Police identify alleged shooter, victim

BLOOMSBURG -- The man who fired a shot at another man in an early morning fight on Old Berwick Road "had a long history" with the victim, police say. Harold "Bucky" Smith, 24, of 21 Rocky Ridge Lane, Nescopeck, was arrested Monday on felony assault charges for firing a .380 Keltec semi-automatic handgun at Brian Laubach's feet Sunday just before 2 a.m. Here's what police say happened:

Town cruiser smashed up

BLOOMSBURG -- A town police officer slammed a cruiser into an East Street utility pole Friday as he swerved to avoid a car pulling into his path, the police chief said. Ptlm. Lewis Carl was taken to Geisinger-Bloomsburg Hospital to be checked out, said Chief Roger Van Loan. He had some complaints of bruising. The cruiser's front driver side crumpled when it hit the pole, and its airbag deployed. Carl was wearing his seat belt, Van Loan said.

Man who broke infant daughter's leg sentenced to state prison

BLOOMSBURG -- A 19-year-old man who broke his infant daughter's leg because she wouldn't stop crying was sentenced to a lengthy stay in state prison by a judge who called his actions "despicable and inexcusable." Andrew Hess, 19, must serve 19 months for fracturing all three bones in his then 2-month-old daughter Elvira's right leg. Hess told Judge Gary E. Norton he has spent nearly a year in jail and is anxious to go home and see his mom. "All I want to do is go home for Thanksgiving and spend Christmas with my family," Hess said.X-ray revealed multiple fractures

Man asks judge to show mercy to brother's killer

BLOOMSBURG -- A man asked a judge to show mercy to the teen driver who ran down his brother and left him to die along the roadside last year. Joseph Scott Rish, 19, has admitted he was drunk when he struck 50-year-old Robert Mohr, who was walking his bicycle along Ridge Road early in the morning of Sept. 16, 2012. Rish never stopped to see what he struck, and police later found him hiding in a relative's home, they said. Rish apologized to the Mohr family, as well as his own.

Molester sent back to prison; no new deal for Hutchings

BLOOMSBURG -- A tearful Dale Hutchings told a judge Wednesday he was sorry for all the damage he caused to the children he sexually abused in Berwick over the years. The former school crossing guard and community volunteer was in court in hopes of winning a shorter sentence, arguing that his defense attorney was ineffective. But he left without shaving any time off his 460-year maximum prison term. "It isn't even close," Columbia County President Judge Thomas A. James ruled after hearing the appeal.

Fire breaks out in potato-chip plant

BERWICK -- Wise Foods was forced to evacuate workers Tuesday after fire broke out in the wall of one of its potato-chip fryers, officials said. Employees shut off heat feeding the fryer and dumped the oil. They were pulling apart panels to get inside the wall where the fire erupted, borough Chief Bill Coolbaugh said. Firefighters were standing by with a special, waterless foam used to snuff oil fires.

Baby-abuse charges dropped

DANVILLE -- All charges were dropped against a father accused of suspected child abuse by violently shaking his infant son three years ago. State prosecutors found there was not enough proof to proceed against 30-year-old Amire Alumine Isbell, a Washington D.C. native who resided in Liberty Township with his wife and two children at the time. Isbell is now living in Marlboro, Md., where his wife is employed as a psychiatrist with a metropolitan health care system.

Agents dismantle meth lab

Five people were rounded up and jailed Thursday when state agents raided an alleged meth lab at 130 Karns Road near Stillwater and discovered two containers bubbling with lithium and other toxic chemicals. Taken into custody were Fred Houseweart, 28, Galen Houseweart, 22, Bernadine Houseweart, 53, Kimberly Grose, 33, and David Getz, 50, of Millville. The state attorney general listed all three Housewearts and Grose as residents of the Karns Road home. In addition to meth manufacturing materials, agents seized one assault rifle, a handgun and $1,136 cash from the home.

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