DUNMORE — About 15 yard signs expressing opposition to the Keystone Sanitary Landfill expansion were stolen overnight Friday into Saturday, Friends of Lackawanna members said.

Borough resident Katharine Spanish said the incident marked the second time someone took her yard sign. She said that knowing someone was on her property to take the sign felt like a violation.

The Swinick development was hardest hit, with about seven signs taken, but a handful of signs were removed elsewhere around the area, she said.

Ms. Spanish said she doesn’t think Keystone leaders put people up to taking signs, but she does think the anti-expansion message was probably why they disappeared, rather than simple vandalism.

Volunteers planned to quickly replace the signs and encouraged anyone whose sign was taken to report it to police.

— KYLE WIND

Getting parents and high school guidance counselors to encourage kids to enter the trades is the best way to impact workforce development in Pennsylvania, local state legislators say.

Several legislators participated in a discussion on workforce development recently before the Northeast Pennsylvania Manufacturers and Employers Association.

Mike Tobash, R-125, Pottsville, said he’s been visiting school districts to see the vocational education system in the county and encountered an interesting statistic.

“One of the statistics I got is that 61.8 percent of the jobs we have in the county are vocational jobs,” he said. “We’re having difficulty getting enough children into our vocational system to support that. When I go to see you guys (business leaders), the number one complaint is not taxes, it’s not over-regulation, although we hear about those things. It’s to be able to attract a skilled workforce that can come to work and do all of the things that you’re trying to accomplish.”

Doyle Heffley, R-122, Lower Towamensing Twp., said the education model that every child should go to a four-year college has to be changed.

“We have the most educated, unemployed workforce in the history of the world,” Ms. Heffley said. “I would take the approach of trying to get to guidance counselors to stop plugging a four-year school. I went to Lincoln Tech. Getting an associate degree from a community college is a great alternative.”

Ms. Heffley said there are job opportunities in the trades, and in other fields that do not require a four-year degree.

“There are great opportunities in manufacturing,” Ms. Heffley said. “There are not enough truck drivers. There is a major shortage of diesel mechanics. Those are jobs that are paying $40,000, $60,000, $70,000 a year. We need to put the emphasis on that it’s OK to work with your hands, work in a trade. Our model for public education is not set up that way. It’s all geared to everybody going to a four-year and acquiring a lot of debt.”

Jerry Knowles, R-124, Tamaqua, said the “stigma” of the trades has to go.

“If a kid wants to be a doctor, that’s fine,” Mr. Knowles said. “But we need to continue to take the stigma away from our kids who are graduating. There’s nothing wrong with trade jobs. There’s some resistance from parents, because they don’t want us to discourage their kids from white-collar jobs.”

Shannon Brennan from McCann’s School of Business and Technology, said McCann’s trade graduates get jobs after they graduate.

“Our trade students have 100 percent job placement, whether it be in electrical, HVAC (heating, ventilating and air conditioning), or commercial industrial maintenance,” she said. “There are life-sustaining wages, almost twice as much as a business student in terms of wage.”

Mr. Tobash said House Bill 1168, the business-education partnership, has become law, and will help unite educators and business.

“The fundamental purpose of the bill is to allow educators, teachers and administrators, to go into manufacturing facilities and see what they have to offer, how it benefits the community and what skills you need to get employed in that sector,” he said.

The Greater Hazleton Partners in Education program has been doing such plant tours for over a decade.

Kathy Henderson, Carbon County Economic Development Corp., said Carbon County is also setting up its business-education partnership.

“We are having a summer camp for our educators in Carbon County, to go into the workforce, to our manufacturers and do exactly what you’re speaking about,” Henderson said. “We’ve done it in the past, several years ago, and I was told it was very successful.”

Contact the writer: jdino@standardspeaker.com

Last week’s Local History highlighted West Wyoming native Jesse Carey, who skated into the history books in a 24-hour international roller skating competition held in Paris over the Christmas holiday in 1911.

But Mr. Carey, who went on to own the Circus Garden roller skating rink in Philadelphia, wasn’t the only local who found fame on eight wheels.

In the late 1950s, South Scranton resident Helen Gallagher earned awards for her skating skills. Among her honors: winning the Eastern Regional championships in New Jersey in the summer of 1958. Her first-place win in the novice ladies figure division meant she would go on to compete in the national championships in Cleveland, Ohio, that July.

Earlier that year, Ms. Gallagher had won first place in the ladies figure skating division of the Pennsylvania roller skating championships. Also competing in that championship were Mary E. and William D. Thomas, also of Scranton. They won second place in the dance division, according to a May 10, 1958, Scranton Times article.

Less than 10 years later, Vali Barton of Moosic and Joseph Armbrust of Scranton won second place in the 1963 North American Amateur Skating Championships in Portland, Oregon.

Since the pair had started skating together six years prior, they had won 140 trophies and medals in competitions around the country. They belonged to a skating club headquartered in Middletown, New York, but largely practiced at Scranton Town Hall, a rink on Adams Avenue operated by Ms. Barton’s mother, according to a Aug. 11, 1963, Scrantonian article.

1970s resurgence

Roller skating’s resurgence in the late 1970s meant another run of success for NEPA roller skaters. Two pairs of skaters competed in Lincoln, Nebraska, in summer 1980: Marcia Grambo of Scranton and Jay Reese of Mountaintop in the national senior dance competition, and Susan Stankiewicz of Taylor and Tony Berger of Kingston in the juvenile dance competition.

Susan and Tony, both 12 when they headed to Nebraska that summer, had been skating together since 1978.

Susan, who mainly practiced at Wilkes-Barre’s Skateaway, had won more than 100 medals, trophies and plaques, according to a July 21, 1980, Scranton Times article.

Also competing in Nebraska that summer was Judith Ball, a Scranton resident who likewise earned accolades for her roller skating. In 1980, the then-20-year-old had won a championship in the Pennsylvania U.S. Amateur Confederation for Artistic Roller Skating competition, and placed first in the USAC’s regional competition.

75 trophies, medals

Ms. Ball got her start at Town Hall, according to a July 29, 1980, Scranton Times article, and had earned 75 trophies and medals for

skating in the space of

eight years.

In addition to dance skating, Ms. Ball did freestyle and figures. When she wasn’t practicing or competing, the Scranton Tech grad was working for W.W. Norton at the Keystone Industrial Park.

Judging career

After much success as a competitor, Mrs. Thomas turned her attention to making a name for herself as a roller skating judge. In an Aug. 30, 1981, Scranton Times article, the 1961 U.S. Women’s Roller Figure Skating champion talked about being one of three international roller skating judges in the U.S.

Mrs. Thomas judged compulsory dance, free dance and figure skating competitions across the U.S. and in Rome, Australia, Portugal, France and England. Her husband, Bill, was also a very successful skating champion and judge — serving as former president of the U.S. Artistic Roller Skating Confederation and as a delegate to the 1979 Olympic Committee meeting in Colorado Springs.

Just prior to the publication of the Aug. 30, 1981, article, the Thomases were judges at the 44th annual U.S. Amateur Roller Skating Competition in Fort Worth, Texas. There, they watched another Northeast Pennsylvania resident, Margaret Devine, place second in the sophomore division women’s figure skating competition.

Six years before that, Mrs. Thomas received an award at the same rink in Forth Worth — the prestigious Amateur of the Year award. She was only the 10th person to merit the honor, which was reserved for “those who promote the sport of roller skating in an outstanding way,” according to The Scranton Times’ article.

ERIN L. NISSLEY is an

assistant metro editor at

The Times-Tribune and has lived in Northeast

Pennsylvania for nine

years.

Contact the writer:
localhistory@timesshamrock.com

The region’s elderly population will swell in the next 15 years, a study predicts, which could boost the local economy but burden the health care system.

The baby boomers, those born in the post-World War II “baby boom” between 1946 and 1964, are a population bubble, said Steven Martin, a sociologist with the Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, public policy think tank.

The institute recently released a new study called Mapping America’s Future that shows the number of residents age 65 and up in Columbia, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Wayne and Wyoming counties — which is 150,000, according to 2013 Census estimates — will grow between 80,000 and 140,000 by 2030, depending on the birth, death and migration rates. The study also predicts overall population in the seven counties, which was just over 910,000 as of 2013, will surge by about 24 to 40 percent over the next 15 years.

Health care advances are allowing people to live longer, and the baby boomers will replace earlier generations.

“There are relatively few people (in the region) older than 65 now,” Mr. Martin said. “You have a lot of people right on the cusp of retirement.”

The numbers are no surprise to local researcher Teri Ooms, executive director of the Institute for Public Policy & Economic Development in Wilkes-Barre. Her institute predicts a similar baby boomers population shift and expects them to remain in the region after retirement.

That demographic shift could boost the economy, as baby boomers’ needs for health care will attract young doctors and nurses to the region’s hospitals, and the jobs retirees vacate will need to be filled, Ms. Ooms said.

“This brings interesting opportunities,” she said. “That’s a huge chunk of the population who are still going to be buying and consuming, and they’ll need more from our health care system.”

With baby boomers retiring, there are a lot of high-skilled jobs to fill, said Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce President Robert Durkin.

“I think you could easily draw the conclusion that there will be job opportunities,” he said.

When it comes to caring for an aging population, doctors are outnumbered, said Dr. Mario Cornacchione, a Commonwealth Medical College associate professor specializing in geriatric medicine. As the baby boomers age, the need for doctors increases.

Almost a quarter of baby boomers have chronic ailments, like diabetes, Dr. Cornacchione said. Such a large group of people seeking care will burden the health system. Proper training for how to care for the myriad of health issues an older patient may face should be given to primary physicians, nurses and even family members, he said.

“It’s one thing to have enough nursing homes, but we have to be able to provide the right kind of care,” he said.

Nationally, only 30 percent of medical schools have specialty training for geriatrics, and the industry has only about 7,000 practicing geriatricians, Dr. Cornacchione said.

“The nation is not prepared to meet the social or health care needs of people over 65,” he said.

Despite the chronic illnesses, baby boomers are expected to live longer, said Dr. Robert J. Weil, Geisinger Northeast chief medical executive. Helping everyone live healthier will decrease the burden on clinics and hospitals, he said.

Close to 30 percent of the illnesses treated at hospitals are preventable by changing behavior like smoking and poor diets.

“I think we all hope to help people improve their health so they don’t need the hospital,” he said.

Contact the writer:

lranker@timesshamrock.com, @lrankerNEWS on Twitter

After years of record-low interest rates, at some point this year the Federal Reserve is expected to begin raising its target federal funds interest rate (the rate at which banks lend to one another funds they’ve deposited at the Fed).

Because bond prices typically fall when interest rates rise, any rate hike is likely to affect the value of bond investments.

However, higher rates aren’t all bad news.

For those who have been diligent about saving and/or have kept a substantial portion of their portfolios in cash alternatives, higher rates could be a boon. For example, higher rates could mean that savings accounts and CDs are likely to do better at providing income than they have in recent years.

Also, bonds don’t respond uniformly to interest rate changes. The differences, or spreads, between the yields of various types of debt can mean that some bonds may be under- or overvalued compared to others. Depending on your risk tolerance and time horizon, there are many ways to adjust a bond portfolio to help cope with rising interest rates. However, don’t forget that a bond’s total return is a combination of its yield and any changes in its price; bonds seeking to achieve higher yields typically involve a higher degree of risk.

Finally, some troubled economies overseas have been forced to lower interest rates on their sovereign bonds in an attempt to provide economic stimulus. Lower rates abroad have the potential to make U.S. debt, particularly Treasury securities (whose timely payment of interest and principal is backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Treasury), even more attractive to foreign investors. Though past performance is no guarantee of future results, that’s what happened during much of 2014. Increased demand abroad might help provide some support for bonds denominated in U.S. dollars.

Remember that bonds are subject not only to interest rate risk but also to inflation risk, market risk, and credit risk; a bond sold prior to maturity may be worth more or less than its original value. All investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal, and there can be no guarantee that any investing strategy will be successful.

How can you try to manage the impact of an interest rate hike?

With higher interest rates a distinct possibility in 2015, you may want to think about whether the bond portion of your portfolio is positioned appropriately given your time horizon and risk tolerance. One factor you might consider is which types of bonds may be most vulnerable to a rate hike.

Some investors forget that a bond’s principal value may fluctuate with market conditions. When interest rates rise, longer-term bonds may feel a greater impact than those with shorter maturities. When interest rates are rising, bond buyers may be reluctant to tie up their money for longer periods if they anticipate higher yields in the future. The longer a bond’s term, the greater the risk that its yield may eventually be superseded by that of newer bonds.

High-yield bonds (also known as junk bonds) may be affected disproportionately because they involve greater risk. Issuers must pay those higher yields because they are seen as having a greater risk of default, especially if a company already has a high debt burden and/or a relatively short history of successful debt repayment, or is otherwise on shaky financial footing. Investors may be reluctant to purchase risky debt if they foresee receiving a comparable yield from an issuer seen as more trustworthy.

Bonds redeemed prior to maturity may be worth more or less than their original value; however, if you hold a bond to maturity, you would suffer no loss of principal unless the issuer defaults. Bond investments also may be laddered. This involves buying a portfolio of bonds with varying maturities; for example, a five-bond portfolio might be structured so that one of the five matures each year for the next five years. As each bond matures, you might be able to reinvest the proceeds in an instrument that carries a higher yield.

Don’t forget that all investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal, and there can be no guarantee that any investing strategy will be successful. In addition to interest rate risk, bonds also face credit risk, inflation risk and market risk.

WILLIAM P. McANDREW is senior vice president/investment adviser at Fidelity Asset Management Services at Fidelity Deposit & Discount Bank. Go to www.fidelitybankinvestments.com. Interested in writing a guest column? Send IN THIS CORNER ideas to business@timesshamrock.com.

Society honors

Dr. Lori Williams

Outgoing president Lori A. Williams, M.D.,was honored when the Lackawanna County Medical Society conducted its annual presidential reception at the Radisson at Lackawanna Station hotel.

Lori, the society’s 137th president, was the third woman to hold the society’s highest office. Dr. Ariane Conaboy will be the fourth as 138th president.

William H. Kehrli, M.D., F.A.C.S., Khaleel A. Shaikh, M.D., F.A.C.S., and Robert E. Wright, M.D., were recognized for 50 years of distinguished service. Harmar D. Brereton, M.D., received the Presidential Recognition Award

The Society welcomed Karen Rizzo, M.D.,F.A.C.S., 165th president of the Pennsylvania Medical Society, William R. Dewar III, M.D.,Pennsylvania Medical Society’s 3rd District trustee, state Sen. John Blake, past president of the society, and past presidents of the society’s

alliance.

Lisa Brister is society county executive. Dr. Chris Peters is president-elect; Dr. John Farrell, vice president; Dr. Chad Walker, secretary/treasurer.

Among the past presidents on hand were Drs. Edward Zaloga (2013), Timothy Welby (2008), Chris Dressel (1998), Eric Blomain (1992), Harmar Brereton (1990), and Michael Turock (1987). Also joining in were Dr. William Dewar III, state society 3rd District trustee; Dr. Gregg Severs, county board member, and Dr. Gerald Tracy , honorary board member

Medical Society Alliance past presidents joining in included Taryn Blomain, Nancy Dressel, Mary Tracy, Jane Turock and Gretchen Welby .

Gallery of Hope

Mary Marrara of Jermyn, Danielle McMicken of Springville, Susquehanna County; Lori Mulhern of Nicholson, Wyoming County, and Carol Valenti of Lackawaxen, Pike County, are among 10 Northeast Pennsylvania residents who shared their personal experiences with breast cancer as a way to inspire others who are facing the disease. Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania has collected their stories and photos for its 16th annual “Gallery of Hope.”

Mary, an active community volunteer who serves on the committee for the 25th anniversary of the Susan G. Komen NEPA Race for the Cure, and runs a business with her husband, was diagnosed after undergoing an annual mammogram. Danielle, a mother of two, was diagnosed while pregnant. Lori, a preschool teacher and mother of three, detected her cancer through a self-exam. Carol, a retired family service worker, grandmother of one, is a three-time cancer survivor.

The Gallery of Hope is a traveling display designed to educate the public about the importance of early detection and treatment in the fight against breast cancer. The 2015 Gallery is available to exhibit throughout Northeast and north central Pennsylvania.

High notes

The Society of American Magicians Assembly 60 has elected Dorothy Dietrich as its president. Dorothy, who takes office Thursday, is the originator of Scranton’s Houdini Museum, the only building in the world entirely devoted to Houdini.

— TERRY BONIFANTI

A strong finish

for Comcast’s week

After a big week in telecom, Comcast’s strong earnings drove shares up 1.5 percent last week to a Friday close of $59.38 per share.

Comcast, the largest U.S. cable company, said Tuesday its fourth-quarter net income rose 0.6 percent to $1.93 billion. The company cited more broadband Internet customers and higher revenues at its NBCUniversal subsidiary. Operating revenue rose 4.8 percent to $17.7 billion.

Comcast has hinted it may file a lawsuit after the FCC’s decision to pass new Internet regulation preventing network owners, such as Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Verizon, from discriminating against what kind of traffic runs over their networks and at what speed.

“After today, the only ‘certainty’... is that we all face inevitable litigation and years of regulatory uncertainty,” said Comcast’s executive vice president, David Cohen, signaling that the net neutrality fight is long from over.

Comcast, it was reported Friday, is in talks with TV ad-targeting company Visible World, a buy that would put the cable giant into data-driven TV advertising.

The Philadelphia-based media giant is Northeast Pennsylvania’s dominant cable provider. It also owns cable television channels Bravo and MSNBC.

— STAFF REPORT

SCRANTON — The Ancient Order of Hibernians invites the public to its annual Irish flag-raising ceremony at 1 p.m. today at the flag plaza in front of the Lackawanna County Courthouse.

Festivities will include a brief program and music by bagpipers.

The short program will include comments from Lackawanna County Commissioner Pat O’Malley and President Judge Thomas Munley, and recognition of some AOH members.

— KYLE WIND

Covington Twp.

With three existing plow trucks deteriorated from years of brine and salt exposure and at the end of their useful lives, the board of supervisors is examining its options to replace them.

Supervisor Thomas Yerke expects the board of supervisors to decide on a course of action Tuesday.

One option is buying a new, approximately $145,000, full-size Freightliner and retrofitting two existing township trucks to be used for plowing.

The township bought the two older trucks — a former fire truck and a utility truck — a couple of years ago on surplus, Mr. Yerke said.

— KYLE WIND

kwind@timesshamrock.com, @kwindTT on Twitter

Jefferson Twp.

The board of supervisors probably will decide on Monday which two candidates will fill seats on the sewer authority, which has been struggling through a financial crisis since summer 2013 and has about $16.6 million worth of debt.

The terms of Bill Nicholais, the board’s chairman, and Carol Thomas, the vice chairwoman and wife of township Supervisor Paul “Jake” Thomas, are up.

The pair have been continuing to serve since their terms expired, and they can continue to hold their positions until the board of supervisors acts, Supervisor John Patterson said.

Supervisors have also been considering Bill “Beeper” McGee and Richard Sorg — a pair of township residents among the group who have been on the other side of the municipality’s sewer debate.

— KYLE WIND

kwind@timesshamrock.com, @kwindTT on Twitter

Scranton

Lives will be saved when the Police Department administers an antidote in cases of heroin and other opioid overdoses, Police Chief Carl Graziano told city council on Thursday.

Council introduced a resolution authorizing the Police Department’s participation in a program to administer naloxone, which is commercially known as Narcan. Given via nasal spray, the antidote blocks opiates from connecting with cells.

State law now allows trained police officers, firefighters and paramedics to carry and administer the spray version, and provides civil and criminal immunity to them, Chief Graziano told council during its caucus.

Opioid overdoses, from both illicit drugs, such as heroin, and prescription drugs, have risen across the country, the chief said. The antidote would be used not only in cases of heroin overdose, but also in accidental overdoses of prescription medications, such as by children or the elderly, he said.

If police are first on the scene of a suspected overdose, a trained officer would administer the antidote via a 1-milligram spray into each nostril, he said. If it is an opioid overdose, the person revives in a few minutes. If it’s not an opioid overdose, there is no harm and are no adverse side effects, he said.

“It’s going to eventually save lives. It’s another tool in the toolbox to help,” Chief Graziano said. “Even individuals who are abusing drugs are somebody’s family members. If they’re dead, they have no opportunity to get a second chance.”

— JIM LOCKWOOD

jlockwood@timesshamrock.com, @jlockwoodTT on Twitter

■

As expected, Scranton set the wheels in motion for the Police Department to reassign two civilian clerks to parking enforcement.

City council on Thursday introduced an ordinance to approve the reassignments as part of expanded parking enforcement under a new police contract.

In a council caucus before the regular meeting, Police Chief Carl Graziano said one clerk would enforce parking rules on the eastern side of the city while the other would cover the western side, with the Lackawanna River serving as the dividing line.

Their shifts would be staggered: one clerk would work 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and the other would work noon to 8:30 p.m.

“April 1 is the target (start) date, but I’m hoping we can be up and running before that,” Chief Graziano told council.

— JIM LOCKWOOD

jlockwood@timesshamrock.com, @jlockwoodTT on Twitter

■

Karen Mercado of Scranton wants to give the Hawaiian shirt you haven’t worn since vacation a new purpose.

Ms. Mercado has started collecting old Hawaiian shirts, suit jackets and blazers to donate to the campers at Camp Happy Times in Tyler Hill in Wayne County, where people ages 5 to 21 diagnosed with cancer or blood disorders can stay for free one week each summer.

The camp hosts a promlike dance one night each year, and Ms. Mercado said this year’s theme is “A Cruise Around the World.”

“I thought I could collect those funky Hawaiian shirts,” she said.

Ms. Mercado hopes to collect button-up Hawaiian shirts, formal jackets or casual blazers to help the boys who attend the camp dress up for the dance.

Anyone who would like to donate clothing can send the items to Ms. Mercado at 622 N. Lincoln Ave. in Scranton, or in care of her father at 3333 Birney Ave. in Moosic. Ms. Mercado said she hopes to collect enough pieces to donate to the camp by Aug. 1.

— SARAH SCINTO

sscinto@timesshamrock.com, @sscintoTT on Twitter

AROUND THE TOWNS appears each Sunday, spotlighting the people and events in your neighborhoods. If you have an idea for an Around the Towns note, contact the writer for your town, or the Yes!Desk at 348-9121 or yesdesk@timesshamrock.com.

The American Advertising Federation, Northeast Pa., held its annual American Advertising Awards on Friday at Colarusso’s LaPalazzo in Moosic.

The “Best of Show” award was presented to Japhy Creative in the Internet Commercial category titled, “Alchemy Home Company: The Alchemy Gals.”

The awards honor excellence in advertising and is the largest creative awards competition in the advertising industry. Gold Award winners move on to the national American Advertising Awards competition where they will vie against entries from across the country in a process that will culminate in the National American Advertising Awards Ceremony.

Listed by category, advertiser and entry the “Judges Choice” winners were:

Invitation, Ideaworks Marketing, Wedding Invitation; Package Sales Promotion, Packaging: Earl Kessler Design and Illustration, Night Train to Terror (1985) Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 7” Vinyl Record; Collateral Material, Poster, Earl Kessler Design and Illustration, King Buffalo featuring King Dead at the Sherman Theater’s Living Room; Regional/National TV Single Spot, White Knight Productions, Maines Veterans Promotion.

Listed by category, advertiser and entry the Gold winners were:

Brochures/Sales Kit, BlackOut Design, First Friday Scranton Pocket Brochure; Campaign, Lavelle Strategy Group, St. John the Evangelist 40th Class Reunion Facebook Ads, Invitation, Ideaworks Marketing, Wedding Invitation Package;

Copywriting, The Fantastical, Olympus OM-D E-M10; Sales Promotion, Packaging, Posture Interactive, Electric City Roasting Co. Bag Design; Sales Promotion, Packaging, Earl Kessler Design and Illustration, Night Train to Terror (1985) Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 7” Vinyl Record; Collateral Materials, Poster, Earl Kessler Design and Illustration, King Buffalo featuring King Dead at the Sherman Theater’s Living Room; Digital Advertising, Internet Commercials, Japhy Creative, Otreva, Why We Build Apps; Collateral Material, Stationery Packaging, DeLuca Frigoletto Advertising, Freehold Stationary Package; Self-Promotion, Direct Marketing, DeLuca Frigoletto Advertising, DFA Cloud Based Security; Digital Advertising, Internet Commercials, Japhy Creative, Alchemy Home Company: The Alchemy Gals.

Listed by category, advertiser and entry the Silver winners were:

Collateral Material, Brochure, Campaign, BlackOut Design, Johnson College Continuing Education Brochures; Collateral Material, Brochure, Campaign, Inspired Design Studio, Stone House Investment Management Booklet Campaign; Self-Promotion, Collateral, Crow Designs, Letterpress Historical Poster for early 1900s Jenner’s Park; Consumer of Trade Publication, Full-Page, Four Color, Lavelle Strategy Group, Glint of Gold, Broadway Theatre Playbill Ad; Product or Service Sales Presentation, Catalog, Halibut Blue, 2014/2015 Olympics Chimney and Venting Catalog; Sales Promotion, Packaging, Halibut Blue, UGL NuDeck Packaging; Consumer of Trade Publication, Full-Page, Four Color, Halibut Blue, Cornell Energy Savings Ad; Consumer of Trade Publication, Campaign, Four Color, Halibut Blue, Trion Art of Merchandising Ad Campaign; Sales Promotion, Branded Environment, Ideaworks Marketing, Street Eatz; Self-Promotion, Collateral, Ideaworks Marketing, Ideaworks 2015 Calendar; Digital Creative Technology, Responsive Design, Posture Interactive, Suburban Casuals Online Store; Digital Creative Technology, Responsive Design, Posture Interactive, We Pay Payroll Processing Responsive Website; Packaging, CD or DVD, Earl Kessler Design and Illustration, The Henry Paris Collection, Five DVD Collectors Box Set; Sales Promotion, Branded Environment, Earl Kessler Design and Illustration, Assembly 88 Men’s Store; Collateral Material, Annual Report, Riger Marketing Communications, Pocono Health Foundation 2013-2014 Annual Giving Report; Digital Advertising, Websites B-to-B, Services, DeLuca Frigoletto Advertising, Our Ad Here; Regional/National TV Single Spots, Products, White Knight Productions, Maines Veterans Promotion.

— STAFF REPORT

Dec. 24, 2002: Mayor Chris Doherty offers a one-time retirement incentive to any clerical union employee who has 25 years or more of service and retires by Dec. 31. The incentive provides health care coverage for the retiree in addition to their pension and waives the requirement the employee be age 55 to retire. It does not include any language to increase pension payments.

Dec. 30, 2002: Members of the clerical union approve a new collective bargaining agreement covering 2003-06 that includes the retirement incentive. The contract also says the city will contribute $90,000 toward the pension fund to pay for an unspecified increase in pensions to retirees who took the incentive.

Jan. 13, 2003: City council approves resolution No. 134, which authorizes the mayor to enter into the collective bargaining agreement, which includes the retirement incentive.

Feb. 24, 2003: City council approves ordinance No. 131, which approves the retirement incentive negotiated by Mr. Doherty.

July 28, 2003: City council approves ordinance No. 199, which authorizes the city to contribute a total of $120,000 to the non-uniform pension fund to pay for an unspecified increase in retirement benefits for employees who accepted the retirement incentive.

July 31, 2003: Pension board secretary Kay Connolly writes to pension fund administrator Thomas J. Anderson & Associates advising the firm that there will be a retroactive increase for the people who took the incentive “per the mayor and council.” The letter has a list of 15 people that includes the original amount of their pension (which was determined when each retired in 2002), the new calculation of the amount they are to receive and the amount of back pay they are entitled to dating as of Jan. 1, 2003.
 

Sept. 15, 2003: City council passes ordinance 203 which amends the prior ordinance (No. 199) approving the retirement incentive to include members of the Department of Public Works and nonunion members of the city’s administration.

Oct. 16, 2003: Ms. Connolly writes to Anderson & Associates requesting a modification in pension payments to the 10 additional employees who qualified for the retirement incentive based on the Sept. 15, 2003, ordinance passed by council.

Dec. 18, 2006: The state Commonwealth Court rules retired clerical worker Joe Schimes is entitled to participate in the 2002 incentive offered to clerical workers who retired by Dec. 31, 2002.

Jan. 24, 2007: Pension board solicitor Michael Savitsky advises the pension board that as a result of the Schimes ruling, other employees will also be entitled to the 2002 incentive. Over the next few months, the board identifies 10 people it believes are qualified and contacts them. Eight opt to take the incentive and retire.

Dec. 17, 2014: The non-uniform pension board approves an investigation into double pension benefits awarded in 2007 to Caryl Hogans. The board, while reviewing documents it provided to The Times-Tribune, discovered Ms. Hogans was awarded double pension benefits, despite the fact that she was not on in the list of retirees who qualified under the Schimes award.

Jan. 28, 2015: The pension board approves an investigation to determine if six employees who were approved for the 2002 retirement incentive were properly awarded the benefits after discovering the employees did not have 25 years of service, as was required by the ordinance.

Feb. 25, 2015: State Auditor General Eugene DePasquale announces he has ordered an immediate investigation into the awarding of the double pension benefits. Earlier that day, the pension board votes to hire a hearing examiner to review the six cases. Pension board solicitor Larry Durkin also reveals he has referred the matter to state police for a criminal investigation.

Dionicio Fernandez could not be apart from his sister.

Together, they immigrated from the Dominican Republic, and after more than a decade in New York City, she moved to Scranton to open a salon. He followed three years ago.

“A family needs to be together,” he said.

Mr. Fernandez’s story mirrors many among the region’s burgeoning Hispanic residents. Hispanic population is expected to triple by 2030 in Columbia, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Wayne and Wyoming counties, according to the Mapping America’s Future study by the Washington D.C.-based Urban Institute. The seven-county region had an estimated 67,220 Hispanics in 2013, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Many Hispanics move to the region from larger cities, such as Philadelphia or New York City, attracted by the area’s low cost of living, said Steven Martin, an Urban Institute researcher. They may have lived in the United States for a few years or be second-generation immigrants, and many will know English as a second language, he said.

“It’s a big demographic change that reflects what’s happening nationally,” he said.

Blanca Fernandez, a leader in Scranton’s Latino community who was also born in the Dominican Republic but is unrelated to Mr. Fernandez, said many find success here, then their families join them.

“It seems like every week I see new faces,” she said.

In the close-knit Hispanic communities, family and friends converse in Spanish and often support Hispanic-owned businesses, such as South Side’s International Deli and Grocery, which Mr. Fernandez owns.

On a recent Tuesday evening, he darted around behind the counter, greeting almost everyone who entered in Spanish as if they were close friends. In about 20 minutes, close to 10 customers browsed the tightly packed shelves of the bodega on Cedar Avenue. They came looking for a taste of home — ­food and other products from Central and South America.

“Business is good, it’s good here,” he said.

Mr. Fernandez takes evening English lessons. So far, he said, he hasn’t run into a language barrier or discrimination.

“I don’t have any problem here,” he said.

A language barrier does exist outside Hispanic communities. As a translator, Ms. Fernandez said she meets many people who struggle to communicate with doctors, lawyers, state and federal representatives, police and others.

“I know families where the parents don’t speak any English so their kids don’t speak it well,” she said. “If they do, the parents take them out of school to help them at the doctor’s office or wherever.”

Geisinger Health System has responded to the growing need for language services in health care facilities by adding 60 computer devices throughout the system, called Martti, or “My accessible real-time trusted interpreter,” that provides live translators over the phone, said Dr. Robert J. Weil, Geisinger Northeast’s chief medical executive.

“I can pick up the phone and talk to a person who speaks English and Spanish, and they’ll talk directly to the patient who speaks Spanish,” he said.

Ms. Fernandez doubts that an over-the-phone translator can provide the same quality translation an in-room translator or bilingual doctor can. Spanish is a complicated language with many dialects, she said, and this can lead to some confusion, especially when dealing with complicated medical issues.

“What something means in Spain or Mexico can mean something different in Puerto Rico or Honduras,” she said. “It’s like how the British say chips instead of french fries.”

The possibility for a breakdown in communication extends to emergency situations, she said.

Miscommunication between victims, suspects and the police creates confusion and frustration, said Ms. Fernandez, who also volunteers translating for local police departments.

“A man might be trying to say ‘I saw him do it,’” she said. “But the police might think he said ‘I did it.’”

Some detectives are already learning second languages, Lackawanna County First Assistant District Attorney Gene Talerico said. The DA’s office has translated copies of constitutional rights and paperwork a suspect or witness would need to fill out.

“Part of our jobs is to help people, and it’s more difficult to do when there’s a language barrier, but that’s something we can change,” Mr. Talerico said. “We can either adapt or continue to have that wall.”

Contact the writer:

lranker@timesshamrock.com, @lrankerNEWS on Twitter.

Find a pet who needs a new home at the Griffin Pond Animal Shelter.
 

Adams is a solid black, male kitten. He came in as a stray from Throop and likes other cats. HE is still a little nervous and shy, but is very friendly once he gets to know you.
Contact the Griffin Pond Animal Shelter at 586-3700 if your pet is lost or goes astray. Staff Photo by Ted Baird

Radar is an 8 month old, male, Doberman/Rottweiler mix. He is playful, friendly and ended up at the shelter because his previous owners were moving.
Contact the Griffin Pond Animal Shelter at 586-3700 if your pet is lost or goes astray. Staff Photo by Ted Baird
 

Watch the latest "Pets of the Week" video HERE:

Abingtons

Library raffle: Abington Community Library raffle for personalized, prerecorded message from Josh Gad, the voice of Olaf, $1/ticket, must enter on behalf of a child under 12, drawing during National Library Week, April 12-18.

Abington Heights

Eyeglass collection: Abington Heights High School Students Against Destructive Decisions collecting used eyeglasses for Lackawanna Blind Association March 27 donation.

Avoca

Chicken dinner: Queen of the Apostles Parish chicken dinner, March 15, noon-4 p.m., parish hall, former St. Mary’s School, 742 Spring St., takeouts, 11 a.m., $10/adults, $6/12 and younger, cash, theme basket raffles; 570-457-3412.

Pasta dinner: Langcliffe Presbyterian Church community pasta dinner, April 2, 6 p.m., 1001 Main St., free.

Carbondale

Lions meet: Greater Car­bondale Lions club meeting, Tuesday, 7 p.m., Dunkin Donuts, food drive

discussion.

Dickson City

Ethnic dinner: Visitation of the BVM Church Lenten ethnic dinner, March 21, noon-6:30 p.m., LaSalle Academy primary campus cafeteria, 625 Dundaff St., takeouts available, $12/adults, $7/children; parish office, 1090 Carmalt St., or before weekend Masses, through March 14; 570-489-2091, limited tickets at door.

Dunmore

Kindergarten registration: Dunmore Elementary Center kindergarten registration, Wednesday, last names A through F, 9-11 a.m., G through K, 1-2:30 p.m.; March 5, L through Q, 9-11 a.m., R through Z, 1-2:30 p.m., 5 years of age by Sept. 1, birth certificate, immunization records, proof of residency, Access card, custody papers, if applicable, required.

Equinunk

First Friday: Calder Café First Friday, doors open, 6 p.m., live acoustic music, 7:15-9 p.m., Calder House Museum, Route 191 and Pine Mill Road; light refreshments available; Pat, 570-224-0223.

Honesdale

Children’s workshop: Coop­erage children’s interactive workshop, Down the Rabbit Hole, a celebration of creativity, Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-noon, 1030 Main St., taught by Hana Marritz, $10/family; www.the

cooperageproject.org or 570-253-2020.

Lackawanna County

International dinner: St. Mary’s Byzantine Catholic Church International Dinner Club Irish dinner, March 12, 320 Mifflin Ave., seatings at 5:30 or 6:30 p.m., $20; 570-343-5151.

Lackawanna Trail

Annual run: Lackawanna Trail class of 2017 Shamrock Shuffle 6k run, Sunday, 10 a.m., Key­stone College; registration, 9 a.m., $15/advance, $20/race day, race T-shirts; mail to LTHS — Attn. Katie Lane, P.O. Box 85, Factoryville, PA 18419; checks payable to LTHS, or Katie Lane, 570-945-5181.

Midvalley

Lenten service: Mid Valley Ecu­menical Ministerium Lenten service, Wednesday, 7 p.m., Peck­ville United Methodist Church, 732 Main St., speaker: the Rev. Virginia Miner, fellowship

follows.

Milford

Special bingo: Belle Reve Senior Pot O’ Gold bingo, March 13 (snow date, March 16), 12:30 p.m., free, limited seating; Kaitlyn or Michele, 570-409-9191, by March 11.

North Pocono

Musical performance: North Pocono Public Library/Cultural Society repeat performance by the Suspensions, an all-male a cappella group from West Chester University, March 9, 6 p.m., library, 1315 Church St., donations accepted.

Old Forge

Seniors meet: Old Forge Retired Citizens meeting, Wednesday, 2:30 p.m., Arcaro and Genell’s, Old Forge, dues due.

Committee meetings: Old Forge Board of Education policy and budget committee meetings, March 16, 6 p.m., LGI.

Regional

String fest: PMEA District 9 StringFest concert, Thursday, 7 p.m., Tunkhannock Middle School; students from Lacka­wanna, Luzerne, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties, $3/adults and $1/students and senior citizens.

Teamsters meet: Local Team­sters 229 meeting, March 17, 1 p.m., Teamsters Hall, 1260 O’Neill Highway, Dunmore.

Scranton

Retirees meet: AARP Scranton Chapter 3731 meeting, today, 1:30 p.m., Keyser Valley Com­munity Center, 101 N. Keyser Ave., wear green, canceled if Scranton School District closed.

Concert event: Covenant Presbyterian Church hosting “Music of the Isles,” performance vocal artist/Scranton native, Thomas Mark Fallon, Sunday, 3 p.m., 550 Madison Ave., Irish and Welsh vocal selections; 570-346-6400, www.covenantchscr.org.

South Scranton

Meeting canceled: South Scranton Friendly Seniors meeting scheduled for Tuesday at St. Paul of the Cross Parish Center canceled.

CLIPBOARD ITEMS may be emailed to yesdesk@timessham

rock.com or mailed to Clipboard, c/o YES!Desk, 149 Penn Ave., Scranton, 18503. YES!Desk, 570-348-9121.

Hospital system

real-time AV

A story on Page A11 in The Sunday Times should have described Geisinger Health System’s translating program MARTTI as an audio and video real-time translating system.

SCRANTON — Navy Band Northeast’s pops ensemble concert is coming to the Electric City.

The band will perform on Friday, March 13, at 7 p.m. at the Theater at Lacka­wanna College, 501 Vine St., and will march during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Saturday, March 14, at 11 a.m.

Navy Band Northeast tours an 11-state area, performing a wide variety of musical styles, including traditional band pieces, popular standards and patriotic favorites.

All Navy Band Northeast performances are free. For details, visit www.cnic.navy.mil/NavyBandNorth

east or on Facebook.

— KATHLEEN BOLUS

DURYEA — A four-vehicle crash Saturday afternoon sent one person to the hospital and damaged part of a house, police said.

A woman driving south on Foote Avenue at 12:30 p.m. caused a chain reaction when her vehicle struck another vehicle twice, then continued off the road, where it struck a parked Nissan, pushing it into a sedan next to it and into a house.

Police said the driver narrowly missed a pole and a tree before hitting the parked cars.

There were no major injuries reported, but police said the driver was transported to a hospital to be checked out.

Duryea police and fire departments responded to and cleared the scene at Foote and York avenues.

Police said it’s unclear why the driver lost control of her vehicle.

— CHARLOTTE L. JACOBSON

MOSCOW — An a cappella group from West Chester University will again visit North Pocono Public Library after last year’s performance drew a standing-room-only crowd, the North Pocono Cultural Society announced.

The Suspensions will perform at 6 p.m. Monday, March 9, at the 1315 Church St. library.

The event is one of many the library has hosted since moving to its new, larger space from its old location on Van Brunt Street.

Admission is free, but the group will accept donations to help students defray travel costs.

— KYLE WIND

SCRANTON — The University of Scranton Women’s Entrepreneurship Center will host “Coffee and Confidence” for low-income women who want to start their own businesses.

The information session will be held today from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the university’s Brennan Hall, fifth floor, 320 Madison Ave.

The program is designed for low-income women, those in transition or those trying to make a better life for themselves and their families. It will offer support and guidance in determining if self-employment is an option for them.

Admission is free. Attendees will receive a small gift. For more details, contact Francene Dudziec at 570-941-4168 or Francene.dudziec@scranton.edu.

— KATHLEEN BOLUS

After 20 years and nearly 100,000 lives touched, one area homeless-prevention network is evidence there’s strength in numbers.

The Lackawanna County Housing Coalition, a union of more than 20 area organizations working together to stanch homelessness, will celebrate 20 years on Tuesday, March 10.

“The whole coalition was set up with the idea that our voices are stronger together than they are apart,” said Jesse Ergott, coalition chairman.

The executive director of NeighborWorks Northeastern Pennsylvania, a nonprofit with a mission similar to the coalition’s, Mr. Ergott said the celebration is a rare chance to step back and appreciate the work they’ve accomplished.

“(The coalition is) very focused on the task at hand,” he said. “And we don’t take a whole lot of time to take a step back and celebrate.”

To mark the anniversary, the coalition will hold a community forum from 10 to 11:30 a.m. March 10 at 509 Cedar Ave., one of United Neighborhood Centers’ new affordable-housing buildings.

Coalition member organizations the United Way of Lackawanna County, the Margaret Briggs Foundation and the Scranton Area Foundation are to be honored during the forum for their efforts in addressing the region’s housing issues.

In the past 20, organization members have helped more than 96,000 people through services like transitional housing, education for homebuyers and foreclosure prevention, Mr. Ergott said.

For these collaborative projects, the coalition has secured nearly $47 million.

The organizations can use their collective weight to go after larger state and federal grants for their projects. By putting their heads together once a month, they avoid duplicating efforts.

For the years ahead, Mr. Ergott said they hope to continue bringing positive change and “to really tell the story of all the great work that’s been done,” he said. “It’s really bigger than any of us alone.”

Contact the writer:

joconnell@timesshamrock.com, @jon_oc on Twitter