TimesLeader.com

Envelope, cash probed in Pa. refunded bank robbery - 12/17/2009
No good deed goes unpunished _ especially one that only partially undoes a bank robbery. That's why FBI agents in Pittsburgh are scouring an envelope filled with bubble-wrapped stacks of money mailed to a southwestern Pennsylvania bank that agents believe is most of the money taken in a robbery there last week. "We can

Driver fired after girl, 8, left on Pittsburgh bus - 12/17/2009
A Pittsburgh Public Schools bus driver who police say left an 8-year-old girl alone for hours on a bus after she fell asleep has been fired. The company the driver worked for, A-1 Transit, declined to identify the driver, but says she's been fired. Shatonna Charlton says she was supposed to meet her daughter at 5 p.m. Wedne

Investigated Pa. agency paying outside lawyers - 12/17/2009
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is paying hundreds of dollars an hour to outside lawyers to represent the agency, its board members and employees in an investigation. The Morning Call of Allentown reported Thursday that the gaming board disclosed the information in response to a request under the state Right to Know Law.

Dad Vail Regatta to remain in Philadelphia - 12/17/2009
Organizers say the Dad Vail Regatta will stay in Philadelphia for 2010, scuttling a plan to move the long-running college rowing event to New Jersey. Dad Vail President Jim Hanna and city officials made the announcement after a meeting Thursday. Officials say the city and Dad Vail organizers are working on a five-year agree

Moms of US hikers in Iran left in dark about case - 12/17/2009
The mothers of three Americans jailed in Iran say they haven't been able to confirm with Iranian authorities that the three will be tried in court. The families of Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal say they were trekking in northern Iraq on July 31 when they allegedly wandered into Iran and were arrested. Relatives say it was

Pa. teen facing hate crime charge remains jailed - 12/17/2009
An eastern Pennsylvania teenager facing a federal hate crime charge in the death of an illegal Mexican immigrant will spend another week in prison. Court officials say 18-year-old Brandon Piekarsky was scheduled to be released Thursday on an assault sentence. But prison officials say he must serve another week for an alcohol charge.

Envelope, cash probed in Pa. refunded bank robbery - 12/17/2009
No good deed goes unpunished _ especially one that only partially undoes a bank robbery. That's why FBI agents in Pittsburgh are scouring an envelope filled with bubble-wrapped stacks of money mailed to a southwestern Pennsylvania bank that agents believe is most of the money taken in a robbery there last week. "We can

Truck fire, smoke closes I-476 in Delaware County - 12/17/2009
A truck fire has stopped traffic in both directions on a highway in Delaware County near Philadelphia. Interstate 476 has been closed in Nether Providence Township since heavy smoke and flames erupted from the truck at about 10:30 a.m. The truck is on the northbound side of the highway, which is also known as the Blue Route. <

Envelope, cash probed in Pa. refunded bank robbery - 12/17/2009
No good deed goes unpunished _ especially when it only partially undoes a bank robbery that FBI agents are investigating in southwestern Pennsylvania. That's why the FBI is scouring an envelop filled with bubble-wrapped stacks of money that agents believe was taken in a robbery Dec. 9 at PNC Bank in West Newton. That's about 25 miles

Driver fired after girl, 8, left on Pittsburgh bus - 12/17/2009
A Pittsburgh Public Schools bus driver who police say left an 8-year-old girl alone for hours on a bus after she fell asleep has been fired. The company the driver worked for, A-1 Transit, declined to identify the driver, but says she's been fired. Shatonna Charlton says she was supposed to meet her daughter at 5 p.m. Wedne

Correction: Johnstown Fatal Fire story - 12/17/2009
In stories Dec. 14 and Dec. 15 about a fire that killed three people in Johnstown, The Associated Press, relying on information from the coroner, erroneously reported the surname of two victims. Their correct names are Jeanne Hooter and Brittany Hooter, not Hotter.

Allegheny prices bonds for W.Va. plant scrubber - 12/17/2009
Allegheny Energy says it's priced $85.9 million worth of bonds to pay for building and installing sulfur scrubbers at its Fort Martin Power Station. Allegheny says the sale should close next Wednesday. The bonds carry a 5.127 percent interest rate and mature in 30 years. Allegheny expects the scrubbers to slash Fort Martin'

W.Va. man pleads guilty in Pagans case - 12/17/2009
A Pagans Motorcycle Club member from West Virginia has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in a federal racketeering case targeting the gang. Forty-five-year-old James "Bones" Claypool II pleaded guilty to an obstruction of justice charge Wednesday. In exchange, prosecutors dropped five other charges, including assault in a

Pa. teen facing hate crime charge to be released - 12/17/2009
An eastern Pennsylvania teenager facing a federal hate crime charge in the death of an illegal Mexican immigrant is due to be released from prison. Eighteen-year-old Brandon Piekarsky is scheduled to be released from Schuylkill County prison Thursday. Piekarsky was sentenced in June in the beating death of 25-year-old Luis Ramirez in

Johnstown may lay off 18 workers in budget woes - 12/17/2009
The city of Johnstown has notified 18 employees they will be laid off effective Jan. 1, subject to the city's pending budget talks. The city about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh has a projected $1.5 million deficit for 2010. Officials say they have two choices: raise property taxes 42 percent and cut no jobs, or cut 17 positio

Rite Aid's fiscal 3rd-quarter loss narrows - 12/17/2009
Drugstore operator Rite Aid said Thursday its fiscal third-quarter loss narrowed, as a slump in sales in the front of stores offset an increase in prescriptions. The Camp Hill, Pa., company said front-end sales, which includes non-pharmacy items like food and cosmetics, fell 2.5 percent. Total same-store sales declined less than 1 per

Remains in western Pa. were dismembered, shot - 12/17/2009
Nearly a year after remains were found in the woods of western Pennsylvania, investigators have determined they belong to a woman who was murdered. State police in Punxsutawney say forensic experts have determined the woman was either black or Hispanic, and likely between the ages of 20 and 50. Her bones were found Dec. 29

Rite Aid's fiscal 3rd-quarter loss narrows - 12/17/2009
Drugstore operator Rite Aid said Thursday its fiscal third-quarter loss narrowed, as a slump in sales in the front of stores offset an increase in prescriptions. The Camp Hill, Pa.-based company said it lost $86.1 million after preferred dividends, or 10 cents per share, in the three months that ended Nov. 28. That's down from a loss

Central Pa. police has DUI at 4 times legal limit - 12/17/2009
A Catholic priest from central Pennsylvania faces a preliminary hearing on charges he drove while his blood-alcohol content was more than four time the state's legal limit. Monsignor Anthony Little tells The Altoona Mirror that his Thanksgiving traffic stop was "a stupid thing" and "poor judgment" that followed a f

Teenager to be sentenced in fatal subway beating - 12/17/2009
A teenager convicted of murder in the beating death of a Starbucks manager on a downtown Philadelphia subway concourse is set to be sentenced. Eighteen-year-old Arthur Alston is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday for his role in the death of Sean Patrick Conroy in March 2008. Authorities say the 36-year-old Conroy suffered