Berks County

Winning pitcher Jess Elper also had two hits and two RBIs yesterday as the Berks County team beat the Olympic Colonial team, 5-4, in the Carpenter Cup softball tournament at FDR Park. The win left Berks County 3-0 in the double-elimination tournament and advanced it to Monday's second-round game against Delaware South, also 3-0. Berks County also defeated the Inter-Ac team and the Suburban One American/Continental team yesterday. Also advancing from yesterday were Olympic Colonial, Suburban One League American/Continental, Delaware North and Mercer County.

HARRISBURG - A sailor from Sinking Spring in Berks County, Pa., was killed in waters off the coast of Bahrain when his inflatable boat struck a moored barge, the Defense Department said. Master-at-Arms Seaman Apprentice Joshua Seitz, 19, died Thursday. Two other sailors riding with Seitz survived and were in stable condition. Lt. Laura Stegherr, a Navy spokeswoman, said yesterday that the three sailors were on a routine patrol when they hit the barge near the Mina Salman pier in Bahrain.

The stone walls of the house Thomas Rutter built in Berks County have remained sturdy over centuries - from the colonial period and American Revolution to the Civil War and on to the present. Within them, Rutter and his descendants were first to plot the course, in the early 1700s, of the iron industry in Pennsylvania, and later supplied munitions to George Washington's Continental Army. At the Pine Forge Mansion, overlooking the Manatawney Creek, the Rutters spoke out against slavery and turned their home into a stop on the Underground Railroad network that helped thousands of African Americans find freedom.

SINKING SPRING, Pa. - An elderly man and his wife have been found dead in a Berks County home where an SUV was left idling in the garage. A relative found the bodies of John and Jane Schlott inside their home around 9:30 a.m. Friday. Police say they appear to have died late Tuesday or early Wednesday. Firefighters found high levels of carbon monoxide inside the home. Investigators say the SUV eventually ran out of gas. Authorities say that the man and the woman were found in separate bedrooms and that they did not know if the vehicle had been left running intentionally.

A man who had been arrested for DUI was found dead hours later after setting his Berks County house on fire and then shooting himself as the flames raged, the Reading Eagle reports. ( http://bit.ly/ttpbfR ) The newspaper says Jeffry Hollowbush, 62, was pronounced dead at the scene from a shotgun wound by Berks County Deputy Coroner Gretchen Weyant. About two or three hours before he set his Pike Township home ablaze, Hollowbush was involved in had crash and was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, State Police told the Eagle.

The waste-disposal plan that Mayor Goode has hailed as a solution to Philadelphia's trash crisis has met its first legal challenge. The lawyer for a group opposing the construction of a trash-to-steam plant in Berks County to burn Philadelphia trash has formally asked Caernarvon Township officials to revoke the building permit issued for the plant, saying its issuance violated at least five sections of the township's zoning law. Norman Klinger,...

Not many points were given for style in last night's Carpenter Cup baseball championship game at Veterans Stadium. Ocean-Monmouth County won its first title by defeating Berks County, 10-5, in a game that included 13 errors. Both teams were making their first appearance in a final - both joined the tourney field in 1992 - and each appeared to have title-game jitters. "Both teams looked a little tired," said Ocean-Monmouth coach Ernie Leta of Lacey Township. "But our guys deserve a lot of credit.

The depth that has enabled the Olympic/Colonial to win three Carpenter Cup baseball titles in eight years was on display again yesterday at Veterans Stadium. With 18 of the 19 players who batted reaching base at least once, the Olympic/Colonial routed Pennsylvania's Inter-Ac/Bicentennial, 13-4, in a first-round game in the Carpenter Cup. The Olympic/Colonial improved its Carpenter Cup record to 17-4, the best in Cup play. The Olympic/Colonial will face Berks County in a second-round game tonight at 8. All 25 players participated yesterday for the Olympic/Colonial, which is made up of players from the Olympic Conference's American and National Divisions and the Colonial Conference.

There is a new look to this year's Carpenter Cup, since none of the four semifinalists has won a title since the tournament began in 1986. The semifinals will take place this afternoon at Veterans Stadium. In the noon opener, Lehigh Valley meets Mercer County. That is followed by the 4 p.m. semifinal between Berks County and Burlington County. The championship will take place at 4 p.m. tomorrow. Pitching is the main reason Burlington County is the only team from the seven-county South Jersey area that is still alive.

The proposed 73-acre expansion of Waste Management Inc.'s Pottstown landfill, rejected by township commissioners in December, has a new opponent: Berks County. Berks County commissioners voted, 2-0, earlier this month to take over an appeal filed against a Department of Environmental Protection permit for the landfill expansion. The appeal was filed in November by private citizen Mark Scott, who has since been elected a county commissioner. Scott excused himself from the voting.

* There's a good reason to head out of town this weekend - the Berks County Wine Trail's anniversary celebration, this year with a "Grape to Plate" theme. Eight wineries will participate noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. It's mostly free, too. Details at berkscountywinetrail.com. * Take the pain out of waiting for the train as The Porch at 30th Street Station and Bridgewater's Pub host a Beer Garden, 3-8 p.m. Thursday and Friday. With swingin' sounds by Evan Cory Levin & Co., 6 to 8 p.m. * It's first-birthday time for Rex 1516 (1516 South St., 267-319-1366, rex1516.com )

The stone walls of the house Thomas Rutter built in Berks County have remained sturdy over centuries - from the colonial period and American Revolution to the Civil War and on to the present. Within them, Rutter and his descendants were first to plot the course, in the early 1700s, of the iron industry in Pennsylvania, and later supplied munitions to George Washington's Continental Army. At the Pine Forge Mansion, overlooking the Manatawney Creek, the Rutters spoke out against slavery and turned their home into a stop on the Underground Railroad network that helped thousands of African Americans find freedom.

Berks County authorities say it may take weeks to identify the badly burned body of a man found dead after an early-morning fire in a mobile home. Officials said a neighbor reported the blaze in the double-wide home on Old Route 22 in Bethel Township about 3 a.m. Tuesday. Chief Les Kegerreis of the Bethel Fire Company told the Reading Eagle the roof had already collapsed before firefighters reached the scene. About 75 firefighters brought the flames under control 45 minutes later. DNA evidence will be used to try to identify the victim.

A task force investigating a string of daytime burglaries and attempted burglaries in western Montgomery County and Berks County has made three arrests in about 21 cases. Michael R. Benner Jr., 28, of Limerick; Joseph A. Samsel Jr., 25, of Limerick; and Philip M. Becker, 26, of Douglassville, Pa., were arrested Thursday, according to authorities in the two counties. The three face multiple counts of burglary, criminal conspiracy. criminal attempt, criminal trespass, theft by unlawful taking, and receiving stolen property in the burglaries, which occurred between July and last month, according to a news release on behalf of the task force from Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman.

Unofficial tallies for Saturday's snowstorm show how heavily some places were blanketed, while other parts of the area were largely spared. In Philadelphia and its surrounding counties, the highest totals were in Chester County, with 5.0 inches in East Coventry Township, 4.5 inches in Spring City, 4.3 in Glenmoore, and 4.1 in Elverson, and 4.0 in Chester Springs, Lionville and East Nantmeal. The three other suburban counties also had a third of a foot in spots: 4.1 inches in West Rockhill and 4.0 in Quakertown, both in Bucks County; 4.0 in Montgomeryville, Montgomery County; and 4.0 in Wayne, Delaware County.

Nicholas F. Catania, 86, of Ridley Township, a former chairman of the Delaware County Council and a major force in suburban Republican politics for nearly a half-century, died Tuesday, Aug. 21, at Fair Acres Geriatric Center, the county's long-term care facility in Lima. A family member said the cause was Parkinson's disease and diabetes. Dominic Pileggi, the Delaware County Republican who is the state Senate majority leader, issued a statement saying Mr. Catania "was one of the three or four most influential individuals in Delaware County" over the last four decades.

A Philadelphia man and three others were charged with trafficking $300,000 worth of heroin in Berks County, the state Attorney General's Office said Thursday. Randy Jimenez, 31, of Philadelphia; Angela L. Perdomo, 41, of New York; and David Garcia-Cruz, 32, and Erik T. Kinder, 38, both of Berks County, were accused of purchasing bulk quantities of heroin in Philadelphia and transporting the drugs to Berks. Attorney General Linda Kelly said the arrests were the result of a five-month investigation into the distribution and sale of heroin in the Reading area.

A Philadelphia man and three others were charged with trafficking $300,000 worth of heroin in Berks County, the state Attorney General's Office said Thursday. Randy Jimenez, 31, of Philadelphia; Angela L. Perdomo, 41, of New York, and David Garcia-Cruz, 32, and Erik T. Kinder, 38, both of Berks County, were accused of purchasing bulk quantities of heroin in Philadelphia and transporting the drugs to Berks. Attorney General Linda Kelly said the arrests were the result of a five-month investigation into the distribution and sale of heroin in the Reading area.

The first-round baseball matchup between Delaware County and Philadelphia Public in the Carpenter Cup was postponed today because of heavy rain. Tournament officials pushed the game back to 2 p.m. Wednesday, a day that was already designed for makeup games in case of bad weather. There are no other games scheduled for Wednesday. The winner will advance to the quarterfinals, where it will meet Burlington County on Friday afternoon. Burlington County beat Berks County, 12-8, Wednesday morning before the rain poured.