State briefs
Unit to move out NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) – An Army Reserve unit from Norristown now in Kuwait is preparing to head into Iraq to help rebuild the country’s infrastructure.
The 358th Civil Affairs Brigade’s job is to help fix broken water pipes and restore electricity. While the troops are sitting in Kuwait waiting for orders, the military is trying to keep sand out of its computers.
“It gets all over everything,” said Maj. Tom Downey, 38, of Philadelphia. “We have vacuum cleaners, and we’ve purchased more from the markets. The screens are just filthy.”
The reserve group, about 150 strong, coordinates humanitarian aid and infrastructure repair. If a water pump is out of service, the unit will work with non-government groups such as the Red Cross to bring in water while engineers fix the pump. Water comes first, then food, then electricity.
The brigade landed in Kuwait almost a month ago. It expects to move into Basra or Umm Qasr within the next few weeks.
Ranger treated
TORRANCE, Pa. (AP) – An Army Ranger from western Pennsylvania is being treated for an infection and pneumonia at an Army hospital in Texas after being hit in the head by shrapnel, his parents said.
U.S. Army Spc. Jeremy Feldbusch, 23, of Torrance, will soon have extensive surgery at Brooke Medical Center in San Antonio for the head wound he suffered while fighting near Bagdad earlier this month, said his parents, Charlene and Brace Feldbusch.
Jeremy Feldbusch, an Army Ranger based at Fort Benning, Ga., arrived in Texas on April 9. His mother said he was deployed to the Middle East about a week before the war’s start in mid-March.
Memorial service held
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Drexel University held a memorial service Monday for Lance Cpl. Joseph Maglione, a student and Marine reservist who died in Kuwait.
Maglione, 22, of Lansdale, died April 1 in a “non-combat weapon discharge” inside his tent, the Defense Department said. He was a junior majoring in architectural engineering at Drexel.
The ceremony at St. Katharine Drexel Chapel was attended by Drexel President Constantine Papadakis, a Drexel ROTC honor guard and members of Maglione’s family, including his mother, Rose Corr.
Maglione had taken a leave of absence from Drexel after he was called up to serve in Iraq. He was assigned to the 6th Engineer Support Battalion, 4th Force Service Support Group, based in Folsom.
About 200 people attended his funeral April 12.
Funeral planned
APOLLO, Pa. (AP) – Funeral arrangements have been made for a soldier killed by enemy fire in a raid near Baghdad on April 5.
Army Staff Sgt. Stevon Booker, 34, of Apollo, was a tank commander with the 3rd Infantry Division and a Gulf War veteran. He enlisted in the military shortly after graduating from Apollo-Ridge High School.
Visitation for Booker will be held from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Curran-Shaffer Funeral Home in Apollo.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday in the First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Apollo, followed by a burial with full military honor at Westview Cemetery in Avonmore.
Cameras sought
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) – State College Police Chief Tom King outlined a draft ordinance to the Borough Council that would put surveillance cameras in downtown State College.
King told council members that the cameras are necessary because other measures to ensure safety, including increased officer patrols and loss of balcony privileges for residents who commit illegal acts on them, have failed.
“In the last 15 days, we’ve had an officer hit with a bottle, an assault where a plate-glass window was broken. I’ve had calls from CATA about drunken students on the bus,” King said. “It’s time to try something else.”
King said the first two cameras would be placed at the area known as Beaver Canyon, at Beaver Avenue and Locust Lane, with the possibility of a third elsewhere.
King will present a revised draft of the proposal at the next council meeting on Monday.
Student found dead
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) – A Penn State University student was found dead Sunday evening.
Evan Jeffrey Gordon, 21, of Hatboro, was last seen by a friend after he visited a fraternity Sunday, police said.
Gordon, an operations and information systems management major, was found lying beside his bed by his roommates in their home.
No sign of trauma was found, police said.
Jail time issued
DANVILLE, Pa. (AP) – A Washingtonville man will spend at least two years in prison for driving drunk four times in four months.
Glenn Heffelfinger, 47, was sentenced Monday to two to six years in prison.
Three of the four DUI offenses to which Heffelfinger pleaded guilty were committed in a 19-day stretch. Three of the arrests happened within three blocks of each other.
“This is a disgrace to the community and to my family,” Heffelfinger told the court. “I do have a drinking problem. I got to stay away from alcohol.”
Hospitals warned
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) – Hospitals within 100 miles of Allentown have been told by investigators to watch out for a person seeking emergency medical treatment who may have been shot or stabbed during a double homicide Sunday.
Carlos Juarbe, 45, an Allentown disc jockey, and Oscar Caly Rosado, 35, of Bethlehem, were fatally shot.
Police officials on Monday said they believe that whoever shot the two was injured during the incident.
Police found a trail of blood leading to the area where they believe the getaway car was parked.
The hospitals were notified to be on the lookout for anyone who shows up with severe bleeding, possibly from a gunshot or stabbing, Executive Assistant Chief Joseph Blackburn said.
Woman sentenced
READING, Pa. (AP) – A 26-year-old Texas woman was sentenced to 111/2 to 23 months in county prison for trying to lure three teenage girls into a tractor-trailer for sex.
Christina Leeth, of Houston, pleaded guilty but mentally ill on Monday to corrupting minors and conspiracy.
Co-defendant Paul Stiver, 39, of Jackson, Miss., is scheduled for trial in May on similar charges.
Leeth told police that Stiver asked her to lure the girls into a truck so the couple ultimately could have sex with them.
Apology issued
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) – A 31-year-old man who last year smirked while pleading guilty to stabbing relatives of his ex-wife apologized on Monday for the June 2001 murders.
Scott Anthony Stein pleaded guilty in February 2002 to killing Elizabeth Schummer and Katharina Glaaessmann, the aunt and grandmother of his ex-wife, Jessica Schummer. Stein was sentenced to life in prison.
Four days after pleading guilty Stein filed a motion claiming his attorneys were ineffective and coerced him into the plea. He dropped that motion Tuesday.
“I believe the sentence I received is adequate,” Stein told Judge Jack Panella. “I believe I deserved it.”
Stein said he did not want to subject his family or the family of his victims to further court proceedings.
“I’m almost speechless after what you just said,” Panella said. “That is a very mature statement.”
Stein has been incarcerated at Houtzdale State Prison in Clearfield County.
“I would like to apologize once again to the victims, the victims’ families, my family, the court system and myself,” Stein said. “I do believe I must hold myself accountable.”