Mom finds meth in son's laundry basket, cops say

BERWICK -- A mother who had taken her son's clothes basket to the laundromat found a shocking surprise mixed in with the garments: a bottle of methamphetamine, police say. Jody Seltzer had been rounding up laundry from her 329 E. Front St. home Sunday. She grabbed her son John Seltzer's basket from outside his room, and took it with her to Dockside Laundry in Nescopeck, she told police.

Man arrested for attempted killing

BENTON -- U.S. Marshals charged a Benton man with attempted homicide over an Aug. 28 stabbing that left a man covered in blood, looking for help. Police were called to Rohrsburg Road that day after someone came upon the bloody man, who had been stabbed several times in the head, chest and back, authorities say. He was flown to Geisinger Medical Center. Earlier today, federal agents captured Joseph C. Dunn, 30, and charged him in the attack. The Pennsylvania State Police had asked for assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force to find Dunn and take him into custody.

Outage cancels classes at BU

BLOOMSBURG -- PPL crews were working to restore power to the Bloomsburg University campus Wednesday evening after an afternoon outage led the university to cancel classes for the remainder of the day. Crews were summoned to a reported fire on a electrical pole near Columbia Hall around 2 p.m. By 3 p.m., the university was getting word out on social media that classes were canceled until Thursday morning. Crews were able to restore power to 222 surrounding homes and businesses by 2:50 p.m., PPL spokeswoman Teri MacBride said. By then, the problem was confined to the university, she said.

Freedom is fleeting for prison inmate

BLOOMSBURG -- Just hours after Robert Q. Brown was granted his freedom after serving 15 months in prison, he was back in front of a judge on charges he smuggled a packet of heroin into the county lockup. Brown, 28, was before President Judge Thomas A. James Tuesday, pleading guilty on charges of trying to disarm a Berwick police officer during an attempted arrest. The plea deal allowed him his release following another court appearance for formal sentencing. Brown had already served 15 months, and would get an immediate release.

Crash closes Front Street in Berwick

BERWICK -- A Nescopeck woman who crashed her car into a two-story building downtown said her shoes are to blame, police say. Mary D. Bartko, 58, was driving a silver 2007 Pontiac sedan north on West Front Street in the right-hand lane around 2:30 p.m. when her sandal got tangled up with the gas pedal, she told police. That caused her to accelerate and lose control of the car near Dunkin Donuts, according to police. Bartko's car jumped the right curb, taking out a 15-foot flowering pear tree and sending it flying 65 feet along the curb.

The PE Sneak Peek: Sept. 9

Here's a look at the stories that are keeping our reporters busy Monday: * A driver accused of striking and killing a bicyclist has his day in court. * A main local thoroughfare is closed to traffic for a bad crash downtown. Check back for details. * A former cop is in court to be sentenced in a road rage case. * Plus, a couple's bad night in the bars ends with the guy going to jail. Look for these stories and more in tomorrow's edition of the Press Enterprise.

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