A federal judge affirmed a magistrate judge’s ruling that allows a former inmate to continue with portions of a lawsuit against the Lackawanna County prison and its medical provider.

James Reed of Factoryville filed suit in October 2016, alleging he developed a severe infection after he was forced to wash his colostomy bag in a toilet.

U.S. District Judge Malachy Mannion agreed with U.S. Magistrate Judge Karoline Mehalchick’s ruling that Reed has presented sufficient evidence to support his claims for negligence and several other counts against the prison.

Mannion dismissed a claim for medical negligence against the medical provider, Correctional Care Inc., but left open the chance those counts could be reinstated. He also let stand a claim for intentional infliction of emotion distress against Correctional Care.

The lawsuit, filed by Scranton attorney Matthew Comerford, is among several suits alleging medical negligence at the prison that are pending in federal court.

Contact the writer:

tbesecker@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9137;

@tmbeseckerTT on Twitter

A 35-year-old Montrose woman could spend as much as five years in prison for stealing $21,300 in lottery tickets from her employer.

Sara Jean Boner pleaded guilty Friday in Wyoming County Court to theft by unlawful taking before President Judge Russell Shurtleff. Boner could also face as much as a $10,000 fine, restitution and a treatment requirement for removing about 43 books of lottery tickets from the Meshoppen Food Express in Washington Twp. between Jan. 1 and April 12.

According to a criminal complaint, Meshoppen Police Chief John Krieg said store video showed Boner removing books of Pennsylvania Lottery tickets from the safe and scanning them into the computer to activate them for sale, and then taking many of them home.

When confronted by Krieg in April, Boner admitted, “I’m not going to lie. I took about 20 to 30 books or more. I’m not sure of the number. I didn’t count them.”

She told Krieg she had hit a rough patch in her life after her husband quit his job and she was trying to make ends meet.

Boner will be sentenced at a later date.

She remains free on $25,000 unsecured bail.

Other guilty pleas entered before Shurtleff include:

n Theodore Mathew Anuszewski, 41, Scott Twp., to DUI, second offense, May 2.

n Dominick Joseph Brooks, 21, Meshoppen, to possession of a controlled substance May 16; and to possession of drug paraphernalia April 5.

n Jordan Garrett Brown, 24, Laceyville, to simple assault March 9.

n Christopher James Conklin, 28, Honesdale, to possession of a controlled substance July 22.

n Lucas David Fletcher, 37, Meshoppen, to DUI, third offense, March 24.

n Douglas Michael Gates, 42, Meshoppen, to DUI, second offense, July 13, 2016.

n Donald Michael Gorton Jr., 37, Nicholson, to burglary April 1 in Nicholson Twp.

n Edward Jerry Holsopple, 50, Tunkhannock, to possession of drug paraphernalia Jan. 17.

n Justin Honick, 20, Clarks Summit, to DUI of a controlled substance June 25.

n Robert Frazier Hunt, 19, Laceyville, to possession of drug paraphernalia Aug. 1.

n Michael Thomas Johnson, 52, Kingsley, to unsworn falsification to authorities Feb. 22, 2016.

n Robert John Krupovich, 42, Hop Bottom, to false swearing Oct. 2, 2015.

n Joshua Robert Milliron, 37, New Albany, to DUI, second offense, May 20.

n Tanya Leigh Montross, 27, Tunkhannock, to possession of drug paraphernalia June 10.

n Pedro Seguinot Jr., 34, Springville, to two counts of leaving child unattended in vehicle Nov. 30, 2015.

n Eric Scott Shiflett, 49, Dalton, to DUI, second offense, Nov. 6, 2015.

n Jacob Codie Symons, 20, Sugar Notch, to simple assault April 23.

n Tyler N. Tonucci, 28, Factoryville, to DUI Jan. 18.

n Timothy Thomas Vanvleck, 20, Factoryville, to DUI of a controlled substance and resisting arrest, April 3.

n Deborah Jean Wagner, 50, Rome, to DUI, second offense, May 15.

n William Watkins Jr., 52, Dalton, to endangering the welfare of children April 16, 2016.

n Bradly Scott Webb, 46, Tunkhannock, to burglary Feb. 26 in Tunkhannock Twp. He was immediately sentenced to 12-48 months in state prison, a $500 fine and a share of $1,025.16 in restitution. The sentence of incarceration was suspended so Webb could enter 30 months of Drug Treatment Court.

n Timothy Graham Gumble Jr., 28, Tunkhannock, pleaded guilty to burglary July 6 in Tunkhannock Twp. He was immediately sentenced to 45-120 months in state prison, a $500 fine and $27.64 restitution.

n Jason Raymond Rought, 38, Laceyville, to DUI of a controlled substance (with child on board) March 3; and to endangering the welfare of children, also March 3. He was immediately sentenced to 18-36 months in state prison and a $1,000 fine for DUI; and to 18-36 months in state prison and a $500 fine for endangering the welfare of children. The sentence of incarceration was suspended so Rought could enter DrugTreatment Court.

MARRIAGE LICENSES

■ Gino Orlando Gagliardi and Larissa Renee Redington, both of Roaring Brook Twp.

■ Kerry Wayne Wormuth, Olyphant, and Stephania Ann Fabiano, Blakely.

■ Carlos Alfredo Mendez-Gomez and Cenira Monteiro De Carvalho, both of Scranton.

■ John A. Fischer and Lyudmyla A. Fischer, both of Moosic.

■ Michael A. Ferguson and Stephanie R. Lepka, both of Scranton.

■ Gregory F. Pezanowski and Stephanie Ann Vesperino, both of Mayfield.

■ Andrew Michael Humphreys and Danielle Pember, both of Carbondale.

■ Christian Bodnar and Sarah C. Diccicco, both of Scranton.

■ David Mehall and Maggie Haggerty Gower, both of Eynon.

■ Alexander A. Tinnikov and Olga S. Antonova, both of Dunmore.

■ Charles James Williams III and Marissa Sue Michaylo, both of Scranton.

■ Ashley Jackson Hawkins and Keefe Robert Quinn, both of Carbondale.

■ Daniel Bernard Lipson and Margo Forgione, both of Peckville.

DIVORCE DECREES

■ Jacqueline Dones v. Eddie Dones Riviera

■ Elba Roldan v. Julian Roldan

■ Renee Colon v. Javier Colon

■ Donna Gurrere v. Robert Gurrere

■ Scot Wasilchak v. Marcy Wasilchak

■ Judith Holland v. Neil Holland

■ Stephen Gullone v. Roxane Gullone

■ Grace Pramono v. Dharma Satya Budiman

■ Sarah M. Checho v. Jesse J. Checho

■ Brenda Giles v. Dwayne Giles

DIVORCES SOUGHT

■ Janet Leech, Lackawanna County, v. George H. Leech, Thornhurst; married June 20, 2008, in Thornhurst; Brian J. Cali, attorney.

■ Yvonne Brogan, Dunmore, v. Thomas Brogan, Scranton; married Oct. 17, 2012, in Las Vegas; Anne Marie Howells, attorney.

■ Christopher M. Latniak, Olyphant, v. Danielle M. Winters, Dupont; married Nov. 5, 2016, in Tunkhannock; Jeffrey C. Nallin, attorney.

■ Kathleen Petty, Clarks Summit, v. David R. Petty, Clarks Summit; married Dec. 31, 1994, in Old Forge; Kim A. Giombetti, attorney.

■ Kimberly Swingle, Scranton, v. Jeffrey Swingle, Scranton; married Feb. 28, 2009, in Scranton; pro se.

■ Steven Farrell, Waverly, v. Carrie Farrell, Waverly; married Dec. 31, 2010, in Naples, Fla.; Bruce L. Coyer, attorney.

PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS

■ Joan G. May, Lackawanna County, to Firstone LLC, Clarks Summit; a property at 906 Miles Ave., Dickson City, for $83,330.

■ Wayne and Lisa Stevens to James M. and Jason D. Woodall; a property at 1057 Euclid Ave., Scranton, for $26,000.

■ Lori J. May and Sandra L. Coyer, co-executrices of the estate of Donald R. May, Clarks Summit, to Colombo & Co. Realty; a property in Glenburn Twp. for $125,200.

■ Wells Fargo Bank NA, S/B/M to Wachovia Bank NA, formerly known as First Union National Bank, Frederick, Md., to Brian Hughes, Throop; a property at 605-607 George St., Throop; $50,000.

■ John S. Demo and Linda Berardi-Demo, Blue Bell, to Kevin and Cori McLemore, Lackawanna County; a property at 104 Fairway Drive, Newton Twp., for $370,000.

■ Edward P. and Charise Kalaha, Chalfont, to Sebastianelli Immobiliari LLC, Dickson City; a property at 310-312 Cleveland St., Olyphant, for $85,000.

■ Nicholas Depietro and E. Paul and Margaret Thomas to John and Christopher J. Meredick and Todd Rudat; a property in Newton Twp. for $100,000.

■ Ellen Patterson, executor of the estate of Helen M. Green, Scranton, to Raymond H. Buck, Scranton; a property at 114 N. Everett Ave., Scranton, for $37,234.

■ Mary Frances Anderson, Scranton, to Jasoda Acharya, Lackawanna County; a property at 820 Prescott Ave., Scranton, for $57,000.

■ Fidelity Deposit and Discount Bank to 1101 Northern Blvd. LLC, Roseland, N.J.; three parcels in South Abington Twp. for $4,100,000.

■ Chad Evans and Caitlin Coleman, now by marriage Caitlin Evans, Scranton, to Pancha Lai and Pasang Singer, as joint tenants with rights of survivorship, Scranton; a property at 3107 McCarthy St., Scranton, for $131,000.

■ Louise Kashetta, Scranton, to William and Jane McKenna, Scranton; a property on Wales Street, Scranton, for $100,000.

■ D&L Realty, also known as D&L Realty Co., Dunmore, to MJ Development LLC, Olyphant; a property in Olyphant for $160,000.

ESTATES FILED

■ Thomas Palesky, 26 Longview Terrace, Scott Twp., letters testamentary to Deborah Hazen, 131 Mundro Road, Scott Twp., and Barbara Griguts, 903 N. Longwood Drive, Clarks Summit.

■ Karen L. Kowalski, 48 E. Parker St., Scranton, letters of administration to Daniel P. Kowalski, same address.

■ Richard S. Bednarz, 655 Boulevard Ave., Dickson City, letters testamentary to Brenda Kaeb, 508 Gaughan Court, Archbald.

■ Mary M. Brenne, 1204 Meadow Ave., Scranton, letters testamentary to Linda M. Buttner, 1424 E. Locust St., Scranton.

■ Jean O’Neill, also known as Jean Sibio, 604 Chestnut St., Dunmore, letters testamentary to Kate Lynn O’Neill, same address.

LAWSUIT

■ Amy and James Gregory, both of 20 Columbia Heights, Carbondale, v. Maryann D. McCusker, also known as Maryann Durko McCusker, 5205 Lyon St., Union Dale, seeking an amount in excess of the Lackawanna County arbitration limits plus interest and costs on two counts for injuries suffered Oct. 10, 2015, in an automobile accident at River Street and Eighth Avenue, Carbonale; Sean P. McDonough, attorney.

ONLINE: thetimes-tribune.com/courts

Man gets jail for not returning horse

William Enslin of Lake Ariel was found guilty in Lackawanna County Court of a charge of larceny.

According to the court, Enslin was given a horse to care for by Hayden Tingley of New Milford. Enslin refused to return the horse. Tingley, as bailee, asked for Enslin to be charged with not returning the horse.

President Judge Will Leach sentenced Enslin to eight months in county jail and a $1 fine.

Army Air Force starts recruit drive

The need for experienced radio operators, mechanics and mechanically inclined men is so great that the Army Air Force started a special recruiting campaign in Scranton.

The Army Air Force campaign station was in the Chamber of Commerce Building. The requirements for service included: between ages 18 and 44; pass an Army physical examination for field service; and be a qualified radioman.

Hudson Coal trying to clean water

Cadwallader Evans of the Hudson Coal Co. said the company was experimenting with methods to clean the water used in the mining process. This dirty water ends up in local streams and rivers.

Evans said the company was trying find a solution because the water is filled with mine silt, which gets deposited into the stream beds and led to flooding.

BRIAN FULTON, library

manager, oversees The Times-Tribune’s expansive digital and paper archives and is an authority on local history.

Contact Brian at bfulton@timesshamrock.com or

570-348-9140.

By Wednesday night, Heather Reymunde had made it home from a brief scare at Marywood University and thought of a friend who didn’t a decade ago.

Reymunde and Jeremy Herbstritt became close friends during their undergraduate years at Penn State, studying civil engineering. They studied together twice a week. After graduation, Reymunde went to work in Phoenix before coming to Marywood to study dietetics.

Herbstritt went to Virginia Tech. He died April 16, 2007, one of 32 victims of a gunman who stormed the Blacksburg campus in what was then labeled the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history — a blood-soaked distinction supplanted Sunday with 58 dead at a country music festival in Las Vegas.

Sitting in class Wednesday in Marywood’s O’Neill Center for Healthy Families, students around her started receiving text messages from friends that something was wrong on campus. She did not learn what until later in the evening.

“Nobody really knew what was going on, and I think that was the scariest part for me,” Reymunde, 34, said.

Within minutes of the first report, Dunmore police, the campus security and other law enforcement agencies apprehended a man they say showed a loaded firearm to another student at a science building not far from Reymunde and had a disassembled AR-15, 200 rounds of ammunition, body armor, medical supplies and a police radio in his truck parked nearby. That student, Alex Barowski, 28, is in Lackawanna County Prison on $500,000 bail and awaiting a preliminary hearing next week on charges of terroristic threats and related counts.

Lackawanna County Sheriff Mark McAndrew on Friday confirmed Barowski had a license to carry a firearm issued in March 2013, which his office is in the process of revoking.

While police and security defused the situation quickly, the university came under fire for not immediately notifying the campus community.

University President Sister Mary Persico addressed concerns in letters to the campus community after the arrest that stated the campus security team “thought first about our students who may have been in danger and moved quickly to the scene, where the individual was apprehended in a matter of minutes.” A spokeswoman for the university acknowledged a notification through the text-based service e2campus ideally should have gone out to students and faculty.

On Friday, Persico met with campus community members to discuss “what went right, what went wrong and what we need to do better,” spokeswoman Juneann Greco said.

Mass notification of potentially dangerous situations is practiced at numerous other universities and colleges. Chris Jagoe, chief of campus security at Wilkes University, said a report of a person with a weapon would warrant a swift notification once officers verified the information.

Keystone College in La Plume Twp. sends out text and email notifications with situation-specific instructions and a notification once the situation is resolved.

Amy Gruzesky, a spokeswoman for Penn State Worthington Scranton, said the school also endeavors to communicate alerts with the university community as soon as they know what’s going on.

“As soon as we know that it is an actual situation, we would send it out as soon as possible,” Gruzesky said.

A text message for the all-clear came through eventually, but many students at Marywood first found out what was happening through rumor and word of mouth.

Students in Reymunde’s class started getting text messages that someone had a gun on campus. Many were unsure if it was true and, if it was, what to do.

One of her classmates, Samantha Henning, recalled seeing a woman’s face “go white” while reading a text message.

“What does the text say?” Henning, 25, asked her.

“There’s a guy in the science building with a gun,” Henning recalled the woman saying.

Henning left the classroom and walked to her car, then learned police found and detained Barowski in a parking lot near where her car was parked.

“If I knew that, I wouldn’t have left (the classroom),” Henning said.

Reymunde said she believes university officials likely handled the situation as best they could but felt it could have been handled better.

“Just having some kind of confirmation, some kind of order of what to do, would have been good,” she said.

Contact the writer:

jkohut@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9144;

@jkohutTT on Twitter

Cinemark 20, Moosic: American Assassin (R): noon, 2:50, 5:40, 8:40, 11:25; American Made (R): 11:10 a.m., 2:10, 5:10, 8, 10:50; The Battle of the Sexes (PG-13): 10:20 a.m., 1:30, 4:30, 7:30, 10:30; Blade Runner 2049 (R): 10 a.m., 12:30, 1:40, 4:10, 5:20, 7:50, 9; in 3D: 10:40 a.m., 2:30, 6:10, 9:50; in XD: 11:40 a.m., 3:20, 7; in XD/3D: 10:40; Despicable Me 3 (PG): 6, 8:30, 10:55; Flatliners (PG-13): 12:10, 3, 5:50, 8:50; Home Again (PG-13): 11:30 a.m., 2:20, 4:50, 7:15, 9:40; It (R): 10:30 a.m., 12:20, 1:50, 3:30, 5, 6:40, 8:10, 10, 11:20; Kingsman: The Golden Circle (R): 1, 4:20, 7:40, 11; The Lego Ninjago Movie (PG): 10:05 a.m., 12:50 3:45, 6:30; in 3D: 9:10; Met Opera: Norma (NR): 12:55; Mother! (R): 11:50 a.m., 2:40, 5:30, 8:20, 11:10; The Mountain Between Us (PG-13): 10:10 a.m., 1:10, 4, 7:10, 10:10; My Little Pony (PG): 11:20 a.m., 2, 4:40, 7:20, 10:20; The Stray (PG): 11:05 a.m., 1:45, 4:15, 6:50, 9:30; Victoria & Abdul (PG-13): 11:15 a.m., 2:05, 4:55, 7:45, 10:35; Wind River (R): 6:20, 9:20.

Circle Drive-In, Dickson City: Blade Runner 2049 (R): 9; Mother! (R): 9.

Dietrich Theater, Tunkhannock: Blade Runner 2049 (R): 12:15, 3:30,6:30, 9:45; Home Again (PG-13): 1:15, 4:15,7:15, 9:20; It (R): 12:45, 3:45, 6:45, 9:30; The Lego Ninjago Movie (PG): 1, 4, 7, 9:15.

Iron Horse Movie Bistro, Scranton: Blade Runner 2049 (R): 1:15, 4:45, 8:15, 11:30;in PTX: 11:30, 3:15, 7, 10:45; in 3D: 9:30; Flatliners (PG-13): 11:15, 1:55, 4:35, 7:05, 9:35; It (R): 12:25, 3:25, 6:25, 9:25; Kingsman: Golden Circle (R): 11:05, 2:05, 5:05, 8:15, 11:15; The Lego Ninjago Movie (PG): in 3D: 9:20;The Mountain Between Us (PG-13): 11:40, 2:15, 4:55, 7:30, 10:05.

FOR UPDATED SHOWTIMES, check with local theaters.

The 2017 Porsche Panamera is like a pair of nice but overpriced shoes. Once you stop considering all the other things that could have and maybe should have been bought with the same amount of money, it becomes more and more pleasurable.

Porsche expects this of its customers, and while the Audi RS7 or the Tesla Model S P100D may provide more bang for not as much bucks (the Cadillac CTS-V is by far the best value of the large-performance sedans), the Porsche brand is more revered as the pedigree for performance. So $133,000 might not seem so out of line from a brand that fetches about $120,000 for its often imitated, never duplicated sports coupe known as the 911.

While the Cayenne and Macan felt like crossover derivatives of the automotive world’s most recognizable icon, the first incarnation of the Panamera for 2010 looked like something else altogether. With its bulbous rear and hunchback roofline, Panamera looked more like an experiment than an extension of the 911 into four doors and four full seats.

This new shoe is a much better fit. It’s only an inch longer but in shortening the overhangs and stretching the wheelbase, and with the roofline curving more fluidly into the rear, it better harmonizes with the 911.

The new 2.9-liter twin-turbo V-6 engine also supports the proposition in the 4S. It’s responsive without surging or lagging, and due to the compressed layout of the turbochargers as well as some magical action in the variable valve timing, the 440-horsepower engine is efficient under light loads and beastly under full throttle. It doesn’t feel like a sports car when you don’t want it to, instead cruising comfortably and quietly like a luxury sedan. Mash the pedal, though, and 405 foot-pounds of low-end torque comes with no lag and plenty of warble as it hits 60 mph in 4 seconds (4.2 seconds without the sport chrono package). That’s 0.3 seconds faster than the old model.

The $6,930 sport chrono package features launch control, which literally took our breath away. Switch the controller on the steering wheel to sport plus mode, mash the brake, rev the engine for a second or two so there’s full torque, then let off the brake and hold on. The rocketing sensation is like the Tesla Model S but with engine noise.

The engine is mated to Porsche’s first-ever eight-speed PDK transmission, a dual-clutch setup derived from Porsche’s racing series and known for really quick shifts while maintaining relatively high rpm. But the eighth gear, much like its seventh-gear predecessor, is meant for greater fuel efficiency during highway cruising; sixth gear is the highest gear when hammering it up to a top speed of 179 mph, 2 mph faster than the old one.

Inside, the cockpit has been streamlined so there are fewer buttons in the console, and a wider, more integrated touch screen. The touch screen is an improvement but the safety of a tabletlike interface in these distracted-driving times is questionable. Narrow buttons with drop-down menus on the left open as your hand approaches the screen, which is nice, but the icons are too small.

Q: I have a 1982 El Camino. Two years ago, because it didn’t pass the California smog test, I had to take it to a designated repair shop. As part of the repair, the tech told me: “Some fool set the ignition timing to TDC (top dead center), or 0 degrees. I changed it to 15 degrees, where it should be, and it’s running better.” And it did run better.

This year I went in for the smog test, and the technician told me, “Some fool set your ignition timing to 15 degrees, so you need to reset it to TDC.” I told him what I had been told two years earlier, and he told me, “The book says it has to be TDC, so you need to set it there or you won’t pass the smog test.” So I had him set the timing to TDC, and I passed the smog test. But the car runs like crap.

So I’m thinking about changing the timing back to 15 degrees, where it ran better. I need some expert advice. Thank you.

— SCOTT

A: Well, if you need expert advice, Scott, why did you write to me?

I’m sure the car’s specification is TDC, or top dead center. That means that each spark plug is set to fire when its piston reaches the very top of the compression stroke. Fifteen degrees before TDC means the spark plugs would fire when the crankshaft is still 15 degrees of rotation away from when each piston reaches the top. In other words, at 15 degrees the spark plug would fire early.

In reality, the timing of the spark is supposed to vary. At idle, it’s supposed to be TDC. But as the engine speed increases, the spark needs to fire earlier so combustion is already in full swing by the time the piston reaches the top. Otherwise, most of the force of the explosion goes out the tailpipe instead of toward pushing the piston down and making the car move.

In older heaps like yours, the spark timing is automatically adjusted by something called an “advance mechanism.” Your El Camino has two: A vacuum advance, which uses the engine vacuum to advance the spark timing, and a centrifugal advance, which uses the rotation of the distributor shaft to advance the timing. And one — or both — of those is broken. I’d put money on the vacuum advance first, because they used to break all the time.

Manufacturers do a lot of experimenting to figure out how the spark timing should be set on any given engine. They’re trying to find a balance among power, economy and emissions. So at TDC, where it’s supposed to be, your emissions are good. Well, as good as they got in 1982, which is bad. But your power and performance stink because your advance mechanisms aren’t advancing the timing when you rev up the engine.

So rather than have the timing set back to 15 degrees to simulate a working vacuum advance, go to a nearby nursing home and see if you can find a mechanic who knows what a vacuum advance and a centrifugal advance are.

Fix them, and that’ll solve all of your performance and timing problems, Scott — until the next problem arises. Good luck.

Courts can order reassessments

A story on A1 of Friday’s edition should have reported county reassessment attorney Joan R. Price said courts have ordered some counties to conduct reassessments. Price did not say why.

WILKES-BARRE — Accused Walmart gunman Scott Sargent won’t be getting new attorneys, and his trial is still on for later this month.

Luzerne County Judge David W. Lupas on Friday rejected Sargent’s request to remove his court-appointed lawyer, a move that would have likely once again delayed the case.

Sargent, 33, of Shenandoah, is facing attempted murder charges on accusations he opened fire outside Walmart at the Wilkes-Barre Twp. Marketplace in October 2015, exchanging shots with police until he was shot in the abdomen.

Sargent’s trial is set to start with jury selection Oct. 16, just before the second anniversary of the shooting.

Sargent remains jailed at the county prison without bail.

— BOB KALINOWSKI

As Kathleen Haikes tests her limits during the last few miles of the Steamtown Marathon on Sunday, she’ll repeat one name in her mind.

“Reese Thomas. Reese Thomas. Reese Thomas.”

When the Scranton woman thinks of the 45-year-old resident of St. Mary’s Villa in Elmhurst Twp., she thinks of strength.

Haikes, 43, met Thomas in August, when she brought a group of volunteers to the skilled nursing facility where he recently moved after suffering severe brain injuries in a 1990 car crash. He wore a Steamtown Marathon shirt. She caught a glimpse of his smile

as she handed out bingo prizes.

“You stole my heart that day,” Haikes told him recently. “You’re what gets me through this.”

Thomas smiled.

That smile reminds Haikes of the smile of her brother, Matthew Newell, who died at 24 in 2010. After his death, Haikes and her family started the nonprofit organization Matthew’s Mission and hold annual breakfasts with Santa, which supports the purchase of Christmas gifts for children with special needs. Thomas’ birthday — Aug. 19 — is the same day Newell died. After Newell’s death, Haikes, the volunteer coordinator for Traditional Home Health and Hospice, started running to clear her mind of grief.

At 17, Thomas was a passenger in a vehicle that crashed. The impact threw him from the vehicle. His parents, Betsy and Reese, didn’t know if their son would make it. The then-junior at Riverside who excelled on the football and baseball fields suddenly had a very different future.

“If Reese didn’t fight, he wouldn’t be where he is today,” his mom said. “It wasn’t his time.”

After nearly 30 years, countless therapy sessions and support from others, his sense of humor remains. He smiles when someone tells a joke and speaks occasional words. Thomas enjoys attending RailRiders games with his dad and loves to watch his nephew, Adam Samitz, play football for Old Forge. Thomas is the proud uncle of two nieces and four nephews.

Betsy Thomas said she is honored that her son inspires someone.

“She’s a wonderful person,” the mom said of Haikes.

After hopefully finishing the 26.2-mile race on Sunday, Haikes plans to give the medal to Thomas.

“The medal signifies strength, and he has such strength to live his life,” Haikes said. “The more I hear about his life. ... He’s stronger than I’ll ever be because of the life he’s been given.”

Contact the writer:

shofius@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9133;

@hofiushallTT on Twitter

Digging in a trove of artifacts from the Luzerne County Medical Society, Dr. Gerald Tracy found a 100-year-old letter with a modern shoe print on it.

It bears an Oxford letterhead, the last name Taylor in the salutation and a squiggly signature at the bottom as the only identifying information. It is helping fuel Tracy’s drive to share pieces of Northeast Pennsylvania’s medical history with the public.

Tracy, 76, a founder of what is now the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, plans to open an exhibit at the medical school showcasing tools and documents from days long gone.

Local medical societies in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties loaned cases of documents, letters and artifacts for him to study and put on display.

Tracy, a medical professor at the school, is still in the early planning stages. He has no target date to open, but he knows it will be in the Scranton medical school on Pine Street.

The letter he found — the one with a shoe print on it — was sent in March 1917

by the renowned Dr. William Osler

to Luzerne County Medical Society member Dr. Lewis Taylor

.

Doctors today call Osler the “father of modern medicine.” He was known to love medical libraries, and in his letter he applauds Taylor for his efforts to promote medical education in the northeast. Tracy said he believes Taylor started one of the first, if not the very first, medical libraries in the nation.

The letter reads: “It is really splendid to hear of the progress of your library, and I felt that I should like to do something to show my practical appreciation of what you have done for the profession of Luzerne County.

“The example is so good for the entire country, which helps in consolidating the profession and has an enormous value in promoting good work for the community at large.”

A century later, Tracy still sees the importance of Taylor’s mission, a medical museum and library for everyone.

“That’s the thing I’m most excited about — that we’re drawing a straight line, really, all the way back to Civil War times with this display,” he said.

Most of the items have been locked away for the last six years.

They reveal a primitive time in health care, one not too long ago, when

medical devices made a doctor’s bag look more like a present-day mechanic’s road kit.

The collection contains a leather medicine pouch that unfolds to reveal corked glass vials secured by leather loops.

The vials hold tiny pills of gelsemium and phenacetin, both painkillers, and strychnine

, now mostly used as poison but once used to treat a number of ailments.

He has old stethoscopes, a tracheotomy kit and an old blood pressure cuff.

A velvet-lined wooden case holds a Civil War-era dissection kit with about a dozen glistening, macabre instruments — blades, tourniquets and a saw — used to sever limbs and leave them behind on the battlefield.

In the early 1900s, county medical societies gave doctors a place to share ideas and connect with the larger state network at a time when communication was slower and a doctor’s job included more than medicine.

“They weren’t just our physicians,” said Tonyehn Verkitus

, executive director for both medical societies in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties.”They were our friends. They were our confessors. They were our support system. They were our social services.”

Before the medical societies loaned their collections to Tracy, they were displayed in the Luzerne County society’s former library, a unique round building built in 1915, off South Franklin Street in Wilkes-Barre. Based on Osler’s letter, Tracy said he believes Taylor had a key part in building it and curating its collections. Taylor’s wife donated many of his old tools after he died in 1928.

After use of the building declined, medical society officials sold it to the Wyoming Valley Art League in 2011.

They packed up the artifacts and tucked them away in the basement until Tracy started poking around.

“I think seeing these books and these relics and knowing that people drove out to people’s homes and performed surgery reminds us why they’re here,” Verkitus said.

Men like Taylor and Osler lived during a time when drug maker Abbott boasted with laxative ad taglines that read “it does the job and never gripes” in the medical association’s publication, the Pennsylvania Medical Journal.

Those ads included companies marketing cod liver oil to improve general health and formaldehyde fumigators for disinfecting rooms through keyholes.

One short journal article from the early 1900s reported on a poll of doctors and suggested the automobile might be the “physician’s vehicle.” A number of doctors thought it was a quick, reliable way to get around town, and that the cost of buying a car was comparable to keeping horses.

Iris Johnston, Geisinger Commonwealth’s library assistant and de-facto aide to Tracy, hopes the exhibit will give people of all walks a glimpse at how today’s doctors stand on the shoulders of those who came before them through slow, incremental discoveries.

“It provides a little window for a layperson to see the tools used in the past,” she said. “You can connect that to what is used today and appreciate the amazing amount of study and effort that goes into medicine.”

Contact the writer:

joconnell@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9131;

@jon_oc on Twitter

As part of a companion exhibit, Dr. Gerald Tracy plans to highlight influential physicians who made significant contributions to medical study in Northeast Pennsylvania.

To start, he picked five doctors. One, Dr. Stanley Dudrick, still teaches at Misericordia University and the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine.

Dr. Benjamin Henry Throop — 1811-1897

Abraham Lincoln called on Dr. Benjamin Throop to aid injured troops during the Civil War. He opened the world’s first military field hospital of its kind, taking care of troops on the battlefield, Tracy said.

When he returned from war to Lackawanna County, he aspired to start the region’s first inpatient hospital. In 1871, he convinced the state legislature to grant the region $10,000 in seed money with the promise of an additional $100,000 for upkeep.

Throop made his fortunes after buying large tracts of land for coal development. After realizing that milk provided essential nutrients that could stanch an outsized mortality problem among newborn babies, he bought 50 Jersey cows and started a dairy farm and milk delivery service.

The borough of Throop is named after him.

Dr. William Osler — 1849-1919

The Canadian Dr. William Osler often is called the “father of modern medicine.”

Osler was a pioneer in medical training. He believed medical students should receive clinical training at the bedside, not strictly the classroom.

His seminal textbook, “The Principles and Practice of Medicine” was published in 1892. Tracy has a first edition of the book, which will be on display in the exhibit.

Osler adored medical libraries, and in a 1917 letter to Luzerne County Medical Society, applauded Dr. Lewis Taylor, the society’s president, for setting an example for the country by establishing what may have been the nation’s first medical library and museum in Wilkes-Barre.

“Let me know if I can help you in the way of books,” Osler wrote to conclude the letter.

The letter also will go on display.

Dr. Lewis Taylor — 1850-1928

Dr. Lewis Taylor began his career as a school principal at Franklin Grammar School and Wilkes-Barre High School, both in Wilkes-Barre. Later, he attended medical school and became an influential physician.

He was president of the Luzerne County Medical Society in 1885, of the Lehigh Valley Medical Society in 1891, and later vice president of the Pennsylvania Medical Society twice.

Tracy credits Taylor with starting one of the first, if not the very first, medical libraries in the country, off South Franklin Street in Wilkes-Barre. It included artifacts and books that anyone could read. He was devoted to advancing medicine and helping people learn about it. Medical society journals show Taylor was a regular contributor who wrote and frequently commented on medical papers with his colleagues.

His wife donated his equipment to the medical society upon his death. Among other things, his stethoscope and a leather pouch filled with medicine vials were part of the Luzerne County Medical Society’s display.

Dr. Harold Foss — 1883-1967

Dr. Harold Foss trained with Drs. William and Charles Mayo of the Mayo Clinic before landing in Danville. He helped design the George F. Geisinger Memorial Hospital there, which changed its name in 1961 to the Geisinger Medical Center.

Foss toured the United States and Europe to study other hospitals before construction began. At age 32, he became the first surgeon-in-chief and superintendent at the hospital. His title upon retirement in 1956 was chief of staff, according to one article.

Geisinger’s flagship hospital had ties to Scranton. It’s interesting, Tracy noted, that starting in 1917, two years after it was built, the Scranton Trust Co. was named trustee over the Danville hospital and Tracy said the company held strategic control over its finances.

Dr. Stanley Dudrick — 1935-present

One of the most important breakthroughs of modern surgery was made by the Nanticoke physician Dr. Stanley Dudrick.

He is known as the “father of intravenous feeding,” having pioneered the method to deliver key nutrients to a patient intravenously when typical feeding by mouth is not an option.

He was a professor of surgery at Pennsylvania University and helped start the University of Texas Medical School’s surgery department. There, he was chief of surgery at the university’s hospital. He also served as the surgery department chairman at Pennsylvania Hospital and later filled the same role at Yale University School of Medicine.

Dudrick is medical director at Misericordia University and a professor of surgery at the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine.

Scranton classrooms seat more students today than they have in at least 25 years. With 10,222 students enrolled as of last week, the district is also experiencing:

Low-income enrollment of 82.5 percent. The number is the highest in the region and up from 60 percent in 2010.

A record-high population of students requiring special education services. As of last week, nearly 23 percent of children are classified as special education students — up from 19 percent just three years ago.

A record-high enrollment of 902 students requiring English as a second language services, now called English learners, or EL. That number could climb to 1,000, or about 10 percent of the population, by the end of the year.

The growth creates unique issues, such as staffing and resources, as the district faces a deficit expected to reach $40 million by the end of the year.

“As a public school district, we are required to serve all our students, and to provide a quality education for all,” said Superintendent Alexis Kirijan, Ed.D.

Growing population

With enrollment once reaching 30,000 students a century ago, student population plummeted to as low as 8,600 in the last 25 years. The district had 46 schools in 1925, and the current 10,222 students now attend 18 schools across the city, as well as a cyber school, where about 100 students learn from home.

Throughout the 1970s, when Rosemary Boland began working in the district, enrollment stayed around 16,000. As factories closed, enrollment dropped, said the president of the Scranton Federation of Teachers.

District demographics mirror the city’s population. Scranton’s population has increased 1.5 percent from 2010, to 77,291, according to U.S. Census estimates released earlier this year.

The district now must educate more students as it faces growing financial problems. The state put the district on “financial watch” status in June, the first in a series of steps that could eventually lead to a takeover by a state receiver.

“Our financial situation is challenging,” Kirijan said. “What we need to do is constantly reassess programs and program needs, based on the needs of our students. If we’re able to do that effectively, we would be able to operate within the budget we’re given.”

Changing needs

As enrollment increases, so do the number of students who speak a language other than English. Scranton students speak 36 different languages, and as of last week, 902 students received English support, or about 9 percent of the total population.

Some of those students escaped from war-torn countries, as their families sought a better life in the United States. Through the refugee resettlement program of Catholic Social Services, 140 refugee children were students in the Scranton School District during the 2016-17 school year. Students include former residents of Syria, Bhutan/Nepal, Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Many lived in refugee camps, without access to education.

“Our refugees are very happy their children are able to attend school here,” said Sonya Sarner, the agency’s director of refugee resettlement and immigration. “All they wanted is to be safe and have a better life for their children.”

With the increase in English-learning students, the district plans to hire two teachers, Kirijan said.

“Because people come to us from all over the world, we need to be able to operate in a way that provides opportunities for all of our students,” she said.

Special education enrollment has also increased. When Kirijan arrived in Scranton about three years ago, 19 percent of students received services. As of last week, that number was up to 2,300 — or about 23 percent of the student population. Last year, the state average for special education enrollment was about 16 percent.

In a special education model implemented last year, the district moved more students back to their home schools and took more students with multiple disabilities back from other placements. The district was able to keep the same number of special education teachers but has hired additional aides, Kirijan said. A growing number of students require one-on-one assistance.

With changing demographics, the district must continue professional development of its staff, focus on curriculum improvement, expand parental engagement and prioritize early education programs, Kirijan said.

Lower income

Over the last six years, low-income enrollment in the district has increased by 37 percent. According to data released by the Pennsylvania Department of Education last week, 82.5 percent of students in the district live in low-income households, meaning the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.

For a family of four, students qualify for reduced-price meals when the annual family income is below $45,510. The students receive free meals when the annual income is below $31,980. Last year, Scranton became part of a federal program for school districts with high poverty levels, which allows all students, regardless of family income, to eat breakfast and lunch at school for free.

As poverty increases, area social service agencies see more families seeking services.

At United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania, people come in looking for assistance with rent, utilities and other necessities, said Michael Hanley, the organization’s chief executive officer. Many of the jobs available in the area do not offer a wage able to support a family, he said.

“More and more of the people we see are the working poor,” he said. “They just can’t make it paycheck to paycheck.”

In the classroom

Veteran teachers see the change, from an increase in paperwork for special education students, to providing more basic necessities for students whose only stable environment may be their classrooms.

Children from unstable homes, or those new to the country, often have not had access to early education programs, Boland said. The teachers must also work to increase parental involvement, with families that often do not speak English.

“Kids are hungry, so we give them breakfast and lunch, but sometimes they may not have a regular meal when they get home,” Boland said. “There’s a great need. A lot of people in the city of Scranton need to realize that and know their neighbor may need some help.”

Before Amy Beebe, who has taught second grade at Whittier Elementary School in South Scranton for 19 years, can start a lesson, she must ensure students’ basic needs are met.

“We know there are students in the schools who live in deplorable, uninhabitable conditions. We are happy to be something stable in their lives,” Beebe said. “The teachers, we care so much. ... I’m proud to be in Scranton. We’re trying to be a positive influence on our students every single day.”

Contact the writer:

shofius@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9133;

@hofiushallTT on Twitter

Languages spoken in the Scranton School District

Albanian, Arabic, Bulgarian, Cantonese, Chinese, Creole, Danish, Dari, English, Farsi, Filipino, French, Gujarati, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Kannada, Kinyarwanda, Lao, Mandarin Chinese, Nepali, Pashto, Persian, Portuguese, Rohingya, Russian, Serbian, Slovak-Polish, Spanish, Swahili, Tagalog, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek, Vietnamese.

At yet another public presentation on property reassessment, Pennsylvania Economy League Executive Director Gerald Cross dispelled some common misconceptions about the contentious process of updating assessments.

Sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Lackawanna County, PEL and the University of Scranton’s political science department, Saturday’s presentation followed six county-sponsored information sessions held earlier in the week. While not affiliated events, the sessions shared a common goal: to educate the public on reassessment before next month’s ballot referendum on whether Lackawanna County should borrow up to $13 million to conduct and complete its first comprehensive reassessment since 1968.

Cross, speaking to the crowd of about 20 gathered at the university’s Kane Forum, emphasized that reassessment makes a tax system more equitable and does not necessarily mean an individual property owner’s tax bill will increase.

“It sort of sets my old gray hair on fire when I hear someone say taxes are going to go up with property reassessment,” Cross said. “What is lacking in the public’s consciousness is a state requirement that (tax millage rates) must go down.”

Governments can increase tax revenues by only 10 percent in the first year new assessments go into effect, meaning they must adjust tax rates post-reassessment to maintain the same revenue base. Put simply, when assessed values increase after reassessment, overall tax rates must proportionally decrease.

On an individual basis, some residents will see their tax bills increase, others will see them decrease and some will see roughly no change.

“No one in this room can say with certainty what your tax bill will be until the reassessment is done because it’s a new valuation,” Cross said.

Referencing a common concern of reassessment skeptics, Beth Holmes of Fell Twp. asked Cross if he’d seen any evidence of elderly Luzerne County residents being taxed out of their homes after that county reassessed.

“Anecdotally, no,” Cross said. “I haven’t seen evidence of that. I really haven’t.”

Andrea Mulrine, a member of the League of Women Voters of Lackawanna County’s board, asked how much reassessment would cost, and how the county can avoid going another almost 50 years between reassessments if voters OK the project Nov. 7.

While he couldn’t provide a cost estimate, Cross said modern, computerized assessment systems and mapping software make it much easier to track and record property information, which makes it easier and cheaper to conduct future reassessments.

Finally, Scranton resident Denise Nordberg asked if the city can sue the county to force a reassessment if the referendum fails.

“Yes,” Cross said.

Contact the writer:

jhorvath@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9141;

@jhorvathTT on Twitter

Veterans run

set for Oct. 22

The Veterans Honor Run will be held Oct. 22 at 10 a.m., starting at Munchak Way near Scranton Memorial Stadium. The event includes a 5K race and a 2-mile walk. A veterans ceremony at 9:30 will precede the event. Online: runsignup.com/Race/PA/Scranton/AllVeterans

HonorRun.

Spaghetti dinner

VFW Auxiliary 7069 spaghetti and meatball dinner, Nov. 4, 4-7 p.m., post home, Winola Road, Clarks Summit; includes salad, rolls, homemade desserts; benefits scholarship fund in memory of past Commander Bob Kromko; $9/adults, $4/children; 570-586-9821.

Anniversary dinner

Dupont VFW Post 4909 72nd anniversary dinner-dance, Nov. 4, 7:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m., dancing starts at 9 p.m., $30.

Post 6082 dinner

Shopa-Davey VFW Post 6082 pork and sauerkraut dinner, Oct. 22, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. or sold out, post home, 123 Electric St., Peckville section of Blakely, $10, from members or at door; takeouts available.

Meetings

POST 25

Gen. Theodore J. Wint VFW Post 25, today, 2291 Rockwell Ave., Scranton; canteen meeting, noon; post, 12:30.

POST 3474

Dunmore VFW Post 3474, Tuesday, 7 p.m., post home.

SAL DISTRICT 11

District 11 Sons of the American Legion, today,

3 p.m., American Legion Post 869, 161 Main St., Archbald.

POST 3474 AUXILIARY

Dunmore VFW Post 3474 Auxiliary, Monday, 7 p.m., post home.

SAL SQUADRON 665

Sons of the American Legion Squadron 665, today, 1 p.m., post home, Dickson City.

DAV CHAPTER 114

Disabled American Veterans Chapter 114, Wednesday, 7 p.m., Cordaro’s Restaurant, 186 Grandview Ave., Honesdale.

VICTORY POST 13

Victory American Legion Post 13, Monday, 7 p.m., Post 908, Deacon Street, Scranton.

VIETNAM VETS POST 1

Veterans of Vietnam War Post 1, Saturday, 1 p.m., Marine Corps League, 1340 Alder St., Scranton; $25 for 2018 dues accepted, or mail to Nate Warshawsky, 922 Harrison Ave., Scranton, PA 18510-1404.

CAMP 8

Ezra S. Griffin, Camp 8 Sons of Union Veterans and Auxiliary, Oct. 21, 10:30 a.m., Scranton City Hall side ADA entrance, Mulberry Street; 570-606-1014.

Merli Center

Today: Coffee hour, 9 a.m.; eucharistic ministry, 9:15; bingo by St. Adalbert’s, 2 p.m.

Monday: Columbus Day. Morning visits, 9 a.m.; Bible study, 9:30; Octaband with music, second floor, 10; oldies with George Rittenhouse, 2 p.m.; senior fitness, 3.

Tuesday: Morning visits, 9 a.m.; bingo social, second floor, 10; volunteer ministry, 1:15 p.m.; choir practice, 1:45; Catholic service, 3; movie, second floor, 7.

Wednesday: Morning visits, 9 a.m.; Walmart shopping trip, 9:30; bingo sponsored by the ladies auxiliary to the VFW Department of Pennsylvania, 2 p.m.

Thursday: Morning visits, 9 a.m.; chapel service, 10; pumpkin decorating, second floor, 10; birthday bash with Frank Gervasi performing, 2 p.m.; senior fitness, 3.

Friday: Navy birthday. Morning visits, 9 a.m.; coffee and doughnuts, 10:15; bingo sponsored by American Legion District 11, 2 p.m.; senior fitness, 3.

Saturday: Morning visits, 9 a.m.; humor matters, 10:15; aromatherapy with Vecta machine, pumpkin bread and coffee, 2 p.m.

VETERANS NEWS should be submitted no later than Monday before publication to

veterans@timesshamrock.com; or YES!desk, The Times-Tribune, 149 Penn Ave., Scranton, PA 18503.

PITTSTON — As people wearing pink T-shirts doused each other with pink powder, more than a dozen men in pink heels raced for a cure on a muggy Saturday in Pittston.

Technically, they “dashed.”

The Gentlemen’s Dash capped a day of activities during the fourth annual Paint Pittston Pink, a community project to raise funds to fight breast cancer.

All of the dashing gentlemen stayed upright throughout the heel-clacking sprint on Pittston’s Main Street, which was closed to vehicular traffic for the event.

The Dash was dedicated to the late Stephen Parulski, a longtime community volunteer and marketing professional, most recently for Times-Shamrock Communications, who participated in the event last year and planned to do so again this year before he died unexpectedly last week at age 48.

The Dash raised more than $34,000 in donations for breast cancer research, organizers announced.

Not everyone ran in heels on Saturday. The Color Me Pink 5K race kicked off at 11 a.m., followed by a family fun walk.

Unseasonable warmth and humidity made conditions less than ideal to run 5 kilometers, or slightly more than 3 miles, but many of the runners stuck around to cheer on the participants in the Dash.

Rebecca Sammon received this year’s courage award.

Sammon, who lives in Mountain Top but grew up in the Pittston area, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer in April.

Sammon, who is undergoing chemotherapy following surgery, said a routine mammogram last spring might have saved her life. The mammogram revealed a tiny but fast-growing tumor that at the time was too small to detect via a self-exam.

“Had I waited till I could feel it, it might have been too late,” Sammon said.

She stressed the importance of regular checkups and mammograms for all women, and encouraged the men who love them — husbands, boyfriends, fathers and brothers — to urge them not to wait.

It is especially important for women who have a family history of breast cancer to receive regular checkups, Sammon said, noting that her mother and aunt are breast cancer survivors.

Paint Pittston Pink is part of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which runs through October.

www.facebook.com/Paint-Pittston-Pink-648017065293176Contact the writer:

emark@citizensvoice.com;

570-821-2117

Big crowd for big scoreboard

Thousands of baseball fans filled Spruce Street in front of the Scranton Times Building to “watch” the action of the first game of the World Series between the Chicago White Sox and the New York Giants on Saturday, Oct. 6.

Every play of the game was displayed on the Times’ electrical scoreboard.

The board’s operators worked hand in hand with the Times’ telegraph operators to reflect the action on the field. Details of the game were sent to the paper from Chicago via telegraph.

New York lost to Chicago, 2-1.

Worries over ground settling

Concern was growing about the condition of streets in Scranton, especially in West Side. A comparison of city maps and actual road conditions showed that Hyde Park Avenue near Price Street had dropped 17 feet because of surface settling.

Luzerne Street had dropped several feet.

Officials from the Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad, which operated the mines underneath the area, advised the city not to make repairs because they were expecting more settling that would cause the roads to drop more.

The road conditions were part of what led to grand jury indictments for Mayor E.B. Jermyn and members of city council Oct. 3.

One bright spot was that DL&W officials said they would fix the damage to a 46-inch sewer line that ran underneath Luzerne Street. The damage was caused by the settling.

BRIAN FULTON, library manager, oversees

The Times-Tribune’s expansive digital and paper archives and is an authority on local history.

Contact Brian at bfulton@timesshamrock.com

or 570-348-9140.

DICKSON CITY — The cause of an inferno that was visible for miles around the borough late Friday into Saturday morning remained under investigation by the Pennsylvania State Police fire marshal Saturday, authorities said.

The fire broke out in a pile of plastic utility pipes and other construction materials belonging to TSE Inc. in an industrial area off Main Street after 10 p.m. and at one point the flames rose at least 50 feet high.

Crews left the scene about 1:30 a.m. Saturday after extinguishing the flames, which damaged a garage and several trucks and destroyed building materials, said Dickson City Fire Chief Matthew Horvath, who praised the response from several fire companies and described it as a challenging firefighting effort.

— STAFF REPORT

Pike County Judge Gregory Chelak sentenced the following:

■ Kristen S. Finkle, 33, Milford, 34 days to six months in the Pike County Jail, followed by six months of probation, $800 fine and six-month driver’s license suspension for receiving stolen property and possession of a controlled substance on Aug. 27, 2016, in Westfall Twp.

■ Michael Salvatore Pisciotti, 41, Milford, six months of probation and $500 fine for possession of drug paraphernalia on June 28 in Dingman Twp.

■ Joseph Lisco, 24, Bushkill, six months of the Intermediate Punishment Program, including 30 days of electronic monitoring, a $1,000 fine and 12-month driver’s license suspension for DUI on April 2, 2015, in Lehman Twp.

■ Frederick Peter Harber, 40, Dingmans Ferry, three months to five years in the Pike County Jail, $1,500 fine and 18-month driver’s license suspension for DUI on May 23, 2015, in Delaware Twp.

■ Brandon William Heinen, 20, Pine Bush, N.Y., 12 months of probation and $300 fine for possession of drug paraphernalia on Sept. 15, 2016, in Lackawaxen Twp.

■ Bart M. Meyer, 46, Milford, two to four months in the Pike County Jail and $150 fine for two counts of criminal mischief on March 8, 2014, in Westfall Twp.

■ Arkadiusz Mierzejewski, 30, Milford, 72 hours to six months in the Pike County Jail, $1,000 fine and 12- month driver’s license suspension for DUI on Feb. 8, 2016, in Delaware Twp.

■ William Edward Phillips, 27, no fixed address, six months of probation and $250 fine for furnishing drug-free urine on March 6 in Milford.

■ Elizabeth Seaman, 36, Port Jervis, N.Y., 24 months of probation, $1,000 fine and 12-month driver’s license suspension for possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia on Aug. 18, 2016.

■ John Stewart MacManus, 72, Dingmans Ferry, $225 fine for driving on roadways laned for traffic and reckless driving on June 15, 2013, in Dingman Twp.

■ Anna Gertrude Featherman, 48, Port Jervis, N.Y., six months of probation and $200 fine for retail theft on May 5 and May 7 in Westfall Twp.

Wayne County President Judge Raymond L. Hamill sentenced:

■Elaine Innocent, 37, Pittston, 90 days to 60 months in the Wayne County Correctional Facility, $1,500 fine, drug and alcohol addiction treatment and the Alcohol Highway Safety Program for DUI on March 12 in Honesdale.

■ Kira Boswell, 25, Birdsboro, six to 23½ months in the Wayne County Correctional Facility, a drug and alcohol evaluation and $250 in restitution for contraband-controlled substance on June 5 in Texas Twp.

■ Anson Bishop, 47, Honesdale, 15 to 48 months in a state correctional institution and $3,600 in restitution for theft by unlawful taking on April 18 in Honesdale.

■ Collan Parry, 19, Moscow, six months on the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition Program, 40 hours of community service and 90 day driver’s license suspension for DUI on Jan. 17 in Lake Twp.

In October 1951, a milestone in railroading history was marked in Scranton.

The milestone was the centennial of the arrival of the first train over the Liggett’s Gap Railroad that connected Scranton with Great Bend on Oct. 15, 1851. This section of track would continue to grow into the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad.

Three days of events started on Oct. 13 with the opening of the railroad’s locomotive and car shops in Scranton for public tours.

On Oct. 15, close to 10,000 people were on hand at the Lackawanna Station for a reenactment of the arrival of the first train and the unveiling of a commemorative plaque at the station. That night, 600 people attended a centennial dinner at the Hotel Casey.

— BRIAN FULTON