HONESDALE

A woman faces charges after putting crushed Keebler crackers in a parking ticket payment, sparking a borough building evacuation, police said.

Honesdale Borough Hall was evacuated Oct. 1 when a parking enforcement officer found the powder in an envelope, police said.

Jennifer Kingsley Begtrup, 48, 345 Carley Brook Road, Apt. A, Honesdale, put the crackers into the envelope because she “didn’t want to get her purse dirty,” according to the criminal complaint.

Begtrup was charged Tuesday with obstructing administration of law and disorderly conduct.

Police found Begtrup from the license plate number on the parking ticket, according to the complaint.

A preliminary hearing is set for Nov. 6.

— ROBERT TOMKAVAGE

WILKES-BARRE — A Nanticoke woman is suing Boscov’s Department Store in Wilkes-Barre, claiming she was severely injured during a mishap on the store’s escalator in November 2018.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, Viola Shemanski claims she was riding an escalator in the store when it “violently sped up and jerked her.”

Shemanski fell down, hitting her head and ribcage, causing “severe and serious” injuries, the lawsuit says.

During the incident, Shemanski’s jacket became entangled and was ripped off, the lawsuit says.

According to the suit, filed by the Zola Law Offices in West Hazleton, Boscov’s had crews doing maintenance on another escalator at the time of the incident.

The lawsuit accuses Boscov’s of “failing to discover what a reasonable inspection of the escalator would have discovered, that the escalator was existing in a dangerous condition, which constituted a hazard to plaintiff.”

Efforts to reach officials with Boscov’s were not immediately successful Tuesday.

Contact the writer: bkalinowski@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2055, @cvbobkal

SCRANTON — For the third day in a row, an anonymous bomb threat disrupted school this morning at West Scranton High School.

At 8:02 a.m., West Scranton Principal Robert Deluca left parents a voicemail through their alert system informing them that another threat had been made and that students were not allowed to enter the building.

The building was shortly cleared and another voicemail at 8:42 a.m. from Deluca informed parents students could report to class at 9 a.m.

Bomb threats have plagued local school districts for the last week.

On Oct. 2, Dunmore School District Officials canceled school after a bomb threat against the high school was emailed to a district administrator Oct. 1

On Thursday, a bomb threat at West Scranton sent students home not long after school started. School officials postponed the annual Bell Game between Scranton and West Scranton high schools to Sunday.

Bomb threats disrupted classes at both West Scranton and Scranton on Monday and Tuesday.

 

DUNMORE — A Dunmore home is a total loss after an early morning fire.

Borough firefighters responded just after 3:30 a.m. to 318 S. Blakely St. and found heavy flames on the first floor when they arrived, Fire Chief Chris DeNaples said.

The woman who lived in the two-story home escaped without injury with her seven pets after she was alerted by a smoke detector, he said.

She is being assisted by the American Red Cross.

Crews knocked down the bulk of the fire fairly quickly but remained on the scene for several hours dousing hot spots.

One firefighter suffered a minor injury while battling the flames, DeNaples said.

He said the cause of the fire is undetermined pending an investigation by Dunmore Fire Marshal Capt. Jack Sohns.

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

WILKES-BARRE TWP. — Discount retailer Big Lots in the East End Centre is rolling out some major changes in the store’s look and feel.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held 8:30 a.m. Saturday to showcase the new store layout and design.

The first 100 shoppers who come to the store Saturday and Sunday morning will receive scratch-off cards offering up to $250 to use toward a Big Lots purchase.

With the new changes, Big Lots officials said furniture, seasonal, some home goods and food will now have prominent positioning in the store and there will be a “seamless transition and comfortable shopping experience” throughout the remaining departments.

Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Big Lots operates approximately 1,400 stores in 47 states.

Redesigned Big Lots stores provide a less-cluttered, more comfortable and roomier experience for shoppers, store officials said. In addition to the improved store design, the changes include new restroom finishes and new shopping carts.

— DENISE ALLABAUGH

Lackawanna County must order new voting machines by the end of the year to qualify for a 60% state reimbursement.

The approaching deadline comes after the Pennsylvania Department of State instructed all 67 counties last year to select new “voter-verifiable paper record voting systems,” which produce a paper audit trail for each vote cast, no later than the end of 2019. Gov. Tom Wolf told the counties to replace their voting machines ahead of the 2020 primary election to bolster election security and integrity.

Lackawanna County’s machines, purchased in 2008, produce a paper trail but likely will soon be outdated. At a voting machine expo held at PNC Field in December, Kathy Boockvar, who now leads the state department as acting secretary of the commonwealth, said the older machines were created before modern standards of security and accessibility existed.

Boockvar also said the state could decertify the older system, which would force the county to upgrade.

In July, Wolf announced he would order an up to $90 million bond issue to reimburse counties 60% of the cost of replacing their voting machines.

Lackawanna County officials expect the new technology to cost between $1.5 million and $2 million. The county received about $237,400 in federal funding to defray that initial cost, and should be reimbursed 60% of the remaining cost if it meets the end-of-the-year deadline, county Director of Elections Marion Medalis said.

Because the county’s system produces a paper trail, Medalis said the county could have pursued an extension of up to 18 months that would have allowed an upgrade delay until 2021. The county declined the extension because it would lose the federal funding and a portion of the state reimbursement if the extension was accepted, Medalis said.

Last year’s expo featured five vendors: California-based Unisyn Voting Solutions, Denver-based Dominion Voting, Nebraska-based Election Systems & Software, Texas-based HART InterCivic and Clear Ballot of Boston. County officials met with several vendors since the expo.

Commissioner Jerry Notarianni, who sat in on vendor demonstrations and presentations, said ordering the new technology is the right thing to do.

Commissioner Laureen Cummings believes the county shouldn’t be forced to order new machines, especially since the county’s machines already create a paper trail. She did acknowledge the county has little choice given the state directive.

Attempts to reach Commissioner Patrick O’Malley were not successful.

So far, 51 of the state’s 67 counties voted to either buy or lease a new voting system, or have approved funding to do so. Of those 51 counties, 46 plan to use their new voting systems in the Nov. 5 election.

The process of selecting a vendor for Lackawanna County is likely to ramp up after the election, Medalis said.

Contact the writer:

jhorvath@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9141;

@jhorvathTT on Twitter

Soliders honored

Decorated veterans Pittston native Pat Solano and Christina Martin, of Virginia, will be honored during VetStock’s annual event, “A Night of Honoring Veterans and Celebrating America” on Nov. 1.

Funds raised benefit causes that uphold VetStock’s mission of to serving veterans and their families during and after their service to our country.

Solano flew 20-plus missions over Europe during World War II while serving in the Army Air Corps. During his 40 years of public service, he served as deputy secretary and then acting secretary of the Department of Environmental Resources; and senior counselor to Govs. Tom Ridge and Mark Schweiker. He was recognized in 2016 with a Distinguished Public Citizens Award.

“I have always strived to engage members of the General Assembly, state agencies and the private sector into one cohesive working force,” Solano said.

Martin served two deployments as a second lieutenant in the United States Army Medical Services Corps, in Germany and then in Iraq. She was an evacuation/ambulance platoon leader and coordinated treatment and movement of wounded service members and Iraqi civilians.

Martin also served as a convoy commander and during a convoy patrol, survived a hit on her vehicle by a sucide truck bomb. Martin received 18 awards for her service, including a Bronze Star Medal and a Global War on Terror Expeditionary Medal; she also received three awards as a civilian.

VetStock, a nonprofit since 2012, works to improve the lives of former and present men, women and families in the armed services. The group of volunteers has purchased a defibrillator for the American Legion in Bushkill; contributing more than $25,000 to Homes for our Troops, which constructed adapted homes for two veterans in the region; and supports Woodloch Resort’s Folds of Honor, which provides educational scholarships to the families of fallen and disabled service members. VetStock has donated more than $60,000 for the organization to date.

“What we try to do is bring this diverse group together, not only to honor the range of veterans who serve and their families, but also in support of VetStock’s common, unifying mission,”

said Tom Ryan, from the nonprofit.

Vince Benedetto, owner of Bold Gold Media, is the guest speaker and will talk on America Today.

The annual event, sponsored by Kahr Arms, begins with a cocktail open bar at 5 p.m. followed by dinner at 6 on Saturday, Nov. 1, at the Inn at Woodloch Pines, 731 Welcome Lake Road, Lackawaxen Twp. Tickets are $85 per person. Sponsorships are available.

For details, visit vetstock

america.com or VetStock’s Facebook page.

Super students

Ten local residents began the Magis Honors Program in STEM at the University of Scranton.

The students, members of Scranton’s class of 2023, include Sarah Liskowicz of Wilkes-Barre, a neuroscience major and graduate of Holy Redeemer High School; Taylor Moglia of New Milford, a forensic chemistry major and graduate of Delaware Valley High School; Michael Quinnan of Shavertown, a biochemistry, cell and molecular biology major and graduate of Dallas High School; Cameron Shedlock of White Haven, a biochemistry, cell and molecular biology major and graduate of Wyoming Seminary; Nathaniel Smith of Wilkes-Barre, a neuroscience major and graduate of Pittston Area High School; and Daniel Zych of Waverly, a mathematics major and graduate of Scranton Preparatory School.

The honors program combines the development of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) knowledge and research techniques with programing to further the students’ understanding of the impact science has on society, according to the university. The students also participated in a multiday STEM field experience and service project the week before the start of the fall semester. The students researched the effects the deer population has had on trees at the Lacawac Sanctuary.

Scranton police are expected to file charges tonight against four teenagers believed to be responsible for making bomb threats at Scranton High School and West Scranton High School over the last few days, Chief Carl Graziano said.

All involved are juveniles and students at their respective schools. Two students at each school will be charged.

The pair suspected in the Scranton High threats are 15-year-old girls, according to the police chief. At West Scranton, two boys, 14 and 15, are believed responsible.

One of the 15-year-old girls will be charged with a felony for making the threat. The other may face misdemeanors for misusing the Safe2Say Something app — an anti-violence program run by the state attorney general’s office that was used to anonymously report bomb threats over the last several days.

Both boys implicated in the West Scranton threats will be charged with felonies.

“I want to thank the Scranton Police Department, the district attorney’s office, and the Office of the Attorney General for their efficient and professional investigation of the school threats,” said Melissa McTiernan, acting assistant superintendent, in a statement. “I also want to thank our students, staff, administration and school board for their cooperation and patience. I believe I can speak for the entire SSD community that we are all ready to get back to the business of educating our students.”

The state attorney general’s office provided local authorities with a great deal of cooperation, Graziano said. They were able to piece together who was making the calls using court orders and search warrants to discover IP addresses.

Video surveillance played a crucial role in finding the girl accused of scrawling a threat on a wall at Scranton High School.

Investigators were interviewing suspects at Scranton Police Headquarters this afternoon.

The alleged crimes do not rise to the level needed to charge the teens as adults, Graziano said. As a result, their names will not be released. News of the imminent arrests should be a deterrent, he said.

Bomb threats have been made recently at schools in Scranton, Dunmore and Susquehanna County. Searches turned up no evidence of explosives, officials said.

“These are serious offenses,” Graziano said. “They disrupt the lives of many people. We’re going to investigate every single one ... (It) may take a few days, may take a week but they’re going to be held accountable.”

Check back for updates.

SCRANTON — A Taylor man who admitted sexually assaulting a 6-year-old girl will spend seven to 15 years in state prison.

Christopher Antoine Ray, 32, was sentenced Wednesday by Lackawanna County Judge Vito Geroulo for his May 31 guilty plea to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child.

Taylor police arrested him March 19 and accused him of having sexual contact with the victim at a borough home between Feb. 1 and March 14. The investigation began after the girl disclosed the contact to a relative.

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

Ray, who addressed the court prior to sentencing, told Geroulo he was not much for talking but apologized to the victim and her family.

In handing down the sentence, Geroulo said Ray realizes the seriousness of his crime and recognizes his mental health issues are not an excuse for his behavior.

As he often does in sentencing defendants who have sexually assaulted children, the judge asked Ray to consider the impact his actions had on the victim.

“While we recognize contrition, we have to take steps to incapacitate you for some period of time,” Geroulo told him.

Under the sentence, Ray will be on probation for five years after he is released from prison. The judge also advised Ray that he faces lifetime registration as sex offender under the Adam Walsh Act.

Geroulo prohibited Ray from being in the presence of any individual under 18 without supervision and, at the request of Assistant District Attorney Bo Loughney, directed the defendant to have no contact with the victim.

Ray’s attorney, Doug Vanston, had asked the judge to consider a more lenient sentence of 44 to 66 months.

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

SCRANTON — Robert Morris Elementary School will be closed Thursday because of maintenance issues.

Details on the issue at the school in the city’s Green Ridge section were not immediately available today.

— STAFF REPORT

A Susquehanna County man is facing charges after state police said he raped a woman Monday at a co-worker’s home in Roaring Brook Twp. after a night of drinking and watching football.

Mico Lorenzo Reaves, 27, 2244 Highland Road, New Miford, confessed to sexually assaulting the 25-year-old woman after she passed out, police said.

“I did it,” Reaves told police. “I’m going to jail and I’m going for a long time.”

Around 1 a.m., the homeowner saw the victim lying on the couch with her knees on the ground, and her pants and panties around her ankles. Reaves was sitting next to the woman, according to the criminal complaint.

The homeowner, who was not identified by police, confronted Reaves.

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

The victim sought treatment at the hospital, where police interviewed her. She said she spoke to Reaves about the NFL and another woman late Sunday night, and the conversation turned odd when he called her beautiful and touched her inappropriately, according to the criminal complaint.

The woman told Reaves no, police said. She didn’t remember anything that happened after she vomited and passed out, but was sore the next morning and had several bruises on her inner thighs, according to the complaint.

When the homeowner confronted Reaves again over the phone, he was apologetic.

“It’s not your fault,” Reaves said, according to the criminal complaint. “I’m sorry about the situation and I would be frustrated and stressed about it, too, if the shoe was on the other foot.”

Reaves was charged Wednesday with felony charges of rape and aggravated indecent assault, and a misdemeanor charge of indecent assault.

He remains at Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of $150,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is set for Oct. 16.

Contact the writer: rtomkavage@times-tribune.com; 570-348-9100 x5365; @rtomkavage on Twitter

SCRANTON — A Lackawanna County judge had a question for prosecutors as he sentenced a Dominican national to jail for his role in a scheme that bilked an elderly woman out of $27,000.

Where is the woman’s money?

Judge Vito Geroulo gave the district attorney’s office until Friday to get back to him with a satisfactory answer.

Today, Geroulo sentenced Raymundo Pena-Nunez, 23, to one to two years minus one day in the county prison for criminal conspiracy to commit theft by deception.

Pena-Nunez was among three people charged by Scranton police in December with scamming an 86-year-old West Virginia woman under the ruse that her grandson had been arrested and needed money to pay a lawyer.

The woman mailed two installments to addresses in New Jersey, enclosing the money in taped-up magazines, before she was instructed to mail a third to an address in Scranton.

By that time, her family became aware of the scheme and notified authorities. The West Virginia state police alerted Scranton police, which worked with a postal inspector to track down Pena-Nunez and co-conspirators Jeyson Sanchez-Moran and Francis Rodriguez-Gomez.

Investigators later learned all three men had played minor league baseball in the United States but were released by their teams.

Speaking through an interpreter, Pena-Nunez told Geroulo he was sorry and asked for forgiveness.

“Being in prison has changed my life drastically,” he said. “I have lost my future because of this.”

His attorney, Jody Kalinowski, told the court that an immigration detainer has been filed against Pena-Nunez and he will be deported.

In addition to the prison sentence, Geroulo ordered Pena-Nunez to make restitution to his victim — the full $27,000, minus any amount recovered by investigators and returned to the woman.

But Geroulo was clearly troubled Wednesday that none of the recovered money has been returned. Two of the woman’s daughters reminded him of that when they showed up for Pena-Nunez’s sentencing.

Geroulo quizzed Assistant District Attorney Bo Loughney about the status of the money, including $10,150 in stolen cash recovered by the city police Street Crimes Unit.

“Why is that money not being paid to the victim?” he asked.

The judge, who said he did not receive a reply from another assistant district attorney when he raised the issue a few weeks ago, told Loughney to notify the district attorney that the court wants a “direct explanation” why the woman does not have her money back.

Geroulo said he will issue a contempt citation if he does not have a response by Friday.

Sanchez-Moran, 25, and Rodriguez-Gomez, 26, have also pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges. Sanchez-Moran is serving a sentence similar to Pena-Nunez’s; Rodriguez-Gomez is awaiting sentencing.

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

A Jessup man accused of buying drugs on the internet and making them into pills faces charges after police set up a drug deal Tuesday.

An informant told investigators that Matthew C. Stygar, 32, 814 Church St., sold crystal methamphetamine, ketamine and benzodiazepine he bought from China through the dark web. The informant also said Stygar had a pill press and other drug-making materials.

Detectives with the county district attorney’s office had the informant set up a drug deal at Stygar’s home. Around 6:30 p.m., the informant knocked on his door, went inside and then left with Stygar a few minutes later.

Police seized a bag containing 20 blue-and-white pills containing suspected benzodiazepine, a tranquilizer, from the informant and immediately arrested Stygar.

During a search of Church Street home, police found about one gram of suspected ketamine, approximately 11 grams of suspected amphetamine powder, more than four grams of suspected benzodiazepine powder, less than a gram of suspected crystal methamphetamine, two digital scales, a pill capsule press, hundreds of empty blue-and-white pills and multiple packaging materials. They also found $20 and a cell phone, which the informant used in the drug deal, according to the complaint.

Stygar faces charges of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and related counts.

He remains in Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of $25,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 17.

Contact the writer: rtomkavage@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5365; @rtomkavage on Twitter

TUNKHANNOCK — The Tunkhannock Area School Board is still looking for buyers for a pair of elementary schools that were closed in the wake of consolidation following the 2017-18 school year.

TASB President Phil Farr said the board’s building and grounds committee opened a single bid Tuesday night for the former Evans Falls Elementary School near Beaumont. No bids were submitted for the former Mill City Elementary School near Lake Winola.

Both schools had been advertised for sale over the previous six weeks with an Oct. 4 bid submission deadline, and the district reserving the right to accept or reject any or all bids.

Brian and Steve Traver made an offer on the Evans Falls campus for $50,000, Farr announced at tonight’s board meeting

“We appreciate the bid, but the feeling is that there is more value there than what the bid represented,” Farr said.

Board member William Prebola made a motion to reject the bid, which passed 5-3.

“This was the first step in a process, and our responsibility to taxpayers is very important,” Prebola said. “I believe we should cast the net wider.”

The board’s building and grounds committee will next meet Oct. 21 at 6:30 p.m. in the district’s administration building to look at its options.

Contact the writer: bbaker@wcexaminer.com, 570-836-2123 x33

Lackawanna County must order new voting machines by the end of the year to qualify for a 60% state reimbursement.

The approaching deadline comes after the Pennsylvania Department of State instructed all 67 counties last year to select new “voter-verifiable paper record voting systems,” which produce a paper audit trail for each vote cast, no later than the end of 2019. Gov. Tom Wolf told the counties to replace their voting machines ahead of the 2020 primary election to bolster election security and integrity.

Lackawanna County’s machines, purchased in 2008, produce a paper trail but likely will soon be outdated. At a voting machine expo held at PNC Field in December, Kathy Boockvar, who now leads the state department as acting secretary of the commonwealth, said the older machines were created before modern standards of security and accessibility existed.

Boockvar also said the state could decertify the older system, which would force the county to upgrade.

In July, Wolf announced he would order an up to $90 million bond issue to reimburse counties 60% of the cost of replacing their voting machines.

Lackawanna County officials expect the new technology to cost between $1.5 million and $2 million. The county received about $237,400 in federal funding to defray that initial cost, and should be reimbursed 60% of the remaining cost if it meets the end-of-the-year deadline, county Director of Elections Marion Medalis said.

Because the county’s system produces a paper trail, Medalis said the county could have pursued an extension of up to 18 months that would have allowed an upgrade delay until 2021. The county declined the extension because it would lose the federal funding and a portion of the state reimbursement if the extension was accepted, Medalis said.

Last year’s expo featured five vendors: California-based Unisyn Voting Solutions, Denver-based Dominion Voting, Nebraska-based Election Systems & Software, Texas-based HART InterCivic and Clear Ballot of Boston. County officials met with several vendors since the expo.

Commissioner Jerry Notarianni, who sat in on vendor demonstrations and presentations, said ordering the new technology is the right thing to do.

Commissioner Laureen Cummings believes the county shouldn’t be forced to order new machines, especially since the county’s machines already create a paper trail. She did acknowledge the county has little choice given the state directive.

Attempts to reach Commissioner Patrick O’Malley were not successful.

So far, 51 of the state’s 67 counties voted to either buy or lease a new voting system, or have approved funding to do so. Of those 51 counties, 46 plan to use their new voting systems in the Nov. 5 election.

The process of selecting a vendor for Lackawanna County is likely to ramp up after the election, Medalis said.

Contact the writer:

jhorvath@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9141;

@jhorvathTT on Twitter

CARBONDALE — Deb Nolan wants to change students’ uniforms in the Carbondale Area School District.

Reana Wasoski wants to raise money to provide after-school art classes to district elementary students and other educational initiatives.

Both district parents are able to express their frustrations and offer ideas to help the financially struggling district through informal board and parent meetings being held once a month at Carbondale Area.

Nolan and Wasoski met with board President Gary Smedley and assistant business manager Kimberly Michalek for more than an hour Wednesday. The group, which met for the third time this school year, is open to any parent.

“Most of the school board members don’t have kids in the schools,” said Nolan, who is also a district paraprofessional. “I work here and I have kids here. I get to share both sides.”

Michalek called the meet-up very informal. During the conversations, the board and the district can clear up any misconceptions, she said.

“We’re working together to find solutions,” said Nolan. “Without this communication, there’s a lot of back and forth on social media.”

Nolan joked that she’s told Smedley he’s wrong about issues.

“The community can tell them what’s realistic,” said Wasoski.

The district uses six building substitute teachers instead of outsourcing to a company like Kelly Services. With 12 teachers out recently, some elementary school students attended consolidated classes in the gym.

Smedley asked the parents if they were upset their children were in the gym and what the students reported back.

Nolan’s child told her it was loud.

“Every school district should have a school board, community committee group,” said Nolan. “I really think this is going to benefit the parents, the school and the community.”

The group will meet again on Nov. 4, in the Carbondale Area High School student activities room.

For details, check the Carbondale Area School District’s Facebook page or the district website.

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

SCRANTON — The city zoning board gave a man trying to sell the unique, long-vacant “castle house” three months to produce a buyer before they decide whether it can be used as a three-unit apartment building.

Yury Abdurakhmanov — the brother of Russian artist Elena Flerova, who purchased the dilapidated house at 1021 Richmont St. in 2002 — appeared before the board Wednesday seeking a special exception to use the property as a multi-dwelling with three apartments. The Green Ridge house, known colloquially as “castle house” because of its turret, was a three-unit apartment building prior to Flerova’s ownership.

Abdurakhmanov told the board his relative would buy and complete repairs at the house, but only if the second and third floors could be rented as separate apartments. After hearing testimony from several residents concerned about the building housing three families, the board decided they needed more concrete assurance the house would sell before voting on the special exception.

The board then voted unanimously to give Abdurakhmanov until January to produce a buyer, or at least a written contract with a buyer, before voting on the special exception for three units.

A September city inspection of the Richmont Street house outlined numerous repairs needed to lift a condemnation notice there, including paint, electrical and plumbing work. Abdurakhmanov said after the meeting that his relative, who is currently in Russia, would complete necessary repairs after buying the building.

Scranton condemned the home in 2013 and issued a demolition order two years later, but the house has been spared the wrecking ball to this point.

Andrea Betress, a neighbor who opposes the house becoming a three-unit dwelling because of parking and other concerns, said she doesn’t want to see it demolished.

“It’s a beautiful building,” she said. “I would hate to see it torn down.”

The zoning board also:

n Granted Joseph Bonacci a variance to convert a dental office at 1344 N. Washington Ave. into a nanobrewery, a small-scale beer brewery and tasting room. Bonacci told the board he would not bottle beer on site, but instead sell beer via a tap system for patrons to enjoy in the tasting room or in growlers. The business will not be open later than 10 p.m., he said.

n Denied Girikrupa LLC a variance to convert a property at 305 Pittston Ave. into a two-unit apartment building, but granted the firm a separate variance to convert a different property at 424 S. Webster Ave. into a two-unit dwelling. The properties are owned by Rangesh Sha, who owns several properties in the neighborhood and addressed the board Wednesday.

n Announced a one-month continuance in the case of a convenience store/gas station project proposed at 1554 Sanderson Ave. in the city’s Green Ridge section.

Peter Spano’s pursuit of a variance to construct a 5,000-square-foot convenience store with six gas pumps there was likely to cause controversy, with members of the Green Ridge Neighborhood Association prepared to oppose the project. Several people left the meeting after learning the matter was continued.

In a Wednesday Facebook post, the neighborhood association said it is “opening a dialogue with (Spano) in an effort to come to an agreement on an acceptable use” of the property.

Contact the writer:

jhorvath@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9141;

@jhorvathTT on Twitter

Timeline: ‘Castle house’ in Scranton

2002: Russian artist Elena Flerova bought the house at 1021 Richmont St. in Green Ridge. The house previously had been a multi-dwelling with three apartments. She never lived there, but continued to pay the mortgage. While it remained unoccupied for many years, it fell into disrepair. The city was unable to locate her and notices went unanswered.

2013: The city condemned the home and issued a demolition order two years later.

October 2016: The city scheduled the house for razing, but delayed after some neighbors advocated to spare it.

November 2016: The city tracked down the mortgage/lien holder of the property, JPMorgan Chase.

January 2017: An attorney for the bank said it hoped to obtain ownership and renovate the house.

June 2017: With no progress from the bank, the housing appeals board upheld the demolition order. Still, the city held off demolition, waiting for movement from the bank or owner.

2018: Flerova’s brother, Yury Abdurakhmanov, came forward, saying the bank had released the mortgage in September 2017 and Flerova granted him power of attorney to sell the house.

July 2018: The housing appeals board granted a six-month extension on a demolition order.

December 2018: Abdurakhmanov said he still intends to sell the house.

September: A city inspection of the house outlined numerous repairs needed to lift the condemnation notice.

Wednesday: The city zoning board grants Abdurakhmanov a three-month continuance to produce a buyer or contract before voting on a special exception to reuse the house as a three-unit apartment building.

SCRANTON — A Lackawanna County judge had a question for prosecutors as he sentenced a Dominican national to jail for his role in a scheme that bilked an elderly woman out of $27,000.

Where is the woman’s money?

Judge Vito Geroulo gave the district attorney’s office until Friday to get back to him with a satisfactory answer.

Geroulo on Wednesday sentenced Raymundo Pena-Nunez, 23, to one to two years minus one day in the county prison for criminal conspiracy to commit theft by deception.

Pena-Nunez was among three people charged by Scranton police in December with scamming an 86-year-old West Virginia woman under the ruse that her grandson had been arrested and needed money to pay a lawyer.

The woman mailed two installments to addresses in New Jersey, enclosing the money in taped-up magazines, before she was instructed to mail a third to an address in Scranton.

By that time, her family became aware of the scheme and notified authorities. The West Virginia state police alerted Scranton police, which worked with a postal inspector to track down Pena-Nunez and co-conspirators Jeyson Sanchez-Moran and Francis Rodriguez-Gomez.

Investigators later learned all three men had played minor league baseball in the United States but were released by their teams.

Speaking through an interpreter, Pena-Nunez told Geroulo he was sorry and asked for forgiveness.

“Being in prison has changed my life drastically,” he said. “I have lost my future because of this.”

His attorney, Jody Kalinowski, told the court that an immigration detainer has been filed against Pena-Nunez and he will be deported.

In addition to the prison sentence, Geroulo ordered Pena-Nunez to make restitution to his victim — the full $27,000, minus any amount recovered by investigators and returned to the woman.

But Geroulo was clearly troubled Wednesday that none of the recovered money has been returned. Two of the woman’s daughters reminded him of that when they showed up for Pena-Nunez’s sentencing.

Geroulo quizzed Assistant District Attorney Bo Loughney about the status of the money, including $10,150 in stolen cash recovered by the city police Street Crimes Unit.

“Why is that money not being paid to the victim?” he asked.

The judge, who said he did not receive a reply from another assistant district attorney when he raised the issue a few weeks ago, told Loughney to notify the district attorney that the court wants a “direct explanation” why the woman does not have her money back.

Geroulo said he will issue a contempt citation if he does not have a response by Friday.

Sanchez-Moran, 25, and Rodriguez-Gomez, 26, have also pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges. Sanchez-Moran is serving a sentence similar to Pena-Nunez’s; Rodriguez-Gomez is awaiting sentencing.

Contact the writer:

dsingleton@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9132

High notes

Historian and author Paolo Battaglia from Modena, Italy, will trace the Italian culture across the country at the Lackawanna Historical Society on Sunday.

The program is based on his new book “Italian American Country — Finding Italy in Small Town America.”

Battaglia followed the route throughout the United States taken in 1905 by Italian Ambassador Edmondo Mayor des Planches to meet the descendants of immigrants who came from Italy.

While researching his book, Battaglia stopped in Scranton and spoke to the historical society.

The illustrated book also features a three-episode documentary chronicling his travels and what it means to be Italian in America, according to the society.

He is also the co-author of “Explorers Emigrants Citizens: A Visual History of the Italian American Experience,” published in 2013 with the Library of Congress, among other publications.

The discussion on Sunday begins at 2 p.m. at the Catlin House, 232 Monroe Ave., Scranton. Copies of his book will be available for purchase. The program is free and open to the public. For more details, contact the Lackawanna Historical Society at 570-344-3841 or lackawannahis

tory@gmail.com.

Upcoming talent

show scheduled

Kiwanis Club of Scranton members Jean Lencicki, Dave Lencicki, John Baldino, Mary Beth D’Andrea, Midge MacArthur and Ken Leibold met to select Lackawanna County elementary and high school students to participate in the second annual Kiwanis Youth Talent Exposition.

Students auditioned for the event, which showcases their talents in the performing arts.

The club sponsors the talent exposition to raise funds to support grants for area students to participate in nonschool-based arts related programs.

In 2018, the club awarded more than $3,500 in grants to 16 students following the first Kiwanis Youth Talent Exposition.

The Kiwanis Club hopes to make this youth talent exposition an annual event.

The event will be held Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at the Peoples Security Bank Theater at Lackawanna College. For more details, contact kiwanisscranton@gmail.com.

Class established

The Leadership Lackawanna Core Program Class of 2019-2020 include Justin Collins, Commonwealth Medical College; Sarah Weber, Net Credit Union; Aditi Phalak, Barry Callebaut; Amber Walko-Ray, PPL Electric Utilities; Lauren Luongo, Fidelity Bank; Keith Danielowski, Prudential Financial; Benjamin Segall, Penn East Federal Credit Union; Eric Schab, Commonwealth Health/Moses Taylor; Megan Kofira, Weiler Abrasives Group; Katheryn Kennington, Montage Mountain Resorts; Suzanne Kennedy, Community Bank NA; Dawn Talley, St. Joseph’s Center; Matthew Heimlich, Procter and Gamble; Elizabeth McGrath Ardizoni, The Wright Center for Community Health; Hans Christianson, Geisinger Health Foundation; Adam Witinski, Gertrude Hawk Chocolates; Peter Gentile, NBT Bank; Brittany Colon, First National Community Bank; Patrick Lindmeier, Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials; Meghan Burns, Greater Scranton YMCA; Lauren Stroble, Girl Scouts in the Heart of PA; Jasmine Ahuja, Jasmine Ahuja Realty; Anthony Monastra, Geisinger; Karen Lipnichan, Lackawanna College; Mary Elizabeth Endrusick, NeighborWorks Northeastern PA; Aubrey Rachel Fick, Joseph Paulowskey and Michael DePietro, both of Benco Dental; Dharti Ray and Henry Matute Coello, both of Penn State Scranton; Cara Sherman and Maura Mark, both of United Neighborhood Centers of NEPA; Alonzo Baker, Mariah McAndrew and Autumn Granza, all of Penn Foster; and Dana Bilotta, Nicolette Stine and Mary K. Nolan, all of Tobyhanna Army Depot.

The group recently held its first session at Montage Mountain.

During the 10-month Core Program, participants gain leadership, interpersonal and managerial skills, as well as an enhanced understanding of the issues relevant to the Greater Scranton area. They also work on community projects and benefit local nonprofit organizations.

“This year’s participants have accomplished great things in their past, and I look forward to seeing how they will use the leadership skills they acquire over the next 10 months,” said Nicole A. Morristell, Leadership Lackawanna director.

Lackawanna County Sheriff Mark McAndrew illegally retaliated against a deputy who sought higher pay for a temporary assignment by blocking his promotion and assigning him to midnight shifts, a state hearing examiner found.

In a proposed order, examiner John Pozniak recommends the state Labor Relations Board order McAndrew to unconditionally offer former Cpl. Glenn Capman a promotion to sergeant, reimburse Capman for sergeant back pay and rescind a verbal warning for job performance.

McAndrew declined to comment. He referred questions to his department’s solicitor, attorney Matthew Carmody.

Carmody said McAndrew will ask the full Labor Relations Board to dismiss Capman’s claim. The claim is moot anyway because Capman recently resigned to take a job as a Lackawanna County Prison guard, Carmody said.

McAndrew contends state law gives him the right to assign deputies as he sees fit, but Pozniak said the sheriff still has to comply with labor laws.

Capman, 46, began working as a deputy full time in June 2000, and earned a base pay of $53,934 as a corporal, according to a September county employee list.

Happy with the finding, Capman said he took a $42,000-a-year prison guard job about two weeks ago when the county offered it after McAndrew disciplined him again for allegedly abusing compensatory time and creating “a toxic work environment.” He denied both allegations.

“It’s ridiculous what’s going on down there,” he said.

Pozniak found the matter began with Capman’s temporary appointment as acting sergeant in March 2017. Capman, the senior corporal and a former deputy sheriff union official, sought the higher pay that came with the appointment. He filed a grievance when he didn’t get paid. He and the county settled the grievance in June 2017 for $1,000.

After the temporary assignment ended a few months later, Capman returned to corporal in charge of deputy training. About a week later, McAndrew called him in and said, “this isn’t retaliatory or discriminatory, but I can’t justify keeping you in the training corporal’s position any more,” according to the examiner’s recommendation. He assigned Capman to the Lackawanna County family court building without explaining why, the proposed order says.

In early 2018, a sergeant resigned and Capman sought his job, but a less senior corporal got it.

On March 13, 2018, county human resources director Justin MacGregor wrote Capman a letter that accused him of speaking to a television reporter about an active shooter training program for deputies without McAndrew’s permission. Capman posted about it on Facebook and tagged county SWAT members who trained the deputies.

MacGregor’s letter called Capman’s post “self-aggrandizing.” The letter said the post exaggerated Capman’s role in the shooter training and could lead to morale issues among colleagues and harm SWAT members’ security. Capman contends he did nothing more than compliment deputies on their training performance.

After a hearing on the accusations, McAndrew and MacGregor issued Capman a verbal warning.

Almost two weeks letter, McAndrew ordered that Capman no longer serve as a supervisor when another supervisor was on duty. After the county began moving offices into its new Wyoming Avenue headquarters, McAndrew assigned Capman, alone, to the former family court building until everyone moved out two months later. With the move completed, McAndrew assigned him to the midnight shift at the new headquarters.

Capman said Wednesday he began taking compensatory time to avoid the midnight shift and worked days instead. That led to the abuse claim, he said.

Capman, a Republican, said he plans to run against McAndrew, a Democrat, for sheriff in 2021.

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