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Audit details challenges facing Mid Valley

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In five years, the Mid Valley School District’s fund balance decreased by more than $2 million, according to a routine state audit released Tuesday.

“With a declining fund balance, high debt service and increasing pension costs, Mid Valley School District certainly has its share of financial challenges on top of waiting for state funds tied up by the budget impasse in Harrisburg,” Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said in statement.

Along with a declining fund balance, the district made an improper payment of almost $14,000 to a former business manager, according to the audit.

Mid Valley, like other districts in the state, saw its fund balance decrease as state funding declined and pension costs skyrocketed in recent years. In 2009, the district had a general fund balance of almost $1.9 million, compared to negative $167,365 in 2014. The district borrowed about $3 million in the fall to pay bills during the ongoing state budget impasse.

The district has also not received any of the state reimbursement expected for the $15.5 million elementary school construction project.

“We’re extremely frustrated with the situation going on in Harrisburg,” Superintendent Patrick Sheehan said.

To strengthen the district’s financial condition, officials have explored ways to reduce expenses, including researching grants and mulling a potential reduction of employees through attrition. The district is focusing on what can be controlled at a local level, instead of what cannot be controlled in Harrisburg, Mr. Sheehan said.

Since 2009, the district’s debt service requirements have more than doubled, from $13.8 million to $33.3 million, due to the elementary construction project. Mid Valley also spent $573,350 in legal fees between fiscal years 2012 and 2015, largely for representation in a dispute with Mar-Paul Construction, according to the audit.

The audit also found that, because of an administration error, the district paid former business manager Joseph Caputo $13,975 for accumulated unused sick days when he resigned in 2013.

Because the business manager did not have a separate employment contract, his benefits fell under the district’s Act 93 Plan. The plan requires an employee to work for the district for 10 years to be eligible for payment of unused sick days. Mr. Caputo worked in the district for five years.

District officials now closely examine every contract or agreement, Mr. Sheehan said.

Contact the writer:

shofius@timesshamrock.com, @hofiushallTT on Twitter


Chris Kelly: Answer due on bonus question

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City taxpayers and the neighbors who pity them will soon learn how Scranton School District Solicitor John Minora earned a $50,000 bonus on a recent bond issue. Scranton School Board President Bob Sheridan promised me Tuesday to provide an accounting that might quiet nagging pains like Nick Semon.

Nick routinely stands alone in quizzing the Scranton School Board on its math, which often seems fuzzier than a caterpillar inside a half-empty bottle of Guinness. The 32-year-old husband, father and Scranton taxpayer wants to know what — specifically — Mr. Minora did to earn $50,000 related to a recent $40.5 million bond the board authorized with an astonishing $850,000 in fees.

The bond issue was paired with a $147 million budget for 2016 that hikes taxes 2.8 percent. Mr. Minora’s bonus came atop his $3,500 monthly retainer and the $85 an hour he bills for contract negotiations and litigation.

The district paid Mr. Minora’s law firm nearly $270,000 between 2013 and 2014. Advising a cash-poor public entity authorized to spend Other People’s Money is a lucrative gig,

Nick asked for an accounting of Mr. Minora’s work on the bond and was stonewalled by the school board. He said he filed a Right-to-Know request for records detailing Mr. Minora’s work on the bond and was told no such records exist. How can this be? The bonus was attached to a bond issue for which taxpayers will be liable long after its authors are laid in their graves.

At the last Scranton School Board meeting, Nick again asked the question to which every city taxpayer should demand an answer. The board responded with silence. Seriously.

A taxpayer asked a basic question about public spending that the board should have resolved before signing off on $40.5 million in borrowing. Nick could barely get his elected representatives to acknowledge his presence.

“It was amazing,” he told me Tuesday. “I came prepared with witty retorts, but I was not prepared for that (to be ignored), I will admit. They should know that I’ll be back. They are just baiting the lion.”

Nick is young and energetic. I lack his verve to chase all nine members of the school board. There are countless more productive uses of my time. I haven’t trimmed my toenails in over a month.

Podiatric challenges aside, the board president of a school district with 10,000 students should be able to speak to any issue. Bob Sheridan delivered. He told me Nick was met with silence at the last board meeting because his questions were answered at the meeting before.

I said that was obviously untrue. Mr. Sheridan said he would ask Mr. Minora for “a breakdown” of what he did to earn his bonus. I applaud Mr. Sheridan for his embrace of transparency. He said he wants to be “a good leader.”

Mr. Sheridan’s commitment to provide an accounting of Mr. Minora’s bonus is an inspiring sign that the Scranton School Board finally has a president who believes he and his colleagues should be accountable to the people they were elected to serve, even nagging pains like Nick Semon.

CHRIS KELLY, the Times-Tribune columnist, will keep you posted. Contact the writer: kellysworld@timesshamrock.com, @cjkink on Twitter. Read his award-winning blog at blogs.thetimes-tribune.com/kelly

Barletta endorses Trump for president

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U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta on Tuesday endorsed Donald Trump for president.

“Like millions of Americans, I want our next president to be a leader who fights for the American people and gets things done, not a politician who tries to say all the right things but will never be able to deliver on more broken promises,” Mr. Barletta, R-11, Hazleton, said in a news release issued by his campaign.

“Throughout his campaign, Donald Trump has proven that he is the leader our country needs to change the way Washington does business, and I am proud to give my full endorsement and support to his candidacy.”

Mr. Barletta said he believes Mr. Trump is the best Republican candidate to defeat Hillary Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, in November.

The congressman also said he is discouraged that members of the Republican Party “have spent more time trying to figure out how to stop Donald Trump than they have trying to understand why he is so popular.”

“In state after state, voters have made it clear that they want change and are tired of the way things are being done in Washington. I think Donald Trump is the best person to bring the change that Americans are demanding,” Mr. Barletta said.

Benefit slated for children of fatally shot Fell Twp. man

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CARBONDALE — A cafe in Carbondale will be the site of a benefit Friday to support the three children of a Fell Twp. man fatally shot by an off-duty, part-time, Carbondale police officer, the cafe’s owner said.

Billed as “Songbirds for Joey’s Children,” a series of female musicians will perform at Lyrics Bar & Cafe on South Main Street beginning at 7 p.m., said Ann Spreeman, the cafe’s owner.

Money raised will go to the family of Joe Molinaro, who died Feb. 2. The investigation remains ongoing.

The event will also include a 50/50 raffle and auction of local donations, Ms. Spreeman said.

— STAFF REPOR

Charges for ex-Ab Heights teacher acquitted of assaulting student to be expunged

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The arrest record of a former Abington Heights Middle School teacher acquitted of assaulting a student will be expunged, his attorney said Tuesday.

In November, a jury found William Yelland not guilty of child endangerment and simple assault, both misdemeanors.

Mr. Yelland, 32, of Dalton, turned himself in to authorities after an April 2015 classroom incident that left a 13-year-old student with a bruised chin.

The student told prosecutors the teacher put him in a choke hold, while Mr. Yelland said his watch hit the boy’s chin by accident while they were fooling around.

After hearing from many students present in the classroom that day, who said the incident was a joking one, jurors needed about 10 minutes to acquit Mr. Yelland on both charges.

The arrest will likely be scrubbed from his record by the end of the week, said Curt Parkins, one of Mr. Yelland’s defense attorneys.

The court had scheduled a hearing Tuesday to hear arguments on the expunging of the charges, but the district attorney’s office did not object and the hearing was canceled.

Mr. Yelland declined to comment to a reporter at the canceled hearing Tuesday.

Contact the writer:

pcameron@timesshamrock.com, @pcameronTT on Twitter

Historical marker for Gov. Scranton

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HARRISBURG — A blue-and-gold state historical marker recognizing the late Gov. William W. Scranton will be dedicated at a future date in his hometown.

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission announced Tuesday that it approved a marker for Mr. Scranton, who served as Pennsylvania’s governor from 1963 to 1967. The commission also approved markers for Gov. John S. Fine, a native of Newport Twp. in Luzerne County, who served from 1951 to 1955, and for Ruth McGinnis, of Honesdale in Wayne County, a champion pool player in the 1930s.

The commission has an annual nomination process for considering additions to the nearly 2,300 markers that appear on roads and streets throughout Pennsylvania.

The Lackawanna Historical Society offered the nomination for Mr. Scranton’s marker. A panel of independent historical experts from Pennsylvania evaluates the nominations and the commission’s board votes to approve or reject them.

The plan calls for the marker to be installed outside the historical society’s headquarters at 232 Monroe Ave., Scranton, following a site inspection, said commission spokesman Howard Pollman.

The next step is for the commission staff to work with the society to draft a text for the marker, check it for historical accuracy and coordinate the production and delivery of the marker. A dedication ceremony will take place within a year.

The society is responsible for the cost of producing and installing the marker and the commission is responsible for maintaining it.

Contact the writer:

rswift@timesshamrock.com

Revello's now open in the Mall at Steamtown

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SCRANTON — Revello’s Cafe Pizza has opened in the Mall at Steamtown.

The restaurant, which sells Old Forge-style pizza, is located along the center court on the first floor of the downtown Scranton mall.

The shop has counter service and expanded seating within the main concourse of the mall.

Revello’s original location is in Old Forge, the community known for its pizza shops and that bills itself as the “Pizza Capital of the World.”

— STAFF REPORT

Hospital foundation awards $2 million to local groups

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The Moses Taylor Foundation awarded more than $2 million in grants to local organizations to help promote health and wellness initiatives.

Nine organizations, including the Commonwealth Medical College, the Wright Center and the Scranton School District received third-quarter grants between $15,000 to $1.2 million, the foundation announced Tuesday.

The money will be used to fulfill the foundation’s mission,” said LaTida Smith, foundation president, in a release. “They honor the philanthropic legacy of Moses Taylor by providing meaningful opportunities for Northeast Pennsylvania residents, especially the most vulnerable, to lead healthier lives.”

The largest of the grants, $1.2 million, was awarded to TCMC. Scranton’s medical college on Pine Street plans to use the grant over three years for infrastructure and support for the Behavioral Health Initiative. The project will address needs in mental health and substance abuse in Northeast and North Central Pennsylvania. It will also increase the capacity of the health care workforce to serve people with mental health and substance abuse disorders while promoting community awareness of behavioral health issues and resources.

“We are honored by the Moses Taylor Foundation’s support for our Behavioral Health Initiative, which TCMC developed in response to an overwhelming and, at present, woefully underserved need in our region,” Steven J. Scheinman, TCMC president and dean, said in an emailed statement. “These funds will support the infrastructure for the BHI and the costs of providing training for primary care providers in assessment and treatment of behavioral health conditions, as a valuable approach to increasing the resources in this region for patients in need.”

Scranton School District will use a $99,825 grant to expand implementation of the school-wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Support Program across the district, the release states. The program aims to build a school culture that promotes wellness and academic success, teaches appropriate social skills to students, prevents problem behavior, directs targeted students to specialized and individualized support and uses data for decision-making.

The grants awarded are:

• The Arc of Northeast Pennsylvania: $15,000

• NAMI Pennsylvania: $19,000

• Family Service Association of Northeast Pennsylvania: $20,000

• Pocono Alliance: $75,000

• Scranton School District; $99,825

• United Neighborhood Centers of Northeast Pennsylvania: $150,000

• Maternal & Family Health Services: $209,482

• The Wright Center Medical Group: $234,301

• The Commonwealth Medical College: $1.2 million

Contact the writer:

kbolus@timesshamrock.com, @kbolusTT on Twitter


Lackawanna County Prison to get top-to-bottom evaluation

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The Lackawanna County Prison Board appointed a consultant Tuesday to perform a comprehensive, top-to-bottom evaluation of the jail as it prepares to hire a new warden by the summer.

Thomas J. Earley, of Dunmore, the former interim director of the county Adult Probation Office who has more than four decades of experience in corrections and related fields, also will advise and work with three board committees tasked with studying different aspects of the jail’s operation.

The review comes as the prison starts its search for a successor to Warden Robert McMillan. Mr. McMillan, the warden since 2011, plans to leave the position when his contract expires June 27.

The county posted the job opening Monday, setting a May 2 deadline for the submission of letters of interest, applications and resumes.

Under the terms of his appointment as “independent evaluator,” Mr. Earley will have broad latitude to delve into all areas of the prison and its operations, with unrestricted access to every part of the facility as well as all files and documents, including policies and procedures, contracts and fiscal records.

Judge Vito Geroulo, prison board chairman, said he believed it will be the first study of its type done at the jail, which has developed over the years “more or less by accretion.”

“Now what we have is a very complex organism that I think very few people can dissect and fully understand the interplay of the various departments,” he said.

Mr. Earley will be paid $50 an hour, capped at 35 hours a week. Commissioner Patrick O’Malley suggested and the board agreed to limit Mr. Earley’s appointment to no more than six months.

“I think that is more than enough time to evaluate the prison,” the commissioner said.

If his work takes the full six months, it could potentially cost about $40,000.

The board also approved the creation of three committees, each headed by a board member, that will review prison finances, prison operations and programs for inmates and employees with the assistance of Mr. Earley.

Each committee will have specific areas and issues to study, although the issue of staffing, scheduling and overtime will overlap between the finance and operations panels.

Like Mr. Earley’s report, the findings of the committees will help guide the board as it considers candidates for the warden’s position, Judge Geroulo said.

“I would like to suggest we make this the highest priority ... and hopefully have that in place so that we can make an intelligent evaluation of warden applicants and, more importantly, make changes where necessary for the future of this prison,” he said.

On another matter, Mr. McMillan said the prison is now taking applications for five part-time correctional officer positions. Although the jail hoped to hire up to 15 part-timers to fill in for officers who are off work because of injury, illness or other reasons for 30 or more days, a binding arbitration ruling limited the number to six, including a current part-time employee covered by a grandfather clause, he said.

Commissioner Laureen Cummings quizzed the warden at length about the limitation, saying it is “absolutely ridiculous” the county must pay a full-time officer overtime to cover a sick coworker’s shift instead of calling in a part-time officer.

“I have never heard of such nonsense in my life. she said. “I’m just appalled by all of this.”

Contact the writer:

dsingleton@timesshamrock.com

Police seek two people who stole underwear from Victoria's Secret in the Viewmont Mall

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DICKSON CITY — Police are searching for two people who they believe stole $600 worth of underwear from Victoria’s Secret in the Viewmont Mall on Saturday.

Dickson City police posted a photo of the two suspected thieves on the department’s Facebook page Monday, which garnered a tip.

“We’ve received a tip via Facebook and are following up on that tip,” said acting Chief William Bilinski. “One person seems to act as lookout while the other seems to commit the theft.”

Chief Bilinski could not yet say if Saturday’s incident was related to similar thefts over the past year at Victoria’s Secret stores in the Mall at Steamtown and Wyoming Valley Mall.

— JEFF HORVATH

Wanted man who hid in chicken coop gets state prison

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SCRANTON — A wanted Jermyn man who hid from police in a chicken coop was sentenced Tuesday to state prison.

A judge gave Sean Martin, 41, three to six years in state prison followed by one year of probation for felony receiving stolen property.

Jermyn Police officers tracked down and arrested Mr. Martin on March 1 after he failed to show up for a sentencing hearing for that charge, to which he had previously pleaded guilty. Officers used a stun gun to take him into custody because he would not cooperate, police said.

On Tuesday, Mr. Martin apologized for his actions and said he was struggling with a heroin addiction.

Judge Michael Barrasse also made Mr. Martin eligible for a prison program which could see him released nine months early if he completes all the requirements.

— PETER CAMERON

Police: Caregiver assaulted bedridden client

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KINGSTON — A caregiver at a home for the mentally disabled sexually assaulted a non-verbal, bedridden client for months during diaper changes, Kingston police alleged in charges filed Tuesday.

Police charged Andrew Dula III with a felony count of institutional sexual assault.

The 53-year-old Shickshinny man had been employed at a community care home for the mentally disabled at 99 N. Dawes Ave. that is owned by the Kingston-based non-profit Institute for Human Resources and Services.

“Essentially, he was a worker at a home that cared for people with mental handicaps. This victim was a resident at the home,” Luzerne County Assistant District Attorney Nancy Violi, the lead prosecutor in the case, said Tuesday following Dula’s arraignment. “He’s alleged to have abused her while he was caring for her needs during the course of his employment.”

Someone who answered the phone at the company’s headquarters said the business — which runs 23 such homes caring for 78 clients in Luzerne County — declined comment.

A spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services — which regulates the facility where the abuse allegedly occurred — said the agency was “investigating” the issue.

Investigators say the victim was a 36-year-old woman who has spastic cerebral palsy, suffers from a “severe” mental disability, and can’t talk.

Arrest papers filed in the case say Dula was called in for questioning after co-workers suspected possible abuse and he admitted to sexually violating the defenseless woman.

Police said a suspicious incident involving Dula on Feb. 3 sparked the investigation. Around 1 a.m. that day, one of Dula’s co-workers heard the woman screaming while Dula was alone with her in her bedroom, according to arrest papers.

The resident’s unusually loud scream startled the co-worker, who went to the resident’s bedroom to check on her. The woman — naked from the waist down and not positioned her normal way in bed — whined and reached for the co-worker while Dula lingered in the bedroom, holding the resident’s legs in his arms, police said.

Dula had removed a clean, dry diaper and had a new diaper in his hand, police said, noting that the investigation revealed Dula had been warned about needlessly changing the patient’s diaper when it was not soiled.

When the coworker questioned Dula about what had happened the early morning hours of Feb. 3, he said he didn’t know and that the victim was “acting weird.” The coworker became more concerned by a thumbprint-shaped bruise on the resident’s leg, police said.

Initially, an appointment was made for the resident to see her family doctor, but after learning the circumstances, staff at the doctor’s office suggested she be taken to the emergency room. After the woman was evaluated at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Township, where hospital staff conducted a sexual assault examination, Kingston police were notified.

During the investigation, other staff members revealed to police that victim had started to behave differently around Dula, police said.

Police said one staff member said the woman would appear anxious when Dula arrived for his shift and would not sleep well while Dula was working at the facility. She became anxious only when Dula was around, despite other male workers, police said.

The staff member also told police the resident “freaked out” when Dula entered her bedroom about two weeks before the Feb. 3 incident and started clawing at the staff member’s neck.

Another worker said the victim was “easy to care for,” but Dula spent an unusually long time to care for her while spending an “inordinate amount of time alone in the victim’s bedroom,” police said.

When interviewed by police, Dula admitted he had sexually violated the victim in various ways on multiple occasions since November, police said.

The group home is run by the Institute for Human Resources and Services, a nonprofit which operates 23 such facilities in Luzerne County and also runs an adoption and foster care program. In addition to Kingston, other facilities are located in Dallas, Forty Fort, Hanover Township, Kingston Township, Larksville, Plains Township, Sugar Notch, Swoyersville and Wilkes-Barre, according to the company’s website.

Attempts to find detailed, recent inspection reports of the company’s facilities on the Department of Human Services’ website were not successful.

Magisterial District Judge Paul Roberts in Kingston arraigned Dula on Tuesday on the charge of institutional sexual assault. He set bail at $25,000, which Dula immediately posted. Dula then hurried out of the Kingston Municipal Building and hid his face as he ducked into the passenger seat of a car that sped away from the building.

Dula is scheduled for a preliminary hearing before Roberts at 1 p.m. on March 31.

sscinto@citizensvoice.com

570-821-2048, @sscintoCV

bkalinowski@citizensvoice.com

570-821-2055, @cvbobkal

Police probe burglary in city's West Side

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SCRANTON — City police are investigating a reported burglary at a woman’s home in West Side, police said Wednesday.

Celevee Castro, 35, called police Tuesday once she returned home to the 1100 block of Rock Street at about 10:45 p.m., Capt. Dennis Lukasewicz said.

Ms. Castro left her home at about 9 p.m. and when she returned she discovered someone rummaged through her rooms. Two cell phones and an Xbox 360 were missing, Capt. Lukasewicz said.

Ms. Castro did not see signs that someone had forcibly entered her home, Capt. Lukasewicz said.

Anyone with information should contact detectives at 570-348-4139.

— JOSEPH KOHUT

Clarks Summit woman sentenced for killing man after concert

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A Clarks Summit woman who struck and killed a man with her car got house arrest and probation Wednesday.

Ivy Giordano, 26, got 2½ years of court supervision, the first six months under house arrest. She pleaded guilty Dec. 15 to DUI and reckless endangerment.

On Aug. 25, 2013, she struck Michael Sanders, 33, of Dunmore, who was walking down Montage Mountain Road after a concert. He died 40 minutes later at Geisinger Community Medical Center.

After the crash, Ms. Giordano admitted to drinking at the concert and submitted to a blood test. Her blood-alcohol content was 0.105 percent, above the legal limit of 0.08 percent.

Check back for updates.

Contact the writer: pcameron@timesshamrock.com, @pcameronTT on Twitter.

Local school leaders in Harrisburg to lobby for state aid

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HARRISBURG — With tensions over the state budget impasse at a peak, officials from several school districts in Northeast Pennsylvania said today there is an urgent need for state subsidy aid to be restored.

Officials from Hanover Area, Wilkes-Barre Area, Greater Nanticoke Area, Pottsville Area and Mahanoy Area school districts lobbied at the Capitol for an end to the nine-month impasse that has left them without a half-year’s worth of state aid.

They were part of an event sponsored by the PA Association of School Business Officials. The association called on Gov. Tom Wolf to sign a $6 billion supplemental budget bill sent to him by Republican lawmakers that provides the missing state aid.

Hanover Area and many other districts in Intermediate Unit 18 are in jeopardy of closing if the impasse is not resolved soon, said Thomas R. Cipriano Jr., Hanover Area district business administrator, speaking at a press conference in the Rotunda.

“We are now faced with closing our doors, in April 2016, shutting out the very students who depend on us,” he said.

Besides education, students depend on the school district for school breakfast and lunch programs, nursing services, extra-curricular activities and guidance counseling, he said.

More than 300 parents and taxpayers attended a meeting Monday at Hanover Area High School about the district’s financial plight.

Wilkes-Barre Area faces a time of fiscal reckoning soon, said business administrator Leonard Przywara.

“We can possibly last through the middle of May,” he said.

Greater Nanticoke Area is concerned about continuing problems with the fiscal 2016-17 state budget even if the budget for fiscal 2015-16 is resolved, said superintendent Dr. Ronald Grevera.

Mahanoy Area is doing without $4 million in state aid, representing about 22 percent of its budget, said business administrator Jack J. Hurst. The district faces a property tax hike for the 2016-17 fiscal year and the prospect of borrowing if the impasse is not resolved, he said.

Pottsville Area avoided having to borrow money in January, but may face that prospect if the impasse continues, said business manager Stephen C. Curran.

Contact the writer: rswift@timesshamrock.com


Lackawanna County Commissioners unveils new slogan

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Lackawanna County commissioners have a new slogan: Investing in our future.

The commissioners unveiled the slogan, which was developed by the county communications department, at their meeting this morning at the Administration Building.

Commissioner Patrick O’Malley said the slogan is intended to highlight some of the good things happening in county government, including the restoration of the county’s bond rating.

Mr. O’Malley said the slogan is separate from the branding and marketing program being developed by Scranton-based idGroup to promote attractions such as the Lackawanna County Coal Mine Tour and the Electric City Trolley Museum.

Check back for updates.

Police arrest woman for disorderly conduct

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SCRANTON — An intoxicated Scranton woman confronted her ex-boyfriend at his home Tuesday and started throwing items around the house, city police said.

Lori Christie, 44, 444 N. Main Ave., is charged with disorderly conduct and harassment.

Patrolman Larry Greenfield wrote in a criminal complaint that Ms. Christie fought with Luke Ross on Conroy Street.

Ms. Christie tried to lunge at her ex-boyfriend in front of police when they arrived there shortly after 9:10 p.m., police said.

Ms. Christie is free on $10,000 unsecured bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.

— JOSEPH KOHUT

Wolf will let state budget bill become law without his signature

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HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf said this afternoon he will let a $6 billion supplemental state budget bill become law without his signature.

The action will give school districts their remaining state subsidy money for fiscal 2015-16 and provide money for state-related universities and Pennsylvania State University’s network of county agricultural extension services.

The governor’s decision is known informally as a pocket veto. It hasn’t been done since Gov. Milton Shapp in the 1970s.

“I believe it’s time to move on,” said Mr. Wolf speaking of the nine-month budget impasse. “The real battle is in the 2016-17 budget.”

The governor said he couldn’t in good conscience sign the budget bill written by Republican lawmakers since it’s not balanced and the math doesn’t add up.

Mr. Wolf will veto an accompanying fiscal code bill, saying there are constitutional problems with it.

Check back for updates.

Contact the writer: rswift@timesshamrock.com

Consumer spending holding economy together

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Barring whatever next year’s presidential administration might have in store, all signs show that the economic expansion should stay the course — at least for the next two years.

“It’s not going to be gangbusters, but it’s certainly not going to be a recession,” said Wells Fargo global economist Jay Bryson, Ph.D.

It’s impossible to predict how, for example, a Donald Trump presidency might affect the U.S. economy, or a major turnaround in the congressional makeup.

“At this point it’s a wild guess, and it’s not in there,” he said of his economic forecast. With optimism, Dr. Bryson gave his best projections for the global economy, zeroing in on the United States and Northeast Pennsylvania during the Economic Outlook Breakfast on Wednesday, a joint effort by t7he Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce held at the Four Points by Sheraton hotel in Scranton.

Consumer spending, which makes up about two-thirds of the gross domestic product, increased by a healthy 2.5 percent to 3 percent from last year, he said. That’s helping to prop up the economy, which as a whole has been growing about 2 percent to 2.5 percent annually.

“If that continues to grow, the economy’s not going back into a recession,” Dr. Bryson said.

His forecast rings true with at least one other economist.

As long as consumers keep spending, it’s pretty hard to take the economy down, said Scott Hoyt, senior director of consumer economics for Moody’s Analytics, a consulting firm near Philadelphia. “When we’re adding as many jobs as we are, and the unemployment keeps falling, there’s certainly no reason for consumers not to keep spending,” he said.

Declining exports stand to apply serious drag on the domestic economy, Dr. Bryson said.

Oil and gas exports could boost margins, but capital goods like factory equipment are the United States’ biggest export, and overseas customers simply aren’t buying.

Well on the rebound from economic recession, the United States is insulated from financial woes wracking other nations like China, where booming growth has slowed significantly, and Greece, where a hulking debt crisis has been kicked down the road, at least for a while.

Health care, construction and education don’t rely on the international markets, and they make up a huge portion of the U.S. economy. Global unrest could affect manufacturing, but it makes up only 15 percent of the domestic economy.

Isolated crises, for example Tuesday’s terrorist attack in Brussels, Belgium, or the November attacks in Paris, aren’t likely to affect the global economy, Dr. Bryson said. On the other hand, Mr. Hoyt with Moody’s said that widespread terrorism or a new war could bring economic instability.

“It’s possible to come up with dark scenarios that, you know, could take things down,” he said. “Left to its own devices, I don’t think there’s any reason for recession in the next two, three years. But external shocks, as we’ve learned, are always possible.”

Contact the writer:

joconnell@timesshamrock.com, @jon_oc on Twitter

Biggie Burger restaffs, reopens

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EDWARDSVILLE — Biggie Burger is back.

Six weeks after the restaurant in the Gateway Shopping Center in Edwardsville closed, owner Frank DeViva has hired a new manager and reopened.

Mr. DeViva, who also owns the Bakehouse Bakery and Cafe in Kingston, previously said he was forced to close Biggie Burger as a result of staffing issues. As a result of an article last month in The Citizens’ Voice, sister paper of The Times-Tribune, and Facebook posts about the closing, a number of people stepped forward with different solutions which allowed him to restaff.

John Sabatelli, 27, former night shift manager at clothing retailer J.P. Boden in CenterPoint Commerce and Trade Park East in Jenkins Twp., was named the new manager.

Biggie Burger is open Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m to 8 p.m.

— DENISE ALLABAUGH

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