Steven Ross has resigned as administrator of the Drug and Alcohol Program of Luzerne and Wyoming counties.

Ross resigned effective at the end of last week, county Manager David Pedri announced Monday.

Ross had been employed by the program since 1998 and served as program administrator since 2016, Pedri said. Ross had previously served as the program’s fiscal officer.

Pedri praised Ross for his long service to the community at the county and state levels.

“I wish him the best,” Pedri said in a phone interview Monday.

Ryan Hogan, deputy administrator of the drug and alcohol program, will be the primary point of contact for the program until a new administrator is appointed, according to Pedri.

“We are confident that Ryan will be a strong leader during this transition and going forward,” Pedri said in a statement.

Pedri said he plans to post the position soon “and go forward from there.”

Ross was paid a salary of $73,807 this year, according to county records.

Contact the writer:

emark@citizensvoice.com

570-821-2117

WAYMART

Inmate death

ruled a suicide

The death of an inmate at the State Correctional Institution at Waymart in Wayne County has been ruled a suicide, Lackawanna County Coroner Timothy Rowland said Monday.

Corrections officers discovered the body of inmate Roy G. Mosley Jr., 45, of Conneaut Lake, unconscious in the inmate bathroom at 3:15 a.m. Nov. 17, prison Superintendent George Miller said Monday. Officers provided first aid until facility medical personnel arrived and performed CPR. EMS then transported him to Geisinger Community Medical Center. A GCMC doctor pronounced him dead on Nov. 18, Miller said.

Mosley was serving a 20- to 40-year sentence for third-degree murder and has been at the prison since January 2004. He was charged with criminal homicide in 2000, stemming from a case in Crawford County, court records show.

— STAFF REPORT

TUNKHANNOCK — The Lehigh Valley caboose in Tunkhannock’s Riverside Park is officially on its way to its new home in Wayne County.

In October, Tunkhannock Borough Council and the Wyoming County Historical Society transferred ownership of the caboose to Myles Group, owner of the Delaware, Lackawaxen & Stourbridge Railroad Co., which operates the Stourbridge Line in Honesdale.

A crew spent Monday morning loading the caboose onto a truck, then transporting it to its new home.

“The obvious question is why don’t they just move it by rail?,” asked Tom Nemeth, owner and editor of Railpace Newsmagazine, shich is associated with DL&S. “The answer is that the wheels aren’t really in good shape to roll.”

Tunkhannock Borough Councilman Dan Gay said there were insufficient resources available to take care of the caboose, which also experienced vandalism while sitting in the park. Ultimately, council decided that giving it up was in the best interest of preserving its history.

Gay’s grandfather, the late George “Papa” Gay, purchased the caboose years ago and eventually donated it for public use.

His grandson said it’s fantastic that the railroad company has taken ownership of the caboose.

“I’m excited to see what they actually do with the caboose in the long run,” Gay said.

The caboose is in fairly good shape but needs some mechanical work, said Nemeth, adding it will serve as a nice addition to the Stourbridge Line.

Passengers can board the Stourbridge Line from Honesdale or Hawley and take a scenic ride along the Lackawaxen River. Stourbridge has six cabooses already, but the Lehigh Valley caboose will be the first of its kind to enter the collection.

“By bringing this to Honesdale, they’ll have a caboose that represents Northeastern Pennsylvania,” Nemeth said.

The caboose was built in 1944, and weighs 22 tons, which Richard Jahn, first vice president of the Anthracite Railroads Historical Society, said is actually pretty light as far as railroad equipment goes.

“This caboose probably ran through this town many, many times on the tracks right next door, here,” Jahn said at Riverside Park.

Contact the writer:

bwilliams@wcexaminer.com, 570-836-2123 x36

Scranton police are searching for a city man accused of raping a 12-year-old girl for at least 18 months.

Officers issued a warrant for Jorge Dob Aguilar, 34, 1317 Vine St., after the victim told relatives that Aguilar had sexually assaulted and raped her, police said.

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

Police responded to a residence in the city at 12:56 a.m. Saturday for a report of a juvenile sexual assault victim, Detective Jeffery Gilroy wrote in a criminal complaint. A family member had confronted Aguilar, and he fled moments before police arrived, according to the complaint.

The victim told a family member that, earlier in the day, Aguilar kissed her and rubbed his body against hers while they were alone, Gilroy wrote. He stopped when the relative knocked on the door.

The victim said Aguilar had been touching her inappropriately for “a long time” and had most recently raped her about a month prior, according to the complaint.

The child later told authorities that Aguilar raped her in the back of a truck in a garage and at two homes in the city, Gilroy wrote. She said it happened “many times,” according to the complaint.

Aguilar is charged with statutory sexual assault, rape of a child, aggravated indecent assault, endangering the welfare of children and related charges.

He is 5 feet, 6 inches tall, weighs 155 pounds and has black hair and brown eyes. Anyone who knows his whereabouts, should call 911, police said.

Contact the writer:

flesnefsky@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5181;

@flesnefskyTT on Twitter

SCRANTON - Lackawanna County Commissioner Jerry Notarianni and commissioner-elect Debi Domenick tapped attorney Larry Moran Sr. and businessman Al Dorunda to lead their transition team.

As Notarianni and Domenick prepare to take office as a new Democratic majority in January, Moran and Dorunda will lead the process of transitioning from the current to the next administration.

Moran has served the county in multiple capacities over the past dozen years, including as general counsel for litigation and as the county’s chief public defender since 2013.

Dorunda, a business executive with more than 20 years of private sector experience, served as chairman of the Domenick/Notarianni campaign and was part of the county’s transition team in 2015.

Those with questions about the transition should call Moran at 570-575-1138, or Dorunda at 570-498-3311.

— JEFF HORVATH

SCRANTON — After a week of testimony, a jury in Scranton is expected to begin deliberating on Shawn Christy’s guilt or innocence today.

Christy, 28, who acted as his own attorney in his trial in federal court, tried to make the argument to jurors that there were many “interesting” ins and outs to his case. He hoped to draw doubt in their minds to render verdicts of not guilty to charges stemming from a three-month crime spree across six states.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Camoni argued that what Christy finds interesting is also not relevant to the question at the center of the trial — Did he commit the crimes?

Christy himself — in the form of recordings played last week at court — was the prosecution’s “star witness,” Camoni said. In them, Christy admitted to everything.

“The only just verdict, the only reasonable verdict, is guilty on all counts,” Camoni said.

Authorities charged Christy in July 2018 with making threats against President Donald Trump and with three counts of transmitting threats against Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli and other law enforcement officials.

In June 2018, Christy wrote that he would “put a bullet” in the heads of Trump and Morganelli and threatened “lethal force” against police, authorities charged.

Officials also said he fled in a stolen vehicle to New York, near the border with Canada, and broke into several homes and businesses and stole other vehicles as he traveled through West Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland and Ohio. Authorities finally found him in Ohio in Sept. 21, 2018.

Christy, who has a history of courtroom outbursts, took the stand to defend himself Monday.

On direct questioning from his standby counsel, David Cherundolo, Christy calmly recounted how certain Facebook posts made him feel threatened. That included posts from prosecution witness Dakota Meyer, the former son-in-law of former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Christy is accused of stealing a vehicle from him. Meyer, of Kentucky, wrote that it was too bad Christy did not come out in a “body bag.”

“I viewed this as a threat to me,” Christy said.

However, Christy’s temper flared once Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis Sempa started to question him.

Challenged with his own Facebook posts containing threats, Christy said he did not write them.

Sempa sounded incredulous.

“Everyone’s conspiring against you,” he said.

Eventually, Christy snapped at Camoni, who was seated at the prosecution table. In front of the jury, Christy snarled, “don’t you smile at me you ... punk.”

Some jurors appeared shocked at the outburst.

After, Christy refused to answer many of Sempa’s questions by invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

U.S. District Judge Robert D. Mariani put his head in his hand. He excused the jury and explained to Christy how he had waived Fifth Amendment right when he took the stand.

He also stressed how important it is to Christy’s case that jurors find him credible.

“I would suggest you think long and hard about the impact you’re having on the jurors,” Mariani said.

Christy decided to stick by his decision not to testify further.

Since Christy would not answer questions from Sempa, Mariani told the jury to disregard everything the defendant said while Cherundolo questioned him.

Beginning this morning, jurors will deliberate on a verdict.

Contact the writer:

jkohut@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9144;

@jkohutTT on Twitter

SCRANTON — Jurors have begun deliberations to determine Shawn Christy’s guilt or innocence.

Authorities charged Christy in July 2018 with making threats against President Donald Trump and with three counts of transmitting threats against Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli and other law enforcement officials.

In June 2018, Christy wrote that he would “put a bullet” in the heads of Trump and Morganelli and threatened “lethal force” against police, authorities charged.

Officials also said he fled in a stolen vehicle to New York, near the border with Canada, and broke into several homes and businesses and stole other vehicles as he traveled through West Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland and Ohio.

Authorities finally found him in Ohio in Sept. 21, 2018.

His week-long trial concluded yesterday.

Check back for updates.

SCRANTON — Lackawanna County commissioners and the county prison board will meet Wednesday in the fifth-floor conference room of the county government center at the former Globe store, 123 Wyoming Ave.

Commissioners will meet at 10 a.m., followed by the prison board meeting at 1:30 p.m.

Wednesday’s meeting likely will be the commissioners’ last opportunity to vote on the county’s 2020 budget, which must be adopted by Dec. 1. The county is closed Thursday and Friday for the holiday. Next year’s budget does not raise property taxes.

— JEFF HORVATH

COVINGTON TWP. — The Pennsylvania Environmental Council will hold a public meeting to gather input for a feasibility study of the proposed Wilkes-Barre & Eastern (WBE) Rail Trail Corridor.

PEC has retained a trail planning consultant to study the feasibility of various trail routing alternatives along remnant and active portions of rail corridors linking the Poconos with the Lackawanna and Wyoming Valleys.

The meeting is 6 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 5 in the Lackawanna College Environmental Education Center, 93 MacKenzie Road, Covington Twp. Those interested in attending can RSVP by email to Nate Dorfman at ndorfman@pecpa.org.

— STAFF REPORT

Unemployment climbed in every Pennsylvania metro last month, but for all the right reasons, according to experts.

In the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton metro, the labor force grew by 800 workers to 277,700, according preliminary numbers released Tuesday by the state Department of Labor and Industry.

Unemployment climbed two-tenths of a point to 5%, in step with the rest of the state, which saw unemployment rise two-tenths of a point to 4.2 percent.

“What I mean by ‘they went up for the right reasons,’ is that the economy is still doing well,” said state industry and business analyst Steven Zellers. “People who were out of the labor force are jumping back in.”

Unemployment in the metro dropped below 6% in 2017 putting pressure on employers to raise wages and compete for talent. Rising unemployment could restore a little flex in the labor market and help growing businesses create jobs.

CHECK BACK FOR UPDATES.

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

A Clifton Twp. woman faces felony charges for giving a man the drugs that killed him in April, state police at Dunmore said.

Michelle Smith, 36, 360 Clifton Beach Road, Apt. A, admitted to troopers Monday that she gave Chester Ostrowski, 44, two “bundles” of heroin, or about 20 bags, shortly before Ostrowski died April 10, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday.

Ostrowski’s fiancée, Heather Quinn, discovered him dead in his bedroom. Authorities found drug paraphernalia and packets later confirmed to contain fentanyl nearby.

Ostrowski had fentanyl and morphine in his blood at the time of his death and Lackawanna County Coroner Tim Rowland ruled his death a drug overdose, state police said.

State police were able to trace the drugs back to Smith, a neighbor of Ostrowski’s, by using cell phone records.

Smith, state police learned, had gone back to Lackawanna County Prison on a probation violation.

Smith could not take her cellphone with her. Probation officers gave it to a roommate, Joseph Hannon, who brought it to state police. That allowed state police to look through more messages.

“His girl is going to come and kill me,” she texted a man, according to state police.

Eight days after Ostrowski’s death, she spoke with Hannon and Smith’s mother on the phone from the county jail.

Phone calls from the jail are recorded.

Smith said that they could not connect her to Ostrowski’s death. “Everything got deleted,” troopers wrote that she said, summarizing the phone conversation.

She spoke again with Hannon the following day and pondered if she deserved to be in jail for the probation violation. She said she could have been in far worse trouble.

Smith is charged with delivery of a controlled substance, drug delivery resulting in death, criminal use of a communication facility and tampering with physical evidence.

Smith remains in the county jail in lieu of $500,000. A preliminary hearing is scheduled Dec. 5.

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

SCRANTON — By the end of this school year, the Scranton School District will owe one in five Scranton teachers at least $20,000 in retroactive pay.

In their third year of working under an expired contract, teachers picketed outside the Administration Building on Tuesday, demanding a fair contract and highlighting the importance of the district’s preschool program.

“It’s very frustrating,” said Maria Hurst, who teaches ninth grade social studies at Scranton High School. “We give 110% everyday. We’re constantly told we’re not worth it.”

She estimates that by the end of the school year, the district will owe her about $40,000 in back pay. The district will owe some teachers $60,000, due to the “bump step” that teachers get after their 15th year of employment in the district. Of Scranton’s 782 teachers, 152 are at the “bump step,” according to the union.

Salaries of Scranton teachers are generally lower than other area districts, until teachers reach the final step. With pay and steps frozen for the last three years, a first-year teacher has started at $38,377 a year, lower than other districts in the area. Teachers with master’s degrees go from making $59,148 to $81,226 from their 15th to 16th step.

Each year the union goes without a new agreement, the number of teachers who should be at the “bump step” grows. The union vows to fight for full retroactive pay.

The district claims total retroactive pay for three years would cost about $5 million, though union leaders said they dispute those numbers.

People, lined up outside the Scranton Cultural Center for the Friends of the Poor annual Thanksgiving dinner, watched as about 200 teachers protested. One driver slowed down and after reading a sign carried by a teacher, yelled “They want to get rid of preschool? That’s ridiculous!”

The financial recovery plan calls for the district to find outside funding for its preschool program for 3- and 4-year-olds — a program not required by the state but one that advocates say provides great benefits to some of the city’s most vulnerable children. If outside funding from grants or through Head Start is secured, $2.2 million in federal Title I funds could be used for math and reading intervention programs.

Christine Gutekunst, a preschool teacher at Whittier Elementary School, sees the impact early education makes on children. She fears for a future without district preschool.

“It’s really, really depressing,” she said. “It’s just a sad time. It feels like we’re going backwards.”

Teachers and paraprofessionals have worked under expired contracts since 2017, and the recovery plan, which the school board approved in August, includes no guaranteed salary increases for five years. The 2020 preliminary budget approved by the board includes no money for raises.

Teachers have given union leadership the ability to call a strike if necessary.

Picketers on Tuesday held signs with phrases such as “new cast, same show,” referencing the recent changes in administration. Another sign showed a turkey on the chopping block, representing the possible elimination of preschool.

Negotiators for the union and district met again on Tuesday, and the union presented the district with ways to save money, said Rosemary Boland, president of the Scranton Federation of Teachers. Efforts to reach Superintendent Melissa McTiernan after the picket were unsuccessful.

Teachers plan to picket again next week during the school board’s reorganization meeting, where newly elected directors will take their seats.

“It tells them we’re standing up for what’s right,” Boland said.

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

Unemployment climbed in every Pennsylvania metro last month, but for all the right reasons, according to experts.

In the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton metro area, the labor force grew by 800 workers to 277,700, according to preliminary numbers released Tuesday by the state Department of Labor and Industry.

Unemployment climbed one-tenth of a point to 5%, in step with the rest of the state, which saw unemployment rise two-tenths of a point to 4.2 percent.

“What I mean by ‘they went up for the right reasons,’ is that the economy is still doing well,” said state industry and business analyst Steven Zellers. “People who were out of the labor force are jumping back in.”

Of the 800 new or returning workers, only 300 of them found jobs, but Zellers said there’s room to grow, especially this time of year with retailers and logistics companies staffing up for the holiday season.

Local unemployment dropped below 6% in 2017, putting pressure on employers to raise wages and compete for talent. Greater unemployment could restore a little flex in the labor market, and encourage businesses to grow and create more jobs.

“This is the kind of employment report we want to see,” said Teri Ooms, director at the Institute for Public Policy and Economic Development in Wilkes-Barre. “The labor force is up and even with the numbers increasing, more people are working than in the prior months and this time last year.”

New jobs within the area grew modestly across a number of sectors. Among the biggest gainers, professional and business services added 500 over the year. Health care and social assistance added 600.

Contact the writer:

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

@jon_oc on Twitter

SCRANTON — Dorothy Burgit clapped to the music and danced in her seat as “Build Me Up Buttercup” was played by the Doug Smith Orchestra at the Scranton Cultural Center tonight.

While the food is the highlight for many guests at the Friends of the Poor’s annual Thanksgiving dinner, the music was a big hit with Burgit, a resident of Green Ridge Manor.

“I think the live music is fantastic,” she said. “I was impressed with it and I think it’s great that they do it.”

Meghan Loftus, Friends of the Poor president and CEO, loves how the event offers food and conversation.

“We try to make it about community and coming together so no one has to eat a meal alone,” Loftus said. “It’s mostly just about being part of something bigger than yourself.”

Loftus estimates about 3,000 meals were provided tonight, the 43rd year of the dinner, including 1,500 people who packed the Scranton Cultural Center.

“I think we’re pretty much at capacity at the cultural center,” she said. “We’ve seen more of an increase in terms of people doing take-outs and deliveries for the home bound, so unfortunately the need keeps growing. We wish it didn’t, but we’re going to be here to fill it.”

It takes a team effort to serve thousands of people, Loftus said.

“We have a logistics team that gets together in the summer,” she said. “We start with what needs to get donated and anything that needs to be improved.”

Seventy-six turkeys, weighing more than 30 pounds each, had to be prepared for the event.

“We get businesses and big community groups to donate them,” Loftus said. “We send them out through the community to cook. The process is a logistical nightmare, but it works out great every year.”

Moosic resident Vince Klingler, who has been volunteering at the dinner for seven years, greeted and seated guests.

“There is a genuine spirit of love and affection from those serving to the people eating,” Klingler said.

Kathie Nevins of Browndale has served food with a group of co-workers from Gentex Corporation for the past 18 years.

“It’s inspiring to help out at this time of the year,” Nevins said. “It makes us all feel better.”

About 300 volunteers chipped in to ensure the event would run smoothly, Loftus said.

“I think this is really the best Scranton has to offer in terms of us coming together as a community to help each other out,” she said.

Contact the writer: rtomkavage@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5365; @rtomkavage on Twitter

JAKE DANNA STEVENS / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

A man and woman were taken to a hospital Monday afternoon following a crash at Marion Street and Wyoming Avenue in Scranton, police said.

The crash occurred at 3:07 p.m. when Samantha Bitto, 23, of Swoyersville, drove west on Marion Street across Wyoming Avenue, Lt. Marty Crofton said.

She collided with Robert Mifka, 29, of Blakely, who was driving north on Wyoming Avenue. Bitto’s Chevrolet Equinox ended up on its side, and both drivers were taken to Geisinger Community Medical Center with nonlife-threatening injuries, Crofton said.

Because Mifka was traveling north on Wyoming Avenue, he did not have a stop sign, but Bitto did, Crofton said. Neither driver was charged as of Monday night, he said.

A former Archbald man is facing charges he sexually abused teenage girls for more than a decade, authorities said.

Lamont Boone, 47, whose current address is the Lackawanna County Prison, raped and impregnated several girls, one just 14 years old at an address in Archbald, according to two criminal complaints filed last week.

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

In 2005, when Boone was 33, he started sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl who would regularly sleep over at the house.

Sometimes, he came into the room where she slept to wake her up and escort her to his bedroom.

He told her not to say anything. Other people, he explained, would not understand their relationship and it would get him in trouble. Several years later, after she turned 18, she became pregnant with his child.

Police said Boone abused more than one girl.

Other girls came forward. One told police that Boone raped her when she was 10 years old. He put his hand over her mouth so she could not scream.

The abuse between the young girl and Boone became routine. When she started to get her period, Boone told her that they would need to be more careful.

By the time she was 14, she was pregnant. He had her get an abortion.

In two years, she became pregnant again and he took her for another abortion.

A third teenage girl carried Boone’s child when she was 17.

Police filed three separate criminal complaints charging Boone with numerous sex offenses including rape, rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child and statutory sexual assault. In addition to the two filed last week, Archbald police charged him in February 2017. He finally went before a judge for a preliminary arraignment on those charges last month.

Boone is in the county jail without bail. A preliminary hearing on each case is scheduled Dec. 9.

Contact the writer:

jkohut@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9144;

@jkohutTT on Twitter

MARRIAGE LICENSES

• Carolyn Graham and Dennis Robert Cook, both of Scranton.

• Harley Joseph Kurtz, Simpson, and Shana Joan Berrios, Scranton.

• Katelynn Mariah Capron and Tonya Ann Creasy, both of Scranton.

• Renea Lynn Hallock, Clarks Summit, and Brian J. Chapman, Carbondale.

PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS

• Shirley Polito, Lackawanna County, to Joseph and Barbara Mecca, Lackawanna County; a property in Scott Twp. for $55,000.

• Elaine Kuban, formerly known as Elaine Daniels, and Richard Kuban, to Jerry and Amy Iungerman; a property at 314 McKinley Ave. Rear, Jermyn, for $96,500.

• Chris Eshelman, Dunmore, to Beth A. and James J. Allegrino, Scranton; a property at 1205 Snyder Ave., Scranton, for $143,100.

• John S. and Josette M. Pappadakis, Lackawanna County, to Robert A., Suzanne D. and Robert V. Ritterbeck, as joint tenants with rights of survivorship; a property at 210 Glenmaura Drive, Moosic, for $350,000.

• Philip and Stefanie Sinkaus, Scranton, to Craig D. and Alicia J. Pfaff, Scranton; a property at 823 Woodlawn St., Scranton, for $169,900.

• Gregory S. and Heidi B. Matthews, Waverly, to Jon C. Sr. and Tiona A. Beckley, Pennsylvania; a property at 203 Beech St., Waverly Twp., for $318,750.

• Michelle Dutko, Dunmore, to Mitchell M. Bertha, Scranton; a property at 1024 Wheeler Ave., Scranton, for $67,000.

• Scranton Neighborhood Housing Services Inc., a Pa. nonprofit corporation, Scranton, to Lauren Minora, Dunmore; a property at 1716 Lafayette St., Scranton, for $90,400.

• William M. and Janice M. Hitchko, Greenfield Twp., to Kasey J. Riddell and John Penzone, Carbondale, as joint tenants with rights of survivorship; a property at 222 Pleasant View Drive, Greenfield Twp., for $232,000.

• Dilwyn Edward Symes to Geoffrey Joseph and Kelly A. Musti; a property at 302 Stone Ave., Clarks Summit, for $315,000.

• Pa. Housing Finance Agency, Harrisburg, to Brinson LLC, Brooklyn, N.Y.; a property at 852 N. Bromley Ave., Scranton, for $37,000.

• James J. and Victoria C. Scanlon, Dunmore, to ELA Properties LLC, Clarks Summit; two parcels at 929 Richmont St., Scranton, for $135,000.

• Vicky L. Moser, Carbondale, to Jason and Kimberly Vandermark, Waynesboro, Va.; a property at 17 Garfield Ave., Carbondale, for $30,000.

• Rock Property Holdings LLC, New Jersey, to Scranton Properties LLC, Wyoming; a property at 1208-1210 Philo St., Scranton, for $105,000.

• Rock Property Holdings LLC, New Jersey, to Scranton Properties LLC, Wyoming; a proeprty at 724 Maple St., Scranton, for $95,000.

• Darrell A. and Kathleen Drake, Miramar, Fla., to Robert and Dana Keiper, Scranton; a property at 723 Hosfeld St., Clarks Summit, for $160,000.

• Susan C. Walter and Carol A. Walter, New York, to Kyle Kilmer, Nicholson; a property in Dalton for $85,000.

DIVORCE DECREES

• Dana Petrunich v. Ronald Petrunich

• Lisa Harrington v. Gregory Harrington

• Holly Morgan v. James Armillay

STATE TAX LIEN

• Central Pa. Support LLP, 315 S. Main Ave., Suite 400, Scranton; $4,355.96.

ESTATES FILED

• Pearl Piernik, also known as Pearl C. Piernik, Green Ridge Health Care Center, Scranton, letters testamentary to Theresa Chelak, 902 Miles Ave., Dickson City.

• Robert W. Phillips, 218 Church St., Dunmore, letters testamentary to Kristen Phillips, 12311 Washington Place, Apt. C, Los Angeles.

ONLINE: thetimes-tribune.com/court

Abingtons

Potluck dinner: Abington Heights Civic League Christmas potluck dinner, Monday, 6 p.m., clubhouse, 115 Colburn Ave., Clarks Summit, new members will be installed and there will be an ornament exchange for those wishing to participate; 570-587-3101.

Dickson City

Craft/vendor fair: Dickson City Civic Center craft and vendor fair, Dec. 7, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., 935 Albert St., items include jewelry, pet supplies, health and wellness, makeup and beauty products, local food vendors, and multiple handmade crafts, decor and clothing, free admission, basket raffle will be held to benefit the DCCC programs; 570-383-1813.

Jermyn

Garbage collection: Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, garbage and recycling collection will be on Saturday.

Riverside School

District

Early dismissal: Students will be dismissed as follows on Wednesday to begin Thanksgiving vacation: high school, 11:06 a.m., East Elementary, 11:40, and West Elementary, 12:10 p.m.; classes will resume Tuesday.

Taylor

Bake sale: St. George’s annual Christmas bake sale, bread: $6/large plain, $6.50/large with raisin, $3/small bread, $3.25/small with raisin; kolachi: $10/nut or poppyseed; specialty braided kolachi: raspberry and cream cheese, blueberry and cream cheese, pineapple and cream cheese, or apple crumb, $12 each; and pierogi: potato and cheese, or potato and cheese with Jalapeño, $6/dozen; orders will be accepted until Dec. 1, or until unmanageable by calling 570-562-1170 or 570-562-2090 or emailing Stgethnicfoods@gmail.com.

Throop

Garbage collection: Thursday’s garbage collection will be collected on Friday and Friday’s garbage collection will be on Monday.

West Scranton

Thanksgiving Mass: St. Lucy’s Church Mass of Thanksgiving, Thursday, 9 a.m., 949 Scranton St., bread will be blessed and distributed so you can share with your family at your Thanksgiving table.

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.

Ever wonder how we prepare the Scranton Times Building for the annual Times Tower Lighting? This video explains the process — check it out.

WILKES-BARRE TWP. — Mission BBQ will open its new location at 271 Mundy St. in Wilkes-Barre Twp. 11 a.m. Dec. 9 with the singing of the national anthem and a ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled for noon.

It marks its 12th location in Pennsylvania, according to a Facebook post from the restaurant chain. A Military Appreciation Night will be held 6 to 9 p.m. Dec. 6 with all sales going to the nonprofit organization Liberty USO. The first 100 people to purchase an American Heroes Cup at the event will receive free BBQ for a year, according to the post.

Private events will be held prior to the grand opening to support local police, firefighters and first responders.

Its location formerly was the site of the Latona Law building that was demolished following the June 13, 2018, tornado.

— DENISE ALLABAUGH