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Trae Smith slides into 2nd during the 11-12 year old All-Star game against Warren

Supreme Court limits local gun bans

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that the Constitution's "right to keep and bear arms" applies nationwide as a restraint on the ability of the federal, state and local governments to substantially limit its reach.
By a 5-4 vote split along familiar ideological lines, the nation's highest court extended its landmark 2008 ruling that individual Americans have a constitutional right to own guns to all the cities and states for the first time.
In doing so, the justices signaled that less severe restrictions could survive legal challenges. The ruling involved a 28-year-old handgun ban in the Chicago area.
The ruling was a victory for four Chicago-area residents, two gun rights groups and the politically powerful National Rifle Association. .........MORE

Police: Enforcement effort idles Marcellus trucks

MARK SCOLFORO

HARRISBURG, Pa.
An enforcement blitz that focused on trucks hauling wastewater from Marcellus Shale drilling operations generated hundreds of citations and warnings and forced 131 water-hauling trucks off the road, Pennsylvania State Police said.
The department's Operation FracNET, named after the drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, inspected 1,137 trucks over three days last week.
In all, 250 commercial vehicles were placed out of service, along with 45 drivers. Twenty-three of those drivers were operating trucks that haul wastewater from drilling sites, police said.
"What's disappointing are the numbers, because they're high," state police spokeswoman Lt. Myra Taylor said Thursday. "We want voluntary compliance. That's sometimes a difficult thing to do, but we don't care."
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A gray fox seen in the Rich Valley area

What earned him an Army CAB wasn't his 'worst day in Iraq'

Sgt. Bennett is the son of Steve and Linda Nadji of Emporium!



Staff Sgt. James Bennett, an explosive ordnance disposal technician deployed to the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, puts on a bomb suit during training. As an EOD tech, Sergeant Bennett is on his third deployment. He was one of the first four EOD Airmen to earn an Army Combat Action Badge while deployed in 2006. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Carolyn Viss)


by Staff Sgt. Carolyn Viss376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs6/12/2010 - TRANSIT CENTER AT MANAS, Kyrgyzstan -- "Fire in the hole! Fire in the hole! Fire in the hole!"These four words, shouted as loudly as possible three times in a row, are very familiar to any explosive ordnance disposal technician. But they carry heavy responsibility for EOD troops about to detonate high-powered explosives.When James Bennett joined the Air Force at the age of 19, he had no idea he would become one of the first four EOD Airmen to earn an Army Combat Action Badge, but he knew he wanted to join a career field that would be challenging, exciting, and possibly very loud."Gunfire doesn't bother me," said Staff Sgt. Bennett, now deployed to the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, who said his dad and stepmom were both Combat Arms Training and Maintenance instructors; in fact, his stepmom was one of the first female CATM instructors ever. So, shortly after getting married, joining the Air Force, completing EOD school, and receiving some on-the-job training, then-Airman Bennett deployed to Kuwait. At just 21, he was the father of a 2-year-old and tasked to defend the fighter, cargo, and coalition aircraft at Ali Al Salem Air Base. And if that wasn't enough responsibility for him to carry, from there he was sent forward to Iraq for a few days to open a new, expeditionary base.
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Erie-built hybrid locomotive ready when buyers are

By JIM MARTIN
jim.martin@timesnews.com
Five years have passed since GE Transportation unveiled, with considerable fanfare, its plans for a hybrid freight locomotive.


The mock-up cab shown off at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., was emblazoned with the target release date of 2010.
Now, five years later, that date has arrived. And although a prototype of the hybrid has been rumbling along the rails for three years, there are no plans to start production anytime soon.
GE Transportation, a Lawrence Park Township-based business unit of the General Electric Co., insists the hybrid project has not come off the rails.
In fact, company spokesman Stephan Koller said the company could probably have a hybrid ready to go by the end of the year if a customer wanted one.
But no one seems to be clamoring to place an order.
Like a hybrid car, a hybrid locomotive offers two key advantages: increased fuel efficiency and decreased emissions.
But the hybrid, which can provide an additional 2,000 horsepower on a temporary basis, will also come at a premium price, Koller said. He declined to characterize how much more the hybrid will cost.
"Everybody wants to increase fuel efficiency and lower emissions, and hybrid technology will help meet these requirements," he said. "But with oil prices as they are today, there is not a compelling reason for a railroad customer to switch."
Higher fuel prices, tougher emissions standards or even a better economy could change that and make companies more willing to invest.
"You've got to be ready when the market is ready," Koller said. "Currently the market is maybe a little conservative."
Although GE Transportation said it could have a hybrid ready based on the existing prototype, Koller said the battery technology, which already has won 30 patents, continues to evolve and is expected to improve.
"Getting the battery right is the core technology for any type of hybrid propulsion," he said.
The GE hybrid will use a sodium-metal battery built at a new $100 million battery plant in Schenectady, N.Y. The plant is expected to open in 2011 and employ about 350 people.
Why move ahead with the battery plant when the hybrid project appears to be in slow gear?
Koller said the batteries that will eventually be found aboard Evolution hybrids are also used in backup power systems for the telecommunications industry and for other applications.
At least in the short term, that's likely how the majority of those batteries will be used, he said.
"For energy and telecommunications, there is real interest and real demand for an energy-storage system," Koller said. "You have to look at the market that could potentially grow. Currently, the market for the rail industry is probably not as strong."
Tom Lange, spokesman for Union Pacific Railroad, wouldn't speak to the issue of GE Transportation's hybrid, but stressed that domestic demand for freight locomotives remains weak.
"We are not in the market to purchase locomotives," he said. "We (Union Pacific) have more than 1,300 locomotives in storage. Based on the global economy, we are not in the market for locomotives."
The Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad, the largest regional railroad in western Pennsylvania, isn't usually a customer for new locomotives either.
Gene Evans, vice president-mechanical for the Rochester-based railroad, said his company generally operates with older, used locomotives.
But Evans said the company expects in July to commission the first of two GenSet locomotives, which are similar to hybrids in that they significantly reduce fuel consumption and emissions.
The purchase was made possible through a public-private partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, but that doesn't mean the decision was easy.
"It's always a balancing act between the cost of developing or building new locomotive technology vs. fuel savings," Evans said.
At at time when the industry is struggling to get back on its feet, rail customers across the country will have to make their own decisions about that balance.
And that's why the pale green GE Transportation hybrid -- home now from testing in California -- will be tested and improved some more, but won't likely be rushed to market.
"We need an environment that will justify the investment," Koller said.
JIM MARTIN can be reached at 870-1668 or by e-mail.

Photo of the Day

Some of the "home boys" taking a short break on the way to Lock Haven