SCRANTON

Man hit with

bottle at Kildare’s

City police are investigating an incident where a man suffered injuries after being struck by bottle early Sunday morning.

Shakal Blackwell told police he was inside Kildare’s Irish Pub, 119 Jefferson Ave. , at about 2 a.m. when a man threw a bottle at him, striking him in the face, city police Lt. Marty Crofton said. Blackwell suffered a laceration above an eye and was taken to Geisinger Community Medical Center.

The man who threw the bottle is described as being about 35 years old, thin and had dreadlocks, Crofton said.

Anyone with information is asked to submit an on the or call 570-348-4134.

— CLAYTON OVER

SCRANTON

The annual winter coat drive held by Rep. Marty Flynn, D-113, is now underway.

New or gently used coats for both children and adults can be dropped off at Flynn’s district office, 409 N. Main Ave., from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday over the next few weeks. They should be clean and in wearable condition.

The drive is now in its fifth year. Donated coats will be given to local shelters for those in need.

— CLAYTON OVER

SCRANTON — The Fine Wine & Good Spirits shop in Green Ridge Plaza will move to a different part of the shopping center next week.

The state-run wine and liquor store, in the shopping center at 1610 Nay Aug Ave., is set to hold a soft opening Thursday, Nov. 9, to a different unit within the plaza.

A grand opening event, with light refreshments and complimentary tastings, is planned for Friday, Nov. 10.

— JON O’CONNELL

PITTSTON — Area residents could be at higher risk of lead poisoning than the rest of the state and nation, according to testimony at a hearing Monday in Pittston.

“Both poverty levels and older housing in Wilkes-Barre has created a perfect storm for childhood lead poisoning,” city health director Henry Radulski testified before the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

State Sen. John Yudichak, minority chairman of the committee, hosted the hearing on lead exposure and mitigation as a new task force works to learn more about those risks to Pennsylvanians and to find ways to mitigate them.

Yudichak, D-14, Plymouth Twp., introduced a resolution to create the task force earlier this year, and the resolution passed in June. He first presented the resolution two years earlier in the wake of the widely publicized drinking water crisis in Flint, Michigan.

Lisa Daniels, acting deputy secretary for the Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Water Programs, testified that exposure to lead is associated with adverse health effects to the brain and nervous system, especially in young children.

Infants and children exposed to lead may experience delays in physical and mental development, and may show deficits in attention span and learning disabilities. In adults, lead exposure can cause kidney problems and high blood pressure, Daniels said.

Daniels said lead enters drinking water mainly from corrosion of water pipes containing lead, faucets and fixtures with leaded brass, and pipes with lead solder. Lead was widely used in plumbing materials through the 1950s, and its use continued until 1986, when Congress amended the Safe Drinking Water Act, prohibiting the use of pipes and solder that are not “lead free.”

Older homes, more risk

Dr. Loren Robinson, deputy secretary of health promotion and risk reduction for the state Department of Health, testified that as homes get older and renovations such as replacing windows and scraping and repainting porches is done, lead-based paint dust can be spread to floors, yards or windowsills, and children can be exposed.

Daniels testified that Pennsylvania’s housing stock is “some of the oldest in the country” with about 40 percent of it built before 1950 and likely to contain lead paint and leaded plumbing materials.

Radulski testified the city appears to be at even greater risk, with 64 percent of the city’s 19,058 housing units built before 1978.

Additionally, nearly one-third of city residents live below poverty level — nearly twice the statewide percentage — and are less likely to be able to afford tests to detect lead levels or safely remove lead sources from the home, Radulski said.

Robinson said a home inspection and risk assessment could cost around $800, and making a single-family home lead-safe could cost from a few thousand dollars up to $25,000.

She recommended parents have their children tested for lead exposure around age 1 and again before age 2. Tests before age 2 are covered by all health insurance plans, and some plans cover it after age 2.

Recommendations

Dr. Aimee Johnson, a pediatrician with Pediatric Associates of Kingston and a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, testified that only 28 percent of children under 23 months were tested for blood lead levels in 2015.

Johnson advocated for a universal screening mandate in Pennsylvania. Noting that removal of lead from a child’s system can take months to years, she said damage caused by lead exposure is permanent and irreversible.

David Kaufman, vice president of engineering for Pennsylvania American Water, testified the company replaces about 1 percent of its water mains every year. He said recent research shows that attaching a new line from the main to the customer’s lateral without also replacing the customer’s lateral line “potentially elevates the risk of lead exposure.”

HONESDALE — The Dime Bank’s parent company reported stronger earnings with net income of $1.7 million, or 67 cents per share on a fully diluted basis, for the quarter ending Sept. 30.

The new numbers from Dimeco Inc. represent an 8.6 percent increase from the same period last year.

Dimeco posted $4.95 million for the first nine months of this year, up 8.1 percent from the same period last year, the company said.

Total assets were $663 million, up nearly 4 percent from last year.

The earnings report follows the company’s three-for-two stock split in August to make shares more accessible to investors.

— JON O’CONNELL

LAFLIN — The former boyfriend of the mother of three boys who perished when their home burned last week was charged Monday with counts of criminal homicide and arson, alleging he torched the place in retaliation for being ejected from the residence over the summer.

Preston Daquen Bonnett, 26, of 173 Jones St., Wilkes-Barre, is facing two counts of criminal homicide and three counts of arson over the fire that broke out at 60 Oakwood Drive the night of Oct. 25. As state police escorted him into a station for booking Monday evening, he denied involvement in the fire.

“They need to do better police work and find out who really did it,” Bonnett said. “I’m innocent.”

Brothers Erik Dupree, 16, Devon Major, 12, and Ezekiel Major, 7, died in the fire investigators say was intentionally set. The older boys died of smoke inhalation immediately, while Ezekiel Major was resuscitated and flown to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where he died Saturday.

Investigators say Bonnett could be hit with another count of criminal homicide after an autopsy is completed on Ezekiel Major. His body was being transported back to the area as of Monday evening.

“The investigative team worked three days straight without any sleep,” District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis said during a press conference Monday evening, adding that the family has requested privacy. “They are showing amazing strength in such a trying time. It’s unbelievable how strong they are being.”

According to a police affidavit filed in court, the children’s mother, Susan Major, had gone out around 6:30 p.m. the night of the fire to attend a work-related event, leaving her children at home. Major told police that a week before the fire, she had security cameras — hidden inside Minions characters from the “Despicable Me” movies — installed at her home because she was concerned for her family’s safety.

Court records show that Bonnett had a rocky past with Major, his ex-girlfriend. Bonnett and Major, 48, met through a personal advertisement on Craigslist in 2015, and a few months later they found themselves facing access device fraud charges alleging they used fraudulent debit cards to buy gift cards and other items.

They eventually pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor theft charge and got a year of probation.

The pair appears to have had a falling out by this summer, when Major let another woman stay at her house. The woman, Tyla Marie Griffin, 28, of Wilkes-Barre, brought Bonnett to the house without permission in June, and Major kicked them both out a few days later, leading to a confrontation in which the pair began screaming at Major and Griffin allegedly broke a window.

Major, who found a device used to make fraudulent credit cards in Bonnett’s belongings, called police and the pair found themselves facing 25 charges, including felony counts of access device fraud and conspiracy.

However, they were not immediately arrested, and Major told police that Bonnett was angry with her and had returned several times in an effort to retrieve his belongings, according to the affidavit.

In a separate case, Bonnett is accused of returning on Oct. 14 — less than two weeks before the fire — and throwing a beer bottle through a window.

Jonquil Throop, a neighbor who was friends with Erik Dupree, also told police the family had been concerned because the people Major ejected over the summer had been threatening them, and that they had talked about moving to get away.

The night of the fire, Erik Dupree called 911 at 7:10 p.m. to report Bonnett was on the back porch, according to the affidavit. Dupree had urgency in his voice as he asked for police to hurry, noting Bonnett and his mother had not been getting along and Bonnett was not supposed to be there, police said.

Throop’s father, John Throop, told police he saw flames coming from the back window of the home, and ran over with his daughter to hear a boy screaming “help us!” from the second floor of the burning home, according to the affidavit. The voice yelled a second time and then the window blew out, and the yelling stopped, police said.

Call-takers dispatched a state trooper, who received an update three minutes later that the house was on fire, according to police.

Emergency responders arriving on scene pulled the boys from the fire, and managed to resuscitate Ezekiel Major, who was severely burned and in cardiac arrest. However, he died after being flown to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

“Erik, Devon and Ezekiel certainly did not deserve what happened to them and the Pennsylvania State Police family supports them in their recovery and grief,” troopers Capt. John Nederostek said.

An investigation revealed the fire had been intentionally set inside the living room, directly inside the back door, according to the affidavit.

During the investigation, police talked to Bonnett and Griffin’s landlord, who reported Bonnett’s car had not been home around the time the fire broke out, and Griffin said Bonnett told her he was at work throughout the day and that he was going to the Home Depot at some point later that night.

During questioning, Bonnett denied having problems with Major, and maintained he had not gone to her house at all the day of the fire. He claimed he had been home after leaving work at Lord and Taylor around 1:30 p.m., police said.

But security footage from the Minions cameras showed Bonnett — identified because of a tattoo on his hand — walking around the family’s porch in the dark at 7:08 p.m. — five minutes before Dupree called 911, according to the affidavit.

Police arrested Bonnett and Griffin the day after the fire on charges related to the credit-card fraud case, and they are being held at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility.

Bonnett’s bail had been set at $150,000 in the fraud case, but during his arraignment on the homicide charges Monday night, Magisterial District Judge Joseph Spagnuolo Jr. ordered him held without bail.

Contact the writer:

jhalpin@citizensvoice.com

570-821-2058

When a countywide reassessment in Lancaster County finally happened in 1997, after decades without one, it triggered pandemonium, one county business leader recalled.

“That did create a lot of disruption,” said Thomas Baldridge, president of the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce. “I think it created some sticker shock. It created a lot of anxiety because there was a lack of understanding about what the assessment actually meant in terms of what tax rates would be.”

A referendum on the ballot Tuesday, Nov. 7, will ask voters to authorize the Lackawanna County commissioners to borrow up to $13 million to reassess all property in Lackawan-na County — for the first time in nearly 50 years. However, a panel of judges heard arguments Friday to remove the question from the ballot or to invalidate the results because the wording is “vague, misleading, ambiguous, distracting and confusing” and thus unconstitutional. The judges have not yet issued a ruling.

Local business owners are conflicted on what reassessment, which will more fairly distribute school, municipal and county real estate taxes, means for them.

Reassessment does not raise additional money. It is intended to redistribute the tax burden. About one-third of property owners will pay higher taxes, one-third will pay significantly lower taxes, and one-third will pay about the same.

Those property owners who will pay more taxes have P.J. Dempsey concerned. He’s the president of Dempsey Uniform & Linen Supply, a commercial laundry service in Jessup where 250 people work.

“When businesses are growing, and they’re focusing on growing business instead of cost cutting, they like to have someone clean their aprons and towels for them,” he said. “If they’re looking for areas to cut costs, they may decide to wash their own.”

Others see reassessment as a matter of fairness. Improved property, usually assessed after the owner adds a new building or spruces up an existing one, often is saddled with a higher assessment, and a larger tax bill, than unimproved neighbors who have decades-old assessments.

“I know that there will be people that will end up paying more tax, and there will be people that pay less tax, but that’s the very point of this,” said David Hawk, chairman and co-owner of Dunmore-based Gertrude Hawk. “It’s just based on fairness. I know I’m in favor of this, and it’s because I think it’s the right thing for our community to do.”

His chocolate company employs about 600 people between Lackawanna and Luzerne counties.

In an emailed statement Monday, the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors detailed the chamber’s position in favor of reassessment on behalf of its 1,044 members.

The absence of reassessment in Lackawanna County over the past five decades negatively impacts numerous organizations, institutions and individuals, makes the county less competitive to attract new businesses and stifles job growth, the statement said. It also discourages investment in real estate because commercial property owners often face increased assessments when they undertake new construction and/or renovations.

“The Board of Directors of the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce ... endorses property reassessment in Lackawanna County on the grounds that such modernization will help ensure a more fair, simple and accurate property valuation; encourage additional commercial investment; and, create a more stable and favorable environment for job creation, job expansion and entrepreneurial growth in our community,” the statement says.

One Scranton businessman, with about 1,100 on his payroll, said reassessment could be a boon for him.

“All of my stores will have recently been remodeled within the last 10 years,” said Gerrity’s Supermarkets co-owner Joe Fasula, whose grocery store chain is headquartered in Scranton. “We may be over-assessed at this point relative to everyone else.”

However, like others, he is unsure how a countywide reassessment shakes out for him.

Lancaster County hadn’t reassessed since the 1960s, when a court order finally initiated it. After that, county commissioners there passed a resolution requiring new assessments every eight years, county assessment office Director John Mavrides said.

Lancaster County officials delayed its 2012 reassessment because of a still-recovering housing market. A reassessment is on track to take place in 2018.

Reassessment is required by law to be revenue neutral, Baldridge stressed. As properties are assigned higher assessments to reflect their current market values, tax rates must be reduced so governments collect the same amount of revenue after reassessment as they did before.

Without reassessment, continued tax disparity could scare off expanding companies looking for a place to grow, Baldridge said.

For example, in Luzerne County, which reassessed in 2009, the median municipal tax rate is about 1.5 mills. A mill is $1 in tax for every $1,000 of assessed value.

The median municipal rate is seven times higher in Lackawanna County, about 10 mills.

Contact the writer:

joconnell@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9131;

@jon_oc on Twitter

WILKES-BARRE

State police are encouraging people to keep safety in mind as they take to the streets to trick-or-treat today.

Police urge parents to accompany their children and to carry flashlights and use reflective tape to aid visibility. Parents should also examine their children’s candy to ensure it is safe to eat, police say.

Police are also urging trick-or-treaters to respect people’s property, and say motorists should be cautious as children take to the streets tonight.

— JAMES HALPIN

CARBONDALE

Lackawanna County Commissioner Laureen Cummings will host a second public presentation Wednesday in Carbondale to explain her opposition to countywide reassessment.

The session is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Carbondale Area High School, 101 Brooklyn St. Cummings made a similar presentation Thursday in Dickson City.

Voters in next Tuesday’s general election will decide whether to authorize the commissioners to conduct the first comprehensive reassessment of all real estate in the county since 1968.

— STAFF REPORT

Clarks Green

Soup sale: Order of Eastern Star Juanita Chapter 8 homemade soup and bake sale, Nov. 11, 11 a.m. until sold out, 118 N. Abington Road; bake sale proceeds benefit Canine Wounded Warrior Project; $7/quart, $4/pint; eat in or take out; Barbara Hicks, 570-586-3317.

Dunmore

Clothing party: SS. Anthony and Rocco Altar and Rosary Society LuLaRoe pop-up clothing party, Nov. 12, 2-4 p.m., parish hall at St. Rocco’s, Luke Avenue and Kurtz Street.

Society meeting: SS. Anthony and Rocco Altar and Rosary Society meeting, Nov. 8, 7 p.m., parish hall at St. Rocco’s, Luke Avenue and Kurtz Street.

Hawley

Open house: Lackawanna College — Lake Region Center fall 2017 open house, Nov. 18, 9-11:30 a.m., 8 Silk Mill Drive, third floor, application fee waived, information on admissions, financial aid, degrees offered and job-training programs; RSVP by Nov. 16 at 570-226-4625 or LakeRegionCenter@lackawanna.edu.

La Plume

Purse bingo: Keystone College students hosting designer purse bingo, Nov. 17, doors open at 5 p.m., bingo at 6, the Theatre in Brooks on campus; door prizes, gift basket raffles and consolation prizes; participants 21 and older may bring alcoholic beverages; $20 fee before event, $25 at door; purchase tickets from hospitality and business management students or Brenda Lidy, 570-945-8334 or hospitalityevents

@keystone.edu.

Scranton

Bereavement support: Bereavement support group meetings Nov. 15, 22 and 29, 10 a.m., St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, 425 Jefferson Ave.; Pastor Mary Owens, certified bereavement counselor, will lead the group; more info or to register, church office, 570-342-1000.

Blood drive: Junior League of Scranton and Rep. Marty Flynn holding a community blood drive, Saturday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Tripp House, 1011 N. Main Ave.; photo ID required to participate; walk-ins welcome; to register, 800-RED-CROSS, Rep. Flynn’s office at 570-342-4348 or www.RedCrossBlood.org.

Pierogi sale: St. Nicholas Orthodox Church homemade pierogi sale, Friday, pickup from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., 505 Jefferson Ave.; $7/dozen; to preorder, 570-344-1522.

Youth group: St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church youth group program, third Sunday of each month, October through May, 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m.; open to youths in grades 6 to 8; registration necessary; info or to register, 570-342-1000.

Taylor

Club meets: R & L Civic Club meeting, Friday, 8 p.m., St. George’s Hall, Taylor.

West Scranton

Seniors meet: Young at Heart Seniors meeting, Thursday, 11:30 a.m., Jackson Street Baptist Church.

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

A West Scranton teenager faces aggravated assault and other charges as an adult after police say he slashed another youth with a knife two months ago.

Lackawanna County Judge Trish Corbett approved the transfer of the charges against Jezer Feliz, 16, 130 Meridian Ave., from juvenile to adult court on Oct. 24.

Feliz slashed Ryan Smith with a knife on the right forearm, leaving a 3- to 5-inch-long laceration, during an incident Aug. 25 at the Washburn Street Cemetery, city police said.

According to the arrest affidavit, Smith and Nicholas Moritzkat were among a group walking through the cemetery when they encountered Feliz and another teen.

As they talked, a man with his face covered and wielding a large knife, later identified by police as Feliz’ older brother, Johnny Marvel Feliz Pena, 18, ran toward them and hit Moritzkat in the neck, witnesses told police.

Smith told police he fell as the group scattered and, as he lay on the ground, Feliz approached and slashed him, the affidavit said. He was later treated at Regional Hospital of Scranton.

Police charged Feliz with aggravated and simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.

In a separate case, the county sheriff’s department charged Feliz with aggravated and simple assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct for fighting with a probation officer and others during a Family Court hearing March 20. Those charges were also transferred to adult court.

City police previously charged Feliz Pena with simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, disorderly conduct and harassment in the Aug. 25 cemetery incident. He is awaiting trial after waiving his preliminary hearing in September.

Both brothers are held in the county prison.

Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9132

A 20-year-old Scranton man will serve up to 23 months in jail for having sex with a 13-year-old girl when he was 19.

George Bruch, 1317 Adams Ave., told Lackawanna County President Judge Michael J. Barrasse he regrets his actions and the harm it caused. The judge then sentenced him to 11 months to 23 months in the county jail.

Scott Twp. police in December 2015 began investigating the incident once the girl’s father reported she’d been sexually assaulted. They filed charges in February.

The Times-Tribune does not identify victims of sexual assault.

The girl told police she had consensual sex with Bruch twice on a night in November. Due to the girl’s age, she was incapable of giving consent. Bruch was aware she was 13, police said. He corroborated the girl’s story, according to police.

Bruch faced numerous crimes, including statutory sexual assault and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. He pleaded guilty to statutory sexual assault, a felony, in June.

His attorney, Patrick Rogan, said Bruch has spent about nine months in jail with no misconduct reports.

Following his prison sentence, Bruch will spend five years on probation.

Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9144; @jkohutTT on Twitter

After working two years under an expired contract and striking for 10 days in 2016, Montrose Area teachers have a new contract that includes raises and changes to health care expected to save the district around $600,000 in the contract’s first year.

“The Montrose Education Association (MEA) has a long legacy of progress, nurturing academic success and meeting the needs of our many students,” said Teri Evans, union president. “This contract will allow us to continue honoring that legacy.”

Both the union and the Susquehanna County district ratified the five-year contract Monday, said James Maria, Pennsylvania State Education Association representative. The 120-member union, that includes teachers, counselors and nurses, worked under the expired contract since August 2015. They walked the picket lines for 10 days in March 2016.

In the new contract, teachers receive a $500 bonus for each year of the two years worked under the expired contract and will move to their proper step, which means salary increases based on years of service and education. Yearly raises begin this school year, 2017-18, with teachers receiving a 3.65-percent raise. In 2018-19, they will receive a 3.02-percent raise and a 2.2-percent raise in 2019-20.

The biggest change for the teachers — and savings for the district — comes in the form of health care. The change is expected to save the district $600,000 in the first year of the contract and will be returned to teaches in the form of raises over the last three years of the contract, said Superintendent Carol Boyce.

“We agreed initially in the bargaining process that if the MEA would go to the new insurance plan that we would return to them the savings that we accrue,” she said.

Teachers previously contributed 1.25 percent of their annual salary to health care premiums. Now, union members will contribute 5 percent to the actual cost of their premiums.

The contract also calls for higher deductibles, some of the cost will be paid for by the district.

• A teacher on an individual plan now has a $2,000 deductible for doctors and emergency room visits and prescriptions. The district will pay $150 of that deductible, so the possible cost to the teacher is $850 out-of-pocket.

• A teacher on an “other category” plan, which would cover spouses and/or children, now has a $4,000 deductible, $2,500 of which the district will pick up while the teacher pays $1,500 out-of-pocket.

Not all teachers are on the district’s health care plan.

The other change in the new contract is updates to antiquated ways the district and union communicated, said Maria.

“We changed the language to reflect our practices ... the interactions evolved from very formulaic to more informational but more effective,” he said.

“It gives more stability, not just to our members, but to students and families in the community,” Evans said of the contract, noting the Montrose Area community hadn’t experienced school district labor unrest in many years.

The union is looking forward to getting back to what they do best — teach, Evans said.

“There was give-and-take on both sides and I think it is a fair contract and now we’re looking forward to getting back to our primary concern which is educating our kids,” Boyce said.

Contact the writer: kbolus@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5114; @kbolusTT on Twitter.

NEW YORK — A man in a rented truck drove onto a busy bicycle path near the World Trade Center memorial Tuesday, killing at least eight people and injuring several others, police said. The driver was then shot by police after jumping out with what turned out to be two fake guns.

A police official said the attack was being investigated as a possible act of terrorism. The official was not authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The attacker was taken into custody. His condition was not immediately disclosed.

Police said the vehicle, a rented Home Depot truck, entered the bike path on West Street a few blocks from the World Trade Center memorial and struck at least 15 people, leaving mangled bicycles behind.

At least two bodies could be seen lying on the path beneath tarps.

A man who was riding in an Uber along the West Side Highway near Chambers Street said he saw several bleeding people on the ground after the truck struck several people. Another witness said the truck had also collided with a small bus and one other vehicle.

Tom Gay, a school photographer, was on Warren Street and heard people saying there was an accident. He went down to West Street and a woman came around the corner shouting, "He has a gun! He has a gun!"

Gay said he stuck his head around the corner and saw a slender man in a blue track suit running southbound on West Street holding a gun. He said there was a heavyset man pursuing him.

He said he heard five or six shots and the man in the tracksuit fell to the ground, gun still raised in the air. He said a man came over and kicked the gun out of his hand.

Uber driver Chen Yi said he saw a truck plow into people on a popular bike path adjacent to the West Side Highway. He said he then heard seven to eight shots and then police pointing a gun at a man kneeling on the pavement.

"I saw a lot of blood over there. A lot of people on the ground," Yi said.

His passenger, Dmitry Metlitsky, said he also saw police standing near a man who was on his knees with his hands up, and another man bleeding on the ground nearby. He said the truck had also collided with a small school bus and one other vehicle.

Voters can vote next Tuesday on whether Lackawanna County should borrow money to reassess all land and buildings across the county, but the results won’t count.

In a 2-1 decision Tuesday, a panel of county judges invalidated the results of the question asking voters whether the county can borrow up to $13 million to reassess. The last countywide reassessment was in 1968.

The judges declared the results “null and void,” although they did not specifically require the county to remove the question from the ballot, which would have required a costly reprinting of ballots.

County chief of staff Andy Wallace said the county would immediately appeal the ruling to Commonwealth Court.

The question said: “Shall the Lackawanna County Commissioners incur debt not to exceed $13 (Thirteen Million) Dollars solely for the purpose of conducting a countywide revision of assessment so that all real estate within the county will be assessed at a predetermined ratio of 100% of a new base-year value?”

In an Oct. 19 lawsuit seeking to invalidate the question, insurance executive Chuck Volpe of Waverly Twp. and produce farmer Keith Eckley of Newton Twp. said the question was “vague, misleading, ambiguous, distracting and confusing” and thus unconstitutional. They argued the question would cause “immediate and irreparable harm” to the public’s interest because voters would not properly understand the question.

“I think the people are the winners here,” Volpe said. “I think this (question) was intended to fail.”

He called county commissioners Patrick O’Malley and Laureen Cummings’ decision to put the question on the ballot “a political cop-out” that they coupled with “insidious” wording.

“I think the judges knew that loud and clear,” Volpe said.

Judge James Gibbons and Senior Judge Robert Mazzoni agreed, voting to invalidate the results. In the ruling, they called the question “unintelligible” and “counterproductive” to its purpose. Senior Judge Carmen Minora voted to allow the question to proceed as planned. He said the question met all state laws for clarity.

Check back for updates.

Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9147; @BorysBlogTT on Twitter.

TEXAS TWP. — A Greentown man is accused of selling heroin in Wayne County.

John Henneforth Jr., 38, is charged with delivery of heroin and related charges after selling 10 bags of heroin to a confidential informant in early October, according to the Wayne County District Attorney’s Office. He is a suspect in a large-scale drug ring in the county, authorities said.

Magisterial District Judge Linus Myers arraigned Henneforth, currently on state parole for a prior drug conviction, on Tuesday. He is held in Wayne County Correctional Facility in lieu of $250,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 8.

— CLAYTON OVER

COOLBAUGH TWP. — A crash Monday night left a Tobyhanna teenager dead.

Pocono Mountain Regional police are investigating the collision, which happened at 8:30 p.m. Monday. Police said a 17-year-old boy, not identified by police, got off a bus at the intersection of state Route 196 and Woodside Drive. As he crossed Route 196, a car driven by Joaquin Acevedo Soltren, 54, of Tobyhanna, struck the teen, police said. Emergency medical personnel flew the boy to Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton, where he died, police said.

Pocono Mountain Regional police ask anyone who might have information on the collision to call them at 570-895-2400.

— CLAYTON OVER

Unemployment dropped one-tenth of a percentage point in September for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton metro area, reversing an increase from the month before.

Numbers out Tuesday from the state Department of Labor & Industry show the rate fell to 5.4 percent.

The state rate dropped one-tenth of a point to 4.8 percent; the national rate fell two-tenths of a point to 4.2 percent.

The region added 1,500 jobs since last September, according to seasonally adjusted establishment data, with health care, education and logistics sectors showing the greatest gains.

The number of employed people rose — not always a given when unemployment falls, and though the labor force remains down 3,800 jobs compared to last year, 100 more people joined the ranks in September, increasing the workforce to 276,600.

One jobs watcher called it a “triple-play” with all three indicators for unemployment, employment and the labor force moving in the right direction.

“Last year at this time our labor force had 3,800 more people, but 2,600 more of them were unemployed and only 1,300 were working,” said Teri Ooms, director of the Institute for Public Policy and Economic Development, a research collaboration by a number of local colleges and universities. “So despite the reduction in the labor force, we are in a better position.”

State industry and business analyst Steven Zellers said Tuesday’s report is typical for September with the shifts mostly in line with seasonal norms.

The professional services sector saw the greatest decline in local jobs compared to last year, down 1,200 positions. The category includes a wide assortment of trades, and likely is affected by the changing season, Zellers said.

“That’s kind of a big grab bag that can be anywhere from CPAs and engineers to landscaping services, so you would expect that to go down a little bit as you come into fall,” he said, adding that the sector is trending down in other metro areas even more so than the local area.

Transportation and warehousing, health care and education all showed growth over the year, which is a good sign for the three sectors leading the local economy.

“Our economic drivers have been consistent and will remain so for the foreseeable future — logistics, health care and education,” Ooms said.

Contact the writer:

joconnell@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9131;

@jon_oc on Twitter

Lackawanna County will investigate concerns the Republican Party raised about 155 absentee ballot applications in advance of Tuesday’s election.

County Republican Party Chairman Lance Stange Jr. highlighted what he saw as red flags with the applications in a letter delivered to the board of elections Tuesday and asked all targeted ballots returned immediately to be marked as challenged.

“We are requesting that the board of elections conduct a prompt, thorough and complete investigation into this matter and take whatever action it deems necessary to ensure compliance with the law and the integrity of the 2017 election,” Stange wrote.

The chairman described a member of Democratic Scranton Mayor Bill Courtright’s campaign hand-delivering the absentee ballots requested by a cluster of voters who are largely from the Indian community and vote in one of three precincts.

After the party had attorney Anthony Lomma follow up on a tip about the absentee voter lists, Lomma reported nearly all of the applications stated the voter would be out of the city on election day, Stange said. The reasons mostly included the voters expected to be out of state; going to a wedding or birthday; had no transportation available or were babysitting.

Lomma then hired a private investigator “to look into the peculiarities surrounding these absentee ballot applications.”

The investigator reported that some of the ballot applicants he talked to expected to be able to vote in person on election day, according to an attached exhibit to Stange’s letter. One family told him they were instructed to not open the envelopes from voter registration, and that the envelopes would be picked up at their home by members of the community.

“There are concerns on a nonpartisan basis that everyone should have,” said Bill Jones, an attorney for the county Republican Party. “The position of the Republican Party is that the election should be free of any disruption of the election process and that the voters’ franchise is always protected.”

Donald Frederickson, Lackawanna County’s general counsel, said the county will follow up on the letter.

“We will look into it, and we will investigate it,” Frederickson said. “It’s under review right now. We did receive absentee ballot applications, a lot for this election. They were processed according to law and sent out. None of the ones that were questioned have been received yet.”

To count, absentee ballots need to be postmarked by Friday, he added.

Frederickson said he was unaware of any provision in the law that allows for preemptive challenges of absentee ballots and believes representatives have to show up on election night to challenge them.

Reached Tuesday night, Courtright said he doesn’t know anything about the situation, is unaware of any wrongdoing and expressed confusion about what the issue is at this juncture.

They’re not even ballots, just requests for ballots, right?” Courtright said. “I think everybody is allowed to get a ballot if they need one. How can the board of elections investigate if they haven’t received any ballots yet? ... What are they questioning? They haven’t filled out a ballot. It looks like they’re targeting an ethnic group. Everybody has the right to vote.”

Contact the writer: kwind@timesshamrock.com 570-348-9100, x5181; @kwindTT on Twitter

SCRANTON — The Fine Wine & Good Spirits shop in Green Ridge Plaza will move to a different part of the shopping center next week.

The state-run wine and liquor store, in the shopping center at 1610 Nay Aug Ave., is set to hold a soft opening Thursday, Nov. 9, to a different unit within the plaza.

A grand opening event, with light refreshments and complimentary tastings, is planned for Friday, Nov. 10.

— JON O’CONNELL