Clarks Summit

Support group: For insulin pump users with/without a sensor, every third Thursday of each month, 6 p.m., Abington Library. Next meeting, Thursday, June 21. Contact: 570-222-4665.

Equinunk

Car show: Equinunk Historical Society’s 19th annual car show, Saturday, June 16, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Pine Mill Road. Contact: 570-224-6722.

Newton Twp.

Golf tournament: 2018 Newton Recreation Center annual golf tournament, July 14, 12:30 p.m., shotgun start, Stone Hedge Golf Club, $90/golfer, must have team of four, preregistration through July 7, $10 off/golfer, $20/team optional skins game at tournament. Contact: 570-586-7808.

Olyphant

Pierogi sale: Deep fried pierogi sale, June 22, church parking lot, St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, 600 Lackawanna St., $7/dozen, fried or plain. Contact: 570-489-3891.

Scranton

Class reunion: Scranton Technical High School Class of 1951 67th class reunion, July 15, 1-5 p.m., Cooper’s Seafood, North Washington Avenue, sit-down dinner, Joseph Labinskas is reunion chairman and assisted by Beverly Kelly Hoeffner, treasurer, and Claire Greaves, secretary, $25; mail reservations to Joseph Labinskas, 1714 Brick Ave., Scranton, PA 18508, by July 1.

Seniors trip: East Scranton seniors trip to Tioga Downs Casino, Aug. 8, leaves at 9:30 a.m., returns at 5 p.m., $33, includes $20 slots and $5 food voucher. Contact: Tom, 570-280-5096, to reserve seats, photo ID required.

Sportsmen club: Green Ridge Sportsmen’s Club meeting Friday, 7 p.m., clubhouse in East Lemon.

Memorial committee: 9/11 Memorial Committee annual Flag Day/Army Day commemoration, Thursday, 5 p.m., in front of Lackawanna County Courthouse. Retired Army Lt. Col. Joseph Albert to speak, local opera singer Ann Marie Dupre to sing national anthem, Revolutionary War re-enactor Kenn Anderson to present the Betsy Ross flag, Composite Squadron 201 of the Civil Air Patrol to present pageant of flags and school students to read about the development of the United States flag throughout history. Contact: C. Spano, 570-604-0809.

CLIPBOARD ITEMS may be sent to yesdesk@timessham

rock.com or Clipboard, c/o YES!Desk, 149 Penn Ave., Scranton, PA 18503. YES!Desk, 570-348-9121.

June 13, 1968

Newfoundland plane crash kills 3

Three Ohio men died in a June 12 plane crash on the Wayne-Pike county line. The plane carrying the men crashed into the mountain near Panther Road in Newfoundland in the late afternoon, officials said. The men, who were all from Toledo, were traveling to Connecticut.

Authorities said at the time of the crash visibility was limited because of fog.

Sgt. Nicholas Pauley, state police aviation investigator, said, “From what a witness at the scene said, he didn’t detect any problem with the engine. It appears it was just a weather accident.”

An investigator from the newly formed U.S. Bureau of Aviation Safety arrived from New York City to join in the investigation into what caused the crash.

Olyphant man survives plane crash

Joseph O’Malley of Olyphant survived the crash of Pan American Boeing 707 in Calcutta, India.

O’Malley served as the first engineer aboard the jetliner.

According to an airline spokesman, the plane landed short of the runway in heavy rain and crashed. The plane then caught fire.

Of the 63 people aboard the plane, five passengers and one flight attendant died.

Record enrollment at Camp Archbald

Officials with the Scranton Pocono Girl Scout Council announced that Camp Archbald received a record enrollment of 1,950 campers for the upcoming season.

The council also said that camp staff will be arriving on June 18 to begin training and to get the camp ready for the girls.

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.

SOUTH ABINGTON TWP. — A Mexican restaurant in South Abington Twp. is closed for renovations.

It’s unclear when La Tonalteca on Northern Boulevard will reopen.

Mercedes Diaz, a manager at sister restaurant La Tonalteca in Dickson City, said the owner is renewing few areas inside to improve the customer experience.

He was unsure when the renovations would be complete and couldn’t say when the restaurant will reopen, only that it would.

— JON O’CONNELL

Super students

Cassidy Warner of Scranton played kickball with members of the New York Yankees on Tuesday at Heritage Field, site of the original Yankee Stadium in New York.

They were joined by members of Cassidy’s family and children and staff from the anti-bullying organization No Bully.

Cassidy, 10, had lunch with the players after the game, and she also threw out the ceremonial first pitch in the Yankees game versus the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night.

Cassidy, who was bullied as a fourth-grader at John Adams Elementary School, posted in April a Facebook video about her experience. After the video went viral, Yankees players responded with messages of support for Cassidy in their own video.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF NEW YORK YANKEES

By one measure in the fight against drug addiction, the tables are turning.

Hospital admissions for opioid drug overdoses — that is, from heroin and prescription pain medicine — dropped by 35 percent in Lackawanna County and by 1 percent in Luzerne County from 2016 to 2017, according to data released today by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, or PHC4.

The fact that hospital admissions are falling, however, offers a false sense of security, said Susan Kramer, director of nursing operations for Geisinger Northeast.

“Yes, it does look like some of the hospitalizations are going down,” she said. “But if you look at the mortality rates, they say that the mortality rates are increasing.”

Statewide, one in 10 admitted for a heroin overdose died last year. Around one in 11 people admitted in 2016 died.

For pain medicine overdose, one in 20 died in the hospital, up from one in 35.

Kramer suggested that’s because more people, knowingly or in ignorance, mix drugs or take them cut with other substances such as fentanyl or carfentanil, to deliver cocktails more powerful than a single drug on its own, a phenomenon called polysubstance abuse.

The average heroin overdose patient was 33 years old. The average pain medication overdose patient was 53.

Between 2011 and 2016, hospital admissions increased about 24 percent each year, according to the PHC4.

PHC4, an independent state agency charged with producing data that can help curb health care costs, estimates that overdose admissions amounted to $32 million in hospital payments last year.

“These findings continue to stress the alarming impact the opioid problem has on Pennsylvania families,” Joe Martin, PHC4’s executive director, said in a statement.

For heroin overdoses, the statewide admission rate grew by nearly 13 percent during the study period, the agency found. The number represents the smallest increase in recent years and, on its face, the new data could offer a glint of hope that the runaway overdose epidemic is starting to level off.

Statewide, the number of hospital admissions for overdose on pain medicine, drugs such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, dropped 2.2 percent during the study period.

“That may not be a good reflection of how many patients were actually brought to the emergency department and then refused care after they got to the emergency department,” said Pennsylvania Ambulance Operations Manager Bruce Beauvais. “I know the majority of patients that overdose typically don’t even move beyond the ER after they’ve been treated.”

Pennsylvania Ambulance tracked about 250 doses of naloxone, medicine that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose, administered in 2017 in Lackawanna County. That same year, hospital admissions topped out at only 48 for the county, 26 fewer than the year before.

Pennsylvania Ambulance provides emergency naloxone kits, known commercially as Narcan, to numerous law enforcement and emergency agencies around Lackawanna County, but not all of them.

His crews take all patients saved with naloxone to the emergency room whether they want to go or not.

From January through May this year, 101 patients entered the emergency room at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Twp. for an overdose. Of them, only 31 were admitted, Kramer said.

Data for Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton has not been analyzed yet, she said, adding that, given similar patient populations, she expects similar results.

“We know that it is prevalent, still, in the community,” she said.

Contact the writer: joconnell@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9131; @jon_oc on Twitter

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress flew in to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport on Tuesday as part of the Commemorative Air Force, a group of touring World War II vintage aircraft.

It will be on display at the airport today through Sunday.

The display will also feature two other vintage, propeller-driven military planes: a C-45 Expeditor and a T-6 Texan.

CLARKS SUMMIT — A former Abington Heights teacher fighting to get his job back after being acquitted of assaulting a student denied all allegations district administrators made as reasons for firing him during a hearing before the school board Tuesday night.

District administrators fired William Yelland, 34, in May 2015, a month after Yelland initially stood accused of assaulting student Trey Koehler in class. In dismissing him, district administrators say another student reported Yelland stabbed and jabbed him with a pen several times, causing contusions. Yelland, then a science teacher at Abington Heights Middle School, is also accused of grabbing that student’s hand, forcing him to hit himself in the face and pushing him toward stairs to the point he was in danger of falling. Administrators made several allegations against Yelland involving a third student, including an incident where Yelland is accused of forcing the student to lick the floor.

The hearing began Monday with opening statements from attorneys representing Yelland and the administration. As the hearing continued Tuesday, Yelland said he never aggressively touched any students.

“This stuff didn’t happen,” Yelland said. “These claims are preposterous.”

Yelland said he often joked with students as part of his teaching style and made efforts to get to know them. High fives and fist bumps with students were common, but that was the extent of physical contact with students, Yelland said.

Yelland also spoke to what happened on April 8, 2015, the day Koehler, then 13, claimed Yelland put him in a chokehold and pushed fingers into his shoulders at “pressure points.” Yelland said Koehler gloated about a high test score to another student and Yelland tapped him on the shoulder as a way to get him to get back to work. Koehler slid his stool back into Yelland and grabbed his arm. Yelland tried to pull it away for a few seconds before the boy let go, Yelland said. He then messed with Koehler’s hair. He was shocked to later learn he was accused of assaulting a student.

Prosecutors charged Yelland with simple assault and endangering the welfare of children stemming from the incident. At his trial in November 2015, a jury deliberated only 10 minutes before finding Yelland not guilty on the charges. He never faced charges related to the other allegations.

Superintendent Michael Mahon, Ph.D., testified on behalf of the administration Tuesday. Much of his testimony revolved around a meeting with Yelland on the day after the Koehler incident and also discrepancies in how students have described the incidents over the years. For instance, the student involved in the alleged floor licking gave district officials a written statement outlining the incident in 2015, but now maintains Yelland never touched him.

Mahon testified that during the 2015 meeting, Yelland described the incident with Koehler then as he had Tuesday night, but became emotional to the point of tears when Mahon asked about making the student lick the floor. After a meeting with union representatives, Yelland pleaded the fifth when questioned further, Mahon said. That raised serious concerns, he added.

Yelland disputed the way the meeting went down and said he chose to plead the fifth based on advice from union counsel.

Adminstrators are requesting the board vote to dismiss Yelland.

“Mr. Yelland does not belong teaching at Abington Heights. That is my recommendation,” Mahon said.

A third hearing for both sides to make closing statements will take place on a date yet to be determined, said George Shovlin, the hearing officer overseeing the proceedings.

After that, the board will have to deliberate and weigh all the evidence before voting at a public meeting on what course of action to take with Yelland, he said. The board could decide to dismiss him, reinstate him or any action in between, such as a verbal warning or suspension with pay, Shovlin said.

Yelland would have the option to appeal the decision to the state Department of Education if he doesn’t agree with the result of a vote, Shovlin said.

Contact the writer:

cover@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5363;

@ClaytonOver on Twitter

Calling a weekend fire at a vacant South Side home arson, city police released a handful of video clips Tuesday of a bicyclist investigators say is a person of interest in the case.

Scranton police Chief Carl Graziano said Sunday’s fire at 514 Palm St. has “very similar characteristics” to a series of arsons that plagued South Side in late April, including being a few blocks from where most of the 10 suspected arsons occurred.

The chief also said video captured Sunday near the scene appeared to show a “similar person of interest” compared to video of a possible suspect who set fire to a dumpster April 25 at Chimney Charm, 1424 Pittston Ave.

Both videos show a white man with dark hair or a dark cap either wheeling or riding a bicycle through a parking lot. The person in Sunday’s video was last seen moving west through the parking lot at Andrew Brown’s Drug Store in the 1500 block of Pittston Avenue.

The arsonist has not been arrested.

The Palm Street home caught fire a few minutes after midnight Sunday and caused extensive damage from the first floor through the attic. No injuries were reported. The building sat vacant for years, neighbors said.

A few blocks away, beginning April 21 and 22, brush fires and small fires set in or near dumpsters began cropping up, including the Chimney Charm dumpster fire. The fires, which did not cause injury, were quickly extinguished but they had the potential of becoming more serious.

An April 26 arson that scorched 1630-1632 Pittston Ave. displaced four people.

Authorities received some anonymous tips but are still investigating.

Anyone with information on Sunday’s fire or the other arsons should contact Inspector Martin Monahan, the city’s fire marshal, at 570-558-8318 or submit an anonymous tip on the Scranton police website.

Contact the writer:

jkohut@timesshamrock.com,

570-348-9144;

@jkohutTT on Twitter

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions will speak about immigration and law enforcement Friday at Lackawanna College.

Sessions will speak at 11:15 a.m. in a third-floor reception room of Angeli Hall, 501 Vine St.

Check back for updates.

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

SCRANTON — Power is back on to all but one customer in South Scranton, according to PPL Electric Utilities.

Power went down at 6:47 a.m. once the electric utility learned a car hit a pole and knocked wires down, forcing crews to cut the circuit for safety, said spokeswoman Alana Roberts. Once cut, 2,321 customers lost power for about three minutes while workers moved the wire.

Power was restored then to all but 24 customers around Meadow Avenue and River Street, including Gerrity’s Supermarket, a Dollar Tree and nearby eateries.

Crews restored the bulk of the electricity by 11 a.m., Roberts said.

— JOSEPH KOHUT

WILKES-BARRE — A city man sustained a non-life threatening injury when he was cut during a robbery late Tuesday night, according to police.

Police encountered the 46-year-old victim around 11:40 p.m. after he went to Wilkes-Barre General Hospital for treatment, police said.

The man, who police did not name, told investigators he had been walking in the area of West River and West Ross streets when he was hit from behind and robbed.

During the attack, he was cut and sustained a non-life threatening wound, police said. The victim provided police with only a vague description of the attackers, according to police.

The case remains under investigation.

SCRANTON — The head of security for the Bloomsburg Fair Association didn’t hesitate when asked what should concern organizers of the new Lackawanna County Heritage Fair.

“Well,” William J. Barratt told members of the fair committee, “terrorists is No. 1.”

With Lackawanna County’s inaugural fair now less than a year away, Barratt and representatives of other regional fairs joined state Department of Agriculture officials on Wednesday afternoon to offer committee members pointers on how to set up and operate a successful event.

The fair, which will celebrate the region’s cultural and ethnic history, will be held May 29 to June 2, at the county-owned Pavilion at Montage Mountain and surrounding facilities.

The tentative budget is $400,000, including $50,000 in seed money from the Lackawanna County Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Wednesday’s largely informal gathering at the Montage Mountain resort lodge touched on everything from organization and fundraising to entertainment and marketing, with encouragement for the new venture tempered by occasional words of caution.

Beverly Gruber from the Allentown Fair, who also represented the Pennsylvania State Association of County Fairs and the Pennsylvania State Showmen’s Association, warned the committee against trying to do too much too quickly. She cited the example of the Berwick Fair, which fizzled out after a handful of years.

“You’ve got to walk before you run,” she said.

However, Barratt probably provided the most eye-opening presentation, which included a discussion of the Bloomsburg Fair’s security guidelines, its threat assessment document and how the fair handled potential though ultimately unfounded terrorism situations in recent years.

While terrorism is a real concern that needs to be planned for, he said, he also told the committee the second biggest threat could come from someone within the organization stealing from it.

“You’ve got to watch each other,” Barratt said. “I don’t care who you are. You‘ve got to keep an eye on everything that’s going on or you’re going to go down. Somebody will steal from you and then you’re done. ... I’m sorry. That’s the way it is. You’re living in a world where if they can grab a buck, they are going to take it.”

Committee member Curt Camoni, who also serves on the recently appointed Lackawanna County Fair and Recreation Authority, said the fair will have to develop an emergency action plan, describing it as a necessity.

“It’s a long process, but it’s certainly worth doing,” he said.

Laura England and Tracy Barone from the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Market Development recapped the requirements fairs must meet to be eligible for department funding. Although the county fair will focus on culture and ethnic history, there could be a smaller agricultural component.

Barone, a county native, said at least 12 of 24 agricultural categories — ranging from horses to rabbits to vegetables — must be represented at a fair before it can be considered for state funds.

“I know that we have these things here in Lackawanna County,” she said.

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

BELLEFONTE — A former Penn State University fraternity brother and Scranton resident today  entered the first guilty plea in the death of a pledge who was fatally injured after a night of heavy drinking and hazing.

Ryan Burke, 21,  pleaded guilty Wednesday to all nine remaining charges he faced, including four misdemeanors alleging hazing. Other charges were previously dismissed or withdrawn.

“There are too few words to describe a loss so great. This young man understands that,” Burke’s attorney, Philip Masorti, said outside the courthouse, putting his hand on Burke’s shoulder. “This is a tragedy, and he is anxious to make amends.”

Engineering student Tim Piazza, 19, of Lebanon, New Jersey, drank a dangerous amount of alcohol and suffered fatal head and abdominal injuries in a series of falls during a bid acceptance ceremony and party last year. Members of the fraternity took half-hearted and even counterproductive steps to address his condition.

Burke was accused of giving Piazza a bottle of vodka at the party. He’ll be sentenced July 31.

“We are pleased to see one individual accept responsibility and encourage others to follow in his steps,” said Tom Kline, attorney for Piazza’s parents.

Twenty-five other defendants still face charges. A magistrate has previously thrown out the most serious charges — involuntary manslaughter — against five defendants.

SCRANTON — A Honesdale-based monument maker will correct errors on the monuments on Lackawanna County Courthouse Square, likely by the end of the year.

As part of a review it performed for the county in 2014, the Lackawanna Historical Society documented dozens of verifiable errors, including incorrect dates and misspellings, during a comprehensive survey of Courthouse Square monuments. The county issued a request for proposals in February for work to fix the inaccuracies, along with repairing and reinstalling the rifle barrel on the Soldiers and Sailors Monument and other project elements.

Commissioners voted 2-0 Wednesday to award the contract to Martin Caufield Memorial Works of Honesdale. The company’s proposal of $57,843 was the lowest of three that were submitted.

Commissioner Laureen Cummings abstained from the vote, citing an issue with one monument alteration in particular.

The RFP the county issued in February calls for the attribution of a Biblical verse on one of monuments to be changed from “Anonymous” to “John 15:13 KJV” — a reference to the book, chapter and verse of the King James version of the Bible where the excerpt appears.

Cummings, however, wants “John 15:13” to come before the excerpt, and the name “Jesus Christ” to follow it.

“There’s a way to appropriately write the scripture, and it’s not being appropriately written,” Cummings said, arguing that the excerpt should be attributed to Christ himself.

How the monument is ultimately altered is still “up in the air,” Cummings said, noting that faith leaders should make that call.

The county will meet with the contractor to hammer out final details before the work begins. It’s unclear when that will be, but officials said the project can likely be completed within 90 days of the start date.

“It should be completed this year,” Chief of Staff Andy Wallace said, noting money for the project was budgeted for 2018.

“These mistakes were made when they originally put in all the new granite over at the courthouse approximately 10 years ago,” Commissioner Patrick O’Malley said. “It’s this administration that’s taking care of all those corrections . ... It’s a long time coming.”

And while O’Malley said he doesn’t like having to spend almost $58,000 in taxpayer dollars to correct the errors of the past, he said it’s the appropriate thing to do.

“People use our courthouse all the time,” O’Malley said. “There’s thousands of people walking around it. There’s tons of events there. And if there is anything that is incorrect at our courthouse then we should correct it, and this administration is going to make that happen.”

Contact the writer:

jhorvath@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9141;

@jhorvathTT on Twitter

SCRANTON — The National Weather Service at Binghamton, New York has issued a tornado warning for Lackawanna and Luzerne counties, effective through 10:30 p.m.

The warning is in effect for south central Lackawanna County and east central Luzerne County. Flying debris could be dangerous to those caught without shelter. Mobile homes could be damaged or destroyed. Damage to roofs, windows, and vehicles can occur. Tree damage is likely.

Wednesday night’s storm has caused damaged in the area of the Arena Hub shopping complex in Wilkes-Barre Twp.

Power lines are down in the area of Mundy Street and damage is reported to the U-Haul and Kurlanchek’s Furniture.

Storms started entering Luzerne Country around 8:30 and made their way southeast.

Check back for updates and photos.

Good works around the region

SCRANTON — In a 2-1 vote, the zoning board on Wednesday approved a proposal for 20 apartments in the vacant Pennswood Manor building in South Side.

Building owner John Zhang sought a variance to convert the building at 929 Cedar Ave. and Maple Street into 20 apartment units, comprised of six single units, 10 two-bedroom units and four three-bedroom units.

Board Chairman Bob Gattens voted against the variance, but Carri Newcomb and Shawn Walsh voted to approve it. Members Bob Palmitessa and Alan O’Neill were absent.

Zhang, who bought the three-story building one year ago, plans to renovate it one floor at a time.

Resident Gail Craven of Maple Street questioned whether there is enough parking for his plan. Sharing that concern, board members noted that 30 parking spaces are required for 20 apartments. Zhang testified that he has a tentative agreement to buy a vacant lot next door that he would use for parking for the apartment building. The owner of that lot, Thom Welby, also testified they have tentative agreement. With that lot and other spaces along the building, Zhang would have more than enough parking, Gattens said. The board made its approval contingent on Zhang purchasing that vacant lot and paving it for parking.

Kathleen Madzin of the South Side Residents Association raised concerns about the condition of other rental properties that Zhang owns in the city, including one in the 300 block of East Locust Street that “is a mess.”

“How can we be guaranteed that this project is going to outshine that one, because really future performance is based on past performance,” Madzin said. “How are we to trust that 929 Cedar is going to do better?”

Zhang said he evicted tenants from East Locust Street a few weeks ago and is still cleaning that building out.

“I hope that he’ll be a good neighbor,” Craven said of Zhang owning 929 Cedar Ave. “That building’s been through a lot.”

The Pennswood Manor building is a former school that became a private personal care facility in 1986. Most recently, the building housed a controversial substance-abuse treatment center, Cedar Residence, that was the subject of legal disputes with the city. The former owner, Pennswood Manor Real Estate Associates, vacated the building June 1, 2016.

Zhang’s firm, Just Property Management LLC of 1517 Mulberry St., Scranton, bought the building on June 6, 2016, for $71,000, according to county records.

In January, the vacant building flooded from a massive water leak caused by frozen, burst pipes. Water cascaded from upper floors, down interior walls, windows and stairwells, and poured out of the foundation. Pipes may have leaked for a few days, as a basement gymnasium also flooded, officials had said.

Gattens said he voted no because of Zhang’s “track record” with other properties.

In voting yes, Newcomb told Zhang, “I’m putting my faith in you.”

In other matters, the board voted 3-0 to approve variances for the following applicants:

• Thomas Harris, to install an off-premise digital billboard associated with 701 Hudson Ave., off Keyser Avenue. The Hudson Avenue building, owned by TTJ Harris Real Estate, is the site of Harris’ Roll Call business that has an indoor gun range and sells equipment and accessories to police, fire, emergency medical services, security personnel and sportsmen. Harris’s son, Joseph Harris, testified he is co-owner of TTJ Harris Real Estate and the Roll Call property has a variance for a billboard that no longer exists, though the uprights remain. The variance approved Wednesday allows TTJ to install an LED electronic changing billboard.

• David and Evan Lewis, to designate the entire property at 2401 Luzerne St. in West Scranton as light industrial. A variance from 1988 designated only part of the L.A. Lewis Moving and Storage property as light industrial. Lewis testified he sought the variance because he is selling the property.

The board voted 2-1 to reject a variance sought by Clara Martone to restore property at 620 Fig St. in South Side to three units. This property consists of two buildings on a slope. Madzin also raised concerns about Martone’s stewardship of her other rental properties in the city. Walsh voted yes for this variance. But Gattens and Newcomb voted no, citing similar concerns as raised by Madzin.

In another matter, the board voted 3-0 to continue an application for a variance sought by James Schneider to convert a vacant building at 1102 Prospect Ave. in South Side into multi-apartment units and possibly a daycare center. After board members expressed concerns that the application was not complete, Schneider asked for a continuance.

Contact the writer: jlockwood@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5185; @jlockwoodTT on Twitter

SCRANTON — Sealed bids for the purchase of the Lackawanna County Administration Building are due to the county controller’s office by 2 p.m. Friday.

They will be opened shortly thereafter, Chief of Staff Andy Wallace said.

The county plans to vacate the six-story structure at 200 Adams Ave. in Scranton once the former Globe store on Wyoming Avenue is ready to house government operations. Last year, officials solicited proposals from developers interested in purchasing it. After receiving only two proposals — one from Scranton-based DFM Properties and another from Allentown-based Jefferson-Werner LLC — the county rejected both and announced it would instead sell the building via sealed bids.

— JEFF HORVATH