More snow is on the way

UNDATED – AccuWeather says our next winter storm will start late this afternoon or evening and we’ll get about four to eight inches of snow. Areas of our south will get upwards of a foot of snow. Areas north of I-80 will get less.

Additionally, tomorrow, the snowfall will be accompanied by higher winds, so blowing and drifting snow will hamper travel tomorrow. As always, we’ll keep you posted about any weather related announcements, on Newsradio 1070 WKOK and at www.wkok.com.

Deitrick to shoot for state house nomination?

SUNBURY – Northumberland County Controller Chuck Erdman may have some company as he goes for the GOP nomination for the state house seat being vacated by Merle Phillips (R-108th, Sunbury). Former Northumberland County Commissioner Sam Deitrick confirms he’ll make an announcement on the topic as early as today.

We first told you several weeks ago he was considering a run for the state house. Dietrick would be the second republican to get into the race for the 108th District seat. Meantime, Erdmann announced his campaign staff roster on Monday. The Friends of Chuck Erdman include Charles Schlegel of Sunbury, who will serve as treasurer. (Matt Farrand)

City council to talk to PennDOT about North 11th Street speed limit oversight

SUNBURY – George Gallick of Sunbury says the street where he lives could be safer. The North 11th Street resident says traffic entering Sunbury near Sunbury Community Hospital is limited to 25 miles per hour, yet outbound traffic along the same stretch of roadway is free to go 55 miles per hour.

Gallick brought his complaint to Sunbury City Council Monday night, along with photos to illustrate it. Copies were distributed among Mayor David Persing, Streets and Public Works Director Kevin Troup and other council members. Gallick says the difference in the rates of traffic make it difficult to enter or leave his driveway, and others along North 11th Street. It is a concern, as his teen-age children will be driving soon.

He also says the family dog was struck and killed last week by a motorist who kept on driving. Councilman Troup, Mayor Persing and the rest council were sympathetic to Gallick’s plight, and will petition PennDOT to a have the outbound speed limit match the inbound speed limit, at 25 miles per hour. (Matt Farrand)

Commissioners, judge settle on court budget

SUNBURY – Northumberland County Commissioners, and President Judge Robert Sacavage announced an agreement Monday to effectively end a dispute over the county court budget that had lingered from the end of 2009. The courts will now get about $2.9 million dollars for 2010. The figure is about $100,000 more than amount originally proposed for operating expenses.

The judge had sued the county commissioners to reinstate the $600,000 they had initially cut. The commissioners also agreed to pay legal fees for both sides incurred during the dispute, totaling about $50,000. The agreement had apparently been worked out over the weekend, through negations involving Commissioner Vinny Clausi and two court department staffers.

Rep. John Murtha of Pa. dies at 77

WASHINGTON (AP) - A spokesman says Democratic Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, a retired Marine Corps officer who became an outspoken critic of the Iraq war, has died. He was 77. He had been suffering complications from gallbladder surgery.

In 1974, Murtha became the first combat veteran of the Vietnam War elected to Congress. He wielded considerable clout for two decades as a leader of the House subcommittee that oversees Pentagon spending. But frustration over the Iraq war led him to call for an immediate pullout of U.S. troops in 2005.

Murtha's congressional career was clouded by questions about his ethics - from the Abscam corruption probe in 1980 to more recent investigations into the special interest spending known as earmarks and the raising of cash for election campaigns.

Non-profit organization in search of crutches and canes for Haiti victims

MILTON – A non-profit organization wanting to help the victims in Haiti following the earthquake came up with a unique contribution that others may not know is very much needed. Tim Wagner is campaign manager for the “Help Haiti Walk On” initiative.

Walk On is a non-profit group that helps individuals with assistance in purchasing medical equipment and providing financial assistance related to medical hospitalization. The local group decided they wanted to do something to help those injured in the earthquake in Haiti.

Wagner says there are a number of amputations being done to help the victims of the quake and they will need canes and crutches while they are healing, before they can be fitted for prosthetics. Wagner says they are asking residents to donate canes and crutches to the cause.

The collection sites identified so far include the West End Fire Company in Laurelton and the Middlecreek Area Community Center in Beaver Springs. More sites will be identified soon. The walk on foundation can also be found online at walkonfoundation.com and on Facebook too. (Ali Stevens)

U.S. Senate candidate calls part of healthcare “absolutely broken”

SUNBURY – Peg Luksik of Johnstown is a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, hoping to face off against Senator Arlen Specter (D-Pa. Sen.) in the general election. First she will have to beat Pat Toomey in the primary. Luksik was a guest on our On The Mark Program on Monday and talked about how her grassroots campaign works.

She says she has already visited 55 counties in the state and believes it is time that politics is taken to the people. Luksik says she wants to hear what Pennsylvania has to say and says people do want an elected official who does want to talk to them and is a good listener.

Luksik also talked about the part of healthcare that she feels is “absolutely broken”. She says Medicare is going to be bankrupt and recent reports indicate that will happen in the next three years. Luksik says senior citizens have followed all the rules and are in a healthcare system that will not be able to pay its bills.

Luksik says she would move it to an insurance voucher system so that instead of the government being in the business of providing healthcare, the government guarantees access to healthcare. Luksik says when you move it into a voucher system; you change the way that the system works. You can hear more from Peg Luksik from our Monday On The Mark Program online at www.wkok.com. (Ali Stevens)

Police believe a former Columbia County man was murdered

NEW WASHINGTON – Police are investigating a possible murder of a former Columbia County resident. 30-year-old Doyle Musselman Jr., who used to live in Orangeville, was found dead near a camper he had moved into recently in New Washington, Clearfield County. Police say they found Musselman’s frozen body last week outside the trailer and the body was bloody and beaten.

According to the Press-Enterprise, Musselman is the grandson of Reuben and Pauline Albertson, who were injured in an arson fire at their home last May. That fire was reportedly set by Colton Barrett, who is charged with several counts of arson for a number of fires in the Orangeville area.

To make the case more confusing is that the man who had shared a jail cell with Musselman was found dead on the same day about 10 miles away from where Musselman’s body was found. The investigation continues. (Ali Stevens)

Latest Pennsylvania news, lottery, business and entertainment

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Gov. Ed Rendell is presenting lawmakers with a $29 billion spending plan that would devote more money to schools while taxing the sale of many services for the first time.  Rendell delivered the proposal Tuesday in a speech to the state Legislature. The plan comes amid a stubborn recession that is cutting deeply into state tax collections.  It would increase spending by $1.1 billion, or 4 percent, for the 2010-11 fiscal year that begins July 1. About one-third of that increase would go to public school instruction.  To help the state bridge a financial cliff after he leaves office, Rendell would extend the sales tax to services and many other transactions that are currently exempt. But he would reduce the sales tax rate from 6 percent to 4 percent.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Weary Pennsylvania road crews are bracing for the latest blast of winter. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation crews say they've barely had time to recover from last weekend's storm as they gear up for the Tuesday rush.  Fifty-five-year-old plow truck driver Jerry Graham says he worked the weekend clearing roads in Lehigh County.  Now, he says he's getting weary as he gets ready for the next go-round.  Forecasters say parts of the state could get between 12 to 18 inches of new snow from Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday.  That's on top of about two feet many areas got over the weekend.  In western Pennsylvania, more than 40,000 residents remain without power from that storm.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The state Senate's longest-serving member and Democratic minority leader is retiring from the Senate. Sen. Robert Mellow said Tuesday in a statement that he will not seek re-election to an 11th consecutive term. The Lackawanna County Democrat's term expires Nov. 30.  The 67-year-old Mellow says he wants to spend more time with his daughters and grandchildren after nearly 40 years of putting up with the demands of public office.  He was first elected to the state Senate in 1970 and served for about 16 months in the early 1990s as the Senate's president pro tempore.  He has been the Democrats' floor leader for much of the past two decades.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The vice chairman of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has resigned over a pair of drunk driving convictions while operating a state vehicle.  In a letter to Gov. Ed Rendell dated Monday and obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, turnpike   commission Vice Chairman Timothy Carson says he was convicted of driving under the influence in 2003 and 2006. He said both incidents occurred while he was driving a turnpike commission vehicle.  Carson says he is now taking responsibility for the incidents and has been in treatment since the second conviction. The letter did not explain why he waited four years to resign.  Carson says he paid for damage to the vehicles on both occasions out of his own pocket, but failed to notify the commission as required.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Tens of thousands of people are still without power across Pennsylvania as yet another winter storm bears down on the snow-weary region. Power companies in western Pennsylvania struggled with snow-covered roads as they tried to restore electricity to customers - some of whom were entering their third day without power. Allegheny Power says about 50,100 customers in southwestern Pennsylvania had no electricity on Monday night. Duquesne Light reported 3,600 customers without power. Meanwhile, forecasters are predicting another major winter storm will roll into the mid-Atlantic Tuesday evening, socking the Philadelphia region with its third big snowfall since the start of December. After more than 28 inches fell in Philadelphia over the weekend, the National Weather Service is predicting snowfall of 12 inches to 18 inches for the upcoming storm, and another two-footer is possible. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation says snow accumulations are not expected to approach the amounts of the weekend storm - but high winds will create "the potential for near-zero visibility and major drifting"

WASHINGTON (AP) - A Pennsylvania congressman and longtime friend of the late Rep. John Murtha says the congressman's large intestine was damaged during gallbladder surgery and the complications led him to be hospitalized. Murtha died Monday at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Va., where he was admitted on Jan. 31. The gallbladder surgery was performed days earlier at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. Rep. Bob Brady says an infection developed and that Murtha had a fever when he was admitted to the Virginia hospital. Messages left with the Bethesda hospital were not immediately returned. Brady calls Murtha his "buddy" and says he'll remember him forever.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama says he was saddened to hear of the death of Rep. John Murtha and called his fellow Democrat a steadfast advocate for the people of Pennsylvania for nearly 40 years. Obama on Monday called Murtha a devoted husband and a loving father who had a "tough-as-nails" reputation. The president says Murtha's passion for service was born during his military career and carried over to his congressional service. Obama says Murtha was a respected voice on issues of national security. Murtha died Monday at the age of 77.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell says he will decide in the coming days when to schedule a special election to replace U.S. Rep. Jack Murtha. Murtha died Monday at Virginia Hospital Center after suffering complications from gallbladder surgery. Rendell has 10 days by law to schedule an election to replace the 35-year lawmaker. Rendell must pick a day that is at least 60 days later. He says it would save taxpayer money to hold the election on the state's May 18 primary date. But he also says he might set it sooner if Congress plans to vote on extraordinary issues before then. Whoever wins the special election will only serve through the rest of this year, unless they also win in the general election in November.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A prosecution witness in the bonuses-for-campaigning trial says none of the many House Democratic staffers who received such payments ever turned them down. Mike Manzo also told jurors Monday that there were months while he was the floor leader's chief of staff that 90 percent of his e-mail traffic concerned campaigns. Former Beaver County Rep. Mike Veon and three of his former aides are accused of diverting state resources to wage political campaigns. Manzo says he also never asked any of the caucus lawyers directly about the legality of handing out cash rewards from the state treasury for election efforts. Manzo is still on the stand after five days of testimony. Veon and the other defendants are charged with theft, conspiracy and conflict of interest.

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

Update on the latest in business

Dow: 10,106.32, up 197.93

S&P 500: 1,073.53, up 16.79

NASDAQ: 2,155.25, up  29.20

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Greece is taking fresh steps aimed at calming global markets regarding its debt crisis. It is pledging to increase retirement ages, accelerate reforms and reform its ineffective tax system, on the eve of the first nationwide strike against new austerity measures.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Toyota says it will recall about 437,000 Prius and other hybrid vehicles to fix brake problems. There have been about 200 complaints in Japan and the U.S. about a delay when the brakes in the Prius were pressed in cold conditions and on some bumpy roads.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama today sat down with both Democrats and Republicans to spur cooperation on job creation, deficit reduction and health care overhaul. Meanwhile, Senate Democrats unveiled their jobs initiative, including a tax cut for businesses that hire new workers with help for the unemployed.

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

Pennsylvania Lottery Numbers

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

 Midday Big 4

     7-7-0-3

 Midday Number

     3-9-0

 Midday Quinto

     0-4-1-5-5

 Treasure Hunt

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

Big 4 3-8-0-0

Cash 5 05-27-33-36-40

Daily Number 3-4-5

Evening Quinto 0-4-7-5-2

Midday Big 4 3-1-0-4

Midday Number 7-7-1

Midday Quinto 8-4-8-9-8

Mix and Match 19-16-06-09-01

Treasure Hunt 06-16-21-26-30

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

Ellen joins American Idol

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- It's another coming-out party for Ellen DeGeneres. She makes her first appearance as a judge on "American Idol" tonight as they start Hollywood Week. In a video on the Idol Web site DeGeneres jokes that she's found out that Simon is even meaner than she thought. She says the toughest part of being a judge is telling singers they're not good enough to move ahead.

Leno leaving quietly

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Jay Leno won't be making a big deal out of leaving "The Jay Leno Show" tonight. His final guests will be Ashton Kutcher and Gabourey Sidibe. It marks the end of his failed six-month experiment in primetime. After NBC covers the Olympics for three weeks, Leno  ill return as host of the "Tonight Show" on March 1. Leno's Facebook page has a contest for people who want to win seats for his return. Meanwhile, Conan O'Brien merchandise is selling for up to 41 percent off at the NBC Universal online store.

Sinatra, Martin to receive stars in Las Vegas
 

MILEY CYRUS HOLDS EBAY AUCTION FOR HAITI RELIEF

NEW YORK (AP) - Miley Cyrus has launched an eBay auction to help Haiti. She has donated the designer dress she wore to the Grammys as well as several other items. Britney Spears' dress from the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, Whoopi Goldberg's tennis shoes, Demi Lovato's tour wardrobe, and tickets to Hugh Jackman's next movie premiere are also up for sale. The auction is running until Feb. 18 at www.ebay.com/miley. Proceeds go to the American Red Cross.

Muslim man wins discrimination case in Sweden

STOCKHOLM (AP) - Sweden's unemployment agency has been found guilty of discrimination for expelling a Muslim man from a job training program because he refused to shake hands with a woman. A Stockholm court Monday ordered the Public Employment Service to pay the $6,700 in damages to an immigrant from Bosnia who lost his jobless benefits when he was kicked out of the program. Citing his faith, the man had refused to shake hands with a woman when he was interviewing for an internship. The agency said his behavior was part of the reason he didn't get the position, and decided to exclude him from the program. The court ruled that the man was discriminated against because of his religion. It wasn't immediately clear whether the ruling would be appealed.

Dove Award winner says he's gay

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - Ray Boltz says he's happier living as an openly gay man than he was as the singer of the Christian classic song, "Thank You." Boltz sold millions of Christian records and won three Dove Awards, but says he also spent decades hoping and praying that God would take away his homosexual desires. Five years ago, Boltz says he told his wife and children he was gay. He says they accept him, although he and his wife have since divorced. He also believes God accepts him as gay - and made him that way. In 1998, Boltz sang before about a million men at the Promise Keepers event in Washington. Today he sings in churches that bless gay relationships.

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