SCOTT TWP. — Traffic between the Lime Ridge and Lightstreet exits on Interstate 80 is backed up at this hour, PennDOT says.
Motorists traveling on Interstate 80 westbound are advised there is a traffic backlog between mile markers 239 and 236 due to a roadway rehabilitation project in Scott Township, Columbia County.
As of 2 p.m.. today, traffic is backed up about 2.4 miles east of the Route 487 (Lightstreet) exit.
DANVILLE — Danville head football coach Jim Keiser resigned from his position Monday after spending the past two weeks suspended from the sidelines by the school, he said.
Keiser remains on administrative leave from his district job, working as an aide with emotional support students.
That suspension is the result of the allegations made against him as a football coach, not his job performance in the classroom, he pointed out. He’ll return to work on Monday, he added.
BLOOMSBURG — One of the teen vandals who went on a spree through the Bloomsburg Fairground in January pleaded guilty Friday, and will get a chance to avoid a felony conviction on his record.
Jerry Lee Derr III, 19, of 497 W. Third St., Bloomsburg, admitted that he and a 17-year-old Bloomsburg boy trespassed on the fairgrounds, broke in to the Barton House and one-room schoolhouse and took several historic items.
In addition, the pair damaged electrical components of the Skyride’s control box on the nearby midway.
MILLVILLE — A fire that ravaged the back of a home here Monday night left fire crews trying to quell smoldering sections for nearly an hour.
The fire at 468 S. State St. started just before midnight, starting at the southwest corner of the house, said Millville Fire Chief Rob Bower.
“We’re not really sure what happened,” said resident Craig Omlor.
Omlor and his wife, Beth, and a few of their children had been home when the fire started, but everyone got out unharmed, Bower said.
The family’s small dog succumbed to the flames.
BLOOMSBURG — Smoke from ongoing construction work on a new learning center prompted a brief evacuation of Bloomsburg Area high and middle schools on Thursday morning.
Welders began installing new ceiling beams for a room between two gym areas when smoke began seeping into a gym locker room where a class was underway about 9:20 a.m., according to Bloomsburg Fire Lt. Todd Davis.
DANVILLE — Geisinger employees who become parents will now be able to take up to two weeks off with pay to devote time to their new family member.
The health system announced its new paid parental leave benefit yesterday, saying it takes effect Sunday and applies to births, adoptions, legal guardianships or foster care.
Full- and part-time employees who have worked for Geisinger at least six months qualify for the paid leave.
If parents with a new child both work for Geisinger, they both qualify for the benefit.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania prison officials are planning to close another prison, as the inmate population continues to decline and prison costs rise.
A state lawmaker, Sen. John Yudichak, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that prison officials had just briefed him and Retreat state prison staff in northeastern Pennsylvania about its plans to close it.
Gov. Tom Wolf's office isn't commenting.
Retreat, located north of Shickshinny across the Susquehanna River from Route 11, has about 400 employees and is at full capacity with almost 1,100 inmates.
BERWICK — Police here are looking for a motorist who they say fled a traffic stop, leaving behind his shoes as well as 1,000 bags of suspected heroin.
Officer Brandon Shultz didn’t chase the man, who escaped on his bare feet, because that would leave the huge drug stash unattended, according to Police Chief Kenneth Strish.
“That’s way more than you would need for personal use,” he said.
The incident began at about 1:08 p.m. Aug. 22.
BLOOMSBURG — A self-employed heating and air conditioning contractor got up for work Friday only to look outside and discover someone had stolen his work van with all his tools inside, town police said.
Scott Knudsen, 50, routinely locks up his 2008 Ford Econoline van “wherever I go,” he said. And he did so Thursday evening when he parked it outside his residence in the 400 block of West Pine Avenue around 7 p.m.
But when he left his home for his first job about 7:30 a.m. Friday, the van was missing.
BERWICK — A man robbed a convenience store on Freas Avenue at gunpoint Wednesday night, and police were searching for him as of press time.
The man had approached the rear of the building and then made his way up the side, before entering and pointing a gun at an employee and demanding money around 9:30 p.m., said Harsh Patel, a manager at the Lukoil Minit Mart.
The thief got away with all the money in the cash drawer from the night shift, which hadn’t yet been counted before closing, Patel said.