Storm aftermath closes roads

Thursday night's storms left several local roads closed due to flooding, downed trees and downed utilities, PennDOT says.

They include:

• Beaver Valley Road between Mountain Road and Mountain Shadow Road in Beaver Township.
• Millertown Road between Bottom Road in Greenwood Township and Hill Road in Mount Pleasant Township.
• Mainville Drive between State Routes 487 in Catawissa Township and 339 in Main Township.

Meanwhile, two roads that had been closed Friday morning were reopened by Friday afternoon:

Trick-or-treat listing, updated with weather shifts

BERWICK — Trick-or-treating will going on as scheduled in Berwick, Salem Township and Nescopeck borough on Thursday, officials there say.

In Bloomsburg and Scott Township, the town and township have pushed back trick-or-treating for a night to Friday. The same applies in Catawissa. In Danville, it’s been rescheduled until Saturday.

But Berwick Borough Manager Damien Scoblink jokingly suggested the weather may be an omen.

“If (Thursday) night gets rained out, that’s just Mother Nature actively fighting cavities,” Scoblink said.

Bloom will forfeit district playoff

BLOOMSBURG — Decimated by injuries, the Bloomsburg Panthers will forfeit Friday’s District IV football playoff game at Mount Carmel. 

The school district announced Tuesday that the Panthers were down to 17 healthy players after the team had lost seven players to injury in Friday’s season-ending 29-7 loss to Central Columbia. 

“In reality, this number could only drop,” a district statement said, referring to the team’s number of available players. 

Mom and toddler uninjured after crash

CATAWISSA TWP. — A Catawissa mother and her 2-year-old daughter escaped serious injury after the car they were in went off Route 487 and mounted a steep hillside just south of the former Tom’s Family Restaurant late Monday morning.

Calye Goldman, 30, of 604 Hillside Village, said she couldn’t control a 2008 Honda Accord after it veered off the highway and began to ascend a hill while traveling south on Route 487 shortly after 10 a.m. 

Fair calls special alcohol meeting

BLOOMSBURG — The fate of alcohol sales at the Bloomsburg Fair will be up for discussion at a special meeting for shareholders next month.

A letter sent to members outlines the details of the Nov. 23. meeting at the fairgrounds, which will include guest speakers and a question-and-answer session with directors.

While shareholders don’t get a direct vote in the matter, it’s important to take their opinions into account, said Brian Wawroski, grandstand director.

Beating victim dies, police have second person in custody

BERWICK — The woman found tied up and beaten beyond recognition in her trailer here has died, and the second of two brothers has been charged in what is now a murder case.

Meanwhile, Michael Allen Porth of Second Lane, Berwick, now tells police that Geraldine Carson was bludgeoned to death because she owed drug money to him and his brother, Christopher Wolf Lynn, 26, according to court papers.

Porth said Lynn acted alone when he attacked Carson in her trailer on Oct. 8.

Woman jailed in alleged storage unit break-in

COOPER TWP. — A rural Danville woman cut the bolt on a storage unit here Friday night and began stealing things before the person leasing the unit showed up and began questioning her, charges say.

Carissa Ann Eifert, 34, of 409 Jerseytown Road, began putting things back in William Allen’s storage unit when he showed up and later drove away, but Allen videoed her doing it, and also had her driver’s license, police say.

Fire destroys home

BRIAR CREEK — An early morning blaze that destroyed a two-story home had fire crews on edge Sunday, fearing the homeowner was trapped inside.

It wasn’t until crews had been battling the fire for nearly 30 minutes that they learned the lone occupant of 189 Ruckle Hill Road, Nathan Stoudt, was out-of-state, said Berwick Fire Chief Randy Remphrey.

Crews were called to the house just after 3 a.m., but by the time they arrived, the home was fully engulfed in flames, Remphrey said. 

“It must have been burning for awhile,” he noted. 

Two student affairs admins gone from BU

BLOOMSBURG — Two of Bloomsburg University’s top student affairs administrators were escorted off campus earlier this week, but officials on Friday remained quiet on the reason for their sudden departure.

University officials wouldn’t confirm if Dione Somerville, the vice president for student affairs since July 2011, and Don Young, dean of students since June 2012, were still employed by BU, but neither was listed on the school’s Student Life staff page, and Jim McCormack is now listed as the acting vice president for student affairs.

First lawsuit filed in Geisinger NICU deaths

WILKES-BARRE — A wrongful death lawsuit was filed here Thursday against Geisinger Medical Center by the parents of a premature infant who died within a week of birth as a result of a bacterial outbreak at the Childrens Hospital in Danville.

The lawsuit alleges Geisinger knew of the waterborne bacteria but failed to take steps to protect newborns, including Abel Cepeda, son of Zuleyka Rodriguez and Luis David Cepeda of Hazle Township.

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