SCRANTON — Not all of the battles fought by the men and women who serve in America’s armed forces end on foreign shores.

Some follow them home.

Referring to the situation faced by many veterans today as a crisis, Lackawanna County President Judge Michael J. Barrasse reminded about 100 people gathered for a Veterans Day observance on Courthouse Square that as much as U.S. soldiers, sailors and airmen are heroes, they are also human and feel real pain — and not just from bullets.

“As one veteran stated, you don’t get a Purple Heart for being mentally shot,” he said.

That’s why Lackawanna County has a veterans treatment court program, the judge said.

Whether it’s homelessness, mental health issues, emotional problems or drug or alcohol addiction, the rate is higher among veterans than among the general population, he said.

“We started veterans court as a result of that — to make sure we can say we leave no soldier behind,” Barrasse said. “It’s not just about distant lands. It’s about here in our own country.”

Barrasse delivered the keynote address at the Veterans Day event, which is sponsored annually by American Legion Koch-Conley Post 121.

The crowd joined Paulette Costa in singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” and other patriotic songs. Near the end of the ceremony, wreaths were placed at the northern entrance to Veterans Memorial Plaza.

Barrasse rattled off a series of troubling of statistics: More than 45,000 veterans and active-duty service members have killed themselves in the past six years, a rate of 22 a day; the suicide rate for those ages 18 to 34 increased 80% from 2005 to 2016, and the risk of suicide nearly doubles in the year after a veteran leaves active duty.

Veterans coming home from overseas tours might seek treatment for their external scars but not for the internal ones, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, he said.

Instead, they will try to take care of it by self-medicating, which can spiral down into addiction and, too often, entanglement with the criminal justice system, Barrasse said. That’s where veterans court comes in.

“These veterans almost universally have lived good, productive lives, except for drug and alcohol and mental health issues often directly related to their service to their country,” he said.

Barrasse said one thing veterans court battles is military culture, which teaches individuals to push through pain and put others above self. However, veterans court is a place where seeking help is the norm, said the judge, who encouraged other veterans to become involved as volunteer mentors for those enrolled in the program.

“We must reach out to our veterans in distress and say it’s OK, that it takes courage to make change and ask for help,” Barrasse said. “We need to stop the stigma and talk ... about how we can help the fallen veteran.”

In brief remarks, U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-8, Moosic, discussed his visit to Normandy in June for the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, using it a jumping off point to talk about the Constitution and the freedoms that Americans enjoy.

Every drop of blood, sweat and tears shed by veteran was shed to protect the Constitution, he said.

“In fact, the only oath I took in my job is to protect and defend that very Constitution — not just selected parts of it, every single word. ... If we really want to do a good job of honoring our veterans, let’s all stand together in defense of our American Constitution,” Cartwright said.

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

BERLIN TWP. -- A 12-year-old girl from New York broke her wrist and possibly lost consciousness Sunday when she crashed an ATV in Wayne County, state police at Honesdale said.

The young girl from Valley Stream lost control and hit a stone wall on Branning Road, just east of Peggy Runway Road, at 3:05 p.m. The force of the impact threw the girl, whose name was not released, from the ATV.

State police said she was not wearing her helmet properly and she lost it during the crash.

This was the first time she’s driven an ATV, her mother, Barbara Quintanilla, told state police.

Quintanilla said they were there visiting a friend and her daughter was permitted to ride the ATV.

State police did not have on update on the girl’s condition.

— JOSEPH KOHUT

Former Scranton School District Superintendent Alexis Kirijan was not acting in her official capacity when she asked a priest to bar a teacher who criticized her from reading at a Mass they both attended, a federal judge ruled.

U.S. District Judge Malachy Mannion said Kirijan’s comments regarding Steve Bartnicki relate to a purely personal matter, therefore he cannot recover damages for alleged retaliation.

Mannion also dismissed a claim for defamation, but let stand Bartnicki’s claim that Kirijan kept him from being appointed to teach an honors class and as a soccer coach.

The claims were contained in a lawsuit Bartnicki filed last year. Mannion said evidence to support the claims regarding the teaching and coaching positions is “scant.” He said he must allow them to proceed at this stage of the litigation, however.

Mannion’s ruling relates to a motion to dismiss that the district’s attorney, Jennifer Menichini, filed in January, which presented a strictly legal argument.

While that motion was pending, the district filed a second motion to dismiss the case that is based on evidence that was gathered in pretrial depositions.

In the second motion, Menichini said evidence shows the decision to appoint someone else to teach the honors class and as a soccer coach were made by other district officials and Kirijan had no say in the matters.

Bartnicki’s attorney, Cynthia Pollick,will have an opportunity to respond to the motion. Mannion will issue a ruling at a later date.

Contact the writer:

tbesecker@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9137;

@tmbeseckerTT on Twitter

SOUTH ABINGTON TWP. — A planned shopping center at the former Nichols Village Hotel & Spa plaza could move forward if the developer meets certain conditions set by township supervisors.

Nichols Village, 1101 Northern Blvd., closed Nov. 1. The property owner, Ankim Shah, attended Monday’s township meeting, where Supervisors Giles Stanton, Joseph H. Sproul III and Mark Dougherty gave preliminary approval for proposed Shoppes at South Abington.

Their approval is dependent, however, on how the South Abington Twp. Zoning Board votes on variances requested by Shah.

The supervisors set certain conditions regarding:

• The on-site stormwater developer’s agreement.

• The operations and maintenance agreement.

• An amendment to the Weis traffic signal agreement and the assignment of the “Sheetz agreement,” which has to do with the road connecting the gas station and the Nichols Village property.

• The highway occupancy permit, which is issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Shah, who also brought a new landscaping plan to the supervisors, will ask the zoning board today for variances regarding the number of required parking spots. The planned parking lot includes 192 spots instead of the required 239 for the number of businesses.

The project is short on spaces, assuming three locations turn into actual restaurants with seating, said Shah.

“If not, we’re short by five or seven,” he said.

He said the Shoppes have a “shared parking concept.” Some of the more retail businesses will see the majority of their shoppers between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., while potential restaurants will get the majority of crowds after 5 p.m., he said.

The project also needs a variance for its signage.

If the zoning board approves the variances today, demolition on the former hotel could begin Wednesday, Shah told supervisors.

The project has deals in place with national retailers, including Wendy’s, a convenience store and Autozone, according to an online brochure from Bennett Williams Commercial, a South Central Pennsylvania company marketing the project.

In other business, the supervisors approved police contracts with both Ransom Twp. and Newton Twp. South Abington Twp. Police Department has provided police services to both townships for around 10 years, said David O’Neill, township manager.

Contact the writer:

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

@kbolusTT on Twitter

The state’s leading doctors association is pushing hard against bipartisan legislation that would give nurses more power to practice independently.

Senate Bill 25, which moved to the state House of Representatives in June, proposes to end a requirement that blocks advanced practice registered nurses and certified nurse practitioners from practicing without a supervising doctor.

The Pennsylvania Medical Association, or PAMED, has campaigned against the effort, which would bring Pennsylvania in line with 22 other states and Washington, D.C., that allow nurse practitioners to practice to the full extent of their training, according to the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, which has been vocal in its support of SB 25.

To be eligible, nurse practitioners must have worked under a collaborative agreement for three years and 3,600 hours.

A recent PAMED-commissioned poll by

Susquehanna Polling and Research Inc. found Pennsylvanians generally prefer collaborative agreements to remain intact.

“We feel strongly that physicians need to be involved in the decision-making process that takes place,” said Dr. Lawrence R. John, new president of the PAMED.

The debate surrounding collaborative agreements has been swirling for decades, he said, and he remembers having similar discussions as a young doctor on whether nurses should be able to practice independently of physicians.

“Nurse practitioners all have an ability to diagnose, establish treatment plans, order diagnostic studies, they can prescribe,” he said. “But, we feel all of that is done best when there’s a collaborative agreement between the physician and the nurse practitioner.”

State Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-46, Monongahela, proposed the bill to improve patients’ access to health care providers in her largely rural western Pennsylvania district.

Bartolotta’s position: A larger pool of nurse practitioners authorized to treat patients without doctor supervision means more timely care for patients who otherwise might have to travel hours to reach a doctor’s office.

In late October, the PAMED published findings of its 11-county poll that found 73% of people who answered preferred to keep collaborative agreements in place, and 90% percent trust doctors most to deal with chronic illness.

Results from Lackawanna County, the only northeast county polled, show 70% of respondents believe nurse practitioners should practice under collaborative agreements, while 21% said they should be allowed to practice independently.

More than half of respondents were 55 or older.

The doctors group could have a tough road ahead.

The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, a powerful state industry group, came out early and supported the bill in January 2018. The association applauded the way it conforms with the changing nature of health care and elevates nurse practitioners as members of the health care team.

“Our position on that has not changed,” spokeswoman Rachel Moore said. “We recognize the value of team-based care.”

Besides the hospital association, nurses organizations — including unions — back the bill because it strengthens the profession.

The bill cleared the Republican majority Senate in June with nearly unanimous support — 44 in favor, six opposed. It stalled in the House licensure committee upon arrival.

A similar bill cleared the Senate two years ago, but died in the House.

Allowing nurse practitioners to work independently concerns Dickson City pediatrician Dr. Tim Welby.

Northeast Pennsylvania is home to more senior citizens more likely to have layered chronic illnesses than in other parts of the state. Northeast residents tend to die from cancer, diabetes and heart disease more often than elsewhere, according to the state Department of Health.

“We see children with a lot of complex medical issues,” Welby said. “Our feeling is always that if you’re going to have a health care team ... the top person on that team ought to be the most educated.”

The PAMED wants to see the legislature address service gaps in rural areas in other ways, such as tuition subsidies for medical school students who pledge to work in rural areas, or funding to pay them rates similar to what they would earn in urban areas.

“If you want to make doctors work out in the sticks, pay them to work ... out in the sticks,” Welby said.

Contact the writer:

joconnell@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9131;

@jon_oc on Twitter

Students of the Month

SCRANTON — The former chief of staff to President Barack Obama will discuss the outlook, skills and training required for future jobs during an event at the University of Scranton this week.

The talk by Denis McDonough, senior principal at the Markle Foundation, will launch the university’s Humanities in Action lecture series. The discussion, which is free and open to the public, will be held 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the McIlhenny Ballroom of the DeNaples Center.

The foundation’s Rework America Task Force, which McDonough heads, is a national initiative to transform the labor market so all Americans can thrive in the digital economy. McDonough served as White House chief of staff from 2013 to 2017.

— STAFF REPORT

DUNMORE — Kristina Thomas was between organic chemistry and physics classes when Jill Thomas called.

Kristina Thomas, a University of Scranton student and coach at United Sports Academy, was leading the Dunmore gymnastics school’s relief efforts for families in the Bahamas affected by Hurricane Dorian. She had been taking calls all day from families who wanted to donate.

But Jill Thomas, who is not related to Kristina, called about something different. Kristina Thomas’ jaw dropped when she heard.

Kristina Thomas had been looking for a temporary home for two young sisters from Freeport, Grand Bahama, whose family lost their home and all their belongings. Jill Thomas, whose daughter Camryn, 13, trains at United Sports Academy, offered their own home.

The girls, Janiyah Rolle, 13, and Aaliyah Evans, 12, arrived Thursday with their mother, Jennibie Rolle, a schoolteacher who made the heart-wrenching decision to leave her girls in the U.S. while she rebuilds her life in Freeport.

‘Nobody to help them’

Dorian smashed into Grand Bahama island Sept. 1. The National Weather Service called it the strongest tropical system on record to hit the Bahamas. After making landfall, it stalled for a day just north of the island. It reduced entire neighborhoods, including the Rolles’, to matchsticks.

In its wake, an international network of gymnasts is helping families of the Grand Bahama Gymnastics Academy, where Aaliyah trained, to get back on their feet. United and its affiliated nonprofit Athletes Caring Together joined the effort; they continue to collect goods and money for families there.

“The gymnastics community, we’ve been sending clothes, donations, even things you wouldn’t think about, like feminine products,” said United’s operations director, Emilia Raynova.

She and Kristina Thomas facilitated the girls’ arrival and will support Jill Thomas’ family while the girls are here.

On Sunday, Jennibie Rolle spent the last few hours with her daughters before flying back to Grand Bahama the next day.

The girls were getting comfortable in their new digs, their own room in the finished basement at the Thomas family’s Dunmore home.

The Thomases just moved, and Jill Thomas laughed that she and her husband, John, are sleeping on the couch until they can unpack their own bedroom.

The girls’ bedroom, however, was finished and tidy, the walls decorated with the initials “A” and “J” over their beds.

“When the hurricane happened, there was tons of help. ... Now that time’s passing, they’re leaving. Nobody’s helping any more and that’s the sad part,” Jill Thomas said. “I’m a mom. I can’t think that there’s two children who have nobody to help them.”

How long they’ll stay is open-ended now. The Thomases say the girls are welcome for as long as they need.

‘Trying to get back to normal’

At the Thomases’ dining room table, Jennibie Rolle remembered the night Dorian hit.

As Janiyah studied her smartphone with earbuds in her ears and Aaliyah wandered in and out of the room, Jennibie Rolle carefully unpacked those 32 hours that her family spent fighting for their lives.

The night before, they moved their car to high ground and stacked sandbags around the house. Her husband agreed to stay up and keep watch amid heavy wind and rain. He dozed off about 4 a.m. Monday morning, Sept. 2.

When they woke an hour later, water was filling their home.

It covered their neighbor’s pickup, nixing their first escape plan, and poured in through the wall sockets.

Their neighbor had a Mako motorboat tied up nearby. They climbed out an upper window of their home into the storm.

“Mommy, I don’t want to die,” Jennibie Rolle remembered Aaliyah saying as they put her in the boat.

The rain blew sideways against them. She used ropes to tie the girls to her. Her husband, a fisherman, and their neighbor tied ropes to each other.

They had hardly left home when the boat motor struck a wall and died.

They were stranded near a canal, not far from the beach. If they drifted out to sea, they would not survive.

They managed to tie themselves to a tree. When the storm weakened, they reached another home and found a can of corned beef, a can of tuna and some bottled water.

“It was like steak and lobster,” she said.

They shot flares into the air and eventually someone with a large front end loader came to rescue them Tuesday afternoon.

‘Some type of normalcy’

Three months later, they’ve found a new place to live, but they’re far from stability.

“Right now, we’re just trying to get back to normal,” she said, explaining apartments are in high demand and rents shot through the roof.

Teachers in the school where Jennibie works use cardboard for blackboards and a tarp covers the hole in her classroom ceiling.

Building materials are slow in coming.

In Pennsylvania, the girls will go to school. Aaliyah can continue gymnastics training at United and Janiyah, who runs track and field, can join the team at school. And they’ll keep in touch daily with their mom using the messaging app WhatsApp with text messages and video chat.

Other gym families are sending their kids to the U.S. so they can keep training and go to school, Kristina Thomas said.

Friends and family criticized Jennibie Rolle for sending her girls away, but life in the Bahamas was too distracting for them. Going to school every day was a constant reminder of the storm, she said.

“I just wanted them to have some type of normalcy from the tragedy,” she said.

Contact the writer:

joconnell@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9131;

@jon_oc on Twitter

Want to help? Here’s information on how you can donate

United Sports Academy in Dunmore continues to accept donations for families affected by Hurricane Dorian in the

Bahamas. They need a wide slate of items, including bedding, cleaning supplies, toiletries, utensils and small appliances. For information, call the gym at 570-963-5477 or visit its Facebook page, www.facebook.com/unitedsportsacademygym.

Nov. 12, 1929

Diphtheria campaign begins

Scranton Public Health Department officials announced that once again they would conduct a diphtheria prevention campaign in the city.

Dr. Robert Schultz, city public health director, said “diphtheria is a greatly dreaded disease, especially in children.”

Schultz said those wanting to be protected from the disease would need to attend one of the clinics the office had set up in the city to receive three injections of the antitoxin over a period of three weeks. The clinics were located at Scranton State Hospital, West Side Hospital, the South Side Police Station and at three of the city’s elementary schools.

Father, son unhurt in crash

H. Russell Worthington and his son, Harvey, both of West Chester, escaped injury in a traffic wreck Nov. 11 on Northern Boulevard.

According to police, the Worthingtons’ car was forced from the road by a large Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co. truck. Their vehicle went over an embankment and came to rest in the creek that runs alongside the road.

Police later found the driver of the truck and cited him for reckless driving.

Shopping at the Globe

Women’s dresses for around the home, $1.98; women’s winter coats, $79.50; wool blankets, $6.73; lambswool blankets, $10.29; leather handbags, $2.95; six-button slip-on gloves, $2.45; lampshades, $1.

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.

To share his joy for soccer, Ryan Galeas collects used cleats, balls and other gear to make sure players around the world have opportunities to play.

The Mid Valley Elementary School sixth grader started collecting gear in early October. He has received donations from around the community — including about 20 pairs of cleats and 30 soccer balls — to send to Peace Passers, an organization that helps redistribute used soccer gear to people worldwide.

Every year, Ryan would donate his used cleats to Goodwill Industries, said his mother, Stacie Kane. This year, they decided to make a bigger impact and started Ryan’s Cleats for Bare Feet. They searched the internet and found Peace Passers, which helps athletes in need who also love soccer.

“I’m very proud of him for being selfless and trying to get other kids to donate,” Kane said.

Members of the Valley View High School boys soccer team heard about Ryan’s efforts and decided to get involved.

“Since it’s our last season of high school soccer, we wanted to go out in a bang and help the community and other people’s lives, so we joined forces with Ryan,” said Joel DeCarli, a Valley View senior.

Both Joel and his teammate, senior Sam Cole, have played soccer since they were children in youth leagues, like Ryan.

They contributed more than three dozen balls, shorts, jerseys and shin guards collected from their teammates and community members to Ryan’s Cleats for Bare Feet, said Sam.

“I’m sure the kids that are going to be receiving all of the donations, they’re going to have a great time like we did out on the field,” said Joel.

Ryan is collecting gear, including cleats, soccer balls sizes 3, 4 and 5, ball pumps and needles, soccer socks, and goalie jerseys and gloves until Mid Valley goes on break for Thanksgiving at the end of the month.

To donate, visit Ryan’s Cleats for Bare Feet on Facebook; email Kane at kane.stacie@gmail.com; or for monetary donations, visit Ryan’s Cleats For Bare Feet on GoFundMe.

Contact the writer:

kbolus@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-910 x5114;

@kbolusTT on Twitter

Jessup police have a union.

The borough’s Police Department joined Teamsters Local Union No. 229 following a council vote last week. Now, officers have a four-year contract that guarantees 3% annual raises and protects their health care, pensions and personal time, said Craig Pawlik, the secretary-treasurer and business agent for Local 229.

The department was thrilled when council approved the labor contract with the union, said Officer Robert Bastek Jr., one of the department’s two union representatives. Officers were looking for union protection and higher wages, he said.

Jessup has two full-time officers and, technically, seven part-time officers, but only five part-timers who regularly work in the borough, he said. The borough had one of the lowest-paid departments in the county, Bastek said. Officers there made $3 to $4 per hour less than neighboring departments, Pawlik said.

Before the contract, part-time officers made $17.61 an hour, full-time officers made about $19 and the sergeant made $20.63, Bastek said. Under the new contract, part-time officers earn $21 an hour, full-time officers earn $25 and the sergeant earns $27.

The new salaries will make Jessup more competitive, Bastek said.

“Why would you turn down $5 more an hour?” he said.

The new contract also gives officers better pay for appearing in court, protects them from being laid off and guarantees part-time officers 32 hours each week, he said. It also guarantees that a future administration can’t remove what officers already have, Pawlik said.

“If it’s not in the CBA, it’s not binding,” he said.

The union represents about 30 collective bargaining agreements, including Olyphant’s Police Department, and public works departments in Dickson City’s, Jessup, Jefferson Twp. and Throop. After seeing the union negotiate wages for the borough’s DPW workers last year, the police officers reached out to Local 229, Pawlik said.

“They felt their best opportunity to get that was to have us advocate on their behalf,” he said.

Although council voted to enter into the labor contract with the union Nov. 4, the agreement was backdated to Oct. 1 due to scheduling conflicts, Pawlik said.

Council President Gerald Crinella said he didn’t have strong feelings regarding the union.

“It is something that they wanted, it is a trend, and other towns have done it,” he said. “My understanding is it’s what the police wanted to pursue.”

Contact the writer:

flesnefsky

@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9100 x5181;

@flesnefskyTT on Twitter

SCRANTON — Not all of the battles fought by the men and women who serve in America’s armed forces end on foreign shores.

Some follow them home.

Referring to the situation faced by many veterans today as a crisis, Lackawanna County President Judge Michael J. Barrasse reminded about 100 people gathered for a Veterans Day observance on Courthouse Square that as much as U.S. soldiers, sailors and airmen are heroes, they are also human and feel real pain — and not just from bullets.

“As one veteran stated, you don’t get a Purple Heart for being mentally shot,” he said.

That’s why Lackawanna County has a veterans treatment court program, the judge said.

Whether it’s homelessness, mental health issues, emotional problems or drug or alcohol addiction, the rate is higher among veterans than among the general population, he said.

“We started veterans court as a result of that — to make

sure we can say we leave no soldier behind,” Barrasse said. “It’s not just about distant lands. It’s about here in our own country.”

Barrasse delivered the keynote address at the Veterans Day event, which the American Legion Koch-Conley Post 121 sponsors annually.

The crowd joined Paulette Costa in singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” and other patriotic songs. Near the end of the ceremony, wreaths were placed at the northern entrance to Veterans Memorial Plaza.

Barrasse rattled off a series of troubling statistics: More than 45,000 veterans and active-duty service members killed themselves in the past six years, a rate of 22 a day; the suicide rate for those ages 18 to 34 increased 80% from 2005 to 2016, and the risk of suicide nearly doubles in the year after a veteran leaves active duty.

Veterans coming home from overseas tours might seek treatment for their external scars but not for the internal ones, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, he said.

Instead, they will try to take care of it by self-medicating, which can spiral down into addiction and, too often, entanglement with the criminal justice system, Barrasse said. That’s where veterans court comes in.

“These veterans almost universally have lived good, productive lives, except for drug and alcohol and mental health issues often directly related to their service to their country,” he said.

Barrasse said one thing veterans court battles is the military culture, which teaches individuals to push through pain and put others above self. However, veterans court is a place where seeking help is the norm, said the judge, who encouraged other veterans to become involved as volunteer mentors for those enrolled in the program.

“We must reach out to our veterans in distress and say it’s OK, that it takes courage to make change and ask for help,” Barrasse said. “We need to stop the stigma and talk ... about how we can help the fallen veteran.”

In brief remarks, U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-8, Moosic, discussed his visit to Normandy in June for the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, using it as a jumping-off point to talk about the Constitution and the freedoms that Americans enjoy.

Every drop of blood, sweat and tears shed by veteran was shed to protect the Constitution, he said.

“In fact, the only oath I took in my job is to protect and defend that very Constitution — not just selected parts of it, every single word,” Cartwright said. “If we really want to do a good job of honoring our veterans, let’s all stand together in defense of our American Constitution.”

Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9132

Carbondale

Christmas party: Trinity Episco­pal Church annual Dickens of a Christmas Party, Dec. 7, 58 River St., social hour, 5 p.m., dinner, 6, entertainment by Voices of the Valley Choir directed by Gina Pascolini, $20/adults and free/under 12, raffles, door prizes and entertainment; church office, 570-282-3620.

Dickson City

Neighborhood Watch: Dickson City Neighborhood Watch meeting, Nov. 20, 7 p.m., Borough Building; council President Jeffrey Kovaleski is speaker, residents may ask questions about borough issues.

Dunmore

Seniors meet: Dunmore 50 Plus Club meeting, Thursday, noon, La Cucina Restaurant, 600 S. Blakely St.

East Scranton

Casino trip: Casino bus trip to Hollywood Casino at Penn National Hershey, Dec. 6, bus leaves at 9 a.m. and departs casino at 4:30 p.m., $35, includes $30/slot rebate and $5/food, photo ID required; Tom, 570-280-5096, by Nov. 22.

Forest City

Soup sale: Homemade soups for takeout only, Dec. 6, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Christ Episcopal Church, 700 Delaware St., $5/pint, many varieties including chicken noodle, southwest turkey chili, potato leek, broccoli cheese, baked potato, ham and pea and Manhattan clam chowder; 570-785-3425 and leave a message.

Regional

Craft fair: Holiday vendor craft fair, Saturday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Carbondale Area Elementary School, 103 Brooklyn St., $2/admission, free/under 12, direct sales merchandise, handcrafted items, food, baked goods and door prizes available, proceeds benefit PROSPER drug and alcohol prevention programs in the Carbondale Area School District.

Autism support: Align: Autism Parenting Support Group will host Roseann Polishan, a special needs advocate and parent chairwoman for the Lackawanna Education Task Force, Saturday, 1-3 p.m., Gathering Place in Clarks Summit, to answer your questions about resources, educational laws and how best to advocate for your child, join for coffee, community, answers and support; 570-319-6460.

West Pittston

Committee meet: West Pittston Cherry Blossom Committee meeting, Sunday, 6 p.m., Corpus Christi School building.

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.

WILKES-BARRE

Actor William Shatner will participate in a conversation and Q&A following the screening of “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” at 8 p.m. Jan. 17 at the F.M. Kirby Center.

Shatner will share stories from portraying the original Captain Kirk in the “Star Trek” television series and movies, and from his career spanning more than 50 years.

Tickets start at $34.50 plus fees and go on sale 10 a.m. Friday and are available online at kirbycenter.org, at the Sundance Vacations Box Office at the F.M. Kirby Center and charge by phone at 570-826-1100. A Kirby Member presale begins 10 a.m. Wednesday.

A limited number of VIP tickets will be available which include premium seating and a photo opportunity with Shatner.

— STAFF REPORT

In preparation for the fast-approaching ski season, Elk Mountain Ski Resort fired up its snow machines Friday and several other resorts plan to start producing powder today.

An incoming weather system moving east from the Great Lakes region will bring freezing temperatures to Northeast Pennsylvania this week and should provide “prime snow-making conditions” through Thursday for area resorts, AccuWeather meteorologist Niki Lobiondo said.

Elk Mountain in Susquehanna County, Montage Mountain in Scranton and Camelback Mountain in Pocono Twp., Monroe County, are seizing the opportunity. All hope to open their slopes by late November or early December, though officials said being the first to open is less important than providing a consistent product throughout the season.

“I think it’s more important to set the right expectation and deliver on that expectation,” said Montage Mountain marketing director Jeff Slivinski. “We want to actually open and ... be open for the entire season, not run into a situation where we open for a week and then the temperatures go up and we wasted energy, efficiency and some money burning out our staff.”

Montage Mountain, which opened in 1984, enjoyed its best revenue season on record last year thanks in part to favorable climate conditions. The mountain opened for Black Friday and logged more than 100 season days despite less than average snowfall totals, Slivinski said.

Elk Mountain made snow on about five or six trails Friday night into Saturday and plans to continue making snow this week. The resort will open when those trails are sufficiently covered and groomed, though Gregg Confer, the resort’s vice president and general manager, said an exact date has yet to be determined.

“We have a target date of Dec. 5, and I would think we’ll definitely hit that this year if the weather gets cold,” said Confer. “Our season pass holders are already anxious. ... This is our 60th year of operation, so we have a good history of snow making, a good history of business. They know that we’ll offer a good product when we open.”

Typically Elk Mountain logs around 100,000 ski visits per year, he said.

Boasting 377 new, energy efficient snow guns, Camelback is prepared to make snow throughout the season assuming temperatures are sufficiently cold. The mountain is coming off a very strong season that saw it remain open until April 8.

“We always shoot to open Thanksgiving weekend or by the first week of December,” said Camelback Senior Marketing Manager A.J. Stack.

Camelback will celebrate the impending season Saturday with Ullr-Fest, a ceremonial homage to the Norse god Ullr, who is often associated with snow and skiing. Running from 5-10 p.m., the event features a bonfire and the burning of wooden skis, along with a raffle, a costume contest, music and more.

Contact the writer:

jhorvath@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9141; @jhorvathTT

Former Scranton School District Superintendent Alexis Kirijan was not acting in her official capacity when she asked a priest to bar a teacher who criticized her from reading at a Mass they both attended, a federal judge ruled.

U.S. District Judge Malachy Mannion said Kirijan’s comments regarding Steve Bartnicki relate to a purely personal matter, therefore he cannot recover damages for alleged retaliation.

Mannion also dismissed a claim for defamation, but let stand Bartnicki’s claim that Kirijan kept him from being appointed to teach an honors class and as a soccer coach.

The claims were contained in a lawsuit Bartnicki filed last year. Mannion said evidence to support the claims regarding the teaching and coaching positions is “scant.” He said he must allow them to proceed at this stage of the litigation, however.

Mannion’s ruling relates to a motion to dismiss that the district’s attorney, Jennifer Menichini, filed in January, which presented a strictly legal argument.

While that motion was pending, the district filed a second motion to dismiss the case that is based on evidence that was gathered in pretrial depositions.

In the second motion, Menichini said evidence shows the decision to appoint someone else to teach the honors class and as a soccer coach were made by other district officials and Kirijan had no say in the matters.

Bartnicki’s attorney, Cynthia Pollick,will have an opportunity to respond to the motion. Mannion will issue a ruling at a later date.

Contact the writer:

tbesecker@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9137;

@tmbeseckerTT on Twitter

SALEM TWP.

At least $3,000 stored in two children’s piggy banks were stolen sometime within the last few months from a Lake Ariel couple, state police at Honesdale said.

Between July and October, someone stole the money Dustin Chapman, 26, and Victoria Lanza, 25, stored in their children’s bedroom on Moore Road.

State police believe that both piggy banks had a total of $3,000 in one-hundred dollar bill denominations.

The money was intended for the future savings accounts for their children, state police said.

Trooper Corey Blowers is following up on multiple leads.

Anyone with information should contact the Honesdale barracks at 570-253-7126.

— JOSEPH KOHUT

DUNMORE

Borough police seek a driver who plowed into a car Saturday morning and then took off.

Surveillance video captured the 3:30 a.m. collision on the 100 block of Cherry Street. The video shows a 2016 or 2017 GMC Terrain clipping the rear of a parked vehicle and pushing it into the back of another parked SUV.

Officer Eugene Mentz said that one of the GMC’s headlight’s fell off during the crash. Police found a serial number inside and used it to confirm the vehicle’s make and model.

The GMC, which is either black or dark blue, came down Cherry Street from the direction of Elm Street and continued toward Wheeler Avenue.

The GMC will have a missing headlight, a dented bumper and might be missing the passenger side mirror.

Anyone with information should contact Dunmore police headquarters at 570-343-0851 or the Lackawanna County Communications Center at 570-342-9111.

— JOSEPH KOHUT

BERLIN TWP.

A 12-year-old New York girl broke her wrist and possibly lost consciousness Sunday when she crashed an ATV in Wayne County, state police at Honesdale said.

The girl, from Valley Stream, lost control and hit a stone wall on Branning Road, just east of Peggy Runway Road, at 3:05 p.m. The force of the impact threw the girl, whose name was not released, from the ATV.

State police said she was not wearing her helmet properly and she lost it during the crash.

This was the first time she drove an ATV, her mother, Barbara Quintanilla, told state police.

Quintanilla said they were there visiting a friend and her daughter was permitted to ride the ATV.

State police did not have on update Monday on the girl’s condition.

— JOSEPH KOHUT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Mini Mercury skipped across the vast, glaring face of the sun Monday in a rare celestial transit.

Stargazers used solar-filtered binoculars and telescopes to spot Mercury — a tiny black dot — as it passed directly between Earth and the sun on Monday.

The eastern U.S. and Canada got the whole 5 ½-hour show, weather permitting, along with Central and South America. The rest of the world, except for Asia and Australia, got just a sampling.

Mercury is the solar system's smallest, innermost planet. The next transit isn't until 2032, and North America won't get another shot until 2049.

In Maryland, clouds prevented NASA solar astrophysicist Alex Young from getting a clear peek. Live coverage was provided by observatories including NASA's orbiting Solar Dynamics Observatory.

"It's a bummer, but the whole event was still great," Young wrote in an email. "Both getting to see it from space and sharing it with people all over the country and world."

At Cape Canaveral, space buffs got a two-for-one. As Mercury's silhouette graced the morning sun, SpaceX launched 60 small satellites for global internet service, part of the company's growing Starlink constellation in orbit.