A Binghamton man was arrested at a Susquehanna County convenience store Tuesday in connection with a double homicide.

Aaron Powell, 39, 31 Milford St. has been charged with killing his estranged wife, Christina Powell, 35, and Mario Masciarelli, 24, last week in Binghamton.

Mr. Powell surrendered at a Checkered Express on Route 29 in Springville Twp., said Susquehanna County Sheriff Lance Benedict.

He was taken into custody without incident by Susquehanna County law enforcement officers around 10 a.m., and transferred to Broome County, N.Y., on Tuesday afternoon.

"He was very compliant when we arrived on location," Mr. Benedict said.

The Broome County sheriff's office in New York was following up on 176 leads to try to track Mr. Powell down. One lead was that Mr. Powell had been seen somewhere in the Montrose area on the afternoon of March 22, according to a release from the Broome County sheriff.

Police learned that shortly after 9 a.m. Tuesday Mr. Powell had placed a call to both a family member and a close friend. Police were able to pinpoint his location from his phone number. That's when law enforcement took him into custody just as he was leaving the store.

Mr. Benedict said that he believes Mr. Powell was in the process of making an agreement with law enforcement to turn himself, in but was apprehended first. The two counts of 2nd degree murder come after a grisly slaying in Binghamton.

At 11:21 a.m. on March 22, The Broome County Sheriff's Office received a call from a friend of Mrs. Powell to check on her because she hadn't heard from Mrs. Powell and could not get in contact with her.

When deputies arrived on scene, they found the doors and windows locked tight so they forced their way in. A search of the house revealed the two bodies. Mrs. Powell appeared to have been strangled and Mr. Masciarelli looked to have been hit over the head by a blunt object. Police did not disclose what the relationship is between the two.

Police are still gathering information and ask anyone with any knowledge of the crime to call the Broome County Sheriff's office at (607) 778-1911.

Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, @jkohutTT on Twitter

Man sentenced for gas station robbery

A Taylor man was sentenced to six to 23 months in Lackawanna County Prison on Wednesday for his role in the Nov. 24 robbery of a Scranton Citgo gas station.

Judge Vito Geroulo admonished Andrew Stratz, 25, for his involvement in the robbery where he and his partner, Thomas Krostag, 20, stole cigarettes from the Railroad Avenue store after pinning the clerk against the cigarette rack.

Mr. Stratz pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of theft by unlawful taking.

Judge Geroulo asked if Mr. Stratz had a younger sister, to which he ansered yes. He has several.

"Suppose they are working at the convenience store and a guy bigger and older than them pushes them up against the counter," Judge Geroulo asked. "How terrified do you think she is?"

A Scranton man and a friend of Mr. Krostag was also sentenced Wednesday for a burglary that occurred later that month.

Douglas Davey, 59, of Scranton, was sentenced to an aggregate of nine months to nearly two years incarceration after he pleaded guilty to theft by unlawful taking for a burglary in Dunmore, where he, Mr. Krostag and Dunmore resident Christopher Sacco broke into a house on Jackson Street in Scranton and stole two laptops, an Xbox and various video games, later exchanging those goods for heroin.

Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, @jkohutTT on Twitter

The Northeast Pennsylvania regional president for PNC Bank started giving regularly to the bank's political action committee around the same time the PAC started contributing more heavily to former state Senate Democratic Leader Robert J. Mellow's chief campaign committee, campaign finance records show.

A couple of years after that, PNC started getting a plethora of business from the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, where a statewide investigating grand jury says Mr. Mellow had a lot of influence over contracts.

The PNC regional president, Peter J. Danchak, who was named to the post effective Jan. 1, 2001, gave little to politicians for most of that year and the next.

He gave $500 to Scranton native (now U.S. Sen.) Bob Casey's losing campaign for governor in 2002 and $200 in 2001 to attorney Mark Walsh's failed bid for Lackawanna County judge, according to online state campaign records.

Mr. Mellow's campaign finance records list no direct contributions large enough to report from Mr. Danchak or any other PNC official directly to Friends of Bob Mellow, the senator's main campaign committee. The minimum amount for reporting who contributed is more than $50 in aggregate in a reporting period.

Even though he didn't contribute directly to Mr. Mellow's campaign, Mr. Danchak did start giving regularly starting in October 2002 - $20 roughly every two weeks - to the bank's political action committee, now known as Bipartisan Voluntary Public Affairs Committee of the PNC Financial Services Group Inc., usually PNC Bank PAC for short.

Mr. Danchak also contributed $200 in both 2007 and 2008 to the Democratic State Senate Campaign Committee, a committee that helps Democratic Senate candidates and was controlled by Mr. Mellow. Both men also served together on the board of directors of Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Between October 2002 and the end of 2009, Mr. Danchak contributed $2,880 to the bank's PAC. During the same period, the bank contributed $10,215 in money, golf gear and gifts to Mr. Mellow's golf tournament and other fundraising efforts by his PAC.

Before that period, the bank gave $70 to Friends of Bob Mellow in 2000 and another $70 earlier in 2002.

Mr. Danchak has not returned multiple messages left over the past two weeks.

Neither the bank nor Mr. Danchak is charged in the case.

The timing of the contributions is significant.

A March 13 grand jury presentment that charged Mr. Mellow with bid-rigging, commercial bribery, ethics law violations and other crimes states that Mr. Mellow was described as developing a close personal relationship starting in 2003 with an unidentified PNC executive. Two years later, PNC officials started looking to Mr. Mellow to arrange bond underwriting work for the state Turnpike Commission, where the senator had significant influence, according to the presentment.

Tony Lepore, Mr. Mellow's former chief of staff, testified that "Bob Mellow was exceptionally tight with one of the PNC regional presidents."

However, the rest of the presentment describes the PNC executive as a "regional vice president" without explanation of the apparent discrepancy and does not name him. The state attorney general's office refused to explain the discrepancy.

Although Mr. Danchak's title is regional president, it is not clear if he holds or held a vice president title, too. The state attorney general's office has also declined to comment on whether he is the PNC official who struck up a close personal friendship with Mr. Mellow. PNC officials have also refused to comment.

But Mr. Mellow and Mr. Lepore "intervened directly on their (PNC's) behalf to secure bond work for PNC," according to the presentment.

In his testimony to the grand jury, Mr. Lepore refers to the involvement of "one of the PNC regional presidents" in getting PNC turnpike bond work.

"Then, in 2005, you start seeing PNC Capital Markets Inc.," Mr. Lepore said. "They had gone to Bob Mellow about this time and said, 'Hey, Bob Mellow, we've never got (sic) any work from the turnpike ever. We're the largest bank in Pennsylvania.'"

"Bob Mellow was exceptionally tight with one of the PNC regional presidents ... (Mr. Mellow said) 'Go to the turnpike and get PNC some work,'" Mr. Lepore testified. "He used a little different language. Sure enough, you start seeing in 2005, PNC Bank for the first time pops up on this and then recurring. It starts getting bigger and bigger bumps from the turnpike."

The unidentified PNC executive introduced an employee of PNC's capital markets division to Mr. Mellow, and they met on Nov. 30, 2005, according to the presentment.

On June 22, 2006, PNC earned its first fee for underwriting bonds - $444,812.50. Between then and the end of 2010, when Mr. Mellow left office, PNC earned $2.26 million in bond underwriting fees.

Campaign contributions by the bank to Mr. Mellow's campaign are not directly mentioned in the presentment, but gifts are.

Between 2006 and 2010, PNC hosted Mr. Mellow and his friends at 10 New York Yankees games costing $3,084 and spent another $417 on dinners for the senator and others. PNC Capital Markets spent $7,082 at a New York steak house at an event honoring Mr. Mellow and meant to generate support for his 2010 bid for governor.

Mr. Mellow is charged with failing to report any of the bank's hospitality on his annual statements of financial interest. A date for his arraignment has not yet been set.

Mr. Mellow is serving a 16-month federal prison sentence after pleading guilty last year to a conspiracy charge that centered partly on the use of state employees for campaign work.

Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com

A Scranton man who pleaded guilty to robbing Cosmo's Cheesesteaks and holding up a cab driver will now face trial after a judge rejected his plea Wednesday.

His accomplice in the restaurant robbery, however, will head to prison.

Logan Oprisko, 22, was scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday for robbery but his defense wanted to have a weapons enhancement charge withdrawn from his original plea. So, Judge Vito Geroulo rejected the plea and sent the case to trial.

Later in the proceedings, Sharon Delguercio, 24, was sentenced to three to 18 months in Lackawanna County Prison for her role in the Scranton restaurant robbery.

On Oct. 21, Mr. Oprisko entered the restaurant and pointed a gun at the face of Ms. Delguercio, who was the manager at Cosmo's, demanding money. She handed him money from both the register and the cash deposit box.

According to police, Ms. Delguercio was feeling underpaid and taken advantage of, so she and her boyfriend, James Gonzalez, plotted to use Mr. Gonzalez's friend, Mr. Oprisko, as the gunman of a staged robbery, where each of the three would pocket $1,000.

Mr. Oprisko then got greedy and planned another robbery with Scranton resident Daniel Malpasse, 22. The pair planned to rob a McCarthy Flowered Cab driver on Oct. 27.

They called the taxi shortly before 5 a.m. and were taken to the 300 block of East Locust Street. At that time, Mr. Malpasse pressed a crowbar against the cab driver's neck to choke him while Mr. Oprisko beat him with a hammer. They demanded money, but the driver tried to explain he had already dropped his cash off. They fled after he was able to blare his horn.

After being picked up by detectives, Mr. Malpasse identified Mr. Oprisko as being his partner in the taxi incident. Detectives then asked him about the Cosmo's robbery and learned Mr. Oprisko had told Mr. Malpasse that he knew the manager's boyfriend and they had made off with $3,000 that night.

With that, detectives went back to Ms. Delguercio, who admitted to her role in the robbery.

"The real danger was to the unsuspecting co-workers and the public," Judge Geroulo said to Ms. Delguercio during her sentencing.

Mr. Gonzalez pleaded guilty to a felony of criminal attempt - theft by unlawful taking, movable property and is awaiting sentencing. Mr. Malpasse is charged with multiple counts, including robbery and aggravated assault, and is awaiting trial.

Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, @jkohutTT on Twitter

HARRISBURG - The state's top conservation official said Wednesday he has no problem with relying more on royalties from oil and gas drilling to support operations of the state's parks and forests.

The revenue in the state Oil and Gas Fund has grown substantially in recent years as more natural gas wells have been drilled in the state-owned forests, said Richard Allan, secretary of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Mr. Allan, a Luzerne County native, addressed the agency's Advisory Council. He marks two years as DCNR secretary this spring.

Gov. Tom Corbett's proposed budget for fiscal 2013-14 calls for DNCR to receive $77 million from the oil and gas fund and $53 million from the taxpayer-supported General Fund, continuing a trend that started several years ago of relying less on tax dollars to support agency operations.

Some environmentalists have criticized the trend saying it makes the agency more dependent on drilling, but Mr. Allan said state law designates the oil and gas fund for conservation uses.

During his tenure, the revenue in the Oil and Gas Fund has increased from $26 million in 2011-12 to $69 million for fiscal 2012-13 and a projected $77 million for fiscal 2013-14, Mr. Allan said.

The revenue growth reflects a steady increase in permitted and active gas wells because of Marcellus Shale exploration. There are 302 producing wells in the state forests, compared to 75 wells two years ago, said Mr. Allan.

DCNR is expanding the size of its natural gas advisory committee to obtain more input from environmental groups, industry and local government, he added.

The practice of state forest drilling remains controversial.

Rep. Greg Vitali, D-166, Haverford, ranking Democrat on the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, introduced a bill earlier this month to permanently ban the leasing of additional state forest land for natural gas drilling. He said a forest leasing moratorium issued by then-Gov. Ed Rendell in 2010 could be quickly undone by Mr. Corbett without a law in place.

A number of environmental groups are protesting a proposal by Anadarko Petroleum to drill for natural gas in a section of the Loyalsock State Forest in Lycoming County. Anadarko has mineral rights in the area.

DCNR has made no decision on the matter, said spokeswoman Chris Novak.

Meanwhile, the citizens advisory council for the Department of Environmental Protection is seeking comment up to April 26 on how to improve public participation in environmental permit reviews and other actions.

Contact the writer: rswift@timesshamrock.com

Both have attitude at 'The View'

When "The View" with a Scranton Attitude takes to the Shopland Hall stage at the Scranton Cultural Center at the Masonic Temple on April 5, get ready for some attitude.

This "exciting twist on the popular daytime talk show" has attracted some of Scranton's finest as panelists who will discuss hot topics, talk about their lives and answer audience questions, Rachael H. Fronduti reports.

Featured panelists for April include: Chef Joseph Caputo of Zuppa Del Giorno and Catering by Joseph; Brian Jeffers, Lackawanna County Community Corrections; John Mackey of John Mackey Design; Evie Rafalko McNulty, Lackawanna County's recorder of deeds; Marianne Rader, domestic engineer; and Dan Simrell of Dan Simrell Advertising.

Shopland's doors will open at 6 p.m. for cocktails. The mad libbing gets underway at 7. Drinks and light fare will be available for purchase throughout the event.

"The View" with a Scranton Attitude: Let's Hear It from Both Sides! is sponsored by WNEP-TV.

Director of the year

Ann Marie Foley Binsner, a former area resident and Scranton Preparatory School graduate, will receive the National CASA Association's National Program Director of the Year award April 8 at CASA's annual conference in Anaheim, Calif. Ann Marie is the executive director of the nonprofit organization that recruits and trains community volunteers to advocate for abused and neglected children in foster care in Prince George County, Md.

Selected from CASA's more than 900 program directors, Ann Marie is being recognized for "outstanding leadership qualities resulting in the enhanced quality of a program advocacy," according to a description of the award. The honoree must have taken significant action to establish or expand a CASA program, and, according to the association, Ann Marie is considered "most deserving."

Ann Marie has guided the growth of the Prince George's County program from one director serving a handful of children to a staff of six, serving more than 150 children today. She also serves on the steering committee of the Prince George's County Model Court.

Also a graduate of Villanova University, Ann Marie has completed graduate work at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland. She and her husband, Carsten, live in Washington, D.C., and are the parents of two children, Nicolas and Lyla. She is the daughter of Tim and Susan Foley of Waverly.

High notes

Franziska Zuercher-Mindrup has been named interim director of the Wayne County Historical Society. The former director of visitor services at the Bern History Museum in Bern, Switzerland, Franziska began work in January in order to familiarize herself with the museum before it re-opens in April. She moved to Scranton from Switzerland with her husband, the first professor hired for the new school of architecture at Marywood University. Asked why she was drawn to the position she said, "As a history major, I am fascinated by Honesdale's important role in U.S. history and I am looking forward to exploring what the museum has to offer in terms of artifacts and reviving the region's past."

Two held for drugs after overdose call

DICKSON CITY - Though Mark Walega was successful in flushing an unknown amount of heroin down the toilet after a wrestling match with a Dickson City officer on the filthy bathroom floor at 649 Lincoln St., the unresponsive and overdosing Kim Walega, on the floor of another room, told officers everything they needed to know.

Police received an overdose call at 5:35 p.m. Tuesday. When they arrived on scene they saud they found Ms. Walega unconscious and Mr. Walega attempting to flush heroin down the toilet.

"The officer was trying to stop him from flushing it while (they were) rolling on the ground," Dickson City Police Chief Bilinski said.

Though the bulk of the drug was flushed, police still found some on Mr. Walega.

Mr. Walega, 48, 445 Dewey St., was charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance, one count of possession of drug paraphernalia and one count of tampering with evidence, Chief Bilinski said.

Allen Grandinetti, 47, 649 Lincoln St., was charged with four counts of possession of drug paraphernalia and one count of conspiracy for use or possession of drug paraphernalia.

Ms. Walega, the ex-wife of Mr. Walega and current girlfriend of Mr. Grandinetti, was transported to the hospital and will likely face possession of a controlled substances charges once she leaves the hospital.

Mr. Walega and Mr. Grandinetti were released from Lackawanna County Prison after each posting $5,000 bail. Both are scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Tuesday.

Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, @jkohutTT on Twitter

A prominent Scranton attorney has been hit with a federal tax lien seeking $980,377 in unpaid individual and employer taxes, according to a public notice of the lien filed in Lackawanna County Court.

The lien against Carl J. Greco, 60, of North Washington Avenue, seeks $853,409.07 in individual income taxes for 2005-09, and $126,967.77 in employer taxes for 2008-10.

Mr. Greco's law practice handles taxation, employment, corporate, business and commercial law, as well as trusts and estates, wills and probate, adoption, family, workers' compensation and municipal law; and his employees include three other attorneys, according to his firm's website.

Mr. Greco also is a solicitor of the Scranton Sewer Authority and the solicitor of the Scranton Redevelopment Authority. He also previously was the solicitor of the city's Office of Economic and Community Development. The federal tax lien is not related to his solicitorship with the city.

Mr. Greco did not return multiple requests for comment.

Patti Blum, president of the Pennsylvania chapter of the National Association of Tax Professionals, said employer taxes, known as Type 6672 taxes, involve "trust fund" employment taxes of Social Security, Medicare and the federal income withholding tax that an employer is entrusted to hold from employees and remit to the federal government. Speaking generally about federal tax liens, Ms. Blum said they may be appealed or resolved through a compromise, except for the Type 6672 taxes.

"They (the IRS) will work with you on income taxes. They're not going to work with you on (employment) trust-fund taxes because it isn't your money. They're much stricter with trust fund taxes," Ms. Blum said. "Anyone with a federal tax lien, the faster they can pay it off and cough this money up, the better off they are."

The federal tax lien against Mr. Greco included the following "unpaid balances of assessment:"

n Type 1040 individual income taxes for: 2005, $210,879.86; 2006, $175,172.88; 2007, $167,853.74; 2008, $168,587.61; 2009, $130,914.98.

n Type 6672 employment trust fund taxes for quarter ending: June 30, 2008, $1,178.86; Dec. 31, 2008, $32,219.54; March 31, 2009, $15,008.25; June 30, 2009, $15,127.84; Sept. 30, 2009, $14,359.90; Dec. 31, 2009, $13,821.95; March 31, 2010, $9,795.85; June 30, 2010, $12,127.10; Sept. 30, 2010, $13,328.48.

The Type 1040 income taxes were assessed at various times in 2010, while the Type 6672 employer taxes all were assessed on May 30, 2011.

A separate federal tax lien also filed Tuesday in county court against Carl J. and Patricia C. Greco seeks $1.067.70 in income taxes for 2011.

The federal liens will remain in effect for 10 years unless satisfied sooner. After 10 years, a lien could be renewed, but if it is not renewed it is automatically discharged.

Meanwhile, a Pennsylvania tax lien against Mr. Greco, both individually and as president of Carl J. Greco, P.C. law offices, for $2,330.84 in employer taxes was filed in county court Monday, for the following: $681.23 for the third quarter of 2007; $1,608.61 for the first quarter of 2009; and $41 in filing fees.

A check from Carl J. Greco P.C. law offices for $2,295 was made payable to Pennsylvania and dated Feb. 28, 2013, according to a copy of the check faxed Wednesday from Mr. Greco's law office to The Times-Tribune presumably showing this lien has been satisfied.

Contact the writer: jlockwood@timesshamrock.com

Pittston school district sued

PITTSTON - The parents of a Pittston Area middle school student have filed a federal lawsuit against the district and its superintendent, claiming Kelli Diaz, a middle school teacher with prior disciplinary issues, bullied a boy in September.

The lawsuit claims the district retaliated against the victim's parents after they made the allegations, forcing the child to be home-schooled for five months. In addition to seeking monetary damages, the suit demands public disclosure of the "secret settlement agreement" with Ms. Diaz and for the child to be allowed back to school without having interaction with Ms. Diaz.

Pittston school might close

PITTSTON - Pittston Area School District will hold a public meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 10, at the Pittston Area Primary Center, 210 Rock St., Hughestown, to discuss the possibility of closing Ben Franklin Kindergarten Center.

Superintendent Michael Garzella said the building, which currently houses about 270 kindergarten and pre-kindergarten students, is the oldest in the district and needs a new heating system and roof.

HUD fund secured

WILKES-BARRE - Luzerne County will receive $9.76 million from the federal department of Housing and Urban Development to assist in recovery from 2011 disasters from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee flooding. The grant was part of $47.38 million allocated statewide.

The latest funding will be added to $15.7 million Luzerne County secured last year from the same source.

Luzerne director candidate named

WILKES-BARRE - Luzerne County Manager Robert Lawton has nominated Richard M. Cardamone, 35, to be the first home-rule director of the county budget and financial services division. He served as director of the Bureau of Commonwealth Accounting from 2005 to 2012. He currently lives in Archbald.

Dems OK'd for Pittston ballot

WILKES-BARRE - Luzerne County President Judge Thomas F. Burke Jr. ruled Wednesday two Democrats running for Pittston mayor and city council can be on the primary election ballot.

Outgoing Councilman Joe Chernouskas filed court petitions to keep mayoral hopeful Gene M. Rooney Jr. and council candidate Barb Zangre from being listed on the ballot. Mr. Chernouskas and his attorney Joseph F. Castellino said they will discuss whether to file an appeal of Burke's decision.

With Opening Day for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders fast approaching, the Lackawanna County commissioners raved about the new PNC Field and plans for the baseball season at their meeting Wednesday.

They said fans will love the new $43.3 million stadium and its amenities, though plenty of tickets remain for the return of minor league baseball to the region on April 4.

Commissioner Jim Wan-sacz said club- and suite-level seats are sold out for the next three years, but conventional seating is still available.

"There's probably about another 2,000 tickets available for opening day," Mr. Wansacz said. The stadium seats 10,000.

The availability of tickets a week before Opening Day contrasts with the most recent return of minor league baseball to the region, the 1989 home debut of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons. That debut was sold out weeks in advance, though that one ended almost four decades of having no minor league team here while the RailRiders return after only a year away.

"I remember the day it opened. I couldn't get a ticket," Commissioner Corey O'Brien said of the old stadium. "I watched it on television."

Contacted after the meeting, Rob Crain, the RailRiders president and general manager, said he's confident of a sellout - so much so that he posted a humourous YouTube video guaranteeing 60-degree weather for the opener against the Pawtucket Red Sox. If the temperature doesn't reach 60 degrees, ticketholders to the first game will get their choice of a free ticket to any other home game between Sunday and Thursday the rest of season except for Thursday, July 4, he said.

In other business, the commissioners:

- Appointed Commissioner Patrick O'Malley to the Lackawanna-Susquehanna Behavioral Health/Intellectual Disabilities/Early Intervention Program Advisory Board.

- Approved financing by the Scranton-Lackawanna Health and Welfare Authority, which is backing a $2.5 million project to build a new headquarters for the Community Life Support Inc. ambulance company.

- Proclaimed Wednesday "Jack Carling Day" to honor Jack Carling, 81, who has worked for county, state and federal agencies for 50 years.

- Rehired Simplex Grinnell to maintain fire alarms, closed-circuit television, access control and sprinkler systems at the county administration building and the 911 center for a total cost of $63,443. The cost is about $14,000 less than the past year with more services included, deputy director of purchasing David Pettinato said.

Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@ timesshamrock.com

OLYPHANT - State police at Dunmore are investigating reports of a man impersonating a police officer.

Christopher Hachan of Carbondale told police he was driving on the Casey Highway on Friday morning when a man driving a blue Chevrolet Impala pulled him over, claiming to be a Lackawanna County Sheriff and displaying a badge in a case, police said. The man asked Mr. Hachan for his license and insurance cards, then yelled at Mr. Hachan for speeding, telling him he'd receive a ticket in the mail, police said.

Mr. Hachan described him as a white man about 5 feet 9 inches tall with black hair and beard and wearing blue jeans, a white T-shirt and a windbreaker. Anyone with information should contact state police at 963-3156.

SCRANTON - The IRS issued a federal tax lien for $37,983.63 against jailed former Lackawanna County Commissioner Robert C. Cordaro.

Mr. Cordaro, 52, is serving an 11-year federal prison sentence in New Jersey for taking bribes from prominent local businessmen in exchange for doling out lucrative county contracts.

The lien, filed in Lackawanna County Court on Tuesday, said Mr. Cordaro has not paid federal income taxes he owes for 2010 and 2011.

Mr. Cordaro has unpaid balances of $16,581.53 for 2010 and $21,402.10 for 2011, according to the lien prepared and signed by the IRS on March 14.

Six county bars cited for violations

SCRANTON - Six Lackawanna County bars were cited by the Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement for violations.

Danny Bacwalls, 1001 Stafford Ave., Johnny D's, 410 Fourth Ave., Jessup, and Russens Sports Bar, 201 River St., Olyphant, were all cited Oct. 3; Pat McMullen's, 217-219 E. Market St. in Scranton, was cited June 27; McHugh-Bushweller Post No. 3474 VFW, 110-112 Chestnut St., Dunmore, was cited Sept. 28; and St. George's Family Restaurant, 304-306 Church St., Jessup, was cited Jan. 31.

All bars were cited for possessing or operating gambling devices or paraphernalia, permitting gambling or lotteries, pool-selling and bookmaking , according to a news release. They all face fines as well as possible suspension or revocation of licenses.

Police seek teen who stabbed man

SCRANTON - A city man was stabbed in the leg by a teenager he caught throwing eggs at his West Scranton home Tuesday night.

Capt. Glen Thomas said Jon Smerecky, 22, chased a boy he said was egging his home on the 1400 block of West Gibson Street, caught him on North Sumner Avenue, and said he was going to hold the boy until police arrived, at which time the boy pulled a knife and stabbed him in the back of his left leg.

The teenager, who the man described as black, standing about 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing roughly 145 pounds, was wearing a tan parka with a hood, Capt. Thomas said.

Mr. Smerecky was taken to the hospital by a family member.

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

Whether a $400,000 printing press and cutting machine are capital expenses could determine whether the Riverside School District is able to leave the Career Technology Center of Lackawanna County.

The center and the district presented their arguments on Wednesday in a nonjury trial in front of Lackawanna County Judge Robert Mazzoni. Attorneys for Riverside argued the district was free to leave the CTC because there were no financial obligations keeping the district in the consortium. Attorneys for the CTC disagreed, citing several obligations, including the printing press and the district's shares of the 2012-13 budget and $18.1 million renovation project.

Judge Mazzoni ordered the sides to submit post-hearing briefs 30 days after transcripts are available. The judge will issue a ruling after the briefs are submitted.

In August, Riverside filed suit against the CTC, seeking to leave the consortium and send its students to the Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technical Center in Plains Twp. About 25 of the approximately 40 vocational students chose to stay at the Lackawanna CTC.

In its lawsuit, Riverside cited concerns with the $18.1 million yet-to-be-started renovation project and that being part of the CTC was not the "best way of providing vocational and technical education to the students it serves."

Riverside was a founding district of the CTC in 1968. Districts share costs, based on enrollment in the center and other factors, to keep the CTC in operation. Students spend half their day in their district schools and the other half at the CTC. Each district appoints one school board member to the CTC board.

In October, the CTC and its member districts - Carbondale Area, Dunmore, Forest City Regional, Lakeland, Mid Valley, North Pocono, Scranton and Valley View - filed a lawsuit in response to the Riverside suit, alleging the district is still obligated to pay for its share of the $18.1 million renovation project.

The lawsuit also alleges that Riverside is obligated to pay its share of the 2012-13 budget, and violated state law when it moved its students to a different technical school without state approval.

Judge Mazzoni combined both cases for the nonjury trial.

In court Wednesday, Riverside claimed it is no longer obligated to be part of the CTC because at the time the lawsuit was filed, no capital expenditures were outstanding - a key part of the school's article of agreement that keeps districts in the consortium.

Riverside Superintendent David Woods spent nearly three hours on the stand Wednesday, explaining that for several years, district officials sought another vocational option for their students. Several solicitors and school superintendents of districts in the consortium sat in the back of the courtroom.

CTC Administrative Director Vincent Nallo and former Chief Financial Officer Michael Sporer, who remains as a financial consultant for the CTC, also testified, explaining that there were financial obligations to keep Riverside in the center.

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

The Morning Call Reports:

A music venue touted as a "crown jewel" for the Poconos when it opened looks like it will observe its 10th anniversary this summer by again being shuttered, with no concerts scheduled.

Mountain Laurel Performing Arts Center in Lehman Township, Pike County, without fanfare broke ties with the second management agency it has had in two years and, for the third time in its history, has closed the venue, with few prospects for activity this summer.

The most recent manager, Christopher Perrotti of Rhode Island, confirmed in an email that he was let go in August. He said he believes that the center's owners "have closed it down, which is not good for the venue's future."

A woman who answered the phone at O'Neill Properties Group of King of Prussia, Montgomery County, one of the center's owners, referred questions to a spokesman who did not respond to a telephone message left for him.

The center's website — http://www.mtlauelpac.com — has not been updated since the close of last season, and its telephone number is answered by an automated message referring callers to the website.

Perrotti said he has been "trying myself to reopen with a group" from his native Rhode Island, "but with no luck."

Perrotti came to the center with 25 years of experience in the concert/festival and hospitality business — 15 of those operating Newport Yachting Center, which he said is the largest outdoor festival venue in Rhode Island.

His departure comes after a season of 10 shows — the busiest season in its history, including concerts by Peter Frampton, Lyle Lovett, Robert Cray and Little Teat, the Temptations, the Guess Who, Ziggy Marley and a combination bill of Edgar Winter, Rick Derringer, Johnny Winter and Leslie West.

But attendance at the shows was lower than expected, with some drawing less than 500 people — even after the venue's lawn seating was closed and it was operated as a 2,500-seat indoor venue rather than a 10,000-ticket facility.

That abbreviated season was announced March 1, 2012, and even then Perrotti said the start was too late for a full season.

It was the second year with disappointing sales. Perrotti was hired after another agency — Total Concert Team, which also then directed the Bergen Performing Arts Center in New Jersey — completed a four-show season with KISS, Larry the Cable Guy, ZZ Top and former Four Seasons singer Frankie Valli.

That season also had disappointing sales: Even with discounted tickets, less than 7,000 showed up for KISS.

Those concerts were the first since a closure after a four-show season in 2007.

The $35 million facility, a public/private venture, opened amid fanfare in August 2003 but immediately ran into financial problems and closed weeks later, millions in debt, amid allegations of mismanagement.

Nearly bankrupt, the facility remained closed until 2005, when it opened for a limited number of shows that included the Allman Brothers and Wynton Marsalis. It also held limited shows in 2006.

Developers John Wolfington and J. Brian O'Neill in 2007 bought Mountain Laurel and 675 surrounding acres for $23 million from the Pike County Industrial Development Authority in a deal that let the state pay off $17 million in bonds and other debt.

Perrotti said he had hoped success with last year's initial acts would lead the center to consider opening lawn seating again and target such acts as Lynyrd Skynyrd or Bob Dylan. He also hoped to eventually add a Poconos Oktoberfest, a celebration of German music, food, culture and history, and there were plans for an Irish festival this spring.

Perrotti also hoped to expand the center beyond music — to such events as extreme games and other festival-type events. He rebranded the venue as Mount Laurel Pocono Mountains Performing Arts Center, with the nickname The Mount, and made each concert a daylong event, with cookouts and local acts playing on the lawn.

"Given time, I would have made it happen," Perrotti said in an email.

Copyright © 2013, The Morning Call

A Honesdale man has been found guilty on two charges stemming from a dog-dragging incident.

Peter Ivosevic, 71, was ordered to pay a $500 fine and to forfeit the dog by Magisterial District Judge Theodore J. Mikulak after a summary trial that lasted for more than an hour on Wednesday, Mr. Ivosevic's attorney Joseph Gunnar Devine Jr., said.

On Feb. 4, Mr. Ivosevic tied his dog's leash to the front bumper of his Ford pick-up truck so the dog could exercise while Mr. Ivosevic made coffee and went about his morning business.

Roughly 45 minutes later, he came back outside and started his truck to go about his day, thinking his dog was in the truck.

"He drove thinking that the dog was in the back," Mr. Devine said.

As soon as he realized what happened, he rushed the dog to the Dessin Animal Shelter, where staff took the dog the Cherry Ridge Veterinarian in Honesdale, where he is expected to make a full recovery.

"He loved and cared about that dog," Mr. Devine said.

Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, @jkohutTT on Twitter