Kemblesville News

A man arrested last week in New Jersey for the stabbing death of his 62-year-old father, Kenrick Bogle of Allentown, is refusing to return to Pennsylvania to face charges, Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams said.

Floyd C. Bogle, 33, of Paterson, N.J. was arrested on homicide and related charges when he showed up to get his passport from immigration officials at Newark Airport but did not agree to be extradited during an hearing this week, Adams said.

To get Bogle to Berks County, Adams said he will request a governor's warrant from New Jersey. This type of warrant is used when a suspect refuses to be extradited. The warrant, signed by the governor of the state where the suspect is, allows the extradition to take place. Read more

“There was the chair, there's the closet, there's the safe.”

Robert Corby and his therapist walked this week into the Bethlehem church sacristy -- a room beside the altar -- where he was sexually abused 60 years ago by his priest. via The Morning Call

A Pennsylvania man who allegedly went on a robbery spree around Northampton County is now accused of robbing a township credit union. via Easton Express-Times

In order to pare down the price of the $53 million SteelStax project, ArtsQuest is cutting out some education classes from the cultural facility planned at the old Bethlehem Steel plant and putting those programs into an expanded Banana Factory.

Regarded as a hub of artists on the South Side for a decade, the Banana Factory will undergo a 3,200-square-foot addition and 20,000-square-foot renovation so that more children can learn ballet, dance, theater and music there.

The groups that will benefit include Pennsylvania Youth Theatre, Hispanic American League of Artists and Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. Read more

Plans for a Pennsylvania National Guard readiness center and maintenance facility in Forks Township have been scaled back, but are still on track.

The township Planning Commission Thursday night saw plans for the facility on Uhler Road near Kesslersville Road that take the proposal from its previous two buildings totaling 73,400 square feet to one 57,695-square-foot building. Parking areas at the 22-acre site have also been downsized.

Township supervisors approved plans for the center and maintenance shop in July 2006, but the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs had to rethink the project in May because bids came in over budget. Those figures were not available Friday. Read more

Pleasant Valley School District will get another school next year: a virtual one.

The school board voted unanimously Thursday to create a policy governing online courses the district will offer through a ''cyber-academy'' offered to students who can't come to school because of illness or suspension, as well as students who prefer to learn from home.

The district will be the first in the area and among the first in Pennsylvania to set up its own Web-based academy.

Students enrolled in the academy will take courses similar to those their peers in the classroom take, and will earn the same diploma. Academy courses will count toward a student's grade point average, class rank, and honor roll. Read more

“I didn't see that in my future but one of my college mentors did, for which I'll be eternally grateful.”

As a teenager in Cheltenham JoAnne A. Epps dreamed of becoming a secretary like her two heroes - her mother, who worked at Temple Univerity and, Della Street the know-it-all assistant on the old Perry Mason ... via Philly.com

The American Association of Community Colleges will hold their 88th annual convention tomorrow through Tuesday at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. via Philly.com

“We're following the candidates around the country in the hope we can get them to talk about what their energy policy would entail”

An advocacy group is following presidential candidates around the country to encourage support for increasing the use of the fuel for power generation. via Reading Eagle/Reading Times

Children's services in Berks County to be highlighted From our news staff Services provided by Berks County for the protection of children will be highlighted April 6 to 12 during National County Government ... via Reading Eagle/Reading Times

An Upper Mount Bethel Township home on the 2000 block of Totts Gap Road was robbed between 5:30 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to Pennsylvania State Police at Belfast. via Easton Express-Times

“We are scared to death. We have had enough.”

The Bern Township supervisors said Tuesday night that they will take steps to investigate operations at The Silo in the wake of recent violence at the nightclub. via Reading Eagle/Reading Times

The reward for information leading to an arrest in the homicide of a Redner's supermarket executive has reached $60,000. Police said Gary Redner, 55, was beaten to death outside his Lower Heidelberg Township, ... via WGAL

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has announced an April 8 closing for Slatington 's General Thomas R. Morgan Bridge, which is scheduled for replacement this year.

Workers will use saws, cranes and backhoes equipped with hydraulic hammers to demolish the 107-year-old bridge soon after its closing, said Al Picca, PennDOT assistant district executive for construction. A new concrete-box-beam bridge will replace the existing steel I-beam bridge. There will also be new sidewalks, ornamental street lighting and line paint, PennDOT officials said. Read more

Mount Airy Casino Resort has put the brakes on its plans for a $60.1 million expansion and is trying to restructure its $380 million in debt, its state-appointed trustee Anthony F. Ceddia told the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on Thursday.

The move halts the planned addition of 500 slot machines and 212 hotel rooms that was supposed to begin this year. It also has Ceddia looking to renegotiate the Monroe County resort's debt as its owner, Louis DeNaples, faces perjury charges.

Even as Ceddia gave his update, the board proposed new regulations that would allow it to more easily acquire the kind of FBI investigative files it never got before DeNaples was issued a gaming license. Read more

When ''Oklahoma!'' opened on Broadway in 1943 at New York's St. James Theatre, it marked the first collaboration of the legendary team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein . via The Morning Call

Lawyers for the Friends of the Barnes Foundation and Montgomery County will be in court this morning in an effort to stop the famed art collection of Albert C. Barnes from moving from Lower Merion to ... via Philly.com

The Lehigh Valley's Jewish population has deep roots, is roughly the size everyone suspected -- 8,000, third-largest in Pennsylvania -- and probably won't grow or shrink much in the near future, according to what is probably the most comprehensive study of Jewish life ever carried out here.

The Jewish Community Study of the Lehigh Valley, based on more than 530 phone interviews with residents of Lehigh and Northampton counties, will probably serve as the statistical foundation for decisions on education, senior care, charitable giving and other matters for years to come. The results were unveiled Tuesday night during a town hall meeting at the Jewish Community Center in Allentown . Read more

“If I can get Kid Rock's tonight, this will be a great day.”

Run-DMC founder and MTV star Rev Run autographs his line of sneakers and shirts for a throng of fans at Sneaker Villa, Reading. via Reading Eagle/Reading Times

“I think there is enough war coverage on CNN, but not enough on the regular news. But I think overall it's adequate, though, because you can find war coverage if you want it, but it's not always in your face.”

The conflict, one of the longest in U.S. history, has drifted off the radar screen for many Americans. via Reading Eagle/Reading Times