority on vehicle safety

WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. government vehicle safety regulators may seek greater authority to investigate defects in cars and trucks. The question arises after Toyota's recall of more than 8 million vehicles for safety problems. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration chief David Strickland says the agency will take a "hard look" at the power it has to set safety standards for automakers. He says the current authority, acquired in the 1960s and 1970s, may not be enough to oversee the technology used in modern vehicles. Strickland says the government may also require automakers to include brake override systems, a fix intended to prevent the type of runaway car incidents that some Toyota drivers have described.

GM-LUTZ GM's Lutz says hybrids, electrics are future

WARREN, Mich. - General Motors' retiring vice chairman says GM will keep making big trucks and SUVs because U.S. buyers demand them. But Bob Lutz says a major portion of them soon will be gas-electric hybrids. He says GM must apply hybrid technology to more vehicles to meet revised fuel-economy standards coming in 2020. Lutz, who steps down May 1, has some regrets. He overhauled Saturn and Pontiac, two brands that GM has decided to drop. He says Saturn had a world-class lineup, but GM didn't have the money to market it properly. Still, he says he supports the decision to dump the brands. Lutz says his proudest achievement is the plug-in electric Chevrolet Volt, which is due out later this year The Volt can go 40 miles on an electrical charge.

GMAC-CEO PAY GMAC CEO will receive no cash salary for 2010

WASHINGTON (AP) - The CEO of bailed-out auto finance giant GMAC Inc. will receive no cash salary for 2010 and will be compensated in restricted stock, under a deal approved by Obama administration pay czar Kenneth Feinberg, according to people familiar with the matter. The package appears to be less generous than one Feinberg approved for GMAC CEO Michael Carpenter late last year, say the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter. Carpenter took the CEO job in November and received compensation worth about $1.2 million for the last six weeks of 2009 - including restricted stock and about $120,000 in cash - according to company filings. That is equivalent to an annual salary of $9.5 million.

REPUBLIC AIRWAYS-FRONTIER-LABOR Republic hits speed bump with Frontier mechanics

MILWAUKEE (AP) - The union for mechanics at Frontier Airlines is going to court over plans to shift their work to Milwaukee. Republic Airways bought Frontier last year and wants to move Frontier's maintenance operation from Denver to Milwaukee. Work on other jets owned by Republic is already done in Milwaukee. But the Teamsters, who represent Frontier mechanics, say their contract guarantees that they do that maintenance work. They say that Republic is offering to transfer mechanics to Milwaukee, but they would no longer be in the union. Republic has not yet responded to the request for a court order enforcing their contract, which was filed late Wednesday in federal court in Milwaukee. A Republic spokesman says the company has no comment.

COMCAST-NBC Feds pledge tough review of Comcast-NBC deal

WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal regulators promise rigorous reviews of Comcast's proposed purchase of NBC Universal. At issue is whether it will hurt competition or consumers. Both the Justice Department's antitrust chief and the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission offered no indication at a hearing what the outcome of those reviews could be. Many lawmakers and industry analysts expect regulators to approve the deal with conditions to prevent a combined company from abusing its market power. Comcast seeks government approval to acquire a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal from GE. Comcast already owns some cable TV channels, including E! Entertainment and the Golf Channel. NBC Universal owns the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, along with cable channels including Bravo and Oxygen as well as the Universal Pictures movie studio.

VERISIGN-INFRASTRUCTURE UPGRADE VeriSign to spend more than $300M on tech upgrades

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - VeriSign Inc. - whose technology is key to allowing Internet users to access Web sites - says it plans to pour more than $300 million over the next decade into upgrading its infrastructure. The upgrades will allow VeriSign's computers to handle up to 4 quadrillion requests per day from computers trying to reach those sites. That's a thousand times more lookups than the company can currently handle. VeriSign Chief Technology Officer Ken Silva says the latest changes are needed to keep up with ballooning Internet traffic and spikes in traffic caused by major news events and computer attacks.

BROOKLYN ARENA Officials break ground for NJ Nets' Brooklyn arena

NEW YORK (AP) - Officials have broken ground on a New York City development project including a $1 billion arena for the New Jersey Nets basketball team amid hollers and whistles of the project's opponents. Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz calls Thursday a "great day for Brooklyn." Markowitz joined Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Gov. David Paterson and hundreds of others for a celebration of the launch of the $4.9 billion, 22-acre Atlantic Yards project. The project has been delayed by lawsuits filed by residents fighting the use of eminent domain. The basketball arena is supposed to open in 2012. Supporters have lauded what they say will be the positive economic impact of the project. Paterson says it will create 16,000 construction jobs and 5,500 permanent jobs.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Pennsylvania Lottery Numbers

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - These Pennsylvania lotteries were drawn on Thursday:

Big 4 1-1-6-8

Cash 5 01-05-13-20-30

Daily Number 5-3-9

Evening Quinto 9-8-1-0-4

Midday Big 4 8-3-8-0

Midday Number 6-0-5

Midday Quinto 3-1-9-4-6

Mix and Match 03-19-16-11-01

Treasure Hunt 04-13-19-23-30

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Court upholds 'under God' in pledge, 'In God We Trust' on money

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal appeals court has ruled that the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance and "In God We Trust" on U.S. currency do not violate separation of church and state. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel rejected the two legal challenges by Michael Newdow, who claimed that the references to God disrespect his atheist beliefs. The same court had ruled in Newdow's favor in 2002 after he sued his daughter's school district over student recitation of the pledge.

That lawsuit reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 2004, but the high court ruled that Newdow lacked the legal standing to sue because he didn't have custody of his daughter. So Newdow, who's a lawyer, filed a new challenge on behalf of other parents. But the appeals court ruled 2-1 Thursday that the words "under God" in the pledge are constitutional. In a separate 3-0 ruling, the court upheld the words "In God We Trust" on coins and currency.

Tom Hanks: Would our teens behave as well in "The Pacific?" 

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - Especially since "The Pacific" is based on the World War II experiences of three real-life veterans, Tom Hanks hopes that people watch the mini-series on a personal level. He says "when you see it, you'll ask yourself, 'I don't know what I would have done in that same circumstance. I recognize that fear in that person's face."

And, the last connection Hanks hopes viewers make is to say they can see correlations "between the choices that those 17-year-olds made then and what 17-year-olds are making today." "The Pacific" premieres Sunday on HBO and repeats Monday on DirecTV. There are 10 episodes.

Obama-Nobel Money

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama has announced which groups will get the $1.4 million he received for winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Obama said Thursday that $250,000 will go to Fisher House, a national nonprofit that houses families whose loved ones are receiving care at Veterans Administration medical centers. He will give another $200,000 to the Bush-Clinton Haiti Fund to help the country recover from the earthquake. The balance will go to an array of other groups including education foundations, scholarship funds and regional development groups in Africa and Central Asia.

PETA Trash Cans

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - The animal rights group PETA is offering to help the cash-strapped city of Colorado Springs by paying to put trash cans back in parks - on one condition. The cans have to carry an anti-meat slogan and a picture of a woman in a lettuce bikini. The city stopped picking up trash in parks to save money, and all the trash cans have been removed.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals told city officials Wednesday they'd pay for new trash cans saying "Meat Trashes the Planet" and "Go Vegan." The cans also have PETA's logo and the lettuce-clad model. Mayor Lionel Rivera says he'll consider the offer if PETA also pays to have the trash picked up and hauled to the dump. But he joked that the Colorado Beef Council might demand equal time.