MARRIAGE LICENSES

• Brian Michael Tomasovitch and Sara Jean Talarico, both of South Abington Twp.

• Kristina VanWhy and Jason Kresge Sr., both of Throop.

• Kathryn Lynne Granville, Carbondale, and Theodore Petrochko III, Harford.

• Babatunde Olamide Oladosu and Laura J. Burgette, both of Scranton.

PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS

• Karen A. Graytock, Old Forge, to Jamie Medallel, Old Forge; a property at 117 Bubernak Blvd., Old Forge, for $292,000.

• Theresa Smith, Buckeye, Ariz., to Emily Hilker, Simpson; two parcels at 112 Tuttle St., Fell Twp., for $87,500.

• Dominick L. and Kimberly A. Nati, Carbondale, to Dylan and Melinda Cerra, Carbondale; two parcels in Carbondale Twp. for $265,000.

• Margaret A. Krawietz, also known as Margaret A. Krawitz, to Raul Fernandez; a property at 210 Ferdinand St., Scranton, for $30,000.

• John R. and Barbara Dom­broski to Mark Gallia; a property in Moosic for $69,300.

• Maintaining Assets Saving Homes LLC to Kevin R. Stewart; two parcels in Scranton for $65,000.

• Henry Etienne to Trogon Capital Management LLC; a property at 1334-36 Dartmouth St., Scranton, for $25,000.

• John Burdyn to Marissa Mazzucca; a property at 716 Laurel St., Dickson City, for $165,000.

• Lawrence and Nancy Piccini to John R. Sr. and Donna M. Warholic; a property at 1104 Blakely St., Jessup, for $115,000.

• Margaret Kelly, Scranton, to Michael J. Kaub and Jordan Tyler Kaub, Scranton, as joint tenants with rights of survivorship; a property at 3213 N. Main Ave., Scranton, for $127,000.

• James D. and Suzanne Sanderson, Clarks Summit, to George and Mary Sweda, South Abington Twp.; a property at Handsome Lake, Benton Twp., for $100,000.

• Elizabeth De La Cruz, Scranton, to John Paul Miller, Jamaica, N.Y.; a property at 825 W. Elm St., Scranton, for $52,500.

DIVORCE SOUGHT

• Steve A. Ferlita, Roaring Brook Twp., v. Carmella A. Ferlita, Marlboro, N.J.; married Nov. 27, 1998, in Brooklyn, N.Y.; Oliver, Price and Rhodes, attorneys.

STATE TAX LIEN

• J. Cawley Moving LLC, 40J Campbell Collins Drive, Wilkes-Barre; $45,839.17.

FEDERAL TAX LIENS

• Gerald Sangiuliano, 534 N. Bromley Ave., Scranton; $52,016.68.

• David Petty, 114 Ruth Ave., Clarks Summit; $28,389.23.

• Lois Glodzik, 16025 Hilltop Drive, Clarks Summit; $6,826.28.

• Debra A. Carr, deceased, 112 Woodland Drive, Peckville; $40,302.48.

ESTATES FILED

• Ann Deitrick, also known as Ann M. Deitrick, 204 Harper St., Dunmore, letters of administration to William Deitrick, same address.

• Elizabeth Tabor, also known as Elizabeth R. Tabor, 120 Mooney St., Olyphant, letters testamentary to Joseph Tabor, same address.

• Marie Malamud, 904 Walnut St., Clarks Summit, letters of administration to Brian Mala­mud, 1009 Woodwind Hill Drive, Dalton.

• Vincent Francis Langan, also known as the Rev. Vincent Francis Langan, 1800 Green Ridge St., Dunmore, letters testamentary to Diane Blaser, 60 Heussy Ave., upper apt., Buffalo, N.Y.

• Margaret Ann Ryczak, 529 N. Irving Ave., Scranton, letters of administration to Kim A. Nealon, 4 Tunnel Hill Road, Factoryville.

• Ursula Tagliaterra, 10 Butler St., Old Forge, letters of administration to Brian Rodell, 1300 W. State St., Apt. 2B, Archbald.

BENCH WARRANTS

Judge Thomas Munley has issued the following bench warrants for failure to appear on fines and costs:

• Keri Labar, 23 N. 10th St., Stroudsburg; $616.

• Linda Lasher, 2414 Liber­ator St., Levittown; $1,225.92.

• Thomas Joseph Lavis, 1324 Prospect Ave., Scranton; $2,403.75.

• Kayla Marie Malahosky, 317 R. Union St., Peckville; $1,598.50.

• Candi Matthias, 510 Pitts­ton Ave., Scranton; $2,608.50.

• Jamir McMillan, 1608 Pros­pect Ave., Scranton; $8,003.36.

• Freddie Lee Mealing, 1125 Kenneth Drive, Lexington, Ky.; $537.25.

• Higenio Mendez, 1302 Ash St., Scranton; $1,267.25.

• John Midgley, 1108 Monroe Ave., Dunmore; $6,250.

• Sabrina Moise, 260 Mother­gaston Blvd., Apt. 2D, Brooklyn, N.Y.; $858.50.

• Joshua Allen Otto, 1413 Ash Street, first floor, Scranton; $3,606.50.

• Armon Louring, 622 Philo St., Scranton; $1,531.50.

ONLINE: thetimes-tribune.com/court

East Scranton

Neighbors meet: Hill Neighbor­hood Association meeting, Nov. 20, 6 p.m., lower level of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, membership renewals are due.

Lackawanna County

Chapter meeting: Lackawanna Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited general membership meeting, Nov. 20, 7 p.m., Tripp Park Com­munity Center, 2000 Dorothy St., Scranton, agenda includes election of officers.

Santa ride: Electric City Trolley Museum presents Ride with Santa on the Trolley beginning Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, and continuing every weekend up to the last weekend before Christmas, excursion times 10 and 11 a.m., and 12:30, 2 and 3:30 p.m., regular rates apply, children 2 and under are free, reservations are required; 570-963-6590.

Mayfield

Club drawing: St. John’s 300 Club of St. John’s Russian Orth­o­dox Cathedral final drawing and dinner, Tuesday, 6 p.m., church center, 701 Hill St.; 570-876-0730.

Regional

Community forum: PA SILC State Plan for Independent Living (SPIL) Forum, Tuesday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., MyCIL, 1142 Sanderson Ave., Scranton, to hear directly from our peers on their needs to live independently in the community; comments can be submitted through Dec. 31: by mail, PA SILC, 207 House Ave., Suite 107, Camp Hill, PA 17011; email: spil@pasilc.org; phone: 717-364-1732; fax: 717-236-8800; or Facebook: PA Statewide Independent Living Council.

Riverside

School District

Parents conferences: Riverside elementary school parent-teacher conferences for the first marking period will take place Nov. 21, 6-8 p.m., and Nov. 22 (East, 12:15-3:15 p.m. and West, 12:40-3:40 p.m.) East dismissal, 11 a.m., and West, 11:30 a.m., both days.

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.

UPPER MAKEFIELD — People see the serrated leaves and the fuzzy buds from afar, but it’s the familiar smell wafting over the field that seals the deal. They pack a not-so-brilliant idea into their heads and scramble to yank the hardy plants right from the soil. Back home, they light up and sit sober in the smoke, writing off their heist as a bunch of awful weed.

Hemp resembles marijuana, its much more psychoactive cousin, in many ways except one: It probably won’t get you high. Pennsylvanians caught stealing hemp still haven’t figured that out.

“I thought I was in pot heaven,” said one young man caught in the act on Halloween.

The hemp was lifted from Ashleigh Baldwin’s crop. Hemp was legalized for growing in the United States last year, and Baldwin cultivates 50 acres of it on a dairy farm straddling Bucks and Lehigh counties. She uses the hemp oil to make cbdelight, a line of CBD (cannaboidal) sodas. Medicinal marijuana, legal in 33 states including Pennsylvania, is usually grown indoors.

The Halloween theft wasn’t the first time Baldwin’s been hit.

“There’s a lot of these dumb 18-year-olds out there doing this,” she said.

Across the country, marijuana and hemp products are hurtling toward a ho-hum ubiquity, and some day, the whiff of both may be as common in Pennsylvania as cow dung and fried onions.

Industrial hemp was used for centuries to make fiber, paper, food, and fuels, until the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 effectively put the kibosh on all cannabis. Only a year into hemp’s relegalization, its oil is being touted as a treatment for a slew of ailments, from epilepsy to anxiety and inflammation. CBD products are appearing in health stores and even on supermarket shelves.

But many people still act on some primal urge when they see a field of hemp, thinking it’s something else. They steal from the Amish, and from farms in Vermont; in Ventura County, California, a 70-year-old man was caught stealing hemp last week.

“CBD cannot get you high. You can smoke a whole telephone pole of this without having any effect,” farmer Dale Weed told local news after repeated thefts in Wayne County, New York, last month.

Many hemp farms have signage informing passers-by that the crops do not contain THC, the active, mind-altering substance in marijuana. (Legal hemp is supposed to contain 0.3% THC or less, but crops can vary.) Baldwin uses air cannons to scare away the deer from her hemp, but the land is un-fenced. She assumed common sense would prevail, that any would-be thief would stop and wonder why marijuana would be cultivated so openly.

The first theft from Baldwin’s crop occurred on Oct. 11, when a young man stole a plant, threw it in his trunk, and sped off, only to be pulled over by Pennsylvania State Police a short time later. The plants can reach heights of 16 feet.

“It was like a Christmas tree of hemp,” Baldwin said. “The officer could smell it before he got out of his car.”

Police have no easy way to test whether a plant is legal hemp, or marijuana. Both test positive for cannaboids. Baldwin believes that’s why a State Police vice squad showed up after the theft, looking for an illegal grow operation.

“Even the police thought we were growing marijuana,” Casey Parzych, Baldwin’s husband and business partner, said on the farm last week.

Neither a spokesman for the State Police’s Bethlehem barracks, nor the investigator who showed up at the farm that day, returned requests for comment. Baldwin declined to press charges against the thief.

The second heist occurred on Halloween, when three young men snatched and ran. They were caught by State Police in Fogelsville, Lehigh County. Baldwin again did not press charges, hoping that the culprits - two age 18, the other 19 - would spread the word to friends. They agreed to speak to The Philadelphia Inquirer at the farm on condition of anonymity. The mother of one of them came, too.

They said they likely wouldn’t have stolen the hemp had they known what it was. Signs might work, they added.

“Then again, kids are stupid,” one said. “I mean we were stupid, too.”

Trooper Brent Miller, a State Police spokesman, said that the hemp incident was the first reported at the Fogelsville barracks.

The thefts didn’t cripple Baldwin and Parzych’s crop, but they’re a distraction during the harvest, when farmhands are working long hours to cut the plant and dry it in heated storage units once used for tobacco.

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

After the plants dry, the stalks and stems are separated from the buds and leaves used to make the oil. The website weedmaps.com says a 1-ounce bottle of CBD oil can cost from $30 to $200.

Brenden Pakebusch, a Texas native working on the farm, said he never could tell the difference between hemp and marijuana. The smell saturates his clothes and his Volkswagen SUV.

“It’s not something you could tell by looking at it,” he said.

Erica Stark, executive director of the National Hemp Association, said there have been “some instances of hemp” theft in Pennsylvania, but she didn’t know if all of them were cases of mistaken identity. Hemp, she says, has its own value.

It’s just not going to get you high.

WILKES-BARRE TWP.

A new and greatly improved WiFi system is coming to Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.

At its Wednesday meeting, the Luzerne County Convention Center Authority approved a contract with New Jersey-based Turn-key Technologies Inc. to install the system, at a cost not to exceed $750,000.

The authority, which oversees the operations of the arena, has been working toward upgrading the arena’s WiFi system for two years. WiFi was among a list of planned improvements included in a 10-year lease extension the Penguins and the authority board agreed to in May.

No target date for the implementation of the system was announced Wednesday. According to estimates, the project will take three to four weeks of preparation followed by eight to 10 weeks once the installation work begins.

— ERIC MARK

Nov. 14, 1934

Casey, Jermyn dead

The city of Scranton lost two people that left their mark on the Electric City — former Mayor Edmund B. Jermyn and businessman and hotel owner P.J. Casey.

Edmund B. Jermyn

Jermyn, twice mayor of Scranton, died Nov. 14, 1934, at his home in Clarks Summit. He was 67.

Before entering politics in 1913, Jermyn worked for his father, John, managing mining properties. He later started his own mining company and organized the Archbald Bank.

He was elected mayor of Scranton in 1913. During his first term, residents found he ran the city well. He didn’t seek reelection in 1917 because he wanted to return to his private life.

He was elected mayor a second time in 1925 by defeating Police Chief M.J. McHugh. The race between the two was described as “one of the bitterest fights in the political history of the city.” After leaving office in 1929, he returned to his business life.

Jermyn was involved with the Wayne County Fair Association and was a member of several sports and fraternal organizations.

He was survived by his wife, Mary, and two children, Elizabeth and William; and five grandchildren.

P.J. Casey

Casey, businessman and hotel operator, died Nov. 13, 1934, at the Post Graduate Hospital in New York City, where he had been a patient since Nov. 10. He was 65.

Casey got his start in business when he joined his brothers in their wholesale liquor business, Casey Brothers. Later the brothers entered the brewing business with Pennsylvania Central Brewing Co..

Casey’s next business venture left a mark on Scranton. Construction got underway in 1909 for the Hotel Casey. The grand hotel, at Adams and Lackawanna avenues, formally opened in 1911. Years later, Casey added a 500-car garage to his hotel. The garage was considered “one of the finest buildings of its sorts in this part of the country.”

In addition to his business interests, Casey was a member of several social and fraternal organizations. He helped to form the Cathedral Cadets and a summer camp for boys at Moosic Lake.

Casey was survived by his wife, Bridget, two daughters and seven sons, and two sisters.

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.

Write-in votes produced the election of township supervisors in Elmhurst, La Plume and West Abington and two new Mayfield council members, according to an official count released Wednesday.

Well-known community volunteer Warren Kramer Jr. won a six-year seat on the three-member Elmhurst Board of Supervisors. Kramer received 117 votes.

In La Plume Twp., incumbent Supervisor Lisa Huffsmith won a six-year term with 18 votes while Kimberly Henry won the job of tax collector for the next two years, filling an unexpired term. Henry received 19 votes.

In West Abington Twp., incumbent Supervisor Kenneth Klinkel won a six-year term with 37 votes.

In Mayfield, Wendelyn Bochnovich, 65 votes, and Mary M. Rosler, 45 votes, won four-year council seats.

They join Bridget Boettcher and Thomas K. Gallagher, who were on the ballot and already known winners of the other two available council seats.

No one filed nomination petitions or papers to be on the ballot for the seats the write-in winners won.

Contact the writer:

bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9147;

@BorysBlogTT on Twitter

WILKES-BARRE — Changes are coming to the historic Market Street Square.

The Citizens Bank branch there will close in February.

Elsewhere in the complex, Dunkin’ Donuts with a drive-thru is being planned for the site that was originally intended to be a Burger King at Market Street and Wilkes-Barre Boulevard, according to local developer George Albert.

Citizens Bank’s branch at 111 E. Market St. will close 2 p.m. Feb. 19, 2020, according to a letter the bank sent to customers.

The bank’s closing follows the closing of other Citizens Bank locations in Ashley and on West Market Street in downtown Wilkes-Barre. Branches remain in East End in Wilkes-Barre, Forty Fort, Kingston, Dallas, Nanticoke, Mountaintop, West Hazleton and Clarks Summit.

“Based on changing customer behaviors and our real estate strategy, occasionally we have to make the business decision to close a branch,” Rory Sheehan, vice president of media relations for Citizens Bank, said in a statement. “We value our customers and make every effort to transition them to the nearest local branch as seamlessly as possible, in addition to continuing to invest in our digital and mobile capabilities to allow them to easily bank with us in any location.”

Customers’ accounts will be transferred to the branch at 351 Kidder St., East End, which is approximately 1.3 miles away, Sheehan said.

Sheehan said when bank officials decide to close a branch, they encourage employees to apply for open positions within the bank.

“We work closely with them to make sure they are aware of all of their options up to the date of closure so it’s too early to speculate,” he said.

Thom Greco, who owns the building that houses Citizens Bank, said he’s looking at options for the space in the future. The site was formerly United Penn Bank and Mellon Bank, he said.

Greco said while some banks in other areas are becoming more modern by putting in cafes and extending hours into nights and weekends, many banks in Northeast Pennsylvania are still “holding on to the traditional way.”

He cited FNCB Bank’s new $2.4 million full-service office that opened in Dunmore with a cafe, four large television screens with news and weather feeds and cash recyclers to speed transactions as an example of a more modern branch.

When asked if another bank is one of the options he is considering when Citizens Bank closes, Greco said, “We certainly like to be on the cutting edge.”

Contact the writer:

dallabaugh@citizensvoice.com;

570-821-2115;

@CVAllabaugh on Twitter

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 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 of 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

McDonough’s wide-ranging talk

Other topics Denis McDonough touched on during his talk Wednesday at the University of Scranton:

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

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

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 Trump hasn’t fully acknowledged.

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

— JIM LOCKWOOD

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 Wednesday 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

TAYLOR

Three borough residents face charges after county detectives found 30 grams of suspected crack cocaine in their home Wednesday, 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

The Co-Op Farmers Market will be open Friday at noon as usual after closing Wednesday 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

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 — 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 — Lackawanna County residents can unload unwanted electronics Saturday at a free e-recycling event running from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the parking lot of the Viewmont Mall.

Electronics manufacturer Hewlett-Packard, state Sen. John Blake, D-22, Archbald, and the county’s environmental office collaborated to put on the event, where residents may recycle televisions, desktop and laptop computers, monitors, printers, e-readers, scanners, keyboards and computer mice.

For more information, contact Blake’s office at 570-207-2881 or the county’s environmental office at 570-963-2017.

— JEFF HORVATH

A Paterson, New Jersey, man faces charges after investigators discovered $100,000 worth of cocaine in a hidden compartment in his SUV, 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 Interstate 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 for Nov. 21 at 9 a.m.

Contact the writer:

dsingleton@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9132

Veteran Scranton Fringe Festival performer Pissi Myles is a familiar face on stages here and in New York City, but she took her bigger-than-life persona to a new spot today — the public impeachment hearings on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

Myles is at the hearings working as a special contributor with Happs News, a live news source that streams through Twitter, according to the Associated Press.

In September, the singer, comedian and humorist led the Fringe Festival’s drag brunch and emceed its annual Big Gay Scranton StorySlam. She also has appeared in Cosmopolitan Magazine and on RuPaul’s “What’s the Tee?” podcast.

The first public impeachment hearings are focusing on President Donald Trump’s alleged efforts to link American aid for Ukraine to investigations of his political opponents.

NOW: Is today the day you will tell your grandchildren about? Historic #ImpeachmentHearings have started. Join @jackbury in #WashingtonDC and @matchoo13 in #LA w/ journalism students. #NetworkOfNow #Trump #Impeachment #CapitolHill https://t.co/Hz6jSbIc3o

— Happs (@HappsNews) November 13, 2019

NEW MILFORD — State police are looking for three masked men who robbed a Susquehanna County convenience store at gunpoint early today.

The three entered the Pump N Pantry, 493 Main St., New Milford, around 1:05 a.m., with one holding a firearm and demanding money, state police at Gibson said.

After one man emptied the pockets of a victim inside the store, he and the gunman then removed money from the cash registers while the third man put Newport cigarettes into a backpack, police said. Two of the men kicked the victim as they left the store.

The men, all wearing dark-colored clothing, hoodies and ski masks, fled east on state Route 492 toward Interstate 81, police said.

State police asked anyone with information to contact the Gibson barracks at 570-465-3154.

— DAVID SINGLETON

Wilkes University will welcome National Pulic Radio host Terry Gross for the Max Rosenn Lecture in Law and Humanities this spring.

The co-executive producer of “Fresh Air,” Gross will participate in a moderated lecture, dubbed “All I Did Was Ask: An Afternoon with Terry Gross,” on Sunday, April 19, at 2:30 p.m. in the university’s Dorothy Dickson Darte Center, 239 S. River St., Wilkes-Barre. The lecture is open to the public.

In its announcement of the free event, the university said the lecture will give audiences a look behind-the-scenes of “Fresh Air” and include “stories of extremely successful interviews as well as relating entertaining tales of particularly disastrous interviews.” A student question-and-answer session will take place prior to the lecture, and a book signing will follow.

Gross began hosting the Peabody Award-winning program “Fresh Air” in the greater Philadelphia area in 1975, two years after she began her career at public radio station WBFO in Buffalo, New York. The program now airs on almost 600 radio stations. Philadelphia’s WHYY-FM has produced a daily, one-hour national edition of “Fresh Air” since 1987.

A Brooklyn, New York, native, Gross earned a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in education in communications from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Gross has received numerous honors throughout her long career, including he Gracie Award by the America Women in Radio and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s Edward R. Murrow Award, and has wrote the 2004 book “All I Did Was Ask: Conversations with Writers, Actors, Musicians and Artists.”

Family, friends and acquaintances of Judge Max Rosenn established his namesake lecture in 1980 to recognize his contributions to public service.

For more information, visit wilkes.edu/terrygross or contact Rebecca Van Jura at 570-408-4306 or rebecca.vanjura@wilkes.edu.

NEWPORT TWP. — A state constable has been charged with raping a young girl for years beginning when she was 5.

Ronald Ebert Jr., 52, of 52 Newport St., is accused of bribing and pressuring the girl to perform oral sex on him while he was supposed to be watching her.

According to the complaint, the victim, now 22, went to police in March to report Ebert had molested her from the age of 5 until after she turned 11.

It began when Ebert, who was staying at her home with her parents, was lying on a couch and the girl touched his penis, the charges say.

After that, Ebert brought the girl into a bathroom and directed her to perform oral sex on him, the complaint alleges.

The encounters continued happening several times a week, with Ebert convincing the girl what was happening was normal, according to police. Ebert would also give her money and use guilt to get her to comply, warning he would “get a new girlfriend to do it,” if she wouldn’t, the complaint alleges.

After the girl turned 11, Ebert tried to have intercourse with the girl but she stopped him because it hurt too badly, police said. That was the last sexual encounter between the two, the girl told police.

Investigators say they verified that Ebert used to live in the home and that the girl’s siblings recalled her and Ebert disappearing together while he was watching the children.

Police charged Ebert with rape of a child, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and corruption of a minor.

Magisterial District Judge David A. Barilla arraigned Ebert on the charges Wednesday afternoon and ordered him jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility with bail set at $50,000.

A preliminary hearing was set for Nov. 27.

Roseann Novembrino, Scranton’s controller for more than 30 years, submitted her resignation this week, roughly two months before she was slated to finish her final term.

Novembrino, 82, officially retired at the end of business Tuesday.

Her letter, obtained by The Times-Tribune today, is a two-sentence handwritten note addressed “To Whom it May Concern.”

“I want to thank everyone for all their support over the years,” Novembrino wrote.

She did not note a reason in her letter, but she has previously said that her age and health struggles contributed to her decision at the beginning of this year to not seek another term as the top elected watchdog of city finances.

Voters this month chose Democrat John Murray, a former regional director for 23 years in the state Auditor General’s Office, to take the job come January.

In the meantime, Mary Lynn Carey, previously the deputy controller/administrator, has assumed the top position.

The controller’s job pays $40,000 a year.

Check back for updates.