Tower City Man Flees Police With Boy In Car

James Lemmon, 40 of Tower City, was arrested on Sunday afternoon after he allegedly fled from police.

State Police in Lykens say when Lemmon saw a a trooper's car on Sunday afternoon in the borough, he fled at a high rate of speed for no apparent reason.

While fleeing, police say he ran several stop signs in Tower City before stopping and telling a 9 year old boy, who was also in the car, to run and get his mother.

Lemmon was charged with reckless endangerment, endangering the welfare of a child, fleeing and eluding, reckless driving, driving with a suspended license, and driving without insurance.

He was committed to Schuylkill County Prison on $25,000 bail.

Diesel Fuel Stolen From Tractor Trailor In Pine Grove Twp.

State Police are looking for information on an incident that happened last weekend in Pine Grove Twp.  A truck owned by Carlisle Carrier Corporation was parked  at the Pilot Truck Stop just off Interstate 81 from October 4th to October 6th and is said to have 100 gallons of diesel fuel stolen from it.

If anyone has information regarding this to please call the State Police at Schuylkill Haven at (570) 739-1330.

Ashland Man In Prison After Stabbing Tower City Man

Police were called to 921 Brock St., Ashland, on Wednesday evening around 10:50PM.  When they arrived, they found Joseph Scheib, with a stab wound to his hand and chest.

Police charged James Whitman, 23, with the stabbing.  Whitman is the owner of the residence.  Scheib is from Tower City.

Schuylkill County High School Football Scores - Week #6

Schuylkill County High School Football Scores - Week #6

Hamburg 0  Blue Mountain 33

Panther Valley 0  Marian 25

Minersville 0  Jim Thorpe 47

North Schuylkill 21  Tamaqua 14

Williams Valley 6  Pine Grove  14

Pottsville 0  Conrad Weiser 29

Shenandoah Valley 7   Schuylkill Haven  48

Millersburg 28  Tri-Valley 48

Scheduled for Saturday
Mahanoy Area 73 Carson Long 7
Nativity BVM 19 Columbia Montour Vo-Tech 6

PA Governor Tom Corbett Compares Gay Marriage To Incest

This morning while Governor Tom Corbett made an appearance on WHP-TV from Harrisburg, Corbett was discussing gay marriage.  The reporter interviewing him asked him about a statement his lawyers made comparing gay couples to marrying children, because neither are legal.

This was the Governor's response

"It was an inappropriate analogy, you know.  I think a much better analogy would have been brother and sister, don't you?".

Corbett is now apologizing for his own comments regarding incest.

"My words were not intended to offend anyone. If they did, I apologize."

What do you think about these remarks made by our Governor?

Ashland Man Taken Into Custody After Suspecting To Be On Bath Salts

An Ashland man was taken into custody after he entered a neighbors home and stripped naked in the bathroom.

James Johnson, 44, of 1331 Walnut St., Ashland, is accused of entering 1334 Walnut St. on September 21st and going to the bathroom where he was said to have stripped naked.

Two females and a young girl were home at the time.

Johnson was taken into custody but later released on bail.  He is being charged with felony counts of burglary and criminal trespass.

Schuylkill County Man's Response To Being Called A "Troll" By Congressman

Yesterday we published a story about Schuylkill County's United State Congressman, Matt Cartwright, calling a constituent from Schuylkill County a "troll".

Click here to read yesterday's article

This came after Leo Knepper, Pine Grove, asked the Congressman, "Why did you vote against funding our veterans?".  You can see the exchange in the image below.

Mount Carbon Fire Destroys Home and Fire House, One Firefighter injured

Picture from Schuylkill County Firewire

 This morning at approximately 4:30am, crews were called to 118 Main St. Port Carbon.  When fire departments arrived on scene, the home was already fully engulfed and quickly became a 2nd Alarm fire.

Orwigsburg Man In Critical Condition After Motorcycle Crash

Christopher Evans, Orwigsburg crashed early this morning along Route 61 between Coal Mountain Road and Laurel Drive while riding his motorcycle northbound, in West Brunswick Township.  State police say the crash happened around 12:40AM

Evans slid with the motorcycle about 165 feet before stopping on the edge of the highway.  The bike continued to slide for about another 1,000 feet.

Evans was flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital where he is listed in critical condition.

Skook Spotlight: Tamaqua, PA

Tamaqua was founded in 1799 by German immigrant Burkhardt Moser. Originally to be named Tuscarora, the name Tamaqua was chosen after it was realized that there already was a community named Tuscarora about four miles (6 km) to the west. Roughly half of Moser's original log cabin is still intact and visible behind a house on the east side of Broad Street. The discovery of anthracite coal in the region in the early 19th century led to the town's rise as a coal producing community. The town was incorporated as a borough in 1832.  German, Irish, and Welsh immigrants came to the borough in the 1840s and 1850s, followed by a large influx of Italians, Lithuanians, Slovaks, and Poles in the 1890s and early 20th century. During the 1860s and 1870s, Tamaqua was the geographic center hub for the Molly Maguires. One murder commonly attributed to the Mollies was that of town policeman Benjamin Yost, who was shot to death early one morning while extinguishing a gas lamp at the corner of West Broad and Lehigh Streets.

Schuylkill County High School Football - Week #6

Schuylkill County High School Football - Week #6

Hamburg @ Blue Mountain

Panther Valley @ Marian

Minersville @ Jim Thorpe

North Schuylkill @ Tamaqua

Williams Valley @ Pine Grove (Game to Watch, Both Undefeated)

Pottsville @ Conrad Weiser

Shenandoah Valley @ Schuylkill Haven

Millersburg @ Tri-Valley

Scheduled for Saturday
Mahanoy Area @ Carson Long
Nativity BVM @ Columbia Montour Vo-Tech

Rep. Cartwright Calls A Schuylkill County Constituent A "Troll"

In a story that , PoliticsPA.com posted, it looks like Schuylkill County's US Representative Matt Cartwright has got himself in a bit of a Twitter battle.

A constituent, Leo Knepper, from right in Schuylkill County, asked Rep. Cartwright a question of why he voted a certain way on HJ Res. 72.   The bill restores veteran's benefits during the government shutdown.   You can see the response he got in the picture below

Lancaster Woman Arrested in Schuylkill Haven In Connection with Daughter's Death

Ranasia Knight

Last November, Jessica Bachman, Lancaster, sought out a protection from abuse order from Lester Johnson, her then live-in boyfriend after he threatened to kill her and her children.

A year before that, she sought out a PFA after he pulled her hair, attempted to pull her down the stairs, and threatened to kill her.  He also said he would have her and her children kidnapped.

Ashland and Hegins Men Sent to Prison

On Monday, 2 Ashland men were sent to prison on drug charges from incidents that happened in 2011.

Charles Bechtel, 31, was sentenced to 4 to 24 months, plus 23 additional months of probation, and undergo drug and alcohol evaluation.

Bechtel had earlier pleaded guilty to possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance, and use of an incapacitation device, and prosecutors withdrew earlier charges  of prohibited possession of an offensive weapon and possession of a small amount of marijuana.

State Police at Reading had charged Bechtel with committing the crimes on June 30, 2011.

Also sentenced on Monday was Kevin J. Clews, 33, of Ashland.  He was sentenced to 3 to 12 months in prison and undergo and drug and alcohol evaluation after revoking his probation.

Clews' probabation was revoked after the defendant admitted to possessing drugs and failing a drug test.

Clews had already pleaded guilty to the charges.

Ashland Police charged Clews when he was driving under the influence and possessing drug paraphernalia  in a November 19, 2011 incident.

Also, Bradley L. Merwine, 34, of Hegins was sentenced to 6 to 12 months in prison when he failed to report and not complete substance abuse treatment.

Merwine originally pleaded guilty to charges of false reports to law enforcement.  He was then placed on probation.

Schuylkill Haven State Police charged Merwine with the false reports on January 3, 2010.

Minersville Man In Prison After Gun Incident

Minersville Police got a call of a domestic violence incident where shots were fired around 7AM Sunday morning at 313 Pine St.

When police arrived, they could hear yelling coming from the second floor of the home of John G. Chistakoff, 47.