Latrobe BulletinLatrobe BulletinVolume 106 - No. 221 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2008 50¢ Newsstand/35¢ Home Delivery

—Sports—

—Index—

—Weather—

—Education—

84°/62°

77°/58°

Mostly sunny andwarmer with highs in

the mid 80s. Becomingmostly cloudy in theevening with a slightchance of showers.

Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chanceof showers. Not as

hot with highs in the70s. Mostly cloudy

in the evening.

Today

Tomorrow

Scholarship presented; heritage

festivals; student volunteers.

See Page 4

What’sInside

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St. Vincent Collegehosts McDaniel (Md.)

to open second seasonof football on Saturday,

will induct 12 into itsAthletic Hall of Fame

today; Greater Latrobegolfers gain share offirst place in WPIALDivision I Section 1;Greensburg Salem

shuts out Derry Area inboys’ soccer and girls’

volleyball; Lady Wildcats top Kiski Area in straight

games in section girls’ volleyball match.

See Pages 9-10

Smooth start for school year in Derry AreaBY MARIE MCCANDLESS

Bulletin News EditorDerry Area schools got off to a smooth start for 2008-

09, the school board learned last night.Principals at all levels reported positively on the begin-

ning of the new academic year.High school principal Kathy Perry said the smooth

beginning reflected hard work over the summer by districtstaff, particularly transportation, cafeteria, maintenanceand technology.

Perry also reported that the revised schedule has result-ed in fewer tardies.

Middle school principal Cheryl Walters said, “We’revery excited to start the new schedule,” and said all subjectareas will focus on literacy as an “absolutely fundamental”requirement. “It’s non-negotiable,” she commented, forstudents to be competent and proficient in reading in orderto prepare students for “global citizenship and 21st-centu-

ry skills.”The board also approved purchase of a new cargo van

and will advertise sale of its 1987 GMC cargo van.The district will pay a total of $27,659 for a 2008 Ford

E-350 SD cutaway van with rail gate from Tri-Star FordMcKeesport as per a COSTARS contract to be paid withcapital improvement funds.

The board rejected bids received to purchase a usedcargo van.

Middle school teacher Mike Moxinchalk asked theboard to consider instituting a district-wide recycling pro-gram. Superintendent Roberta Kuhns explained that theadministration has discussed it, and the middle school Stu-dent Council has expressed interest in organizing such aprogram.

Building and grounds supervisor Rick Naeger notedthat about 15 years ago the district had a recycling programuntil the recycling market declined and the hauler stopped

collecting the items. He said the district does recycle card-board.

In other business, the board approved:• Resignations of food service employees Cel Repak

and Darlene Hunter, and hall monitor Russell Hall;• Substitute teachers David Camaione, Greensburg;

Dan Dougherty, Latrobe; Laura Oravec, Delmont; SandraKantor, Derry; Rochelle Egan, Greensburg; GregoryLasinski, Blairsville; Justin Palmiscno, Avonmore; JessicaPrice, Greensburg; Devin Pritts, Berlin; Dee Pruett,Latrobe; Cheryl Washinko, Derry, and Nathan Waszo,Greensburg;

• Substitute aide/secretary/personal care assistant/hallmonitors Janet Delacruz, Latrobe; Linda Skillings,Blairsville, and Amy Tompko, Blairsville;

• Substitute custodial Arthur Martin Jr., New Alexan-dria;

Gideon Clayton, who will be 18 on Election Day, Nov. 4, is shown completing his voterregistration form. With him are Julie Visconti and Brandon Brasili. All three are studentsof Robert Reintgen, Derry Area High School social studies teacher Reintgen reminds allcitizens that the voter registration deadline is Oct. 6. If you are turning 18 on or beforeNov. 4, you may register to vote now. According to the US Census figures, 55 million of197 million eligible voters did not register to vote in 2004. As of today, more that 8.4 mil-lion Pennsylvanians were registered to vote in the general election on Nov. 4. For moreinformation, visit the Department of State’s voter education Web site VotesPA.com.

Photo by Ernie SistekSunflowers going to seed on this farm in Somerset County is a sure sign that fallis fast approaching.

Going to seed

LeNature’s lawyersset to get paid

BY TOM AIKENSBulletin Staff Writer

The party is over when the tab comes due.Next week Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge M. Bruce McCullough will

hold a hearing on requests for payment by the host of lawyers and otherprofessionals that were drawn in to the orbit of the LeNature’s bank-ruptcy case.

And the bill will likely be close to $20 million.The case, which is two months away from completing its second

year of life, has moved on to a liquidation after McCullough last monthapproved a plan supported by creditors to use the remaining assets ofthe company to pursue a coordinated series of lawsuits as the onlymeans of recouping the money they had lost when the flavored watercompany was forced into bankruptcy Nov. 1, 2006.

Atty. Marc Kirschner has been hired to supervise the liquidation planand pursue the suits.

Paying for professionals has been an occasional source of tension inthe case. McCullough would often threaten to withhold payment or cutbills when he was upset at the pace of the case.

Those being paid now are the firms that came in to take control ofthe company and to act as trustee, and conducted the forensic account-ing investigation that was the basis for the suits to follow.

That trustee, attorney, accountant and former FBI agent R. ToddNeilson, and his firm have requested payment of just over $678,000,according to court documents.

The accounting firm he hired, LECG LLC, has requested $4.2 mil-lion while the law firm that represented him, Pachulski Stang Ziehl &Jones, asked to be paid $4.1 million for its work.

Meanwhile Kroll Zolfo Cooper of New York, the business manage-ment company that came in the first few days of the bankruptcy andlearned that the $200-million company was nearly worthless, is askingto be paid $2 million in fees.

After months of contentious hearings and revelations about how for-mer CEO Greg Podlucky spent company funds on gems, jewelry andmodel trains, the plant was eventually sold through bankruptcy court toGiant Eagle Inc., which is operating a bottling plant there.

Podlucky and other leaders of the company are currently the centerof a federal fraud investigation.

You’re 18, then register!

Pa. lawmakersconsider fee fortrooper services BY DAN SCIFO

Bulletin Staff WriterIn his 30 years of service Medic 10 ambulance service chief and

paramedic Donald Good never saw a group of volunteers come togeth-er so quickly.

But he was touched after the emergency services community cameout in full force to support Medic 10 and its members when a fire brokeout inside one of its three ambulances Wednesday evening, totaling onevehicle, affecting another, and significantly damaging the Mount Pleas-ant station.

“One ambulance was completely totaled, another had severe smokedamage and the actual building itself suffered damages,” Good said.

“But one company donated a temporary trailer for us and a neigh-boring ambulance service is going to provide us with an ambulance dur-ing our time of need. Our residents don’t need to worry and there aren’tany concerns because we will be able to provide ambulance coverageas soon as (Friday).”

Mount Pleasant volunteer fire chief Gerry Lucia reported that thevehicle was parked inside the station when an alarm went off at 6:07p.m. and crew members, who were in a different room, discovered theambulance was on fire. Lucia noted that it appears the fire started in thecab of the ambulance.

Units were dispatched and the fire was extinguished within 20 min-

County woman guilty, mentally ill, in hubby’s death

GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) — A western Pennsylvania womanhas pleaded guilty but mentally ill to third-degree murder for stab-bing her estranged husband, who called 911 and described whathappened before he died.

Forty-four-year-old Deborah Shawley agreed to be sentenced toup to 40 years in prison in exchange for Westmoreland Countyprosecutors allowing the plea Thursday. She was charged with first-degree murder.

Prosecutors allowed the plea because of her history of mentalhealth issues. Shawley and her attorney didn’t comment.

She admitted stabbing 52-year-old Robert Shawley at his Traf-ford home on Oct. 23, 2007 — their 25th wedding anniversary.After calling 911, Robert Shawley was taken to a hospital where hedied shortly afterward.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) —Pennsylvania lawmakers are con-sidering whether to impose a$100-per-resident tax on largemunicipalities — includingUnity, Derry, Mount Pleasant andHempfield townships — that donot have their own police forcesand instead rely entirely on statetroopers.

A state House bill wouldimpose the fee only on munici-palities with at least 10,000 peo-ple. Under current census figures,it would produce more than $31million annually from 21 town-ships in 12 counties.

But at a hearing in Harrisburgon Thursday, opponents warnedit could be financially devastatingand could push townships that donot want their own police forcesto establish them anyway.

“This approach looks to melike a state mandate, and it lookslike an unfunded mandate,” saidRep. Will Gabig, R-Cumberland.

The issue has been kickedaround the state Capitol for morethan a decade, and was pushed bythen-Gov. Tom Ridge in the1990s.

The latest proposal is spon-sored by Rep. John Pallone, D-Westmoreland, who vowed toreintroduce it next year if noaction is taken before the currentsession ends in November.

Pallone said local and statepolice resources are stretched totheir limits and that his bill wouldbe fairer and result in more policeon duty.

“It’s not necessarily the costfactor to focus on, it’s the lawenforcement issues,” he said.

Larry Garner, manager ofWhite Township in IndianaCounty, said it would cost hismunicipality nearly $1.5 million

Candidatesforum, not

debateLatrobe Area Chamber

of Commerce will sponsora Candidates Forum onTuesday afternoon, Oct. 21,at Greater Latrobe SeniorHigh School.

It will not be set up as adebate, said Chamber pres-ident Andy Stofan, “but ourletter of invitation to thecandidates indicates thateach candidate will beasked the same questions,alternating who answersfirst on each question.”

Both Mike Reese andMike O’Barto, campaign-ing for the state House ofRepresentatives, hadresponded affirmatively onAug. 22 to the invitation,Stofan said.

An article in Thursday’sBulletin indicated the eventwould be a debate.

Services’units to helpMedic 10 after fire

Townships that wouldhave to pay fees

A legislative proposal toimpose a $100 head tax on largemunicipalities that do not havetheir own police force wouldaffect 21 townships in Pennsyl-vania, including these fromWestern Pennsylvania:

—Westmoreland County:Hempfield, Unity, Derry andMount Pleasant townships

—Erie County: Harborcreekand Fairview townships

—Fayette County: NorthUnion and South Union town-ships

—Indiana County: WhiteTownship

Source: Rep. John Pallone,D-Westmoreland, sponsor ofthe bill

( See Smooth on Page 3)

( See Services on Page 3)

( See Pa. lawmakers on Page 3)