State briefs
Weapons stolen NEW FREEDOM, Pa. (AP) – A man stole a shotgun and rifle and drove to his estranged wife’s house, firing at least one shot Tuesday night, police said. No one was hurt.
James Patrick Williams, 49, is still at large and considered armed and dangerous, police said.
Williams, formerly of Glen Rock, entered a couple’s Glen Rock home about 8 p.m. Tuesday, pointed a revolver and threatened to shoot and kill them if they didn’t follow his instructions, police said.
Williams forced the man to hand over a shotgun and rifle, according to authorities, then went to the Shrewsbury Township home where his wife, Margaret Williams, 49, has been staying with another man, police said.
Williams fired at least one round of buckshot that damaged a window near where Mrs. Williams was standing, she said in a police report. James Williams then fled, police said.
A protection from abuse order was granted to Mrs. Williams on April 1. On Monday, Williams pleaded guilty to harassment and to a separate charge of stealing a license plate from Stoner’s Auction in Glen Rock. He was sentenced to time served and released.
Man faces trial
BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) – A Lewistown man was ordered to stand trial for allegedly rear-ending an Amish buggy while driving drunk.
Amos Esch, 16, the driver of the buggy, underwent emergency brain surgery at Geisinger Medical Center following the Feb. 3 crash in Walker Township, police said. Esch has since been released from the hospital.
Police said John D. Peachey, 27, failed sobriety and breath tests at the scene, but refused to take a blood-alcohol test at Centre Community Hospital.
Peachey is charged with aggravated assault by vehicle while driving drunk and other offenses.
Suicide attempted
NESQUEHONING, Pa. (AP) – A nurse charged with stealing pain patches from elderly patients at two nursing homes tried to slash his wrists at the Carbon County Prison, authorities said.
Paul A. Colasurdo was taken to the state mental hospital in Norristown on Tuesday, District Attorney Gary F. Dobias said.
Colasurdo had just been taken off suicide watch when he tried to cut his wrists with a disposable razor, said Prison Warden William Juracka. A guard quickly stopped Colasurdo.
“He did not need stitches,” Juracka said. “He only had a scratch on his arm.”
Nevertheless, a prison psychologist decided Colasurdo should be treated at a hospital. He was sent to Norristown after a court hearing Tuesday.
Colasurdo, 21, of Butler Township, Luzerne County, was charged with stealing three pain patches from an 81-year-old woman Jan. 12 at Shenandoah Manor Nursing Home.
He was also charged with stealing patches from two patients at Weatherwood, the Carbon County-run nursing home. Melody Solensky, 22, of Hazleton, was also charged in that case.
Forgiveness offered
BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) – Northampton Community College is offering a tuition forgiveness program for recently laid-off workers.
Seventy-three unemployed people from Northampton and Monroe counties qualified for the program and were offered free tuition during the spring semester for as many as 12 credits. Those credits would normally cost $800.
“It was like a Christmas gift,” said Frank Golden, who was let go by Agere Systems in December. Golden enrolled in a nursing program at the college.
The 73 students who qualified for the spring semester saved a combined $45,000 on tuition, said Carolyn Holmfelt, director of admissions.
The college resurrected its free-tuition program when the economy tanked after Sept. 11. It had a similar program during the last recession a decade ago.
There is no income limit, and the program has attracted students with a range of academic and professional backgrounds, Holmfelt said.
“A number of companies are still laying off,” college President Robert Kopecek said. “Their former employees are looking to us for retraining and they don’t have a lot of resources. Obviously, we want to do what we can to help.”
Charter school approved
SIMPSON, Pa. (AP) – Carbondale Area School District has a new charter school.
The Pennsylvania Charter School Appeal Board voted unanimously Wednesday to approved an application for the Fell Charter School in Fell Township.
Ed Skorupa, a carpenter who helped initiate the idea of a charter school two years ago, said he would begin concentrating on the school’s planned fall opening. He anticipates between 250 and 450 students.
Skorupa declined to release further details.
Carbondale Area Superintendent Martin Lawler said he will recommend that the school board appeal the decision to Commonwealth Court. The school could cost the district hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, Lawler said.
“It will be severe to our taxpayers,” he said.
Skorupa said the district will “have to tighten its purse strings and save money.” He accused the district of not providing a quality education.
Film office stays open
PITTSBURGH (AP) – And the winner is … the Pittsburgh Film Office.
The nonprofit agency, which markets the Pittsburgh region to filmmakers, has enough money to operate through year’s end, thanks to $120,000 it raised at an Oscar night gala, officials said Thursday.
The office spends about $30,000 a month, but has been struggling to stay afloat financially since it lost its share of the Allegheny County hotel room tax in 2000. That money has been diverted from the film office to pay for new pro sports stadiums in the city.
Before the March 24 Oscar gala, a fund-raiser at a local theater that attracted 800 guests, the office had only enough money to operate through September.
Allegheny County Chief Executive Jim Roddey and Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy are promising to find new funding for the office in the coming years.