Schuylkill County

MINERSVILLE, Pa. -- A day after a motorcyclist was killed in a crash in Schuylkill County, his motorcycle club members continue to mourn his sudden loss.
Gary Purcell, 61, died Monday afternoon following a collision with a truck.
On Tuesday, the members of the New Minersville Firehouse Bikers were out in solidarity at the New Minersville Firehouse to remember Purcell.
“Nobody could believe what happened, for a man that's always been here for us, does a lot for the community,” said President Robin Wagner.

POTTSVILLE, Pa. -- A woman was taken to the hospital to be checked out after a fire in Pottsville.
Crews were called to West Arch Street around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. They tell us the fire started in one house and spread to another.
A woman was taken to the hospital for breathing in smoke.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.

WEST BRUNSWICK TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- A man is dead after a motorcycle crash in Schuylkill County.
It happened around 3:30 p.m. Monday at the intersection of Hollenbrush Lane and Route 61 near Orwigsburg.
State police say Gary Purcell, 61, of Pottsville, was killed when his motorcycle collided with a truck that was making a U-turn. Troopers say he was wearing a helmet.
Route 61 was closed while police investigated and crews cleaned up the wreck.

TAMAQUA, Pa. -- Collin Atkinson is a firefighter in Pottsville. He's run into burning buildings. He's run a marathon. But running up and down 15 stories at a senior high-rise in Tamaqua in 50 pounds of firefighting gear was a new challenge.
"You're tired. You get sweat in your eyes. 110 flights up will get to you no matter how good shape you're in," Atkinson said.
To achieve 110 flights, firefighters had to go up and down the 15 stories seven times and then up to the fifth floor and down to finish.

SAINT CLAIR, Pa. -- State police want to find the crooks who smashed their way into several businesses and stole cash in Schuylkill County.
The Coal Creek Plaza in Saint Clair was hit sometime between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning.
Troopers say the burglars got into the businesses by breaking door handles.
They also cut through a safe inside one of the businesses here in Schuylkill County.

ORWIGSBURG, Pa. -- Blue Mountain West Elementary School here in Schuylkill County has a problem with mold.
While the issue is being fixed, kindergarten through second grade will be sent to the currently unoccupied Saint Ambrose school in Schuylkill Haven. Third graders will be sent to Cressona Elementary.
When students start for West and Cressona is still up in the air.
Concerned parents packed the auditorium for this school board meeting at Blue Mountain Middle School in Orwigsburg.

WAYNE TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- A school district in Schuylkill County is scrambling to figure out where students are going to attend classes with just 12 days to go before the first day of school.
A sign outside Blue Mountain West Elementary School in Friedensburg announces the first day of school as August 26, but the doors to this building will stay closed until further notice.
The concerned mother of a student at the school spoke with Newswatch 16 but did not want to be identified.

BRANCH TOWNSHIP, Pa. — State police in Schuylkill County say a man died after a vehicle he was working on landed on top of him.
Robert Yeager, 67, was working on a vehicle in a garage on Bunting Street in Branch Township, near Pottsville on Tuesday when it came off the wooden blocks and landed on him.
He died at the scene.

TAMAQUA, Pa. -- A fire at a Salvation Army in Schuylkill County earlier this year has been ruled arson.
Flames damaged the place in Tamaqua back on May 12.
According to the state police fire marshal, the fire started in two places in a rear storage room.
Donated clothes, food, and school supplies were destroyed in that fire.

NORTH MANHEIM TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- A woman accused of dumping hundreds of tires in Schuylkill County appears to be in even more trouble.
June Kuzowski, 61, of Schuylkill Haven, had been charged with scattering more than 300 tires in the parking lot of an old hotel near Pottsville.
On Tuesday, police said Kuzowski was at a business along Route 61 removing some of the tires from a U-Haul truck when a few of them hit someone's Lexus.
Kuzowski is now facing criminal mischief in addition to her previous charges.