BU student in 'critical' after weekend fight

BLOOMSBURG -- A Bloomsburg University student is in critical condition with head injuries at Geisinger Medical Center after a fight outside a student apartment early Sunday morning, officials say. Police are still sorting out what happened, said investigator Melanie Readler. But it appears a group of people had gathered at an apartment at 63 Iron St. when someone from outside tried to barge in around 1:07 a.m., she said.

Meth bust underway in Berwick

BERWICK -- Five people may be charged after police busted a meth lab at 1240 Orange St. Monday. Police served a warrant at 2:30 p.m. Monday and discovered a one-liter bottle actively brewing meth while a grandmother, mother, toddler and one other person were at home in the row house near the corner of Orange and Arch streets. Police found another bottle with meth residue inside the home, while three more were found in the trash by police and agents from the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office.

More women tell police they've been attacked on Bloom streets

BLOOMSBURG -- After a recent report of a young woman fighting off an apparent serial groper, five more women have come to police with stories of being sexually accosted on the streets. That brings the total up to eight since December. Three attacks had previously been reported. The first was in December, on Glenn Avenue, just west of Geisinger-Bloomsburg Hospital. The second was along Honeysuckle Lane, on the opposite side of the hospital, just after the spring semester started. Both of those happened early in the morning, as students were returning from bars and parties.

House fire erupts outside Berwick

BRIAR CREEK TWP. -- Firefighters continue to battle a blaze in a home off of Martzville Road. The two-story home was fully engulfed when crews arrived around 11:30 a.m. Monday. Smoke billowed from every window of the house, as well as from the home's eaves, rising into the largely clear sky. Occasionally, flames shot out the front windows as firefighters tried to snuff the stubborn blaze at 337 Martzville Road, just west of North Vine Street.(Additional photo on the homepage.)

Geisinger Salaries 2011

The following figures, which appear in federal tax forms, reveal what Geisinger Health System paid some of its top executives and physicians and other key employees in 2011, compared to 2010. Dashes indicate an employee's 2010 pay was not available. To see the combination of compensation, bonuses and deferred retirement pay that got Geisinger's top earners past the million-dollar mark, click here.

Geisinger CEO’s compensation tops $5M

DANVILLE -- Geisinger CEO Glenn Steele received $5.43 million in total compensation in 2011, more than double his package of the previous year. Steele got the 125 percent increase after becoming eligible to collect more than $3.2 million in retirement money Geisinger had been putting aside since he was hired in 2001. Geisinger offers its highest-paid executives a supplemental employee retirement fund, also known as a "top-hat plan," as do other health systems across the country.

Dogs rescued from meth house receiving five-star treatment

MOUNT PLEASANT TWP. -- Lab-Shepherd mix Sika and her eight, 9-day-old puppies snuggled cozily inside a plastic baby pool at their new home Saturday morning, three days after they were rescued from a Montour Township trailer where police raided a suspected meth lab. Staff and volunteers at the no-kill Animal Resource Center outside Millville have been caring for 2-year-old Sika and her litter of six boys and two girls, preparing them for eventual adoption.

Cops: Man had meth cooking in car

BRIAR CREEK TWP. -- Police pulled over a Berwick man driving with a suspended license and a broken rear car window covered with plastic and discovered he had a bottle of meth actively cooking in a backpack in the back seat. When officers discovered Shawn Balazs, 38, of 1201 6th Ave., was also the target of an active arrest warrant, they searched him and found a bag of meth in the right coin pocket of his jeans, court papers say.

Cops: Drunken driver refused to step back from burning car

MAHONING TWP. -- A drunken woman stood so close to her burning car that it singed her hair, police report. Trudi L. Kelley-Zeigler, 45, of 306 Ridgeview here, said she was driving into her complex when the car "sparked," court papers say. When she pulled over, it caught fire, she said. A witness who called 911 told a different story. He said the car was stuck in the snow and Kelley-Zeigler revved the engine and spun the tires to get it free. The car then suddenly caught fire and became engulfed in flames. According to charges:

Woman fights off late-night attacker in Bloom

BLOOMSBURG -- A young woman fended off a suspected molester by punching him in the face after he tried grabbing her on the street here Wednesday night in what appeared to be the third groping incident reported to town police since December. The man, wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and of average build as reported in two previous incidents, took off running after the woman hit him, police said. The woman told police she was walking alone in the area of Chestnut Avenue and East Fourth Street about 10:40 a.m., when the man approached her and made an advance toward her.

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