Adam Szydlowski, a few months shy of 3 years old, absolutely loves trains. His doting grandfather, Harry Zinskie, knew just where to take him.

The grandpa from Olyphant brought his grandson from Throop to Scranton Hobby Center, a downtown mainstay at 517 Lackawanna Ave. specializing in model trains.

“He lives for trains,” Zinskie said of little Adam, as he wandered the narrow aisles of the jampacked shop in wide-eyed wonder. “What do you think, Adam? This is serious (train) business here.”

Proprietor Tim Sweeney flipped a switch and a large platform display motored to life, with engines and cars chugging around a tiny town and through tunnels, and filling the small shop train sounds.

The store, which bills itself as one of the oldest hobby shops in the country, was founded by Tony Kovaleski in 1929 in the 500 block of Linden Street as a model airplane department in a grocery store.

Over time, it evolved into a hobby shop. After the Great Depression, the shop moved to 315 Adams Ave. and expanded into model trains, dolls and toys. A fire in 1967 destroyed the business and Kovaleski retired.

Sweeney’s father, Jack Sweeney Sr., who had been a model airplane enthusiast and loyal Scranton Hobby customer, bought the name and rights of the business in 1968, and reopened on St. Patrick’s Day 1969 at 138 Adams Ave.

“My dad was huge into model airplanes,” Sweeney said. “He spent every spare moment in the hobby shop. He was in the insurance business back then and anxious to get off-road and spend more time with the family. The opportunity came up when Tony retired.”

As model trains became the focus, Jack Sweeney Sr. moved the shop in 1973 to 410 Lackawanna Ave. and also expanded into arts and crafts. A fire here in 1982 led to a move to 420 Lackawanna Ave. In 1996, the shop moved to 517 Lackawanna Ave.

The nearby Steamtown National Historic Site, devoted to the railroad history of the city and region, also gave a boost to the hobby shop.

“Steamtown attracts a lot of train enthusiasts because there’s a lot of railroad history in Scranton, so the two kind of go hand-in-hand,” Sweeney said. “We get a lot of spillover business from Steamtown. Tourists that come in town always seem to seek out a hobby shop, especially if they’re train-oriented.”

The shop also runs a model train show twice a year, at the Radisson at Lackawanna Station hotel, the historic former train station and offices of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad.

Over the years, the shop also developed a solid reputation among collectors, and ships items to buyers all over the country, said Sweeney, 51, who has been involved in the business since boyhood, along with his brother, Jack Jr., 58, the city’s zoning officer.

“We’re a full-service hobby shop,” Jack Jr. said.

Along with trains and accessories, the shop has a large stock of slot cars, plastic and wood models, die-cast collectibles, radio-controlled airplanes, cars, trucks, helicopters and boats, model rockets, kites, modeling tools, paints, railroad books and magazines, and jigsaw puzzles.

Airplanes hang from the ceiling, including Jack Sweeney Sr.’s quarter-scale 1980s remote-controlled replica of a WWII P-51 Mustang fighter, with “Hurry Home Honey” painted on the nose.

“It’s had hundreds of flights. It’s been in the family for years. It’s been like our signature piece,” Tim Sweeney said of the large plane.

Shows and movies, such as “Thomas (the Tank Engine) & Friends” and “Polar Express,” also have fueled interest in model trains among kids. New technology, including apps that can run train sets from smartphones, and improved train-sound features, also have helped.

Meanwhile, retro and vintage model car kits have made a resurgence in the hobby world.

And locals also have remained loyal.

Bob Azzarelli, 63, of Dunmore, recalls going to the hobby shop as a boy when Kovaleski had it. Today, Azzarelli is a longtime customer, part-time shop helper and in-house master model builder.

“We try to be like the old-time hobby shops,” Azzarelli said. “We get people in from out of town and they look around and they say, ‘This is a hobby shop.’”

There’s no age limit on the store’s offerings, he said.

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing,” Azzarelli said.

At the end of his visit to the hobby shop, little Adam left with a train engine and matching caboose.

Contact the writer: jlockwood@timesshamrock.com, @jlockwoodTT on Twitter

Online

For more information, see scrantonhobbyonline.com or see Scranton Hobby on Facebook.

Amanda Shea was asking for a lesson in journalism. As an ink-stained wretch with 20-plus years of muckraking experience, I felt obliged to provide some Old School tutelage.

First, I had to answer an obvious question: Who the hell is Amanda Shea? I found no easy answer. It’s possible Amanda Shea is an actual human being who lies for a living, as suggested by the fake “news” stories that unravel like clumsy tentacles beneath her byline on freedomdaily.com.

It’s just as plausible that Amanda Shea is a “bot,” an automated cyber-spider who stalks the web ensnaring unsuspecting prey who click her links seeking truth but wind up cocooned in poisoned threads of fantasy.

Internet bots masquerade as people but are actually just ghosts in the misinformation machine.

McClatchy Newspapers reported this week that the FBI is probing whether right-wing sites like Breitbart.com and InfoWars.com used bots in collusion with Russian spies to tamper with the recent presidential election. Before the internet, “bot” exclusively described the larva of the botfly, a parasite that feeds in the stomach and is expelled in its host’s dung.

Dung is what Amanda Shea produces for freedomdaily.com.

Case in point: Amanda’s breathless exposé from Monday carried the clickbait headline, “Hillary Spotted In Public Drunken Stupor, Shocks Onlookers With What Else Is Seen On Her.” Her “report” featured a photo snapped the previous Friday by award-winning Times-Tribune photographer Butch Comegys at the Society of Irish Women Dinner in Scranton.

Hillary Clinton was the keynote speaker. The photo showed the former secretary of state being embraced by attendees who were honored to spend an evening with the overwhelming winner of the popular vote in November.

Freedomdaily.com, theamericanmirror.com, madworldnews.com and who knows how many other online dung-spreaders stole Butch’s photo and presented it as evidence that Hillary is a shambolic alcoholic who got bombed at the event because she still can’t accept losing the presidency to Donald Trump.

It’s safe to say some attendees drank a few too many toasts to what might have been, but by all accounts, Hillary wasn’t one of them.

All accounts except the one Amanda Shea published. Here’s an execrable excerpt:

“Whether her instability was the result of too much to drink, her questionable health condition, or a combination of both, Americans dodged a bullet in not electing this embarrassment as our nation’s leader. It’s ironic that liberals will depict our president as a clown despite him always having a clear head since he doesn’t even drink, but completely ignore the obvious issues in Hillary being drunk in public.”

While The Times-Tribune can’t stop the spread of lies disguised as news, we can and did object to our copyrighted content being stolen and used to mislead the public. Times-Shamrock Digital Audience Director Ed Pikulski spent five hours over two days convincing the offending sites to stop abusing our property.

Amanda told Ed she didn’t have the authority to remove the photo from freedomdaily.com. Her boss (Putin?) would have to OK it. Besides, she argued, she got the information from one of the other sites, so why blame her?

Oh, Amanda. Publishing information you know is false is not justified just because someone else did it, too. Also, reporting is not the same as regurgitating something you heard or read without any attempt at verification.

These are some of the finer points I wanted to discuss with Amanda. This is how she describes herself on her Facebook page, @AmandaSheaJournalist: “Amanda Shea is a political aficionado and curator of current events, who covers all issues of importance for conservatives. She brings attention and insight from what happens in the White House to the streets of American towns, because it all has an impact on our future, and the country left for our children. She writes with unfiltered truth, mixed with wit where it’s appropriate, and feels that journalism shouldn’t be censored.”

Aside from the indisputable fact that Hillary attended the dinner in Scranton, I earnestly hoped to ask Amanda what part of her story faithfully represented “unfiltered truth.” Lacking a phone number, I reached out through Facebook messenger. She (or her bot) replied Wednesday evening.

AMANDA: “Hi Chris, what’s this in regards to?”

ME: “I want to ask you a few questions about your journalism background, etc. I would prefer to speak with you via telephone.”

I didn’t hear from Amanda again, which is too bad, because I really wanted to extend her an opportunity to explain what she did after she stopped using Butch’s real photo with her fake story.

Like the other two sites, she simply replaced our photo with another pic from an uncredited source and kept the fake “Crocked Hillary” story going.

In fact, Amanda Shea went a step further, explaining the switch by writing: “The photos from the event have since been taken down,” implying sinister forces removed the photos to protect Hillary’s image.

Again, she and her employer removed the photos only after The Times-Tribune threatened legal action.

“Our photos are still up on our site,” Ed Pikulski said. “They’re still right where they stole them from.”

Amanda’s Facebook page is public and packed with photos of her having a high time. I could easily have stolen any one of them and written a story about “Amanda Shea’s drunken rampage through Scranton.” What stopped me? Integrity. Professionalism. Respect for truth. A sense of fairness. The fact that I would be fired from a cannon if I ever published such dung and called it journalism.

There are many things one can call someone who peddles lies for money and when caught plays the innocent victim targeted by bullies. “Journalist” is not among them.

Over my 20-plus years in the business, I have been blessed to work with several award-winning journalists. Amanda Shea is not fit to carry their notebooks, and would wilt under their professional scrutiny.

At its core, journalism — real, reliable, respectable journalism — is about accountability. I wanted to impart that lesson directly to Amanda Shea, but she shied away from the spotlight she so eagerly seeks when she’s playing to her gullible target audience.

Amanda Shea’s “Crocked Hillary” story was shared hundreds of times on social media by people who either didn’t know it was fake or did know and just didn’t care.

Some folks will never learn.

CHRIS KELLY, The Times-Tribune columnist, is not a bot. Contact the writer: kellysworld@timesshamrock.com. Read his award-winning blog at timestribuneblogs.com/kelly.

DUNMORE — Rolls of raffle tickets unravelled as people poured through the doors of a borough banquet hall Saturday for a benefit catering to those on the autism spectrum.

The annual Spring Break for Autism fundraiser, now in its 12th year, returned to La Buona Vita in Dunmore in an effort to raise money for area organizations that provide programs for children and teens with autism. This year, the event — featuring food, drinks, raffles and a silent auction — benefited the Greater Carbondale YMCA and the Arc of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

“Because of this support, when the kids want something now, I don’t have to think twice,” said Carbondale YMCA Executive Director Steve Durkin, whose organization runs a weekly program that provides activities and invaluable socialization for teens with autism. “We might go to a ballgame, or we might go to a park, or they might want Chinese food. ... I don’t hesitate.”

As the parent of an adult daughter on the autism spectrum, longtime event organizer Peter Cosgrove understands how important these programs are. In taking children with autism to a movie or bowling or dancing, for example, the programs supported by the fundraiser allow “kids to have more fun,” he said.

“These are all wonderful things for these kids,” said Cosgrove. “This is their way of getting to do those things.”

As a goal, Cosgrove said, he hoped Spring Break for Autism would raise $10,000 for each organization.

U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-17, Moosic, serving as honorary chairman of the event this year, told guests “not to lose too much sleep” over President Donald Trump’s proposed budget. The budget includes funding cuts for the National Institute of Health and National Institute for Mental Health, which perform autism research.

“Cutting funding for NIH and NIMH makes no sense whatsoever, and the families here know that,” said Cartwright, a member of the House Appropriations Committee. “I will be fighting day and night to oppose those cuts, and I think a lot of Republicans will as well.”

Several attendees at the benefit noted that opportunities for people on the autism spectrum have increased in recent years, and said people with autism are generally more accepted and included by their peers than in the past.

Matthew Levine, who is on the spectrum, said as much Saturday as he sipped a glass of wine.

“Exclusion is not the norm in 2017,” he said.

Contact the writer:

jhorvath@timesshamrock.com, @jhorvathTT on Twitter

Randy Saam

Wanted by: Scranton office, state Board of Probation and Parole.

Fugitive since: Feb. 8.

Wanted for: Third-degree murder. Sentenced to 12 to 40 years of incarceration. Paroled March 9, 2014.

Description: White man, 54 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall, 160 pounds, brown hair, blue eyes.

Contact: Agent Eileen Culkin, 570-614-7239 or 800-932-4857.

Jabree Cummings

Wanted by: Scranton office, state Board of Probation and Parole.

Fugitive since: Feb. 27.

Wanted for: Reckless endangerment, escape from detention. Sentenced to one year, six months to three years of incarceration. Paroled Feb. 22.

Description: Black man, 45 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall, 185 pounds, black hair, brown eyes.

Contact: Agent Brian Rikli, 570-614-7287 or 800-932-4857.

Brandi Martin

Wanted by: Scranton office, state Board of Probation and Parole.

Fugitive since: Jan. 13.

Wanted for: Retail theft, identification theft, theft by deception. Sentenced to two years, six months to five years of incarceration. Paroled Sept. 26.

Description: White woman, 42 years old, 5 feet 3 inches tall, 160 pounds, brown hair, brown eyes.

Contact: Agent Jason Westgate, 570-614-7250 or 800-932-4857.

Thomas Bryan

Wanted by: Scranton office, state Board of Probation and Parole.

Fugitive since: June 10.

Wanted for: Burglary of an occupied structure; criminal trespass. Sentenced to two to four years of incarceration. Paroled March 10, 2016.

Description: White man, 29 years old, 6 feet 1 inch tall, 150 pounds, brown hair, green eyes.

Contact: Agent Jason Westgate, 570-614-7250 or 800-932-4857.

Jeremy Culbert

Wanted by: Scranton office, state Board of Probation and Parole.

Fugitive since: Feb. 1.

Wanted for: Possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute (heroin). Sentenced to two years, four months to five years, seven months and 15 days of incarceration. Paroled Sept. 30, 2015.

Description: Black man, 26 years old, 5 feet 8 inches tall, 165 pounds, brown hair, brown eyes.

Contact: Agent Eileen Culkin, 570-614-7239 or 800-932-4857.

Find a pet who needs a new home at the Griffin Pond Animal Shelter.

Jigs is an adult male, Chihuahua mix. He is a little shy at first, but gets very friendly once he gets to know someone.
Contact the Griffin Pond Animal Shelter at 586-3700 if your pet is lost or goes astray. Staff Photo by Ted Baird

 

Baby Grey is an adult female tabby. She is very sweet and friendly.
Contact the Griffin Pond Animal Shelter at 586-3700 if your pet is lost or goes astray. Staff Photo by Ted Baird


Watch the latest Pets of the Week video here:

The show will go on.

After a music teacher at Our Lady of Peace School in Clarks Green moved away, it looked like there wouldn’t be a school musical this spring.

Alumni of the Catholic elementary/middle school, now high school students, came to the rescue. A few months ago, they asked if they could produce OLP’s musical for its middle schoolers, and delighted school officials said yes.

“There wasn’t going to be any show, and all of the graduates stepped up,” said diocesan Guidance Counselor Liz Devine, a mother of two members of the musical’s cast. “We were ecstatic that they would want to come back and think it speaks volumes about them and the school.”

Former OLP student Elizabeth Gumula, 17, of Clarks Summit, a junior at Scranton Preparatory School and director of the spring musical, “The Music Man Jr.,” marshaled 10 other OLP alumni for various roles in the production, such as choreography, lighting, sound, scenery, and hair and makeup.

On Sunday, three of the OLP alumni and nearly two dozen pupils in the cast gathered at the auditorium of Clarks Summit Elementary School, which lends the space, for a costume rehearsal.

The musical will be performed Friday and Saturday at Clarks Summit Elementary School at 7 each night. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students.

Gumula and choreographer Grace Farrell, also a Scranton Prep junior, fondly recalled participating in OLP musicals “Annie” and “Godspell.” After they moved on to high school, OLP’s past two musicals included “Grease” and “The Wizard of Oz.” They didn’t want to see current pupils go without a chance to take the stage.

“We got involved here by some alumni getting together and saying, ‘Hey, can we put on a show?’ and the staff at OLP being like, ‘Yes, absolutely. We’d love for you to do something,’ ” Gumula said. “I’m the director, but I tried to make this as alumni-run as possible. We’re all volunteering. We just love it. We have the theater bug.”

Farrell said a musical can be a great activity and outlet for certain pupils and help them bloom.

“Not everyone is into the sports,” Farrell said. “So, I think that a doorway to the arts is very important to have, especially in these young, formative times in your life.”

OLP eighth-grade cast member Jordan Mackey, 14, agreed.

“I was never into sports. I was always the dramatic person, always used my hands to talk,” Jordan said. “I just think it (the musical) gives a good chance for other kids that maybe don’t like to talk out loud very much, to kind of get that experience, to be able to speak in front of people and get confident with it.”

“The show must go on,” Gumula said. “We couldn’t let these kids not have a performance, because they’re just too great.”

The other OLP alumni involved include Kyle Brier, John Cuck, Antonia Milas, Lily Smith, Emily Goryeb, Angie Kanavy, Allyson Marquardt, Abby Molnar and Ally Zolin.

Contact the writer:

jlockwood@timesshamrock.com @jlockwoodTT on Twitter

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s experiment with a high-stakes student test remains in limbo as state lawmakers digest the impact of the latest changes in education policy from Washington.

The Senate and House education committees held a joint hearing last week on the impact of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act signed in 2015 by former President Barack Obama. This law outlines how states are to establish student performance goals in public schools and hold schools accountable for academic progress. It’s the successor to the No Child Left Behind Act, which put more emphasis on teaching to pass tests.

In Washington, Betsy DeVos, President Donald Trump’s education secretary and school choice advocate, said she wants to give states more flexibility in meeting the law’s goals.

“ESSA was passed with broad bipartisan support to move power away from Washington, D.C., and into the hands of those who are closest to serving our nation’s students,” she said.

Pennsylvania developed the statewide Keystone Exams in algebra, biology and literature for high school seniors in 2013 as part of the trend toward greater emphasis on tests to measure academic achievement.

A year ago, Gov. Tom Wolf signed a law delaying use of the Keystone Exams as a high school graduation requirement until the 2018-19 academic year. The delay reflects concerns among lawmakers of both parties about whether the Keystone Exams are a fair or reliable marker for graduation. Meanwhile, legislative proposals are emerging to provide alternatives to the Keystone Exams.

Pennsylvania is required to provide one statewide test in high school under ESSA, said Casey Smith, a spokeswoman for the state education department. Pennsylvania uses the Keystone Exams for that purpose, but the law doesn’t require states to use tests as a graduation requirement, she said.

Sen. Andrew Dinniman, D-19, West Chester, ranking Democrat on the Senate education committee, is an outspoken critic of what he calls the “testing obsession.”

“We are spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on testing skills while some school districts don’t even have the resources to properly educate students on the subjects upon subjects for which they are being tested,” said Dinniman. “The Keystone Exam is part of that testing program.”

The senator said tests are appropriate for diagnostic purposes and to help students learn.

Dinniman plans to introduce a bill soon to replace the Keystone Exams with the SAT, a standard test used widely for college admission purposes.

Using the SAT would be less expensive, easier to administer and give a wider range of students a chance to obtain scholarships, said Dinniman.

Pennsylvania should take a more flexible approach to tests and provide school districts with the resources to help students master the test material, said Sen. John Yudichak, D-14, Plymouth Twp.

The Pennsylvania State Education Association called recently for formally removing the Keystone Exams as a graduation requirement.

“We strongly support making the Keystone Exams delay permanent,” said PSEA President Jerry Oleksiak. “When there is too much emphasis on standardized testing, it gets in the way of teaching and learning.”

Sen. Robert Tomlinson, R-6, Bensalem, is drafting legislation allowing local schools to determine how the Keystone Exams are used to measure achievement.

The House unanimously approved legislation earlier this month to give career and technical education students an alternative to taking the Keystone Exam as a graduation requirement. The measure going to the Senate would allow these students to obtain an industry-based competency certification instead.

Rep. Mike Tobash, R-125, Pottsville, a key bill supporter, said this alternative recognizes the need for a diverse workforce to expand the economy.

Contact the writer:

rswift@timesshamrock.com

A topical April speech in the Electric City will take people into the mind of Vladimir Putin, one of the world’s most powerful and high-profile leaders.

The enigmatic Russian president and former Soviet KGB operative will be the subject of an April 28 talk given by CNN foreign affairs correspondent and former Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty. As part of the University of Scranton’s Schemel Forum, Dougherty will speak on the theme, “Putin’s Poker Game.”

“I’m going to try to explain how President Putin strategically approaches dealing with the United States and this new president,” said Dougherty, who grew up in and around Scranton. “He is a very canny assessor of his fellow leaders, and I think right from the beginning he assessed how he was going to deal with Donald Trump.”

Dougherty, who has met Putin many times in the course of her work, said the Russian president often studies people’s emotions and personality in determining strategy. Putin understood “that Trump likes flattery,” for example, but “never really committed himself to anything” in terms of U.S.-Russia policy under Trump.

She acknowledged the substance of her talk will likely change over the course of the next month as information emerges about Russia’s involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

The U.S. intelligence community has said with confidence that Putin’s Russia attempted to influence the election in favor of Trump, and FBI Director James Comey recently confirmed the bureau is investigating whether Trump campaign officials and Russian agents coordinated in an effort to damage Democrat challenger Hillary Clinton.

In any event, Dougherty plans to talk about what motivates Putin, such as putting Russia back on the world stage, increasing that country’s prestige, bolstering its economy and maintaining his personal power domestically.

Sondra Myers, the director of the Schemel Forum, who first met Dougherty in Moscow in 2005, has invited her to speak several times. Dougherty’s insight and expertise are valuable in terms of understanding Putin, said Myers, who sees him as a threat.

“I think he’s a legitimate threat because his own country will like being bigger and stronger. They like the muscle,” said Myers, arguing that Russian efforts to undermine democratic processes are designed to make Russia appear stronger and the West weaker. “It needs to be a worry, because given their mindset and his ambition, we don’t want to encourage him.”

There’s still time to register for Dougherty’s talk, which will take place in the Rose Room of the university’s Brennan Hall on Friday, April 28, from noon to 1:30 p.m. Myers estimated more than 100 guests would attend the talk.

To register for the event, contact Schemel Forum Assistant Emily Brees at 570-941-6206 or emily.brees@scranton.edu.

Contact the writer:

jhorvath@timesshamrock.com

@jhorvathTT on Twitter

Years after fire destroyed a Carbondale home, officials in the Pioneer City are making strides to get the property back on the tax rolls.

Scorched remains linger at 6 Jeffrey St., the remnants of a 2011 fire that destroyed an uninsured home. Despite efforts, the homeowner was unable to rebuild on the parcel, leaving an unsightly mess that frustrated some neighbors for years.

“It does nothing overall for the neighborhood,” said Edward Borick, a neighbor who fears the charred boards and piles of junk are attracting feral cats and causing nearby property values to plummet. “A few years ago, people stripped the property of anything with any real value. ... What’s left is 100 percent junk.”

The city is trying to buy the property, and another parcel at 4 Jeffrey St., from the Lackawanna County repository for tax-delinquent properties, where they now sit. Owning the lots would enable the city to level existing structures, remove blight and, eventually, market the parcels to would-be developers.

“When you have a blighted condition like that, it’s just a detriment to the whole neighborhood,” Carbondale Mayor Justin Taylor said.

Taylor acknowledged neighbors’ long wait for the fire-damaged property to be rehabilitated but said the city must obtain the deed before taking action.

“We no longer do demolition on any property that isn’t ours,” he said. “I know the neighbors are upset that it’s been sitting there for so long, but that’s the policy, and we aren’t going to break it.”

To buy the lots, Carbondale soon will submit two $100 repository bids for the parcels to the county tax claim bureau. Lackawanna County commissioners have committed to accepting the bids.

The city negotiated the bid price with the tax claim bureau, making the case that the minimum bid price for both properties — $2,440.50 for 6 Jeffrey St. and $2,145.78 for 4 Jeffrey St. — exceeded the actual value of the lots.

Including transfer tax and recording costs, tax claim bureau Deputy Director Ron Koldjeski said Carbondale likely will pay about $383.32 for 6 Jeffrey St. and about $718.38 for 4 Jeffrey St., once the process is completed.

Once repository bids are received, Koldjeski will hold the bids for three days and notify appropriate taxing bodies — the Carbondale Area School District and city government, in this case. Carbondale will receive the deeds once these entities approve the sale.

Koldjeski estimates the process will take about six weeks from the time he receives Carbondale’s repository bids. Once Carbondale obtains the deeds, the city will move to clear and sell the parcels, putting them back on the tax rolls.

“We feel that there is potential for a rebuild on the two lots,” Taylor said. “(For) somebody to buy it and put a house on it would be the most ideal situation.”

Contact the writer:

jhorvath@timesshamrock.com

@jhorvathTT on Twitter

MONDAY UPDATE brings

Times-Tribune readers up to date on past or pending stories of interest. To offer a suggestion for a Monday Update, please email metrodesk@timesshamrock.com with

“Monday Update” in the

subject line.

PITTSTON TWP. — Spring brings the fall of the old terminal at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport.

Planned for years, the demolition of the 70,000-square-foot former terminal should begin in two or three weeks and finish up within 90 days, airport engineer director Stephen Mykulyn said. The contractor should finish leveling the building before the airport’s air show Aug. 12 and 13, he said.

After that, another contractor will pave the old terminal land for parking for airport employee cars and charter jets and install a blast fence intended to prevent dirt and other debris churned up by taxiing jets from hitting passers-by. That should take up to 60 days.

Theoretically, that would go beyond the air show weekend, but Mykulyn said the air show will take place behind the new terminal and well away from the old terminal land.

The airport board recently approved four project-related contracts.

The board hired low bidders Smart Recycling Co. of Dunmore to tear down the building for $264,200 and TSE Inc. of Dunmore for the construction at $1,093,112.

The board also hired Borton-Lawson of Wilkes-Barre to oversee the demolition for $24,548 and the construction for $119,372.

The airport paid Sargent Enterprises of Jim Thorpe $427,000 to remove asbestos from pipes and other hazards in the old terminal last year and Borton-Lawson about $180,000 to monitor that.

That means the project cost about the $2.1 million estimated, Mykulyn said.

The old terminal, opened in 1959, cost $1.1 million to build. It closed in May 2006, when the new, $41.5 million, 131,000-square-foot terminal opened.

Contact the writer:

bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com

Abingtons

Civic meeting: Abington Heights Civic League meeting, April 3, 7 p.m., club house, 115 Colburn Ave., Clarks Summit, topic: leadership; 570-587-3101.

Health talk: Countryside Community Church free health talk by Donna LaBar, Friday, 7-9 p.m., 14011 Orchard Drive, Clarks Summit; 570-587-3206.

Clarks Green

Easter drama: Clarks Green Assembly of God performing Easter drama, SONrise, April 7 and 8, 7 p.m., 204 S. Abington Road, musical re-telling of God’s gift of Jesus Christ, free-will offering, child care available for grades K-6, handicapped accessible; 570-586-8286 or cgassembly.com.

Jessup

Meat spin: Jessup VFW Post 5544 Easter meat spin for ham, turkey, kielbasi, spare ribs and slab bacon, April 9, 2 p.m., post home, post home, 205 Dolph St., basket chances and 50/50, free

buffet.

Lackawanna County

Bowl fundraiser: Marywood University’s Zeta Omicron’s third annual Empty Bowl Project to benefit Meals on Wheels of NEPA, sale of hand-thrown bowls, May 5, 5-8 p.m., purchasers get free scoop of ice cream, donated by Scoopz Ice Cream Parlor of Olyphant; zetaomicronkappapi@gmail.com.

Bunny breakfast: Allied Volunteers annual Bunny Breakfast, Saturday, 9 a.m., Graff Community Room, Allied Services; all you can eat eggs, French toast, sausage, cereal, white/chocolate milk, coffee, tea, juice; Easter Bunny visits/gifts; bring camera; $7/adults, $4/children; reservations a must, contact P.J. Kilvitis, 570-348-1398.

Regional

Lion breakfast: Penn State Worthington Scranton Alumni Society Breakfast with the Nittany Lion, Sunday, 9 a.m.-noon, Dunmore campus; pancakes, eggs, sausage; take photos with lion; puzzles, paw tattoos, balloons for children; $8/adults, $5/children under 12; 570-963-2536 or at door.

South Auburn

Pancake supper: South Auburn Community Grange pancake supper, Saturday, 4 to 7 p.m., Rattlesnake Hill Road, $8/adults, $3/under 12 and free/preschool age; Arden, 570-833-5776.

CLIPBOARD ITEMS may be emailed to yesdesk@timesshamrock.com or mailed to Clipboard, c/o the YES!Desk at 149 Penn Ave., Scranton, 18503. YES!Desk, 570-348-9121.

FORKSTON TWP. — For 13 years, Charlie Womer climbed to the top of Mehoopany fire lookout tower in Wyoming County to watch over miles of countryside.

The tower went up in 1923. Womer was born four years later.

Fire season is changing for Womer and the tower he watched from. Last year was his last season watching for forest fires, and the tower is scheduled to be replaced.

“I enjoyed it,” he said. “I miss going up the tower and looking around.”

The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has a list of towers throughout the state it wants to replace.

Of those towers, 16 are planned for replacement in the near future, said Mike Kern, chief of the Division of Forest Fire Protection for DCNR. The towers are too old and too costly to repair to meet current construction standards, so the department is replacing them.

In Luzerne County, a tower in Buck Twp. and another in Jenkins Twp. are scheduled for replacement. Both are decades old. The Buck Twp. tower was built in 1921 and the Jenkins Twp. tower was built in 1959. The tower Womer manned in Forkston Twp., Wyoming County, is also scheduled for replacement. All three towers are staffed during the fire season, which runs from around late March through early May.

Three other towers in Luzerne County aren’t regularly staffed during the fire season and aren’t scheduled for replacement now.

The cost to construct 16 new towers is about $4 million, Kern said. After that, the department will look for more funding to replace more, and may decide that some others aren’t worth keeping.

Most replacements will be 80 or 100 feet tall, and made of mostly aluminum and galvanized steel to reduce the need for painting. Instead of a trapdoor entrance, such as the one at the current Mehoopany site, towers will have a catwalk around the outside and a regular door between the catwalk and the cabin.

The position of a fire watcher is rare among the hundreds of men and women who care for the state’s natural resources. About 10 towers are actively staffed at a time, and in many cases, the person watching on a particular day is a DCNR employee who normally does other work but is assigned to work in the tower that day.

A local fire department is usually the first to check out the scene, and if it can handle the blaze alone, it extinguishes the fire and prepares for the next one. Sometimes they need aid. In that case, the firefighters start working to fight the fire, buying time for a DCNR crew to join them.

If it gets even larger, DCNR supervisor Jack Zborovian has a plan for calling in more resources, such as airplanes, bulldozers or more help from elsewhere in the state.

Fire watchers are still an important part of wildland firefighting, said DCNR officials.

Most forest fires are called in by people via cellphone, but some parts of the state don’t have cell coverage or many people living there or passing through. The state also uses aircraft to detect fires, but aircraft costs have gone up quite a bit in the past 15 years, Kern said. Towers fill in some of that coverage.

Contact the reporter: bwellock@citizensvoice.com

Smokey Bear was right.

Humans are a major cause of wildfires. In Pennsylvania, people cause 98 percent of wildfires.

A major cause of the fires in our state is debris burning. Fires frequently start in someone’s backyard, travel through dead grass and weeds, and into bordering woodlands. The United States Forest Service has advice for preventing wildfires:

Debris burning

• Check the conditions. Don’t burn when it’s windy or vegetation is too dry.

•Know local regulations. In some areas, a permit is required.

• Know what’s allowed. Unless prohibited by local ordinances, you can burn dry, natural vegetation grown on the property. Household trash, plastic and tires aren’t good to burn and burning them may be illegal in some places.

• Choose a proper site. The burn site should be away from powerlines, overhanging limbs, buildings, vehicles, and equipment. You need at least three times the height of the pile of vertical clearance. The site should be surrounded by gravel or dirt for at least 10 feet in all directions. Keep the surroundings watered down and have a shovel nearby during the burn.

• Prepare the pile. Keep burn piles small and manageable. Instead of burning everything at once, add additional debris as the fire burns down.

• Use a proper burn barrel. If using a burn barrel, make sure it’s made entirely of metal, properly equipped with at least three screen air vents along the sides and a metal screen on the top and in good condition.

• Finish the job. Always stay with the fire until it is completely out. Drown the fire with water, turn over the ashes with a shovel and drown it again. Repeat several times.

• Follow up. Check the burn area regularly over the next several days and up to several weeks following the burn, especially if the weather is warm, dry, and windy.

Campfire safety

• Be smart when picking a campfire spot. Don’t build a campfire if campground or event rules prohibit it. Sometimes digging of pits may be prohibited due to archaeological or other concerns. Don’t build a fire if conditions are windy or vegetation is dry. Also, look for an existing fire ring or pit.

• If there’s not an existing fire ring, choose a site at least 15 feet from tent walls, shrubs, trees or other flammable objects. Beware of low-hanging branches. Pick an open, level location away from heavy fuels such as logs, brush or decaying leaves, and choose a spot that is protected from wind gusts.

• Prepare a proper pit. Clear a 10-foot diameter area around the site, and remove any grass, twigs, leaves and firewood. Dig a pit in the dirt, about a foot deep, and surround the pit with rocks.

• Don’t cut whole trees or branches, dead or alive. Live materials won’t burn and dead standing trees — called “snags” — are often homes for birds and other wildlife.

• When burning, keep the fire small and under control. Don’t burn dangerous things like aerosol cans, pressurized containers, glass or aluminum cans. Never leave the campfire unattended.

• Extinguish the fire. Allow the wood to burn completely to ash, if possible. To extinguish, pour lots of water on the fire to drown all the embers, not just the red ones. Pour until the hissing sound from hot embers stops. If you don’t have water, stir dirt or sand into the embers with a shovel to bury the fire. With the shovel, scrape any remaining sticks and logs to remove any embers. Make sure that no embers are exposed and still smoldering. Continue adding water, dirt or sand and stirring with a shovel until all material is cool. If it’s too hot to touch, it’s too hot to leave.

For more information on fire safety, visit smokeybear.com.

Wildfires in NEPA

State forests in Pennsylvania are divided into 20 districts. District 11, the Pinchot district, includes about 45,000 acres in Luzerne, Lackawanna, Wyoming, Susquehanna and Wayne counties.

It’s one of the busier forest districts in the state for fighting wildfires. The district has accounted for an outsize percentage of acres burned in the state the past decade, according to data at dcnr.state.pa.us.

Percentage of total acreage burned by wildfires in Pennsylvania that was within District 11:

2015: 12.4

2014: 18.7

2013: 15.3

2012: 12.2

2011: 22.6

2010: 41.2

2009: 43.5

2008: 3.4

2007: 10.6

Fire season

In Pennsylvania, spring brings fire.

Longer, warmer days with the sun shining through a bare forest leads to a lot of dry fuel ready to burn.

Another ingredient needed for wildfires is more common in the spring. Fire needs an ignition source, and in Pennsylvania, it often comes from people burning debris.

March, April and May account for 83 percent of the state’s fires. April is the busiest month, when 42 percent of the state’s wildfires burn. October and November bring another spike, and those months account for 9 percent of the state’s wildfires.

Really anytime that there is no snow and the vegetation is not green can be a high risk for fires, Kern said.

JOHNS HOPKINS

UNIVERSITY

Sarah Uhranowsky, South Abington Twp.

WEST CHESTER

UNIVERSITY

Melissa Morgan, Carbondale

UNIVERSITY OF

ROCHESTER

Briana Skye Yesu, Scranton

ESTATES FILED

■ Debra Carlson, 1388 Church Hill Lake Road, Susquehanna; letters testamentary to Robbin Carlson, 1388 Church Hill Lake Road, Susquehanna.

■ Walter Buck, 1565 Tinkerbrook Road, Forest City; letters testamentary to Stephen Buck, 1565 Tinkerbrook Road, Forest City.

MARRIAGE LICENSES

■ Gabor Orszag, of Owego, N.Y., and Aneill Spalding, of Hop Bottom.

PROPERTY TRANSFERS

■ Ashley and Frederick Conrad to Joseph Bean, a property in Forest City for $95,000.

■ Christopher and Cathleen Tracy to Kyle and Andrea Cole, a property in New Milford Twp. for $27,000.

■ Ethel Ferenczi to Larry Brown, a property in New Milford for $115,000.

■ Skip Tracy LLC to EGK LLC, a property in Clifford Twp. for $73,000.

■ Rodney Douglas to Nicholas Holinej and Mikayla Douglas, a property in Rush Twp. for $125,000.

■ Andrew and Nancy Zudans to Matthew and Christina Kulp, John and Barbara Conner, a property in Jackson Twp. for $255,000.

■ Lorenzo Clark to Heather Lewis and Andrew Scro Jr.,

a property in Oakland for $100,000.

A select choral ensemble of Valley View High School students raised their voices in song Sunday in a tribute to the region’s Welsh heritage.

About 200 people packed the First Presbyterian Church of Clarks Summit to hear Voices of the Valley, a 30-member choir of Valley View students in grades 9-12 who will visit Wales in June to sing there.

The students, drawn from Valley View’s 80-voice choir, auditioned for selection to the group that will perform in Wales, said Gina Pascolini, choral director of Valley View middle and high schools.

“These kids are phenomenal,” Pascolini said. “When they open their mouths, they just share this wonderful gift that each individual singer has.”

Though individually talented, the youths singing in a choir sound incredible, said Ted Frutchey of Carbondale, who is helping arrange the trip to Wales and attended Sunday’s concert.

The Côr Dathlu Cwmtawe Male Choir and Her Majesty’s Representative to the County of Powys, in the heart of the Swansea Valley, requested Valley View’s select choir come to Wales, to represent the Lackawanna Valley in combined events with Côr Dathlu Cwmtawe and their Regional High School, Ysgol Bro Dynefwr.

Wales’ connection to what became Lackawanna County dates to more than 185 years ago, when Welsh families first arrived in this area of Northeast Pennsylvania to mine anthracite coal.

“So, the heritage of Wales runs real deep in this valley,” Frutchey said, adding that the concert and trip abroad help “keep our heritage alive.”

“This is an odyssey from our area back over to there,” said Frutchey, whose ancestors were Welsh and has arranged Welsh choir visits to Northeast Pennsylvania and other parts of America. “We’re looking forward to a very, very exciting and thrilling time, both for these kids and the people of Wales. I was over there in February and visited each of the locations. As they would say over there, they’re ‘over the moon’ to have them coming over to Wales.”

The two-week tour will involve performances across South Wales at popular venues and with Welsh choirs.

Christopher Benitez, 18, of Jermyn, looks forward to the trip to get a chance to sing and meet people in Wales.

Cassandra Dumas, 17, of Blakely, said that for her, the best thing about singing is meeting people who also love to sing. “It’s very special,” Dumas said of singing in a choir. “It’s very personal but also very social, because you’re showing a part of yourself and it’s magical.”

Voices of the Valley includes:

■ Sopranos: Beatrice Chindemi, Teresa Dumas, Sarah Ferraro, Cammie Gillar, Kara Hirjak, Gia Mercatili, Mia Tomassoni and Emily Williams.

■ Altos: Cassandra Dumas, Ashley Fidler, Carleigh Gillar, Samantha Humen, Kaedy Masters, Ryleah Ruffner, Deanna Soulsby, Lorna Yushinsky and Janet Zhao.

■ Tenors: Eric Lee, Noah McKane, Joseph Morisco, Noah Reed, Josh Rudolph and Justin Thomas.

■ Basses: Christopher Benitez, Noah Benjamin, Kasidy Leggin, Kevin Mellow and Paul Vanvestraut.

Admission to Sunday’s concert was free, with donations accepted to help defray the cost of the trip.

For information, see VOTVWalesTour2017 on Facebook.

Contact the writer:

jlockwood@timesshamrock.com

@jlockwoodTT on Twitter

Binghamton, N.Y. — First the blizzard, now the flood?

Minor flooding is possible in Northeastern Pennsylvania the next few days as mild temperatures and rain “will trigger substantial melting” of the snow pack in the region and in New York counties to the north, according to the National Weather Service. The agency issued a “hazardous weather advisory” on Sunday for eight Northeastern Pennsylvania counties, including Lackawanna, and 17 counties in New York.

The advisory is in effect through Saturday.

Rain is expected today and Tuesday and temperatures will approach 60 degrees the next three days, according to the advisory.

“Warming temperatures are expected this week. This will trigger substantial melting of our existing snow cover,” the advisory said. “The melting snow will also be accompanied by periods of rain.”

Runoff from the melting snow and rain has the potential to cause minor river and stream flooding, so those who live in areas prone to flooding should continue to monitor conditions, the weather service said.

The warming weather comes two weeks after a historic blizzard dumped two feet of snow on the area in about 17 hours, which ended up being a record for that time frame.

WBRE-TV’s Chief Meteorologist Josh Hodell said the “good news” today is the warmer weather with temperatures approaching 60 degrees, but it will be cloudy with a possibility of rain. High temperatures should be in the low 60s on Tuesday, though there is a chance of scattered showers, he said.

— BOB KALINOWSKI

WYOMING SEMINARY LOWER SCHOOL

GRADE 8

High honor roll: Alexis Greene, Moosic; and Gabriel Lott, Olyphant.

GRADE 7

High honor roll: Emily Aikens, Jenkins Twp.; Marshall Curtis, Forest City; Rhianna Lewis, Scranton; Samantha Quinn, Duryea; Jacob Ruderman, West Pittston; and Alyssa Shonk, Clarks Summit.

GRADE 6

High honor roll: Benjamin Carron, Moosic; Raniya Khan, Jenkins Twp.; and Andrew Mauriello, Duryea.

WILKES-BARRE — Police arrested a man early Saturday morning on accusations he beat a pregnant woman and whacked her in the head with a broom handle.

Angel Quintana, 25, of Wilkes-Barre, is charged with assault.

Police said they were called to a Matson Avenue home around 3:30 a.m. for a domestic fight involving Quintana and a woman.

The victim, who is five months pregnant, said Quintana punched her in the stomach and then hit her over the head with a broom.

Police said Quintana jumped off a back porch while they were en route, but he was arrested when he tried to return to the home.

PITTSTON TWP. — A United Airlines flight bound for New Jersey touched down safely at the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre International Airport on Sunday after a faulty fuel indicator triggered an emergency landing, the airport’s head of security, George Bieber, said Monday.

The plane, which carried 50 people, including the Rutgers softball team, called to the airport at 9:38 p.m. with the message they needed to land.

The fuel indicator alerts the pilot when the plane is low on fuel.

The plane took off in Indiana and was bound for Newark, New Jersey. The faulty indicator was fixed and the plane took off again before long, Bieber said.

— JOSEPH KOHUT

WWE Monday Night RAW returns to Wilkes-Barre Twp. for the first time in eight years.

The popular wrestling program hits the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza at 7:30 p.m. June 5.

Included in the roster for the show are Roman Reigns, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, Chris Jericho, Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman, The New Day, Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Bayley, Sami Zayn, Cesaro, Sheamus and Enzo & Cass.

Tickets start at $20, and go on sale at 10 a.m. April 14. For information or to purchase tickets, go to ticketmaster.com or visit the Mohegan Sun Box office at 255 Highland Park Blvd., Wilkes-Barre Twp.