HARRISBURG — The state Supreme Court has ordered the reopening of three closed state health centers in Northeast Pennsylvania, reversing a Corbett administration policy started last year.

But a timetable for reestablishing the centers in Susquehanna, Pike and Carbon counties and other parts of the state is uncertain. The court ruling doesn’t specify a deadline to meet its order.

The state Health Department closed 15 centers where community health nurses were stationed in 2013, and consolidated their operations with centers in neighboring counties. The department furloughed nurses, eliminated some positions and planned to close more centers, including the Wyoming County Center.

In Northeast Pennsylvania, the Susquehanna County center was merged with the Bradford County Center, the Pike County center with the Monroe County center and the Carbon County center with the Lehigh County Center.

The court ruled in favor of a lawsuit by SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania seeking to halt additional center closings, reestablish the closed centers and restore the level of public health services in Pennsylvania to 1995 levels. The court stated that the center closings violated a 1996 state law.

Two plaintiffs in the lawsuit from Northeast Pennsylvania welcomed the decision.

“Every day community health nurses are working hard behind the scenes to provide services that protect public health,” said Melanie Zeigler, a community health nurse in the former Carbon County Health Center who was relocated to Lehigh County. “I am thrilled that this decision will put us back in our communities where we belong.”

“For too long, Pennsylvania’s public health infrastructure has been underfunded,” said Joanne Namey, a tobacco nurse consultant in the department’s Northeast District office in Wilkes-Barre whose position was eliminated. “We hope this court ruling and a new administration will set a new standard for public health services across the Commonwealth.”

The department said the center closings allow it to dispatch mobile health teams from regional centers. The mobile teams can reach more people by going to community events and senior centers, officials said.

“We are still reviewing the ruling in full to determine the implications to the plan moving forward,” said department spokeswoman Aimee Tysarczyk.

The department can start to implement the ruling immediately by returning employees to their old jobs and determining if rental leases remain open for the closed centers, said SEIU Vice President Kevin Hefty.

Contact the writer:

rswift@timesshamrock.com

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania needs stronger laws to protect individuals over age 60 from the potential of being abused, neglected or swindled out of their savings, a judicial task force suggests in a new report.

The report by the Elder Law Task Force makes 130 recommendations to the court system, lawmakers, prosecutors, attorneys and victim services agencies for addressing the legal needs of an aging population.

“The increasing population of elders anticipated during the next 20 years is likely to result in a substantial increase in court cases regarding the protection of vulnerable elderly persons,” said state Supreme Court Justice Debra Todd, who headed the task force.

The task force was formed last year under direction of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

“We are the ones that get it first,” said Chief Justice Ronald Castille about the court’s role as first responder in hearing cases of elder abuse.

The emphasis on revamping elder laws follows an overhaul of juvenile justice laws and foster care system for younger Pennsylvanians, he added.

20% of population

An elder is defined as someone 60 years and older. Nearly 2.7 million Pennsylvanians or more than 20 percent of the state’s population fall in this category. Of them, 300,000 are 85 and older.

The Supreme Court is already implementing one recommendation by establishing an Office of Elder Justice in the courts in January.

A key focus of the report is tightening laws regarding the activities of guardians and those with power of attorney to act on behalf of seniors.

“We want to see the court get more involved in supervision and oversight,” said Justice Todd.

Tough to prosecute

Lackawanna County’s Area Agency on Aging receives about 400 reports of elder abuse a year with about a third substantiated, said William Browning, executive director of the Lackawanna County Department of Human Services.

Only about 25 were prosecuted criminally, usually because of a lack of sufficient evidence. For that reason, the department and the district attorney’s office are discussing assigning an assistant district attorney solely to investigate and prosecute elder abuse cases.

No breakdown of how many cases involve financial ripoffs was available, but the new Office of Elder Justice will probably require collecting that data, which isn’t required to collect that kind of detail now, Mr. Browning said.

The recommendations

The recommendations include having courts appoint a family member whenever possible as a guardian, requiring criminal background checks for family and professional guardians, mandating training for guardians on matters of legal liability and ethics and establishing a state fund to pay guardianship services for individuals with limited resources.

Another recommendation would expand the ranks of those with legal standing to review actions taken by a power of attorney.

The report calls for more reporting of suspicions of elder abuse.

Financial institutions would be mandated to report suspected financial abuse or exploitation of elders. They should also be given authorization to delay for five days suspicious financial transactions of elder customers, the report added.

And citizens should be encouraged to call one of the state’s two elder abuse hot lines if they suspect mistreatment of an elder, the report said.

Contact the writer:

rswift@timesshamrock.com

Dickson City will mark the beginning of the holiday season by ceremonially lighting new holiday lights.

The lighting, “Let There Be Lights — A Dickson City Christmas,” will be held 5:30 p.m. Sunday at the Borough Building. Local children who entered a coloring contest will activate the lights.

For the last few days, the new holiday lights — snowflakes and angels — have been lit along much of Main Street in the borough.

The decorations are the result of a yearlong effort to raise private money to improve the business district.

The project grew from a community brainstorming session early this year in which there was a push to do something to improve the borough. So, the Dickson City Christmas Light Committee was created, which solicited donations and held monthly fundraisers, usually at local restaurants and venues. In 10 months, the effort raised $34,000, enough for the 57 lights — 45 snowflakes and 12 angels.

“We have about 20 people on the committee and they worked really hard to make this a success,” said Jeffrey Kovaleski, of borough council.

The event Sunday, which starts at 3 p.m., is free to Dickson City residents and children and includes a visit from Santa Claus, arts and crafts, sleigh rides and holiday movies.

Contact the writer:

dfalchek@timesshamrock.com

The age of Josiah James Bobb, who is accused of traveling to Scranton from Tennessee to have sex with a 14-year-old girl, was incorrect in a story on Page A3 on Wednesday. Online court records list the wrong date of birth for Mr. Bobb, who turned 26 years old last week, according to Scranton police.

DTE Energy Co. will expand its Bluestone Gathering System in Susquehanna County, the company announced this week.

By mid-2016, the Detroit-based company will add 200 million cubic feet of capacity per day to the roughly 44-mile Bluestone line, which gathers gas mostly from Susquehanna County’s eastern half and delivers it to the interstate Tennessee Gas Pipeline and the Millennium Pipeline in New York.

DTE announced its expansion as an agreement with Houston-based Southwestern Energy Co., which operates 96 producing wells in Susquehanna County, according to state production data. It has 318 permitted wells in the county, according to MarcellusGas.org.

Besides Pennsylvania, Southwestern has operations in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Denver, Texas and New Brunswick, Canada.

Its production in the Marcellus grew 47 percent from a year ago and 200 percent since it entered the play, the company announced in its third quarter results in October.

As of Sept. 30, Southwestern shipped 840 million cubic feet of gas out of the Marcellus per day, Chief Operating Officer William Way told analysts, with plans to increase the daily rate to one billion by the end of the year and 1.6 billion in 2016.

“Our current drilling budget allows us to ramp our production to match this increased firm transportation capacity,” he said.

Its agreement with Bluestone appears to be part of this plan. “The agreement expands the relationship we already had with DTE in the area and provides expanded gathering system infrastructure for our Susquehanna County acreage,” Southwestern spokeswoman Susan Richardson said in an email statement.

Efforts to reach Bluestone spokesman Mike Armiak were not successful.

Contact the writer:

bgibbons@timesshamrock.com,

@bgibbonsTT on Twitter

A 22-year-old Scranton man was charged with burglary Friday for using bricks to smash windows at three downtown businesses.

Joshua Calderon admitted to doing it but walked away empty-handed, city police said.

Mr. Calderon, 110 Prospect Ave., told Patrolman John Megivern he did it after police caught him breaking into vehicles at Moses Taylor Hospital on Friday, police said.

Mr. Calderon is charged with burglary, attempted burglary, theft, criminal trespass and criminal mischief.

Shortly before midnight Thursday, police responded to Alla’s Tailoring on Spruce Street for a reported break-in. The store’s door window was broken and the door was ajar.

The business was ransacked. Clothing was knocked down and drawers were dumped out, but Mr. Calderon left without taking any money, he told police. There was less than $5 in the register when the business closed for the day.

Not far, at Nickie’s Fabulous Hoagies, Patrolman Robert Olecki took a very similar report. A brick was smashed through the window, but nothing was taken. Mr. Calderon told police nothing was taken because he couldn’t get in after smashing the window.

Mr. Calderon fled and ran to a Valero gas station at Wyoming Avenue and Mulberry Street. He threw a brick through a window.

Bail and preliminary hearing information was not available Friday.

Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com,

@jkohutTT on Twitter

The Kia Sorento is a “small SUV.”

It says so right there on the window sticker, right next to the EPA fuel-efficiency estimates.

I’ll gainsay the EPA in particular (and federal gummint while I’m at it), however. The Sorento doesn’t feel small. In fact, compared competitors like the Ford Escape and Toyota RAV4, it feels significantly larger.

Perhaps this is Kia’s gambit: design a passenger-friendly AWD crossover that’s not too small for families and their “stuff” (which is a lot, at least in our case) but not so big that it becomes a pain in the parking lot or at the gas pump.

In this sense, the Sorento is the Goldilocks or smallish crossovers: It wants to be “just right.”

And so it mostly was for our recent road trip to visit the grandparents in Lexington, Kentucky – an arduous (by first-world standards, at least) and mostly twisting 10-hour drive through the mountains and foothills of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and the Bluegrass State.

We’ve done it enough times to know that bigger is usually better when it comes to transportation for four, and the 2015 Sorento succeeded in this regard.

First, the particulars: The 2015 Sorento is largely unchanged from the mildly redesigned 2014 model. There are two engines from which to choose – a 2.4-liter inline-four (191 hp, 181 ft-lbs torque) and 3.3-liter V6 (290 hp, 252 ft-lbs torque) – and four trim levels (LX, EX, SX and Limited). All Sorentos are fitted with standard FWD systems; AWD is an option.

Base four-cylinder FWD LX models are nicely equipped with 17-inch alloy wheels, six-speaker audio, satellite radio and Bluetooth connectivity and a tilt/telescope steering wheel. Prices here start just north of $27,000.

The list of standard amenities lengthens through each trim level. Top-of-the-line Limited models command an asking price in excess of 43 grand but are loaded with goodies like AWD, a standard V6, leather upholstery, automatic xenon headlamps, 10-speaker audio, third-row seating, satellite navigation, auto-dimming mirrors, larger alloy wheels, auto-folding side-view mirrors, power lift-gate and so forth. Kia provided a 2015 SX sample for our over-the-river-and-through-the-woods journey, which included what seemed like nearly all the Limited’s goodness for a still-hefty $39,195 – a sum considerably greater than the aforementioned Escape and RAV-4.

That written, our Sorento felt like simply more vehicle than those two. The styling’s less flamboyant, especially compared to the Ford, but in the final analysis it represents a lot of crossover for the money.

This is especially noticeable in terms of rear seat room and cargo volume. All our necessities, plus a full-size acoustic guitar case and large captain’s chair, fit easily in the 36.9-cubic-foot hold behind the adjustable second-row bench (the optional third-row seats helpfully fold flat with the tug of a nylon cord).

Fold the second row down and cargo volume swells to 72.5 cubic feet.

The Sorento’s front bucket seats are all-day comfortable – some of the best I’ve ever sampled on a long trip – providing excellent back and thigh support.

The kids had few complaints with a second-row bench that offers enough legroom for adults on shorter hops.

Instrumentation and controls were easy to read and operate, respectively.

The only problem that arose during the trip was an occasionally glitchy satellite navigation system that failed to boot properly. Restarting the engine solved the problem, but this is something that would warrant a trip to the shop. (Insert obligatory mention of Kia’s long warranty here).

Handling and steering response are precise and predictable, with strong braking and a supple suspension setup that delivers a smooth and mostly quiet ride.

The 2015 Kia Sorento received a five-out-of-five-star crash-protection rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gave it a “good” rating in all crash-test categories except “small overlap front,” in which it received a “poor” rating.

JOHN COLE is the Times-Tribune automotive reviewer. When he’s not driving cars, he’s driving the pen behind The Times-Tribune editorial cartoons and cole.thetimes-tribune.com. Contact the writer: jcole@timesshamrock.com, @coletoon on Twitter

2015 Kia Sorento SX AWD

Vehicle type: Four-door, five-passenger midsize sport-utility crossover

Base/as-tested price: $38,300/$39,195

Engine and transmission: 3.3-liter V6, 290 horsepower, 252 ft-lbs torque; six-speed automatic

EPA estimates: 18 mpg city, 24 mpg highway, 20 mpg combined

The good: comfortable and well-appointed cabin; standard features galore; adult-sized rear-seat accommodations; third-row seating option; plenty of cargo volume behind the second-row seats; decently powerful V6 engine option; solid-feeling chassis; precise and predictable handling; smooth and quiet road manners; good warranty.

The bad: So-so fuel economy; glitchy route-guidance navigation system in test vehicle; nearly 40 grand as-tested.

Bottom line: Comfortable and passenger-friendly, the Sorento makes a highly compelling case for itself in the ultra-crowded midsize crossover segment.

Paradegoers can expect cold weather but no snow for the 22nd annual Santa Parade in Scranton.

Temperatures will be around 27 degrees today when the parade starts at 9 a.m. and warm up to about 35 degrees by noon with little wind and mostly sunny skies. The temperatures are warmer than earlier in the week, but still cooler than normal, Accuweather meteorologist Dave Houk said.

“Relatively speaking it’ll be a good day for a parade,” he said.

A large section of downtown Scranton will be closed to traffic for the parade. Traffic will be blocked from Mulberry to Lackawanna Avenue and from Mifflin to Washington avenues. Parking will be restricted along the parade route.

The parade starts at Spruce Street and Franklin Avenue, turns left on Penn Avenue, right on Linden Street, right on Wyoming Avenue and then left on Lackawanna Avenue before ending at the corner of Washington and Lackawanna avenues. There will also be an increased number of officers on duty in the downtown area, police chief Carl Graziano said.

“We want to keep it safe for all the kids in the parade,” he said.

This year’s grand marshal is paralympian Stephanie Jallen of Exeter Twp. The 18-year-old ski-racer is the second-youngest member of the U.S. Paralympics Alpine National B Team.

Stephanie was born with a rare birth defect called Congenital Hemidysplasia with Ichthyosiform Erythroderma and Limb Defects Syndrome, a chromosomal disorder that affects the entire left side of the body, leaving her with only one leg and one fully developed arm.

More information about the parade is available at www.santaparade.net, or call 570-483-8757.

Contact the writer:

lranker @timesshamrock.com,

@lrankerNEWS on Twitter

PLAINS TWP. — The Northeastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals on Friday recognized six people and groups for their contributions to the community at its annual Philanthropy Day awards banquet.

The event, at the Woodlands Inn & Resort, honored those who have improved the quality of life in the community through their work and charitable giving.

This year’s Outstanding Philanthropists are John and Tina Dowd, who created Sundance Vacations more than 20 years ago. They are active in many charities and are Millennium Circle members of the Luzerne Foundation.

The other winners are:

• Outstanding Fundraising Professional — Larry Pellegrini, director of corporate, government and foundation relations at Misericordia University

• Outstanding Corporation — Cabot Oil & Gas Corp.

• Outstanding Foundation — UNICO Scranton Foundation

• Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy — The Luzerne Foundation Youth Advisory Committee

• Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser — Leo Vergnetti of the Northeast Regional Cancer Institute

These nuns picked a good place to hide out.

Friday night, a packed house at Scranton Cultural Center at the Masonic Temple gave a warm welcome to the touring production of the hit Broadway musical “Sister Act” during its first of two days’ worth of Catholic-themed fun.

The show, presented by Broadway Theatre League of Northeastern Pennsylvania, is based on the 1992 Whoopi Goldberg comedy of the same name.

In the musical, the action begins at Christmas in late 1970s Philadelphia, where flamboyant nightclub singer Deloris Van Cartier is looking for her big break.

Following a disappointing audition, she witnesses her gangster boyfriend Curtis commit a murder. This sends her running to the Philadelphia police and former schoolmate Eddie, who once harbored a huge crush for Deloris. Officer Eddie comes up with the bright idea of having Deloris hide out in a local convent populated with traditional habit-wearing nuns and overseen by a stern Mother Superior whose worldview is thoroughly pre-Vatican II.

Needless to say, she and Deloris clash in a big way. However, Deloris hits it off with the other sisters as she adds a welcome dose of gospel-and-disco-infused sassiness to their solemn chorus.

The new and improved choral act fills the pews at the struggling Queen of Angels Church, and in no time the sisters are media sensations and receiving invitations to perform for the pope. Unfortunately for Deloris, the spotlight puts her back in the crosshairs of Curtis and his dopey band of singing thugs.

The show is pure fun, and the catchy songs do a fine job of complementing the plot. Among the showstoppers are “Take Me to Heaven,” “Raise Your Voice,” “Sunday Morning Fever” and “Bless Our Show.”

Meanwhile, the dialogue, co-written by Wilkes-Barre native Douglas Carter Beane, displays a keen wit and is sprinkled with gentle pokes at Catholicism. And, there’s several specific Philly references, from cheesesteaks to Wawa.

Besides Mr. Beane, the production includes another local connection via ensemble member Eileen Patterson, who got her theatrical start while a student at the University of Scranton.

Two more performances of “Sister Act” are slated for today at 2 and 8 p.m. It’s no stand-in for church, but it’ll nourish your soul all the same.

Contact the writer:

jmcauliffe@timesshamrock.com,

@jmcauliffeTT on Twitter

IF YOU GO

What: “Sister Act,” presented by Broadway Theatre League of Northeastern Pennsylvania

Where: Scranton Cultural Center at the Masonic Temple, 420 N. Washington Ave.

When: Today, 2 and 8 p.m.

Details: Tickets are $37.50, $49.50 and $59.50, and available online at ticketmaster.com, or by phone at 570-342-7784 and 800-745-3000.

Two organizations that provide Thanksgiving food baskets to families in need are in need themselves.

The Feed-A-Friend program and the Family to Family program each remained about $10,000 short of their goals Friday with the distribution of the holiday food baskets set for next week.

Both are asking for the community’s help.

Feed-A-Friend, an initiative of United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania now in its 35th year, has raised just over $15,000 of the $25,000 it needs to provide baskets to the 1,500 families with children expected to sign up for the program, said Alison Woody, director of grants and communications.

Family to Family, which has ordered $85,000 worth of food to fill 3,000 baskets, has collected about $75,000 in donations, said Mary Lou Burne, whose family started the program 28 years ago.

Ms. Woody said the overall number of monetary donations UNC has received for the Feed-A-Friend program appears to be about the same as in years past, but the amounts are smaller.

“We realize the people who are giving are trying to make ends meet as well, but they are giving what they can,” she said.

The cost to UNC to provide a family with a food basket is $35, but donations of any amount would be helpful, Ms. Woody said.

Monetary donations can be dropped off or mailed to United Neighborhood Centers, 425 Alder St., Scranton, 18505. Donations can also be made online at www.uncnepa.org/donate.

Family to Family estimates its 3,000 baskets will feed between 15,000 and 16,000 people on Thanksgiving Day and through the weekend, Mrs. Burne said. More than half of those are children.

“One thing about our program is the faces of the people we are seeing have gotten a lot younger,” she said. “The majority of the people we serve have one or two kids and one job, sometimes two.”

Donations can be sent to Family to Family, 444 Orchard St., Scranton, 18505.

The Feed-A-Friend basket distribution is Tuesday beginning at 10 a.m. at Covenant Presbyterian Church, 550 Madison Ave. Family to Family baskets will be distributed Wednesday starting at 9 a.m. at the Scranton Cultural Center.

Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com

SCRANTON — A 45-year-old city woman reported two passports stolen Thursday after discovering them missing from her safe, Scranton police said.

Kathy Elsberry of Scranton told officers only a few people know the pass code to the safe and there was no sign that it was forced open, acting Capt. Glenn Thomas said.

Her passport was stolen along with her son’s. Also, permanent residency cards belonging to the pair were reported as stolen, Capt. Thomas said.

Anyone with information on the theft can contact detectives at 570-348-4139.

SCRANTON — Parents who say their son was bullied by students and a teacher in the Scranton School District have appealed a judge’s decision to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Earlier this month, Senior U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo dismissed the lawsuit brought by Sharelle and Anthony Bridges against the school district.

The parents alleged their son’s civil rights were violated when he was repeatedly bullied and harassed because he is black.

The boy is now enrolled in a cyber charter school.

— SARAH HOFIUS HALL

SCRANTON — Police arrested a Millville man accused of stealing from St. Ann’s Basilica. On Thursday, Michael Spindler, 59, 26 Maplewood Lane, admitted to police he stole from the church at 1250 St. Ann’s St. three times between Oct. 27 and Nov. 20. Police used a license plate number to identify Mr. Spindler as the thief.

He is charged with theft and receiving stolen property. A preliminary hearing is set for Nov. 26. Bail information was unavailable.

Thanks to “ice sabers,” some drivers got free parking spaces Friday in downtown Scranton.

On the 100 block of Penn Avenue for example, the heads of several of the nearly 1,400 city parking meters were missing from their skinny pole stand necks, granting unlimited time to a few lucky street parkers.

Because some of the poles are filled with moisture, frigid temperatures the past few days have expanded the water into a solid tube of ice. These “ice sabers,” as Republic Parking General Manager Miles Terry calls them, loosen the meter heads by pushing them upward.

Using a screwdriver as a pry bar, Mr. Terry “pulled one out the other day and it looked like one of those lightsabers,” he said, referring to the cylindrical laser swords from the Star Wars movies. “It’s pretty bizarre.”

Despite weather-proofing the meters, many still fill up. How it happens is the “million dollar question,” Mr. Terry said, theorizing it was moisture from the air or rising groundwater.

“It’s unbelievable how much water gets into those pipes,” he said.

To prevent theft or vandalism of the 10 to 12 loose meter heads, Republic Parking, the private parking enforcement company contracted by the city, scooped them up Friday, Mr. Terry said.

The company lowered the meter stands this summer, a move which made the rising ice tubes more of an issue now. On Monday, when temperatures are forecasted to reach balmy highs in the mid 50’s, company employees plan to drill drainage holes in the bases of the pipes and put the meter heads back to work.

Usually, theft from or of the meters themselves is fairly rare, Mr. Terry said, but they have been snatched in the past, and even launched through the occasional window. The meters can hold about $75 in quarters, the general manager said, but workers empty them about three times a week so they don’t fill up.

Contact the writer: pcameron@timesshamrock.com, @pcameronTT on Twitter

When temperatures dipped and Scranton residents switched on their natural gas heat this week, that fuel came straight from Susquehanna County.

UGI Energy Services Inc. recently completed its Union Dale Pipeline project, about six miles of 12-inch diameter pipeline that connects Marcellus Shale gas from Clifford Twp. to the UGI Penn Natural Gas system in Union Dale.

The new pipe can deliver up to 100 million cubic feet per day to the UGI Penn system. That’s enough to serve almost 518,000 homes, according to use estimates by the American Gas Association.

In Wyoming County, UGI Energy Services added three new compressors to the Manning Compressor Station in Washington Twp., plus a new interconnection facility.

These added 50 million cubic feet to its Auburn Gathering System, which delivers gas from Susquehanna County north to the interstate Tennessee Gas Pipeline and south to the Wilkes-Barre area and the interstate Transco Pipeline, which runs through Luzerne County.

“These two projects are cheaper transportation alternatives than what was previously used,” UGI Energy Services director of midstream business development Kevin Kelleher said.

But that doesn’t mean residents will see their heating bills plummet immediately.

Like all commodities, natural gas prices fluctuate constantly based on supply and demand.

But utilities can’t continually change the rates they charge their customers, and they must by law attempt to purchase gas at the cheapest possible rate. They also can’t profit on the gas itself — they make their money delivering the gas.

Four times a year, natural gas utilities apply to the state Public Utility Commission to charge a certain rate per thousand cubic feet, known as the purchased gas cost. These costs reflect expenses the utility has already incurred and seeks to recoup.

Last year, UGI Penn’s purchased gas cost rate started at $4.89 on Dec. 1. It rose to a high of $5.78 on June 1, where it currently sits. On Dec. 1 this year, it can charge a new PUC-approved rate.

“I think what you’ll see are stable prices and a good energy value,” UGI Utilities corporate communication and community relations director Keith Dorman said.

Across the state, UGI Utilities now draws 80 percent of their supply from shale gas, he said. This has allowed them to charge rates consistently 30 percent lower than in 2008, he said. Over five years, they’ve added 45,000 new customers, he said. Those converting from fuel oil save roughly $1,500 a year, he said.

Mr. Dorman and Mr. Kelleher also spoke to the interest manufacturers and other large-scale clients show in natural gas.

By extension, finding these customers is also important to Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. representatives George Stark and Bill desRosiers.

Cabot is the sole supplier on the Union Dale project. The company has become the largest producer in Susquehanna County and consistently operates some of the most productive wells in the state. It’s a major supplier on the Auburn system that feeds Wilkes-Barre, but not the only one, Mr. Kelleher said.

Mr. Kelleher said it took several years for exploration and production companies, including Cabot, to prove significant, economically recoverable reserves lay below Susquehanna County.

“Cabot over the last few years has really started to come into their own in terms of significant production,” he said. “I think that sort of development period just takes time.”

Cabot does plenty of business locally, and its tenacious outreach and charitable efforts — including a $2.5 million donation to Lackawanna College — are solidifying its local presence and possibly developing new markets for its product.

When Mr. Kelleher, Mr. Stark and Mr. desRosiers think about the business opportunities dedicated natural gas service presents the Lackawanna and Wyoming valleys, they’re thinking of people like Joe Shea.

Mr. Shea is president of North American Manufacturing Inc. on Barring Avenue in Scranton. His plant employs about 50 people making cots and backpacks for the U.S. military. He’s been in business since 1976.

Natural gas heats his 80,000-square-foot facility and fuels the bake ovens on his powder coating line, he said. He’s a UGI customer and estimates he saves about 65 percent on his gas bills since the shale gas boom.

“It’s so low from what it used to be 10 years ago,” he said. “It’s like nothing now.”

UGI Energy Services is always seeking to connect natural gas to large-scale customers, such as manufacturers, who can get rates lower than residential customers, Mr. Kelleher said.

Mr. Stark pointed out the assets Scranton and Wilkes-Barre can use to attract more Joe Sheas and larger manufacturers.

One is a large, blue-collar work force.

Another is its proximity to transportation, including the rail line that runs down the cities’ spines and the interstate systems that weave together in the region.

Cheap energy is the most recent development.

“That was the missing piece,” he said.

Contact the writer: bgibbons@timesshamrock.com, @bgibbonsTT on Twitter

A Carbondale native will move forward with plans to turn the shuttered Marian Community Hospital into a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center.

The hospital closed in 2012, and Cynthia Bellino, executive director of the Just Believe Recovery Center, has been locked in a battle to reopen it as a rehab center since March, when the Carbondale Zoning Board voted 3-1 to deny the necessary variance. Ms. Bellino appealed the vote in April, and a judge heard testimony on the case in July.

On Friday, visiting Judge John Braxton of Philadelphia ruled the Carbondale Zoning Board lacked proper evidence to deny Ms. Bellino approval to operate in the former hospital.

“This is probably the biggest achievement in my life besides my children,” she said. “I just didn’t want to let the people of Carbondale down.”

Carbondale city officials, including Mayor Justin Taylor and solicitor Frank Ruggiero, could not be reached for comment Friday night.

The hospital site lost its zoning as a health care facility after it had been closed for one year. Ms. Bellino purchased the property for just over $1 million from Catholic Health East, a nonprofit provider of healthcare services, and changing the zoning from residential back to an acute health care facility was the first step to opening her clinic.

At a hearing in February, Attorney Patrick Lavelle spoke on behalf of over two dozen residents who questioned the need for a rehabilitation clinic and requested the zoning remain residential. Ultimately, the Zoning Board denied her request.

Now that the judge has ruled, Ms. Bellino plans to turn the hospital into a residential treatment center with a 50-bed detoxification center. The facility will be similar to the two clinics Just Believe Recovery Center already operates in Florida. She also has plans to operate an emergency room or 24-hour urgent care clinic on the almost 6-acre site.

Based on the her clinics in Jensen Beach and Port Saint Lucie, Florida she estimates the facility would house 400 patients at full capacity and create about 300 jobs.

“This area needs jobs,” she said. “We want to put Carbondale back on the map.”

Contact the writer: lranker@timesshamrock.com, @lrankerNEWS on Twitter

The North Pole-like cold Saturday didn’t stop thousands of people from descending on downtown Scranton to catch a glimpse of Santa Claus.

Archbald resident Ken Lichtenberger’s 3-year-old granddaughter Madelyn Nielsen was bundled up in long johns, two shirts, a sweater, a hat and a jacket with a fluffy hood zipped up tight to keep warm while she watched the 22nd annual Santa Parade wind through the streets.

“We were here since 8 this morning,” said Mr. Lichtenberger, who was sporting a beard something like Santa’s. “We didn’t want to miss her first Santa Parade ... She’s having a blast.”

Along with the usual array of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade-style floats ranging from a “Hello Kitty” cat to a larger-than-life Christmas tree ornament, marchers included bands and cheerleaders from area high schools and a myriad of businesses and community organizations.

Watching the parade is a tradition for Scranton resident Jenifer Dougherty and her daughters Kaylee, 13, and Paige, 6.

Kaylee remembered going to the parade when she was as young as 5 and still enjoys coming with her mother and little sister as a teenager. The sisters agreed they liked the dancers best.

The Santa Parade gave the Jefferson Twp. residents Katie and Tom O’Hara a chance to share something from their childhoods with their own 3-year-old daughter, who was thrilled by the giant Frosty the Snowman float.

“We want to keep the tradition going,” Mrs. O’Hara said. “We told her last night we were coming, so this morning we went in and woke her up. The first thing she said was, ‘We’re going to go see Santa.”

After the parade, Santa was the guest of honor at a breakfast organized by the Scranton Cultural Center at the Masonic Temple at the Hilton Scranton & Conference Center. The breakfast also featured cast members from the upcoming production of Harry Connick, Jr.’s “The Happy Elf,” set to premiere in December.

Michael Melcher, executive director of the Scranton Cultural Center, said he felt more people than ever were involved in Saturday’s parade, which he sees as a kickoff to the holiday season.

“The kids love it,” he said. “You can’t help but to be excited about it because of everything it means is coming.”

Contact the writer: kwind@timesshamrock.com, @kwindTT on Twitter

EXETER TWP. — Al Boscov pulled his white Acura RDX into the parking lot at the employee entrance of the Reading Mall at 6:25 a.m., strode to the entrance of a chartered bus and scaled a couple steps.

“Did we load all the pretzels?” asked the 85-year-old chairman of the department store chain bearing his name.

Excusing himself, he hurried into the rear of the unopened Boscov’s store at the Berks County mall before returning minutes later with a bag of muffins, cookies, bananas and yogurt. A maintenance worker followed, pushing a cart loaded with hot coffee, breakfast items and soft drinks.

Nobody went hungry on this 13-hour round trip to New York, which included about three dozen Boscov’s executives and buyers. Mr. Boscov made eight visits during his seven-hour mission in Manhattan, displaying his legendary stamina, hammy wit and instincts for a bargain.

Mr. Boscov brought a small media contingent along on Nov. 5 for one of his regular Wednesday business excursions to New York with the chain’s apparel buyers. The outing tied in to promotions related to the 100th anniversary of the founding of Boscov’s by his father, Solomon.

“We have a lot of people calling with cancellations of orders,” Mr. Boscov said as the bus rolled east through Lehigh County at sunup. “The industry has changed. Manufacturers used to overproduce. So, we’ll be checking to see what’s around.”

Major retailers had to scale back holiday season orders by Oct. 25, Mr. Boscov said, and some bargains could be had for more than 40 Boscov’s stores.

“These manufacturers don’t want to have this stuff after Christmas,” he said. “They would lose money on it.”

During the three-hour bus ride to New York, Mr. Boscov marked up newspaper advertising proofs with a red felt-tip pen. He pulled a leather-bound, pocket-sized address book out of his suit coat near Union, N.J., and phoned ahead to set up appointments. He wrote the stops out by hand in felt-tip pen on sheets of paper he had used to check the ad proofs.

Nearby, company president Sam Flamholz hauled breakfast food up and down the bus’s center aisle.

“This is not doing wonders for my ego,” Mr. Flamholz teased Mr. Boscov.

After his catering duties, Mr. Flamholz said the New York trips establish relationships with vendors and Mr. Boscov sets the tone.

“I don’t think you would see too many other people bringing candy and chocolate-covered pretzels to their vendors,” Mr. Flamholz said. “His personal attention and relationships in the market make a big difference for us. He truly is one of a kind in many ways.”

Mr. Boscov’s first New York stop was in a skyscraper off Seventh Avenue near West 35th Street at the Doneger Group, a fashion intelligence firm that provides consulting to retailers. Mr. Boscov handed a receptionist a box of chocolate-covered pretzels with Boscov’s logo on the wrapping.

“You spoil me. God bless you,” she said to the retail magnate.

About 80 percent of the nation’s fashion industry has representatives within 10 blocks of Seventh Avenue and 35th Street, said Lee Mandelbaum, an executive vice president at the Doneger Group, and Mr. Boscov knows apparel better than any retail executive in the industry.

“This is the way business was done 30 years ago. He is a consummate merchant,” Mr. Mandelbaum said. “I have been doing this for 35 years and I’ve never met anyone like him.”

At Kensie, a women’s apparel manufacturer in the same building as the Doneger Group, Mr. Boscov bargained for prices on misses and juniors casual wear. Kensie is a division of fashion giant GIII Apparel Group, whose licenses include Kenneth Cole, Jones New York, Tommy Hilfiger and Dockers lines and vendors tried to interest Mr. Boscov in some discount items.

“We want you to be a $9.99 store,” an executive told Mr. Boscov.

“We’ll trade up to it,” Mr. Boscov retorted.

At Rabbit, Rabbit Rabbit Designs, a dressmaker with an office along Broadway near 30th Street, Mr. Boscov helped a buyer negotiate orders for shifts, silhouettes and crochet dresses the chain bought for about $20 each and will sell for about $29.

Company founder Diane Randall, who manages sales for Rabbit, Rabbit Rabbit, has known Mr. Boscov for decades. Most retail chains have isolated management and quick executive turnover, Ms. Randall said.

“How often do you know the name of the chairman of the board?” she asked, glancing at Mr. Boscov. “This doesn’t happen anymore.”

Following his handwritten itinerary, Mr. Boscov walked next to Lee Jeans, which is owned by VF Corp., an apparel titan whose licenses include Nautica, Timberland and North Face brands.

Nibbling on a lunch of chicken and rice during a presentation on Lee’s products, Mr. Boscov reminded company representatives that VF Corp. traces its history to the Reading Glove and Mitten Manufacturing Co. in his hometown.

Lee officials agreed to supply Boscov’s with discounted jeans for a special holiday retail sold at retail for $14.99.

Leading a small contingent on foot to My Michelle, a division of the Kellwood Co. at Broadway and 39th Street, Mr. Boscov helped negotiate purchases on discontinued juniors and misses products.

Inspecting a rack of young women’s clothing, he pulled a red spaghetti-strap dress and mock modeled it over his gray suit. To laughs and good-natured compliments, he returned it and quipped, “This one is a little old for me.”

After boarding the charter bus outside Madison Square Garden for the return, the buyers and Mr. Boscov compared experiences as they dined on food from the Stage Door deli during the return trip.

One buyer of men’s apparel told Mr. Boscov she had spent more than $300,000 on orders.

As Mr. Boscov caught a quick nap on the return ride, Mr. Flamholz said the seven hours spent in New York provided a glimpse of the edge Mr. Boscov provides for the company.

“He leads by example,” Mr. Flamholz said. “You see him and say to yourself, ‘How could I do less?’”

The chain plans to invest heavily in a 2015 upgrade to the downtown Wilkes-Barre store, Mr. Boscov said. Negotiations continue on ownership of the Mall of Steamtown, he said, with a bank-affiliated company that acquired it through foreclosure in July from a group including Mr. Boscov.

When he came out of retirement to save the chain from liquidation in a $100 million deal in bankruptcy court in 2008, Boscov’s had 39 stores and did about $850 million annually in revenue. The chain has 43 stores now and will top $1 billion in sales this year, Mr. Boscov said.

Six years after Mr. Boscov retook control and stabilized the chain, questions inevitably arise about the octogenarian’s return to retirement.

“I plan to cut back this coming year,” Mr. Boscov said as he adjusted an overhead reading light to check more advertising proofs during the return bus trip to Reading. “We will see how it goes.”

Contact the writer: jhaggerty@timesshamrock.com

Timeline

1911: Solomon Boscov begins selling dry goods door to door in Reading.

1913: Mr. Boscov expands his store to a string of rowhouses in Reading.

1954: Al Boscov and his brother-in-law, Ed Lakin, join the company.

1962: Boscov’s opens a second location in Reading.

1972: Boscov’s expands outside of Reading to Lebanon.

1980: The company acquires the Boston Store locations in downtown Wilkes-Barre and at the Laurel Mall in Hazleton.

1993: The Mall at Steamtown opens, with Boscov’s as an anchor tenant.

January 2006: Al Boscov and Ed Lakin retire and Ken Lakin, Ed’s son, becomes chief executive officer.

February 2006: Boscov’s announces it will acquire 10 former Federated Department Stores properties.

August 2008: Boscov’s files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

November 2008: Al Boscov retakes control of Boscov’s with Gov. Ed Rendell committing $35 million in federal funds to complete financing.

September 2009: Boscov’s wins court approval to bring its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case to a successful conclusion.

In recognition of Boscov’s 100th anniversary, Times Shamrock newspapers are presenting the “100 Years of Holiday Memories Photo Contest.” Submit a favorite holiday photo for a chance to win a $50 Boscov’s gift certificate. Enter the contest or view submissions at: The Times-Tribune, http://thetimes-tribune.com/fun/contests/boscovs

CARBONDALE TWP. — Frigid temperatures continued in the region today, with icy conditions closing a road in Carbondale Twp. for nearly an hour.

Salem Mountain Road closed around 5 p.m. today and reopened about 45 minutes later, according to Lackawanna County 911 dispatchers.

Temperatures reached a high of about 40 degrees this afternoon, according to AccuWeather. Tonight, temperatures are expected to dip down into the low 30s with rain showers expected.

— STAFF REPORT