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

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

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 outward.

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 entryway window work before the end of the month.

Contact the writer:

jhorvath@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9141;

@jhorvathTT on Twitter

Twirlers around

the schools

Twenty members of the Double “R” Twirlettes twirl with six different high school band fronts at games, pep rallies and other events throughout the region.

Meghan Murray is Miss Trojan, Alexandra Taffera is a feature twirler, Autumn Major is captain, and Jordan Gioupis, Lily Lucsky, Olivia Major and Lauren Zajaczkowski are twirlers on the North Pocono Twirling Team; Natalie Buchinski is Miss Spartan and Jocelyn Bringhurst, Madison Doyle, Lindsey Kausmeyer, Sahara Searfoss, Tiana Searfoss, Sadie Solensky and Morgan Tullio make up Mid Valley’s twirling team; Nina Sampogne is Miss Comet at Abington Heights High School; Eliyana Kubelis and Sara Swavola are feature twirlers at Scranton High School; Natalie Nareski is feature twirler at Old Forge High School; and Madison Waltz twirls for Dunmore High School.

The performers are all students of Kathleen Y. Mercatili, who is director of the Double “R” Twirlettes.

Super students

Marywood University’s Taylor Troiani attended the X-Culture Global Symposium in Calgary, Canada.

Troiani, a junior business management student from Jessup, was introduced to X-Culture in Christopher Speicher’s, Ph.D., International Management course. X-Culture connects business students from all over the world to collaborate and understand working with other cultures.

Of more than 4,000 global applicants, Troiani was one of 150 participants selected to attend. She worked on a team with students from Brazil,

Florida and the Netherlands to develop a project to present

to the Calgary Municipal Land Corp.

“Marywood University has provided me with so many opportunities to learn and grow,” said Troiani. “X-Culture was certainly the opportunity of a lifetime—learning how to work toward a solution for a real business, meeting new amazing people with a passion for learning, and understanding different cultures by collaborating with students from all over the globe.”

Troiani also attended lectures and panels.

“The X-Culture Program is the best way for students to participate in international business in a real-life experimental program with real world companies and outcomes,” said Speicher, associate professor in the School of Business and Global Innovation.

Since Marywood University students began participating in the X-Culture Challenge, five of its students have been selected to the top one percent of all students worldwide.

Troiani is also a commuter representative for the Student Government Association, member of the Accounting and Finance Club and volunteers at the Jessup Hose Company 2.

Charitable children

For the past four weeks, 60 kindergarten through fourth graders who attend the weekly Awana Program at Heritage Baptist Church in South Abington Twp. have been gathering diapers, baby bottles and formula as part of the program’s annual Bring a Blessing Campaign.

The donations will benefit Care Net of Scranton.

“Our Awana Club themes over the past few years have centered on service and putting others before ourselves. These children have demonstrated that through their kindness and generosity to these moms in need,” said John Antolick, Awana Ministry director. “Helping helpless babies seems to have resonated with these kids.”

Care Net of Scranton is a nonprofit pregnancy crisis center. The club also helped the organization last November.

The Bring a Blessing Season culminates today during the church’s Bring a Blessing Night.

The students will present the items to Care Net Director Patricia Kelly in the church’s auditorium.

The church holds its Awana program, which is an international ministry for children, for children in kindergarten through fourth grade every Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:15 p.m. at Heritage Baptist Church, 415 Venard Road, Clarks Summit.

WILKES-BARRE — A Hazleton woman whose 7-month-old son died after ingesting the deadly opioid fentanyl was sentenced Tuesday to serve up to five years in state prison.

Anyi Paola Medina Arias, 21, of 111 N. Laurel St., pleaded guilty in August to a felony count of involuntary manslaughter for causing her son to ingest fentanyl last November.

Luzerne County Judge David W. Lupas imposed the sentence Tuesday, ordering Medina Arias to serve 1¼ to five years in prison.

Medina Arias has been jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility since her arrest the day after the baby died.

— JAMES HALPIN

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 an English bulldog laying by the front steps of a home on Eighth 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 its 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

Nov. 13, 1919

Spanish nobles’ luggage missing

When the Count and Countess las Condes des Arcentales of Spain arrived in New York City following a visit to Scranton, the royal couple discovered something was missing.

The missing something wasn’t a souvenir from their stay in the Electric City. It was their luggage.

The royal couple arrived in Scranton on Nov. 10, 1919, and stayed the night at the Hotel Casey and moved on to New York City the following day. Their visit to Scranton was part of their honeymoon tour of North America.

According to the New York City police, when the couple arrived at the Hotel Touraine in Manhattan, they discovered only two of their six traveling trunks made it to the hotel.

Upon opening the two trunks, it was discovered they were filled with kindling wood. The couple, through the assistance of a friend and Scranton native, Dr. Peter Gibbons, alerted the New York City Police Department. They said the two trunks that arrived at the New York City hotel should have contained gowns, furs and jewelry that the countess received as wedding gifts. The couple estimated the value of the missing items in the two trunks to be $35,000.

The New York City Police contacted the Hotel Casey about the trunks. The Casey’s management said only two trunks were brought to the hotel from the Lackawanna Station on Nov. 10. When the couple left the next day, the hotel’s porter transported the two trunks back to the station. The management of the Hotel Casey told the NYPD they were confident the trunks were not looted in their hotel.

Two NYPD detectives were assigned the case to locate the missing four trunks and the missing contents of the other two trunks.

Shopping list

Smoked hams were 21 cents per pound, smoked bacon was 39 cents per pound, a quart of fresh oysters were 39 cents, 15 pounds of turnips were 35 cents, a large package of Quaker oats was 24 cents, two cans of Campbell’s Baked Beans were 25 cents and a pound of butter was 67 cents.

BRIAN FULTON, library manager, oversees The Times-Tribune’s expansive digital and paper archives and is an authority on local history. Contact Brian at bfulton@timesshamrock.com or 570-348-9140.

SCRANTON — Ten trail, road and sidewalk projects in Lackawanna County and Luzerne County received a $3.7 million boost in state funding, state Sen. John Blake, D-22, Archbald, announced Tuesday.

The largest single grant, $1.5 million from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, was awarded to a Lackawanna County project to develop 4 miles of the 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 spans, 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 received state funding will make roads and sidewalks safer and open areas for development and economic activity, Blake said. He worked closely with area state Reps. 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 Twp.: $215,000 to repave several roads, many not repaved in more than 20 years.

Spring Brook Twp.: $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 Twp.

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

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 educated 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

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 countertops.

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, police said.

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

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 full time, “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 seek 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

Jermyn

Committee meeting: Jermyn Holiday Lights Committee meeting, Sunday, 7 p.m., Jermyn Community Center, 440 Jefferson Ave.

Electronics recycling: One-day electronics recycling event, Saturday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Viewmont Mall parking lot behind Dick’s Sporting Goods and HomeGoods, all televisions will be accepted, along with computers, monitors, peripherals, printers and copiers.

Lackawanna County

Trash cleanup: State Rep. Bridget M. Kosierowski, D-114, Waverly Twp., is partnering with several community organizations to clean up trash and debris along a stretch of the Heritage Trail on Saturday from 9 a.m.-noon, residents and groups interested in participating can call Kosierowski’s office at 570-562-2350.

Pittston

Devotion event: An evening of Marian devotion, Monday, 6 p.m., Oblates of St. Joseph Chapel, rosary, Fatima prayers, hymns and musical scripture mysteries led by Ernie Pappa.

South Scranton

Seniors meet: South Scranton After 50 Club meeting, Thursday, 1 p.m., St. Paul of the Cross Parish Center, Prospect Avenue.

West Scranton

Bingo bash: St. Lucy’s Church annual Holiday Bingo Bash, Sunday, 949 Scranton St., doors open at 11:30 a.m. for a light lunch, early birds are 12:45-1:45 p.m., regular bingo starts at 2, tickets are available by calling Jack, 570-650-1278;

or at the rectory Monday-Wednesday, $6/entrance with two boards.

Weston Field/

Bulls Head

Residents meet: Weston Field/Bulls Head Residents Group meeting, Tuesday, 6:30 p.m., 1414 Von Storch Ave.

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.

Police nabbed a suspected methamphetamine dealer from Dunmore on Monday after authorities say he traveled to Carbondale to sell his wares.

Robert James Andrewsh, 25, 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 pickup 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 waistband and 7.2 grams of methamphetamine in his front shirt pocket.

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 with Carbondale and Mayfield police and the drug task force.

Andrewsh faces drug and weapons charges.

Andrewsh is in 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

MARRIAGE LICENSES

• Nicholas Matthew Sitler and Emily Rebecca Yost, both of Carbondale.

• Matthew David Soltis and Krista Jean Smolko, both of Peckville.

• Earl Jay Mass and Michelle Marie Dewitsky, both of Pocono Summit.

• Bianca Marie Dunbar, Old Forge, and John Robert Fauver, Moosic.

• Robert Thaddeus Davies and Rose Doran, both of Scranton.

• Gagan Gautam and Jasoda Acharya, both of Scranton.

• Sean Bryant Flynn and Shalon Margo Corrigan, both of Scranton.

• Ethan Cory Calafut and Morgan Alexandra Weber, both of Moosic.

PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS

• Stephen William Fish to MD Ayatullah Maktoomi; a property at 418 Harrison Ave., Scranton, for $49,950.

• Sean and Eileen Fagan to Roger P. and Susanne Malone; a property at Eagle Lake, Covington Twp., for $75,000.

• Kenneth Maciak and Blanche Maciak, incorrectly stated as Marciak in previous deed, Clarks Summit, to Barry E. Kerney, La Plume Twp.; a property in La Plume Twp. for $120,000.

• Vera Paulishak and Anne Paulishak, Dickson City, as joint tenants with rights of survivorship, to Anthony and Nicole Barrett, Dickson City; two parcels at 24 Hillcrest Drive, Dickson City, for $265,000.

• Thomas Nagy, executor of the estate of John Marushock, Throop, to Erika Pavlowski, Blakely; a property at 612 Center St., Throop, for $110,000.

• John M. Jr. and Cecilia L. Carr, Clarks Summit, to Heather H. and Brian J. Hiller, Clarks Summit; two parcels in Glenburn Twp. for $220,000.

• ESSA Bank & Trust, Stroudsburg, to Boccella Professional Real Estate LLC, Clark, N.J.; a property at 1207 Monroe Ave., Dunmore, for $65,500.

• Mustafa and Feruza Kerimoglu to Maruti Estate LLC, Scranton; a property at 4 Prescott Place, Scranton, for $55,000.

• 114 S. Valley Avenue LLC, Blakely, to B&W H LLC, Dickson City; two parcels at 114 S. Valley Ave., Olyphant, for $123,500.

• William Gleason and Bonnie Borgna-Kiehart, Taylor, to B&W H LLC, Dickson City; two parcels at 122 S. Valley Ave., Olyphant, for $66,500.

• Joan M. Brady and Bernadine E. Brady, Scranton, to B&W H LLC, Lackawanna County; a property at 306-308 12th Ave., Scranton, for $53,000.

DIVORCES SOUGHT

• Laura J. Angehr, Eynon, v. Richard J. Angehr, Archbald; married Dec. 29, 2007, in Lackawanna County; John R. Williams Jr., attorney.

• Agustin Salazar Jimenez, Scranton, v. Gabriela Rios, Scranton; married Dec. 14, 2001, in Puebla, Mexico; Jeffrey C. Nallin, attorney.

LAWSUIT

• Jamie Cheatum and Karim Murray, 608 Main St., Peckville, v. Eugene and Mary Reid, 215 S. Webster Ave., Scranton, seeking in excess of $50,000, including costs of suit, interest, delay damages if applicable and such other relief deemed just and proper, for injuries suffered Jan. 25 in a fall on the defendants’ premises; Michael J. Fiorillo, attorney.

ESTATES FILED

• Charles Turissini, 1205 Lakeland Drive, Scott Twp., letters testamentary to Leonard Turissini, 504 Chapman Lake Road, Scott Twp.

• Eugene Rempe, 1116 Claire Drive, Taylor, letters testamentary to Joan C. Rempe, same address.

• Robert D. Ruggiero, 10 43rd St., Fell Twp., letters of administration to Doreen Ruggiero, same address.

ONLINE: thetimes-tribune.com/court

A woman passes in front of the Everhart Museum in Scranton after Tuesday’s snowfall. The first storm of the season left a light coating of 1½ inches in most areas across the region, according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dave Dombeck. And while there’s no more snow in the forecast, Dombeck said this morning’s predicted low of 18 degrees might break a record of 19 set in Avoca in 1986. Temperatures are expected to climb to near 40 degrees by Thursday afternoon and 46 by Friday, before falling into the 30s for the weekend. RIGHT: Marywood University student Matt Leen of Scranton cleans off his car before going to class. BELOW: Snow covers rooftops in Scranton.

The South Scranton park named after Lt. Col. Frank J. Duffy now comes with an explanation of his background.

City and state officials gathered Tuesday 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 yearslong 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, Pfc. 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 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

As if we needed another political scandal spawned by a shady phone call, incoming Scranton school Director Tara Yanni trumped the President of the United States.

A week before the Congressional impeachment hearings went public, Times-Tribune staff writer Sarah Hofius Hall revealed that Yanni called the district’s human resources director in a futile attempt to land her husband a job.

The story soiled the populist narrative of Yanni and three other newcomers who vowed to reform the board and revitalize the district. Suddenly, one of the freshwomen appeared to get caught old-school abusing the power of her office before she was sworn in.

“It’s very upsetting,” outgoing Director Greg Popil said. “If this is what she did as a board member-to-be, what will she do when she has real power?”

It’s a fair question — one of many Sarah would have asked Yanni, but the director-elect did her talking through her attorney, Richard Fanucci. When Yanni lawyered up, many naturally read it as a declaration of guilt.

Yanni spoke up Tuesday, telling me her side of a story she deeply regrets seeding.

“I shouldn’t have picked up the phone and made that call,” she said of her Aug. 13 conversation with Chief Human Resource Officer John Castrovinci.

Yanni’s husband, Rich, missed the deadline to apply for a Scranton High School assistant baseball coach job that pays $2,853 per year. Her husband applied for the job before the May primary, and she asked the HR director whether the application was valid when the job was re-posted in July.

Castrovinci said no. Yanni was disappointed, but said she and Castrovinci discussed Rich helping out as a volunteer at no pay.

“He’s coached these kids since they were knee-high” and he wanted to stick with them, Yanni said. She said she regrets making the call, which was Rich’s job.

About that call: Yanni said she made it at Castrovinci’s request. She asked outgoing Director Tom Borthwick, a member of the board’s Personnel Committee, to ask Castrovinci whether Rich could get an interview despite the blown deadline.

Yanni said Borthwick delivered the bad news, and said Castrovinci wanted her to call him directly.

For those keeping score, that’s Castovinci to Borthwick to Yanni, an inside baseball triple-play.

Except Castrovinci wouldn’t play ball. He told me it would have been ethically wrong to interview Yanni’s husband after he missed the deadline. With an ongoing state investigation into district corruption, he thought it was “a really bad idea” for an incoming school director to ask for such a favor.

“The job had been posted for a month,” Castrovinci said. “If her husband wanted the job, he should have made the call.”

Castrovinci said Yanni reminded him she would soon be on the school board and said she would go over his head to then-Superintendent Alexis Kirijan, Ed.D., and state-appointed Chief Recovery Officer Candis Finan, Ed.D. Castrovinci understandably read that, as well as a text Yanni sent to Borthwick — “I will be applying for personnel committee” with a smiley emoji — as “thinly veiled threats.”

Yanni said the emoji was innocent and the only higher-ups she discussed the issue with were Popil and Borthwick. She spoke with Popil just once, but discussed it with Borthwick several times, she said.

Borthwick (you guessed it) has a different recollection of events. He insisted he wasn’t doing a favor for Yanni when he asked Castrovinci about her husband’s application. He told me he was innocently asking a question about a deadline, something he would have done for any random Scrantonian.

“In no way, shape or form should that be construed as I wanted her husband to get a job,” Borthwick said. Also, Castrovinci’s message to Yanni through him was that Rich — not the incoming school director — could — not should — call the HR director for an explanation.

Castrovinci said he couldn’t remember exactly what he said, but Borthwick’s account sounds right because Yanni’s husband was seeking the job.

Yanni insisted Borthwick specifically told her to call, and that there was nothing random about Borthwick’s request, which she said is clear in this text exchange she showed me:

“I hoped he’d (Castrovinci) just make an exception,” Borthwick wrote. “But the deadline passed and it sounds like he’s a hardass.”

“He’s has (sic) made such an issue of it now, I would never have Rich interview for it,” Yanni replied. “Could you imagine what the newspaper would say?”

And that’s as far down this she said/they said rabbit hole as I’m willing to go. All I’m burning is newsprint. The district is actually spending taxpayer money investigating this farce, which was sparked by a shady phone call made by a political novice who should have known better.

Unless district solicitor John Audi finds a Ukrainian connection to this caper by the end of the week, the board should drop the probe before it costs more in legal fees than the $2,853 Rich Yanni would have made coaching high school baseball.

Nepotism is a chronic, crippling problem for the district. Any whiff of it damages the trust of taxpayers who went to the polls and entrusted a slate of women to end the good-old-boys corruption that cratered the district.

Tara Yanni should never have picked up the phone and made that call. If any hard evidence shows she threatened the HR director, she should not sit on the board. Absent any, it’s time to move on to doing the public’s business.

Yanni says she learned a lesson and will prove it over the next four years.

“I’ve got four years on this board to prove to everybody what I’m all about,” she said. “Everybody” includes the other newcomers swept to power in the election.

“The last thing I wanted was something like this to overshadow what we accomplished,” Yanni said. “I don’t want to bring down these other women.”

I spoke with the other women — Catherine Fox, Sarah Cruz and Ro Hume — on Tuesday. All took a wait-and-see approach until the district’s internal investigation wraps up. None felt brought down.

“I’m willing to work with anyone who wants to change the district for the better,” Fox said. “We’re going to be doing it for the next four years, so everybody buckle up.”

CHRIS KELLY, the Times-Tribune columnist, thought we were done with this stuff. Contact the writer: kellysworld@timessh­amrock.com, @cjkink on Twitter. Read his award-winning blog at timestribuneblogs.co­m/kelly.

PALMYRA TWP.

A Hawley man suffered severe injuries Monday when his motorcycle collided with a pickup in Pike County, state police at Blooming Grove said Tuesday.

Joseph R. Chiocchi, 26, was rushed to Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton following the 5:41 p.m. crash on state Route 6, state police said.

Chiocchi collided with Floyd Schmidt’s truck as Floyd, 62, of Lakeville, tried to make a left turn onto Atlantic Avenue.

Chiocchi was in critical condition late Tuesday, Geisinger spokesman Matt Mattei said.

State police closed part of Route 6 for several hours as authorities investigated the crash.

— JOSEPH KOHUT

OLD FORGE — A group of borough residents attended a work session Tuesday to express frustration at the lack of progress in the ongoing cleanup of an illegal junkyard taken to court by the borough nearly two years ago.

The borough first went to court in February 2018 to close the operation of Scrap Enterprises as an illegal junkyard in violation of Old Forge’s zoning ordinance. Five months later, Lackawanna County Judge Thomas Munley directed Walter Stocki Jr., owner of the property at Rear 105 N. Keyser Ave., to stop all activity that violates the ordinance and remove all non-operational equipment and vehicles from the property.

Since then, there has been little improvement at the site. After touring the property in May, Munley gave Stocki 100 days to clean it up, then a 45-day extension in September.

The judge visited the property again last week, ahead of a hearing at noon Thursday on a request by the borough to hold Stocki in contempt for repeatedly violating the judge’s orders.

Chris Goetz of Amity Avenue told council Tuesday he doesn’t understand why the ordinance can’t be strictly enforced.

“There is a reason we have zoning ordinances in this borough, but we continue to have a situation over there,” Goetz said. “These hearings have been dragging on for months and months and (Stocki’s) attorney comes up with every excuse in the book.”

Council members shared the residents’ frustrations.

“There are twice as many vehicles there now than when council toured the property in May,” Councilman Jim Hoover said. “I drive by that place two or three times a week and I always pull in the parking lot to see what’s going on. There’s not a time where I don’t find something going in. I see flatbeds coming in late at night with unusable machines.”

The borough started fining Stocki $500 per day for violations of the zoning ordinance on Nov. 21, 2017. As of Nov. 21, the fines will amount to $365,000, although Stocki is appealing them.

Earlier this month, the state Department of Environmental Protection ordered Stocki to clean up and properly dispose of spills on his property, along with tires, construction and demolition debris and other solid waste. He also must pay a $75,000 civil penalty but will be eligible for a $25,000 credit for petroleum contamination cleanup costs.

Also at Tuesday’s work session, council opened six bids for renovations of the former Old Forge Ambulance and Rescue Association building into the new police headquarters.

Police Chief Jason Dubernas has said the department has outgrown the Borough Building and officials have discussed the idea of a new police station for a few years.

Bids received included:

Mar-Paul Co., Jessup, $861,000.

D&M Construction, Dalton, $891,000.

Spano Construction, Scranton, $920,400.

Multiscape, Pittston, $932,680.

Champion Builders, Kingston, $949,800.

Bognet Inc., Hazle Twp. $974,537.

The contract will be awarded during an upcoming meeting. The bids are valid for 120 days.

Contact the writer:

rtomkavage@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5365:

@rtomkavage on Twitter

SCRANTON

The zoning board again continued a hearing on a variance for a convenience store/gas station in Green Ridge.

Peter Spano seeks a variance to construct a 5,000-square-foot convenience store with six gasoline pumps at 1554 Sanderson Ave. and Green Ridge Street. The site of the former Green Ridge Nursing Home is in an R-2 residential zone.

In October, the board issued a one-month continuance to give concerned members of the Green Ridge Neighborhood Association time to open a dialogue with Spano.

The variance then was scheduled to be heard Nov. 13, but was continued again at the request of both sides, city Planner Don King said Tuesday.

— JIM LOCKWOOD