MIDSTATE NEWS

News from Harrisburg, Cumberland, Dauphin, York & more

Hershey man missing after boat capsizes in Delaware

by The Associated Press

Friday October 10, 2008, 5:30 PM

LEWES, Del. -- The Coast Guard said three boat crews and a helicopter are searching for a man reported missing after an 18-foot boat capsized off Lewes.

Petty Officer Crystalynn Kneen said the incident was reported about 5:50 p.m. Thursday when another boater reported finding a capsized boat and five people in the water. The boater rescued the five, but could not locate Bruce Weaver of Derry Twp.

Kneen said the search involves local authorities, a Coast Guard helicopter from Atlantic City, 47-foot and 41-foot lifeboats from Cape May, N.J., and Indian River-based Coast Guard cutter Ibis.

Kneen said Weaver was reportedly wearing a life jacket. More information is expected Friday afternoon after the Coast Guard interviews the survivors.

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State budget freezes hits state's public universities

by JAN MURPHY, The Patriot-News

Friday October 10, 2008, 5:22 PM

Pennsylvania's public universities face the potential of receiving less state money than was promised as a result of the state's revenue picture, and this could result in higher tuition increases down the road.

While officials from the state university system, Penn State, Pitt, Temple and Lincoln universities scramble to identify cuts in case a 4.25 percent reduction in state aid becomes necessary, they said it's too early to know the impact this could have on 2009-10 tuition.

However, as a general rule, tuition rates at public universities are linked to their state aid, said Ron Cowell, president of the Harrisburg-based Education Policy and Leadership Center.

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State aging secretary resigns

by The Associated Press

Friday October 10, 2008, 4:46 PM

Pennsylvania's secretary of aging for the past six years announced Friday she will leave the office, and Gov. Ed Rendell announced someone to succeed her on an acting basis. Nora Dowd Eisenhower's resignation will take effect at the end of the month. Dowd Eisenhower, 54, will return to the private sector.

John Michael Hall, who heads the state's Office of Long Term Living, was appointed acting secretary. He was Maine's deputy commissioner for health, integrated access and strategy and worked in social services and legal aid in Vermont.

Rendell praised Dowd Eisenhower for helping expand a program that subsidizes prescription drugs for older residents. She also oversaw an effort to reach underserved populations and adapt services for the needs of baby boomers.

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Late rally fades as stocks close in negative territory

by JEANNINE AVERSA, Of The Associated Press

Friday October 10, 2008, 4:45 PM

MARK LENNIHAN, The Associated PressTourists visit Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange in the financial district today. Stock prices swung sharply on Wall Street all day.

NEW YORK — Stock markets jolted still lower in the United States and around the world today despite all efforts to slow the selling stampede, and the globe's industrial powers urgently debated forceful new steps in Washington to prevent a worldwide economic catastrophe.

A sign of how bad things have gotten: A drop of more than 120 points in the Dow Jones industrials was greeted with sighs of relief after the index had plummeted much further earlier in the day.

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Jury finds West Perry School Board member guilty of involuntary manslaughter

by Joe Elias, The Patriot-News

Friday October 10, 2008, 4:37 PM

A Perry County jury found a West Perry School Board member guilty this afternoon of involuntary manslaughter, a first degree misdemeanor, for the 2006 crash involving a school bus that killed a district teacher's aide.

The jury acquitted Ricky Lee Smiley, 42, of Centre Twp., on the charge of homicide by vehicle, a felony of the third degree. Smiley was the driver of a bus involved in the Sept. 26, 2006, accident in Spring Twp.

District Attorney Charles Chenot said Smiley faces a sentence of probation to six to eight months in county prison when he's sentenced later this year. Chenot said Smiley will most get to keep his license to drive a bus because of the homicide by vehicle acquittal and keep his seat on the school board because he was not convicted of a felony.

The jury deliberated for about 90 minutes before reaching its decision.

The crash killed Susan E. Switaj, 39, of Landisburg, a teacher's aide at New Bloomfield Elementary School in the West Perry district.

Joe EliasInvestigators search through the wreckage of the crash that killed Susan Switaj on Sept. 26, 2006. Rickey Lee Smiley,42, a West Perry School board member who was driving the school bus that collided with Switaj was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter Friday afternoon by a Perry County jury

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Shippensburg University student reports sexual assault

by ELIZABETH GIBSON, Of Our Cumberland County Bureau

Friday October 10, 2008, 4:18 PM

A campus sexual assault on a Shippensburg University student has local, state and university police searching for the attacker.

A female student was assaulted while walking near Old Main Drive and Old Main Circle after class Thursday evening, university officials said. Her attacker is described as a white man in his mid-to-late 20s, about 5 feet 11 inches tall and 200 pounds with broad shoulders, short blond hair and a goatee.

He was driving a black, Chevrolet pickup truck, possibly a Silverado from model years 2000 to 2003.

Officials said they believe that the assault was not random. Extra campus patrols are being made and the residence hall association has increased escort van service. Information: 717 477-1444.

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Crashes block traffic in Lower Paxton, Susquehanna

by MATTHEW KEMENY, Of The Patriot-News

Friday October 10, 2008, 4:02 PM

Minor crashes were causing traffic delays in Susquehanna and Lower Paxton townships.

Two cars crashed about 4 p.m. at Locust Lane and Walnut Street in Susquehanna Twp. No one was hurt, but the cars were blocking traffic, officials said.

A few minutes before that, a pair of cars collided at Spring Creek and Dowhower roads in Lower Paxton. There were minor injuries in that crash, which also blocked traffic.

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Bogart the cat seems good as new, owner says

by ELIZABETH GIBSON, Of Our Cumberland County Bureau

Friday October 10, 2008, 3:24 PM

SubmittedBogart, shown here after surgery to remove a lung destroyed by the bullet of an unknown gunman, is back to his old, playful self, according to owner Rebecca Smyser, of Mechanicsburg.

Not only is Bogart the cat back to his old self, donors concerned about his recovery, after a Labor Day attack on the Mechanicsburg pet, have brought his veterinary bill down by $5,000.

Bogart, an abandoned tabby adopted by Rebecca Smyser and her family, slipped briefly outside that Monday but was quickly retrieved by his owners.

However, they soon saw he was limping and struggling to breathe.

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PPL applies to build nuclear plant near Berwick

by The Associated Press

Friday October 10, 2008, 2:23 PM

ALLENTOWN -- PPL Corp. said it has asked federal regulators for permission to build and operate a new nuclear plant in northeastern Pennsylvania.

The Allentown-based utility said the Bell Bend nuclear plant would be built near the company's existing two-unit Susquehanna nuclear power plant outside Berwick.

PPL announced today that it has applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a license. The review process is likely to take three to four years. PPL said that even if the plant clears regulatory hurdles, no final decision has been made to move forward with the project.

The two existing reactors at the Susquehanna plant were built in the 1980s at a cost of $2 billion each. Together, they are responsible for 25 percent of PPL's annual output.

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Fleetwood will lay off 325 Paxinos workers

by The Associated Press

Friday October 10, 2008, 2:10 PM

PAXINOS -- About 325 workers in central Pennsylvania will be without a job by the end of the year.

Fleetwood Enterprises, a recreational-vehicle manufacturer, announced today it is closing its plant in Paxinos.

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