The City of York announced in a press release that they will be conducting tree maintenance and removal of the Bradford Pear trees located on W. Market St. between Pershing Ave. and Duke St.

The maintenance and removals are required to correct and or repair the damage that was done to the trees resulting from the October 2011 Snow Storm.

City Crews will also conduct routine maintenance on the trees to ensure prolonged tree health and public safety. The tree maintenance project will begin, Wednesday, February 22nd and should last about 3 weeks. There are 10 trees that will need to come down as a result of the damage that was incurred during the October snowstorm.

The trees scheduled to be removed are located at;

35 W. Market St.
51 W. Market St.
101 W. Market St.
120 W. Market St.
118 W. Market St.
116 W. Market St.
Trinity United Church of Christ in the unit block of W. Market St.
Unit block of East Market St. in front of Wells Fargo Bank
28 E. Market St.
15 E. Market St.

The City of York has made arrangements to replace the trees in April of 2012. Please note that during the tree maintenance procedure, parts of the travel lanes on W. Market St. between Pershing Ave. and Duke St will be closed.

On Tuesday at 330 p.m., two nine-year-old girls were walking down the street. A light-skinned, black male with a mustache in a green vehicle stopped and asked them to come get into his vehicle.

The girls fled into a nearby residence and called the police. Police searched the area for the suspect, but were unable to locate the vehicle or the suspect.

Anyone with information on this incident should contact the Steelton Borough Police Department.

UPDATE:

A Chester County woman who promised to rescue four unwanted horses, but instead sent them to a Canadian slaughterhouse, waived her right to a preliminary hearing Tuesday afternoon. She now faces a formal arraignment on charges of theft by deception in April.

24-year-old Kelsey Elva Lefever, of Honey Brook, knows horses. She is well-known in the show horse world and in horse rescue circles.

Ms. Lefever, appearing before Magisterial District Judge Lowell Witmer, was arrested by State Police last month. She allegedly told two different owners of two retired racehorses that she would retrain them and find them new homes.

She instead is accused of selling them to “kill buyers” in a parking lot deal at the New Holland auction near Lancaster. They were shipped to Canada to be butchered for meat for human consumption overseas.

One local Assistant District Attorney expects she’ll enter the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program.

Defense attorney Michael Sheldon says his client is innocent of the charges; even so she will have little to do with horses in the future.

“It’s an unfortunate case, but her time of working with horses is over,” commented Sheldon.

The owners of the horses had farms in Chambersburg and Pipersville and were unwilling to discuss the case. As for Lefever, she remains free on $20,000 unsecured bail.

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24-year-old Kelsey Lefever of Honey Brook is accused of sending four horses donated to her to the slaughter house.  The horses were thoroughbreds retired from racing.

Police Report:
In the commission of this crime, the accused did acquire four Thoroughbred racehorses from 5/13 through 5/16/11 (one horse from victim # 1 and three horses from victim # 2), under the arrangement that she would care for, retrain, and re-home the horses into new careers due to their retirement from racing, under false pretenses that they would never be sold at auction or sold to slaughter. In turn, the accused did sell all four horses to be slaughtered for human consumption on 05/16/11 at the New Holland Horse Auction in Lancaster County, PA.

Charges: Deceptive or Fraudulent Business Practices – 1 count, felony 3
Theft by Deception – 2 counts, felony 3
Theft by Deception – 2 counts, misdemeanor 1


LEFEVER turned herself in to District Court 12-3-05 on 11/22/11 and was arraigned in front of the Honorable Lowell A. WITMER. Bail was set at $20,000 unsecured cash. A preliminary hearing date is scheduled for 02/06/12 at 1100 hrs.

The United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced Tuesday that Richard W. Diggins, Jr., 50 of York, was charged with making fraudulent claims against the United States in connection with unemployment insurance benefits.

According to United States Attorney Peter J. Smith, Diggins was receiving unemployment insurance benefits from the Railroad Retirement Board(RRB) between July 3, 2008 and October 22, 2009.

During that same time period, Diggins maintained employment and earned wages that he failed to report to the RRB as required by law. As a result, Diggins received an overpayment of $17,622.00.

If convicted, Diggins faces up to five years imprisonment and/or $250,000 in fines.

The case was investigated by the RRB Office of Inspector General and is assigned to Senior Litigation Counsel Bruce Brandler for prosecution.

As the weather warms and the ground thaws, we know we're nearing spring. For people in Lancaster County, a change in seasons also means the kickoff to mud sales.

Nobody's getting dirty at the event, but the name certainly throws people off at first. But mud sale just represents the time of year, a change in seasons, thawing out rain and warmer temps.

The sale is essentially an auction that serves as a major fundraiser for local volunteer fire companies.

Strasburg Fire Company will kick off mud sale season this Saturday beginning at 8 a.m. More than 500 quilts will be auctioned off, along with farm equipment, crafts, horses and lots of food.

The fire company expects to net about $30,000 during the one-day event and have about 4 to 5,000 people stop by to help contribute to their cause.

The fire house operates on about a $200,000 a year budget. The mud sale fundraiser pays for about 25 percent of that budget.

The fire company president says it's important to have continued community interest and support because ultimately, the fire companies’ financial health could determine their well-being in a fire emergency.

“They would have a lot of financial loss if they lost their property,” commented Strasburg Fire Company President Jim Kiscaden. “So it's essential to support the fire company because of their own investment in their own property.”

The quilts that you saw in the video are from all over the country and it's expected that people from neighboring states will drive to Lancaster County for the unique event. For more information and to see a list of all of the Lancaster County mud sales happening this season, click on the attached link.

Many of us have heard of the Make a Wish program for kids, but did you know there is a similar program for elders, Second Wind Dreams.

This afternoon, one of those dreams came true for an 88-year-young man.

Dick Henry proves it is not how old you are, but how young you feel.

Dick is a resident of Elmcroft Senior Living center in Dillsburg and had been coming up with all kinds of ways to work out. Those include creating weights out of buckets and concrete and lifting rocks at the center. Tuesday, for 88-year-young Dick Henry, his dream came true.

Dick Henry deals with memory impairment issues, but one thing is he sure remembers how to work out.

These amazing pictures are of Dick when he served America as a Marine in the Pacific during World War Two. He was ready to eat up the weights today.

“We started light but I think it is a little too light,” Henry stated.

Dick's dream came true today with a professional trainer and a complete workout at Gold's Gym.

“No matter the age you have to look at them and develop a workout to their body,” stated Gold’s Gym Personal Trainer Lew Reese. “Some 88-year-olds can run and act around like a 40 or 30-year-old.

Dick was born and raised in York, one of eight children and the father and three. It is easy to see the benefit of his life long workout regime!

“I hope that when I'm his age that I'll have enough motivation to be in here and not be on the couch,” stated an impressed Jimmy Young.

For Dick, Second Wind Dreams made this day possible.

“It’s designed to make dreams come true for seniors, so it can be somebody in a senior living community like Dick,” explained Elmcroft Community Relations Director Linda Knecht. “It could be somebody just out in the community it is sort of akin to Make a Wish foundation.”

It all goes to show that age is just a number.

If you would like to know more about Second Wind Dreams and how you can help inspiring seniors like Dick Henry click on Find It.

Early Sunday morning, a cab driver was robbed and assaulted on Greenland Drive in East Lampeter Township.

The driver picked the suspect up in Lancaster City and drove him to the 400 block of Greenland Drive.  After advising the occupant, Dennis Bonneau, that the fare was $17.00, Bonneau struck the driver in the head with a bottle.

The driver attempted to flee but Bonneau punched and kicked him until he fell to the ground.  Bonneau then took cash from the driver’s pockets.

Bonneau was charged with felony robbery, felony aggravated assault, theft by unlawful taking and theft of burglaries.  He also is being charged for two burglaries.

The victim was treated at the scene. 

Two people died on York County roads Tuesday in separate incidents.

Both were men in their 60s and 70s, one was from York County and the other was from Maryland.

71-year-old Richard Fleming, of White Hall, Maryland, was killed when his car collided with a truck in Springfield Township. It happened on Seaks Run Road at the Susquehanna Trail intersection around 615 Tuesday morning.

State Police say Fleming stopped at a stop sign and then turned his Honda in front of the flatbed truck, which did not have a stop sign.

Just 45 minutes later, the York County Coroner says 67-year-old George Reese Sr. had a heart attack while driving in Paradise Township.

The New Oxford man was traveling on Route 30 near Lake Road when it happened. His car was found in a field on the side of the road.

No other drivers were hurt in either of the crashes.

Police also do not believe charges will be filed against the truck driver involved in the first accident.

UPDATE:

Police are investigating the second homicide of the year in Harrisburg, and right now, they're being very careful about how much they say.

Police Chief Pierre Ritter said at this point, it's early in their investigation and therefore he didn't want to reveal too much.  He felt like that would ultimately compromise their case against the suspect who has still not been identified.

“Based on some of the witnesses that were there, there was some kind of dispute that went on that turned into some kind of fight or an argument,” stated Police Chief Ritter.

That argument reportedly escalated.  The suspect involved shot 45-year-old Matthew Harrell of Harrisburg several times.

“He was found lying in a bedroom area of the house,” Coroner Graham Hetrick stated.

Harrell, who lived on Green Street, was found by police in a home on Thompson Street shortly after being shot, he was pronounced dead on the scene. Investigators say there are several people who witnessed the shooting.

“A lot of times people are a little reluctant but we are getting some cooperation from those, individuals,” Ritter stated.

Police won't say how Harrell and the suspect knew each other or what the initial argument was about but there are speculations about this being yet another senseless death in the city.

“The perpetrator will eventually be caught and then we'll find out the reasoning behind it but once again it will probably be one of these things where the relationship to the suspect soured over an argument,” Ritter concluded.

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From Harrisburg Police:

Type of Incident:  Homicide
  .
Date / Time:  02-20-2012 @ about 2330 hrs.
  .
Location:    1400 block of Thompson St.
  . 
Investigating Officer:    Det. Ryan Neal
  .
Victim R/S/A:    Black male, age 45, Midtown resident.  (Identity not being released until family members are notified.)
  . 
Suspect:  Black male
.
Charges:  Pending
     
Narrative:
On 02-20-2012 at about 2340 hrs. patrol officers were dispatched to a residence in the 1400 block of Thompson St. on a report that a man had been shot.  Officers found the victim inside a home.  The victim had been shot and was deceased. 
.
A team of detectives responded and have worked through the night.  Several witnesses have been identified and interviewed.  Reportedly, the victim was engaged in a heated dispute with the suspect and he was shot.  The incident took place inside the home. The suspected fled.  Witnesses know the suspect by his nickname.
.
The suspect is encouraged to contact the Harrisburg Police Bureau to arrange his safe surrender.
.
The investigation continues and anyone having any information on this is asked to contact Det. Ryan Neal at 717-255-7299 or email rneal@cityofhbg.com or Sgt. Deric Moody at 717-255-3156 or email dmoody@cityofhbg.com.

_________________________________________

Harrisburg City police are investigating a fatal shooting.

It happened just after midnight on Thompson Street in the Allison Hill section of the city.

Police say the coroner pronounced the man dead inside a home.

His identity has not been released.

No word on a suspect or motive.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved new suppliers of two cancer drugs.

The approval will temporarily ease critical shortages that had patients worried about missing life-saving treatments.

FDA officials are temporarily allowing the importing of a replacement drug for Doxil, which is used for ovarian and other cancers.

The agency also approved another supplier for a preservative free version of methotrexate. It's a crucial drug for children with leukemia and for high dose treatment of bone cancer.