The National Labor Relations Board upheld a ruling that found a Scranton nursing home illegally fired a worker for supporting the formation of a union and improperly changed its paid time-off policy without negotiating the matter.

The ruling, issued Friday, upholds a prior ruling that directed the Mountain View Care and Rehabilitation Center LLC, 2309 Stafford Ave., to reinstate the employee and forbids it from retaliating against others. It also orders the home to rescind a policy that reduced compensation for unused personal, vacation and sick days.

Employees are represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which filed a complaint on behalf of Yolanda Ramos, a dietary aide fired in March after she admitted she asked a fellow employee to sign a union organizing petition during work hours.

The nursing home alleged her conduct violated its anti-solicitation policy. The union argued the policy had never before been enforced. It maintained the home’s reasoning was a pretext to hide its real goal of chilling organizing efforts.

An administrative law judge agreed with the union in August and ordered Ramos reinstated with back pay. The NLRB’s ruling affirms the decision.

The NLRB also affirmed the law judge’s finding that Mountain View altered its paid time-off policy by reducing the amount of money employees are reimbursed for unused time from 100% of their rate to 50%and by no longer allowing them to carry over unused days to the next year. Labor law requires the home notify the union of the changes before they are made to give it a chance to bargain the issue.

The union has been negotiating a contract with the home for more than a year. Talks reached an impasse last month, leading employees to strike. They returned to work after the home expressed a desire to continue talks, said Chelsea Conner, director of communications for the union.

Attempts to reach Brandon Williams, attorney for the nursing home, were unsuccessful.

Contact the writer:

tbesecker@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9137; @tmbeseckerTT

SCRANTON — Residents of North Rebecca Avenue in West Side keep their homes and properties tidy and well maintained.

About eight homeowners in the 800 block eagerly joined together this summer to participate in the city’s inaugural “Beautiful Blocks” program that gave matching grants to groups of at least five neighbors for exterior improvements.

Sponsored by the city and nonprofit NeighborWorks Northeastern Pennsylvania, the program aimed to strengthen communities and make neighborhoods throughout Scranton more attractive places to live.

It offered individual grants of up to $1,000 per homeowner for groups of five or more neighbors in the same block or on the same street, which each recipient must match.

Beautiful Blocks had a successful launch and looks to resume next year, said Todd Pousley, NeighborWorks neighborhood revitalization manager.

The program enlisted 113 homeowners this year, from 15 blocks throughout the city, who received grants totaling $101,836, Pousley said.

Improvements can range from small upgrades, such as painting, window boxes, flowerpots or welcome mats, to larger repairs involving siding, windows, roofing and sidewalks, to name a few.

Grants were awarded through a competitive process, with applications judged on the number of participating homeowners, project impact, coordination and the likelihood of neighbors continuing to work together in the future. Each group had to designate a block captain as a point of contact.

The North Rebecca Avenue neighbors put their grants toward various landscaping, sidewalk, curb and porch projects, said block captain Jack Munley. The residents matched — and exceeded — their grants for projects that generally each cost a few thousand dollars, he said. His landscaping cost about $3,000, while curbing and sidewalk jobs ranged from $2,000 to about $6,000.

“We have a good, solid group of neighbors. We take pride in our properties,” Munley said. “If you take pride in your block, if you take pride in the city, we’d have a lot better town.”

Beautiful Blocks was initiated last year by then-city Councilman Wayne Evans, after he learned of a similar, successful program in Oswego, New York.

Scranton’s version started with $50,000 available for grants this year, and expected to incur costs of $10,000 for administration and $8,000 for a trailer, tools and equipment. That $68,000 budget was funded with $25,000 allocated by the city from a University of Scranton contribution of $200,000 to the city; the rest came from the city’s rental registration fee escrow account. After applications started rolling in, the city kicked in another $50,000, Pousley said.

Funding to resume Beautiful Blocks next year remains undetermined, but the city and NeighborWorks are committed to continuing the program.

“We want to keep it going forever,” said Evans, who became mayor in July but whose term ends in early January. “Whenever we make an investment in the neighborhoods, it’s a win for everybody.”

Julie Schumacher Cohen, director of community and government relations at the University of Scranton, said the university was pleased to target $25,000 of its $200,000 contribution to the city to Beautiful Blocks. It’s too early to discuss specifics of the university’s contribution to the city in 2020, she said.

“The Beautiful Blocks program is a wonderful initiative that brings neighbors together, builds civic bonds and relationships while beautifying neighborhoods throughout the city. It’s a way for neighbors to improve their little corner of the world in Scranton,” Cohen said in a statement.

NeighborWorks also will seek other funding sources. The organization hopes to get the 2020 program started in spring.

“We will definitely be taking applications again next year,” possibly as soon as March, Pousley said. “The first (grant) awards didn’t come out until June. We heard from some with landscaping projects they would have liked to do it earlier, in spring.”

NeighborWorks advocates for responsible home ownership and affordable housing and provides services including home ownership coaching and education, aging in place and home-renovation services, and neighborhood revitalization initiatives.

The grants were available only to homeowners, but because some landlords and tenants had expressed interest, the 2020 round may open to them, Pousley said.

“Some long-term renters wanted to invest in their properties, even though they don’t own them,” he said.

While any groups of homeowners anywhere in the city could have applied, applications in five “target zones” of stable, but potentially at-risk, neighborhoods were given preference for grants, to help prevent these neighborhoods from declining and increase demand for homes in those areas.

Those target zones included parts of the Hill Section, South Side, North Scranton, West Side and Green Ridge. Preferences also were given to applications with a high number of tightly clustered properties, and explanations of how neighbors would work together to complete improvements and continue improving properties and their neighborhood.

The parameters for 2020 will remain largely the same, though target zones may change somewhat, Pousley said. Details and timelines are not ready. For information, see the NeighborWorks website at www.nwnepa.org.

After the West Side neighbors completed their projects, they held a celebration in the street in mid-September.

“We improved the block,” Munley said. “We had a beautiful block party after the process was done.”

Contact the writer:

jlockwood@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9100 x5185;

@jlockwoodTT on Twitter

Dec. 10, 1949

More carriers hired

To meet the demands of the holiday season, Assistant Postmaster William Meehan swore in 100 extra mail carriers and clerks at a ceremony at the Scranton Post Office.

A total 550 people were hired for the holiday season. Scranton Postmaster Joseph Conrad said 1949 could see “the greatest holiday mailing business in the history of the Scranton Post Office.”

In addition to the hirings, the post office issued a reminder to customers not to forget packages or personal items at the post office. Post office Supervising Engineer Edward Davitt shared a story about a woman who left an envelope containing $300 on a table in the lobby of the post office. She returned later, upset that she had lost the money, but another customer had turned it in to a clerk.

“That doesn’t happen very often,” Davitt said. “That woman was a very lucky person.”

15th Dream Game

Before a crowd of 5,500, the County team defeated the City team 21-12 in the 15th annual Dream Game at Athletic Park.

The County got onto the board with a touchdown by Pete Shop, halfback from Blakely; Leo O’Boyle, an end from Dunmore, scored the other two touchdowns. Touchdowns for the City were by James Brier, an end from Central, and Steve Kornutiak, a halfback from Tech.

An All-American

Fifteen-year-old Dunmorean Mary Ann Walsh was named to the AAU All-American long-distance swimming team. In August, Walsh competed at an AAU event in San Antonio, where she “was cited as the No. 1 choice to succeed Ann Curtis as the nation’s top woman swimmer.”

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.

Pennsylvania’s adjutant general and National Guard members visited Monday with residents at the Gino J. Merli Veterans Center in Scranton for the holidays.

Carbondale

Community luncheon: Free community luncheon, Dec. 21, noon-1 p.m., Trinity Episcopal Church, 58 River St.

Lackawanna County

Santa trolley: Electric City Trolley Museum annual Holiday Celebration with Santa on the trolley and Mrs. Claus in the museum accepting letters to Santa, Saturday, 300 Cliff St., Scranton; museum will feature arts and crafts, balloon art and a magician from 10 a.m-1 p.m., excursion time available for this event is 12:30 p.m.; 570-963-6590.

South Scranton

Seniors meet: Young at Heart Club meeting and Christmas luncheon, today, 12:30 p.m., St. Paul of the Cross Parish Center, Prospect Avenue.

Christmas concert: Adult Choir of Divine Mercy Parish annual Christmas concert, “Love Made a Way — The Journey of Christmas,” Saturday, 6 p.m., and Sunday, noon, 312 Davis St., light refreshments follow in parish center.

Taylor

Awards banquet: R&L Civic Club will hold its awards banquet Saturday at St. George’s Hall, Taylor, cocktail hour begins at 6 p.m., and dinner begins at 7.

West Scranton

Meeting canceled: The West Scranton Neighbors Association meeting scheduled for today is canceled; meetings will resume in January, weather permitting.

Toy drive: Sherman’s Cleaning and Lafayette Street Deli inaugural “Oh What Fun...” Christmas Toy Drive, Sunday, 2 p.m., Spherion, 1526 Farr St., donations of new toys for either boys or girls accepted through Friday at designated collection site at Lafayette Street Deli, 1400 Lafayette St.

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.

WILKES-BARRE TWP. — Mission BBQ co-founder Bill Kraus came to Wilkes-Barre Twp. on Monday to open his 12th restaurant in Pennsylvania and 87th in the country and pay tribute to two World War II veterans.

Kraus and Kevin Cross, regional director of operations for Mission BBQ, honored World War II veterans Robert Megatulski, 94, the former mayor of Forty Fort who was a Navy Seabee and earned four Bronze Battle Stars, and Reading resident Russ Miller, 95, who served in the Navy from 1943-46.

Megatulski, who was thanked for his service, enjoyed the pork barbecue at the new Mundy Street restaurant and said he doesn’t consider himself a hero.

“It’s a pleasure being here but I don’t want to be a hero,” he said. “I’m not a hero. I did my job.”

Miller, who was joined by Jenny Winchester, regional community ambassador for Mission BBQ, said what he likes best about the restaurant are the employees. He also likes the fresh-cut

fries and macaroni and cheese, he said.

Kraus said whenever he meets American heroes like World War II veterans, he asks, “Is it any surprise we won that war?”

“You still see the gleam in their eye and the fighting spirit they’ve got,” he said. “It’s hard not to be amazed by them, yet they’ll just tell you they were just doing their job.”

Kraus and his best friend Steve Newton opened the first Mission BBQ in Glen Burnie, Maryland, on Sept. 11, 2011, as a way to support military, police, firefighters and first responders 10 years after the terrorist attacks.

“Damn right, we did that intentionally,” Kraus told a crowd gathered in front of the new restaurant for the grand opening. “Ten years after this world changed as we all knew it, in some way, we were going to try to change it back. We’re trying to remind folks how fortunate we are to live in this amazing country because what makes this country so great are our heroes.”

The national anthem is sung at noon every day at Mission BBQ.

Following the grand opening ceremony, a crowd of people lined up at the new restaurant. Some wearing military uniforms were told by employees, “Your meal is on us today. Thank you for your service.”

Monday‘s grand opening followed private events held for police officers, firefighters and the military and to support their charities. Kraus said holding events like this is “how we introduce ourselves to a community.”

“The mission of Mission BBQ is to serve, honor and thank,” Kraus said. “Any time we spend time in communities like this, it feels like this would be a wonderful place to serve and give back.”

Mission BBQ’s newest location formerly was the site of the Latona Law building that was demolished following the June 13, 2018, tornado.

The restaurant employs 55 full-time and part-time workers, Cross said. It’s open 11 to 9 Monday through Thursday, 11 to 10 Friday and Saturday and 11:30 to 8 Sunday.

Contact the writer:

dallabaugh@citizensvoice.com;

570-821-2115;

@CVAllabaugh on Twitter

SCRANTON — City property owners will face a 2.4% tax hike next year unless Mayor Wayne Evans successfully vetoes an amended 2020 budget city council approved Monday.

The amended budget raises Scranton’s tax rate for land by 7 mills, from 232.521 to 239.521, with a mill being a $1 tax on every $1,000 of assessed value. The hike would boost city revenues in 2020 by almost $566,000 and cost a typical city resident whose land is assessed at $1,500 about $10.50 more per year than they currently pay, officials said.

Evans’ original $116 million spending plan did not include a tax hike. The outgoing mayor now has 10 days to decide whether the millage bump and several other amendments council approved warrant a veto.

Council can override a veto with a supermajority vote. If all five members are present a 4-1 vote would make a supermajority.

Councilmen Bill Gaughan and Kyle Donahue and Councilwoman Mary Walsh Dempsey, who voted for the tax hike amendment, noted the modest increase was recommended last week by officials from the Pennsylvania Economy League, Scranton’s financial recovery coordinator.

Failure to implement the 2.4% tax hike next year will require more drastic and burdensome tax hikes down the road, the three council members contend.

“We’re now entering our fourth year without a tax increase, when our (state Act 47) exit plan calls for modest tax increases over time,” Gaughan said. “The reality of the situation is ... if we don’t raise taxes modestly this year, we may be looking at a punitive, double-digit increase in the next year or two.”

Council President Pat Rogan voted against the increase. He acknowledged future tax hikes are likely inevitable but argued now isn’t the time given rising Scranton School District property taxes that will likely continue to rise in the coming years.

“The new mayor coming in next year has already promised tax relief,” Rogan said of Mayor-elect Paige Cognetti. “I think that we should give her an opportunity to propose to reopen the budget, which is going to be her prerogative, and make any changes she would like to see.”

Council voted 3-1 to amend the spending plan to include the tax hike, with Councilman Tim Perry absent.

The board then voted 3-1, with Rogan voting no, to further amend the budget by restating projected revenue from the sale of trash-fee delinquencies as receivables. The amended ordinance projects about $1.52 million in revenue from the sale, compared to about $2.26 million in Evans’ original budget.

Advocates of the amendment argued the sale of trash fee delinquencies to a third-party is a one-time revenue source that could create a large hole in the 2021 spending plan if the city doesn’t budget more conservatively now. Some called the revenue source speculative regardless of the figure.

Rogan argued the sale remains a one-time revenue source even if budgeted at $1.52 million. He suggested during a pre-meeting caucus the $2.26 million figure arguably understates the value of the receivables.

Finally, council voted 4-0 on a series of amendments cutting about $170,000 in “other salary” from the budget across several departments. That money would not correspond to budget line items for any particular positions, giving Cognetti discretion as to how it should be spent next year.

Council argued any new positions should be included as line items in the spending plan.

The final vote to approve the budget with the various amendments passed 3-1, with Rogan voting no.

Reached after the meeting, Evans said he’s going to look at the whole package of amendments before deciding whether to veto the fiscal blueprint.

He also defended his proposed budget, noting among other things it significantly changes the city’s refuse billing system and replaces the business privilege and mercantile taxes with an arguably fairer payroll tax.

“My feeling all along was, if we are going to have those types of tax initiatives, this is not the year to have a property tax increase,” Evans said.

If Evans vetoes the budget and council fails to override the veto, his original proposal becomes law. If council succeeds at overriding the veto then the amended budget becomes law, complete with the tax hike.

Evans can also sign the amended document or do nothing until the 10-day window expires. In both those cases council’s amended budget would become law.

Though she isn’t a fan of tax hikes, former city ethics board Chairwoman Joan Hodowanitz endorsed the 2.4% increase as sound planning.

“I have to concur that it’s unrealistic to avoid raising taxes until it has to be done catastrophically,” she said.

Contact the writer:

jhorvath@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9141;

@jhorvathTT on Twitter

SCRANTON — Nearly 900 Lackawanna County property owners may have to purchase flood insurance for the first time when new flood insurance rate maps go into effect next year.

Created by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the maps display areas at risk in the event of a 100-year flood. In other words, they display areas that have a 1% chance of flooding in any given year.

Updated versions of those maps becoming effective in August will affect more than 2,000 county property owners whose flood risk may increase or decrease with the changes. Those with federally backed mortgages who live in newly designated flood-prone areas would be required to purchase flood insurance, meaning the changes could hit family budgets. Flood insurance, which is provided through the National Flood Insurance Program, can cost hundreds to thousands of dollars a year depending on the flood zone and coverage.

The Lackawanna County Flood Risk Coalition, with support from FEMA, will host a public open house tonight to discuss flood risk, flood insurance and ways to mitigate flood-related disasters. The open house runs from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Albright Memorial Library in the city.

The event will provide valuable information to residents affected by the changes, including the owners of about 874 properties that will be newly located in a flood plain under the updated maps, coalition member Mary Liz Donato said.

Less than 1,500 county properties will come out of the flood plain when the new maps are implemented, she said.

Tonight’s program will begin with a brief introduction on the changing maps, after which attendees may talk with insurance, mapping and other experts who will be on hand to answer questions, said Maggie Dunn, an outreach coordinator in the mitigation division for FEMA Region III.

Residents can look up their properties on draft flood maps by visiting lackawannacounty.org/floodrisk.

The changing maps also affect municipalities, which must pass updated flood plain management ordinances based on the new maps before they go into effect in the summer. The local municipalities most affected by the changes include Blakely, Dickson City, Mayfield, Olyphant and Scranton, Donato said.

A meeting for municipal officials to discuss the flood plain changes also will be held today at 8:30 a.m. at the Lackawanna County 911 Center in Jessup.

Contact the writer:

jhorvath@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9141;

@jhorvathTT on Twitterlackawannacounty.org/floodrisk

BENTON TWP. — A dog is credited with alerting a Benton Twp. man to a fire in his home today.

Crews responded to 855 Finn Road, between Hack and Marshbrook roads, at about 6 a.m. for what the Fleetville Volunteer Fire Company described on its Facebook page as a fully involved structure fire.

The homeowner was asleep in his bedroom when the fire broke out but was alerted by his dog that something was wrong before discovering smoke and flames in his living room, state police at Dunmore said.

The man and the dog escaped the burning home without injury and ran to a neighbor’s house for help, police said. Two cats were missing after the fire.

The fire remains under investigation by a state police fire marshal, but the cause does not appear to be suspicious, police said.

— JOSEPH KOHUT

An Ashley man will go to state prison for causing a drunken April wreck on the Casey Highway, Lackawanna County President Judge Michael J. Barrasse ruled Tuesday.

Wayne A. Ferrier, 34, 18½ Wyoming St., was sentenced to 15 months to six years behind bars and must pay about $48,000 in restitution.

Part of that sentence also stems from a violation of his probation on a 2018 DUI.

Ferrier collided with a family April 5 while driving the wrong way on an exit ramp. Speaking in court Tuesday, Lacey Neal testified the effects of that day have lingered since. Only recently has her daughter been able to make it through the night without a nightmare.

State police said Neal was trying to exit the highway at Exit 1 shortly before 8 p.m. while Ferrier tried to get on the highway using the exit ramp.

Neal said she saw Ferrier’s headlights and first thought it was odd. Then she felt sure this oncoming vehicle was going to kill them.

They collided. Ferrier got out and fled on foot.

“I know he heard the screams,” Neal said. “But, he ran and he hid.”

State police found him walking down the Casey Highway away from the crash scene.

Ferrier reeked of alcohol. He refused a chemical test.

A judge allowed him to enter rehab in August.

“This was rock-bottom for him,” his attorney, Jason Mattioli, said.

Ferrier pleaded guilty Sept. 19 to counts of DUI and accidents involving death of personal injury, according to court records. The plea agreement dropped counts of aggravated assault by vehicle while DUI, among other charges.

Ferrier’s sponsor in Alcoholics Anonymous testified that Ferrier works diligently to maintain his sobriety and attends AA meetings daily.

Ferrier said he is grateful no one was killed or more seriously injured during the wreck.

“I deeply apologize for every heartache that I put them through,” Ferrier said. “I made a terrible decision and affected so many lives.”

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

SCRANTON

City police charged a Scranton man Saturday with strangling a woman after telling her to move out of his apartment.

Tariq Jahad Jackson, 29, 134 Hennessy Ct., told police his landlord told him that Tamara Brown is not allowed to live with him any longer, so Jackson broke the news to her when they came home from a night club.

Jackson said that she started pulling out his hair. Brown, however, told officers Jackson started to drag her from the home after she told him she needed a few days to move out.

Police alleged that Jackson punched and choked her.

He is charged with strangulation and related counts.

Jackson is in Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of $75,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled Monday.

— JOSEPH KOHUT

SOUTH ABINGTON TWP.

A Scranton woman broke a window and threatened her ex-boyfriend and his girlfriend last month, police said.

Tiffany Marie Correll, 21, 1421 Schlager St., walked into a rear foyer at 307 Edella Road in South Abington Twp. on Nov. 30 and told her ex-boyfriend and his girlfriend that she was going to beat them up, police said. Correll was banging on a window and the glass shattered, according to a criminal complaint.

She is charged with burglary, terroristic threats and related charges. Correll is free on $20,000 unsecured bail with a preliminary hearing scheduled for Dec. 16.

— FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY

SCRANTON — Ousted Licensing, Inspections and Permits Director Patrick Hinton used Monday’s city council meeting to blast the body and accuse at least one councilman of slander.

Hinton, who addressed council during the citizens participation portion of the meeting, accused members of continually bashing the LIPs department without justification and attempting to tie him to former Mayor Bill Courtright’s corruption.

The former director lead the embattled department while Courtright weaponized it to shake down vendors and entities doing business with the city. Courtright, who resigned and pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges in July, admitted to brazenly directing city representatives to hold up licenses, permits or contracts to extort cash and campaign contributions.

Mayor Wayne Evans ousted Hinton in August after offering him a choice between switching jobs to director of the Parks and Recreation Department, which would have required Hinton abandon his plan to open a coffee shop in Nay Aug Park, or termination. Hinton chose the latter.

In conversations with The Times-Tribune since, Hinton described how Courtright leaned on him cooperate in the pay-to-play scheme but argued he had nothing to do with the former mayor’s “shadiness and shenanigans and shaking people down.”

Hinton told the newspaper in August that Courtright retaliated against him for not cooperating. Though he had misgivings and suspicions about certain conduct and requests, Hinton said he did not know the full extent of Courtright’s scheme.

On Monday he painted himself as a reformer whose attempts to improve the LIPs department were stymied by Courtright and his administration. Hinton blasted council for repeatedly criticizing LIPs, arguing Tuesday the city has not invested sufficient money, staff or resources in the department and that council often overstates LIPs-related complaints.

Council approved legislation last month to contract with Allentown-based Barry Isett & Associates to review the department for efficiency and best practices. In advocating for the review in recent months, several council members said the department factors in many of the complaints they hear from residents.

Noting he can’t speak for his colleagues, council President Pat Rogan denied bashing any department. Any comments he made about LIPs were related to specific issues raised by residents or contractors, often about delays in getting permits or permits being denied when they shouldn’t have been, Rogan said.

Hinton specifically accused Councilman Kyle Donahue of besmirching his name at a Green Ridge Neighborhood Association meeting earlier this year. Donahue publicly said he was behind the criminal activity at City Hall, Hinton alleged.

Donahue didn’t respond during the public comment period, but defended his criticism of the department later in the meeting. Donahue said he frequently sent requests to LIPs during the first 18 months of his term without receiving a response and likely hears more LIPs-related complaints from residents than complaints about pot holes.

“Whether you knew (about the pay-to-play scandal) or not, you were responsible for that office,” Donahue said to Hinton. “That was your responsibility, and I’ll leave it at that.”

Efforts to reach Donahue Tuesday were unsuccessful.

Hinton said Tuesday he was never in Courtright’s inner circle and feels he’s being made a scapegoat because of his former job title. He vowed Monday to continue defending himself and the department.

“I expect to be back again because I do have a lot to say,” he said.

Contact the writer:
jhorvath@timesshamrock.com;
570-348-9141;
@jhorvathTT on Twitter

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Six people, including a police officer and three bystanders, were killed in a furious gunbattle Tuesday that filled the streets of Jersey City with the sound of heavy gunfire for hours, authorities said.

The dead included two suspects, Jersey City Police Chief Michael Kelly said.

The shooting took place at two scenes, starting at a cemetery, where the officer was gunned down, and continuing at a kosher supermarket, where five more bodies were found, Kelly said.

“Our officers were under fire for hours,” the chief said.

He would not say exactly what set off the shooting but that he believes the officer who was killed was trying to stop some “bad guys.”

City Public Safety Director James Shea said that authorities believe the bloodshed was not an act of terrorism but that it was still under investigation.

Two other officers were wounded but were later released from the hospital, authorities said.

The bullets started flying early in the afternoon in the city of about 270,000 people, situated across the Hudson River from the Statue of Liberty.

The shooting spread fear through the neighborhood, and the nearby Sacred Heart School was put on lockdown as a precaution.

SWAT teams, state police and federal agents converged on the scene, and police blocked off the area, which in addition to the school and supermarket included a hair salon and other shops. Dozens of bystanders pressed against the police barrier to capture the action on their cellphones, some whooping when bursts of fire could be heard.

Video shot by residents recorded loud volleys of gunfire reverberating along one of the city’s main streets and showed a long line of law enforcement officers pointing guns as they advanced, yelling to bystanders, “Clear the street! Get out of the way!”

“ It’s like firecrackers going off,” said Andy Patel, who works at a liquor store about three blocks away. “They were shooting like crazy. ... The cops were clearing everyone off the streets.”

Gov. Tom Wolf joined state and local leaders Tuesday for a walking tour of Honesdale’s historic downtown.

SCRANTON — More than a dozen county property owners lined up in the Albright Memorial Library on Tuesday to find out whether their properties were at risk for a 100-year flood.

Throop resident Dennis Pabis saw that his home on Bellman Street was one of approximately 874 properties in Lackawanna County that will be located in newly designated flood-prone areas under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s new flood insurance rate map. The map shows areas at risk in the event of a 100-year flood, or areas that have a 1% chance of flooding any given year.

The Lackawanna County Flood Risk Coalition and FEMA hosted an open house at the library where officials discussed floods maps, flood risks and flood insurance. Following a short presentation, property owners were able to sit down with FEMA officials to look at the new maps, which will go into effect in August, and find out the state of their property.

Retired and living on a fixed income with his wife, Pabis will have to purchase flood insurance for his home. Flood insurance can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars a year. Individuals with federally backed mortgages who live in flood prone areas are required to purchase flood insurance.

Pabis’ home went from being in a moderate-to-low risk area to high-risk, he said.

“It’s nothing you plan for when you’re on a fixed income,” he said.

Current maps are based on data gathered in the 1970s, said Maggie Dunn, an outreach coordinator in the mitigation division for FEMA Region III.

She attributed the new maps and flood risk designations to rainfall changes, land development changes and technological improvements in mapping and flood predictions.

“We’re seeing more high-intensity storms for short periods of time that just seem to dump buckets all at once,” she said.

The new maps will also remove about 1,500 properties from the flood plain in Lackawanna County, which means property owners with federally backed mortgages will no longer be required to buy flood insurance. However, Dunn cautioned residents against rushing to drop their coverage.

“Flooding doesn’t stop at the line on the map,” she said, explaining that they’re trying to help people protect their homes. “It’s not to burden people. It’s to help people protect their biggest asset.”

Rich Sobota, an insurance specialist at FEMA, spent the evening fielding questions about flood insurance. Both he and Dunn recommend that people speak to their insurance agents. Sobota estimated that the average cost of flood insurance in Pennsylvania is $1,200, but a variety of factors determine the premium, he said. Houses with basements typically pay more, and property owners can decide if they want insure both the building and its contents or just the building, he said.

The most common misconception Sobota sees is people believing they don’t need flood insurance, either because they have never had a flood or because they aren’t in a high-risk area, he said. As many as one in every four structures in FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program that were damaged by floods were not in high-risk areas, he said.

“You can never predict what’s going to happen out in the field,” Sobota said. “Our maps, as helpful as they are, are a static depiction of a very dynamic process.”

For information on flood insurance and flood risks, visit floodsmart.gov. To view the new maps, visit lackawannacounty.org/floodrisk.

Contact the writer:

flesnefsky@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9100 x5181;

@flesnefskyTT on Twitter

A bill proposed Monday by state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski would give Pennsylvania homeowners an $800 school property tax rebate regardless of how much their property is worth.

The $2.8 billion rebate would be paid for by an increase to the personal income tax from 3.07% to 3.49% and a sales tax increase on certain luxury items.

Every wage earner who makes $190,000

or less and pays school property taxes would benefit under the plan, said Pashinski, D-121, Wilkes-Barre.

The Universal Property Tax Relief Rebate is a “practical and balanced” way to help senior citizens and the middle class stay in their homes and is more realistic than calls to eliminate school taxes altogether, Pashinski said. Total elimination would cost $14 billion per year, he said.

“It’s reasonable and it does not negatively impact any segment of the population. It does help seniors the most, the working class next,” Pashinski said Monday of his bill.

The average homeowner in Northeast Pennsylvania pays about $1,500 in school taxes per year, so the $800 rebate proposal amounts to a more than 50% cut, Pashinski said. Around the state, the average taxes are between $2,000 to $2,200 per year, so the proposal still would be a 33% reduction, Pashinski said.

Since most seniors don’t work and won’t pay the personal income tax increase, they would get the full $800 benefit, Pashinski said.

A homeowner with a $30,000 income would see a $674 net gain, while someone making $190,000 would essentially break even by netting $2, according to a chart provided by Pashinski.

“We wanted to show how this will affect your personal situation,” Pashinski said.

The bill has 18 co-sponsors, including state Rep. Gerald Mullery, D-119, Newport Twp. The proposal will now be considered by the finance committee.

The approximately $2.8 billion in replacement revenues to pay for the plan would come from an estimated $2.05 billion in additional PIT revenue and $765 million from the expansion of the current sales and use tax to things such as professional sports tickets, non-health related personal care services and cosmetic services to buildings and dwellings.

Personal care services are defined as hair cutting, styling, shampooing, coloring, waving hair, shaving, beard trimming, providing facials, hair removal services, applying makeup, nail care services, massage, non-medical diet and weight reduction services.

Building services are defined as various maintenance and landscaping jobs.

Pashinski’s proposal comes days after lawmakers unveiled a monthslong study about property tax relief including five plans, one that eliminates school property taxes all together.

Pashinski called his bill “a step in the right direction.”

“I believe this is the most balanced and fair plan put forth that provides real relief to property tax payers without penalizing the very people we are trying to help ... ” Pashinski said. “... Should this program be successfully implemented, it could point us in the right direction for how to provide additional property tax relief in the future.”

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A proposed school tax rebate plan unveiled Monday would provide $800 to every homeowner in Pennsylvania. The plan, which includes an increase to the personal income tax for workers, would be a net gain for all households making $190,000 or less, according to state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-121, Wilkes-Barre.

Income: Current PIT Proposed PIT Net benefit

3.07% 3.49%

$30,000 $921 $1,047 $674

$50,000 $1,535 $1,745 $590

$100,000 $3,070 $3,490 $380

$150,000 $4,605 $5,235 $170

$190,000 $5,833 $6,631 $2

In addition to a proposed increase to the personal income tax, there is a proposed tax increase on professional sports tickets, non-health related personal care services and professional services to buildings.

Personal care services (non-health related): hair cutting, styling, shampooing, coloring, waving hair, shaving, beard trimming, providing facials, hair removal services, applying makeup, nail care services, massage, non-medical diet and weight reduction services, day spas, saunas, ear piercing, steam baths, non-medical hair replacement, hair weaving, tanning and tattoo services.

Services to buildings: janitorial, custodial, housekeeping/cleaning/maid, cleaning, building exteriors, window cleaning, landscaping, arborist, lawn fertilizing, garden maintenance, lawn mowing, mulching, seeding, plant and shrub maintenance in buildings, tree and shrub pruning, trimming and removal, weed control (except crop), turf installation, landscape design, installation of walkways, retaining walls, decks, fences and ponds, snow plowing/removal, carpet and upholstery cleaning, exterminating and pest control, swimming pool cleaning, chimney cleaning, ventilation duct cleaning, drain or gutter cleaning, driveway cleaning.

SOURCE: STATE REP. EDDIE DAY PASHINSKI, D-121, WILKES-BARRE

A South Scranton retailer of restaurant-grade food and equipment will close at the start of the year.

Employees at Maines Food & Party Warehouse, 733 Davis St., learned the store is closing to the public Jan. 1.

Efforts to reach officials with the store’s parent company, Conklin, New York-based Maines Paper and Food Service Inc., were unsuccessful Monday.

The Scranton store is one of the distribution company’s four retail spots. Another is in Forty Fort, which is not closing. The other two are in New York.

Maines first arrived in Scranton in 2006 bringing public access to restaurant-grade food and supplies with no club membership required.

Back then it was called MainSource and opened a store at Oak Street and Keyser Avenue. Maines opened the Forty Fort store about the same time and revealed plans to open 20 in all across its service area, which now includes more than 35 states.

Three years later, the Scranton store outgrew its space and expanded with a new 20,000-square-foot building on Davis Street and doubled its employee roster.

“I’m surprised because I always thought they did a great business there,” said Glider Diner owner Charlie LeStrange.

He shopped Maines frequently when it was in North Scranton, and closer to his Providence Road restaurant, but said he still ventured to South Side, most recently a few months ago for a commercial toaster.

A retail store like Maines makes sense for restaurant owners who need supplies in a pinch, LeStrange said, but otherwise food service sales reps offer full lines of equipment.

“You’re more inclined to order from them,” he said.

Pete Ventura, partner at Coney Island Lunch in Scranton, shops at Maine’s frequently to provision his popular downtown hot dog spot.

“That’s going to be a problem,” he said.

He imagines he’ll just have order goods he buys there regularly now, he said. One of them is mustard.

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SCRANTON — More than a dozen county property owners lined up in the Albright Memorial Library on Tuesday to find out whether their properties were at risk for a 100-year flood.

Throop resident Dennis Pabis saw that his home on Bellman Street was one of approximately 874 properties in Lackawanna County that will be located in newly designated flood-prone areas under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s new flood insurance rate map. The map shows areas at risk in the event of a 100-year flood, or areas that have a 1% chance of flooding any given year.

The Lackawanna County Flood Risk Coalition and FEMA hosted an open house at the library where officials discussed flood maps, flood risks and flood insurance. Following a short presentation, property owners were

able to sit down with FEMA officials to look at the new maps, which will go into effect in August, and find out the state of their property.

Retired and living on a fixed income with his wife, Pabis will have to purchase flood insurance for his home. Flood insurance can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars a year. Individuals with federally backed mortgages who live in flood prone areas are required to purchase flood insurance.

Pabis’ home went from being in a moderate-to-low risk area to high-risk, he said.

“It’s nothing you plan for when you’re on a fixed income,” he said.

Current maps are based on data gathered in the 1970s, said Maggie Dunn, an outreach coordinator in the mitigation division for FEMA Region III.

She attributed the new maps and flood risk designations to rainfall changes, land development changes and technological improvements in mapping and flood predictions.

“We’re seeing more high-intensity storms for short periods of time that just seem to dump buckets all at once,” she said.

The new maps will also remove about 1,500 properties from the flood plain in Lackawanna County, which means property owners with federally backed mortgages will no longer be required to buy flood insurance. However, Dunn cautioned residents against rushing to drop their coverage.

“Flooding doesn’t stop at the line on the map,” she said, explaining that they’re trying to help people protect their homes. “It’s not to burden people. It’s to help people protect their biggest asset.”

Rich Sobota, an insurance specialist at FEMA, spent the evening fielding questions about flood insurance. Both he and Dunn recommend that people speak to their insurance agents. Sobota estimated that the average cost of flood insurance in Pennsylvania is $1,200, but a variety of factors determine the premium, he said. Houses with basements typically pay more, and property owners can decide if they want insure both the building and its contents or just the building, he said.

The most common misconception Sobota sees is people believing they don’t need flood insurance, either because they have never had a flood or because they aren’t in a high-risk area, he said. As many as one in every four structures in FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program that were damaged by floods were not in high-risk areas, he said.

“You can never predict what’s going to happen out in the field,” Sobota said. “Our maps, as helpful as they are, are a static depiction of a very dynamic process.”

For information on flood insurance and flood risks, visit floodsmart.gov. To view the new maps, visit lackawannacounty.org/floodrisk.

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