All Pa. schools closed for two weeks

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf is ordering the closure of all schools in Pennsylvania for two weeks, as the state takes sweeping measures aimed at slowing the spread of the new coronavirus.

The order affecting more than 1.7 million school children, in public and private schools, came as confirmed cases in the state leaped to 33 from 22, including the first patient under 18. He said schools won't be penalized if they are unable to reach the 180 days of instruction required under state law.

Suspicious pipe in Danville not a threat

DANVILLE — A pipe bomb scare shut down busy Railroad Street near Dunkin Donuts for more than two hours Thursday after a small white plastic container was seen lying in a grassy lot behind Buckley’s Carpet here.

The eight-inch long pipe with caps at both ends turned out to be innocuous, police say.

But they weren't sure of that when a passing motorist spotted it in the grass near a busy restaurant and intersection. Authorities cordoned off all traffic at Railroad and Walnut streets around noon, Danville Police Officer Jonathan Swank said.

Man badly injured in farming accident

FISHING CREEK TWP. — A 61-year-old man badly injured his arms while while working on his farm Wednesday afternoon.

Randy Hack, 412 Paper Dale Road, Stillwater, was grinding corn from a small silo on his 119-acre dairy farm around 1 p.m. when the accident happened, said friend Dennis Hess.

The corn was being sent up a small, inclined grain elevator powered at its base by an International Harvester tractor; the grain went into a grinder at the top, and was then loaded into a bin on another tractor, Hess said.

Murder suspect dies

BLOOMSBURG — A sickly murder suspect awaiting trial on charges he shot his wife to death in their rural Benton home died Sunday night at Geisinger Medical Center, his lawyer and prison officials confirmed.

John Alan Deeter, 69, who suffered from advanced stages of Parkinson’s disease, was taken to Geisinger from Columbia County Prison last week after taking “a turn for the worst,” Prison Warden David Varano said.

SUV crashes into diner

BLOOMSBURG — An SUV crashed into the back of the Bloomsburg Diner Saturday morning, but no one was hurt, and restaurant staff barely paused in serving up eggs and hash browns to the breakfast rush.

David Engelhardt, 22, of Northumberland, was at the wheel of the gray 2011 GMC Acadia at 8:24 a.m. when he tried to hit the brake and accidentally hit the gas, said Detective Melanie Beck.

The SUV jumped the curb on the side parking lot, then went over a low cement wall to smash into the restaurant’s back corner.

Geisinger reports no confirmed coronavirus cases

DANVILLE – Despite rumors to the contrary, Geisinger Health System says it has not treated any patients with coronavirus. 

Governor Tom Wolf on Friday confirmed Pennsylvania’s first two coronavirus cases, and neither was local. 

An adult in Wayne County was diagnosed with the virus after traveling outside the U.S. to a country which has confirmed coronavirus cases, according to the governor’s office. 

The second case involves an adult from Delaware County near Philadelphia. That patient had traveled within the United States where coronavirus was present.

Pennsylvania has 2 confirmed coronavirus cases

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania has its first two cases of coronavirus, one in Delaware County and one in Wayne County, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Friday morning.

The two people are isolated in their homes, Wolf said at news conference in Harrisburg.

The Delaware County case is an adult who recently traveled to an area of the United States where COVID-19 is present, officials said. The other case is an adult who recently traveled to a country where the coronavirus is.

No other information on the people affected has been released.

Second fire is suspicious, fire officials say

BLOOMSBURG — Another set of fires early Thursday morning in the same neighborhood as a blaze that leveled two garages the day before is “suspicious,” fire officials say.

Less than 24 hours after extinguishing fires at 410 and 412 East Eight Street, crews were called back around 11:30 p.m. to another garage fire on Ninth Street, said Bloomsburg Fire Chief Scott McBride. 

It’s unusual to have a cluster of fires in such a small area, so McBride called for the State Police fire marshal, he said. 

Fire destroys two garages, endangers third

BLOOMSBURG — Wind whipped the flames from a burning garage into a neighbor’s garage, engulfing both in fire early Wednesday morning, the fire chief says.

But replacement water lines recently installed on the eastern side of town gave volunteers enough water pressure to prevent the blaze from spreading to nearby houses and a third garage, said Chief Scott McBride.

The fire was first reported around 1:35 a.m., he said.

SUV crashes into church

BRIAR CREEK TWP. — A SUV crashed into a 127-year-old church here Tuesday afternoon after another vehicle struck it, police say.

A 1999 Chevrolet Suburban pulled out from a stop sign on Twin Church Road and into the path of a 2004 Chevrolet SUV headed north on Summerhill Road, officers said.

After the SUV hit the Suburban, the Suburban veered off the road, smashed through a brick sign in front of Summerhill Evangelical United Methodist church and stopped up against the church, police say. 

Pages