FACTORYVILLE

Lackawanna Trail School District placed the junior-senior high school and the elementary center on administrative lockdown Thursday morning.

The lockdown followed what Superintendent Matthew Rakauskas described as an “alleged outside threat” communicated by a person in another state on social media. He announced in a statement around 10:30 a.m. that the lockdown was lifted.

“Although there was no immediate threat to our students, we took a precautionary step and restricted movement in both buildings until law enforcement gave us the all-clear,” Rakauskas said. “All students are safe.”

State police at Tunkhannock said the individual who made the threat has been identified; they described the investigation as ongoing. The preliminary investigation found no direct threat to the district or its students, police said.

— DAVID SINGLETON

Carbondale

Musical performance: Eighth annual Classic Voices a cappella choral ensemble Christmas concert, Dec. 14, 7:30 p.m., Chamber of Commerce Gallery, 27 N. Main St.

Duryea

Christmas meal: Nativity of Our Lady Parish Men’s Society fifth annual pre-Christmas breakfast, Dec. 8, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Sacred Heart Hall, 529 Stephenson St.; the meal includes scrambled eggs, home fries, kielbasa, ham, pancakes, Danish, and coffee and juice; takeout or eat-in; tickets/$9 adults, $5 children 5-12 years old, free for children under 4; 570-881-6006.

Keyser Valley

Seniors meet: Keyser Valley Seniors Citizens meeting, Monday, 1 p.m., community center; games and refreshments follow.

CLIPBOARD ITEMS may be sent to yesdesk@timesshamrock.com or Clipboard, c/o YES!Desk, 149 Penn Ave., Scranton, PA 18503. YES!Desk, 570-348-9121.

SCRANTON — A party for the city’s newest medical cannabis dispensary got high Thursday — like, really high.

To mark the Green Goods dispensary’s grand opening at 1146 S. Main Ave., a pilot flew a banner declaring “Marijuana is Medicine” back and forth from Scranton to its Bethlehem dispensary.

The Scranton dispensary opened about three weeks ago, but formally welcomed patients to meet grower/processors who sell their products there, including products grown and processed in Scranton and White Haven.

A focus on science sets apart Green Goods and its affiliate medical cannabis producer, Pennsylvania Medical Solutions, which has a grower/processor facility in Scranton near East Market Street, said Dr. Kyle Kingsley. He’s founder and chief executive of Green Goods parent company, Minnesota-based Vireo Health.

“We’re a physician-led slew of scientists,” he said. “We believe that people want precision. They want exacting products that are the same every time with defined outcomes.”

Green Goods’ grand opening comes on the heels of a milestone in the way the federal government sees the plant-based drug.

On Wednesday, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee passed the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act. Most significantly, the bill proposes to decriminalize cannabis and remove its crippling Schedule I designation, which it currently shares with hard drugs like heroin and ecstasy.

State lawmakers made cannabis legal to treat some medical conditions and illnesses and created its medical marijuana program in 2016.

The federal bill would go far beyond Pennsylvania’s rules, including provisions for at-home growing, which could conceivably rattle medical companies that have spent millions on facilities, dispensaries and meeting strict state quality regulations.

But that’s not the case, said Vireo’s medical education director Dr. Paloma Lehfeldt. Vireo supports home-grow legislation, she said.

“There’s always going to be a need for that doctor/patient relationship,” she said. Patients who use cannabis to treat chronic disease symptoms know what strains work best for them and need the consistency that regulated, medical companies promise.

Scranton is Green Goods’ second location. The company has another in Bethlehem and a third planned for Stroudsburg to open in the next few months.

“We hope that the Green Goods dispensaries will be the best-in-class patient experience for medical cannabis dispensaries in Pennsylvania,” Kingsley said.

Contact the writer:

joconnell@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9131;

@jon_oc on Twitter

Holiday house tour

Kathleen Nelson is chairwoman of the Waverly Community House’s Holiday House Tour.

Sue Houck is co-chairwoman.

The tour showcases four distinctive and different homes, decorated for the holiday season in conjunction with Artisans’ Marketplace at the Comm.

The tour includes the homes of Barb and Dave Sanders and Dana and Kevin Siebecker and two homes built in the late 1800s and early 1900s, respectively.

Construction on the Sanders home was completed in September 2014. Situated on a 38-acre portion of the old Ridgeway farm, the residence has a mountain home, rustic style with a mix of cedar and stone exterior materials. The large expanses of windows showcase views across the North Abington Twp. countryside and, from the porch, view the spring-fed pond adjacent to the home. The property also includes the original barn and farmhouse.

The Siebecker home is a transitional craftsman home in Sterling Estates, Waverly, built in 2017. The family worked closely with Florey Homes to design and build a warm, welcoming place for hosting family and friends in a variety of indoor and outdoor entertaining spaces.

“We are thrilled and humbled to be a part of this year’s holiday house tour and are looking forward to welcoming you to our home,” said Dana Siebecker.

The home of Jim and Sharon Vipond was originally a simple, small farmhouse built in 1890 on Lily Lake Road that housed the Piedmont family. Mr. Piedmont was employed as the gardener for Mr. and Mrs. Worthington Scranton at their home. The Vipond home was also owned by Kenneth Bert until the 1980s when it was purchased, renovated and then rented to employees of the International Salt Co. and its successor companies. The Viponds purchased this farmhouse in 1996 and began renovating the home by removing walls, renovating the kitchen and improving the flow through the rooms to form a more open plan. They also developed outdoor spaces to enjoy the gardens and woodland setting. In 2017, a barn was erected on the property and connected to the existing house.

The tour will also take guests through the Waverly Country Club, a private social club since 1911. The club, which was established as a golf club for the gentlemen who moved their families from Scranton to the country in the summer, is tied to the history of Waverly and is an active hub of life in the area. Women transformed the former farmhouse into a comfortable, social spot for dining as well.

The Artisans’ Marketplace at the Waverly Community House will be held Saturday and Sunday at the Comm, 1115 N. Abington Road, Waverly. The Holiday House Tour will take place Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets for the house tour are $20 and are available in advance in the Comm office; online at www.waverly

comm.org or the Comm lobby during the Marketplace.

For more details, visit the Comm website, Facebook or Instagram.

Proceeds from the Marketplace and House Tour benefit the Waverly Community House, a nonprofit.

High notes

Lauren Allen and Kyle Trivedi recently joined the Maternal and Family Health Services board of directors.

Allen is the director of client and community relations at PNC Bank while Trivedi is senior council consultant at Geisinger Medical Group.

Both are excited for the opportunity to consult on the agency’s board of directors by offering their own insights on further developing the MFHS mission of care in the community.

SCRANTON — The Scranton Sewer Authority will ask the state auditor general to review the $195 million sewer system sale to Pennsylvania American Water — a major development that some officials have supported since 2017.

The authority board voted 3-0, with member Keleena McNichols absent, to request Auditor General Eugene DePasquale review the 2016 sale agreement and several million in proceeds held in escrow for sewer-line easement acquisition. Board member Michael Dempsey, the authority’s lone Dunmore representative, tried twice in 2017 to convince his colleagues to request the review.

Thursday’s vote followed a chorus of pleas from residents and officials of Scranton and Dunmore seeking the review. Dunmore Mayor Timothy Burke, Scranton city Councilman Bill Gaughan and others emphasized the importance of transparency amid lingering questions about millions of dollars in controversial legal fees surrounding the transaction. Millions more in easement-acquisition funds hang in the balance for both communities.

The auditor general’s office does not have the power to independently review a municipal authority, but can do so at the authority’s request.

Reached after the meeting, DePasquale said his office awaits the formal request and called the review “something that we’ll take very seriously.”

DePasquale said in early 2018 that the Scranton Sewer Authority would be the first municipal authority in the state that he’d audit if given that power.

Dempsey, a longtime advocate of the state reviewing the sale, argued such a review could clear up public confusion and misconceptions surrounding the transaction.

“I do think it’s important for transparency,” Dempsey said. “I do think there’s a lot of questions, a lot of misunderstandings that the public has.”

Authority Chairman Michael Parker and member Kevin Whelan, who voted down Dempsey’s May 2017 motion seeking a state audit of the sale, voted Thursday to request the review. Whelan offered no comment after the vote, but Parker said he “would like the public to have all the information” available.

Scranton ethics board Chairwoman Joan Hodowanitz also endorsed requesting the review prior to the vote, arguing it won’t cost anything and could unearth issues not revealed in the authority’s annual audits.

“All the annual audits that the city of Scranton had, none of them picked up the double pensions and a number of other issues like the bribery and fraud going on in this building,” she said. “You’ve got nothing to lose by bringing the auditor general in.”

It’s too early to determine a timeline for the sewer sale review, DePasquale said.

In other business, sewer authority solicitor Jason Shrive announced the authority and the water company have negotiated terms of a substantial extension of a confidential deadline for the authority to secure between 600 and 700 missing sewer-line easements. Those terms could be put in writing as early as today, he said.

Failure by the authority to secure the easements by the undisclosed deadline could jeopardize about $16.5 million in sale proceeds held in escrow. That includes $5 million for indemnity and about $11.5 million remaining of $12 million set aside for easement acquisition.

The authority is working to settle a class-action case over the missing easements before the deadline expires and the easement escrow money reverts to the water company.

If the authority meets the deadline and settles all other matters, the remaining escrow funds would go to Scranton and Dunmore on an 80/20 share basis, with Scranton receiving the larger share.

Contact the writer:

jhorvath@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9141;

@jhorvathTT on Twitter

As he awaits trial on charges alleging he pressured four detained women into sex acts, suspended police officer Mark Icker has agreed to plead guilty to federal deprivation-of-rights charges, according to a plea agreement filed in court this week.

Federal prosecutors Wednesday filed a felony information charging Icker, 30, of Dickson City, with two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law. A plea agreement says the parties have agreed on a sentence of 12 years in prison, subject to a federal judge’s approval.

The charges identify two victims who allege Icker used a dangerous weapon to coerce them into “unwanted sexual contact” in December 2018, while he was employed as a police officer in Ashley. The victims identified in the federal complaint are two of the same women from the previous state charges.

The charges said Icker’s conduct deprived the women of their due-process rights and the “right to bodily integrity.”

According to a plea agreement Icker signed earlier this month, the maximum penalty for the offenses is a combined 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

The plea agreement — which also notes Icker’s “relevant conduct” included the other two victims — says the defense and the U.S. attorney’s office have agreed to jointly recommend a 12-year prison sentence when Icker faces a judge.

Icker is scheduled to enter his plea next week before U.S. District Judge Malachy E. Mannion, but a sentencing date was not immediately set.

According to the state charges, Icker, while working as a patrolman in Ashley, pressured two women into performing oral sex on him to avoid arrest, and pulled down a third woman’s shirt and groped her after stopping her for driving under the influence.

In a fourth case that took place while he was on duty in Sugar Notch, Icker pulled over a woman who was driving a carload of children to Chuck E. Cheese and demanded oral sex from her, according to prosecutors.

In addition to the four Luzerne County cases, Icker is charged with inappropriately touching a handcuffed woman while he was on duty in Jessup.

Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis did not immediately return a message seeking comment on whether her office would continue to pursue the state cases against Icker.

Contact the writer:

jhalpin@citizensvoice.com;

570-821-2058

FOREST CITY — Each time the school bus came to a stop Thursday, physics teacher Dan Nebzydoski looked at his packet and called out numbers.

“Box 42, seat 10.”

“Box 43, seat 12.”

Members of Forest City Regional High School’s student council grabbed frozen turkeys and boxes filled with fixings for Thanksgiving dinners. For the district’s annual Feed-a-Friend program, the students made sure their friends, classmates and neighbors have plates full of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and green beans next week.

“We support the community, and we’ll do anything we can,” junior Brady Hentschel, 16, said as the bus came to another stop.

Students on two buses delivered dinner ingredients to 70 families Thursday — thanks to money student council raised at a haunted house and with support from the Northern Counties Full Fan Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation.

The district started the program more than 25 years ago, with families originally driving to the school to pick up the donations. About 15 years ago, after learning that many residents didn’t have reliable transportation, students started delivering the food. The bus drivers donate their time to help.

“It opens students’ eyes and makes them more compassionate,” said math teacher Cynthia Weiss, a student council moderator. “They may not know their classmates’ families are struggling.”

The district identified more than 50 families who needed extra help this season, and the Salvation Army also provided names of elderly residents in need of assistance. Some homes may not have running water. Families struggle to pay their heating bills. In the small, 796-student district, the volunteers said they didn’t want their neighbors having to worry about Thanksgiving dinner.

Zazzera’s Supermarket in Forest City provides the food at a “good price.” Members of the district’s student councils packed the boxes in the morning, making sure each family has enough ingredients for dinner, and included other items, such as peanut butter, bread and cookies.

Within 20 minutes Thursday morning, the students on bus 9 made deliveries in Vandling in Lackawanna County, the Browndale section of Clinton Twp. in Wayne County and Forest City in Susquehanna County.

The students carried the heavy boxes off the bus, down driveways and up porch steps. Gracious recipients thanked the students for the deliveries.

“You don’t realize there are that many families in need,” sophomore Skylar Ferrel, 16, said.

Contact the writer:

shofius@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9133;

@hofiushallTT on Twitter

The U.S. Supreme Court should deny Eric Matthew Frein’s request to hear his appeal of his death sentence for the 2014 sniper attack that killed one state trooper and injured another, Pike County District Attorney Ray Tonkin says in court papers.

In a 20-page legal brief, Tonkin argues the nation’s highest court does not have jurisdiction to hear the appeal. Even if the court finds it does, it should deny the petition because evidence clearly shows Frein’s constitutional rights were not violated.

Frein, 36, of Canadensis, Monroe County, was convicted in April 2017 of first-degree murder and other charges and sentenced to death for fatally shooting Cpl. Bryon K. Dickson II of Dunmore and severely wounding Trooper Alex T. Douglass of Olyphant outside the Blooming Grove State Police barracks in Pike County on Sept. 12, 2014. The state Supreme Court upheld Frein’s conviction and death sentence.

Frein’s attorney, Michael Wiseman, recently filed a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case, arguing the trial judge allowed too much emotional testimony in the death penalty phase, which unduly influenced the jury. He also argued Frein’s rights were violated when police refused to notify him an attorney arrived at the barracks while he was first being questioned.

In a reply filed this week, Tonkin contends the section of the law Wiseman cites as legal authority to bring the case before the court does not apply, so the court should dismiss the appeal outright.

If the court reviews the merits of the case, Tonkin said testimony in the penalty phase did not violate Frein’s rights because it was within parameters the U.S. Supreme Court set in prior cases dealing with the same issue.

Tonkin said the testimony regarding Dickson related to “who he was as a human being, a husband, father, son, and as a member of the Pennsylvania State Police.”

“This is exactly the type of evidence permitted by this court,” Tonkin said.

As for Frein’s right to counsel, Tonkin cites another U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said a defendant subject to interrogation before charges are filed does not have to be informed that a family member retained an attorney on their behalf.

The Supreme Court takes only a fraction of the cases brought before it each year. The justices will review the filings and issue a ruling at a later date on whether to accept the case.

Contact the writer:

tbesecker@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9137;

@tmbeseckerTT on Twitter

A South Abington Twp. nursing home employee stole prescription painkillers intended for patients for her personal use and failed to maintain proper medication records, investigators said.

Jennifer Jane Sardo, 44, 321 Chestnut St., Peckville, formerly a licensed practical nurse at Abington Manor, was released on $30,000 unsecured bail Thursday after her arraignment by Magisterial District Judge Paul Keeler.

Sardo faces a felony count of acquisition of a controlled substance by misrepresentation, along with misdemeanor charges of theft by unlawful taking and failure to keep required records.

Her arrest followed a joint investigation by township police and the state attorney general’s Bureau of Narcotics Investigation that began in September after Abington Manor traced irregularities in a patient’s narcotics log back to Sardo, the arrest affidavit said. She was fired at that time.

According to the affidavit:

In an interview with investigators Oct. 18 with her attorney present, Sardo admitted stealing prescription medication, primarily oxycodone and hydrocodone, that was meant for patients from June or July until September.

She said she could not recall how many prescription tablets she took or what patients she took them from but believed the total number was fewer than 100 pills. However, she specifically acknowledged taking 20 Percocet tablets that she signed out for a patient identified only by the initials B.O.

Sardo, who told investigators she suffers from frequent unmanaged migraines, said she did not use the medication while at work but waited until the end of her shift or until she arrived home.

Investigators said there were 290 separate instances involving the records of nine patients in which Sardo failed to properly document the administration of a prescription medication.

In her interview, she denied that she took the prescription or that the patient went without medication on each of those occasions, telling investigators there were times she did not have time to make proper records.

Keeler scheduled Sardo’s preliminary hearing for 9 a.m. Dec. 5.

Contact the writer:

dsingleton@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9132

A woman wanted by Scranton police for assaulting her ex-boyfriend with a baseball bat while robbing his apartment — all on the day they broke up — is in custody.

Rio Marie Lisi, 25, 8 Law St., Pittston, was held in Lackawanna County Prison on $100,000 bail Thursday after her apprehension by the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force.

City police accuse Lisi of hitting David Potter three times across the legs with a baseball bat during the robbery at his West Market Street apartment on April 21.

She was arraigned Wednesday by Magisterial District Judge Sean McGraw on charges stemming from the April incident, along with more recent threat-related charges out of Carbondale.

Potter told police in an interview that he and Lisi, who was his live-in girlfriend, had an argument on the day of the incident when he broke up with her, according to the arrest affidavit. She left the apartment but returned later with a girlfriend and asked if she could retrieve some belongings.

Once inside, Lisi immediately went to his bedroom and grabbed his 9 mm pistol before opening the back door and letting two men into the apartment, Potter told police. The men began beating him up before Lisi picked up the bat and struck his legs.

The group fled with the handgun, a television, a laptop computer and a cellphone, Potter said, according to police.

An officer who responded to the apartment later contacted Lisi by phone, but she refused to cooperate, telling the officer she was leaving the country and ultimately hanging up, the affidavit said.

The Carbondale charges arose from a voicemail Lisi left for her father, Joseph Lisi, on Nov. 6, in which she said he and his wife were going to die, along with a text message conversation between Rio Lisi and another relative that also contained threats against Joseph Lisi, Carbondale police said.

McGraw ordered Rio Lisi held on $75,000 bail on the April offenses and set her bail at $25,000 on the newer charges.

She faces a preliminary hearing 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Contact the writer:

dsingleton@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9132

Welcome to this week’s edition of Friday Playlist where members of the Times-Tribune staff submit their music picks based on a theme.

This week's theme is Food Songs.

Enjoy:



Nick Lowe's Last Chicken in the Shop - Let's Eat
John Cole

"I wanna move move move move move my teeth."



Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five - Struttin' with some Barbecue
John Cole

Satchmo's 1927 recording of this standard is a jazz landmark, and likely has nothing to do with "food," per se.



Descendents - I Like Food
Ted Baird

"I'm going to turn dining back into eating"



mewithoutYou - The Dryness and the Rain
Jon O'Connell

mewithoutYou recently announced a 2020 farewell tour, so I'm feeling nostalgic. A lot of their songs mention food, and it appears throughout this one in the form of trampled pumpkins and and crushed grain for bread, which all seems appropriate for the upcoming holiday. Surely, I'll be eating pumpkin pie and too much bread in a couple days.



King Curtis - Memphis Soul Stew
John Cole

"Now I need a pound of fatback drums ..."



Squeeze - Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)
Ed Pikulski

One of their many great songs--and it mentions mussels!



Beck - Steve Threw up
Ted Baird

and a side order of: !@$#$%!!!&!!!@@@**!



Rockpile - Knife and Fork
Jim Haggerty

This most un-PC tune from the rockabilly band fronted nearly four decades ago by Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds is a howler, even though it insults overweight women. It's also lip-synched and ripped from a British TV program, but the objectionable lyrics are uproarious.



Beat Happening - Indian Summer
Ted Baird

A lot of good food mentions in this one



Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band - Jambalaya
Pat McKenna

Love Jambalaya and the song; don't forget the crawfish pie....



Gov't Mule - Goin Out West
Chad Sebring

I think this is actually a Tom Waits song and not a Mule but it's a great one.

Doja Cat - Juicy featuring Tyga
Gia Mazur

This isn't a food song per se BUT it does mention lunch and the video is loaded with food visuals. Doja is SO fun and takes an approach to fashion and videos in the kind of weird, outrageous way that we haven't seen in a while. This song also is a straight BOP and makes it feel like a hot, sticky summer day in the middle of NEPA's seemingly never-ending winter.




The Beatles - Savoy Truffle
Jim Lockwood

Always loved this George Harrison song on The White Album; the horns; the stabbing distortion guitar to me mimics what must be excruciating pain of getting bad teeth yanked, necessitated by gorging on sweets and presumably lax dental hygiene; more broadly, I take this song as a warning from George the spiritual Beatle about excesses, that what's so sweet turns sour.

Last month, the Little Engine That Could became the Little Engine That Won’t.

Now, it’s the Little Engine That Might.

The Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway, the beloved excursion train out of Jim Thorpe, was supposed to stop running Nov. 25, a casualty of a dispute between the borough and the train operator. But the parties are talking again, and while the train may stop running Monday as promised, it could reopen in the new year.

The borough maintained the railway owed $95,000 in unpaid amusement tax from 2016-18 and sued to collect. The operator — the Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad — said it owed no such thing, because the train was an educational service, not an amusement.

Efforts to reach an agreement sputtered, and in October RBMN said it would shut down the service. In a statement at the time, RBMN owner Andy Muller Jr. said the borough had acted in bad faith by targeting the 15-year-old attraction.

“I have offered passenger excursion rides to local communities as a way of thanking them for their support over the years and to educate young and old in the glorious role railroads in this region played in our country’s industrial revolution,” he said.

Mayor Michael Sofranko, however, dismissed the idea that the train is not an amusement, because it offers round-trip scenic excursions, not station-to-station travel.

Last week, however, the borough quietly dropped the lawsuit. Council President Greg Strubinger told the Lehighton Times-News that the borough is once again in talks with RBMN, though it retains the option of refiling the suit if talks don’t progress in 2020.

“We’ve decided to set the lawsuit aside so that we don’t have constraints on continuing discussions to reach an amicable solution,” Jim Thorpe Borough Council President Greg Strubinger told The Morning Call on Thursday. “There’s a lot of interest in this situation. The livelihoods of our local businesses revolve around downtown customer traffic, which the railway’s passenger excursion rides play a key role in attracting.”

The amusement tax supports the borough’s police and other public services, Strubinger said.

RBMN did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Michael Rivkin, head of the Jim Thorpe Tourism Board, said the thaw is good news for the Carbon County borough.

“We’re very excited and we applaud the borough for making a good faith concession,” said Rivkin, who owns the Parsonage Bed & Breakfast on Broadway.

The railway carries passengers in vintage coaches on a scenic trip along the Lehigh River through Glen Onoko and into the Lehigh Gorge State Park. It is especially popular as the fall foliage turns and in the Christmas season when it offers “Santa rides.”

Rivkin said he hopes RBMN will change its mind about ending the service and continue excursions through the holiday season, one of the high points of the year.

The railway “is a main draw” to the tourism-dependent borough, he said.

mcall.com

Morning Call reporter Daniel Patrick Sheehan can be reached at 610-820-6598 or dsheehan@mcall.com
 

Hanover Twp. - Authorities are working to locate the owner of a car that was found submerged in the Susquehanna River early Friday.

Police conducting a routine patrol in the area of the Hanover Twp. Boat Launch around 2 a.m. spotted headlights shining under the water about 30 yards from shore, Fire Chief Joe Temerantz Jr. said.

“They said they saw something in the water and they thought maybe someone threw a flashlight or something,” he said. “Then they saw it and they called.”

Firefighters dispatched a boat to the scene but couldn’t initially tell if anyone was inside the vehicle, which was under about three feet of muddy water, he said. As a result, crews requested dive teams from Scott Twp. and Tunkhannock, he said.

They also requested another boat from Plymouth’s water rescue team so they could deploy two divers, if needed, he said.

“When they got in there they checked and there was nobody in the vehicle,” Temerantz said.

The crews also searched the area around the car but did not find anyone, he said.

Crews requested a tow from Ayers Towing and hauled a tow cable out to the car, he said. The divers then hooked the cable to the car, which was removed by about 6:30 a.m.

Police were investigating how the vehicle got in the water and whether anyone was missing, he said.

SCRANTON

A fire that destroyed a Scranton auto shop Thursday is not considered suspicious, Deputy Fire Chief Al Lucas said this morning.

After an investigation, inspectors determined that the fire at Brayer’s Auto Service and Towing, 1013 Ferdinand St., started in a waste oil heater in the right rear corner of the building.

It spread and by 10:50 p.m., heavy smoke and flames consumed the unoccupied building.

The roof collapsed as the building burned. There were reported multiple explosions inside the building.

Such dangerous conditions force firefighters to take a more defensive position while trying to quell the blaze, Lucas said.

One firefighter suffered minor injuries but is expected to recover, Lucas said. He did not name the firefighter.

The fire was contained by 12:30 a.m. Friday

— JOSEPH KOHUT

A Pike County man jailed earlier this month on minor charges now faces felony counts that he tortured five dogs because he left them locked for five days in his freezing and filthy basement with no food or water, state police at Blooming Grove said Friday.

James M. Mazzone, 56, 128 Whipporwill Drive, Lehman Twp., had no one to call to take care of his pit bulls when was jailed Nov. 10 by Magisterial District Judge Shannon Muir on $25,000 bail, he explained to authorities.

On Nov. 14, Mazzone’s landlord called troopers to report that his tenant’s dogs had been without food and water since he was arrested Nov. 10 for false alarms to a public safety agency, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

The food and water bowls inside their metal cages were empty, save for urine and feces. There was evidence that one of the dogs had frantically tried to get at the dog food contained inside a cardboard boxes near a cage.

Trooper Robert Wareham noted that the ambient temperature of Mazzone’s basement Nov. 14 was 25 degrees when he responded shortly before noon. Police removed the dogs.

Mazzone’s historically has kept several dogs. A fire broke out Oct. 1, 2017, at his old home on Bear Cub Court in Lehman Twp. where he had 16 dogs. Six of those dogs died in the fire. The Pike County Humane Society took custody of the other 10 dogs.

Mazzone is charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, a felony, and cruelty to animals, a misdemeanor. He is also charged with animal neglect.

Magisterial District Judge Menditto Sr. set bail at $5,000 for the case, on top of Muir’s $25,000 bail.

Preliminary hearings are scheduled Dec. 3.

Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9144; @jkohutTT on Twitter.

A lawyer for a Wyoming County man accused of killing a 24-year-old woman and dumping her body in the Susquehanna River, wants the judge recused from the case.

Timothy Michaels, the attorney for Phillip Walters, requested the recusal of Wyoming County President Judge Russell Shurtleff. Walters is charged with killing his live-in girlfriend, Haley Lorenzen, in December. Her body was recovered in the river July 20, in Luzerne County, about 22 miles downstream.

In a Nov. 7 pretrial hearing, Michaels argued he had only recently accessed records that he believed he should have been given a long time ago, and was denied access to a female witness who was granted immunity from prosecution in January.

One of the main points in Michael’s call for Shurtleff’s recusal is a contention that in the Nov. 7 hearing, he was asked by the judge if he was seeking a continuance, and he replied that he was not but was prepared to go to trial Nov. 18 with the limited evidence provided.

Michaels said that because District Attorney Jeff Mitchell was not asked at the same hearing if he would like a continuance, he believed there was implicit bias, in favor of the Commonwealth based on the judge’s order to postpone the trial two months.

In a response to Michael’s motion for the judge’s recusal, Mitchell noted the court had ruled against the Commonwealth over the course of the case, and believes its rulings were based upon a fair interpretation of the law. He also said he believes the court treated defense counsel in a fair and professional manner.

It is not clear when the court will respond to Michael’s motion for the judge’s recusal.

The trial is now moved to Jan. 27, 2020.

Walters was arrested Jan. 9. He remains jailed at the Wyoming County Correctional Facility.

Contact the writer: bbaker@wcexaminer.com, 570-836-2123 x33

SCRANTON — As their troupe waited to enter the courtroom, Andraus Marcus Jr. leaned over and whispered to his case manager.

“I’m going to try to keep it together,” he said. “I’m going to try.”

Marcus, 43, of Albrightsville, was about to triple the size of his family during Lackawanna County’s annual Adoption Day.

The federal government recognizes November as National Adoption Month, and every year the county holds a special day to celebrate.

Eleven children were adopted on Friday in the Government Center at The Globe.

Marcus and his children were first in line to go before Judge Patricia Corbett.

He adopted four sisters, ages 4, 5, 10 and 11. They wore velvet dresses and skittered around their dad as they entered the courtroom, which was decorated to look like a Christmas wonderland — or as much like a wonderland as you can make in a courtroom.

For a few hours, family court pulled out all the stops to make a memorable experience.

County workers with the county Office of Youth and Family Services wore elf costumes and sat in the jury box. One tossed glitter. Another did cartwheels. Costume characters including a Christmas tree, the Grinch and a snowman wandered in and out of the courtroom.

Marcus, who never married, spent his working years as an English teacher. He longed for a big family.

“I always wanted to help children who are less fortunate than others,” he said. “I’m grateful that I have the strength to do it, and the patience to do it.”

His case worker, Cara Kobeski, and Adriane Heine, adoption coordinator at Friendship House, the agency that managed the adoption and evaluated Marcus’ fitness for fatherhood, said he defends them fiercely. He gives them stability, direction and encouragement, they said.

Seven years ago, Marcus adopted an 11-year-old boy through Lackawanna County.The girls lived with him for two years as foster children.

He’ll receive a stipend through Friendship House until the youngest turns 18.

It’s common for adoptive families to choose new names. The girls now will be called Mia, Sophia, Arianna and Annalise.

“He’s an excellent parent and they all have a very strong bond,” Heine testified before Corbett. “I highly recommend the adoption.”

After she took testimony from Marcus and Heine, the judge posed a question to the girls, and asked them to identify the man who sat next to them.

“Mr. Marcus,” a little voice piped up, sounding a little unsure, but formal.

The judge asked if he should be their dad. They all let out a resounding, “Yes.”

Corbett invited the four girls behind the bench to crack the gavel, and tears ran down Marcus’ cheeks. He visibly struggled to keep it together.

Outside the courtroom, Annalise zipped up to Marcus to ask him a question.

“Dad …,” she started, like she had been calling him that name for years.

Contact the writer: joconnell@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9131; @jon_oc on Twitter

SCRANTON -- The federal trial for a 28-year-old McAdoo man accused in a three-month crime spree across six states will continue next week.

U.S. District Judge Robert D. Mariani is expected to give the case against Shawn Christy to a jury Monday, said Dawn Clark, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office.

Christy is accused of breaking into several homes and businesses and stealing several vehicles after he failed to appear for trial on assault charges in Schuylkill County in May 2018. Two months later, he was charged with making threats against President Donald Trump, Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli and other law enforcement officials.

After a manhunt, authorities captured Christy on Sept. 21, 2018 in Ohio.

— JOSEPH KOHUT

Paradegoers will need to navigate nearly a dozen closed roads in downtown Scranton Saturday before they watch Santa and Mrs. Claus make their way through the city for the 27th annual Santa Parade.

The parade, which features more than 2,300 marchers, including floats, marching bands, choral groups, dancers, twirlers and giant balloons, will step off at the corner of Franklin Avenue and Spruce Street at 9:15 a.m., continuing down Spruce before looping around Lackawanna County Courthouse Square.

What to avoid

The following roads will be closed this morning until the end of the parade, according to Scranton police:

• Lackawanna Avenue between Jefferson and 6th avenues.

• Spruce Street between Mifflin and Jefferson avenues.

• Linden Street between Wyoming and Jefferson avenues.

• Franklin Avenue between Lackawanna Avenue and Linden Street.

• Penn Avenue between Lackawanna Avenue and Linden Street.

• Wyoming Avenue between Lackawanna Avenue and Mulberry Street.

• North Washington Avenue between Lackawanna Avenue and Mulberry Street.

• South Washington Avenue between Lackawanna Avenue and River Street.

• Adams Avenue between Lackawanna Avenue and Mulberry Street.

• Cedar Avenue between Lackawanna and Mattes avenues.

• Jefferson Avenue between Spruce Street and Lackawanna Avenue.

Where to park

Parade organizers recommend that attendees park in the nearby parking garages, including the Casey and Medallion garages on the 100 block of Adams Avenue and the Marketplace at Steamtown’s garage. Enter Steamtown’s garage from the Washington Avenue side. Paradegoers can also park at any available street parking spots.

What to wear

Temperatures will be chilly around 9 a.m. — not much above freezing — but the sun will be out and the winds will be light, said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Dave Dombek.

“It looks pretty good,” he said.

Temperatures will climb to about 45 or 46 degrees by the afternoon, Dombek said.

Where to watch

Courthouse Square is always the best, said Thomas A. Fritz, vice president of public relations and talent for the parade.

“The good part about it is if you miss something, you can cut the corner, and you can go see it again,” he said.

The square will also have displays, including a gingerbread house where kids can have their pictures taken, ice sculpting and some large balloons like the ones in the parade, he said.

What’s new

For anyone looking for a quieter experience, the first block of the parade route at Franklin and Spruce will be a sensory-friendly area, Fritz said. The special area is “pretty much the parade experience without the loudness,” he said.

Paradegoers will still see everything the Santa Parade has to offer, but there won’t be any sirens or flashing lights, bands won’t play any music, and twirlers and dancers will be more subdued, he said.

The parade will still have its signature giant balloons with famous characters including Scooby-Doo, Ruby the Reindeer and Daniel Tiger, but rather than float through the city streets, they’ll roll, Fritz said. The balloons will use cold air instead of helium, and they’ll be placed atop dollies.

Finally, the parade will feature the Buffalo Bills drumline. The NFL team’s drumline actually reached out to organizers, asking if they could participate, Fritz said.

“Our little parade has gotten to the point where it’s big enough that these guys found us,” he said.

Contact the writer: flesnefsky@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5181; @flesnefskyTT on Twitter

WILKES-BARRE TWP.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra will perform two shows as part of its winter tour today at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre Twp.

To accommodate the influx of traffic, the following provisions are in place:

• The intersection from Mundy Street to Highland Park Boulevard will be closed from about 5:45 p.m. to 6:30 to allow for traffic flow from the venue after the 3:30 p.m. performance. Mundy Street access from Highland Park Boulevard toward the Arena Hub Plaza may also be restricted.

• All traffic for the Wyoming Valley Mall, Wilkes-Barre Twp. Commons, Arena Hub Plaza and surrounding areas is encouraged to use Exit 170B on Interstate 81 between 2 and 3:30 p.m. and 5 and 8:30 p.m.

• The arena parking lot opens at 1:30 p.m. for the 3:30 show, and 6:30 for the 8 p.m. General parking for the Mohegan Sun Arena parking lot is $10, cash only, when arriving at the lot.

Any customers with VIP parking or reserved parking are encouraged to use the left-hand lane when entering the parking lot from Highland Park Boulevard. All ticket holders are also encouraged to carpool.

— STAFF REPORT