Fire breaks out at landmark home

SALEM TWP. — Fire broke out at a landmark field stone house on East Front Street here early Thursday morning, but solid construction and a quick response by firefighters saved most of the building.

The 4-bedroom home at 925 E. Second St., owned by Delores “Dolly” Sorce, was up for sale for $499,900, according to real estate listings.

Sorce had moved out, said Fire Chief Lee Smith, but she still had some items stored inside, including a Mercedes in the side section of the “L”-shaped garage.

Ad blimp floats away

SCOTT TWP. — An advertising blimp broke loose from a car dealership in Scott Township on Wednesday around noon, first tangling in nearby trees and then floating away as workers tried to recover it.

The blimp, bearing Bloomsburg Chevrolet's logo on its side, has advertised the dealership along Central Road for years. But somehow on Wednesday it slipped its mooring and began to drift away. After it tangled into trees, workers were able to partially free it. But soon it escaped their grasp again, this time floating high into the sky.

Police seek hit-and-run driver in boy’s death

CAMBRA — A 7-year-old boy on a bicycle was struck by a pickup and killed near his driveway Friday evening while three of his siblings watched from their front yard.

State Police say the driver of a dark-colored pickup fled after striking and killing Gabriel Michael Bierly just before sunset Friday.

After hitting Gabriel, the man drove another 350 yards with Gabriel’s bicycle stuck to the front of his pickup, according to Dawn Bierly, Gabriel’s grandmother.

“He knew he hit him,” Dawn Bierly said of the driver.

Talen agrees to donate Montour Preserve, stop coal burning and dumping at Montour plant

WASHINGTONVILLE — Talen Energy plans to donate the Montour Preserve to a nonprofit or local government and to stop burning coal at its plant north of Danville by 2025 as part of an agreement to address reported pollution from an ash dump adjacent to its 49-year-old power plant near here, according to a press release.

Talen signed the agreement with the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association, which put out the press release on Tuesday.

AP: Geisinger let employee family members skip vaccine line

DANVILLE — One of Pennsylvania’s largest health networks allowed employees' family members to skip the COVID-19 vaccine line, raising questions of fairness at a time of strong public demand and scarce supply.

Geisinger's decision to give special access to employees’ relatives earned a rebuke this week from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, which said the health care giant shouldn’t have held vaccine clinics for eligible family members of employees.

Family of four escapes Shickshinny blaze

SHICKSHINNY — A family of four escaped a fire that destroyed their Grant Street home Sunday morning.

By the time firefighters arrived to the 4:30 a.m. blaze at 47 Grant St., the two-story home on a steep hill was “engulfed,” according to Mike Duda, Mocanaqua’s first assistant fire chief.

“It’s a total loss,” Duda said as smoke continued to billow from the charred, gutted building.

Volunteer firefighters from several area departments, including Berwick, Salem Township, Pond Hill, Huntington Township and Hanover Township had the fire under control before 6 p.m.

Shooting death of Scott Twp. woman ruled tragic accident

The Saturday afternoon shooting death of Jennifer S. Roesch was a tragic accident, officials said Monday.

Roesch, 44, was shot when her husband, Daniel, was removing a handgun from a gun safe in the attached garage of the family home and it accidentally discharged, Columbia County District Attorney Thomas Leipold said.

The single bullet traveled through a wall into the living room, said county Coroner Jeremy Reese.

There, it struck Jennifer Roesch, who was sitting with the couple’s two children and her parents, Leipold said.

Bloomsburg man who sold Trumparoo stuffed toys dies at Washington protest

Ben Philips of Bloomsburg headed to Washington, D.C. early Wednesday morning, hoping to witness President Donald Trump announcing that he had won the election. 

Over the previous week, Philips, 50, had organized a charter bus and a van holding 70 people to attend an event in support of President Trump. 

In Washington, Philips died from a medical emergency during the event and didn't make it back. He was among four people who died during the protest, Washington police said.

To Philips,  the trip went beyond simply an opportunity to voice a political opinion. 

Farmhouse destroyed by fire; Good Samaritan offers new spot

LOCUST TWP. — A fast-moving fire engulfed a two-story farmhouse Friday morning, destroying the home and everything inside.

But even before the blaze was extinguished, a good Samaritan had stepped in to help, offering the family of six another home for as long as they need it.

The fire likely started in the home’s wood-burning stove, then spread to the rest of the house, according to Numidia’s Valley Chemical Fire Chief Mark Sharrow.

Bloom woman knew killer, charges say

BUTLER TWP. — Erica Shultz, 26, had gone on dates with Harold David Haulman III, so when he surprised her at her home Dec. 4, she agreed to go with him, court papers say.

Haulman then allegedly took the autistic woman into the woods and murdered her, using a knife and a hammer.

Haulman III, 42, whom investigators described as a transient, was captured after he was found walking along train tracks in Duncannon. Charges say that when he was confronted by a Norfolk Southern Railway Police officer, he hacked his own arm with a box cutter, saying “I need to die for my sins.”

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