State briefs
20 arrested PUNXUTAWNEY, Pa. (AP) – A four-month drug sting has led to the arrest of 20 people in and around Punxutawney.
A state police vice unit arranged for undercover buys of illegal drugs, mostly heroin, said Sgt. Scott Neal.
The region has seen an unprecedented influx in the heroin trade, said District Attorney Jeff Burkett.
“I am going to start rethinking every policy of our office when heroin comes into play,” he said. “This is a terrible problem.”
Police began a sweep on Monday and arrested 20 people aged 18 to 25 on charges ranging from unlawful delivery to criminal conspiracy.
Hospital plans set__
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pittsburgh Mercy Health System said it plans to transform Mercy Providence Hospital into an inpatient behavioral health hospital.
Providence is currently a 145-bed general services hospital on Pittsburgh’s North Side. The hospital has an inpatient psychiatric unit that can treat 43 adults. Mercy officials said the transition would be a multiyear process beginning in early 2004.
The medical-surgical unit would be altered to house a 20-bed inpatient psychiatric unit, with an additional 12 beds being added within two years.
Pending legal and regulatory approval, the first phase of the transition would be completed by April 2004, Mercy officials said.
The need for need additional psychiatric services grew with the closure of the St. Francis Health System in October 2002, Mercy officials said.
Obesity battled
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) – One of the region’s largest health insurance companies said residents of Cambria and Somerset counties could have a bigger say in health-care costs by watching their waistlines.
Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield’s regional report for the year found that six of the top 10 health conditions needing treatment are related to obesity or excessive body fat. The conditions ranged from back disorders to heart disease.
Elizabeth Bivens, manager of customer consulting for Highmark’s western region, said the company would like to work with local government and business organizations to help residents become healthier.
“If we can raise peoples’ awareness of the issues, we can improve their health and reduce their costs, said Highmark marketing director Peter Sitter.
Cambria County Chamber of Commerce Chairman David Davis pledged to support a collective effort to get residents to lose weight.
Man sentenced
CARLISLE, Pa. (AP) – A man who pleaded guilty to robbing a bank was sentenced to two to six years in state prison and recommended for a disciplinary program for criminals.
During sentencing Tuesday, Cumberland County Judge Kevin A. Hess warned William G. Cowell that he could “end up on the trash heap of humanity” if he does not improve his behavior.
Cowell, 23, of New Cumberland, had pleaded guilty earlier to robbing a Belco Federal Credit Union in Hampden Township in June.
Cowell, already convicted in a stolen property case, was on probation at the time of the robbery.
Public Defender Linda Hollinger said Hess committed the theft “as a result of drug and alcohol issues” and asked the judge to recommend her client to a boot camp program.
State officials make admission decisions for the program.
Aid approved
BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) – The Centre County commissioners voted unanimously to extend financial aid to state-funded human service programs, agreeing to dip in again to a $500,000 contingency fund.
The board decided in July that it would give enough funding to agencies that provide essential services to allow them to operate through Sept. 30, assuming that the state budget impasse would be resolved by that point. The Legislature and Gov. Ed Rendell have not reached agreement on a new budget.
The commissioners voted Tuesday night to extend the funding by using a portion of a contingency fund, which is part of the general fund, and awarded $17,892 to keep the programs running.
The vote means that Housing Transitions will be allocated with $7,752 to provide case management for low-income families and adults. Community Help Center will receive $10,140 to provide low-income disabled adults with transportation to medical appointments.
Jail time issued
CARLISLE, Pa. (AP) – A former Army recruiter was classified as a sexual predator and sentenced to state prison.
Kenneth Curnutte Jr., 39, of Mount Holly Springs, was sentenced Tuesday to 14 to 28 months in state prison, followed by 46 months of probation. Cumberland County Judge Kevin A. Hess credited Curnutte for time served, meaning that the defendant may spend as few as six months in prison.
Curnutte, a former sergeant, pleaded guilty earlier this year to two charges of corruption of minors and one charge of sexual abuse of children.
He was charged with secretly videotaping a 13-year-old girl who was undressing in his home during a birthday party for one of his children. He is also accused of paying a 16-year-old girl to undress for him and let him touch her genitals, and fondling a mentally handicapped 17-year-old girl and showing her pornography.
Curnutte, classified as a predator under Megan’s Law, was ordered to register his whereabouts for life.
Suspect arrested
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN, Pa. (AP) – A man was arrested for shooting to death his live-in girlfriend after she talked him out of killing himself following an argument, police said.
Thomas Hugh Mohan, 52, was charged early Tuesday in the slaying of Cynthia Ann Billings, who was found on Saturday lying naked on her stomach near a door in the couple’s North Manheim Township home.
The couple and another man had been drinking throughout the day Saturday, according to an arrest affidavit, and the two argued that night about sex and getting married.
The affidavit said Mohan took a semiautomatic handgun into the kitchen and threatened to “end it all.”
Police said Mohan confessed during questioning Monday to shooting Billings with the same .45-caliber gun. Mohan called police to report the shooting around 8:35 p.m. Saturday.
Mohan was charged with homicide, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and committing a crime with a firearm.
Teen faces trial
HONESDALE, Pa. (AP) – A teenager who allegedly killed a man and wounded another was ordered to stand trial on charges including criminal homicide.
Joseph Stephen Iavecchio, 17, of Waymart, is accused of fatally shooting 21-year-old James Rosetti and injuring Marc Decker, 19, early on Oct. 8. Police said the shooting took place during a fight at Iavecchio’s home.
Rosetti’s best friend, Matt Shire, 21, identified Iavecchio as the killer during a preliminary hearing Tuesday. He said he had accompanied both shooting victims and a third person to Iavecchio’s home just before the shooting occurred.
Iavecchio, who is charged with criminal homicide, attempted homicide and four counts of aggravated assault, was bound over for trial after the preliminary hearing.
Iavecchio remains in the Wayne County Prison in lieu of $400,000 bail.
Fire kills man
BANGOR, Pa. (AP) – A 62-year-old man was killed in a house fire that severely damaged his home and led to the evacuation of his family, fire officials said.
Firefighters responding to the early morning blaze on Tuesday found Enos Morris in a basement bedroom of the white two-story duplex, Bangor Fire Chief Bob Owens said. An adjacent vacant home was also damaged in the fire.
Morris was pronounced dead at the scene by Northampton County Coroner Zachary Lysek. An autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday.
“We got in, we got him out, but it was too late,” Owens said.
Firefighters battled the blaze, which officials say likely began in the basement, for under 30 minutes before placing the fire under control around 3:50 a.m.
Two adults and at least three children fled the home after the fire broke out. One man, David Wilgus, 44, sustained minor burns to his hands when he attempted to get to the basement from outside.