Fire not suspicious
SHAMOKIN - The fire that was contained to a living room at 8 S. Vine St. Tuesday night is not considered suspicious and the investigation is ongoing, said Shamokin Fire Bureau Deputy Chief Jason Zimmerman Wednesday.
The property is owned by Mike Long Jr., of Tampa, Fla., and managed by Mike Long Sr., of 859 W. Mulberry St., Coal Township. The house is rented by Billie Jo Artman, 36, and her three children, Paige, 16, Zack, 12, and McKenna, 6.
Defiant trespass
UNION TOWNSHIP - An Ashland woman faces a charge of defiant trespass following an incident at a horse farm on Aristes Road Sept. 13.
State police at Frackville report at 6:15 p.m. the husband of the property owner, Sheri Boyer, of Ringtown, went to the property to tend to the farm animals. Upon arrival, he found two females, one an adult and the other a juvenile, inside the gates of the property, rummaging through a tool shed. The man confronted the pair and the adult, identified as Barbara Umlauf, 61, of Ashland, claimed there was a complaint of animal cruelty and that she was investigating it.
The females then left the property and walked down the road to an SUV, then drove away. The husband then inspected the property and noted the corral fencing for his horse pen had been moved so the horse could not reach a water barrel. Boyer arrived and noted trespassing signs were missing.
Police charged Umlauf with a misdemeanor charge of defiant trespass and cited her for criminal mischief. The charges were filed with Magisterial District Judge Christina Hale, of Frackville, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled before Hale on Dec. 18.
Criminal mischief
SHAMOKIN TOWNSHIP - State police at Stonington reported someone damaged a mailbox at the residence of Rebecca Croyle, 63, of Captain Bloom Road, Sunbury, between 3:30 Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday.