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

HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board last week denied a proposal by Mount Airy Casino Resort to open a Category 4 mini-casino in Beaver County.

Officials with the gambling board said Mount Airy was unable to obtain the funding required to build a casino in the county.

“Unfortunately, external factors such as increased competition from new casinos and nearby destination resorts had a larger impact on our revenues than originally anticipated,” said Todd Greenberg, chief operating officer and general manager for the Monroe County casino, in a statement.

The company announced its intent to build a gaming complex along more than 100 acres near Interstate 376 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike in August 2018. The proposed casino was slated to feature 750 slot machines, 30 table games and three restaurants in Big Beaver in August 2018.

— THE MORNING CALL

WILLIAMSPORT — Luzerne Bank’s parent company on Tuesday declared a fourth-quarter dividend of 32 cents per share, payable Dec. 23 to shareholders of record Dec. 10.

Penns Woods Bancorp Inc., which owns Jersey Shore State Bank and Luzerne Bank, serving northeast and central counties, triggered a three-for-two stock split back in September, increasing shares by 50%, or 2.4 million, to about 7 million.

Because of the split, the per-share dividend is down about 40% over the year.

In its third-quarter earnings statement, Penns Woods reported net income was up $900,000, or 21%, at $12.8 million, over the year.

— JON O’CONNELL

EXETER — Wayne Bank recently expanded in Luzerne County and opened a new community office at 1130 Wyoming Ave.

This is the bank’s second location in Luzerne County. Another community office opened at 734 Sans Souci Parkway, Hanover Twp. in April.

The new full-service office houses both retail banking and commercial lending professionals and offers Wayne Bank’s complete line of products and services for consumers and businesses. The Exeter community office is open for lobby and drive-up customers from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday.

Wayne Bank employs more than 200 local people throughout its 27 community offices.

— Denise Allabaugh

A man was found dead in a vehicle that crashed in Wilkes-Barre Twp. early Wednesday.

Police say the 56-year-old Wilkes-Barre resident, who has not been named, was found in the vehicle off Casey Avenue on property owned by JB Post Co. sometime after 6 a.m.

The man was the only occupant of the vehicle, police said.

Authorities said they were investigating whether the man suffered from a medical condition that caused the crash.

The death did not appear suspicious, police said.

SCRANTON — With Lackawanna County Commissioners Jerry Notarianni and Patrick O’Malley voting no, the county commissioners rejected a 2020 budget that included a 3-mill tax property tax cut today.

Commissioner Laureen Cummings votes in favor of the budget and cut.

Cummings and O’Malley then voted 2-1 to pass a budget that keeps taxes at 57.42 mills. Notarianni, who had asked O’Malley to keep the rate the same earlier in the meeting, voted no on that budget too.

Check back for updates.

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

SCRANTON — Twenty-five families received a full Thanksgiving meal during the first Family to Family Thanksgiving Basket giveaway 33 years ago.

Today, hundreds of residents lined up at 5:30 a.m. down Washington Avenue towards Vine Street outside the Scranton Cultural Center at the Masonic Temple to receive their basket.

“The need is there,” said Linda Robeson, who runs the program.

The cultural center open its doors at 9 a.m. for the annual Friends of the Poor giveaway that offers a traditional Thanksgiving meal for needy local families. Cans of green beans and corn were stacked on tables next to pumpkin pie. Volunteers shuffled behind the scenes to organize the making of a meal into paper bags while families lined up according to family size. Winte coats hung in the foyer of the cultural center, another giveaway during the charitable event.

Family to Family had 2,800 turkeys in various sizes to give away today, said Meghan Loftus, Friends of the Poor CEO.

The Burne family realized that many people in the community were unable to afford a Thanksgiving meal and started the giveaway three decades ago, she said. The organization raises money throughout the year to provide the meal and purchases the food at wholesale prices from Schiff’s in Scranton, Loftus said.

“We wish there wasn’t this need, but it eases the burden,” said Robeson.

A 26-year volunteer herself, Robeson and her son, Ryan, took over running the program from founders Jim and Mary Lou Burne in 2015.

“Everyone is welcome,” she said.

UNICO of Scranton member Chris DiMattio has been a volunteer at the Thanksgiving giveaway for more than 20 years.

He said it’s like a yearly family reunion where everyone is sharing in community, decency and joy.

“It makes our Thanksgiving, helping those in need,” he said.

Contact the writer: kbolus@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5114; @kbolusTT on Twitter.

SCRANTON — UGI customers in Northeast Pennsylvania will see a bill hike after the utility company consolidates and updates its purchased gas cost rates on Sunday.

The pricing change is part of the base rate case settlement approved by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission earlier this year. With this action, all UGI residential heating customers will be billed under the same rate structure and no longer billed under separate rate districts.

Customers in the district that encompasses Northeast Pennsylvania, who use an average of 89.2 cubic feet, or Ccf, annually, will see their monthly bill increase from $78.03 to $78.98, or by 1.2%.

— SARAH HOFIUS HALL

A man accused of grabbing at a child at a Scranton school bus stop Wednesday faces charges he threatened them before he walked away.

Nathaniel Lee Gunderman, 24, 309 N. Bromley Ave., is charged with terroristic threats and harassment.

Gunderman was at Geisinger Community Medical Center on Monday afternoon for a mental health evaluation, police said.

Patrolman Donald Hofsommer responded to the corner of Olive Street and North Washington Avenue for a report of a “possible abduction.”

Gunderman, police charged, approached two children shortly before 8 a.m. waiting for a bus to John Adams Elementary School.

“One day they were going to get killed and snatched up,” he said, according to police.

He grabbed at the hood of a young boy. The boy’s older sister pulled her brother away. Gunderman swore and said, “Once I catch you, you’re dead. Dog will get you and google did it, too.”

The children found an adult, Rose Laroche, who confronted Gunderman. Gunderman began screaming at her in an unintelligible rant and threatened to kill her and the children.

Gunderman walked across the street, started at them for a few minutes and then walked away.

The report was initially made to school Principal Mario Emiliani, who reported it to police.

Police found Gunderman later this morning near Adams Avenue and Linden Street. Police sent a picture of Gunderman to Emiliani. He showed it to the girl, who identified Gunderman as the assailant.

Bail and preliminarily hearing information was not immediately available.

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

She was born in New York, the first child of a French salesman and a Southern belle.

Over the next 101 years, she served as a U.S. Women’s Army Corps draftsman during World War II, married an artist, buried four babies, built a career in nursing and outlived almost everyone she ever knew.

I never met Sgt. Edgena Diot Jones, but I’m thankful to have a hand in laying her to rest.

Edgena died Friday at the Gino J. Merli Veterans Center, 35 days before her 102nd birthday. She was the oldest living veteran at the facility, which was built on the ashes of Scranton State General Hospital, where Edgena cared for patients as an LPN until it closed.

She will be buried with full military honors Friday.

The honor guard will likely outnumber family and friends. A consequence of celebrating 101 birthdays is that almost no one is still at the party when God blows out your candles.

Stories as good as Edgena’s only come around every century or so. I joined it Monday when a colleague pointed to a Facebook post by Veterans Promise NEPA, a Dickson City-based nonprofit that advocates for veterans who struggle with PTSD or need help readjusting to society. Its core mission is suicide prevention. The group put out a call for pallbearers.

By the time I spoke with spokeswoman Carol Desmarteau, Veterans Promise had lined up three pallbearers, but still hadn’t found a fourth. I volunteered, which Edgena’s niece and caregiver, Brenda Lee-Marmo, found funny when we met for coffee Tuesday morning.

Edgena was a staunch Republican who listened to Rush Limbaugh daily and adored President Donald Trump. If she knew some ink-stained liberal was carrying her casket, “she would die,” Brenda said with a warm giggle.

“She was serious about her politics,” Brenda said. “So serious I put it in the obituary.”

Once, Brenda made a crack about President George W. Bush, and Edgena ghosted her.

“She wouldn’t talk to me for a month,” Brenda said. “She told me, ‘Don’t ever talk that way about our president!’”

Edgena drew a hard line on politics, but she had a soft spot for any soul in need, Brenda said. Her aunt once witnessed an emaciated, terrified mutt shivering by the side of a road. She scooped the poor thing up, named him “Teddy” and nursed him back to health.

“Teddy was nasty,” Brenda said with a laugh. If he was grateful for being rescued, the dog didn’t let on.

“She kept him, anyway,” Brenda said.

Brenda, 58, of Old Forge, keeps the mementos that tell her beloved aunt’s story, which had its setting switched to Scranton when her father, Roger Diot, moved back to his native France and her mother, Emily Jenkins O’Donnell, moved Edgena and her four siblings here instead of returning to her roots in Savannah, Georgia.

There are photos of a young Pvt. Diot in Germany and France, where she helped make the history her peers saw only in newsreels and the press. The paperwork for her honorable discharge as a sergeant in June 1946 shares space with a letter of thanks from President Harry Truman and an army booklet documenting her required vaccinations to serve overseas.

Why did the smart, beautiful young daughter of a Southern belle volunteer for the army in wartime?

“She wanted to serve her country and see the world,” Brenda said. And when she came home, she wanted a career and a family.

Edgena married Meredith Jones, a Navy veteran and professional artist, in St. Peter’s Cathedral on May 15, 1951. The couple had four children, three stillborn and a daughter, Mary, who died shortly after birth. Despite these devastating losses, Edgena kept her faith and zest for life. In 1967, she enrolled in the first class of the Practical Nursing Program at Scranton State General Hospital. It was the beginning of a long career of service.

Meredith died in 2000, and Brenda eventually convinced her aunt to move to Scranton Manor Personal Care Center. At 94, Edgena learned to dance there, and didn’t stop until she laid down to die.

“She loved to dance,” Brenda said. “I called her ‘Gena Ballerina.’”

Brenda explained that although he was an artist, Meredith was an “eccentric” Protestant who didn’t believe women should dance, drink or smoke. When she was out of his sight, Edgena did all three.

She credited blackberry brandy, red wine and dark chocolate for her longevity. Brenda made sure she kept her aunt stocked up, because Edgena wasn’t afraid to go get her own.

While a resident at Scranton Manor, Edgena often went for walks around the Hill Section.

“She would get on a bus and ride up to the state store and buy a little bottle and put it in her purse,” Brenda said. “I told her, ‘You can’t just go walking around that neighborhood. It’s not safe for someone your age.’”

Edgena said if anyone tried to harm her, “I’ll hit them with my cane.”

Canes are no match for uneven sidewalks, so Brenda moved her aunt into the Merli Center. She thrived there among other veterans, Brenda said. They were planning Edgena’s 102nd birthday party when she died.

“I’m sure she went straight to heaven and she’s celebrating with her angel babies and all the other people she missed all these years,” Brenda said, maybe forgetting that Teddy might be there, too, snarling at guests.

“What an amazing life. What an amazing journey. I’m just so blessed to be a part of it.”

So am I. Tomorrow, I will sit down to Thanksgiving dinner with my in-laws. We’ll say grace, stuff ourselves with turkey and trimmings and talk about anything but politics.

On Friday, I will help write the end of Edgena’s earthly story with the grace, dignity and respect it deserves. I never met her, but thanks to Brenda, I feel like I know her. Now, you do, too.

CHRIS KELLY, the Times-Tribune columnist, wishes you and yours a happy, safe Thanksgiving. Contact the writer: kellysworld@timesshamrock.com, @cjkink on Twitter. Read his award-winning blog at timestribuneblogs.com/kelly.

SCRANTON — Twenty-five families received a full Thanksgiving meal during the first Family to Family Thanksgiving Basket giveaway 33 years ago.

On Wednesday, hundreds of residents lined up at 5:30 a.m. down North Washington Avenue toward Vine Street outside the Scranton Cultural Center at the Masonic Temple to receive their baskets.

“The need is there,” said Linda Robeson, who runs the program.

The cultural center opened its doors at 9 a.m. for the annual Friends of the Poor giveaway that offers a traditional Thanksgiving meal for needy local families. Cans of green beans and corn were stacked on tables next to pumpkin pie. Volunteers shuffled behind the scenes to organize the ingredients for a meal into paper bags while families lined up according to family size. Winter coats hung in the foyer of the cultural center, another giveaway during the charitable event.

Family to Family had 2,800 turkeys in various sizes to give away Wednesday, said Meghan Loftus, Friends of the Poor CEO.

The Burne family realized that many people in the community were unable to afford a Thanksgiving meal and started the giveaway three decades ago, she said. The organization raises money throughout the year to provide the meal, and purchases the food at wholesale prices from Schiff’s in Scranton, Loftus said.

“We wish there wasn’t this need, but it eases the burden,” said Robeson.

Robeson, a 26-year volunteer, and her son, Ryan, took over running the program from founders Jim and Mary Lou Burne in 2015.

“Everyone is welcome,” she said.

UNICO of Scranton member Chris DiMattio has been a volunteer at the Thanksgiving giveaway for more than 20 years.

He said it’s like a yearly family reunion where everyone is sharing in community, decency and joy.

“It makes our Thanksgiving, helping those in need,” he said.

Contact the writer:

kbolus@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9100 x5114; @kbolusTT on Twitter

Raghad Alshaikh has not seen her sisters and mother in a year and a half.

The 21-year-old from Saudi Arabia is studying at Marywood University and will spend Thanksgiving at Marywood University professor Lea Dougherty’s house.

Alshaikh is excited to “be at the same table and having dinner and laughing” to celebrate the American holiday with Dougherty and her family, even if it’s not with her own.

“It’s interesting to me to know what it’s about, what the official food is and have a gathering with some friends and family,” said Alshaikh, who will study accounting at Marywood next year after completing an English language program.

Marywood University and the University of Scranton are among colleges that send out emails during the holidays asking their professors to host international students for Thanksgiving dinner. Dougherty, Marywood’s Master of Social Work program director, described her family as a unique blend of foster children and friends. She said hosting an international student is very special to them.

University of Scranton theology professor Maria Poggi Johnson, Ph.D., grew up in Scotland and moved to the United States in 1990 for graduate school.

She’s hosting two students from Saudi Arabia for Thanksgiving this year — much like her graduate school professors and church family did when she was a student.

Her family has a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with turkey and sweet potatoes covered in marshmallows. She hopes the dinner will be pleasant and relaxing for the students.

Thanksgiving is part of the complicated history of European immigrants and Native Americans, said Johnson, “but if people are in your country, they should come over and eat turkey with you.”

Contact the writer:

kbolus@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5114;

@kbolusTT on Twitter

WAYMART

The main road at the entrance of the State Correctional Institution at Waymart will be closed indefinitely due to deterioration of the road, Superintendent George Miller announced Wednesday.

“The road is in such bad condition that it is hazardous and unsafe for drivers, and severe vehicle damage is also a concern,” according to the prison.

The main entrance off Route 6, where the stone welcome sign is located, will be closed within the upcoming weeks. Drivers can use other roads, including Carbondale Road, to access the facility.

SCI Waymart’s new main entrance will be right off Route 6 at Carbondale Road. A new sign will be placed on Route 6 directing drivers to turn onto Carbondale Road to the main entrance of the facility.

— STAFF REPORT

SCRANTON — They spotted him through the window of a Penn Avenue credit union: Santa Claus.

Tristan, 5, and Savannah Slayton, 3, could hardly contain their excitement.

“This is our first time coming to this,” their mother, Amanda Slayton of Duryea, said. “They always say how awesome this is for kids.”

Soon, the radio tower atop the Scranton Times Building would gleam in the night.

The 59th annual tower lighting delighted families Wednesday and welcomed in the holiday season. The event featured meet-and-greets with Santa and his elves, as well as screenings of holiday movies, including “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and other entertainment.

The weather proved fickle. Bouts of rain and sunshine punctuated the event. Many brought umbrellas. Forecasts of strong winds threw into doubt whether the fireworks display would happen. The last time the weather halted the show was in 2013.

It held off. Bright blooms of color blasted through the night sky.

The honor of throwing the switch to light the tower went to a few area children recently featured in Weekend Times who have battled through adversity.

Glittering red, blue, green and orange bulbs strung along the Times Building’s tower stretched nearly 300 feet above downtown Scranton.

Since 1960, the festive tower has dominated the cityscape from late November through mid-January.

The Times-Tribune began hosting an annual block party, complete with fireworks, to mark the 50th anniversary in 2010.

Sarah Evans of Scranton helped her 5-year-old son, Andrew Evans, assemble a Christmas tree ornament out of beads in the newspaper’s lobby.

Wednesday was their first time attending the tower lighting. Andrew was reaching the age where the holiday season starts to really hold magic, his mother said.

“He’s getting old enough to realize what’s going on around him,” Sarah Evans said.

Meanwhile, Tristan and Savannah met with Santa and filled him in on what they want for Christmas — a Baby Alive doll for Savannah and PAW Patrol toys for Tristan.

One more surprise awaited them. Standing nearby was a person in a snowman costume with a goofy smile: Olaf.

Savannah ran to meet the popular character from the beloved Disney movie “Frozen.”

“Olaf loves warm hugs,” Amanda Slayton said.

Savannah was only too happy to oblige.

Contact the writer:

jkohut@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9144;

@jkohutTT on Twitter

Nov. 28, 1924

Police carry out

holiday vice raids

Scranton police conducted vice raids on three disorderly houses on Thanksgiving. In all, 14 people — six men and eight women — were arrested during the daytime raids.

Of the men, four were released after paying a $15 deposit, and two were kept overnight because they were from out of town. Four of the eight women were charged with running the disorderly houses.

Being dressed well

gets you noticed

On Nov. 22, someone broke into John K. Collins, a Lackawanna Avenue clothing store, and decided to do a little after-hours “shopping.” When Scranton police arrived in the morning to investigate the break-in, they found the bandits had left their old clothes behind.

In the course of their investigation, police detectives noticed two well-dressed teens, Angelo Qualitz and Anthony Blakiewicz, walking around downtown on Nov. 26. The young men were taken to police headquarters, where they confessed to breaking into the store and taking the new suits and additional pieces of clothing. Police said the stolen clothing was valued at $800.

The pair spent Thanksgiving in the lockup at police headquarters. While the teens were in custody, the police returned the clothing they left at the crime scene to them so they had something to wear.

At the theaters

The opera “Faust” was presented at the Academy; a vaudeville show at the Capital had performances by the Cansinos, Tad Tieman & Collegians and Juan Cardo; and the film “A Sainted Devil,” starring Rudolph Valentino, was at the Strand.

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.

PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS

• RR Organization LLC, Scranton, to Elizabeth E. Jezorwski, Scranton; a property at 621 Moltke Ave., Scranton, for $173,250.

• USA HUD to Michael Bramley; a property at 67 Park St., Carbondale, for $55,000.

• Richard D. and Christine L. Williams, Lackawanna County, to Kirk Thomas Pierre, Lackawanna County; two parcels in Madison Twp. for $149,350.

• Subhash Chander and Sunita Arora to Joshua R. and Sarah K. Braddell; a property at 15 Jermyn Drive, Waverly Twp., for $425,000.

• Richard P. Masucci, executor of the estate of Marie P. Lalli, Dunmore, to Kevin S. Fletcher, Dunmore; a property at 309 Willow St., Dunmore, for $108,000.

• Ann Marie Grayeski, Clarks Summit, Mary Lynn Grayeski, Clarks Summit, Richard and Margaret M. Grayeski, Watkinsville, Ga., and Frank Jr. and Ann P. Grayeski, Bridgewater, N.J., to GZ Real Estate Group, Harrisburg; a property at 190 Gordon Ave., Carbondale, for $36,000.

• JPMorgan Chase Bank NA to 1145 St. Ann LLC; a property at 1145-1147 St. Ann’s St., Scranton, for $63,500.

• Charles M. and Stephanie G. Stivala, Dunmore, to Brian and Tierny Ulmer Cresswell, Dalton; a property in Dalton for $325,000.

• Mary Kresock, Simpson, to Martin H. Serrano Reyes and Evelio Serrano Reyes, Brooklyn, N.Y.; a property at 27-29 Frobel St., Fell Twp., for $37,000.

MARRIAGE LICENSES

• Matthew Jacobeno and Tiffney Marie Davies, both of Jessup.

• Matthew Joseph Miles and Amanda Marie Perry, both of Throop.

• Jeremy John Kenosky and Nicolle Danielle Depeters, both of Covington Twp.

DIVORCE DECREE

• John Penzone v. Shannon Penzone.

ESTATES FILED

• Aldona Osieski, also known as Aldona Ann Osieski, 221 Prynn St., Blakely, letters testamentary to Robert M. Osieski, 2000 S. Ocean Blvd., Apt. 303, Delray Beach, Fla.

• Frances Scaramastro, 316 Spruce St., Moosic, letters of administration to Joseph N. Scaramastro Jr., 480 S. River St., Wapwallopen.

ONLINE: thetimes-tribune.com/court

Clarks Summit

Community talk: Grieving, Loss, Spirituality and Change during the Holidays, Dec. 16, 6 p.m., Allied Services Corporate Center, 100 Abington Executive Park, Clarks Summit; talk will be led by Dr. Lee Davis, DO, FACOG, and Joyce Wizda, MSW; RSVP to Megan Cerco at 570-340-6487 or mcerco@allied-services.org; coffee and refreshments will be served.

Great Bend

Spaghetti dinner: Knights of Columbus Council 356 spaghetti and meatball dinner, Dec. 14, 4-7 p.m., KOC Hall, 65 Kilrow St.; meal includes salad, bread, dessert and a beverage; $10/adults, $5/6-12 and free/under 5; takeouts available, live music by Carl Tanner & Friends.

Moosic

Club meeting: After 50 Club Christmas meeting, Dec. 5, 1 p.m., Greenwood Hose Company, 3727 Birney Ave.

Pittston

Cookie walk: St. Michael’s Byzantine Catholic Church Cookie Walk, Dec. 15, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the church hall, 205 N. Main St.; a variety of homemade cookies, including sugar, chocolate chip, pepper, thumbprint, kolachi, Italian ricotta, spritz cherry winks and more; cost $10 per pound; there will also be a raffle; 570-905-7387.

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.

Local Thanksgiving donations

Representatives from the local American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District Council 87 continued its tradition of donating turkeys to the St. Francis of Assisi Kitchen.

The donation of Thanksgiving food to the kitchen is organized each year by Eric Schubert in memory of his late father, Frank, who volunteered at the kitchen.

The group donated 208 turkeys and 162 hams valued at $7,700 to the kitchen. The money was raised by District Council 87 and purchased through Schiff’s.

The members also helped unload the delivery of meats to the kitchen and helped store them in the kitchen’s freezers.

For details about volunteer opportunities or the donation needs of the St. Francis of Assisi Kitchen, contact 570-342-5556.

Riverside Elementary East students, including Arionna Banks, Eamon Paroby, Ryleigh Angerson, Adrianna Hoover, Maya Terbovich, Tatianna Stolze, Juila Pauli and Brooke Kalteski, helped collect more than 2,500 items for local food banks.

The students also arranged more than a dozen family Thanksgiving dinners.

University of Scranton students, faculty and staff, including John Garvey, a history major from Marlton, New Jersey; Kaitlyn Franceschelli, an undeclared major from Spring Brook Twp.; Marino Angeloni, a counseling and human services major from Jessup; Avianna Carilli, a physiology major from Scott Twp.; Sarah Brown, an occupational therapy major from Scranton; and Maeve Seymour, a nursing major from Clarks Summit, volunteered to prepare and distribute food baskets to families at the Valley View housing development in South Scranton.

In total, the university representatives donated 200 food baskets for area families in need through its annual Thanksgiving Food Drive organized by the university’s Center for Service and Social Justice. More than 80 students, including 45 members of Scranton’s lacrosse team, participated.

Career Technology Center of Lackawanna County’s Student Ambassadors, including Justin Arroyo-Garcia, Leandria Hercules, Jasmyne Martarana, Samuel Kussi, Calista DiPrima, Bryauna Manuel, Nicolina Broskoskie and Anntonette Saavedra, helped the Friends of the Poor prepare for the organization’s Family to Family Thanksgiving Celebration on Tuesday.

The students spent the morning at the Scranton Cultural Center peeling hundreds of pounds of potatoes and setting up for the event.

WILKES-BARRE — A city man angered over being asked to leave an area hospital began fighting with security officers and bit a police officer before being subdued, according to police.

Devontay Wedderburn, 22, of 107 George Ave., is accused of causing the disturbance at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital after signing himself out from treatment Tuesday night.

According to the complaint, officers were dispatched to the emergency department around 10:50 p.m. Tuesday to a report of a man being disorderly.

They arrived to find two security officers and a Pittston police officer restraining Wedderburn, who had been asked to leave the hospital.

Police say Wedderburn refused to leave and began “verbally abusing” security officers, with spittle from his mouth spraying them. Wedderburn swiped an officer in the face, knocking off his glasses, and then punched him in the face, police said.

Wedderburn then tried fighting both security officers, prompting the Pittston officer, who was at the hospital on an unrelated matter, to join and help subdue him, police said.

During the struggle, Wedderburn bit the officer as he brought Wedderburn to the ground and handcuffed him, according to the complaint.

Police charged Wedderburn with aggravated assault, simple assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

Magisterial District Judge Brian James Tupper arraigned him on the charges Wednesday morning and set his bail at $25,000.

Wedderburn was being held at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility with a preliminary hearing set for Dec. 5.

Contact the writer:

jhalpin@citizensvoice.com

570-821-2058