Police search for hit-and-run driver

SCRANTON - City police are looking for a vehicle that struck a pedestrian and fled the scene Monday night.

Scranton police Lt. Marty Crofton said Darrell Crawford, 60, was walking south on Pittston Avenue and crossed East Elm Street at the light when a black vehicle struck him and fled east on Elm Street at about 8:40 p.m.

Mr. Crawford was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries, but his condition was unavailable Tuesday afternoon.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact Scranton police at 348-4141.

Moosic Gerrity's plans renovation

MOOSIC - Gerrity's Supermarket has purchased the building it has leased on Birney Avenue in Moosic since 1997 and plans renovations and possibly expansion.

Joe Fasula of Gerrity's said the building was purchased from the landlord. Lackawanna County Recorder of Deeds office documents show the sellers as Betone Realty Company Inc. and purchase price of $1.570 million.

The interior of the store will be renovated and a 10,000-square-foot addition will be added to the north side of the building, currently 29,000 square feet. Mr. Fasula said the improvement will bring the store in line with the other recently updated Gerrity's.

Misericordia adds MBA program

DALLAS - Misericordia University's business department will add sport management as a fourth specialization to the Master of Business Administration program beginning in the fall semester in August.

The program will offer a Bachelor of Science, which can be completed in four years, and a combined Bachelor of Science/MBA, a five-year program. It also offers 12-credit specializations in accounting, management and human resource management.

Marywood, Lackawanna to consider removing Mellow name

The name of former Sen. Robert J. Mellow will remain at Marywood University and Lackawanna College - for now.

One day after Blakely Borough Council voted to change the name of Mellow Park to Blakely Borough Recreation Complex, representatives from the schools said their boards will consider whether they should also remove his name.

The former Senate Democratic leader is serving a 16-month sentence for federal corruption charges. Last week, he was charged with bribery, bid-rigging and conspiracy for his involvement in what investigators are calling a pay-to-play scandal in which he and state turnpike commissioners required vendors to make political contributions to win bids.

Lackawanna College's Mellow Theater was named after Mr. Mellow, after he and his now ex-wife led the capital campaign. College President Mark Volk said the school's board of trustees would consider removing Mr. Mellow's name from the theater.

The Mellow Center for Athletics and Wellness at Marywood University was named for the senator after he secured nearly $2 million in state grants for the project.

University spokeswoman Juneann Greco said the trustees will discuss the issue at their April meeting.

"I'm sure they will take the whole situation under consideration," she said.

Lackawanna College is a school in transformation.

From striving to increase academic excellence to building its endowment, the college wants to increase its role in the community, administrators said Tuesday in a Times-Tribune editorial board meeting.

"If we do our work well in the classroom, the whole region benefits," said Paul Strunk, the school's vice president for college advancement. "Lackawanna is our community's college."

The private two-year college is trying to balance rising costs with keeping tuition affordable for students. About 80 percent of the school's 1,600 students are from the region, and many are first-generation college students. Tuition is $12,000 a year.

The college's budget is funded almost entirely by tuition, and officials hope to ease some of the burden of students, President Mark Volk said.

Mr. Strunk will concentrate on raising money - something the college has done little of in the past. The college will also be reaching out to alumni and marketing its alumni association, Mr. Volk said. The school's endowment is now $3 million.

Administrators and faculty members are also concentrating on increasing "teaching excellence," from planning to redesign classroom layouts to studying different teaching and learning styles, said Jill A. Murray, Ph.D., the college's executive vice president and chief academic officer.

The college and faculty union are currently at odds over a contract for professors. Administrators, who have said the union is unwilling to negotiate, has declared an impasse and is implementing a two-year contract. The union claims the college's action is illegal.

Before Raymond Angeli became the college's president 19 years ago, it was on the brink of bankruptcy and about to lose its accreditation. Mr. Angeli turned the college around, increasing enrollment and programs and expanding the school's footprint downtown and to four regional satellite centers. Mr. Volk became president last summer.

In the last three to four years, school officials started a strategic planning process, aiming to become more student-centered. Curriculum is being revised continuously and more student supports have been added, said Erica Barone Pricci, Ph.D., associate vice president for academic affairs. A program was added this past year that creates academic support and structure for football players and penalizes the student-athletes for missing class or misbehaving.

Plans are still in the works to create a $15 million athletic facility off Capouse Avenue, with a possible partnership from Scranton Preparatory School for a football stadium at the complex.

The college is also working on a $500,000 overhaul of the Paul Ross Field in Green Ridge, for use for the school's baseball team and for the public.

Contact the writer: shofius@timesshamrock.com, @hofiushallTT on Twitter

Scott Twp. officials will use an odor-control solution installed at two township pump stations last month to reduce the smell being emitted by the other three.

Starting this week, officials will begin the process to get land easements near the three remaining pump stations.

If the easements are approved, officials will then install the underground pipe solution, which in less than a month has cut the odor emitted by pump stations No. 6 and No. 8 by at least 80 percent, officials said.

The additions are part of the authority's plan to address a yearlong odor problem caused by the pump stations.

"We wanted to wait and see how effective the solution was before we installed it at every station," said sewer authority Chairman Mike Grant, who acknowledged it could be weeks before they get the easements. "It (the smell) used to hit you in the face; now you to have to look for it."

Though the authority owns the land occupied by the pump stations, the solution requires workers to dig an underground trench that is 3 feet deep, 3 feet wide and at least 20 feet long.

The trench is necessary so the air inside the 20-foot plastic pipe, which is attached to the station's existing vent pipe, can be released underground, sewer authority member and Supervisor Michael Giannetta said.

But in this case, the additional 20 feet required extends past the authority's property.

"When we got the original easements for the pump stations, we never thought we were going to need any more land," Mr. Giannetta said. "It never crossed our mind. But this plan is well worth it, and it's a benefit to everyone in Scott Twp."

About two months after representatives from the state Department of Environmental Protection told him the authority needed to address the odor problem, pump station operator Mike Franco said things have been quiet recently.

"I haven't heard from them much since, so I can only assume everything is OK," Mr. Franco said. "They just wanted it to be corrected. It's up to the authority."

Contact the writer: miorfino@timesshamrock.com, @miorfinoTT on Twitter

Amid negotiations surrounding a proposed contract that could outsource jobs, about 300 Regional Hospital of Scranton health care workers picketed the block in front of the hospital Tuesday afternoon, chanting and carrying signs calling for quality care for patients and a better rotation schedule.

The union and the hospital are negotiating a contract that would outsource jobs in every hospital department, which the workers claim would mean less-competitive wages.

The contract negotiations have been ongoing since December, but no agreement was reached by the Feb. 28 deadline. Workers are still covered under the old contract.

Michele Uhranowsky, R.N., president of the Regional Hospital of Scranton chapter of SEIU Healthcare PA, said the proposed contract would compromise the quality of health care that patients receive.

"We want our patients to have quality health care. It's important to us," she said.

Registered medical technician Cathy Williams said often the ratio of nurses to patients is too low and that the hospital has lost about 100 employees it has yet to replace, causing the quality of care to suffer.

Also on the table in the proposed contract would be a shift rotation with seven days' notice, which Ms. Williams said would affect workers who have to schedule around second jobs and families.

Hospital spokesman Jim McGuire did not comment on negotiations in an email statement Tuesday but said the picket has not affected hospital operations. All inpatient, outpatient and emergency services were available, and all surgeries and diagnostic procedures were continuing, he said.

Another negotiating session is scheduled for Thursday, Ms. Uhranowsky said.

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

When it was time for Barbara Byerly-Abas, 72, to navigate Medicare, she needed help.

"I worked in the medical field all my life, but it's gotten so confusing that I thought I needed some backup," the Moscow resident said. A former medical transcriptionist, she had heard all of the jargon, but it was a different experience when the paperwork had her name on it.

Working with an Apprise Program counselor from the Voluntary Action Center of Northeastern Pennsylvania, Mrs. Byerly-Abas was able to learn more about Medicare and insurance options. Apprise is a free health insurance counseling program through the state that helps with Medicare, which can be an intimidating process.

Stacks of letters, forms and brochures from the national insurance program have flooded her mailbox, but working with her VAC counselor, Mrs. Byerly-Abas has been able to find the plan that fits her needs.

"I'm taking a lot of medication," she said, explaining that she has Parkinson's disease. "It's going to save me quite a bit of money."

Mrs. Byerly-Abas applied for assistance, but she made too much. Making a few dollars more than the limit of the guidelines meant paying more for her coverage, so her savings were greatly appreciated.

"I think it's scary for so many people," she said. "They don't know what to do."

Using the Apprise program and speaking with counselors from VAC helped her wade through the process. Changes in her prescription coverage saved her more than $2,500 each year.

Any amount of money saved is helpful to Mrs. Byerly-Abas and her husband, Matthys, who has returned to work since retirement.

"When he retired, we took a 10-week trip across country," she said. "That was before the fall of the stock market, which ate up our savings."

Now he works at a grocery store in Daleville. Her husband loves his job, which she said keeps him sharp and active, but the additional income also helps the pair stay financially stable with rising health care costs.

"That gives us the ability if we have something extra we have to get," she said. That money can now purchase set of tires rather than costly prescriptions.

"Without him doing that before with what the insurance was, I was getting really nervous whether we were going to be able to afford it all," she added.

She recommended contacting the VAC to help find the best combination of coverage, but also suggested living more responsibly.

You don't live quite the way you did," she said. "You don't go out to eat as much."

Today's seniors have more years to plan for, she continued, which means living more modestly.

"Seventy before was like you were going to fall off the rock," she said. "I don't feel that way at all - I don't feel 72 emotionally."

Contact the writer: rbrown@timesshamrock.com, @rbrownTT on Twitter

Notable 103rd St. David's banquet

Music played a large part in the St. David's Society of Lackawanna County's 103rd annual banquet.

From the singing of the Welsh National Anthem, "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau," and "The Star Spangled Banner," led by Susan Drake, to the society's award for outstanding contribution to Welsh Heritage in Northeast Pennsylvania to St. David's Male Chorus to a resounding round of "Cwm Rhondda," the evening was a singer's delight.

The Dallas Middle School Select Chorus performed at the event. There was a Gymanfa Ganu hymn sing. And the evening featured the added attraction of accompanist John Decker.

The dinner also included the investiture of the society's new president, Dr. James T. Arscott.

Robert M. Davis, 2012-13 president, welcomed guests and thanked participants and Jim, adding in the program, "I would like to thank my wife, Susan, who is also our treasurer, for the help and support she has given me the last two years as president of the society. I would like to thank my mom, Elizabeth Davis, who is with us tonight; my late father, Rev. A. Merle Davis; my late grandmother Elizabeth Jones Marquard, and my late great-grandmother Rachel Jones, who made sure I knew that I am Welsh."

Invocation and benediction were offered by the Rev. Arthur W. Davis of Asbury United Methodist Church, who also served as toastmaster. A dinner of Welsh favorites was enjoyed by attendees, who included representatives of other local ethnic groups.

Officers invested along with Jim included Michael Hill, first vice president; Carl Noakes, second vice president; Linda Griffiths, secretary, and Susan Davis, treasurer.

Serving on the board of directors are Robert M. Davis, Susan Decker, David Jones, Ev Jones, Louise Jones, Brian D. Kaeb, Amber Rugletic, Beverly Rugletic, Warren Watkins and Eleanor Whitman.

Pre-St. Pat's Day

Serving Seniors conducted its Pre-St. Patrick's Day cocktail party at Arcaro & Genell's in Old Forge to benefit programs serving area seniors.

Among the board members and guests joining in on the green-themed festivities with executive director Mary Anne Maloney-Evans were Mia Bartoletti, Mary Bowen, Chris Casciano, Mary Beth D'Andrea, Karen DeSandis, Nick Gianuzzi, Richard Grimm, Sandra Grimm, Mary Anne Maloney-Evans, Raymond Ferrario, Dianne Jeffers, Bill Kammerrer, David Lencicki, Barbara Midura, Donna Molinaro, Bill Nellis, Barbara O'Hara, Bill Tonkin, John Vail and Marilyn Vitali.

High notes

Phyllis Bellino won the Friends of the Scranton Public Library membership drive prize. Michele Polasky, membership coordinator for the Friends, presented the monetary gift to Phyllis.

Despite a high local unemployment rate, Wells Fargo Securities economist Tim Quinlan predicts the local and national economies will gradually grow at a pace of about 2 percent.

"The U.S. economy as a whole has shifted gears from recovery to expansion," Mr. Quinlan said. "I don't think we're talking about a recovery that is going to blow anyone's hair back."

Mr. Quinlan will speak at an economic outlook breakfast hosted by the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry, the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce and Wells Fargo on March 27 at 8 a.m. at the Woodlands Inn and Resort in Plains Twp. This is the first year the Wilkes-Barre and Scranton chambers are teaming up for a combined event.

Mr. Quinlan will share his forecast for the local and national economies which, he said, are doing better than other countries such as the United Kingdom and Japan.

"We are already in expansion and those economies still have a long way to go," he said. "We're doing better than most, but perhaps not our full potential."

As Mr. Quinlan predicts slow economic growth, the unemployment rate in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area increased to 9.8 percent in January, the highest level among the state's 14 metro areas and higher than the state unemployment rate of 8.2 percent and the national rate of 7.9 percent in January.

Yet, Mr. Quinlan said the recovery in the region is keeping pace with the recovery nationwide. Some industries are adding jobs and the area is doing better than countries such as Greece, Italy and Spain, where the economies have been stagnant, he said.

Mr. Quinlan said the biggest economic challenges for business owners are the uncertainty about the future of taxes and health care costs and the ongoing problems in balancing the national budget. He said a small businessman who wants to hire needs clarity from Congress about what his corporate tax rate, personal tax rate and share of health care costs will be.

"We seem to go from one crisis to the next in Congress from the fiscal cliff to sequestration," Mr. Quinlan said. "There are a lot of uncertain messages from Congress, which is standing in the way of a faster recovery in the business sector."

Mr. Quinlan joined Wells Fargo in 2002 and previously held positions as a financial advisor, a trust account portfolio manager and investment strategist before joining the economics group in 2007. He writes a monthly economic outlook report and a weekly economic and financial commentary. His work also been published in academic economic journals.

The cost to attend the breakfast is $20 for chamber members and $25 for non-chamber members. To register, call 342-7711 or visit www.scrantonchamber.com

Contact the writer: dallabaugh@citizensvoice.com

A recent AARP survey of people 50 and older revealed that just 38 percent said they had all the health insurance coverage they need, and 92 percent said health insurance was extremely important to them.

Ray Landis, advocacy manager for the AARP in Pennsylvania, said health insurance costs remain a critical concern in the state. While many seniors are considered part of a vulnerable population for health and financial and other issues, they continue to make up a larger percentage of the population in Pennsylvania. About 15.6 percent of the state's 12.7 million people are 65 and older, according to census figures.

According to AARP, 40 percent of the state's seniors would have incomes below the poverty line if they did not receive Social Security. For a single adult 65 or older, the poverty threshold is $10,485, and $14,602 for two adults.

"A lot of Pennsylvania seniors are struggling," Mr. Landis said. "Seniors here aren't in the same financial situation that seniors in other places are in."

Many seniors employed in the 1970s through the 1990s worked for companies that provided good retirement benefits but reneged when the company went bankrupt, Mr. Landis said. Also, many of Pennsylvania's seniors are blue-collar and native to the state, unlike states like Arizona and Florida, where large segments of the aging population are affluent and relocated after retirement.

Along with providing free preventive care for seniors, the Affordable Care Act eliminates the "doughnut hole" gap for Medicare prescription drug coverage. The law also provides access to care for those previously uninsured because of pre-existing conditions and guarantees existing Medicare-covered benefits.

"Elimination of pre-existing conditions is very important," Mr. Landis said. "When you reach the early 60s, odds are you have a preexisting condition."

Contact the writer: metrodesk@timesshamrock.com

Authorities look for cat killer

FACTORYVILLE - Authorities are seeking leads after a cat was found shot to death on March 5, Wyoming County Animal Control Officer Sandy Scala said.

At 1 p.m. on March 5, a 1½-year-old, short-haired orange tiger cat belonging to Bethany Purdy was found shot on a neighbor's porch on Donna Drive.

"No broken bones on the X-ray," Ms. Scala said. "If it was a bullet, it has to be a small caliber or high-powered BB gun."

Anyone with information is asked to contact Endless Mountain Animal League at 945-3391. A $125 reward will be given for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

Tips from social media have helped Dickson City police identify participants in a rash of "gallon smashing" incidents in the borough, sparked by an online video trend.

The videos feature people carrying gallons of milk or other beverages before throwing themselves on the floor and smashing the products, spilling liquid everywhere.

Dickson City has had five reports of gallon smashing in the past month, the most recent at 3 a.m. Sunday in Wegmans. Borough Police Chief William Bilinski said three white males began to smash beer bottles.

On Tuesday, the chief said police identified the participants in the Wegmans incident after posting videos and photos on the department's Facebook page. He did not release their names.

"We're going to speak to the store regarding … prosecution and restitution," he said.

Chief Bilinksi said there were also four incidents at Target earlier in the month. Police also have received tips on who may have participated in those, the chief said.

Suspects could face charges of criminal mischief and may have to pay restitution for damage and time taken to clean up the mess.

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

PITTSTON - The quiet echo of "Happy Birthday" sounded throughout the crowd gathered on a football field in Pittston, people wishing happy birthday and bidding farewell to the father, boyfriend and friend gunned down just days before.

"I'm not a religious man, but I believe he's up there looking down on us," said family friend Donald Shea. "On top of losing Christopher, today is his birthday. Let's sing happy birthday to Christopher up in heaven."

About 200 people gathered in Albert West Park on Tuesday night, laughing and crying as they remembered Christopher Hughes, who would have been 24.

He was killed Sunday night when the father of his girlfriend's children allegedly shot him in the neck with a .50-caliber rifle at a Moosic mobile home park.

Adam Wickizer, 29, was charged shortly afterward with criminal homicide.

Many people wore orange, Mr. Hughes' favorite color, and gathered around a table with a birthday cake, balloons and a donation box set out for Mr. Hughes' 4-year-old daughter, Haylee, who woke up Tuesday morning and released balloons into the sky for her father's birthday.

Mr. Hughes' girlfriend, Dana Anderson, said he died a hero and a man, protecting her and her child.

"Happy birthday, baby," she said, after talking about how he'd been a role model and a father figure for her two young boys.

Longtime friend Chynna Shea wanted people to celebrate Mr. Hughes' life, recalling inside jokes, fond memories and meaningful interactions with him over a loudspeaker for the crowd to hear.

She marveled at the number of people in the crowd.

"This is the most amazing thing I've ever seen," Ms. Shea said. "These memories are never going to leave me. And I'm going to miss him."

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

STROUDSBURG, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say a northeastern Pennsylvania borough councilman faces charges after he was caught buying heroin.

The Monroe County district attorney's office says Stroudsburg Borough Council Vice President Neil Lawson Allen was arrested Sunday. Authorities say an officer went to Kay's Tavern and observed a suspected drug dealer entering Allen's vehicle and saw Allen put drugs in his pocket.

Detective Eric Kerchner says ten bags of heroin were recovered and Allen was taken into custody. Authorities say the councilman confessed and said he started using heroin six weeks ago because of back pain.

There was no answer Wednesday at a telephone listing for Allen. Council President Kim Diddio says she wants to speak with the solicitor before deciding whether to take action to suspend him.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Officials at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia are apologizing for accidentally disclosing the grade-point averages of hundreds of students.

The school's provost notified the campus of the error through an email on Tuesday.

Saint Joseph's spokeswoman Carolyn Steigleman says the mistake affected about 500 students in the Haub School of Business.

She says the upperclassmen had been sent an email March 6 to gauge their interest in an internship in Italy. A file containing students' names, email addresses and GPAs was inadvertently attached.

Steigleman says officials immediately apologized to the affected students. The provost sent a follow-up email to the larger school community this week.

Saint Joseph's is a private Catholic university serving nearly 9,000 students.

Woman injured in wreck

CLINTON TWP. - A Pleasant Mount woman was taken to the hospital Monday after a crash on the Belmont Turnpike left her with minor injuries, said Honesdale state police.

Judith Rogers, 66, was taken to Wayne Memorial Hospital when the car in which she was a passenger lost control at 5:27 p.m. and spun 45 degrees counter-clockwise near Lillie Road in Clinton Township. John Rogers, 66, was driving his 2005 Jeep Liberty north when he veered off the southbound shoulder into a ditch, rolling the Jeep three times before coming to a stop upright.

Mrs. Rogers was treated and released, hospital spokeswoman Lisa Champeau said.

PITTSBURGH - In an unlikely partnership between longtime adversaries, some of the nation's biggest energy companies and environmental groups have agreed on a voluntary set of standards for gas and oil fracking in the Northeast that appear to go further than existing state and federal pollution regulations.

The program announced Wednesday will work a lot like Underwriters Laboratories, which puts its UL seal of approval on electrical appliances that meet its standards. In this case, drilling and pipeline companies will be encouraged to submit to an independent review of their operations, and if they are found to be taking certain steps to protect the air and water, they will receive the blessing of the brand-new Pittsburgh-based Center for Sustainable Shale Development.

If the project succeeds, it could have far-reaching implications for both the industry and environmental groups. A nationwide boom in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has unleashed huge new energy reserves but also led to fears of pollution and climate change.

Shell Oil Vice President Paul Goodfellow said this is the first time the company and environmental groups have reached agreement to create an entire system for reducing the effects of shale drilling.

"This is something new," said Bruce Niemeyer, president of Chevron Appalachia. "This is a bit of a unique coming-together of a variety of different interests."

In addition to Shell and Chevron, the participants include the Environmental Defense Fund, the Clean Air Task Force, the Heinz Endowments, EQT Corp., Consol Energy and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, and the organizers hope to recruit others.

It may be part of a trend. Earlier this month a coalition of industry and environmental groups in Illinois announced that they worked together on drilling legislation now pending there. But the Pittsburgh project, which has been in the works for nearly two years, would be voluntary.

"We believe it does send a signal to the federal government and other states," said Armand Cohen, the director of the Boston-based Clean Air Task Force. "There's no reason why anyone should be operating at standards less than these."

The new standards include limits on emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and the flaring, or burning off, of unwanted gas; reductions in engine emissions; groundwater monitoring and protection; improved well designs; stricter wastewater disposal; the use of less toxic fracking fluids; and seismic monitoring before drilling begins.

The project will cover Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio - where a frenzy of drilling is under way in the huge, gas-rich Marcellus and Utica Shale formations - as well as New York and other states in the East that have put a hold on new drilling.

Shell said it hopes to be one of the first companies to volunteer to have its operations in Appalachia go through the independent review. Chevron said it expects to apply for certification, too, when the process is ready to start later this year.

Mark Brownstein, an associate vice president with the Environmental Defense Fund, said many oil and gas companies claim to be leaders in protecting the environment, and "this can be one opportunity for them to demonstrate that leadership" by submitting to an audit.

"Anyone who claims to be placing a priority on good management practice" should be rushing to sign up, he said.

The project will be overseen by a 12-member board consisting of four seats for environmentalists, four for industry and four for independent figures: former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill; Christine Todd Whitman, the former New Jersey governor and Environmental Protection Agency chief; Carnegie Mellon University President Jared Cohon; and Jane Long, former associate director at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

The center's proposed 2013 budget is $800,000, with the two sides expected to contribute equal amounts, said Andrew Place, the project's interim leader and director of energy and environmental policy at EQT, an Appalachian energy company.

Mark Frankel, an expert on ethics and law at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, said the idea sounds promising, but it remains to be seen if the new standards are a significant improvement over existing laws. He said there are also ethical and policy questions.

"What does it mean to have an independent board? Who's on it? How do they get on it?" he asked.

George Jugovic, president of the environmental group PennFuture, one of the participants, said the industry's involvement makes this different from past debates over fracking.

"Buy-in from them is huge. That provides leadership from within," Jugovic said. "It's very different from someone from the outside saying, `You can do better.'"

PPL warns residents against scam

SCRANTON - PPL Electric Utilities is warning residents about scams involving telemarketers and door-to-door sales representatives claiming to be from the company and encouraging people to switch providers.

PPL officials said their employees and contractors do not do that, and are required to carry identification. Residents should always ask to see identification before opening their doors, and should not share personal information. Residents should call PPL at either 1-888-342-5775 or 1-888-289-7693, and their local police if they suspect a scam.

- JOSEPH KOHUT