Police Raid Suspected Meth Lab In New Castle Mobile Home

Posted: 3:27 pm EDT July 17, 2009Updated: 5:34 pm EDT July 17, 2009

NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- New Castle police arrested a man accused of making crystal methamphetamine in his mobile home.Joshua Rogers was arrested on felony drug charges after an undercover police officer entered his home.According to the criminal complaint, the arresting officer saw all the makings for a meth lab inside the mobile home -- glass beakers, gas cans with attached hoses, a blender and a large number of cold medications.Rogers boasted to the undercover officer how experienced and good he was at making methamphetamine, according to the complaint.Chief Tom Sansone of the New Castle Police Department said police were happy to have made a timely arrest.

Copyright 2009 by WPXI.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.wpxi.com/news/20091227/detail.html

New Castle Authorities, Residents Fed Up With Arsons

Posted: 6:37 am EDT July 14, 2009Updated: 4:43 pm EDT July 14, 2009

NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- New Castle residents joined their community's fire chief in expressing their fear and frustration after a fire erupted in another vacant house Tuesday morning."It's very frustrating," said New Castle Fire Chief Tom Maciarello. "I'm at a loss for words right now."The most recent fire brings the total of suspected arsons to 13 this year.Tuesday's fire started at about 3:30 a.m. at a vacant home at Oak and Ray streets. Firefighters let the house burn to the ground, using water only to make sure it didn't spread to nearby homes.Officials said the house was on a list of vacant homes to be torn down in New Castle.Channel 11 News spoke with New Castle Police Chief Tom Sansone, who said they have not determined if the fires are connected or unrelated."Several of them, in the way they start, seem to be connected -- the same (Lower East Side) area or manner they start them in and the accelerant they use," Sansone said. "In other ones, it's totally different so it's our opinion some of these fires could be related (and) some may not be.""We think we may be looking for more than one person in these (arsons)," he said."(Whoever's responsible is) trying to stay one step ahead of us," said Maciarello. "He's going to slip up sooner or later."New Castle City Council is pushing for a resolution to make it law where property owners have to register a house abandoned within a year, or they could face fines. Money collected in fines could help tear down other dilapidated properties.New Castle police are also increasing their patrols in the Lower East Side where most of the fires have been set. They are asking residents to be their eyes and ears on the street.Many neighbors have seen enough as it is, though. "(It's) unsettling. It is something we have to continuously worry about," said neighbor Brandi Lykins. "I know there is a vacant house behind my garage and another one down (the street).""It makes me real nervous," said Tina Hoffman, neighbor. "I had to up my homeowners insurance in case that caught on fire to protect myself. So it's very nerve racking."The house's owner, Janis Tummavichakul, arrived at the scene while the home was engulfed in flames Tuesday morning."This is so detrimental to the community," said Tummavichakul. "We, as residents and homeowners, have to be exposed to this and live in fear not knowing what victim is going to be next."The flames came just hours after neighbors met to address the town's arson problem. At that meeting, residents raised the reward to $3,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for setting the fires.

http://www.wpxi.com/news/20047069/detail.html

Reward Increased For New Castle Arsonist Arrest

Posted: 6:04 am EDT July 12, 2009Updated: 11:54 pm EDT July 13, 2009

NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Neighbors and community leaders met Monday night in New Castle, to develop an action plan to stop an arsonist.There have been 12 suspicious fires over the past six months in New Castle.Hunter Davis' house was the last to be torched."Most of the time they were burning abandoned houses. Like my neighbor said, I'm always gone, maybe they didn't think anyone was there," Davis said.Neighbors met with the mayor and fire chief to find out what they can do to stop the arsonist.They focused on curfews, patrols and vacant houses.The mayor told the group the city has been approved for a $100,000 grant to demolish abandoned homes.There are 10 homes already on the list."We have absentee owners who live in Florida, California, Kentucky, Bermuda. They're not maintaining the properties," said Mayor Anthony Mastangelo.A $3,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest.

http://www.wpxi.com/news/20029689/detail.html

Car Takes Out Gas Pump In Lawrence County

Posted: 5:38 pm EDT July 9, 2009Updated: 4:55 pm EDT July 10, 2009

SHENANGO TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Police said two drivers will likely be cited in a crash that ended with a gas pump knocked over at a Lawrence County gas station.Pauline Cunningham was working at the counter at the Sunoco along Route 65 in Shenango Township when she saw a car coming straight toward the gas station."It was pretty scary. Everybody kept thinking we were going to blow up," said Cunningham.Surveillance video from Sunoco was releaed on Friday. Watch video.Police said one driver swerved to avoid hitting a car that pulled out in front of him on Route 65, causing him to crash into the gas pump at about 40 mph.The pump shut off automatically, police said. Cunningham turned off the rest of the pumps herself.The gas station was back open for business on Friday.

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Hearing Held For Wampum Murder Suspect

New Castle (KDKA) - A hearing was held in Lawrence County for the 11-year-old boy facing charges in the death of his father's pregnant fiancée.

Jordan Brown is accused in the fatal shooting of 26-year-old Kenzie Houk at the family's farmhouse in Wampum back in February.

"They always go over his rights. But what rights do we have?," Debbie Houk, the mother of victim Kenzie Houk wondered as she listened to testimony at today's hearing.

Christopher Brown, the father of 11-year-old Jordan Brown, testified he would never have given permission for his son to be interviewed by a state trooper the day of the killing.

He agreed to an interview of his son later, but that's one reason the defense wants the content of that discussion thrown out.

Prosecutor John Bongivengo disagrees.

"At the time he was not considered a suspect," said the prosecutor.

But defense attorney David Acker says the boy's description of a black truck at the scene is at issue.

Acker says the victim was once threatened by someone who drove such a truck and the prosecution claims the boy's statements about that are inconsistent.

"We believe Jordan is innocent, and time will tell," said the boy's great aunt, Cynthia Wiseman.

Lawrence County Judge Dominick Motto did not rule on various pretrial evidence motions today.

The defense has yet to ask the judge to certify Brown as a juvenile.

He remains an adult in the eyes of the law at this point.

http://kdka.com/local/Jordan.Brown.hearing.2.1069011.html

City faces two suits over rental fees

Published June 30, 2009 08:45 am -

City faces two suits over rental fees


By John K. Manna
New Castle News

Two lawsuits have been filed against the city of New Castle, challenging an ordinance dealing with registration of rental properties.

One suit was filed by the Apartment Association of Lawrence County and the other by Vista South, which has a 99-unit building on the city’s South Side. Both suits were filed in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court.

The ordinance, adopted by city council in 1998, requires owners of rental properties to register the units and obtain a permit to lease them. Registration fees on each unit are required and units must pass an inspection.

A press release issued by the association contends that city code enforcement officers are given ’unlimited power to grant or deny permits’ and that property owners are ’being subjected to arbitrary determinations regarding their inspections as well as the severity of the violations.’

The association, represented by attorney Bradley Dornish of Pittsburgh, is asking the court to require an accounting of city overhead costs and fee collections, and grant reimbursement to the property owners for the amount in excess of the overhead costs.

It says in its suit that there is no evidence that the fees are necessary to support the provisions of the ordinance. It adds that if the license fee generates more than the cost to administer the license, the fee would become a tax revenue. The lawsuit alleges that if it is a tax revenue, then it is a violation of state law because the power of taxation lies solely with the Legislature.

The lawsuit also is seeking the ordinance to be declared unconstitutional and to permanently prohibit the city from enforcing the ordinance.

The press release noted the association’s attorneys have filed similar lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of landlord registration ordinances in Pittsburgh, Uniontown and Connellsville.

Attorney James Manolis, who represents Vista South, drew up the ordinance when he was city solicitor. However, his lawsuit, filed Monday, disputes the fee increase approved by council a few years ago when he was no longer solicitor.

Under the original ordinance, the city charged an inspection fee of $30 for up to three units and $10 for each additional unit in an apartment building, payable every two years. Council amended it a few years ago, increasing the fee to $100 per unit, also payable every two years.

With the original fee schedule, Vista South’s total cost was $990. Under the amended ordinance, the fee would be $9,900, Manolis said.

’It’s our position that that’s an unlawful fee,’ he said. ’The charges are way above what they need to run the program.’

The lawsuit wants the court to prevent the city from collecting the fee.

It also contends that the city is in violation of the equal protection clause of the Pennsylvania and U.S. constitutions. Manolis said the city only inspects certain types of units and is selective in its enforcement. Units owned by non-profit agencies, he said, are not inspected.

He said the ordinance makes no distinction.

City solicitor Michael Bonner declined to comment Friday.

He said he had not yet seen the apartment association’s lawsuit, which was filed Thursday.

Ellwood rental laws unaffected by New Castle ruling

Ellwood rental laws
unaffected by
New Castle ruling

Eric Poole, Ledger Staff

06/29/2009

NEW CASTLE - A lawsuit contesting New Castle's rental property registry ordinance is unlikely to affect a similar regulation in Ellwood City, borough manager Dom Viccari said.

The Apartment Association of Lawrence County, representing New Castle rental property owners, filed a lawsuit Thursday in county court against the City of New Castle, alleging that the city's rental registry ordinance poses an unfair burden on landlords.

Pittsburgh attorney Bradley Dornish, who represents the association, was unavailable for comment Friday.

Court documents filed Thursday by the association claim that a provision in the New Castle ordinance, passed in 1998, is too broad and vague. The provision requires a permit, with a fee, even for properties that are not occupied.

The association also contests the fee charged by the city - which varies depending on the number of units and type of rental property - amounts to an illegal tax because only the state government can levy taxes or delegate that authority to local governments.

According to the lawsuit, the state constitution allows local and county governments to collect fees equal to the costs of carrying out the service in question. Any amount in excess of that is an illegal tax, unless the state government gives its approval.

After reading the court filing Friday, Viccari said he thinks the fee was the central issue in the association's lawsuit. Ellwood City's rental registry ordinance, which was established in 1997, has no fee-collecting provision.

Ellwood City's registry is intended solely to establish a database of rental property owners, which enables borough officials to collect outstanding electric and sewer bills and to charge absentee landlords for cleanup or destruction of dilapidated properties, Viccari said.

According to a news release issued Friday by the apartment association, Dornish, of the law firm of Dornish & Scolieri, plans lawsuits against Pittsburgh, and Uniontown and Connellsville in Fayette County on similar grounds.

The firm has planned no action against Ellwood City.

Eric Poole can be reached online at epoole@ellwoodcityledger.com.