BACKYARD BROADCASTING LOCAL NEWS JANUARY 20, 2021

SNYDER COUNTY DA SEEKING DEATH PENALTY
A Paxinos man charged with killing his estranged ex-wife  and her friend outside Buffalo Wild Wings Mifflinburg may face the death penalty after the Snyder County’s District Attorney filed a notice of intent yesterday.  55-year-old Christopher Fernanders faces two counts of first degree murder, illegal possession of a firearm, stalking and a PFA violation.  According to media outlets, 46 year old Heather Campbell of Trevorton, and 52-year-old Matthew Bowersox of Mifflinburg were shot last July and a bystander shot a fleeing Fernanders who was hospitalized before he was arraigned for the crime.  Fernanders remains incarcerated in Snyder County Prison without bail.

DR LEVINE TAPPED BY BIDEN ADMINISTRATION
The person who has emerged as the public face of the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine has been tapped by the Biden Administration to be the country’s assistant secretary of health.  Dr. Levine, will be one of  the few transgender people serving in elected or appointed positions nationwide. She  is a pediatrician and former Pennsylvania physician general and was appointed to her current post by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf in 2017.

ROCK SLIDE CAUSED LAIRDSVILLE DETOUR
There was a detour on Route 220 and Route 42 needed after a rockslide closed roadways near Lairdsville yesterday.  According to PennDOT both the eastbound and westbound lanes of Route 118 were closed following the large amount of rock that completely blocked the roadway.  Route 118 is closed between Route 405 in Hughesville Borough and Route 42 in Jordan Township.  The road was cleared and reopened later in the afternoon

DREAM WEEK ACTIVITIES IN WILLIAMSPORT
It’s Dream Week  this week and in Williamsport, local colleges, STEPAmericorp the Beloved Community continue to be encouraged to focus on service to others to honor the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.’s life.  The Sun Gazette noted that Mayor Derek Slaughter mad the point that we can work on Dr. King’s work not for a week but every day.  Thursday Penn College of Technology will host a virtual talk by April Reign, who has sought racial equality in the entertainment industry by creating the hashtag OscarsSOWhite. Information to sign on to Thursday’s ZOOM event at 7pm, is on the STEP AmeriCorps website.

POCONO SHOOTING SPREE SUSPECTS IN CUSTODY
Five people have been taken into custody after a Pocono shooting spree left four people wounded Monday night.  Four young adults and one juvenile male were virtually arraigned Tuesday at the Monroe County Jail after they were rounded up by police who say the shooting incidents were all a case of mistaken identity.  According to WNEP, The five suspects driving around A Pocono Country Place neighborhood misidentified someone in another vehicle as a person they had a problem with and opened fire.  A car chase ensued into the town of Tobyhanna and more shots were fired.  Police say a mother and son inside a house at the original neighborhood were discovered to be hit and wounded by the suspect’s gunfire, a man from the Bronx driving nearby was shot in the head along Route 196 and another person from Henryville, who was uninvolved hit by gunfire prior to crashing his car.  Three victims are stable and one is in critical condition today.

MAN ATTEMPTS BREAK IN AT POLICE STATION
A man from Jersey Shore is in custody today following an attempt to break into the Tiadaghton Valley Police station .  According to the Sun Gazette, 40 year old Aaron Hall became aggressive last Saturday afternoon by banging on the front door of the police station and then smashed a window.  Hall told police he was proving a point about alleged police corruption, but did not comply with any police commands and was subsequently tased, he was charged with aggravated assault, institutional vandalism resisting arrest and other charges.  He is in the Lycoming County Prison unable to post 65 thousand dollars bail. The police say Hall was shown in surveillance cameras to be loitering around the station prior to the incident.

COVID UPDATE
Lycoming County reports  60 new cases of the coronavirus as of yesterday,  Northumberland has 56, Clinton County has 16 new cases. The state Department of Health confirmed 5,341 new statewide cases and 77 new fatalities.  Lycoming reports 47 COVID-19 patients hospitalized, and no people on ventilators at this time.  Statewide hospitalizations remain over 4,500 – of those patients, over 900 are in the ICU and over 500 are on ventilators

VACCINE DISTRIBUTION PHASE UPDATED
The phase 1A vaccine distribution guidelines have been updated as of today to include those who are age 65 and older, as well as those age 16 to 64 with serious health conditions, According to the state Department of Health.  Conditions like cancer, chronic kidney disease, smoking, type 2 diabetes, heart conditions, obesity, sickle cell and pregnancy are considered to be high-risk conditions and now fall under the eligibility guidelines for the vaccine.  Department of Health officials say the state Emergency Management Agency is working on setting up mass vaccine clinics.  There are approximately 3.5 million Pennsylvanians in phase 1A for vaccination eligibility and a full list of conditions and persons who are eligible is available online Here.  https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/disease/coronavirus/Vaccine/Pages/Vaccine.aspx#data

SPORTS

NFL
The Conference Championships are  Sunday at 3:05pm between the Buccaneers and the Packers, the Bills play the Chiefs at 6:40pm
NBA
Nuggets beat Thunder 119 to 101, Jazz beat the Pelicans 118 to 102
NBA Tonight
Nets play the Cavaliers in Ohio and the Celtics come to Philly to play the 76ers; both games @7, Wizards and Hornets are postponed

NHL
Devils beat Rangers 4 to 3, Flyers beat the Sabres 3-nothing, Panthers beat the Blackhawks 5-4, Penguins over the Capitals 5-4, Jets beat the Senators 4-3, Red Wings over the Blue jackets 3-2, Avalanche beat Kings 3-2, Stars and Lightning, and Hurricanes and Predators were postponed.
HS Basketball Boys
Sullivan County beat Montgomery 55-33, Loyalsock Township beat Williamsport 52-41, South Williamsport beat Millville 66-41, Muncy beat Benton 65-26
HS Girls Basketball
Athens beat North Penn Mansfield 52-25, – Canton over Williamson 49-34
HS Wrestling
Canton defeated Towanda 60-15, Athens beat Wyalusing  40-25

HS Swimming
Williamsport Boys defeated  Lewisburg 111-51 and so did the Williamsport Girls 115-63

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