Janet Brier can probably claim the award for most surprising Dunmore councilwoman-elect ever.

An official count completed Tuesday 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 vote-getter 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 Tuesday 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

Friedman Farms, a popular site for barn weddings in Dallas, will be featured on the Food Network show “Santa’s Baking Blizzard,” where bakers create unique designs on cakes and compete against one another.

It will air 9 p.m. Thanksgiving night.

Rob Friedman, owner of Friedman Farms, said bakers came from all over the world and a production crew from the Food Network spent two weeks at the barn filming the show.

Friedman signed a confidentiality agreement and could not discuss the competition or the winner but he said they created “unbelievable cakes.”

The winner will be revealed on the show.

The crew from the Food Network was looking for a “cool, rustic setting” to film the show and chose Friedman Farms, Friedman said.

“They obviously wanted it to be a winter setting and they saw pictures of the barn and thought it was the perfect location,” Friedman said. “They pick locations throughout the country and it was pretty cool that they chose us.”

Friedman Farms, which is promoted as “Northeast Pennsylvania’s original wedding in a barn,” has been in business for 11 years. The barn is surrounded by 145 acres of fields with grazing horses and a creek. Friedman preserved the original woodwork in the three-level barn.

Casey Webb is the host of “Santa’s Baking Blizzard.”

He presents the bakers with challenges as they pursue their shot at the finale and a stocking full of $25,000.

Contact the writer:

dallabaugh@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2115,

@CVAllabaugh 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

CLARKS SUMMIT

The state Department of Transportation postponed Tuesday’s scheduled closure of Exit 194 at Clarks Summit on Interstate 81 because of the inclement weather.

The ramp closure will now take place today 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

With only 2 weeks left in the season, Scranton's Co-Op Farmers Market will be closed today due to record setting cold.

The market along Barring Avenue is usually open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from Noon until 6 PM, with a season running from mid-July until Thanksgiving Eve.

The market will reopen on Friday.

SCRANTON — Electronics manufacturer Hewlett-Packard will sponsor a free electronics recycling collection Saturday for Lackawanna County residents.

The event, held in celebration of America Recycles Day and in cooperation with the county environmental office, will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the parking lot of the Viewmont Mall. HP will accept televisions, computers, copiers and peripherals.

For more information, contact the county’s environmental office at 570-963-2017.

— JEFF HORVATH

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.

A Paterson, New Jersey, man faces charges after investigators discovered $100,000 worth of cocaine in a hidden compartment in his sport utility vehicle, state police said.

Ruben Padilla, 41, was held in the Lackawanna County Prison on $250,000 bail after his arraignment Wednesday by Magisterial District Judge Laura Turlip on possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and other offenses.

Padilla was taken into custody Tuesday afternoon after Cpl. Paul Lindsay, a trooper assigned to drug law enforcement division, spotted the hidden compartment while searching Padilla’s Chevrolet Equinox during a traffic stop on Interstate 84, state police said.

According the arrest affidavit, Lindsay pulled Padilla over on I-84 in Dunmore shortly after 2 p.m. because the dark tints on the Equinox prevented him from seeing inside the driver’s window. After the trooper issued Padilla a warning for the violation, the driver verbally agreed to a search of the SUV.

That is when Lindsay, who was familiar with the type of electronically hidden aftermarket compartment installed on the Equinox, checked under the rear cargo deck from beneath the bumper and confirmed the vehicle was equipped with one, police said.

The Equinox was towed to the Dunmore barracks, where investigators accessed the compartment and discovered a brick wrapped in green cellophane, the affidavit said. Containing a white substance that field-tested positive as cocaine, the brick weighed about 2.2 pounds, giving the seized drugs a street value of $100,000, state police said.

Padilla’s preliminary hearing is scheduled Oct. 21 at 9 a.m.

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

A state trooper acquitted on charges alleging he molested a young girl has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging high-ranking Pennsylvania State Police personnel and Luzerne County Children and Youth Services engaged in a “plot to destroy” him.

Patrick J. Finn, a state police corporal who lives in Harrisburg, was charged with indecent assault and corruption of a minor after allegedly climbing into bed with a 9-year-old girl and fondling her at a home in Wright Twp. early the morning of Dec. 4, 2016.

Defense attorney Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. argued at trial that Finn couldn’t be guilty because he was asleep at the time — a claim substantiated when the victim testified that she believed Finn was sleeping and had mistaken her for his girlfriend.

Luzerne County Judge Michael T. Vough subsequently threw out the case in April 2018, finding prosecutors had not produced “one scintilla of evidence” that Finn was awake during the encounter.

The lawsuit filed in federal court earlier this month targets George Bivens, who at one point was second in command for the entire Pennsylvania State Police organization, as well as Finn’s estranged wife, former PSP press secretary Maria Finn. The complaint brought by the Harrisburg-based law firm Weisberg Cummings asserts that Bivens and Maria Finn began dating while she was still married to Patrick Finn and that together they engaged in a “pattern of making false reports to law enforcement” and “harassing and threatening” Patrick Finn.

That course of conduct included falsely reporting in July 2015 that Patrick Finn was drunk and suicidal — claims that could have resulted in him losing his job as a trooper — as well as reporting the alleged sexual assault, when in fact they knew Patrick Finn had been asleep at the time, the complaint says.

“With actual knowledge that (Patrick Finn) was asleep during this entire incident and that his conduct took place while he was asleep, Maria Finn and Bivens took advantage of the situation to destroy the career, reputation and personal life of (Patrick Finn),” attorneys Larry A. Weisberg and Derrek W. Cummings wrote.

The complaint alleges that Wright Twp. Police Chief Royce Engler and Luzerne County Children and Youth Services caseworker Mallory Liller “conspired” with Bivens and Maria Finn in order to garner favor from Bivens, who at that time was third in the PSP chain of command.

The suit contends that Bivens and Maria Finn withheld the exculpatory evidence of Patrick Finn being asleep, and that when confronted by it at trial both “did everything possible to downplay, avoid and/or lie” about it.

Even after Patrick Finn was acquitted, Bivens and Maria Finn sought to continue harassing him, including by having him placed on restricted duty and medically limited duty without explanation, according to the complaint.

Patrick Finn was also required to meet with a Philadelphia psychiatrist for the purposes of being evaluated as a pedophile — despite being acquitted, the complaint contends.

In addition to the professional retaliation, Patrick Finn also suffered “slanderous remarks” at the hands of Maria Finn, who made statements after the acquittal referring to him as a “pedophile,” according to the lawsuit.

In addition to Bivens, Maria Finn and the Pennsylvania State Police, the suit names as defendants Luzerne County Children and Youth Services, the Wright Twp. Police Department and others.

The complaint asserts numerous grounds for relief, including engaging in a civil conspiracy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation and malicious prosecution.

Last week, attorneys from the law firm Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin filed a response on behalf of Wright Twp. police seeking dismissal on grounds the complaint failed to state an appropriate cause of action.

A Pennsylvania State Police spokesman did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

SCRANTON — Former Scranton mayor candidate Gary St. Fleur finally filed his campaign finance report last Friday and paid a $160 fine for filing late, Lackawanna County Director of Elections Marion Medalis said.

The report shows St. Fleur raised $3,000 with $2,000 coming from him and $1,000 from a Libertarian Party political action committee, according to the report. He spent all but 44 cents. The deadline for filing was Oct. 25.

St. Fleur received 384 votes. He finished sixth among seven candidates for mayor in an election won by Paige Cognetti.

— BORYS KRAWCZENIUK

SCRANTON — A Carbondale man who admitted assaulting a woman in 2018 will spend 12 to 24 months behind bars.

Todd A. Mowery, 51, was sentenced today by Lackawanna County President Judge Michael J. Barrasse for his guilty plea to simple assault.

Carbondale police arrested Mowery in March 2018 after a woman reported that he sexually assaulted her at his Upper Powderly Road home, according to investigators. The woman, who told police she feared for her safety, said Mowery threatened to get her into trouble if she spoke with authorities.

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

Mowery, who was originally charged with felony aggravated indecent assault and other offenses, initially pleaded guilty in December to a misdemeanor charge of indecent assault but withdrew the plea in May. He then pleaded guilty Aug. 26 to simple assault, also a misdemeanor.

His attorney, Terry McDonald, told Barrasse that while Mowery has a criminal history, he went almost a decade with no legal issues prior to the 2018 arrest.

The attorney recounted Mowery’s struggles since a young age with drug and alcohol abuse and suggested the defendant would benefit from treatment. Mowery also told the judge he has been dealing with his alcohol problems.

However, in handing down the sentence, Barrasse indicated he did not believe Mowery was serious about treatment.

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

CLARKS SUMMIT — A Clarks Summit man faces charges he hit and bit his girlfriend, borough police said.

Victor Kithcart, 39, 532 Winola Road, Second Floor, was arrested after police responded to the apartment Tuesday around 8:10 p.m. for a reported domestic dispute.

Gianna Galella told officers Kithcart struck her face and neck and bit her arm after she became tired of his drinking and verbal abuse and poured out his bottle of rum, police said. Galella had a swollen left eye, bruising to her neck, redness on her chest and a bite mark on her left arm.

Kithcart, who told officers he argued with Galella because she got involved with a biker gang, was charged with simple assault, harassment and disorderly conduct, police said.

He remains in Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of $5,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is set for Tuesday.

— STAFF REPORT

A woman with dementia living at a Scranton nursing home was sexually assaulted by a fellow resident who was allowed to roam the hallways despite clear warnings the man was sexually aggressive, according to a lawsuit.

Staff at Allied Services Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, 303 Smallcombe Drive, knew the man, who also suffers from dementia, repeatedly wandered into other patients’ rooms in search of his deceased wife, said Vincent Cimini of Scranton, attorney for the 84-year-old victim. They failed to adequately supervise him, leading to the April 2 assault of his client.

“The actions of Allied and its employees were beyond negligent. They were inexcusable, they were outrageous and they are unforgiveable,” Cimini said in a phone interview. “There were more than enough red flags to show Allied (the man) posed a serious threat to our client as well as other residents. All these red flags were completely and repeatedly ignored.”

The lawsuit, filed in Lackawanna County Court, seeks damages for negligence from Allied Services and three employees. The victim is identified as “Jane Doe” to protect her privacy. The Times-Tribune is not identifying her assailant because the man has not been charged with a crime.

Lackawanna County District Attorney Mark Powell said police are still investigating the incident. He said it is unclear whether the man will be charged because of questions regarding his competency.

The state Department of Health, which licenses nursing homes, also investigated the incident and issued three citations to home on April 18.

Jim Brogna,vice president of Allied Services, could not comment on the allegations because they involve residents with dementia.

“We take this matter very seriously and respect the privacy rights of each of our residents,” Brogna said in a prepared statement. “Our staff strives to provide the best care possible to every patient and resident.”

Cimini said the health department’s report bolsters the lawsuit’s claims that Allied “turned a blind eye” to the man’s behavior.

According to the report, from Feb. 5 to March 20 Allied employees reported 15 instances of the man wandering the halls and/or entering other residents’ rooms. The man sometimes mistook female residents — including the assault victim — for his wife and became combative when staff attempted to remove him.

The report also notes other disruptive behavior, including a Feb. 27 incident in which the man made sexual comments to female employees and tried to pull them on his lap. On March 20, he hit male staff members and accused them of “sleeping with his wife.” Six days later, he was found lying in another resident’s bed and fought staff members who tried to remove him.

The report says the assault victim suffers from partial paralysis and severe cognitive issues that severely impaired her ability to speak. The assault was discovered by a nurse, who reported she discovered the man, naked and on top of the woman, appearing to have sex with her.

According to the report, the nurse had trouble physically removing the man off the woman, so she left the room, allowing the assault to continue, as she went to get help. A second nurse entered the room and told him to stop the assault, to which he replied, “who are you to stop me from having sex with my wife.” The employee then physically pulled the man off the woman.

The health department report faulted the first nurse for leaving the room while the assault was still occurring.

“There was no indication that (the) employee had remained in the resident’s room and attempted to summon staff assistance by other means to protect (the) resident ... from continued sexual abuse,” the report says.

It also faults the home for not doing enough to address the man’s behavior and wandering.

“The only interventions developed for this severely impaired resident was to encourage the resident to verbalize his reason for his noncompliant behavior and to notify the physician for possible alternatives to treatments,” the report says.

The report notes that, after the assault, the center moved the man to another unit and revised his care plan to include one-to-one supervision.

Allied also submitted a corrective plan to address the health department’s findings. The facility noted the employee who first witnessed the assault was fired. It also said it would reeducate staff on the facility’s abuse policy to ensure patient safety and ensure individualized plans are developed to better address dementia patients’ needs. The Department of Health reinspected the facility in June and confirmed the plan was enacted, according to April Hutcheson, the department’s communications director.

Contact the writer: tbesecker@timeshamrock.com; 570-348-9137; @tmbeseckerTT on Twitter

SCRANTON — Within five years in Lackawanna County, charter school tuition and pension costs increased by $17.4 million. At the same time, state basic education funding only increased by $10.6 million — causing school boards to turn to property owners in an attempt to make up the difference.

Just in those five years — from 2012-13 to 2017-18, property owners in Lackawanna County paid a combined $22.7 million more in school taxes.

The statewide issue forces districts to make tough decisions, such as cutting staff and programs, said  Timothy Shrom, director of research for the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials, and co-author of “A Tale of Haves and Have-Nots: The Financial Future of Pennsylvania School Districts.”

“It’s going in one pocket and out the other because of mandates,” Shrom said.

The Pennsylvania Economy League organized today’s discussion of the study, published by Temple University’s Center on Regional Politics. Educators, community and business leaders gathered at Radisson at Lackawanna Station hotel in Scranton to hear a “sobering” reality of education funding statewide.

Among the report’s findings:

- Over the next five years, 60% of districts will have continuous shortfalls, while 40% will experience surpluses.

- A permanent division of “have and have-not” districts exists. The “have-nots” have less to spend per pupil, with fewer educational resources and limited opportunities for students.

- From 2017-18 through 2021-22, the report forecasts in additional $2.8 billion in local taxes statewide, with that money being used to pay for salaries, pensions, health care and other expenses. A projected $667 million increase in basic education and special education funding over five years will fall short of covering an additional $670 million in charter school tuition.

- The largest cost increase burdens are “direct mandated costs,” such as charter school tuition, pensions and special education. Charter school tuition is expected to grow from $1.65 billion in 2016-17 to $2.32 billion in 2022.

For example, Abington Heights saw a $481,010 increase in state basic education funding from 2012-13 to 2017-18. Meanwhile, charter school tuition increased by $203,299 and pensions went up $2.1 million — leaving the district a $1.9 million gap to fill.

“It puts us in a squeeze, and the squeeze will continue,” said Abington Heights Superintendent Michael Mahon, Ph.D.

Scranton school Director Katie Gilmartin called the presentation “sobering.”

“It’s a reality of what our district is dealing with as well as other districts across the state,” she said.

To read the study, visit https://www.cla.temple.edu/center-on-regional-politics/.

Contact the writer: shofius@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9133; @hofiushallTT on Twitter

PITTSTON TWP. — The deep freeze that settled over Northeast Pennsylvania this week is a record-breaker.

The temperature at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport dipped to 19 degrees on Tuesday about 11 p.m., establishing a new record low for Nov. 12, the National Weather Service reported.

The old record for the date was 21 degrees in 1926.

About eight hours later — around 7 a.m. Wednesday — the temperature at the airport bottomed out at 16 degrees, which set a new record low for Nov. 13.

The previous record was 19 degrees in 1986.

— DAVID SINGLETON

SCRANTON

The Co-Op Farmers Market will be open Friday at noon as usual after closing today because of the cold weather.

The temperature at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport dropped to 16 degrees Wednesday morning, which set a new record low.

The market, located at 900 Barring Ave., is open from noon to 6 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The last day is scheduled for Nov. 27.

— STAFF REPORT

TAYLOR -- Three borough residents face charges after county detectives found 30 grams of suspected crack cocaine in their home today, police said.

Sherry Ann Krueger, 53, Randy Lovelace, 39, and Paul F. Walsh, 69, all of 337 Revere Lane, were arrested when county detectives searched the home after accusing Krueger of selling drugs to a confidential informant Tuesday evening, police said.

Detectives found cell phones belonging to Krueger and Lovelace that contained conversations about drug deals, police said. They also found $2,026 and drug paraphernalia, including baggies and a scale.

Walsh, who owns the home, gave police a written statement about the drug activity.

Krueger and Lovelace were charged with possession with intent to deliver and related charges. Walsh was charged with criminal conspiracy and related charges.

Bail and preliminary hearing information were not available Wednesday.

— ROBERT TOMKAVAGE

SCRANTON — Expect — and prepare for — job dislocation from automation and technological advances in an increasingly digital economy, the former White House chief of staff under President Barack Obama told a crowd of University of Scranton students in a lecture Wednesday.

Denis McDonough, the White House chief of staff from 2013 to 2017, now is a senior principal at the Markle Foundation, a New York based-nonprofit concerned with technology, health care and national security, and a member of its Rework America Task Force.

Comprised of a coalition of diverse leaders from technology, business, labor, education and the public sector, the task force aims to transform America’s outdated labor market so all Americans, especially the nearly 70% without a college degree, can thrive in the digital economy.

The wide-ranging lecture, presented in a Q&A format, included panelists Matthew Meyer, Ph.D., a philosophy professor at the university, and Sarah Hofius Hall, education reporter for The Times-Tribune.

Noting the economy of Northeast Pennsylvania changed from coal and manufacturing to one that’s more service-driven today, with Scranton’s largest employers now in the health-care and eduction sectors, Hall asked how the city can benefit from a digital economy.

McDonough said that challenges will come across the board, including job losses from greater automation in manufacturing and an increasing reliance on artificial intelligence. It was a topic that he and President Obama spoke a great deal about on their nightly walks, McDonough said.

While the nation manufactures and exports more today than at the height of the post-WWII boom, job numbers changed because automation and artificial intelligence, McDonough said.

“The question just becomes for us, as we continue to rely on those digitally powered innovations that lower costs for consumers, that increase American competitiveness overseas, what happens to people” put out of jobs, as well as the loss of some of their identity and dignity, he said.

It’s the type of policy question the task force tackles, but there’s no easy answer.

“What will we want to have invested in now” to ensure that people don’t just find themselves displaced or with reduced wages, McDonough said, asking if those investments will come on the job, through a union, or by tuition support from a family or the government.

“The reason I’m optimistic is this has happened in America constantly,” he said. “New generations of Americans have identified new opportunities for economic growth.”

As for what local organizations and employers can do to keep graduating students here, McDonough turned the question into a challenge for students. He urged them to seek work experience through internships with local employers and develop local connections while they’re still here in college.

Reflecting about how Scranton can welcome its growing population of Bhutanese/Nepali refugees, McDonough said experiences of refugees, asylum seekers and economic migrants mirrors the experiences of waves of immigrants in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

“Keep doing what you’re doing” in Scranton to welcome refugees, McDonough said.

“Allow people to come here and put their God-given talents to work.”

The forum at the McIlhenny Ballroom of the DeNaples Center launched the university’s Humanities in Action lecture series.

Contact the writer: jlockwood@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5185; @jlockwoodTT on Twitter

Other topics Denis McDonough touched on during his talk Wednesday:

n He remains haunted by the initial website of the Affordable Care Act that was infamous for not working well.

n He was surprised by the election in 2016 of President Donald Trump, and believes Trump also was surprised he won.

n He believes there was Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. He said the potential for Russian interference in future elections remains a threat, one he thinks President Donald Trump hasn’t fully acknowledged.

n He thinks climate change is a fundamental problem and people need to get serious about it.

— JIM LOCKWOOD

Luncheon set

The Northeast PA Go Red for Women Luncheon will celebrate nine heart and stroke survivors.

The survivors include Karley Hill, 9, Roaring Brook Twp., tetralogy of fallot; Leann Zuby, 38, Taylor, stroke; Mackenna Cole, 17, Scranton, transportation of the great arteries, triscuspid atresia and coarctation of the Aorta; Joelean Gavek, 43, Tunkhannock, congestive heart failure; Mary Beth Zincone, 60, Susquehanna, prinzmetal angina; Jenny Riley, 43, Sayre, peripartum cardiomyopathy; Kathi Bankes, 65, Exeter, stroke; Patti Creveling, 79, Berwick, congestive heart failure due to a 99% LAD blockage; and Sharon Hinchey, 70, Kingston, myocardial infarction.

The luncheon, emceed by Julie Sidoni from WNEP-TV, will offer inspiration to take action and commit to living a healthy lifestyle.

“Women tend to spend so much time caring for others, they often neglect their own health,” said Lynn Distasio, Clinical Director, C.O.O. at PRO Rehabilitation Services and chairwoman of the luncheon. “It is important to take control, know your numbers, and encourage all to do the same. Because together, there isn’t anything we can’t achieve.”

The American Heart Association’s annual Northeast PA Go Red for Women Luncheon is Friday.

For details or to purchase tickets, visit www.heart.org/north

eastpagored.

Super students

King’s College student Daniel Aguilar was awarded the Monsignor Andrew J. McGowan Hispanic $25,000 four-year scholarship.

Aguilar, a Scranton resident, is a freshman psychology major and member of the college’s multicultural international and psychology clubs and a student in the college’s honors program.

He is also participating in an affiliation program between King’s and the Widger School of Law at Villanova University.

The scholarship was initiated in 2008 with funding from the McGowan Charitable Fund. Two scholarships are awarded annually to applicants that are first-generation college students of Hispanic Heritage with a 3.0 GPA or higher and reside in Northeast Pennsylvania.

A Scranton High School graduate, Aguilar was a member of the National Honor Society and captain of the soccer team leading his team to its first district championship, earning a parent’s club award and all-star selection from the UNICO organization.

High notes

A new scholarship at the University of Scranton honors long-time Forest City/Carbondale teacher, the late David F. St. Ledger.

Established by the St. Ledger family, the David F. St. Ledger ’56 Scholarship will be awarded to undergraduate students graduating from Forest City Regional High School or Carbondale Area High School who enroll at the University as an education, history or political science major, according to the university. The scholarship will be awarded starting in the fall semester of 2020.

St. Ledger graduated from Benjamin Franklin High School in Carbondale and served in the United States Navy. He earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from the university in 1956 and his master’s degree in history in 1969. He taught courses in American history and government in the Carbondale Area School District for seven years, then taught in the Forest City Regional School District until his retirement in 1995.

St. Ledger, who lived in the Carbondale area for most of his life, was an active member of St. Rose of Lima Church, served on several parish committees and was a lector for more than 25 years. He also served on the board of directors for the Carbondale Public Library and the Carbondale YMCA and coached Little League baseball.

St. Ledger died in 2017.

CLARKS SUMMIT — A Clarks Summit man faces charges he hit and bit his girlfriend, borough police said.

Victor Kithcart, 39, 532 Winola Road, Second Floor, was arrested after police responded to the apartment Tuesday around 8:10 p.m. for a reported domestic dispute.

Gianna Galella told officers Kithcart struck her face and neck and bit her arm after she became tired of his drinking and verbal abuse and poured out his bottle of rum, police said. Galella had a swollen left eye, bruising to her neck, redness on her chest and a bite mark on her left arm.

Kithcart, who told officers he argued with Galella because she got involved with a biker gang, was charged with simple assault, harassment and disorderly conduct, police said.

He remains in Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of $5,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is set for Tuesday.

— STAFF REPORT