As the Scranton School District’s deficit continues to grow, the Pennsylvania Department of Education placed the district in financial recovery status today.

The step, which includes having a chief recovery officer work full-time onsite, was one that district officials hoped to avoid. Financial recovery is one step before receivership, which would include the state taking control of operations. Under financial recovery, the school board still has power to govern and make final decisions.

The school district received notice about 4:30 this afternoon.

“At this time, I have no comment,” Superintendent Alexis Kirijan, Ed.D., said. “I have sent the information to the board. I plan on discussing everything with the board.”

Rosemary Boland, president of the Scranton Federation of Teachers, said she received a call from Gov. Tom Wolf this afternoon.

“We take this seriously, of course,” said Boland, whose members have worked under an expired contract since 2017. “I told him I appreciate the fact that he’s thinking about us.”

Scranton, which last year had the largest accumulated deficit in the state, joins Harrisburg, York City, Duquesne City, Chester Upland and Penn Hills in recovery.

The chief recovery officer, to be named by the state, will work with school officials to implement a financial plan to lead the district into solvency and position it for academic success. Chief recovery officers have backgrounds in school leadership and business management and have direct access to PDE experts.

In addition, a special advisory committee established by the school board will work with the recovery officer to provide recommendations and feedback on the financial recovery plan. The committee will meet with the recovery officer on a monthly basis.

Scranton has been designated as a financial watch district since June 2017, receiving technical assistance from PDE on financial and budgetary issues. It also received $2 million in additional state revenue during the 2017-18 school year and $6 million during the 2018-19 school year.

Despite these efforts, the district continues to experience ongoing and significant financial difficulties and now meets relevant criteria to be placed in recovery status, including:

n The district’s unreserved fund balance has declined for three consecutive years and is less than five percent of the school district’s annual expenditures.

n The district’s total outstanding debt is greater than the school district’s total annual expenditures.

n The district experiences a delinquent tax rate of more than 10 percent.

n The assessed valuation of taxable real estate in the district, as certified by the State Tax Equalization Board, has not increased over the previous five years.

n The district experienced a deficit of three percent or more for three consecutive school years, resulting in a reduction of unassigned fund balance each year.

The district has until Jan. 30 to appeal this designation to Secretary of Education Pedro A. Rivera. If an appeal is not filed by then, PDE will appoint a chief recovery officer within five days.

Check back for updates.

Contact the writer: shofius@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9133; @hofiushallTT on Twitter

FELL TWP. — A Mayfield woman abandoned three dogs by leaving them in a Simpson apartment for weeks after she moved out, investigators say.

Mandy Lee Pearson, 28, 608 Hill St., was arraigned Tuesday by Magisterial District Judge Sean McGraw on three counts of animal cruelty and related charges.

Carbondale police accused Pearson of failing to properly care for the dogs after she moved out of a second-floor apartment at 602 Main St. in mid-November.

Officers discovered the malnourished dogs Jan. 1, when, acting on a tip, they went to the apartment with members of the In Pursuit of Grace animal rescue group.

According to the arrest affidavit prepared by Patrolmen Tim Mackrell and Robert Williams, the dogs, which appeared to be pit bull mixes, were visibly emaciated. The room where the dogs were found was covered in feces, as were their kennels and bowls.

The apartment had no heat or running water, and police later determined Pearson was never a legal tenant there, the affidavit said.

Pearson, who arrived after the animals were removed, told police she tried to take the dogs to a shelter but could not pay the $80 fee the shelter wanted for each animal, the affidavit said. She also admitted she moved out of the apartment about 1 1/2

months earlier.

In addition to animal cruelty, Pearson was charged with animal neglect, criminal trespass and criminal mischief. She also faces a charge of recklessly endangering another person after Williams was bitten by one of the dogs, which were not vaccinated, police said.

McGraw released Pearson on $10,000 unsecured bail pending a preliminary hearing at 11:45 a.m. Wednesday.

The dogs were taken to Griffin Pond Animal Shelter, police said.

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

SCRANTON —Police are investigating a man struck by a car on Seventh Avenue this evening.

Emergency crews responded to the Sunoco at 5:34 p.m. where a Subaru hatchback struck an approximately 40-year-old man, Sgt. Robert McCool said.

The man suffered a leg injury, but McCool was unsure if he had any additional injuries. The Subaru’s windshield was smashed.

The man was transported by ambulance to Geisinger Community Medical Center. Seventh Avenue remains closed surrounding the gas station as police investigate.

Check back for updates

OLD FORGE — A divided Old Forge School Board was deadlocked in a vote to appoint a new board member when community members in attendance urged them to come to a solution Wednesday night.

After almost an hour of back-and-forth, sometimes hostile conversation between the board and the audience, directors voted 5-3 to appoint Brian Guida as the next school board director.

Guida, a Valley View High School learning support teacher, fills the seat of Julie Grimes, who cited the divided board among her reasons for resigning in December.

Addressing the board after the vote, Guida said he was humbled and looking forward to getting started in the position. He wants to help open communication between minority and majority board members after what he witnessed Wednesday night, he added after the meeting.

“I want to put children and education first,” Guida said.

The division on the board was clear Wednesday as members initially could not agree on meeting minutes, adding items to the agenda or the new director. After three rounds of failed nominations, directors discussed leaving the appointment up to the Court of Common Pleas, sparking frustration from audience members, including a few who were vying for the seat.

“You guys sit here and fight … like children and cause this animosity between each other, which is absolutely ridiculous,” said Old Forge resident Ray Novak. “We voted for you to do the right thing for our kids and not one of you can sit there and do the right thing ... you have to sit and vote divided on everything.”

Board Vice President Jenna Jones Shotwell worried a court would not appoint a director in the best interest of the district.

By 8:30 p.m. — 90 minutes after the meeting began — Shotwell moved to vote again to appoint a new member. Then, Director Patrick Aulisio motioned to appoint Guida despite earlier voting separately for Rob McDonnell and Kelly Tansley. Shotwell, Thomas, and Directors Alisha Hudak and Marie Ciuferri voted for Guida. Directors Joan Wilk and Megan McCabe and President Frank Scavo voted no.

Guida will serve until December. His wife is a district art teacher and his sons are Old Forge students. A West Scranton High School graduate, Guida holds a bachelor’s degree from Wilkes University, a master’s degree in special education from Marywood University and is working toward a post-graduate certificate in school leadership from Delaware Valley University.

Guida is an Old Forge community volunteer and donates his time to the Old Forge Cemetery Association and Old Forge Little League and biddy basketball, among other organizations.

Former school board members Robert Notari, Tansley and Jason O’Hearn were among the applicants. Former district director of special education Vanessa Nee and community members Eric Kania, McDonnell and Gary Salijko also applied for the seat.

In other business, the board accepted the resignation of district Director of Technology Gerald Marsh. His last day is Feb. 1.

Contact the writer:

kbolus@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5114;

@kbolusTT on Twitter

SCRANTON — Kristen Andrews of Scranton has been watching “Wheel of Fortune” so long, she can’t quite remember when she started.

Her grandmother, Aileen Andrews, figures Kristen was about 3 years old when they started watching the show together after dinner during visits to Aileen’s Scranton home. On Wednesday night, the pair viewed a special episode of the game show with dozens of family and friends at the Waldorf Park Social Club — one where Kristen, 33, won close to $21,200, which included a trip to Ireland.

“I still can’t believe it,” said Kristen, who wore the same nametag Wednesday as she did during the taping of the show.

The path that took the Commonwealth Charter Academy teacher to Los Angeles for the taping of the show started a few months ago. She and her husband, Cheyne Wago, watch “Wheel of Fortune” and learned that a “Wheelmobile” would visit Mount Airy Casino in September, so they decided to go.

The Wheelmobile is a traveling version of “Wheel of Fortune” used to find candidates to appear on episodes. Andrews filled out an application and had her name drawn to play a round of the show there. Then, she got called for an audition in Philadelphia.

She was shocked when she got the letter that she’d been invited to compete during a late-November taping of the show, Andrews said.

Andrews brought along her husband, brother, aunt, and, of course, Aileen.

Meeting hosts Pat Sajak and Vanna White was incredible, Andrews said. Sajak has a way of making contestants feel at ease and comfortable. White is more beautiful in person than on the TV screen.

The size — and weight — of the show’s eponymous wheel provided the biggest surprise of the experience, Andrews said. It’s much smaller than it appears on TV, but deceptively heavy and took some real effort to spin.

“I’m glad it wasn’t any bigger than it was,” she said.

On Wednesday, those gathered at the watch party applauded when Andrews guessed letters correctly and groaned with frustration when a spin landed on the dreaded black-and-white “Bankrupt” tile.

Perhaps the loudest, wildest cheers came when Sajak told Andrews she had won the trip to Ireland and when Andrews spun and landed on a million dollar tile, which enabled her to play for that amount later in the show. She would solve that puzzle: “There are so many castles” proved the correct phrase. The answer to the final round — “Annoying Buzzer” — which would have won Andrews the $1 million, just eluded her.

At the end of the night, Andrews said winning the show was nice and she can’t wait to take the trip to Ireland, but just the experience of being on the show and watching it with family and friends was the real prize.

“This is unbelievable. There is nothing I can compare this to,” Andrews said. “I’m on cloud nine.”

Contact the writer:

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

@ClaytonOver on Twitter

Jan. 16, 1919

City a bed for social unrest

Marguerite Jordan of the National Housing Association gave two lectures while in Scranton.

Her first talk was at a meeting at the Century Club on Jan. 15. During her talk she said, “You have one of the best culture beds for social unrest here in Scranton that I have ever seen. We are facing a very serious industrial situation and I am sure you would rather have me come and tell you it, one who is friendly, than some socialist or anarchist worker who would upset conditions before the situation is realized.”

Her second talk was Jan. 16 in the Scranton Board of Trade’s auditorium. She told those gathered about the poor housing conditions in the city and how those conditions lead to crime and vice. She also spoke about the city’s high infant death rate and how the influenza death rate is out of proportion for a city the size of Scranton.

She said the city could fix its problems through “thoughtful and judicious management” and that better housing would help the city’s industrial sector.

Panel to raise funds for sanitarium

A committee was formed to raise $8,000 to support the work of the West Mountain Sanitarium.

The campaign will begin on Jan. 20 and run for seven days. The campaign committee has sent out buttons to local businessmen to sell. Each button must be sold at a minimum of 25 cents.

The sanitarium opened in 1903 for the treatment of tuberculosis. On Jan. 16, 1919, there were 29 patients at the facility, 20 of them children.

Scranton Dry Goods

has a big sale

Shoe clearance with prices starting as low as 48 cents, assorted gloves priced between 38 cents to $1, men’s flannel shirts priced between $1.95 and $4.99, leather traveling bag for $5 and stationery for 29 cents.

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.

WILKES-BARRE — When someone suffers a stroke, Jefferson University Hospital neurologist Dr. Omar Shah says “time is brain.”

That’s why a new telemedicine collaboration with Commonwealth Health is important for local patients and could save lives.

Speaking from a screen on a high-tech mobile robotic system, Shah demonstrated the telemedicine technology Tuesday at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital by communicating with emergency room doctor Dr. David Grasso and mock patient Jill Cook, the hospital’s interim ER director.

In addition to Wilkes-Barre General, the stroke telemedicine program also is in operation at four other Commonwealth Hospitals: Moses Taylor Hospital in Scranton, Regional Hospital of Scranton, Tyler Memorial Hospital in Tunkhannock and Berwick Hospital Center.

The technology provides local patients with access to Jefferson Health’s comprehensive stroke program and an immediate link to top neuroscience specialists around the clock from Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia.

“This allows smaller community hospitals advanced stroke care within minutes,” Shah said. “It allows patients to stay closer to their homes and still get up-to-the-minute very advanced care very quickly.”

Through the telemedicine program, an emergency room physician at Commonwealth Health places a call to Jefferson and requests a consultation.

Within minutes, the Jefferson neurospecialist on call uses a computer or iPhone to connect via the robot to see and speak with the attending physician, patient and family members.

The Jefferson physician obtains the patient’s medical history, examines the patients, reviews CT scans and lab results and provides recommendations for immediate treatment.

A decision is then made to either admit the patient to a Commonwealth Health facility for continued care or to transfer him or her to a hospital such as Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience for more advanced care.

Shah said providing this advanced care quickly is important because every minute someone has a stroke, he or she is losing 1.9 million brain cells.

“Every minute, you’re aging around three weeks,” Shah said. “Time is really important to stroke management.”

Commonwealth Health’s collaboration with Jefferson Neuroscience Network reduces the amount of time it takes for a neurologist to see a patient who suffered a stroke, Shah said.

Smaller community hospitals have fewer neurologists and it takes time for them to come to emergency rooms to see a patient who suffered a stroke, look through the imaging and make recommendations, he said.

Contact the writer:
dallabaugh@citizensvoice.com;

570-821-2115;

@CVAllabaugh on Twitter

SOUTH ABINGTON TWP. — Rosie Culkin saw the figures flitting effortlessly atop the black ice from her school bus window as it traveled along Winola Road on Tuesday afternoon and knew she had to join the fun.

Skating returned to Hillside Park on Tuesday, the first time this season. The 12-year-old excitedly reported her findings as soon as she arrived home, and her mother brought her over for some ice time.

“She said, ‘They’re down on the pond, they’re down on the pond. We need to go,’ ” mom Mary Kate Culkin said from the shore. “She was so excited. It’s a perfect day for it.”

Rosie glided across the ice with dozens of others, only pausing for Mary Kate to snap a photo of her on the ice. Some skated — Rosie was working on learning to skate backward, she said from the ice — while others poked pucks with hockey sticks.

Clarks Summit resident Ken Lee, who monitors the ice and helps maintain skating gear at the park, said the ice measured four inches thick when checked Tuesday morning, the minimum thickness to open the pond to skaters. For now, anyone can show up at the park and skate as long as the ice thickness stays above the safety threshold, Lee said. People can check ice conditions daily on the Hillside Park Facebook page, Lee said.

On weekdays, skaters must bring their own skates and other ice accessories, such as hockey sticks and pucks. On weekends, volunteers will open the “skate shed,” where people can take out skates and sticks to use for free, Lee said. The shed will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, Lee said.

It looks like the ice will maintain skating thickness for the foreseeable future. High temperatures are expected to rise above the freezing mark today, Friday and Sunday, but not enough to see any rapid melting, AccuWeather meteorologist John Feerick said. A storm over the weekend will bring cold air that will drag high temperatures down to the teens early next week, he added.

Volunteers at the park could have their work cut out for them in the near future, though. Volunteers shovel snow off the ice to keep it skatable, Lee said. A storm Thursday night could bring one to three inches of snowfall to the area, Feerick said. Another storm Saturday into Sunday will bring a wintry mix of sleet, rain and snow that could leave a plowable accumulation on the ground, he said.

Anyone who would like to volunteer to run the skate shed or help maintain the ice for skating should message Ken Lee on Facebook or call him at 570-905-3599.

Contact the writer:

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

@ClaytonOver on Twitter

MARRIAGE LICENSE

• John Anthony Gulden and Emma Grace Lake, both of Scranton.

PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS

• Donald G. Clark and Arletta Fulkerson, Spring Brook Twp., to Suzanne C. Pehanich, Scranton; a property at 577 State Route 690, Maple Lake Road, Spring Brook Twp., for $131,600.

• Richard Berezinsky, Myrtle Beach, S.C., to Gina Wassell, Scranton; a property at 420 Cherry St., Scranton, for $35,000.

• Mary N. Burton, Lacka­wanna County, to Bernadette Marie Bellington, Lackawanna County; a property at 1 Clover Lane, Scott Twp., for $147,500.

• Yeshivath Beth Moshe — the Milton Eisner Yeshiva High School of Northeastern Pennsyl­vania, Rabbi Yehoshuah and Chana Penstein, Scranton, to 501 Monroe LLC, Scranton; a property at 501 Monroe Ave. and Vine St., Scranton, for $176,000.

• Kenneth and Linda Powell, Scott Twp., to Jill A. and Jerome J. Ball-Liuzzo, Archbald; a property at 113 Falcon Lane, Arch­bald, for $315,000.

• Marshall Squire Properties LLC, Clarks Summit, to Glenn and Beth Ann Czulada, Coving­ton Twp.; a property at 35 Pine Tree Drive, Covington Twp., for $235,000.

• Stephen L. and Tina Young, Newton Twp., to Albert Traettino, Clarks Summit; a property at 308 Greenwood Ave., Clarks Summit, for $95,000.

• Jeffrey J. Danilovitz, Moosic, and Jaren Zilinski, Staten Island, N.Y., to Mark A. Brown, Hanover Twp.; a property at 1131 Spring Brook Ave., Moosic, for $52,000.

• Dolores Sarnoski, Carbon­dale, to Tiffany Shaffer, Carbon­dale; a property in Fell Twp. for $70,000.

• Gina Tomassoni to Maggie M. Gething and Jamie L. Rowe; a property at 457 Thomas St., Archbald, for $112,000.

• Edward Dominiak, also known as Edward F. Dominiak, by attorney-in-fact, Susan M. Sopko, South Abington Twp., to Daniel M. Grieboski; and Tracy A. and Byron J. Alemkinder; a property at 811 Griffin Pond Road, South Abington Twp., for $85,000.

DIVORCES SOUGHT

• Kristy Ciesielski, Simpson, v. Frank Ciesielski, Wayne County; married Feb. 20, 2018, in Hawley; pro se.

• Jamie Cooper v. Gary Cooper Sr., Scranton; married June 24, 2006, in Scranton; Joseph F. Gaughan, attorney.

ESTATES FILED

• James S. Naro, 202 Eliza­beth St., Dunmore, letters of administration to James C. Naro, same address.

• Barbara A. Turock, 817 Hill­top Drive, Clarks Summit, letters testamentary to Michael Turock, 109 Wynnwood Road, Dalton.

• Maria Mackarey, 1419 Lafayette St., Scranton, letters testamentary to Michele Petro­ziello, 221 Elm Drive, Elmhurst Twp.

• Edward Evans, 1111 Jack­son St., Scranton, letters of administration to William G. Evans Sr., 1469 Layton Road, Scott Twp.

• Janice Mary Gastinger, also known as Janice M. Gastinger, 700 Carmalt St., Apt. 2, Dick­son City, letters of administration to Tina Marie Shimo, same address.

• Raymond E. Altenburger, 102 Emily Ave., Scranton, letters of administration to Ray­mond E. Altenburger Jr., 210 Wisteria Drive, Oxford, Ga.

• Marianne B. Kleha, also known as Marianne Kleha, 917 Taylor Ave., Scranton, letters testamentary to Kimberly Kleha, 918 Taylor Ave., Scranton.

• Albert Ventura, 314 Luzerne St., Scranton, letters testamentary to Loriann Sweeney, same address.

ONLINE:

thetimes-tribune.com/courts

TAMAQUA — The Tamaqua Area School Board voted Tuesday to put a controversial policy that would allow for armed staff on hold.

Directors voted 7-1 to suspend the implementation of school district Policy 705 “pending a resolution as to its validity” by Schuylkill County Court.

Director Nicholas Boyle, who heads the Safety Committee and championed the policy, was the lone “no” vote.

In explaining his reasoning, Boyle said that the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission in Florida recently recommended arming staff. He said that the commission found that teachers and administrators are often the first ones killed during active shooter situations.

Furthermore, he said, a deputy who responded to the mass shooting incident at the Florida high school last year arrived more than a minute and a half after the first shot was fired.

“By the time he arrived, 21 victims had already been shot,” Boyle said.

He added that backing down on the policy is an assault on Second Amendment rights.

“This goes against the values of this community, who the majority of are freedom-loving Americans,” Boyle said. “My vote is no.”

School board President Larry Wittig told Boyle that he was proud of the amount of time he put into researching the policy.

“I agree in principle, certainly, with what you stated tonight. And actually, my personal feeling is that we need to suspend the implementation not the substance of (policy) 705 — the implementation — pending the outcome of the court decision,” Wittig said. “We would invest a lot of money in training, a lot of time and effort to train staff. I think it’s a prudent thing from a fiscal perspective to deny — or suspend — implementation at this time.”

Director Thomas Rottet was absent.

Since the policy was approved in September, two lawsuits have been filed against it. The first, filed in November, was from the teachers union, and the second came this month from district parents and grandparents.

Both lawsuits ask that the policy be dropped, and claim that the board doesn’t have the authority to change Pennsylvania school code.

Neither lawsuit asks for monetary damages, only legal fees. Both would be dropped if the policy — the first in Pennsylvania — is withdrawn.

Last month, the district filed preliminary objections to the union’s suit.

The school board adopted the policy, which would allow staff members to carry concealed weapons, as a defense against shooting situations.

Under the policy, volunteer school personnel would undergo Act 235 training — a state requirement for anyone who carries a gun as part of their job. The training is similar to that of state and municipal police officers. Armed staffers would also receive a stipend.

Contact the writer:

jwhalen@standardspeaker.com; 570-501-3592

HONESDALE
Wayne Memorial awarded $1.57M

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers a $1.57 million Health Center Cluster grant.

The grant provides funding for the multi-specialty group that provides primary care, women’s health and other specialties, according to an announcement from U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright’s office.

Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers is affiliated with the Wayne Memorial Health System Inc., based in Honesdale.

As a federally qualified health center, the group accepts most private insurance and offers a sliding fee scale based on patient income to make health care more accessible.

— JON O’CONNELL

SCRANTON — U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright has picked up a new subcommittee assignment as part of his duties.

Cartwright, D-8, Moosic, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, will join appropriations’ Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Subcommittee. He will also continue as a member of appropriations’ Commerce, Justice, and Science Subcommittee and the Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee.

In November, fellow House Democrats elected Cartwright as one of three co-chairs of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee.

With the new duties, Cartwright will leave the House Oversight and Reform Committee, his chief of staff said.

— BORYS KRAWCZENIUK

Abingtons

Center cruise: Abington Senior Center cruise to the Bahamas, Dec. 1-8; information: center, 570-586-8996.

Dunmore

Communion breakfast: SS. Anthony and Rocco Holy Name Society’s 62nd annual Com­munion breakfast, Feb. 3, 9:30 a.m., La Buona Vita, following 8:30 a.m. Mass at St. Anthony’s, principal speaker and recipient of the society’s Pio Ferrario Award for Christian Witness: Teddy Michel, regional director of the Ignatian Volun­teer Corps of NEPA; toastmaster: Frank Castellano, court administrator for Lackawanna County; $12/adults and $8/under 12; 570-343-6613.

East Scranton

Bus trip: East Scranton Seniors casino bus trip to Tioga Downs, Feb. 5, bus leaves 9:30 a.m. and leaves casino at 5 p.m. to return; $34, includes $30/slots and $10/food rebate, photo ID required; Tom, 570-280-5096.

Neighbors meet: Hill Neighbor­hood Association meeting, Wednesday, 6 p.m., lower level of St. Peter’s Evangelical Luthern Church, Taylor Avenue at Ash Street.

Moosic

Dog licenses: Lackawanna County Treasurer’s Office and borough officials announced that dog licenses will be available for residents, Jan. 29, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Borough Build­ing, 715 Main St.

Old Forge

Reunion meeting: Old Forge High School class of 1964 meeting, Jan. 24, 7 p.m., Arcaro and Genell, Main Street, to make plans for its 55th reunion.

Regional

Prayer breakfast: Scranton Chapter of Pennsylvanians for Human Life annual Respect Life Prayer Breakfast, Feb. 2, 9 a.m., Fiorelli Catering, 1501 Main St., Peckville, principal speaker: Seth Drayer, vice president of Created Equal, a pro-life education and outreach organization exposing the truth about abortion. He has appeared on national television shows including Fox and Friends and Hannity, reservations must be made and paid in advance, $22/adults, $10/6-12 and free/under 5, with check made payable to Pennsylvanians for Human Life and mailed to Anne Domin, 632 Gardner Road, Elmhurst Twp., PA 18444, your check is your reservation, no tickets needed.

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.

SCRANTON — A new grocery store and pharmacy opened at 940 Jefferson Ave. on Tuesday.

Valley Supermarket stocks a tidy, thoughtful inventory of packaged food, fresh produce and home cleaning supplies.

The grocery store, an affiliate of the Valley Mart gas stations in Wilkes-Barre and Dallas Twp., also offers a robust selection of Indian, Middle Eastern and Latino foods.

Tall shelves in one section are filled with bulk rice, packaged cookies and sweets, dates and other dried fruit that would seem out of place in most other grocery stores.

A swell of immigrants to Scranton over the last decade or so led Valley Supermarket owner Nick Patel to stock his shelves with food from other lands. He said the robust Indian, Nepalese, Pakistani and Spanish-speaking populations, among others, have few options to find food from their homelands.

Krishna Rai, a community organizer who works with Nepalese refugees in Northeast Pennsylvania, said South Scranton has three Nepalese grocery stores, but none in other parts of town where potential customers live.

“We have people scattered,” he said.

“Some of them live in the Hill Section, some West Side, some South Side,” he said adding, that many people living in the Hill Section can easily walk to the new grocery store.

Patel bought the building, the former Delta Medix ear, nose and throat center, in March 2018 for $675,000 and converted it to a grocery store, according to county property records.

On Wednesday, employees checked inventory, arranged shelves and met with a stream of suppliers while contractors finished some painting and trim work outside. New customers trickled in from outside to explore.

Patel said he offers free delivery for pharmacy customers and is considering whether to offer grocery delivery, too.

It’s his first foray into Lackawanna County, and his first retail spot without a gas station component.

But he believes that the specific spot, where Jefferson Avenue meets Ash Street, puts him close to a number of underserved markets.

Giant Food Store in Green Ridge and Gerrity’s along Meadow Avenue are both about two miles away in opposite directions. Riccardo’s Market is about a mile away in Dunmore.

“The main reason I put it over there is because of walking distance,” Patel said.

He is counting on drawing daily foot traffic from loved ones visiting patients at Moses Taylor Hospital and Regional Hospital of Scranton, which are just a few blocks away, to buy hot coffee and snacks.

The Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine is nearby, too, and he expects medical students will walk down for frozen dinners and other groceries after class.

Contact the writer:

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

@jon_oc on Twitter

Cook-off contest

Belle Reve culinary staff, including Bill Meurer, director of dining services; chef Fred Rolff and cooks Rodney Quick and Chris Felton, squared off in a chili cook-off at the senior living center on Jan. 11.

The staff members prepared their favorite chili recipes and then those in attendance put their taste buds to the test to decide the chili champion.

Meurer’s chili was declared the winner for his twist on traditional chili by adding hot dogs.

“Belle Reve’s annual chili cook-off is a fun event and I enjoyed being a part of it alongside my colleagues,” said Meurer. “I love what I do and I am humbled that the residents and guests voted for my recipe.”

Meurer found his love for cooking while serving in the Navy. After his service was complete, he attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, and has been creating meal options for residents since 2006.

High notes

Teddy Michel, regional director of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps of NEPA, will serve as principal speaker during SS. Anthony and Rocco Holy Name Society’s 62nd annual Communion breakfast.

Michel will also receive the society’s Pio Ferrario Award for Christian Witness.

Frank Castellano, court administrator for Lacka-wanna County, will serve as toastmaster.

The Communion breakfast is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 3, at 9:30 a.m., following 8:30 a.m. Mass at St. Anthony’s, at La Buona Vita. Cost is $12 for adults and children under 12 are $8. For tickets, contact 570-343-6613.

Stars in stripes

Army National Guard Pvt. Sabrina R. Bannister and Pvt. Morgan A. Jones have enlisted in the Army National Guard.

Bannister will serve as a signal intelligence collector with 28th Infantry Division, Harrisburg Military Post. She is daughter of Basil I. Bannister and Angela M. Bonafide, both of Scranton, and a 2015 graduate of Scranton High School.

Jones will serve as a health care specialist with the 337th Engineer Battalion, Pennsylvania Army National Guard. She will graduate this year from North Pocono High School.

SCOTT TWP. — Only one person raised concerns Wednesday about Lakeland School District’s proposed plan to reconfigure two of its schools, but he seemed to share the sentiment of many.

At least 75 people attended Wednesday’s school board meeting, the first since the district publicized a proposal to restructure its Mayfield and Scott campuses. Both campuses serve kindergarten through sixth grade, but the district floated the idea of sending all kindergarten to second-grade students to the Mayfield Campus, and all third- to sixth-graders to the Scott Campus. Superintendent William King estimated it would affect about 560 children.

Both King and board President Henry Stachura explained why the district is considering the restructuring.

“We want to try to create some continuity,” King said, explaining students would spend 13 years together.

Stachura agreed.

“We will do what we can to make Lakeland run as efficiently for the kids,” Stachura said. “If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out, but it would be the right thing to do.”

Although the board said it would not respond to public comment, directors invited anyone to speak.

Jeff Meoni of Scott Twp., who has one child in first grade and another starting kindergarten next year, was the sole audience member to address the board. After the meeting adjourned, audience members approached Meoni to thank him for addressing the board.

Meoni pointed out that neither parents nor students had been asked for their thoughts about restructuring.

Following the meeting, King said they will discuss the reconfiguration with teachers during an upcoming in-service, and they will hold a meeting — likely in early March — dedicated to polling the public. The school board will make a decision about restructuring by May, King said.

Additionally, Meoni estimated that the some students would be forced to spend as much as 90 minutes on the bus if the district restructures. He asked the district to look into how an elongated school day, because of longer bus rides, might affect student grades.

This year, students spend up to 50 minutes on the bus, King said after the meeting. Their goal is to ensure no students spend more than an hour on the bus if they restructure.

“That is a critical piece,” King said.

Among other issues, Meoni also said the public needs to know how the district would address a lack of bathrooms in classrooms for kindergartners at the Mayfield Campus.

The district has five kindergarten classes — three at the Scott Campus and two at the Mayfield Campus — and each classroom has its own bathroom, King said. The restructuring would leave the district with two bathrooms for five classes, and officials would need to decide whether they want to add bathrooms for each class, he said after the meeting, noting the district isn’t required to have bathrooms in every class.

Stachura thought Meoni’s concerns were shared by other audience members, but the superintendent said he was “a little disappointed” that only one person spoke.

“We want lots of questions,” he said. “I appreciated all the things he (Meoni) brought up. … It’s impossible for us to think of all the scenarios, but with input from parents, input from teachers … there’s things that they’re thinking about that maybe we haven’t thought about.”

Contact the writer:

flesnefsky@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5181;

@flesnefskyTT on Twitter

Jan. 17, 1969

Court rejects petition by A Go-Go owners

Lackawanna Court Judges Edwin Kosik and Richard Conaboy denied a petition by the owners to the What’s Happening A Go-Go seeking to reopen the Pittston Avenue nightclub.

The club was ordered closed by Scranton Public Safety Director Frank Longo on Jan. 14 following several complaints and petitions by residents to revoke the club’s license. Residents were upset with the bad behaviors of the club’s patrons before, during and after shows.

The judges denied the request because the legal procedure used by the attorneys representing the club owners was improper.

Top songs of the week

Here is list of songs popular with teens in Scranton: “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me” by Diana Ross & the Supremes and The Temptations, “Wichita Lineman” by Glen Campbell, “Hooked On a Feeling” by B.J. Thomas and “Touch Me” by the Doors.

Weekend fun

At the clubs: “Little Bit of Soul” at Tippers in Archbald, Jimmy Roma at the El Dorado in Scranton, “The Irish Balladeers” at Clancy’s Bar in Scranton, “The Fabulous Chandells” at Merry-K in Scranton and “The Furness Brothers” at the Weldwood Lounge on the Scranton-Carbondale Highway.

At the movies: “A Flea in Her Ear” at the Comerford, “Gone With the Wind” at Cinema North, “The Night They Raided Minsky’s” at the West Side, “A Lovely Way to Die” at the Comerford Drive-In, “Born Wild” at the Mid-Valley Drive-In, “The Boston Strangler” at the Roosevelt and the “The Impossible Years” at the Strand.

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.

TEXAS TWP. — A Philadelphia man is accused of robbing a township store of more than $19,000 in October.

Terrell Boozer, 31, is charged with conspiracy to commit robbery stemming from the Oct. 19 hold up at Tri-State Tobacco, 350 Grandview Ave. Boozer and two accomplices are accused of committing the heist. Philadelphia police arrested Boozer after a traffic stop there last week. One of the other suspects is in custody and will be transferred to Wayne County, likely sometime next week, District Attorney Patrick Robinson said. A third suspect is still at large, Robinson said.

Boozer is held in Wayne County Correctional Facility in lieu of $150,000. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.

— CLAYTON OVER

GREENE TWP. — A Pike County man faces charges of possessing and disseminating child pornography.

Eric John Goller, 29, Greentown, was arrested and charged Tuesday with transferring images and videos of child pornography over the Shareaza file-sharing network between May and December, state police at Blooming Grove said.

His arrest followed an investigation by the Bureau of Criminal Investigation Northeast Computer Crime Unit that included the seizure of Goller’s laptop during the execution of a search warrant Dec. 18, police said.

Goller was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Shannon L. Muir on four counts of child pornography, two counts of disseminating photos or films of child sex acts and one count of criminal use of a communication facility. He remains in the Pike County Prison on $40,000 bail.

His preliminary hearing is set for Jan. 29.

— STAFF REPORT