CLARKS SUMMIT — The state Department of Transportation postponed today’s scheduled closure of Exit 194 at Clarks Summit on Interstate 81 because of the inclement weather.
The ramp closure will now take place Wednesday at 6 a.m., PennDOT said.
PennDOT is closing the ramp and putting a detour in place on Route 8015 to make priority bridge repairs, the department said.
— STAFF REPORT
WILKES-BARRE — A Lancaster man was arraigned Tuesday on charges alleging he pulled a pistol and robbed a pet store of a Rottweiler puppy.
Kenneth L. White, 42, was arraigned on robbery, corruption of minors, and simple assault stemming from an incident earlier this year at the Tropic Pet Center at 381 South Main St. His bail was set at $50,000.
The complaint alleges that on April 24, a pet store employee flagged down Officer Edward Lewko during his patrol of South Main Plaza after her coworker was robbed by an as-of-yet unknown male with a gun. While encountering the store Lewko watched a silver Pontiac G6 with black stripes, black moldings, and a missing right rear hub cap fleeing the parking lot.
According to the complaint, one of the store clerks watched White enter the store with family members at 3 p.m. and negotiated the price for a Rottweiler puppy.
At 4:30 p.m., according to the complaint, White returned to the store and requested the male puppy from the second store employee, and when she brought it out police said he pointed a handgun at her, stated “you don’t want any problems,” grabbed the puppy, and fled.
The store clerk alerted the first clerk, who then went outside and ordered White to bring the dog back. According to the complaint, White then pointed the gun at the clerk, got into the Pontiac G6 and fled southbound on Sambourne Street.
On May 10 at 8:15 a.m., Lewko was monitoring the area surrounding Carey Avenue and Lockhart Street when he saw the Pontiac. He then conducted a traffic stop and found two minors inside the car. After calling their mothers, Lewko deemed the driver and passenger as “victims” and, after presenting them with the robbery details both minors and their mothers, all parties agreed to speak with him.
According to the complaint, the driver’s mother was aware of the robbery and said that White was responsible. She said they had contact on the day of the robbery and they were at the pet store shortly before the robbery occurred.
The driver’s mother said White asked her to pick him up at the corner of North Sherman Street and Amber Lane — near his North Sherman Street residence — and she drove White to her residence before later going to the liquor store with her daughter and another juvenile female. The group then went to the pet store and White negotiated the Rottweiler prices so the juvenile driver could have a dog.
The driver’s mother and White took the children back to her residence, and White then asked the juvenile driver to take him back to the pet store with the juvenile passenger, a 16-year-old male.
After stopping to “get money,” White and the children drove to the pet store where white told them to stay in the car — which he instructed needed to be parked around the corner — while he committed the robbery, the complaint alleges.
Police said the entire incident inside the store was captured on security cameras, and the vehicle’s movements were captured on the South Main Plaza security cameras. The puppy was recovered on April 25 after being located around Heights Murray Elementary School by a passerby who knew about the robbery.
Police said the identity of the puppy was confirmed via its microchip.
White is currently being held in Luzerne County Correctional Facility. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 26.
An Olyphant woman faces felony child endangerment charges after police said they found “deplorable” living conditions in her home.
Authorities found the sticky floors of Damelvis Crespo’s home at 49 Walsh Plaza strewn with food, dirt and “bodily fluids” when police responded to a call Monday afternoon reporting she refused to return property to Aaron’s rental.
“Chief James DeVoe went inside the home and immediately noticed the living conditions were deplorable,” the chief wrote in a criminal complaint.
Police found an open container of bleach within reach of children on a living room table and broken glass on the couch.
Uneaten and spoiled food littered floors and counter tops.
Crespo, 30, lived there with her three sons — ages 7, 5 and 4 — and her 11-year-old daughter.
The three boys wore dirty clothing and had dirt on their faces, according to police.
Police took emergency custody of the children and contacted the Lackawanna County Office of Youth and Family Services.
Crespo also faces two misdemeanor counts of child endangerment.
Crespo is free on $15,000 unsecured bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 11:15 a.m. Monday.
Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9144; @jkohutTT on Twitter
Police nabbed a suspected methamphetamine dealer from Dunmore on Monday after authorities say he traveled to Carbondale to sell his wares.
Robert James Andrewsh, 24, 313 E. Drinker St., Apt. 2, told his buyer to come meet him in the parking lot at Drive-N-Buy, according to a criminal complaint.
Andrewsh arrived in his charcoal pick-up truck shortly before 8 p.m. Members of the Lackawanna County Drug Task Force pulled him over.
Officers searched him and found two spring-loaded knives along his waist band and 7.2 grams of methamphetamine in his front shirt pocket.
A Carbondale police dog, Axel, helped officers find another 4.4. grams of psychedelic mushrooms.
Police also found 40 reclosable bags, plastic containers with methamphetamine residue, a round container used to conceal those items, $245 in cash and three notebooks with a list of names next to money values that indicate how much each person owes.
The methamphetamine investigation was a joint operation amongst the Carbondale and Mayfield police and the drug task force.
Andrewsh faces drug and weapons offenses.
Andrewsh is in the Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of $100,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Nov. 21.
Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9144; @jkohutTT on Twitter
A union representing about 84 city employees wants time to review Scranton’s new ethics code for possible conflicts with their contracts.
City council adopted the stiffer ethics code in January, with limits on campaign contributions elected officials can receive and a reconstituted ethics board to oversee the new rules. The code also bars employees from using city property for personal purposes, taking bribes or kickbacks and accepting gifts or compensation for city services.
Local Lodge 2305 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents city Department of Public Works and parks and recreation employees, sent an email Monday to city Solicitor Jessica Eskra requesting a copy of the new ethics policy. The union is not necessarily opposed to the code, but wants time to review it for potential conflicts and to educate union members on the new policy, union President Sam Vitris said.
As Councilwoman Mary Walsh Dempsey noted at a recent meeting, language in the ethics code already addresses conflicts between the code and collective bargaining agreements.
“To the extent and only to the extent this code conflicts with the existing rights of labor or its members by statute or contract, then such statute or contract shall supersede this code,” the ethics code reads.
Union leadership was not schooled on the new policy, Vitris said, making it difficult to answer members’ questions about it. Mayor Wayne Evans, who requires all employees to sign a document formally acknowledging they received, read and understand the new policy, said educational classes on the ethics code should begin next year.
Vitris encouraged the administration to offer the classes before asking employees to sign the acknowledgement. He also expressed confidence that cooperation between union and city officials will resolve any potential issues stemming from the ethics code.
“We’re 100% for working together,” Vitris said.
Evans said he is optimistic the union will not have an issue with the code once it reviews the language addressing conflicts, the same language Dempsey pointed out last week. He also said he understands the union’s request.
“That’s their role as representing union members within the city,” Evans said. “My role is to make sure as many employees as possible are educated on the Code of Ethics.”
Employees signing the formal acknowledgement is part of that educational process, which will continue into 2020, Evans said.
Contact the writer:
jhorvath@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9141;
@jhorvathTT on Twitter
A State Correctional Institution Dallas inmate has been hit with felony charges alleging he flung “liquefied feces” at a correctional officer.
Rafael Perez, 45, is facing charges of aggravated assault and aggravated harassment by a prisoner after attacking the correctional officer at the prison at 100 Follies Rd.
On Oct. 11, Correctional Officer Jordan Sharkuski was ordering inmates in the B-Block to return to their assigned cells when Perez threw a container full of “liquefied feces” into Sharkuski, according to a criminal complaint. Perez then proceeded to strike Sharkuski in the right side of the face, eye, and chin with a closed fist three times.
Although Sharkuski ordered Perez to turn around to be handcuffed, Perez refused and again went after Sharkuski. Police said Sharkuski, who was also yelling for help, “placed” Perez on the ground using a double leg take down, but Perez put Sharkuski in a headlock on their way to the ground.
However, Sharkuski regained dominance and took control of Perez’s upper body until Correctional Officer Aubrey Smith arrived to assist, according to police.
Police said Smith, after watching Sharkuski take an actively resisting Perez to the ground, called for assistance via radio before delivering a “one to three second burst” of pepper spray to Perez’s face and gaining control of his legs. Perez then complied and was taken to the infirmary when further assistance arrived.
According to the complaint, Sharkuski was evaluated for the injuries to his face and was also tested for diseases after the assault. During questioning, Sharkuski identified Perez as his attacker and said he had no idea why Perez would assault him as he never had any issues with Perez, according to the complaint.
Magisterial District Judge Brian J. Tupper arraigned Perez on the charges Tuesday morning and set his bail at $20,000.
Janet Brier can probably claim the award for most surprising Dunmore councilwoman-elect ever.
An official count completed today confirmed that Brier easily won a borough council seat with a tidal wave of a write-in votes, an unheard of event in Dunmore politics and rare in Lackawanna County or anywhere else.
“The people came out of the woodwork to help me,” said Brier, 66, an accountant by training and manager of an orthopedics practice.
For probably the first time, Dunmore will have three women on the seven-member council — Brier, incumbent Carol Scrimalli and another newcomer, Beth McDonald Zangardi.
The official results for four available council seats showed incumbent Vince Amico as the top votegetter with 3,001 votes followed by incumbent Michael A. Dempsey, 2,980, Zangardi, 2,922, Brier, 2,323, incumbent Michael F. McHale, 1,428 and incumbent Michael Hayes, 1,083.
Brier’s run for office grew out of disappointment with a Sept. 19 council vote on whether to amend the borough zoning ordinance. The council voted 4-3 to amend the ordinance to say landfills aren’t structures. Whether the landfill qualifies as a structure stands at the heart of Friends of Lackawanna’s appeal of a 2015 borough zoning board decision that found the landfill is not a structure. Friends of Lackawanna urged the council to vote against the amendment with the appeal still pending. Landfill lawyers argued the borough decided long ago the landfill isn’t a structure by not defining it that way in the zoning ordinance, and the amendment would only affirm that.
Amico and Dempsey voted against the amendment. McHale and Hayes voted for it, despite campaign promises to oppose the landfill.
“Vote them out,” many in an overflowed crowd chanted the night the council voted.
Enough voters agreed.
On Election Day, Hayes said he still thinks he did the right thing. Efforts to reach McHale then and today were unsuccessful.
Brier said McHale’s and Hayes’ votes flouting their campaign promises spurred her to run.
“I’m doing this because I’ve always loved Dunmore and always been active in environmental causes,” said Brier, who credits a large group of volunteers for her win. “I just thought if we could get a council that follows through on promises, we would be better off.”
Brier said her campaign mailed instructions on write-in voting three times to show voters how to write in her name. County records show most of the voters followed instructions, spelling her name exactly.
“We never expected this,” she said. “It’s very hard to get people to write in people’s names.”
Brier pointed to the election of Paige Cognetti as Scranton’s mayor, Jessica Rothchild to the Scranton City Council and the election of four women to the Scranton School Board.
“We might have a new day,” she said.
Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9147; @BorysBlogTT on Twitter
A couple from Moosic are charged with animal abuse shortly after a dog in their care starved to death.
Ronald Surplus, 26, and Amanda Fisher, 34, 610D Rocky Glen Road, are each charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, cruelty to animals, neglect of animal and related counts.
Police began investigating when they received a call Oct. 27 about a English bulldog laying by the front steps of a home on 8th Street.
The dog had lost most of its body mass and was too weak to get underneath a mobile home and out of the rain, police said.
Authorities took the dog to a veterinary hospital for treatment, but the dog later died. A necropsy later determined the dog died of emaciation, severe dehydration, a flea infestation and a disease that causes vomiting and bloody diarrhea.
The dog’s microchip was registered to Surplus’ mother, Helen Brady, who investigators said had been visiting her son.
Their investigation took them to Surplus and Fisher, who initially denied they knew anything about the English bulldog. Then, Fisher acknowledged that Helen Brady had left them the dog for a few weeks.
Surplus told police he gave the dog to someone else, but the time frame did not match up with the dog’s discovery. Police accused him of trying to mislead them.
Meanwhile, authorities found three more dogs and four or five cats in their mobile home. Police described some of them as clearly unhealthy and neglected.
A beagle was flea-infested, had hair loss, scabbed skin and smelled foul. The ribs and vertebrae of a mixed-breed dog were visible. Another mixed-breed dog had overgrown nails, a foul odor and redness on the inside of her thigh due to fleas.
Magisterial District Judge Paul Keeler set bail for Surplus and Fisher at $15,000 each. Preliminary hearings are scheduled for 11:15 a.m. Monday.
Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9144; @jkohutTT on Twitter
SCRANTON — As he traveled around Pennsylvania and heard people talk about their struggles to meet basic life needs, state Sen. Art Haywood came to the conclusion that poverty in the commonwealth is a box with four sides.
Right now, more than a million individuals, over 12% of the population, are trapped inside, he said.
“One of the things we saw is a lot of people have been left behind,” Haywood, D-4, Cheltenham, said.
Haywood was joined Tuesday by state Sen. John Blake, D-22, Archbald, as he released an extensive report on poverty in Pennsylvania that recommends 20 legislative or administrative policy solutions.
The 66-page report is based in large part on the feedback Haywood received during a statewide “Poverty Listening Tour” earlier this year that included a visit to Scranton, when he and Blake met with a dozen social services providers.
In discussing his findings, Haywood briefly addressed each of the four sides of Pennsylvania’s poverty box: a low minimum wage, poor transportation, inadequate child care access and lack of affordable housing.
The senator said he heard from a number of individuals who, despite working fulltime, “couldn’t make ends meet, couldn’t provide for basic necessities,” because they earn too little.
Someone making the state minimum wage of $7.25 an hour who works 40 hours a week earns just over $15,000 annually, well below the $21,000 poverty line for a family of three, he said.
“That was one of the common threads,” he said.
The unavailability of transportation to job locations was a “significant issue” cited in Scranton and several other locations around the state, Haywood said. The most dramatic account he heard involved a person who was paying $300 a month just to travel to and from a low-paying job.
The child care access issue also came up during his Scranton visit, he said. In order for some people to work, they need access to child care. That includes times when it traditionally is not available, such as evenings and weekends.
The need for more affordable housing was illustrated by a number of people Haywood said he spoke to during his tour who were living in their cars, some for weeks and months at a time.
One of the report’s key recommendations is a comprehensive study of the “benefits cliff” that discourages people from working toward self-sustainability when it would jeopardize their eligibility for other income-based benefits.
Blake said he understands means tests and scarce resources, but there has to be a way to reconcile that so Pennsylvania is not punishing people for working.
“We’ve always rewarded work as a country, as a commonwealth,” Blake said. “It concerns me mightily when people go to work and then, unfortunately, as a result of that, have to get kicked off the safety net almost immediately. ... That is just not good policy, folks.”
Among the report’s other 19 public policy recommendations, Haywood highlighted four:
-- Create an Office of Economic Opportunity under the governor to seeks ways to improve efficiency and effectiveness of government services that serve low-income individuals, and establish a public-private council to advise it.
-- Improve outreach and marketing to increase awareness of available services so fewer individuals slip through the gaps.
-- Provide more training to workers in county assistance offices and require those offices to better coordinate benefits with social services networks.
-- Increase the minimum wage.
Haywood said he has had a “good response” from Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration to many of the recommendations, including the benefits cliff study.
Some of the policy changes that require legislative action will probably have to wait until 2020, said Blake, who suggested there is “reasonable bipartisan support” for raising the minimum wage.
“It’s unconscionable that we should have a minimum wage in Pennsylvania that locks people into poverty. Somebody working 40 hours a week and still living below the poverty line is just not dignity and just not respect for work,” he said.
Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9132
Scranton plans to tap about $15,000 in unused federal funding to restore several stained glass windows at the entrance of City Hall.
The ornate windows, which surround the main doors on the North Washington Avenue side of the historic building, are in need of repair. Some are bowing outwards.
The $15,000 officials plan to put toward the project is left over from a long-discontinued federal program aimed at historical preservation, city Office of Economic and Community Development Executive Director Mary-Pat Ward said. The Architectural Heritage Association may also provide financial support for the project, Mayor Wayne Evans said, noting the city will solicit competitive bids for the window work.
Because of a lack of light near the windows, Evans fears many residents don’t even know they’re there. He suggested the possibility of backlighting the windows as part of the project, which would amplify their aesthetic features and better illuminate the building’s entrance.
“I think people will see the windows for the first time,” Evans said.
Officials said the project has potential as a public/private partnership, though the window work represents just a tiny fraction of overall restoration work City Hall requires.
A top-to-bottom renovation of the 131-year-old building would cost $10.7 million, according to a comprehensive assessment conducted by the Clarks Summit-based architecture, engineering and interior design firm Highland Associates.
That assessment includes a report on the building’s stained glass windows that puts the total cost of City Hall stained glass repair at $360,587. The building features dozens of stained glass windows.
The steep cost of the renovations sparked debate among officials over whether to move forward with City Hall repairs or find a new building to house city government. That debate is ongoing, though incoming council members Mark McAndrew and Jessica Rothchild said last month they support staying in City Hall and making repairs in stages.
Officials expect to receive bids for the entranceway window work before the end of the month.
Contact the writer: jhorvath@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9141; @jhorvathTT on Twitter
SCRANTON — Ten trail, road and sidewalk projects in Lackawanna County and part of Luzerne County got a $3.7 million boost in state funding, state Sen. John Blake, D-22, Archbald, announced today.
The largest single grant, $1.5 million from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, goes toward a Lackawanna County project to develop four miles of a “North Pocono Trail” between East Drinker Street in Dunmore and the Elmhurst Reservoir in Elmhurst Twp.
This segment of trail will stretch from a trailhead near Y Knot Pub & Eatery in Elmhurst Twp. to near where the state Department of Transportation is preparing to replace two massive Interstate 84 bridges, known as the twin bridges.
When finished, this trail will wind under the twin giants and along a former railroad corridor owned by the county. That corridor runs along Roaring Brook, Elmhurst Reservoir and White Oak Run through Dunmore and Roaring Brook, Elmhurst, Madison and Jefferson townships.
Marc Gaughan, president of the North Pocono Trails Association, recalled biking this “rail-to-trail” section several years ago with county and DCNR officials checking it out. While Gaughan’s group is not directly involved in this section, this segment of trail eventually would provide a link to the association’s trails near Moscow, he said.
“I think it’s great for people who maybe would like a rail-to-trail — level, flat for biking or walking,” Gaughan said of the four-mile section.
Trails improve quality-of-life for users and also generate economic gains from tourism, Gaughan said.
“People want to take their families out and go walking, hiking and walking their dogs, and this (section of trail) will be another one,” he said.
Other projects that got state funding will make roads and sidewalks safer and open areas for development and economic activity, Blake said. He noted he worked closely with area state representatives Mike Carroll, Marty Flynn, Bridget Kosierowski and Kyle Mullins to secure the funding.
Projects in Lackawanna County that received Department of Community and Economic Development multimodal transportation grants include:
— Carbondale: $500,000 toward installing sidewalks along Pike Street as part of extending the Lackawanna Heritage Trail into the city.
— Blakely: $350,000 to complete Phase 2 of a sidewalk project along Main Street, from Keystone Avenue to Academy Street.
— Archbald: $265,000 to construct a culvert and extend East Avenue over Wildwood Creek, to access two sites at the former mine-scarred Sturges Colliery site for economic development.
— Roaring Brook: $215,000 to repave several roads, many not paved in over 20 years.
— Spring Brook: $200,000 for paving Aston Mountain Road.
— Scranton: $95,000 for preliminary engineering to rehabilitate the Cliff Street underpass, to create disabled-access to Steamtown National Historic Site and the Lackawanna County Intermodal Transportation Center.
Projects and grants in Blake’s district in Luzerne County include: — Mericle 112 Armstrong: $375,000 to build a road to open 115 acres for development of three new buildings of bulk industrial and flex space in CenterPoint Commerce & Trade Park East in Pittston Township.
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport: $86,590 to construct a business center in the Joseph McDade Terminal Building.
Contact the writer: jlockwood@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5185; @jlockwoodTT on Twitter
The South Scranton park named after Lt. Col. Frank J. Duffy now comes with an explanation of his background.
City and state officials gathered today to dedicate a historical marker that illuminates Duffy’s World War I story in far more detail than park visitors saw before.
The marker culminates a years-long project to reinvent the park as part of the Harrison Avenue Bridge replacement.
“There was nothing that really spoke (about) Duffy. What we wanted was something that would speak directly to the memory of Lt. Col. Duffy,” said Chris Casciano, an equal opportunity specialist/analyst in the city Office of Economic & Community Development.
Before the new bridge’s construction, Duffy Park stood on its southwestern end. The bridge replacement included a realignment that shifted the park to larger land on the southeast side. The city’s Spirit of the American Doughboy statue — World War I soldiers are referred to as doughboys — stood in the old park since its dedication in 1940.
The old statue was moved to the Steamtown National Historic Site. A new statue replaced it in the new Duffy Park, but both statues honored World War I soldiers. The marker aims to remember Duffy, the highest-ranking officer from Lackawanna County killed during The Great War, Casciano said.
Duffy, an engineering supervisor with the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, and his motorcycle driver, Private 1st Class Frank Fiore, another Scranton resident, died Aug. 17, 1918, from enemy mortar fire near Chateau-Thierry, France.
“His memory was mostly anonymous for most of the 20th century and part of the 21st century,” Mayor Wayne Evans said. “I don’t think most Scrantonians really knew about Lt. Col. Frank Duffy.”
Officials credited PennDOT project manager Patrick McCabe for leading the charge for the marker.
Former City Councilman Joe Wechsler read a poem honoring Duffy. A man named George Bowen wrote the poem, published 101 years ago.
“Selfless sacrifice exultant, nothing to his flag denied, on the battlefield triumphant, Duffy for his country died,” Wechsler read.
Members of Veterans of Foreign Wars Rabiega-Gorgol Post No. 3451 of South Scranton, which dedicated the original statue, watched the marker dedication.
“It’s a lot better,” said former post commander Frank Warenda, who managed the project on the post’s behalf. “If it wasn’t for men like him in World War I and World War II, we’d be speaking German or Japanese.”
Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9147; @BorysBlogTT on Twitter.
Students of the Month
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
SCRANTON
A Plains Twp. man accused of shooting another man in the face with a shotgun earlier this year waived his preliminary hearing Tuesday.
Zodi Oprisko, 33, could now head to trial on 33 charges including attempted homicide, aggravated assault and kidnapping, according to court dockets.
Authorities accused Oprisko of shooting a 20-year-old Len Floyd in the face in Scranton on April 25 and shooting at another vehicle on Interstate 84 the same day. The following day, Oprisko held his girlfriend at gunpoint and forced her to drive him around until she escaped, police charged.
Oprisko remains in Lackawanna County Prison without bail.
— FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY
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.
Students of the Month
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.”
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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.
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