Squatters take over property, man alleges

BLOOMSBURG -- A Berwick man says squatters have taken over a neighboring property, strewing garbage and partying at all hours, but repeated calls to authorities have been ignored. Dan Bogart and his 87-year-old mother live at 1540 Ruhmels Lane, near the Test Track Park boat launch. He says squatters, including Rae Ellen Miller, 42, moved in three months ago and have turned his neighbor Jacqueline Blackburn's property into a pig sty. Blackburn, 52, of Benton, rents a two-story house on the property to her older sister, Kathleen Sowa, 55, and says the squatters are not welcome on her land.

Troubled bruin roams northside

JAMISON CITY -- A small bear that's been roaming out of the woods with a bucket stuck on its head is causing quite a stir. First spotted Monday morning by staff at the Brass Pelican Restaurant, the bear took off across a field and into the woods before a team of game and wildlife officers arrived to try to capture it. "This poor bugger has been running around for a week now with a bucket stuck on its head. He's literally flying blind," said Gerald Kapral, a wildlife conservation officer with the state Game Commission.

Police find makings of meth lab after decongestant buys

SHICKSHINNY -- Police tipped off by "alarming amounts" of decongestant purchased by a single household found the makings of a methamphetamine lab inside a man's closet here Monday, charges say. Stephen Rodney Reider, 32, admitted to cooking the drug in the woods around Shickshinny and burning the refuse in the forest, police say. Reider also directed officers to the stash of meth ingredients after a woman invited them to search their 14 Baer St. home, an affidavit states.

Woman left with 14 broken bones in wreck

BERWICK -- As the driver fled after an April wreck, a single mother was left trapped inside the car with 14 broken bones, she said. Denise Woolridge, 44, a waitress from Bloomsburg, walked haltingly into a district judge's office Monday ready to testify against Darrin Bellum, the man who wrecked while driving drunk and then wandered away from her and the wreckage along Fowlersville Road, police say.

What we're working on for June 1

Here's a look at stories in the works for Saturday's edition: * In court Friday was the prisoner accused of improperly touching young girls from Danville in the visitation room at Retreat State Prison. Reporter Michael Lester and photographer Bill Hughes were there. * Will the suddenly controversial burlesque show at Rolling Pines go on as planned? Not if South Centre Township officials have anything to say about it. We'll soon know. * A fire that started in the kitchen damages a Berwick home. Reporter Kristin Baver and photographer Keith Haupt were at the scene.

Town police chief to retire

BLOOMSBURG -- The town's longtime police chief is retiring to take over as head of campus security at a small private school in Lancaster County. Leo Sokoloski announced Wednesday he would retire from Bloomsburg at the end of June to take a position at Elizabethtown College, a school of 1,900 students. Sokoloski, 50, has headed the town police department since 2001, when he took over after Chief Larry Smith retired. He has been an officer with the town since 1980, according to newspaper archives.

Woman trapped in overturned SUV

SCOTT TWP. -- When Scott Township Police Officer Vincent Figueiredo reached an overturned SUV, Mary Slobinsky, 66, was trapped in the driver's seat and being choked by her seat belt, he said. He cut Slobinsky free of the seat belt while she steadied herself using the steering wheel, but she was still unable to get out of the vehicle on her own, Figueiredo said.

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