Skook News - Your #1 Source for Schuylkill County News

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

PennDOT Temporarily Waives Certain Restrictions on Commercial Drivers Hauling Heating Oil, Propane Gas‏

To ensure that much-needed heating fuel can reach Pennsylvanians with no interruptions, PennDOT has temporarily waived certain restrictions on commercial drivers to allow for the smooth delivery of heating oil and propane gas to homes and businesses for heating purposes.

HARRISBURG – Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane today announced that agents from her office have arrested a Schuylkill County woman accused of stealing $11,400 in Social Security benefits from her grandmother, who has dementia and was not capable of consenting to the withdrawals from her bank account.

Middletown - A jackpot-winning Cash 5 ticket worth $225,000 wwas sold in Schuylkill county for the Feb. 15 drawing.

The State Police out of Hamburg are investing a kidnapping that occurred Monday, February 16th, 2015 on the 1300 block of Hawk Mountain Road, Albany Twp. Berks County.

The Republican Herald is reporting that on Tueday morning employees of the K-Mart in the Schuylkill Mall were informed that the store would be closing later this year.

Mall Manager, Elaine Maneval, had the following comment

"We have valued Kmart as a tenant at Schuylkill Mall for many years, and are obviously disappointed that they will not be extending their lease at the end of its current term, which is Oct 2015. Candidly, this is not a big surprise, as Kmart and Sears have been realigning their corporate strategy, and as a company, now operates fewer than ½ the stores that existed (3500) when the companies merged, with approximately 200 stores closing in 2014.

In anticipation of this potential closure, the Landlord engaged CBRE|FAMECO to pursue replacement tenant(s) in the event Kmart did not extend their lease, effectively trying to get in front of the decision, proactively, rather than reacting to the official notice provided today. This is also our first notice that Kmart has formally decided to close their store at Schuylkill Mall."

Earlier story regarding the space being up for lease
http://www.skooknews.com/2015/02/k-mart-location-at-schuylkill-mall.html

Link to story in the Republican Herald
http://republicanherald.com/kmart-to-close-at-schuylkill-mall-later-this-year-1.1834317

**Story updated at 3:30pm to add comment from Elaine Maneval