After learning the hard way that closed fire stations can slow responses to fires, city officials last month celebrated an almost $8.2 million federal grant that would pay for recalling laid-off firefighters and hiring more.

Now, they plan to reject about a third of the money.

The grant was enough to pay for calling back 29 laid-off firefighters plus one on military leave and for adding 20 new firefighters - a total of 50 - for two years, but Mr. Doherty decided to decline the money for the new firefighters because the city could not afford to keep paying them after the two years and because the city would have to pay unemployment benefits when they were laid off.

It is unclear whether the city will be able to afford to keep all the other 29 after two years.

"When we submitted the grant, we asked for 50 (more firefighters) because that's what we used to have, 150 (firefighters)," Mr. Doherty said. "Two years from now, you've got to lay them off, and that's at 66 percent (of their salary for unemployment). It costs money (even when firefighters are laid off)."

The city is self-insured for unemployment compensation insurance, meaning it pays all unemployment claims.

The city has 113 firefighters, Fire Chief Tom Davis said. The 29 laid-off firefighters include 12 who were recalled in March after a slow response to an East Mountain fire convinced the mayor to call them back to work. The response was slowed by the rotating closing of firehouses because of a lack of firefighters.

The grant is a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant from the Department of Homeland Security. SAFER grants help communities comply with staffing, response and operational standards established by the National Fire Protection Association and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The city applied for the $8,175,860 grant in February, and received word from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that the entire grant was approved in late May. By turning back part of the grant, the city will keep $5,068,080 to keep the recalled firefighters, Deputy Fire Chief Allen Lucas said.

The other $3,107,780 was for the 20 new firefighters, whose second-year salary would be $70,702, he said.

At that salary, if the city laid off all 20 and all 20 were unemployed for a full year, the city would pay $47,134 each for a year's worth of unemployment benefits, or about $942,680.

City firefighters union President John Judge criticized the mayor for turning back "free money" because the grant pays for all costs of the firefighters while they are working for the city.

"No cost to the city," said Mr. Judge, who works on the city Fire Department's rescue truck. "It's ridiculous."

He said the city will not necessarily be left needing to pay any more to keep any of the 48 new firefighters than it is paying now.

In two years, 42 firefighters will have reached the minimum of 25 years of service necessary for retirement, Mr. Judge said. Currently, about four firefighters a year retire, he said.

With the city's contract with its firefighters expiring in two years, most of the 42 firefighters will retire because of the uncertainty of future contracts, Mr. Judge predicted. That's what happened as the last contract expired, he said.

With the federal money, the city could have up to 50 trained firefighters ready to replace the 42, he said.

If most of the 42 retire, the cost of keeping those who don't and the unemployment costs would be sharply reduced, Mr. Judge said.

But city officials point to 19 of the 42 firefighters who are already eligible for retirement and still have not retired. Many of the 42 will be eligible for retirement, but not yet eligible to collect a pension because not all will be at least 55 years old, the other pension requirement.

"That doesn't mean they'll all go," Chief Davis said. "I don't see any of them retiring."

Mr. Doherty acknowledged he might be able to keep some of the 29 firefighters on after two years because of retirements, but said the more critical point is the 29 to keep the department properly staffed.

"The key thing with the 29 is that's pretty much the number we need for safety," he said.

Mr. Judge disputed that. Because the grant requires four firefighters on a truck, the national standard, the recalled firefighters will be used to properly staff trucks rather than reopening fire stations, he said. He predicted the rotating firehouse closings will continue and the Keyser Valley and Hill Section will eventually have a fire with a slowed response time, he said. They are the two sections most often affected by closed firehouses, he said.

"It's only a matter of time before there's a catastrophe," Mr. Judge said.

Chief Davis said that is untrue. The recalled firefighters should end the wave of firehouse rotating closings that followed the 29 layoffs, he said.

The chief said he is hoping to have the 17 remaining laid-off firefighters back to work by the end of the month.

Efforts to reach U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, who helped the city obtain the grant, were unsuccessful.

Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com

JEFFERSON TWP. - A plan that forces people away from their septic systems for public sewers angered some residents of two roads who will be affected.

Residents living along Living Waters and Archbald Mountain roads fumed on Monday at the Jefferson Twp. Sewer Authority for including their roads in a plan to require replacing their septic systems with sewer hookups.

Nearly two dozen residents living along the two roads showed up to vent at sewer authority members for forwarding a plan to the board of supervisors.

Earlier in the week, residents delivered a petition of 21 people living on the two roads who opposed requirements that would force them to pay $3,800 in a hookup fee to the township and annual fees of about $600. Residents also would have to pay additional plumbing costs related to the initial hookup.

Sewer authority members said they included the roads in the plan that requires just under 100 residential homes to switch to sewer systems because the type of soil in the area causes in-ground septic systems to fail. Since the early 2000s, the township has installed sewage for about 1,000 residential homes and businesses.

Sewer authority members say about a half-dozen septic systems in the area, including Living Waters and Archbald Mountain roads, have been documented as failing through the years.

Sewer authority attorney Robert A. Cecchini told the aggravated audience they each had up to five minutes to speak.

"We're not going to go around the room jumping up and down," Mr. Cecchini said.

Will Keating, 1642 Archbald Mountain Road, said his septic system was incorrectly identified by the sewer authority as malfunctioning six years ago. He asked why no one had informed him about the system working improperly.

"What is wrong with the system if six years have gone by and no one was told about it?" asked Mr. Keating.

Although residents at the meeting were told the plan to require people to use sewage systems had been sent to the supervisors, they continued asking questions about why they should have to switch systems and asked about pay and hours of sewer authority employees.

After listening to questions from a few more residents, the sewer authority adjourned the meeting and left the room while residents continued to argue with a staff member of the sewer authority.

After the meeting, Bill Nicholais, sewer authority chairman, said the switch to sewer systems will save residents money when compared to failed septic systems. The township's sewage enforcement officer, Homer Butler, wrote a letter to the supervisors in May saying that the area, including Living Waters and Archbald Mountain roads, is "not conducive to in-ground sewage drain fields. In-ground systems will malfunction in this area."

"It will cost them $15,000 to $21,000 to replace a septic system," Mr. Nicholais said.

In 1989, the Department of Environmental Protection mandated the township take action because of septic tank failures. For the sewer authority, that action involved requiring residents to change using septic systems to sewage systems.

For some residents, the dispute involving sewer and septic tanks had turned into a question of credibility. Mr. Keating, a former supervisor, said he's aggravated with answers he has received.

"We've dealt with these people for a long time, and they'll just lie to your face," he said. The supervisors will meet July 2 to discuss the plan and decide whether to recommend sending it to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

Contact the writer: rward@timesshamrock.com

BELLEFONTE - She forced her son to spend the night at Jerry Sandusky's home over the boy's complaints. She never asked questions, never wondered why some days he just didn't "feel like it." Years later, she still doesn't know the pain her son says Mr. Sandusky caused.

The mother of the accuser known as Victim 9 said Monday she feels responsible for trusting her son to a man prosecutors have described as a "serial pedophile" who preyed on boys from broken homes, enticed them with gifts and forced them to perform sexual acts.

The woman, the last prosecution witness and only mother to testify in Mr. Sandusky's child sex abuse case, cried as lead prosecutor Joseph E. McGettigan asked if her son ever told her what the boy said Mr. Sandusky did to him in 2004 and 2005, when he was 12 and 13.

"I didn't really want to hear what happened to him," the woman said. "It's not that I didn't want to hear, I just knew it would be tough for him to tell me."

Even when she picked her son up late one night from Mr. Sandusky's State College-area home - one of his last times there - the mother said she took the boy at his word.

"My kid was waiting for me outside and he didn't have any shoes on," the woman recalled. "I asked him if he was all right and he said he was sick and wanted to go to bed. I didn't ask him any questions after that."

The prosecution rested after the mother's testimony.

Mr. Sandusky's attorneys followed with a half-dozen character witnesses, including former Penn State assistant coaches Dick Anderson and Booker T. Brooks.

Victim 9, in testimony last week, said he called his mother because, "(Mr. Sandusky) was trying to be physical with me and I had enough of it."

Mr. Sandusky, he said, had attempted to rape him multiple times in the two years since they met at a summer camp operated by the former coach's Second Mile charity for troubled youth. Victim 9 said the attacks occurred in Mr. Sandusky's basement, which the accuser believed was soundproof.

Asked if he ever told her about the abuse, Victim 9 said: "How are you supposed to tell your mom something like that?"

The Times-Tribune does not identify victims of sexual abuse.

Victim 9, now 18, said he would sometimes scream out for Mr. Sandusky's wife, Dottie, who he said always stayed upstairs. She never came to help.

When he finally got a cellphone, he said, he called his mom and plotted his escape.

The mother's recollections of the same night were telling about missed signs of abuse, Widener law professor Wesley M. Oliver said. That portion of testimony, though, helped the mother regain credibility after an earlier, seemingly rehearsed response, he said.

"If you're sick or well, it's entirely unusual to wait for your mom outside someone's house, particularly without shoes on at 11 o'clock at night," Mr. Oliver said. "I think he was scared to death. That's what people will remember when they think about her testimony."

Victim 9's mother said Monday she figured her son called her late at night because of the "stomach problems" he had experienced throughout his relationship with Mr. Sandusky.

"His stomach always hurt him, and he told me he couldn't use the bathroom right," the mother testified.

A doctor told them the boy had acid reflux disease, she said.

At the same time, she said, her son "had behavior issues. His sleep patterns were very different. His school work was very difficult."

And, for all she knew, the mother said, Mr. Sandusky and her son were only going to church, playing racquetball and going swimming. Sometimes, she said, her son would say they played games in Mr. Sandusky's basement.

Victim 9 used his "stomach problems" to hide Mr. Sandusky's alleged abuse, his mother said. He said Thursday he discarded physical evidence of the rapes too, telling jurors: "I just dealt with it. I have a different way of coping with things."

"I always wondered why he never had any underwear in the laundry, the mother said. "There was never any underwear. He told me he had an accident and threw them out."

Mr. Sandusky gave Victim 9 gifts, including clothes, the mother said before shifting into territory that Mr. Oliver said compromised her credibility.

"I just wish he could give him underwear to replace the underwear that I could never find in my laundry," she said.

The answer, in response to one of Mr. McGettigan's last questions, contradicted the mother's claim that she never spoke to her son about his alleged ordeal and never watched or read news accounts of the Sandusky investigation.

"When she jumped in and had that answer, it made her seem entirely insincere," Mr. Oliver said. "If she were trying to concoct a story, that's exactly how you would do it. You'd have this thing that you wanted to tell that supported her son's story and she was ready with that answer. It didn't flow organically at all."

Contact the writer: msisak@citizensvoice.com

BELLEFONTE - In an awkward attempt to dull the significance of Jerry Sandusky's acknowledged habit of showering with young boys, two of his former Penn State colleagues told jurors Monday they too have washed up with children by their side.

The former offensive line coach Dick Anderson said he showered in the same room as youths "all the time" at the YMCA and "on occasion" at the Penn State football facility when Mr. Sandusky would bring in young boys from his Second Mile charity.

"If Jerry would bring someone in with the Second Mile, they had been working out for whatever reason, they would come in and shower," Mr. Anderson said. "It was not uncommon on occasion, and other coaches would come in and out as well."

Mr. Anderson, who sat with Mr. Sandusky's family in the gallery on the first day of the trial, said he never saw the former defense coordinator engage in sexual behavior with the youths he brought into the football facility.

The unwanted bear hugs, grabbing of genitals and attempts at anal sex happened when no one else was around, prosecutors said.

Booker T. Brooks, who moved back to the State College area three years ago after attending Penn State and coaching there from 1968 to 1983, said he frequently showered alongside youths as a football coach and while a counselor at a YMCA summer camp in his native Akron, Ohio.

"Even currently right now, as I am a grandfather, I take my young grandchild to the YMCA, and since she's not old enough to go into a room by herself, I take her in and shower with her," Mr. Brooks said.

Mr. Anderson and Mr. Brooks were among the first witnesses called by Mr. Sandusky's attorneys following a prosecution case that lasted into the fifth day of the trial.

Senior Judge John M. Cleland rejected a defense request earlier Monday to dismiss the bulk of the 51 child sex abuse charges against Mr. Sandusky.

The attorneys argued prosecutors were overly broad in establishing a time frame for the charges, making them impossible to defend against. In some cases, they said, prosecutors failed to establish the age of accusers and the location of alleged crimes, and did not present enough evidence to substantiate charges of indecent deviate sexual assault where the views of eyewitnesses may have been obscured.

Separately, prosecutors withdrew a single count of unlawful contact with a minor, a third-degree felony punishable by up to seven years in prison, after discovering the related law did not go into effect until a year later.

Judge Cleland ended court just before 2 p.m. Monday to accommodate the technical requirements of an upcoming defense presentation and witness scheduling. Before dismissing jurors for the day, the judge said they would be sequestered for deliberations, which he expected would begin Thursday afternoon.

Mr. Sandusky declined to comment when asked if he would testify, as his lead attorney, Joseph Amendola, promised in an opening statement last week.

Before the early adjournment Monday, Mr. Sandusky's attorneys called half a dozen character witnesses, including the former coaches, two former Second Mile counselors and a prominent local political consultant who once worked for Mr. Sandusky.

The defense attorneys appeared focused on two goals with their presentation: minimize the unseemliness of Mr. Sandusky showering with children; and paint him as an upstanding citizen with a reputation as a "local hero" until his arrest last November.

After court adjourned, Mr. Sandusky's attorneys subpoenaed attorney Tom Kline for copies of his fee agreement with Victim 5 and "any and all" communications with the media and the attorney general's office, which is prosecuting the case.

Mr. Kline, a Hazleton native, said he saw the subpoena as a byproduct of a defense attempt to smear accusers who have hired attorneys. Mr. Kline described Mr. Anderson and Mr. Brooks' testimony as a "cultural affirmation of showering with children," particularly in athletic circles.

Mr. Anderson and Mr. Brooks' version of showering alongside children - for hygienic, not sexual purposes - clashed significantly with the allegations of Mr. Sandusky lathering soap on young boys' backs, shampooing their hair and lifting them up to a spigot to rinse.

Victim 5 testified last week that Mr. Sandusky assaulted him in a Penn State shower after a workout at the football facility in August 2001. Mr. Sandusky removed his towel in a sauna and exposed his penis, Victim 5 said. Later, in the shower, Mr. Sandusky forced him to touch it, Victim 5 said.

Wesley M. Oliver, a Widener Law School professor and NBC News consultant, said Mr. Anderson and Mr. Brooks' shower testimony and the idea of a "culture of showering" appeared to be "blown out of proportion."

"There is a culture of showering at the YMCA. You go in. You do it. There are kids there. There are not kids there. You don't pay attention one way or the other. That wasn't a big deal," Mr. Oliver said.

Mr. Brooks' testimony about bringing his granddaughter into the men's shower room at the YMCA sounded like a "mistake in testimony," Mr. Oliver said.

"I honestly wonder if he meant what he said because I don't know where he would have taken her in the Y to have done this," he said. "That was bizarre."

Four other witnesses focused on areas other than the shower room, including former Second Mile fundraising director David Brent Pasquinelli and former intern Brad Witmer, who now teaches the second grade in Bellefonte.

Mr. Pasquinelli, the former campaign manager for U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, said he and Mr. Sandusky made at least 15 car trips together across the state, visiting prospects for a $7 million fundraising campaign between 2007 and 2009.

"I saw a mutual admiration between Second Mile youth - boys and girls - with Jerry," Mr. Pasquinelli said.

Mr. Witmer recounted a lesson he said Mr. Sandusky taught him after the accuser known as Victim 4 failed to show up for an appointment with the former coach.

"I can remember sitting down on the steps and apologizing to Mr. Sandusky for not seeing (Victim 4) that day," Mr. Witmer said.

"(Mr. Sandusky) was fairly positive about it and just said, 'You've got to understand when you're dealing with kids coming from a difficult situation, they're not always going to show up for you, but you always have to be there for them,' " Mr. Witmer continued." I've always carried that with me."

Contact the writer: msisak@citizensvoice.com, @cvmikesisak on Twitter

Allen Archie Hurley stared stoically at the series of crime-scene photographs of the man federal prosecutors say he stabbed 92 times and left bleeding in a pool of blood in a tiny prison cell in Wayne County.

The convicted bank robber revealed little emotion as images of a slain mobster with ties to the Gambino crime family flashed before him and on numerous other computer screens for the jury to see at his murder trial in federal court in Scranton on Monday.

"Ninety-two times. Ninety-two wounds, ladies and gentlemen," Assistant U.S. attorney John C. Gurganus Jr. said in his opening arguments to the jury of Mr. Hurley's slaying of Joseph O'Kane inside U.S. Penitentiary-Canaan two years ago.

Mr. Gurganus called his first witness Monday after two hours of jury selection and opening arguments before U.S. District Judge Robert D. Mariani, who is presiding over his first murder trial since being sworn in as a judge in November.

Dennis Reicherts, a lieutenant at the high-security federal prison in Canaan Twp., on the outskirts of Waymart, which can house up to about 1,500 inmates, testified that Mr. O'Kane, 43, could not be revived when he and a nurse found him lying on the floor inside Mr. Hurley's prison cell.

"Blood was squirting out the side of his neck" when prison officials tried to move him, Mr. Reicherts testified.

Mr. Hurley, formerly of Maryland, had 24 years ahead of him in the federal penitentiary for carrying out a string of 11 armed bank heists several years ago in Pennsylvania and Maryland that netted him tens of thousands of dollars before he decided to sharpen a pencil-shaped object into a makeshift knife and thrust it into Mr. O'Kane, according to Mr. Gurganus and court documents.

Mr. O'Kane, meanwhile, was serving a life sentence on murder and racketeering charges and had previously testified on behalf of John Gotti Jr. at the New York City mobster's trial, court documents stated.

The inmates had been friends, cooking food and even playing cards together on the day Mr. O'Kane was killed on April 25, 2010, Mr. Gurganus said. But inside Mr. Hurley's prison cell later that day, Mr. Gurganus said Mr. Hurley stabbed Mr. O'Kane in the eyes with the "shank," driving it into his brain.

Mr. Hurley later confessed to an FBI agent and two inmates he killed Mr. O'Kane, Mr. Gurganus said.

Mr. Hurley told the FBI agent he and Mr. O'Kane got into a physical altercation and he did not want Mr. O'Kane coming back after him later so he decided to "finish him," Mr. Gurganus said.

During the fight, Mr. O'Kane went into a "blind rage" and told Mr. Hurley "your family's dead," according to court papers.

Jurors grimaced at the gruesome pictures of the slain Mr. O'Kane - blood smeared across his cheeks, puncture wounds scattered all over his body, his blood slopped on Mr. Hurley's white prison sheets.

For "plunging a knife into another human being," Mr. Gurganus appealed to the jury to convict Mr. Hurley of second-degree murder, a charge that - linked to his previous two felony bank robbery convictions - supports the imposition of a mandatory life sentence.

Meanwhile, Mr. Hurley's public defender, Thomas Thornton, argued Mr. Hurley was defending himself.

The trial is expected to wrap up by Friday.

A federal grand jury indicted Mr. Hurley in December. He has pleaded not guilty.

Contact the writer: smcconnell@timesshamrock.com

Veteran's service

In a story in The Sunday Times about the memorial for Dunmore native Carol Ann Drazba, the first American woman and nurse to die in the Vietnam War, the husband of Kim Atkinson, George, was identified as a Vietnam veteran. Mr. Atkinson is a Vietnam War-era veteran but did not serve in the Vietnam War.

Roughly half of the people who stopped by the County of Lackawanna Transit System information tent Monday knew the agency is preparing to implement a new route structure for its buses.

Over the next two weeks, COLTS hopes to move that figure closer to 100 percent.

With the revamped routes taking effect July 2, COLTS representatives set up shop at the bus hub on the 100 block of Wyoming Avenue and will be there through the first week of July to hand out the new schedules and maps, answer questions and make sure the riding public is ready for the transition.

"People really are interested in what the changes are and how it is going to affect them," COLTS spokeswoman Gretchen Wintermantel said. "We want everyone to be prepared and have the new schedules in hand for July 2. That's the reason for being here well in advance."

The restructuring is the first comprehensive overhaul of COLTS' routes and schedules since the mid-1990s.

Although only one route will disappear completely - the North Pocono/Daleville service is being scrapped because of poor ridership - at least four others have been curtailed. At the same time, several routes have been expanded to include more hours, additional stops or both.

All of the new schedules and maps are available on the COLTS website, www.coltsbus.com.

Regular COLTS rider Pat Warning came away from the information tent with a fat stack of route schedules. Ms. Warning, who lives in downtown Scranton, does not own a car and relies on COLTS to get around, riding the bus at least three or four times a week.

She was pleased to see there will still be service to the Viewmont Mall and excited that buses will be running more frequently to Taylor Commons, where she likes to shop at Wal-Mart.

"It's the convenience," Ms. Warning said. "This is the way to go."

COLTS launched its public education effort last month, with agency officials visiting senior centers and high-rises, and public housing projects to explain the new routes.

Ms. Wintermantel said she was somewhat surprised that only about 50 percent of the riders who stopped to pick up new schedules were aware of the pending restructuring.

"We have had fliers on our buses that said the changes were coming, so it's not for lack of trying," she said. "But it's hard sometimes to get the word out."

Ms. Wintermantel said the tent on Wyoming Avenue will be staffed Monday through Saturday until June 30, and then on July 2, July 3, July 5 and July 6, operating each day from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. COLTS buses will not run on Independence Day.

Contact the writer: dsingleton@ timesshamrock.com

Ever since she was little, Kathleen Lavelle has ingested information from teachers and professors and always thought to herself, "How can I make someone else understand this better?"

The instinct to teach came naturally for the 2012 University of Scranton graduate, and although she double-majored in biochemistry, cell and molecular biology and Hispanic studies during college, she's using her knowledge to teach halfway across the world.

"The most fundamental part of growing up is learning to teach yourself or teach others," the Avoca native said. "It's a good way to learn more about yourself and about other people."

She is one of four University of Scranton graduates who received Fulbright U.S. Student Program scholarships for the upcoming academic year.

Global scholars

Ms. Lavelle and 2010 alumnus C.J. Libassi, a native of Dalton, were both awarded teaching assistantships in Madrid. Ellen "Maggie" Coyne of Stony Point, N.Y., won an English teaching assistantship in South Korea, while Anna DiColli of Broomall, Pa., was awarded a scholarship in public health to Spain.

Mr. Libassi said he's most looking forward to getting to the know the culture and the people of Spain.

"I really want to get to meet people; that's what I've always loved about international travel," he said.

After working as a Teach For America instructor in Landover, Md., for the past two years, and applying for the scholarship at large, he said he's also looking forward to teaching in a somewhat less-intense environment, serving as a conversation assistant in a Spanish classroom.

These four students exemplify excellence both in an out of the classroom, said Susan Trussler, Ph.D., Fulbright Program adviser and associate professor of economics/finance at the University of Scranton.

Multidimensional

"I think it's the combination of academic excellence with a caring personality that's reflected in their community service work, and really a passion for understanding other cultures and different people," she said.

The recipients competed against 9,000 applicants for the scholarships in a yearlong application process that included two essays, interviews, a language exam, applying to individual university programs and gathering three letters of recommendation, Dr. Trussler said.

The university boasts 138 graduates to have won the award since 1972, making it second-best in the nation for producing Fulbright winners at a master's institution last year, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

"We work hard; the students work hard; the faculty works hard. It's not something that's taken lightly," Dr. Trussler said.

Contact the writer: ksullivan@timesshamrock.com @ksullivanTTName: Kathleen Lavelle

Graduated: 2012

Hometown: Avoca

Awarded: Fulbright teaching assistantship to Spain

Name: C.J. Libassi

Graduated: 2010

Hometown: Dalton

Awarded: Fulbright teaching assistantship to Spain

The former supervisor of buildings and grounds for the Riverside School District is suing the board of directors, claiming he was fired for political reasons - namely because he was a Taylor resident.

Francis Mickavicz, 408 Harrison St., is suing the board for $195,829 for compensation and benefits applicable under the Administrative Compensation Plan from July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2014, as well as emotional distress as a result of his termination, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Scranton on Friday.

Mr. Mickavicz was hired in 2009, but just a year later, in June 2010, the board voted to eliminate the position, according to the lawsuit.

The board members who represent Taylor and Moosic "maintain political allegiances and loyalties" based on which borough they reside in, according to the lawsuit.

When Mr. Mickavicz was hired, five of the nine board members were Taylor residents. After he was hired, the board dynamics shifted, with five Moosic residents and four Taylor residents serving on the board - the same board that voted to eliminate Mr. Mickavicz's position in June 2010, according to the lawsuit.

Riverside School Board member Timothy Lavelle declined to comment and referred questions to the district's solicitor.

Contact the writer: ksullivan@timesshamrock.com @ksullivanTT on Twitter

Time has run out for a number of Scott Twp. residents who have not made an effort to hook up to the central sewer system.

And now they will face the consequences.

Sixty-five residents and business owners still have not made a "substantial effort to complete installation and hookup," and starting today, they will receive a citation from the magisterial district judge's office and can be fined up to $1,000 per month, said Carl Ferraro, Scott Twp. code enforcement officer.

"These people were given plenty of time to hook up to the system," Mr. Ferraro said. "We gave them multiple, several notices reminding them to hook up, but they continued to ignore them."

On May 17, Mr. Ferraro said he sent a "final warning" notice to 110 residents and business owners who had not yet acquired a permit for a hookup, informing them they had 30 days to make such an effort. The deadline was Monday.

The notice warned them that if they didn't comply, they would receive a citation from the magistrate's office and could be fined up to $1,000 per month upon conviction by a judge, Mr. Ferraro said.

As of Thursday, Scott Twp. supervisors' most recent meeting, 38 residents or business owners had taken the necessary steps to hook up to the system, leaving 72 people who still had not gotten a permit or contractor.

"We've been very lenient, even moving the initial deadline back from December," township Supervisor Michael Giannetta said. "But the hourglass is empty."

If found guilty of violating the township's ordinance to hook up to the system, people will be charged with a summary offense, Mr. Giannetta said.

Mr. Giannetta added that if the violators don't pay the fine levied by the judge, the magistrate can order a warrant for their arrest.

"Some people still aren't taking it seriously," Mr. Giannetta said. "But they are going to get whacked by the magistrate."

The $18.4 million sewer project became available for hookup on Aug. 21, at which time all residents along the line were notified and given 90 days to connect to the system, Mr. Ferraro said.

The system is part of a plan to address the state Department of Environmental Protection's concerns regarding malfunctioning septic systems polluting Griffin Pond and Chapman Lake.

Contact the writer: miorfino@timesshamrock.com

GLENBURN TWP. - An online database designed to track information and issues related to the Precision National Plating site is in the works.

The Environmental Protection Agency is in the late stages of developing a website that will provide residents with up-to-date information regarding the levels of hexavalent chromium in public wells, solicitor Malcolm MacGregor said at Monday's meeting.

Glenburn is home to the former Precision National Plating Co., which has been linked to hexavalent chromium contamination. The company used the chemical compound in chrome plating operations since the 1950s, and the compound likely reached the aquifer through spills or drains in the plant that discharged onto the ground for decades. "Residents have had trouble finding the levels of hexavalent chromium because the information wasn't updated," Supervisor Bill Wicks said. "With this website, all of the information will be in one place and will be constantly updated."

Similar to Google Maps, the website will allow viewers to zoom in on specific wells in the area. Then, depending on the color of the well, the viewer will be able to decipher whether it's contaminated, Mr. MacGregor said.

"It's extremely impressive," said Mr. MacGregor, who watched members of the EPA present a demo version of the website. "Now residents will be able to identify whether wells near their property are contaminated."

The website also will provide links that detail whether the levels of hexavalent chromium - a pollutant that can cause cancer, respiratory problems, and liver and kidney damage - have fluctuated over the past few months, Mr. MacGregor said. In May 2007, some testing wells near Ackerly Creek registered contaminant levels of 28.5 parts per billion. The federal maximum for hexavalent chromium is 11 parts per billion, according to EPA officials.

"This will give the residents a much better indication of what's going on," Mr. MacGregor said. "We're a visual society. This is what we need."

Contact the writer: miorfino@timesshamrock.com

Rock snot now reaches far beyond the waters of the Delaware River and into the halls of Washington, D.C.

More than a month after mats of woolly didymo blanketed the river from its upper branches in New York through to Trenton, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey has asked the Department of the Interior to help Pennsylvania combat the single-cell algae.

Mr. Casey said didymo could wreck the state's $1.6 billion fishing industry, and that populations of the algae also were spotted in the Youghiogheny River in Western Pennsylvania. Mr. Casey asked the Department of the Interior to support Pennsylvania's efforts to block the spread of didymo and strengthen the department's own work against rock snot.

Though the Delaware bloom was unprecedented, and scientists are unsure why rock snot infested the river in such abundance, it has begun to recede.

Eric Silldorff, a Delaware River Basin Commission biologist, said warmer weather and higher flows knocked down the didymo, or washed it away.

Mr. Silldorff discovered the blankets of rock snot in the Delaware River Water Gap in April and led scouting trips to other sections of the river to determine the range of the didymo invasion. He concluded in May that the algae was strongest north of Easton, but still present throughout the river all the way to Trenton.

The outbreak caught scientists off guard since rock snot prefers cold, nutrient-poor water. The stretches of the Delaware River south of the Water Gap are considered too warm and rich for the algae. Mr. Silldorff said no one knows why didymo was so abundant this year, but pointed to a warm winter and dry spring.

Mt. Silldorff added that scientists are concerned that once didymo is so widespread, it'll be with us for the long haul.

"We are worried that we could see blooms every year throughout the Delaware now, but since our winter and spring were so unusual, there is also a chance that this might be the worst we will ever see," Mr. Silldorff said. "We're developing plans now to monitor conditions next spring, and in subsequent springs to determine the future status."

No one is sure yet the impact didymo may have on the river. Scientists warned the algae blankets might crowd out beneficial plants that provide food and shelter for both fish and aquatic insects.

Rock snot spreads by hitchhiking on fishing gear, waders, boats, and anything else it attaches to in the water that can be carried out and to another body of water. The algae can live outside of water for a month or more.

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) - Air Products & Chemicals Inc. is buying a majority stake in Chilean industrial gas company Indura SA for $884 million.

Air Products & Chemicals, which sells specialty gases and equipment to industrial and commercial clients, said Tuesday that the buyout will strengthen its presence in South America and add to its earnings per share in fiscal 2013.

The company's 67 percent stake in Indura will make Air Products & Chemicals the second-biggest industrial gas producer in Latin America.

Indura, which is based in Santiago, Chile, has more than 20 plants and more than 2,300 workers, with $478 million in annual revenue. The company operates in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru and has a distribution network in Central America, Bolivia, Canada, the U.S. and Uruguay.

"Air Products' investment in Indura continues our strategy to expand our global presence in high growth regions with strong local partners," Chairman, President and CEO John McGlade said in a statement.

The acquisition is expected to close by early July.

Air Products shares rose $1.46, or 1.8 percent, to $81.06. They are about 13 percent since early April.

SCRANTON - City police arrested a Bloomsburg man trespassing at the Mall at Steamtown on Monday after he claimed he was both an FBI and a CIA agent.

Marcus Altieri, 21, 648 W. Main St., Apt. 2, Bloomsburg, also had a pipe in his pocket used for smoking marijuana, according to a criminal complaint.

When confronted by mall security and later city police for trespassing on the access road behind the building, Mr. Altieri told them he worked for the FBI and CIA.

As officers attempted to arrest him he fought with them and had to be stunned with a Taser, according to the complaint.

He was charged with impersonating a public servant and resisting arrest among related charges and later released on $20,000 unsecured bail.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for June 25.

SCRANTON - A Capouse Avenue man allegedly punched his girlfriend in the face Sunday, knocking one of her teeth out.

Police found Judi Gentile holding a bloody rag to her mouth at Rear 837 Capouse Ave. when they arrived at about 7 p.m., according to a criminal complaint.

Ms. Gentile explained that her boyfriend, Juan Anderson, 53, 829 Capouse Ave., Apt. 1, started pushing her after an argument then punched her, according to the complaint.

Mr. Anderson was charged with simple assault and harassment and was remanded to the Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of $10,000 bail.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for June 26.

KODIAK, Alaska - It turns out, there is no such thing as a free beer, at least on Era Alaska flights.

The airline had been offering a free 6-ounce beer to adult passengers on certain routes in the state.

But marketing manager Micah Lillard tells KMXT (http://is.gd/a8gMNG ) the promotion has to be changed but declined to say why.

The airline will now charge $1 for the first glass of Denali Brewing Co.'s "Single Engine Red" and $1 for each additional drink. The previous promotion offered the first beer free and every beer thereafter $3.

The drink specials are available on the airline's Dash 8 routes between Anchorage and Fairbanks, Deadhorse, Homer and Kodiak. The promotion will end at the end of June, but Lillard says they are considering extending it into July.

An ex-Dallas Middle School teacher has been charged with invasion of privacy for allegedly taking inappropriate photos of several female students in the classroom.

David Shuga, 49, of Kingston Township, was arraigned this afternoon in front of Magisterial District Judge James Tupper.

Arrest papers say Shuga admitted to police he took photos of his female students, specifically of their groin and buttocks areas, with his cellphone.

Shuga told investigators he was "sexually aroused" by the photos and masturbated to them, according to arrest papers.

Police say they began investigating Shuga after two students came forward on June 4, claiming Shuga was taking "inappropriate" pictures of female students.

One of the students showed investigators a photo of Shuga taking a photo of a female student, police said.

The picture depicted Shuga sitting in a chair holding his phone under a table taking a picture of a student's body, police said.

Shuga was a middle school special education teacher who had worked for the school district since 2005. After the allegations surfaced, he submitted his letter of resignation on June 7.

Following his arraignment, Shuga was released on $5,000 unsecured bail.

His attorney, Frank Nocito, said his client would waive his right to a preliminary hearing at the magisterial court level.

Shuga was scheduled for formal arraignment in county court on Aug. 24.

OTSEGO TOWNSHIP, Mich. - A baby robin is spending some quality time with some friendly cats in southwestern Michigan.

MLive.com reports Karin Caston's cats have accepted the bird, named Peeps, since she found it about two weeks ago in her yard in Allegan County's Otsego Township, 35 miles south of Grand Rapids.

The bird lives in a cage, but spends time nestled in the fur of two of Caston's cats or perched on their backs. A third cat lets the bird walk around it. She tells The Associated Press in an email that she first locked up the cats when she started caring for the bird.

The robin also likes to hang out on Karin Caston's finger. She says the bird is expected to be released at an area park.

CAIRO (AP) --A security official says Egypt's ousted leader Hosni Mubarak has been put on life support after his heart stopped as he arrived at a military hospital.

The state news agency MENA said the 84-year-old Mubarak was "clinically dead" when he arrived at the hospital from prison. It said doctors used a defibrillator on his several times.

MENA initially said the efforts were not successful.

But the official said Mubarak was put on life support. He had no further details on his condition. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.

The campaign of Mubarak's former prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, said Tuesday he has won Egypt's presidential election, countering the Muslim Brotherhood's claim of victory for its candidate, Mohammed Morsi.

The election commission is to announce the official final results on Thursday and no matter who it names as victor, his rival is likely to reject the result as a fraud. If Shafiq is declared winner in particular, it could spark an explosive backlash from the Brotherhood.

The Brotherhood, Egypt's most powerful political group, is already escalating its challenge against the ruling military over the generals' move this week to give themselves overwhelming authority over the next president. Some 50,000 protesters, mostly Islamists, massed in Cairo's

Tahrir Square on Tuesday evening chanting slogans in support of Morsi and denouncing the generals' power grab.

The health crisis of Mubarak, who is serving a life prison sentence, is yet one more thing to stoke the heat. His condition took a sharp turn for the worse Tuesday evening, the state news agency MENA reported, and officials transferred him from Torah Prison to the nearby Maadi military hospital <0x2014> the same one where his predecessor Anwar Sadat was declared dead more than 30 years ago after being gunned down by Islamic militants.

Mubarak suffered a stroke and is suffering a "fast deterioration of his health," MENA said. Earlier, it said, his heart stopped and doctors had to use a defibrillator, and prison officials said he lost consciousness. TV images showed a convoy of ambulances and military vehicles transferring Mubarak from Torah Prison to nearby Maadi Hospital in a suburb south of Cairo.

Moving Mubarak out of prison is likely to further infuriate many in the public, where there is a widespread suspicion that security and military officials sympathetic to their old boss are giving him preferential treatment -- so much so that some Egyptians dismiss repeated reports of his faltering health as a pretext for taking him out of prison.

Since June 2, Mubarak has been serving a life sentence at Cairo's Torah Prison for failing to stop the killing of protesters during the 18-day uprising against his rule last year. The verdict against him has already been a spark for protests -- thousands massed in Tahrir when

the court acquitted him and his sons on separate corruption charges and cleared several top security chiefs on the protester killings.

The multiple disputes have turned a moment that was once anticipated by some as a landmark in Egypt's post-Mubarak transition -- the election of the first civilian president in 60 years -- into a potentially destabilizing snarl.

Shafiq's campaign spokesman, Ahmed Sarhan, told a televised news conference that Shafiq won 51.5 percent of the vote and that the claim of victory by Morsi was "false."

"Gen. Ahmed Shafiq is the next president of Egypt," said Sarhan. He said Shafiq won some 500,000 votes more than Morsi, of the fundamentalist Brotherhood.

The Shafiq campaign's claim came just hours after Morsi's campaign repeated their claims of victory, saying Morsi had won 52 percent of the vote compared to Shafiq's 48.

The Brotherhood first announced Morsi's victory early Monday, around six hours after polls closed. It said its claim was based on returns announced by election officials from each counting center around the country. Each campaign has representatives at every center, who compile the individual returns. The Brotherhood's compilation during the first round of voting last month proved generally accurate and, when it announced its victory early on in that race, it raised no objections.

But this time, Shafiq's campaign countered quickly, saying early Monday that its ongoing count showed their man ahead. Tuesday's announcement was its first claim that it had won.

Shafiq, a former air force commander who was named prime minister during Mubarak's last days, is seen by his opponents as likely to preserve the military-backed police state that his former boss headed for three decades. He, in turn, has presented himself as a strongman able to keep Egypt stable and out of the hands of the Brotherhood, playing on fears the group will turn the country into an Islamic state.

Just as polls closed on Sunday night, the military -- which has ruled since Mubarak fell on Feb. 11, 2011 -- issued a constitutional declaration that gave themselves power that all but subordinates the new president, a move critics called a "coup" intended to maintain their control over the state even after they nominally transfer authorities to the president by July 1.

The declaration gave the generals legislative powers and control over the process of drafting a new constitution and the national budget. It also shields the military against any kind of civilian oversight and allows the generals to run their own affairs without interference from civilian authorities.

A court ruling also dissolved the Islamist-dominated parliament last week, a verdict that has been endorsed by a decree issued by military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi. The Brotherhood and its Islamist allies dismissed the decree, arguing that Tantawi had no right to issue it with less than two weeks before the scheduled transfer of power to civilians. Also last week, the military-backed government granted military police and intelligence agents the right to arrest civilians for a host of suspected crimes, a move that many viewed as tantamount to a declaration of martial law.

Thousands were demonstrating in Cairo and the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria Tuesday evening to denounce the constitutional declaration, which also strips the next president of significant powers and the court ruling.

The estimated 50,000 protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square, birthplace of last year's anti-Mubarak uprising, were mostly Brotherhood supporters and other Islamists joined by a small group of leftist and liberal activists.

"It is not possible to have a revolution and then have military rule and a president with no authority," said protester Mohammed Abdel-Hameed, a 48-year-old schoolmaster who said he came with his son and others to Tahrir from Fayyoum, an oasis province 60 miles (100 kilometers) southwest of Cairo.

"How can they dissolve parliament and spend all that money again on another election? This is a waste of public funds," he said. "If they want blood we are ready to offer blood. I am. So that my son can live free," warned Abdel-Hameed, who wore traditional galabeya robes.

Some protesters gathered outside parliament earlier Tuesday, and a number of lawmakers tried to enter the building but were turned away by security forces. Hundreds of black-clad policemen armed with clubs and shields ringed the building, standing behind metal barricades.

"Wake up Field marshal. We defended our revolution through the ballot boxes," protesters chanted, referring to Tantawi, Mubarak's defense minister for 20 years. "You coward Field Marshal, free parliament," they screamed.

"No revolution that is protected by God will fail," said Saber Ibrahim, a 36-year-old school teacher who came from his native Beni Suef south of Cairo to participate in the rally. "We, the people, gave them (the military) legitimacy and we now are taking back."

On Tuesday former U.S. President Jimmy Carter expressed his concerns. His Carter Center monitored the weekend runoff as it has every nationwide vote in Egypt since Mubarak's ouster in a popular uprising engineered by pro-democracy youth groups.

"I am deeply troubled by the undemocratic turn that Egypt's transition has taken," Carter said in a statement Tuesday.  "The dissolution of the democratically-elected parliament and the return of elements of martial law generated uncertainty about the constitutional process before the election," he said, adding that the constitutional declaration violated the military's commitment to make a full transfer of power to an elected civilian government.

"An unelected military body should not interfere in the constitution drafting process," said Carter, alluding to the military's control over the writing of the charter. Carter is a regular visitor of Egypt, where he often meets with the ruling generals and government leaders.

Amnesty International said the powers acquired by the military could lead to further human rights violations and, unless modified, they would allow the generals "to continue to trample on human rights with impunity."

It said the control of the military over the panel tasked with drafting the constitution allows it to reject any attempt to restrain the military, put it under civilian oversight or hold it accountable for human rights abuses.

"It is deeply worrying that the army has paved the way for it to continue to arrest and detain civilians, as well as to use force against protesters, with no effective oversight of their actions," an Amnesty statement quoted Philip Luther, the group's director for the Middle East and North Africa, as saying.

Hoda Mahmoud, a 32-year old human resources manager, was out protesting at Tahrir Square on Tuesday. A member of a youth group known as the Revolutionary Socialists, she said her real fight is with the military and predicted that the Brotherhood may eventually back down.

"The fight is in the street, not one about political settlements," she said, alluding to the Brotherhood's reputation for political opportunism and appetite for back-room deals.

The official result of the weekend presidential vote will be announced on Thursday. With each side now insisting it won, an announcement either way by the election commission could now raise protests from the losing side.

As a cash-starved Penn's Northeast looks for new sources of revenue, the organization and the region have a chance to remake themselves, said incoming chairman John Cognetti.

The economic development marketing group is still licking its wounds from three years of a sour economy and significant funding losses, but Mr. Cognetti, president of Scranton-based Hinerfeld Commercial Real Estate, struck an optimistic note at the group's annual meeting Tuesday in Brennan Hall at the University of Scranton.

"We are in a difficult time, but an exciting time," he said. "We have the opportunity to become something greater. This is our time to get it right."

He pointed to the addition of the third set of locks on the Panama Canal, which promises to remake logistics and perhaps grow that sector in eastern Pennsylvania. To the west, he pointed to the large reserves of natural gas in the Marcellus Shale and speculated on how that could lead to new industries.

Founded 10 years ago as a one-stop shop for companies looking for location, Penn's Northeast markets the region on behalf of economic development groups in Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe and Wayne counties. It also brings together economic development groups that had long been rivals to work collectively on attracting outside investment to the region.

Financial problems strained that relationship. Funded by a per capita levy paid by economic development groups and by government grants and donations, the first half of Penn's Northeast's life went well. With the economic downturn, grants dried up. Some economic development partners, themselves struggling, couldn't pay the per capita levy. In its most recent budget year, Penn's Northeast had about half the funding it had in 2003-2004. The group reduced its per capita from 37 cents per person to 21 cents and is focusing on private sector contributions to continue its work.

"Our model is still relevant and we are re-inventing ourselves," said outgoing chairman Chuck Leonard, of the Monroe County Industrial Development Authority. "The first step it to get more private sector involvement."

Three at-large board members were nominated to serve a three-year terms on the Penn's Northeast board: William E. Sordoni, President Sordoni Construction Services; Scott Lynett, CEO of Times-Shamrock Communications and Publisher of The Times-Tribune and Brian Grove, Senior Director of Corporate Development for Chesapeake Energy Corp.

Contact the writer: dfalchek@timesshamrock.com