Charleroi Area Lunch Ladies Steal Cafeteria Proceeds, Police Say

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Washington County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  Is nothing sacred!!!!????

Two Charleroi Area School District cafeteria workers stole about $94,000 in a scheme that involved pocketing cafeteria money and using it to gamble at a casino, according to Washington County criminal complaints.

Stacy Lee Shipley, 50, and Sheila Ann Cook, 49, both of Charleroi, went to The Meadows Racetrack and Casino with money that Ms. Shipley stole from the school cafeteria, the complaints say.

Ms. Shipley would tell Ms. Cook that she had “extra money” with the understanding that the money was stolen. The pair promised each other they would split all winnings, according to the complaint.

Ms. Cook told police that she “just got caught up in the thrill of it all.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/washington/charleroi-area-lunch-ladies-steal-cafeteria-proceeds-police-say-672844/#ixzz2JayX4LgW

Natural Gas Boom Fuels U.S. Office Market

Locator map of the Greater Pittsburgh metro area in the western part of the of . Red denotes the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area, and yellow denotes the New Castle Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Pittsburgh-New Castle CSA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bloomberg — Leasing demand from natural-gas and other energy companies is helping to bolster the U.S. office market and drive growth in cities such as Pittsburgh, where rents are at their highest in more than a decade.

Greater Pittsburgh, along with Houston and other cities with concentrations of energy-related workers, is outpacing national growth in rents and occupancy, according to a report today from Reis Inc., which showed U.S. office landlords had net gains in leased space for a second year in 2012, following three years of declines.  Tenants in energy, along with technology, helped push the national vacancy rate to a three-year low.

In the fourth quarter, greater Pittsburgh office rents after landlord concessions climbed 1 percent from the previous three months, compared with 0.8 percent for the U.S., while the area’s vacancy rate held at 15.5 percent, below the national average of 17.1 percent, New York-based Reis said. Pittsburgh tenants paid an average of $17.68 a square foot in the fourth quarter, the highest since 2000, ranking it 12th out of 79 markets for growth.  In Houston, effective rents rose 1.7 percent, the fifth-most nationwide.

Read more:  http://www.mcall.com/business/mc-energy-office-market-20130107,0,3658617.story

Rural Food Banks Struggle To Meet Need

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Greene County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Like the people they help, food pantries throughout southwestern Pennsylvania are struggling — and in some cases, failing — to make ends meet as skimpy federal food supplies, a tighter state budget, higher food prices and more needy clients strain resources.

Food banks around the region are reducing the number of fruits and vegetables they distribute, trimming or even eliminating expensive protein sources such as eggs and peanut butter from the boxes given to their clients, and in some cases, must consider scaling back their operations.

In Greene County, for instance, board members of the Waynesburg-based food bank, The Corner Cupboard, were spared Monday from slashing their food box distribution from monthly to bimonthly only after a last-minute $10,000 donation from natural gas drilling company EQT, according to board member John Jenkins.

“I don’t want to tell people we don’t have food for them, my God, but there’s just nothing we can do right now,” Mr. Jenkins said. “We’ve robbed Peter to pay Paul to try to stay afloat as it is.”

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/region/rural-food-banks-struggle-to-meet-need-653436/#ixzz26bApTVGG

Marcellus Shale Yield Skyrockets In Allegheny County

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Allegheny County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The amount of Marcellus Shale gas produced in Allegheny County more than doubled in the first half of 2012, with nine online wells concentrated in Frazer and Fawn producing more than 3.6 billion cubic feet of gas, according to new data released by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Even with the increase, the county still contributed a pittance to total statewide production figures.

Gas production across the state climbed from January to June, with 704 billion cubic feet of gas produced, up from the 630 billion cubic feet reported from July to December 2011.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/marcellusshale/county-marcellus-shale-yield-skyrockets-649379/#ixzz246GMjMrr

“American Idol” Puts Adam Brock Of Washington, Pa., In Top 24

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Amid the glitz of Hollywood and Vegas, a creative arts director from “Little Washington” sung his way onto the main stage of “American Idol.”

Adam Brock, 27, was announced Thursday night as one of the 24 finalists in the venerable Fox talent competition. Live shows kickoff next week and viewers will have the chance to vote for their favorites, ultimately naming the 11th American Idol.

For Mr. Brock, who graduated from Trinity High School and Messiah College in Harrisburg, it had to have been a tough week. The latest selection process was completed last month but the bluesman, who calls himself “White Chocolate,” was forbidden to reveal the results.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12055/1212400-67-0.stm#ixzz1nPzv0MWX

Huge Alcohol Crackdown At California University Of Pennsylvania

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Over the weekend police in California, Pennsylvania were busy writing up dozens of citations for underage drinking and alcohol-related offenses.  38 people were cited, at various locations in California Borough, for disorderly conduct, public drunkenness, holding a loud party, having an open container of alcohol and underage drinking.

James Donofrio, 21, of Venetia, is charged with supplying alcohol to minors, tampering with evidence and disorderly conduct.

Two people were taken to Mon Valley Hospital for consuming too much alcohol.

The Brownsville Telegraph is also reporting that 90 citations were issued at the Theta X Frat House over the weekend, mostly for underage drinking.  California University of Pennsylvania is located within the borough of California, PA.