WILKES-BARRE — City police are investigating a stabbing reported late Monday night in South Wilkes-Barre.
Police said a 25-year-old man reported he was walking on Arch Street shortly after 10 p.m. when an unknown person struck him.
The man reported being hit in the head and then stabbed in the leg with an unknown object, police said.
The victim then walked to his home and took a taxi to Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, where he was treated for his injuries.
No suspects had been identified.
SCRANTON — Pennsylvania American Water crews have repaired a pair of water main breaks that disrupted service to about 25 customers in South Scranton.
The breaks happened Tuesday in 6-inch mains in the 500 block of Fig Street and the 1300 block of Prospect Avenue, utility spokeswoman Susan Turcmanovich said. They were caused by a pressure change from opening valves.
Both lines were repaired and service was restored by midnight, Turcmanovich said.
— DAVID SINGLETON
WILKES-BARRE TWP. -- Township police are investigating a reported double shooting along Casey Avenue this morning.
Two men were reported to have been shot in the 600 block of Casey Avenue around 7 a.m.
They were rushed by ambulance for medical treatment and their conditions were not immediately known.
A black Honda Civic stopped in front of 605 Casey Ave. had broken windows and apparent bullet holes.
Yellow evidence markers stretched across the street, which was closed to traffic.
State troopers and Luzerne County detectives were assisting township police.
SCRANTON — Church bells will ring this afternoon in the Diocese of Scranton to show solidarity with the people of France after the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral.
Bishop Joseph C. Bambera is encouraging churches around the 11-county diocese to ring their bells at 12:50 p.m. — the time the fire started Monday in Paris — as a tribute of faith and a sign of hope.
The Cathedral of St. Peter in downtown Scranton, the mother church of the Diocese of Scranton, will be among the churches participating by ringing its bells for a period of five minutes.
— DAVID SINGLETON
SCRANTON — An Olyphant man turned himself in Wednesday to face charges he molested a Scranton girl for nine years beginning when she was 9 years old, city police said.
Jeremy W. Whiteduck, 33, was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge John Pesota on charges of indecent assault of a person less than 13 and corruption of minors.
Whiteduck initially gave the victim money to expose herself to him, police said. As she got older, he offered her more money to fondle her and have other inappropriate contact.
The Times-Tribune does not identify victims of sexual assault.
Whiteduck was released on $75,000 unsecured bail pending a preliminary hearing Wednesday at 11:30 a.m.
— DAVID SINGLETON
WILKES-BARRE — The Wilkes-Barre Area School District teacher accused of screaming and throwing rocks at the home of her estranged lover is now a fugitive after failing to appear in court Wednesday on driving under the influence charges.
Jamie Lynn Andrews, 37, of 70 Main St., Laflin, was set to appear in court Wednesday morning to plead guilty to driving under the influence of a controlled substance charges. Prosecutors allege she was using phentermine and oxycodone when she crashed into a rock wall and utility pole near her home the night of Sept. 8.
Andrews, who cited an illness when she requested a continuance of the case last month, failed to appear for the hearing, prompting Luzerne County Judge Joseph M. Augello to issue a bench warrant for her arrest.
School district solicitor Raymond Wendolowski said Andrews remains active as a Dodson Elementary School special education teacher despite her recent legal troubles because the allegations against her are not serious enough to disqualify her from teaching.
“At this point, she continues to be an employee of the district and to continue to perform the duties of her job,” Wendolowski said after learning about the warrant for her arrest.
In addition to the DUI case, Andrews was hit with criminal charges in February alleging she attacked the home of her estranged lover, Jeffrey Walkowiak, at 6 Michelle St. in Plains Twp. Police allege she crashed into a car parked in the driveway and proceeded to throw rocks at the house, smash a pane of glass on the front door, and to punch vehicles while screaming and yelling.
Last month, Andrews entered into an agreement to pay $1,179 in restitution in exchange for dropping the charges of criminal mischief, fleeing the scene of an accident and reckless driving in that case.
Magisterial District Judge Donald L. Whittaker agreed to hold the case open for two weeks to allow the payment to go through. However, as of Wednesday the case remained active with a new preliminary hearing scheduled for next week.
It was not immediately clear whether Andrews failed to make payment or if the case remained open for another reason.
Andrews is also facing summary charges of harassment and criminal mischief in several other cases. The allegations against her include that she slashed the tire of a vehicle belonging to Walkowiak’s wife, Jessica Walkowiak, and that she began hitting and scratching Jeffrey Walkowiak after he tried breaking off their relationship.
Jeffrey Walkowiak has filed for two protection-from-abuse orders against Andrews. The first application says he had her involuntarily committed for a mental health evaluation because “she told me if there was no us there would be no her.”
Andrews also filed a PFA of her own in February, alleging Jeffrey Walkowiak had choked her and spat on her in addition to calling her names.
Records show both parties later dropped the protection-from-abuse orders.
SCRANTON — A North Pocono man is charged with statutory sexual assault and corruption of minors after city police say he had intercourse with a 14-year-old Scranton girl.
Joseph Kunin, 25, 441 Main St., Gouldsboro, surrendered to police Monday and was released on $50,000 unsecured bail after arraignment before Magisterial District Judge George Seig.
The victim, who first encountered Kunin on the dating application Tinder, told police Kunin initially identified himself as a 17-year-old but later said he was 19. She said their relationship ended when he became possessive and she learned his true age after he purchased alcohol for her, according to the arrest affidavit.
The Times-Tribune does not identify victims of sexual assault.
Kunin’s preliminary hearing is scheduled Monday at 9:45 a.m.
— DAVID SINGLETON
GREENFIELD TWP. — The Greenfield Twp. Sewer Authority was awarded a $2 million low-interest loan to make improvements on the township’s sewer plant.
The Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority, or Pennvest, approved the loan among $69 million in funding for drinking water, wastewater and storm water projects in 14 counties across the state.
The loan will fund installation of a new influent screen, a fine-bubble aeration system and an automated dissolved oxygen control system among other improvements at the sewer plant that will benefit 561 residential properties and 1,440 residents, according to a news release from state State Rep. Bridget M. Kosierowski, D-114, Waverly Twp.
— JON O’CONNELL
HONESDALE — A Wayne County man faces attempted homicide charges for an assault on an 18-month-old child.
Dustin Michael Hazen, 27, Honesdale, is accused of causing multiple and severe injuries to a toddler boy in his care Monday morning, District Attorney Patrick Robinson announced today.
According to investigators, the child’s mother discovered the boy crying uncontrollably when she came home Monday around noon. It was found the boy had numerous non-accidental bruises over much of his body.
Hazen is charged with attempted homicide, strangulation, aggravated and simple assault.
Check back for updates.
Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9132
A Lackawanna County jury found a Scranton man not guilty of charges he raped a young girl several years ago.
Richard J. Dixon,40, was charged in October 2017 with rape of a child, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault and corruption of a minor after a teenage girl came forward to allege he sexually abused her from June 2010 through December 2011,when she was about 5 years old.
According to court records, the teen alleged Dixon groped her genitals; the sexual contact later escalated to sexual intercourse.
The case went to trial before Judge Andy Jarbola on Monday. The jury deliberated for about 2 1/2 hours before rendering its verdict Tuesday, said Dixon’s attorney, Paul Walker of Scranton.
Walker on Wednesday said he believes the jury was influenced by inconsistencies in the teenager’s testimony and by the fact there was no corroborating evidence.
Attempts to reach Lackawanna County District Attorney Mark Powell for comment were unsuccessful.
Dixon was serving a state prison sentence on unrelated drug charges when he was charged with the sexual assault.
Walker said he has completed that sentence, but remains in custody on a detainer that was based on the sexual assault charges. He said Dixon will be returned to state prison, but he expects him to be released once the detainer is lifted.
Contact the writer: tbesecker@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9137; @tmbeseckerTT on Twitter
A former contract worker at Lackawanna County Prison was sentenced Wednesday to 14 months in federal prison for aiding the smuggling of drugs and tobacco into the jail.
Senior U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo imposed the sentence on Jerry DeFazio, 40, of Archbald.
DeFazio pleaded guilty in December 2017, to providing and attempting to provide oxycodone, suboxone and tobacco to inmates between November 2015 and April 2016, in exchange for payments ranging from $50 to $600.
DeFazio facilitated the smuggling of items into the prison by inmates, according to investigators.
DeFazio was among three people charged in connection with a smuggling investigation at the jail. Deanna Tallo and Thomas Coss previously pleaded guilty to obtaining and possessing prohibited items in the jail.
According to court records, Tallo smuggled contraband to Coss, her boyfriend at the time, while he was an inmate between July 2015 and April 2016. Both Tallo and Coss await sentencing.
Contact the writer: tbesecker@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9137; @tmbeseckerTT on Twitter.
SCRANTON — Lackawanna County should save about $7.5 million over the remaining term of a series of 2009 bonds when it refinances them this summer, county Chief Financial Officer Tom Durkin said today.
That $26.5 million 2009 bond issue reaches maturity in 2034, but the county will be able to refinance the bonds in June. The county will see the $7.5 million in net savings over the next 15 years, Durkin said, citing information from county’s financial advisor, Scranton-based Financial S&lutions LLC.
Durkin and other officials credit the expected savings to the county’s “A-stable” bond rating and a financial procedure known as a forward interest rate hedge the county entered into in late 2017. A forward interest rate hedge is a process by which a party, in this case the county, essentially places a bet with a counter party, in this case PNC Bank, on the future fluctuation of interest rates.
While the procedure itself is relatively complicated, Durkin said the county essentially bet PNC in 2017 that interest rates would rise, which they have. That means the county won the hedge and will receive a one-time payout that will be used to reduce the roughly $26.5 million debt service. The county will see a savings by refinancing less overall debt, Durkin said.
In other business today, commissioners voted unanimously to:
n Approve a 10-year Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance term for a proposed warehouse project in Jessup. The warehouse is proposed on two parcels, totaling 64.64 acres, at Alberigi Drive and Route 247.
The county is the third and final taxing body to approve the LERTA tax abatement, following the lead of both Jessup and the Valley View School District. Per the terms, the owner will pay only 10 percent of the assessed value of any improvements built on the property for the first year of the abatement. The taxable amount increases 10 percent each year, then 5 percent to reach 95 percent in the 10th year, after which the improvements are taxed fully.
The parcels are owned by BHR Development Group LLC, a firm with ties to Dominick DeNaples. Attorney Patrick Lavelle, who represents BHR, said Wednesday that two developers are “currently in position to purchase the subject property” pending the county’s approval of the LERTA.
Chicago-based developer Logistics Property Co. will build the warehouse after purchasing the land from BHR. In July, representatives for the developer said the warehouse could employ between 200 and 300 people.
Efforts to reach Lavelle to clarify after the meeting were unsuccessful.
n Enter into a purchase agreement to buy a body scanning device for Lackawanna County Prison from the Chinese company Nuctech. The device and five years of warranty coverage cost $113,000 that will be paid with inmate canteen account funds, not taxpayer dollars. The device makes the jail safer and is less intrusive than a traditional unclothed search, officials said.
n Renew an agreement with California-based eCivis for three years at a cost of $65,173.50. The company offers access to a grant management and accounting service that, among other things, helps the county find available grant money. The service more than pays for itself, officials said.
Contact the writer:
jhorvath@timesshamrock.com;
570-348-9141;
@jhorvathTT on Twitter
Lackawanna County Chief of Staff Fran Pantuso said Wednesday that her brother, Alfred D. Pantuso Jr., has entered into a plan to pay more than $60,000 in delinquent Scranton taxes and trash fees owed for several properties they jointly own.
The Times-Tribune reported earlier this month that the siblings owed the city at least $60,205, including about $47,447 in unpaid Scranton garbage fees for rental properties at 431 Phelps St., 449 Phelps St., 451 Phelps St., 455 Phelps St. and 455 Rear Phelps St. and about $12,758 in delinquent city taxes for properties at 451 Phelps St., 455 Phelps St. and 520 Ash St.
Fran Pantuso said she didn’t know the details of the payment plan entered into by her brother, but did say the debts are being addressed. Efforts to reach Alfred D. Pantuso Jr. were unsuccessful today.
The city’s treasury department would not immediately confirm that a payment plan has been established.
— JEFF HORVATH
A petition circulating online calls for the Valley View School District to fire a second-grade teacher for writing on her student’s math worksheet that the child’s performance was “absolutely pathetic.”
Superintendent Rose Minniti, Ed.D., was made aware of the paper on Tuesday. She said the district met with the teacher, Alyssa Rupp Bohenek, and is investigating the incident.
“It’s a personnel issue and the results of that are not going to be dictated by social media,” Minniti said. “It’s going to be dictated by the facts and evidence.”
Attempts to reach Bohenek were unsuccessful.
The “Petition to fire Alyssa Rupp Bohenek from the Valley View school district” was signed 3,775 times by 5:10 p.m. Wednesday. It was also shared multiple times on Facebook.
The student’s name is blackened out on the photo of the worksheet and the date of the assignment is not visible. In red writing atop the paper it says “absolutely pathetic he answered 13 in 3 min! Sad.”
There 50 subtraction problems on the sheet labeled as a “3 Minute Drill.”
The school board and solicitor are aware of the situation but cannot discuss personnel issues.
The district “takes any kind of a situation like this very seriously,” said Valley View school board Director Curt Camoni.
Bohenek was hired as an elementary school teacher in 2013. She made $50,544 in the 2016-17 school year.
“As always with everything, we’re going to try to do what’s best for the students and what we need to do for the employee under investigation,” Minniti said.
Contact the writer: kbolus@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5114; @kbolusTT on Twitter.
MOOSIC -- A borough woman faces drug counts and endangering the welfare of children after police said she sold drugs from her home in front of a 6-year-old.
Police began investigating Friday, after watching a controlled buy at 1418 Grove Street. They got a search warrant for the home and spoke to Tracy Dranchak, 49, who lived at the Grove Street address. She showed officers a magnetic jewelry box sitting on the arm of the couch, near where the 6-year-old was sitting, according to arrest papers. Inside the box, officers found more than 300 prescription pills, including oxycodone, adderall, morphine and suboxone.
Dranchak remains in Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of $35,000. A preliminary hearing is set for April 25.
— STAFF REPORT
SCRANTON -- Police said a Dunmore man tried to shoplift clothing and boots from the Scranton Boscov’s, then fought with employees who tried to stop him.
Derek Mario Mancuso, 29, 108 Throop St., faces charges of robbery, simple assault and related counts after the incident Friday at the department store inside the Marketplace at Steamtown. Police arrived at 5:19 p.m. for reports of four men fighting on the sidewalk in front of the mall.
One of Boscov’s loss prevention officers said Mancuso was spotted trying to leave with about $425 worth of merchandise, all of which was recovered. He fought with the loss prevention officers who tried to stop him, police said.
Mancuso, who remains in Lackawanna County Prison on $20,000 bail, is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Monday.
— STAFF REPORT
OLD FORGE — An illegal junkyard in the borough and its owner — who was ordered by the court to cease operations — continue to give neighbors and the Old Forge council problems.
Lackawanna County Judge Tom Munley ordered Walter Stocki Jr. on July 31 to “immediately cease any and all activity on the property.” Neighbors said Tuesday during a borough council meeting that Stocki, who was given six months to clean up the property, is instead slowly moving much of the heavy construction equipment in pieces and loudly dropping, grinding and cutting steel in the process.
The neighbors can’t enjoy their backyards, said resident Chris Goetz, speaking on behalf of Amnity Avenue neighbors. When it rains, he said the smell from the property is “horrendous.”
“We’re looking for it to stop,” Goetz said.
Stocki’s Old Forge business is registered as Stocki, Walter Excavation & Demolition Co. Inc. with the Pennsylvania Department of State.
Stocki was given a timeline by the court to clean up the property, said borough solicitor Bill Rinaldi. He was also ordered to meet monthly with Munley. The last hearing was on April 2; the judge is expected to visit Stocki’s property May 2.
Stocki could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.
Stocki, who the solicitor and council said is a repeat offender, also has been fined by the state Department of Environmental Protection for polluting the soil at his property.
He appeals every fine, extending the time it takes for any legal repercussions, said Rinaldi.
“We know this isn’t going to stop on May 2,” said council President Robert Semenza.
Neighbors say they’ve taken time off from their lives and jobs to attend the conferences only for the situation to worsen.
“The time is up, we’re tired of this,” said Goetz.
Contact the writer:
kbolus@timesshamrock.com;
570-348-9100 x5114;
@kbolusTT on Twitter
April 17, 1969
‘No girls’ policy again causes a stir
The effort to change the University of Scranton’s “no girls in dorm room” policy was hit with a roadblock when the Rev. Mr. Milton E. Jordan, S.J., University of Scranton’s dean of men, announced that the school was holding firm on the policy.
Jordan said the university’s administration recently voted unanimously to maintain the policy after several weeks of students passing out flyers and petitions seeking a change. He wanted to inform the students of the vote because he heard the resident student affairs subcommittee was working on a formal proposal to change the policy.
In response to Jordan’s announcement, the resident student affairs committee called for a mass meeting to be held in the student center to discuss this development and what response the committee should take.
The meeting started at 9:30 p.m. with some 700 students and a handful of faculty members in attendance. The meeting was closed to the media but the committee did release a statement.
The committee decided in response to the university’s “closed bureaucratic system of policy making,” all 125 student leaders of campus clubs, committees and organizations resigned their positions. The committee also called upon the administration to cancel classes on April 25 to hold “a day of serious, concerned thought and discussion on the present situation of the U of S and its future goals in light of past aims and objectives.”
Shopping at the Eynon Drug
Ladies knitted spring dresses for $5.88, men’s acrylic sport shirts for $3.39, girl’s polos and shorts at $1 each, ladies diamond watch for $19.88, satin drapes $4 a panel, Shopcraft hedge trimmer for $15.88, brass bald eagle for $4.49, Westinghouse steam iron for $8.88, assorted flowering shrubs for $1.49 and a can of hairspray for 53 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.
SCRANTON
An artist is opening her studio in the Marketplace at Steamtown’s Scranton Public Market early next month.
Amber Cipriani, a Hazleton Area School District art teacher who lives in Scranton, will hold a grand opening and ribbon-cutting for the Electric City Art Studio at 5 p.m. Friday, May 3.
Her studio offers small-group art classes, birthday parties and summer camps, among other classes geared for families and free events in conjunction with First Friday festivities in the city, the Small Business Development Center at the University of Scranton announced on Tuesday.
The ribbon-cutting is free and open to the public. Call Cipriani at 570-436-3069 for information.
— JON O’CONNELL
Good works around the region
Scranton City Council unanimously authorized a tripled Local Services Tax and paid another installment of lip service to $16.8 million in delinquent garbage fees at its Monday meeting.
Council’s quick action on the LST and its chronic inaction on the garbage money present a case study in how treating obligations as optional can trigger Pavlovian responses that come back to bite.
The LST — paid by about 30,000 commuters and residents who work in the city — is expected to generate $4.6 million. The levy is deducted before my paycheck is printed. Not paying for city services is not an option.
I don’t mind paying $3 a week for police and fire protection, working traffic signals, passable streets and a hundred other things I can afford to ignore. Such services are rendered whether I notice or not.
Trash collection is a different bag. Left to rot, garbage piles up. The higher the pile, the more impossible it is to ignore. Since at least 2002, the absence of this natural incentive to pay up has contributed to the delinquency of 26,524 accounts — about 25 percent of city property owners.
City officials have trained these deadbeats — some who draw public paychecks — to ignore their bills by picking up the garbage anyway. Given the option, deadbeats choose not to pay and face no real consequences. Liens are meaningless until properties are sold, and the city’s contracted collection agency is the definition of a “paper tiger.”
A Times-Tribune analysis found that penalties, interest and costs account for about half of the outstanding $16.8 million. Northeast Revenue Service LLC gets 15 percent of delinquent garbage fees and interest. The longer this debacle drags on, the more profit NRS stands to make. The firm has little incentive to resolve this mess anytime soon.
Council has an obligation to recover this money now. The 75 percent of property owners who pay their fair share are watching.
Under its Home Rule Charter, the city can discontinue garbage collection and file magisterial claims on delinquents. Council President Pat Rogan and his four colleagues are against suspending service, citing health concerns.
“Could we do it?” Rogan asked. “Sure. Should we do it? I don’t think so.”
I respectfully disagree. Garbage piling up while neighbors take notice is no joke. Magisterial claims can’t be laughed off like liens. If these incentives aren’t enough, Council should attack nonpayment as a quality-of-life violation. If the trash mounts to more than an eyesore, charge the property owner with littering. Chapter 305 of the charter seems clear: “The owner or person in control of any private premises shall at all times maintain the premises free from litter.”
Penalties include a $100 fine and up to 15 days in jail if the fine is not paid. Each day the violation continues counts as a new offense and another $100 fine. That’s a pretty powerful incentive to pay up.
Council has options. A good idea discussed Monday is folding the garbage fee into the city property tax. Whatever council decides to do, it must do something soon. A city that has floundered in financially distressed status for nearly 30 years can’t afford to ignore millions of dollars it’s been owed all along.
Obligations are not optional. Garbage fee deadbeats who work in the city are never late paying the LST.
CHRIS KELLY, the Times-Tribune columnist, pays by the bag.Contact the writer: kellys
world@timesshamrock.com,
@cjkink on Twitter. Read his award-winning blog at timestri
buneblogs.com/kelly.