PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — The Pennsylvania State Police is temporarily requiring blood tests for DUI stops on state highways, including along the Schuylkill Expressway and I-95.

This change resulted from a ruling in Dauphin County, Pa., where a judge held that breathalyzers are unreliable (see related story).

Meanwhile, Philadelphia police say they will continue to use breathalyzers in DUI stops, so blood tests will only be required by state police on highways.  But Philadelphia attorney Joe Kelly, who specializes in drunk-driving cases, says defense lawyers are gearing up to challenge the use of breathalyzers on city streets as well.

“According to Justin McShane, the lawyer who handled the case out in Dauphin County, and the experts I spoke to, the machines don’t even work properly. Somebody could have a .06 and it could read a .10,” he tells KYW Newsradio.

And Kelly says that could be the difference between guilt or acquittal on a DUI charge.

Dauphin County prosecutors are expected to appeal the decision questioning breath tests, but if the ruling goes to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and is upheld, Kelly says it would apply across the commonwealth.

“It could affect thousands of cases statewide,” he says.  “Thousands of cases.”

Kelly says of the 10,000 DUI cases in Philadelphia each year, roughly 70 percent are based in part on breathalyzer tests.

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Perzel entered guilty pleas on two counts each of theft and conflict of interest, and four counts of conspiracy, becoming the highest-ranking state politician to admit guilt in the wide-ranging 4½-year probe dubbed “Bonusgate.”

Prosecutors said Perzel was at the center of a scheme to spend millions of taxpayer dollars on computer technology for the benefit of GOP political campaigns.

As part of the plea agreement, the sentences for the conspiracy charges will be concurrent with the other four.  Perzel could get up to 24 years in prison, though the standard minimum sentences would add up to between 18 and 50 months.

Prosecutor Frank Fina says Perzel’s cooperation, which is part of the deal, will be critical.

“I think whenever you have a member of the state government who had such a position as Mr. Perzel, if he was willing to cooperate with the Commonwealth, that’s significant,” Fina told KYW Newsradio today.

Several other defendants who were charged along with Perzel are still expected to go to trial.  In his appearance before a Dauphin County judge, Perzel agreed to cooperate with state prosecutors.
Fina says Perzel is also expected to forfeit his state pension.

Perzel and his attorney gave no comment to reporters as they left the courtroom, but in an e-mailed statement Perzel said he bore responsibility for improprieties in the spending of money he oversaw.

“It was up to me to see that taxpayer funds were spent only for the betterment of the people of Pennsylvania, and not for my political benefit of that of my party,” Perzel said in the statement.

He apologized to the people of Pennsylvania, his family, and friends, saying he wanted to “express my profound regret for my actions. You had a right to expect better from me, and I am sorry that I let you down.”

Reported by KYW Harrisburg bureau chief Tony Romeo

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Years before the internet, I began subscribing to a daily newspaper called the Lebanon Daily News.  Do you have any idea how much newspaper subscriptions have gone up over the last 20 years? A lot.

The Lebanon Daily News is from Lebanon County, Pennsylvania – located between Harrisburg and Reading, Pennsylvania.  About now you’re probably wondering why a person from Northern Ohio takes this newspaper.  My ancestry from my paternal side is all from Lebanon Valley, Pennsylvania – my grandparents are buried there.  I spend a great deal of time in this area every year visiting relatives all over the state, attending family reunions, being a tourist, shopping at Vanity Fair  in Reading, enjoying the scenery in Amish country, eating at the Shady Maple in Blue Ball, going to Roots Market in Manheim to purchase my Shoofly pie from the Amish ladies, and doing as much genealogy as I can squeeze into my schedule! 

What started out to be an inexpensive RISK to watch for obituaries, anniversaries, births, engagements, weddings, family reunions, class reunions, 3-4-5 generation pictures, and real estate transactions really has cost me MONEY. Course, I must admit there are many articles I love to read in this newspaper. Years ago, Schulyer C. Brossman, deceased, of Our Keystone Families was a column favorite. These days, James M. Beidler, of the column Roots & Branches has my attention.  I look forward to every issue!

Obituaries that appear in the Lebanon Daily News come from people living in Lebanon Valley area including the following counties: Berks, Bucks, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Lancaster, Lebanon, Schuylkill, and many others.  In addition, obituaries appear for individuals who are being buried in Fort Indiantown Gap National Cemetery, located in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, but are not necessarily originally from this area.

Anyway – in my possession – I have Lebanon Daily News Obituaries for 1992 – 2000 – but I also have the obituaries from 2001 – current.  Am I obsessed with the Lebanon Daily News Obituaries or what? 

I have an on-going mission’s project – inventorying all the obituaries in my possession.  The inventory databases, (yes, I said databases. I build them as I go) are quite simple.  They list the surname of the deceased, the prefix of the deceased, like if they are a Doctor, Reverend, Sergeant 1st Class, etc., First name of the deceased, middle name or middle initial, a suffix – are they a senior, junior, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th, nickname, maiden name if available, age at the time of death (if available), and the dates the obituary appear in the newspaper.  I’ll probably be doing this project the rest of life! It is okay, I’m passionate about this project.

Did your relative(s) have an obituary in the Lebanon Daily News?  You never know, I may till have the obituary in tact; or, I may have typed up an obituary abstract for an individual. No, I am not parting with the obituaries – I am offering my services to research my archives for the Lebanon Daily News Obituaries.  I’ve become keenly aware that the obituaries from 1992 – 2000 might not be on the internet.

Truth – when I need obituaries for years prior to 1992 (when I didn’t keep the obituaries from the newspaper), guess what?  I have to pay MONEY to find someone to locate them for me.  Click here to learn more about my Lebanon Daily News Archives.