CAMPAIGN 2013

- Carol Oleski, a Scranton School Board candidate, will have a rally Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Keyser Valley Community Center, 101 N. Keyser Ave., Scranton. Admission is a $10 donation.

- Joe Wechsler, a Democratic city council candidate, will have a rally Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m. at Kilcoyne's Bar, 129 S. Main Ave., Scranton. Admission is a $10 donation.

- Damon Bowen, a Democratic Dunmore Borough Council candidate, will have a free rally Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m. at Sal's Restaurant and Bar, 203 Chestnut St, Dunmore,

- Tom Borthwick, a Scranton School Board candidate, will have a rally Sunday from 3 to 5 p.m. at Morgan'Z Pub & Eatery, 315 Green Ridge St. Scranton.

- Valley View School Directors Ellen Nielsen and Tom "Bear" Owen will have a free rally to kick off their re-election campaign Sunday at 6 p.m. at Tomaino's Lounge, 273 Main St., Archbald.

CARBONDALE - A Greenfield Twp. man faces charges after police say he stole jewelry and change from his aunt late last month.

Dylan Harhut, 21, 388 Route 247, is charged with one count of theft by unlawful taking, one count of receiving stolen property and other charges.

Michaeline Turano of Carbondale told police her nephew, Mr. Harhut, stole $80 in change and several gold necklaces and rings from her home, to which he had a spare key.

Mr. Harhut was also charged with burglary after stealing jewelry and change from another relative's home last week. He remained at the Lackawanna County Prison on Tuesday in lieu of $25,000 bail.

Citing the need to encourage construction within Scott Twp., the sewer authority slashed thousands off a sewer-related fee future property owners would be required to pay.

Prompted by Supervisor David Makala's concerns that the steep price for a grinder pump - in addition to other costs associated with the sewer system - would drive people away, authority members on Monday reduced their asking price by 59 percent, from $3,700 to $1,500.

The decrease comes less than a month after the authority agreed to sell extra grinder pumps to people who purchase a property along the sewer line and are required to hook up to the township's system.

Originally, the authority planned to sell pumps for $3,700 - about $2,200 more than what they paid for each. But Mr. Makala's questions and concerns prompted officials to rethink the rate, which was first introduced at a March 12 meeting.

"I didn't want to see the taxpayers coming into the township pay that kind of money," said Mr. Makala. "We are trying to promote growth within the township. When we (supervisors) foresee something that's not acceptable to the township residents, we need to speak out."

The authority covered the costs of grinder pumps - sold at retail price of $4,150 - for those on the original plan, about 1,350 equivalent dwelling units, as a way to "limit upfront costs," Mr. Giannetta said.

But the authority didn't want current ratepayers to "subsidize or pay" for someone not on the plan to be added to the township's sewer system, Mr. Giannetta said. The new system provides service to about half of the township's homes and businesses. The rest continue to use septic systems.

Property owners aren't required to purchase a pump through the authority, but the pumps must be manufactured by Environment One Corp. and reviewed and approved by the authority's engineer before they are installed.

Money raised through the sale of the pumps will be used by the authority to replace pumps, pipes and generators and will help ensure funds are available for future needs at the system.

"We have an overriding belief that whatever costs are incurred should be paid for by the new homeowner," Mr. Giannetta said. "We comprised, we brought it down to where we aren't giving free pumps, but we also didn't want to make it too high."

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

The Riverside School District will soon be searching for a new superintendent.

David Woods, who has been the district's chief since 2008, has accepted the superintendent's job at the Oxford Area School District in southern Chester County, about 50 miles west of Philadelphia.

"I'm very happy with where I'm at, but I'm very excited to take on the new challenges," he said. "This was an opportunity I could not pass up."

Oxford Area has about 4,000 students - more than twice the number of students at Riverside.

The Oxford Area School Board on Monday night approved Mr. Woods' five-year appointment, effective July 1. In December, the Riverside School Board gave Mr. Woods a new five-year contract. The board is expected to accept his resignation at a meeting Monday night, board President Robert Bennie said.

Mr. Bennie said the board will conduct a statewide search to fill Mr. Woods' position.

Riverside's "loss" will be Oxford Area's "gain," Mr. Bennie said.

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

Citing new responsibilities with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, Scranton School Board President Sean O'Shea resigned from the board Tuesday night.

In January, just one month after being appointed board president, he became property book sergeant for the 55th Brigade Combat Team. The new full-time position involves long hours and extensive travel that limit the time he can devote to the board, an emotional Mr. O'Shea said at Tuesday's meeting.

"It really is too much," he said. "It's only fair I step down."

Mr. O'Shea was elected to the board in 2011, and at 28 years old, was the youngest board president in at least 40 years.

The board will likely seek applicants for the position and must fill the vacancy within 30 days, said Director Nathan Barrett, who as vice president became acting president Tuesday night. An official decision on how to handle the vacancy has not yet been made.

In other news:

- Hybrid learning is coming to the district. The district entered into an agreement with Penn Foster, the Scranton-based online learning provider, to offer credit recovery, summer and after-school programs and other options to adapt to student learning needs. Many of the specifics have yet to be determined. Penn Foster has 43,000 high school students in its program, and it will cost the district about $800 per student who uses the program.

- The board authorized solicitor John Minora to spend up to 20 hours starting the process of changing an ordinance for traffic violations. Directors want to use a monitoring system from Louisiana-based Bus Shield to issue citations for drivers illegally passing stopped buses. The system, which would be at no cost to the district, would include cameras on bus stop arms. The district and city of Scranton would each get 12 percent of the fine costs. The resolution authorizes Mr. Minora to work with solicitors from the city and PennDOT.

- The following people were appointed: Michelle Bloom and Ida Maconeghy, clerk/LPN; Maureen Williams and Amy Mitchell, clerk; and Matthew Gavern and John Moskwa, custodian/floater.

- The Quandel Group was appointed as construction manager for the Lincoln-Jackson Alternative School project. The final contract has not yet been approved.

- Officials said they are working on a permanent solution to a lack of a playground at John G. Whittier Elementary School. They said it was premature to discuss options publicly, including the purchase of land, but that a solution may be possible soon.

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

Mitred Arch-Priest Msgr. Stephen Hrynuck at a Mass celebrating his 75th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood at St. Cyril and Methodius Ukrainian Catholic Church in Olyphant where he was pastor from 1950 through 2008.

Man waives hearing for grope charges

SCRANTON - A Scranton man accused of groping five young girls waiting in line for the water slide at Nay Aug Park pool in July waived his preliminary hearing before a Magistrate Wednesday afternoon.

His formal arraignment is scheduled for May 17.

In late July Paul Dailey, 50, 601 Cherry St. was identified to police by an official at the park as someone who had been touching children while standing in line at the water slide. The victims told police he had come near them and dragged his hand across their bodies. One 9-year-old girl turned around when she felt it and saw him smiling, police said.

NEW YORK - Jay Leno says he will be leaving NBC's "Tonight Show" next spring, to be replaced by Jimmy Fallon.

Leno announced the move Wednesday in a news release.

NBC also confirms that the show will be moving to New York City when Fallon takes over. "Saturday Night Live" producer Lorne Michaels will take over as producer of the new "Tonight Show."

The move has been widely reported but not confirmed by the network until now. NBC reportedly just wrapped up negotiations with Fallon on a contract extension.

NBC did not say who will replace Fallon in his current time slot, which is one hour later than the "Tonight Show."

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Corbett said Wednesday that he is interested in a concept that would give health care to hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians by using federal Medicaid dollars to buy private insurance.

Corbett revealed that he is seeking information about the idea a day after meeting with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius about an expansion of Medicaid that's called for under the 2010 federal health overhaul. Some governors have resisted the expansion, citing fears that states will be stuck with more of the bill than forecast.

The idea of buying private insurance with Medicaid money was first broached by Arkansas' Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe as a way to get his Republican-controlled Legislature on board with the expansion. Other governors who also support a Medicaid expansion but face skeptical lawmakers are looking into it as well, including Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon of Missouri and Republican Gov. John Kasich of Ohio.

Under a proposal in the Arkansas Legislature, people who earn up to 138 percent of the poverty line, which amounts to $15,415 per year, would receive private insurance purchased using federal Medicaid dollars. The plans would be bought through the insurance marketplaces being created under the federal health care law.

However, a report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office last summer said plans on the private insurance market are more expensive for taxpayers than traditional Medicaid coverage.

The report estimated that purchasing a private plan through the insurance marketplaces would cost $9,000, while traditional Medicaid coverage would cost $6,000.

Arkansas and Ohio are in talks with the Health and Human Services Department over the details, said Matt Salo, the executive director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors, a Washington, D.C.-based group that represents state officials.

"There are active discussions between Arkansas and the administration, and Ohio and the administration," Salo said. "They are working the policy, they are working the operations, they are working the logistics, and they are working the politics ... in recognition that this could be a game changer, and it could have a potential domino effect."

While discussions are going on in earnest, Salo said, he does not think the issues have been resolved yet. One major problem is that private coverage is more costly than Medicaid, so it's not clear who would pay the difference.

Corbett, a Republican who as attorney general sued unsuccessfully in court to strike down the Affordable Care Act, has said he is not supporting the Medicaid expansion without substantial changes because he is worried about the long-term cost to Pennsylvania's taxpayers.

"Until we know whether or not significant reform is possible, I continue to have concerns that Pennsylvania's Medicaid program will be able to serve, in a sustainable manner, the approximately one in four Pennsylvanians that would be covered under a full expansion," Corbett said Wednesday.

Corbett is under pressure to go along with a Medicaid expansion. Hospitals executives, top Democratic lawmakers, labor unions, the AARP, religious leaders and advocates for the poor are in favor of it.

An expansion would be likely to get approval in the Republican-controlled Legislature, if a bill is introduced. Many Republican lawmakers are staying quiet about the matter, preferring Corbett to take the lead. Only 37 Republicans out of 203 lawmakers in House are co-sponsoring a bill that would prohibit a Medicaid expansion, while to approve an expansion, just 11 House Republicans and three in the 50-member Senate would be needed to join with Democrats to vote yes.

The Affordable Care Act promises the federal government will pay for 100 percent of the newly eligible Medicaid enrollees for the first three years of an expansion, beginning in 2014, and phasing down to 90 percent after that. Corbett said he sought an assurance from Sebelius that Pennsylvania would qualify for the 100 percent reimbursement, and she appeared to give that assurance Tuesday.

Officials in more than half the states are either against the expansion or undecided about it.

The federal government currently pays roughly 55 percent of the cost of a Medicaid enrollee in Pennsylvania.

Ray Nearhood, an experienced government administrator who was in a coma since an Aug. 13 car crash that occurred during his campaign to the state House of Representatives, died Wednesday at Regional Hospital of Scranton.

He was 61.

Mr. Nearhood, of South Scranton, had served in several municipalities throughout the state during his career, including Nanticoke, Easton, Altoona and townships in Bucks and Dauphin counties.

Mr. Nearhood also had been a senior researcher with Pennsylvania Economy League, a nonprofit organization that the state designates to assist financially-distressed cities. It was in this capacity in the early 1990s when Mr. Nearhood was one of the architects of Scranton's first Act 47 recovery plan, recalled PEL Executive Director Gerald Cross.

Mr. Nearhood was steeped in municipal nuts-and-bolts administration, said Mr. Cross, who knew Mr. Nearhood since 1977.

"He was well-traveled and well-respected," Mr. Cross said.

Former Nanticoke Mayor John Bushko, who was a councilman there when Mr. Nearhood was employed by that city, also fondly recalled Mr. Nearhood.

"He was an easy guy to work with. He was a knowledgeable guy and always willing to do anything you asked him," Mr. Bushko said. "He was top of the line and knew what he was doing. With me, he was aces."

Mr. Nearhood was the Republican nominee last year in an election to represent the 112th legislative district that includes Dunmore, Moscow, parts of East Scranton and South Scranton, and Clifton, Covington, Elmhurst, Madison, Roaring Brook and Thornhurst townships. He had earned the GOP nomination in a write-in campaign and was running against Democrat Kevin Haggerty when the car crash occurred. Mr. Haggerty went on to win the election in November.

Described as a fiscal conservative and constitutional originalist, Mr. Nearhood was the type of candidate who could knock on a voter's door and spend 90 minutes discussing the policy intricacies of his plans and proposals, said his campaign chairman in that race, Kenneth Anderson, Sr. As campaign chairman, Mr. Anderson said he dealt mostly with fundraising while Mr. Nearhood focused on campaigning.

"He was pretty much a one-man band. He was very much running the campaign himself. Hours and hours and hours he went door-to-door talking to people. That was Ray," Mr. Anderson said. "He wasn't a gladhander. He would go door-to-door and stop in someone's living room he never met before and talk for an hour-and-a-half."

A former city manager of Altoona, Mr. Nearhood also had served as an interim city administrator of Nanticoke and general municipal authority administrator of Nanticoke. He also had been a township manager in Bensalem Twp. and Falls Twp. in Fairless Hills , both in Bucks County; a business administrator in Easton; and planning and zoning officer for Lower Paxton Twp. in Dauphin County.

Contact the writer: jlockwood@timesshamrock.com

If more bomb threats happen in the Scranton School District, any instructional time lost may be added to the end of the school year.

After a recent rash of bomb threats in Scranton and surrounding districts, officials said Wednesday night that they are willing to extend the school day or go further into June as a way to deter more threats from being made.

During a Scranton School Board health and safety committee meeting, school board members, district administrators, school principals and acting Police Chief Carl Graziano discussed ways to increase school safety and stop the threats.

Two South Scranton Intermediate School students have been expelled from school and are facing criminal charges for their roles in two separate threats at the school, Superintendent William King said. Investigations of threats in other schools are ongoing. No explosive devices have been found.

But beyond the threat of criminal charges, the threat of having to make up the time may be enough to stop the problem, Chief Graziano said.

After officials are notified of threats, schools are evacuated while the building can be swept for devices and eventually cleared. It can take one hour or more, and students in some districts have been dismissed early when a threat is made.

Rosemary Boland, president of the Scranton Federation of Teachers, said the union is willing to work with the district on adding the instructional time. Mr. King said he may send a call out to all parents informing them about the district's plan to make up the time lost for future threats.

At Wednesday's meeting, officials also discussed adding safety measures to some Scranton schools, including security cameras, locking interior doors and reflective window film at school entrances. The district is also going to try to find the money to place school resource officers at the alternative education programs held at both high schools after the regular school day.

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

A baseline health survey of nine counties in the Marcellus Shale gas drilling region of Northeast Pennsylvania has determined that tobacco use, obesity and a lack of health insurance are common in the area.

Funded by the state Department of Public Welfare, the $75,000 study looked at a broad range of chronic and acute health conditions of a sample of 458 people in Bradford, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Lycoming, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Wayne and Wyoming counties.

The state-funded survey by the Northeast Regional Cancer Institute is being viewed as a first step toward helping track possible future health impacts from the hydraulic-fracturing drilling method known as fracking.

"A variety of issues related to 'fracking' and other processes used to produce natural gas have contributed to community concerns about potential adverse health outcomes," principle survey investigator Dr. Samuel Lesko said in a statement. "The data we collected can be used as a reference point to compare the health of the community in the future should these concerns continue or grow."

For starters, many people in the area exhibit poor-health risk factors of obesity, tobacco use and not having health insurance, the survey found.

"Putting potential concerns about Marcellus Shale drilling aside, this is not a community on track for better health," Dr. Lesko said.

The admittedly-small survey had a good response rate, said cancer institute President Bob Durkin. Participants answered questions about themselves, their medical histories, where they have lived, their drinking-water sources and personal habits, and submitted saliva samples for possible later genetic analysis. The survey aimed to determine the prevalence of chronic diseases, known risk factors and the willingness of the community to participate in future surveys.

"I feel confident we accomplished all of these," Mr. Durkin said in a phone interview.

Mr. Durkin also noted that the survey may dovetail into a larger-scale study by Geisinger Health System of possible health impacts of Marcellus Shale drilling. That study, announced in February, is to look at detailed health histories of hundreds of thousands of patients who live near fracking wells and other facilities producing natural gas.

"We've been able to establish some rudimentary elements of a possible long-term study," Mr. Durkin said.

Contact the writer: jlockwood@timesshamrock.com

ARCHBALD - It did not take long for the conversation to turn to the dilapidated Interstate 81 at Wednesday's public hearing on transportation.

The interstate was not originally designed to handle the approximately 75,000 vehicles that travel it each day in parts of Lackawanna and Luzerne counties, state Rep. Mike Carroll, D-118, Avoca, said at the state House Democratic Policy Committee hearing.

"Despite the fact that we rely on the interstate a great deal, it is really stretched beyond its capacity," Mr. Carroll said on Republican Gov. Tom Corbett's transportation plan at the meeting in Valley View High School's auditorium.

Austin Burke, president of the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, testified that the state Department of Transportation's District 4 "does a yeoman's job with the resources that are available to it," but hard winters and heavy traffic take their toll on area roads.

When he has tried to recruit industry from outside the area, Mr. Burke testified some businesses have been turned off by road conditions, particularly "some of the conditions by the airport" on I-81 and parts of Interstate 80 heading toward New York.

The chamber president said companies notice crashes or minor pothole repairs backing up traffic for miles, and congestion also costs businesses that are already here.

"Thousands of jobs are dependent on highways being open and functional," Mr. Burke said.

Mr. Burke said local needs outpace the available funding, and he welcomed efforts to raise money to address regional transportation infrastructure issues.

The governor's plan calls for raising $1.8 million over five years by gradually lifting the cap on the Oil Company Franchise Tax while reducing the flat gas tax by 2 cents, ending contributions from the Pennsylvania Turnpike in 10 years, and moving to two-year registrations and six-year driver's licenses.

Contact the writer: kwind@timesshamrock.comMembers of the House Democratic Policy Committee are on center stage during a public hearing on Pennsylvania's transportation funding situation also the regional economic impacts of critical investments in transportation and infrastucture held on Wednesday at Valley View High School in Archbald.

A shuttered day care in Wayne County is under investigation by state police for abusing children.

Just 4 Kids Daycare and Learning Center, 442 Cemetery Road, Hamlin, had its operating license suspended by the state Department of Public Welfare following an investigation conducted from March 18 to March 22 by the department. The suspension is pending the outcome of an appeal filed by day care owner Doreen Tomasetti.

The department investigated claims that staff at the daycare:

n Duct taped a child's hands and feet to keep him still.

n Held a child upside down to stop him from biting staff.

n Belted a child to a plastic chair when he misbehaved.

n Forced a child to walk around in soiled underwear as punishment.

n Made a child remain seated at a table for hours because he would not eat.

n Used a witch statue to scare children into behaving.

The report further elaborates that staff would scream and swear at and in front of children. It states that the violations listed demonstrate a "gross incompetence, negligence and misconduct in operating a facility" that is likely to threaten the health or lives of the children in the center.

As a result of the investigation, officials have forwarded their findings to state police at Honesdale.

Ms. Tomasetti denied all of the department's reports of abuse.

"They are all alleged, I am appealing it," Ms. Tomasetti said. "Other than that, I do not want to make any comment."

The center opened in 2006, most recently playing host to 12 children ranging from age 3 to 9, department spokeswoman Anne Bale said.

Ms. Bale said they were tipped off by a complaint, though she did not know who. Ms. Tomasetti said when a representative from the state came to visit the center, she knew someone had made an anonymous call, though she declined to elaborate further Wednesday night.

Ms. Tomasetti did say that one claim the department made holds water. At the time of the investigation, a representative saw an electrical outlet cover missing from an outlet on the back wall near a computer.

However, she said that was a slight oversight that would not affect the small children in the center.

"It was above five feet high," Ms. Tomasetti said. "No 3-year-old could have touched it."

Ms. Bale said that it was not immediately clear how department representatives "verified" the violations as it states they were in the order.

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

A 17-year-old Scranton boy will go to trial on charges he threatened and struck another teenager with a gun over an Xbox video game console, Magisterial District Judge John P. Pesota ordered Wednesday.

Meanwhile, another teenager allegedly involved in the attack, Jordan Aguilera, 18, 200 Coar Place, was arrested Wednesday. He is facing charges that include robbery, criminal conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person.

It's unclear what Mr. Aguilera's role was in the attack. His bail and preliminary hearing date were not available Wednesday.

Jalel Monroe, 17, first came knocking at 17-year-old Mark Cafferty's house at 1506 Prospect Ave., asking if Mark had any marijuana, to which Mark said no. Mark testified at a preliminary hearing Wednesday he did sometimes sell very small amounts to friends every now and then.

Half an hour later, Jalel came back. When Mr. Cafferty opened the door, Jalel came in with a gun. An unknown man holding a knife drew Mark's focus until Jalel hit him over the head with the butt of his gun.

He passed out for a handful of seconds. When he woke, he found his brother fighting off a large group of people. He entered the fray and hit Jalel five times on the back of the head before he noticed he was bleeding profusely from multiple stab wounds. During all this, the man tried to grab Mark's Xbox but dropped it on the street while fleeing.

When police brought photos of suspects to his hospital room, Mark had no trouble recognizing Jalel's, he testified in the preliminary hearing.

Jalel was charged with aggravated assault, conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, simple assault, conspiracy to commit simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, terroristic threats and firearms not to be carried without a license when he was arrested. All of those charges, except for the firearms charge because attorneys could not produce evidence to the contrary Wednesday, will be bound for trial.

Jalel's public defender, Joseph Kalinowski, urged the judge to also reconsider the robbery charges and the conspiracy to commit robbery charges as it was not jalel but the unknown man who tried to steal the video game system, but those charges were also held for trial.

Jalel's formal arraignment is slated for May 17.

Staff writer MICHAEL IORFINO contributed to this report.

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

Congressman to host open house

LAKE TWP. - Constituents will soon get the opportunity to meet a local congressman. U.S. Rep. Tom Marino is inviting constituents, state legislators, county commissioners and township supervisors to join him at an open house Friday at the Hamlin Constituent Service Center, 543 Easton Turnpike, Suite 101, from 2 to 4 p.m.

Colleges announce local partnership

TOWANDA - Lackawanna and Keystone colleges are entering a partnership to bring new opportunities to Towanda-area residents.

The schools have entered into a joint agreement calling for both schools to continue to use the existing Keystone facility at 602 Main St. and for the renovation of an adjacent building at 612 Main St.

Warning of fires issued Wednesday

SCRANTON - The National Weather Service issued a Red Flag warning Wednesday, cautioning area residents of "explosive fire growth potential." The warning, in effect until 8 p.m., was the result of high wind speeds and low humidity, according to AccuWeather. On Tuesday, a brush fire engulfed 8 acres in Monroe County, aided by windy conditions.

Student charged for text threat

MESHOPPEN - A 15-year-old ex-Elk Lake student has been charged as a juvenile for sending a text message construed as a possible death threat. Borough Police Chief John Krieg was told Saturday of a text referencing "blood and empty shell casings" and "some people are going to be wishing that they didn't come to school."

WILKES-BARRE - A local radio personality was charged Wednesday with fraudulently collecting more than $25,000 in unemployment benefits despite holding two jobs.

Mark Charles Thomas, 52, of Wilkes-Barre, is charged with felony counts of theft by deception and tampering with public records and a misdemeanor count of unsworn falsification. He is free on $10,000 unsecured bail.

Court records say Mr. Thomas works at MotorWorld Auto Group in Wilkes-Barre and is a disc jockey for the Mountain 102.3 FM in Pittston.

But he didn't tell unemployment officials about that.

Instead, charges allege, Mr. Thomas filed a claim using the Unemployment Compensation Internet System on July 9, 2010, and was deemed eligible for a payment of $226 per week, according to a police affidavit filed in court.

When the benefits expired in January 2011, Mr. Thomas reapplied, qualifying for a new payment of $230 per week, according to the affidavit.

But then on July 19, 2011, an unemployment compensation interviewer discovered that Mr. Thomas had "significant unreported earnings" from his two jobs, according to the affidavit.

"When questioned about the unreported earnings, Mr. Thomas indicated that he did not report the earnings because they were under his partial benefit credit," the affidavit says.

Officials began an investigation, sending forms to Mr. Thomas' employers to determine exactly how much he had earned while collecting unemployment benefits.

Mr. Thomas continued applying for unemployment benefits after that discovery, although he began reporting the previously undisclosed earnings under his partial benefit credit - a move that allowed him to get full unemployment benefits, according to the affidavit.

Investigators determined that Mr. Thomas had fraudulently collected $25,631 in unemployment benefits, the affidavit says.

Mr. Thomas appeared at Magisterial District Judge Martin R. Kane's office Wednesday morning but declined to comment to reporters.

A preliminary hearing was set for 9:15 a.m. April 11.

Contact the writer: jhalpin@citizensvoice.com

HARRISBURG - A House-approved state liquor store privatization bill would provide for more frequent votes in "dry" municipalities on allowing a newly created liquor license for grocery stores.

The measure sponsored by House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-28, Pittsburgh, would enable those voters to consider the grocery license issue at least once every two years instead of the traditional four-year vote window for liquor retailers.

The bill, which is a priority of Gov. Tom Corbett, would gradually create 1,200 private wine and spirits retail licenses and allow groceries to sell wine. The measure is before the Senate having won House approval last month.

Just like the network of state-owned liquor stores, the local option vote on alcohol sales has been part of Pennsylvania's social landscape since national prohibition came to an end in 1933.

Hundreds of municipalities, including a number scattered across Northeast Pennsylvania, have voted since the 1930s to limit the sale of alcohol either completely or partially based on license categories.

Mr. Turzai's bill would keep an existing four-year interval between votes in dry municipalities to allow liquor retail licenses for hotels, restaurants, beer distributors, resort facilities and clubs. It would establish a four-year vote interval for the proposed new private wine and spirits retail licenses and keep an existing two-year vote interval for club liquor licenses for veterans groups.

The goal behind the two-year vote window is to allow for more business opportunities under a privatized system, said Turzai spokesman Stephen Miskin on Wednesday.

"The idea is to help the local businesses," he added.

The Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association didn't ask for the provision, said president David McCorkle.

"It's not specifically a change we requested," he added.

This brief provision in a 194-page bill hasn't drawn much attention.

"It's clear from this bill that Gov. Corbett is bending over backwards to cater to the interest of big retailers and at the expense of small family-owned businesses," said Brett Marcy, a spokesman for the House Democratic Caucus. "It's been over two weeks since this bill was rushed through the House, and one can't help wondering what other nasty surprises are buried in it."

There's some speculation that enactment of a liquor privatization law could spur more local option elections due to the greater number of licenses becoming available.

Typically, there are a handful of such municipal elections across Pennsylvania during primaries of odd-numbered years and sometimes the question on the ballot is to end liquor sales.

To get on the ballot, supporters must file a petition with the county board of elections signed by electors equal to 25 percent of the highest vote cast for any office in the municipality in the last general election.

Contact the writer: rswift@timesshamrock.com