MOOSIC — An eyesore at a busy borough intersection and home to a man serving time for dog abuse has been condemned.

Following a hearing Tuesday, borough council voted unanimously to condemn John C. Tanis III’s house at 816 Main St.

Council agreed to give Mr. Tanis 30 days to remedy deficiencies laid out in an inspector’s report. Borough solicitor John Brazil planned to track down where Mr. Tanis currently is incarcerated to notify him.

The home, shrouded by overgrown bushes, trees and weeds with trash spilling onto the sidewalk sits about two blocks from the Municipal Building. Signs on the front porch read “beware of dog,” and “Labrador pups available now.”

A large section of a wooden privacy fence — used by local businesses that have posted advertisements — along Birney Avenue is falling down.

Mr. Tanis, 67, is serving a one- to two-year prison sentence for starving and neglecting five dogs.

He maintained his innocence even during sentencing in February.

County records show the home is listed under the name of his mother, Eleanor Tanis. Mr. Brazil said so far the borough has directed communication only to Mr. Tanis.

In its report dated April 17, 2014, borough code inspections contractor Building Inspection Underwriters deemed the property unfit for occupancy and detailed seven violations, mostly having to do with trash accumulating inside and out creating a fire hazard and hampering safe entrance and exit. Animal feces also were left on the floor throughout the home and yard.

The vote followed a short hearing to take public comment on how to address the issue, but no one in the room rose to spoke.

Contact the writer:

joconnell@timesshamrock.com,

@jon_oc on Twitter

Judge Michael Barrasse sentenced the following defendants in Lackawanna County Court recently:

■ Marcos Berrios, 45, 119 Brook St., Moscow, to 231 days in Lackawanna County Prison, six additional months of court supervision including two days’ house arrest and a $500 fine for DUI and possession with intent to deliver.

■ George Dennis Bush, 63, 704 Main St., Blakely, to six months of court supervision including 30 days’ house arrest and a $500 fine for DUI.

■ William Vaskie, 22, Scran­ton, to 18 months to three years in state prison for retail theft and possession of drug paraphernalia.

■ Garrett Murray Murphy, 24, Waymart, to one to two years in state prison for possession with intent to deliver.

■ Darren Thatch, 27, 811 Adams Ave. Apt. 3B, Scranton, to six years of court supervision for criminal use of a communication facility and delivery of a controlled substance.

■ Robert Novack III, 22, 201 Railroad St., Old Forge, to five years of court supervision for possession of a controlled substance, escape, forgery, and possession of drug

paraphernalia.

Judge Vito Geroulo sentenced:

■ Dominic Romeo Polidori, 25, 117 Lincoln St., Taylor, to time served to one year in Lacka­wanna County Prison plus two years’ probation for conspiracy to commit possession of a controlled substance.

Judge Margaret Bisignani Moyle sentenced:

■ David E. Ziegler, 39, 102 Delaware Ave., Apt. 2D, Oly­phant, to six months of court supervision including 30 days’ house arrest and a $750 fine for DUI.

■ Paul Guenst, 27, Cherry Blossom Lane, Pocono Lake, to 90 days of unsupervised probation for summary harassment.

Camp sparks teens’ self-esteem

More than a dozen people with ties to the University of Scranton and Scranton Preparatory School helped out at a camp meant to foster teamwork and self-esteem through educational and outdoor activities.

SPARK, the free, weeklong camp for 12- to 16-year-olds, was held at the University’s Retreat Center at Chapman Lake. The camp was run by 21 student volunteers from the University of Scranton and Scranton Preparatory School. On the last day of the camp, participants were also asked to define the word “spark.”

“It’s the start of a fire,” “it ignites something,” “it lights up,” were among the answers given — all of which pleased the programs founders and organizers, Danny Marx, a University of Scranton graduate and mathematics teacher at Scranton Preparatory School, and Patricia Vaccaro, director of the university’s Center for Service and Social Justice.

The name of the program is deliberate, according to Patricia, because it is intended to be the start of something for these children – something they would carry on after the camp ends.

That was the case for Jamil Islam, who was among three former SPARK participants who returned to help on the last day of the camp. The senior at Scranton High School said he continues to share with others what he learned from the camp.

“I will introduce myself to someone I spot sitting alone at school,” said Jamil, who has also stayed in touch with fellow campers over the years.

Justin Marrero, a junior at Scranton High School, and Raymond Harty, a junior at West Scranton High School, also returned to help on the last day of the camp.

Fun Run planned

Several locals have been hard at work planning a 5K Run/Fun Walk to benefit a group that brings drug and alcohol prevention programs in the Carbondale Area and Riverside School Districts.

The Promoting School – Community – University Partnerships to Enhance Resilience teams, in partnership with Lackawanna Heritage Valley, are holding the event at 9 a.m. Sept. 26 at the Olive Street Trailhead on the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail in Scranton. Proceeds from the event will be used for PROSPER evidence-based drug and alcohol prevention programs in the two school districts. Planners include Kristy Ryczak, Kerry Browning, Debby Mendicino, Peter Cady and Ann Vadella.

The cost to participate is $20 before Sept. 12 and $25 after Sept. 12. For children under age 12, the fee is $15 before Sept. 12 and $20 after Sept. 12. Awards will be given to the overall male and female winners, as well as the first-, second- and third-place winners for males and females in seven different age categories. Also, all children under 12 will receive a medal. Participants can pre-register online at https://runsignup.com/Race/PA/Scranton/Prosper5k.

High notes

Michael Burkhardt, a 2015 graduate of Western Wayne High School, received a $4,000 scholarship from the Northeast Pennsylvania Audubon Society.

The scholarship is awarded to a graduating senior who plans to pursue a career in an environmental field. Money for these scholarships is generated from the Art and Craft Festival held each July in Hawley.

Michael, the son of Carol and Mike Burkhardt of Waymart, will be attending Keystone College to study wildlife biology.

A federal judge rejected convicted murderer Gregory Alan Rowe’s petition to overturn his sentence because his request was filed long after its deadline.

Mr. Rowe’s sentence, two consecutive life terms for the murder of a young woman and her infant in May 2004 in Pike County, will be upheld, Pike County District Attorney Ray Tonkin said Tuesday.

Mr. Rowe, now 29, was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in 2006 after an eight-day trial. The jury found that Mr. Rowe strangled his 17-year-old ex-girlfriend, Kristen Fisher, with a noose and drowned their 7-month-old daughter, Kaylee, in the bathtub of the Fishers’ Greene Twp. home.

Mr. Rowe tried to stage the scene to make it appear like the baby accidently drowned and the child’s mother hanged herself.

Since his conviction, Mr. Rowe, who is representing himself, has filed four appeals. Both the Pennsylvania Superior Court and Supreme Court upheld his conviction so he petitioned the Middle District of Pennsylvania in September 2013. He did not have time on his side, U.S. Magistrate Judge Karoline Mehalchick ruled Monday.

A 1996 piece of legislation, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, established a one-year statute of limitations for filing a writ of habeas corpus petition, which Mr. Rowe filed seeking to have his sentence overturned. His limitation period ended Nov. 4, 2011.

Mr. Rowe remains at the state prison in Albion in Erie County.

Contact the writer:

jkohut@timesshamrock.com,

@jkohutTT on Twitter

The 15-year-old pulled his car up next to Dunmore Patrolman Patrick Reese’s squad car.

“Pardon me, but do you happen to have any Grey Poupon?” the teen jokingly asked during the August 1992 encounter.

At the time, a humorous television commercial advertised Grey Poupon dijon mustard and featured two formally dressed men lunching in their Rolls Royces. One car pulls up to the other and its occupant asks roughly the same question.

Where others might have seen the humor, Patrolman Reese saw disrespect and cited the teen with disorderly conduct.

“You have to take a stand somewhere,” Patrolman Reese said at the time. “I’m an authority figure and once someone tries to make a fool out of you, that’s half the battle. ... Our job is hard enough as it is without having kids trying to make fools out of us.”

From the archives: Dunmore cop defends action in citing youth, 15, for remark

More than two decades later, the former Dunmore police chief, who fought to return to work after an injury forced his retirement as a police officer, stands accused of lacking the proper respect for a judge’s court order in the grand jury investigation of Ms. Kane.

She hired him two years ago to protect and drive her around and considers him one of her closest confidantes, according to court documents charging him with violating a court order issued by Judge William R. Carpenter, who supervised the Montgomery County-based grand jury.

The order forbid attorney general’s office employees from gaining access to information related to the investigation of Ms. Kane. But last September, an affidavit says, she narrowed the list of people who could search the attorney general’s office’s email archives from eight to three, including Mr. Reese. Starting that day and up until December, Mr. Reese violated the order by searching the archives for grand jury-related information.

The judge issued the order because the attorney general’s office was finding out the names of grand jury witnesses and when they would testify and acquiring transcripts of grand jury testimony. Witnesses were being confronted “as they arrived to testify and (were) subject to intimidating conduct,” according to the probable cause affidavit against Mr. Reese. The affidavit does not specifically say he did any of that, but accuses him of entering search terms in the email archive to seek grand jury activity documentation.

He refused to cooperate with the grand jury that investigated Ms. Kane, according to the probable cause affidavit charging her with perjury, official oppression and obstructing the administration of law.

Ms. Kane plucked him from his post as Dunmore’s chief in early 2013 and offered him a salary of about $95,000.

By then, Mr. Reese had a reputation as a tough, anti-drug cop in two decades on the force. He was a longtime member of the Lackawanna-Scranton Drug Task Force and the borough’s Drug Abuse Resistance Education officer in schools. In December 1992, then-Dunmore Police Chief Frank Occulto said, someone set Patrolman Reese’s parked private vehicle on fire in response to a drug investigation. No one was ever charged with the arson.

Lackawanna County District Attorney Andy Jarbola said he considers Mr. Reese “a nice guy.”

“But he was a very thorough cop and police chief. I always found him to be a very thorough guy,” Mr. Jarbola said.

James Boland, another former Dunmore chief who came up through the borough police ranks with Mr. Reese, remembered his colleague similarly.

“In his drug work, he didn’t like drugs and he did his best to keep them off the street,” Mr. Boland said. “He took his job very seriously.”

His drug work once landed him in the midst of a major controversy that encircled the department.

About 1:30 a.m. on April 29, 1998, another Dunmore patrolman pulled over a car that ran a red light. Inside was passenger Thomas Harrison, at the time the county tax claim bureau director, who got out to speak to the officer and dropped a small plastic bag drop containing a “white, powdery substance that appeared to be cocaine.”

The incident stayed a secret until September 1999 when Mr. Harrison ran — unsuccessfully, ultimately — for county commissioner.

Mr. Reese, by then a borough police captain and its drug officer, took over the investigation the night of the traffic stop. Back then, he said a field test showed the powder tested negative for cocaine. But as it turned out, the test was positive and he held off on a drug charge because he turned Mr. Harrison into an informant.

Almost four years later, as federal prosecutors finally pressed the same drug case against Mr. Harrison, Mr. Reese, a captain by then, admitted the powder “tested positive for cocaine” within hours of the stop. Mr. Harrison eventually pleaded guilty to a federal drug charge and was sentenced to a year of probation.

Mr. Reese’s elevation to captain was shrouded in controversy, too.

He had failed a civil service test to become a sergeant when Mayor Patrick Loughney promoted him and two others in January 1996 to acting captain to replace two captains on sick leave. Four years later, the three acting captains still hadn’t taken a civil service test to remain captains because the borough never gave one.

In 2004, Mr. Reese suffered a serious neck injury in the basement of the borough police building when an audio speaker fell on him while he was moving a file cabinet. The injury forced his retirement. But in March 2009, the borough council reinstated him — as police chief.

“He is as dedicated as they come,” Councilman Thomas Hennigan said then. “Politics has nothing — nothing — to do with this.”

Mr. Boland, the chief at the time, said Mr. Reese wanted to return to work and found a doctor who cleared him to return if he wasn’t required to be the first on the scene of a police call in case physicality was required. A year short of retirement, Mr. Boland said he voluntarily agreed to return to being assistant police chief so his former colleague could return to the force as chief.

“He was a good, dedicated officer, dedicated to the citizens of the borough,” Mr. Boland said.

Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com

A new report sponsored by an environmental group projects heavy drilling and associated impacts in the Delaware River Basin if a moratorium is lifted.

The report, prepared by the Arlington, Virginia-based research firm CNA Corp. and funded by the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, projects 4,000 new wells in the Delaware River watershed, managed by the Delaware River Basin Commission.

Since 2010, the commission has maintained a moratorium on new wells in the basin, citing ongoing research and study of the risks of developing the Marcellus Shale. Its new chairman, Steven Tambini, took over a year ago. Gov. Tom Wolf supports the moratorium.

Despite the governor’s support, the moratorium’s removal is a “perpetual risk,” said Delaware Riverkeeper leader Maya Van Rossum. The results of the report demonstrate the need to convert to an outright ban, she said. According to CNA

, the risks could be significant. The group started by layering geologic data to gauge the potential for gas extraction. They then projected hypothetical changes to the landscape from well pads, roads and pipelines. Researchers also looked at the industry’s potential to suck water out of streams for hydraulic fracturing, spill hazardous fluids and deteriorate local air quality.

The group found that each of the projected 500 to 1,000 well pads would require 17 to 23 acres of land conversion for the pad, access roads and pipelines, increasing erosion and reducing the amount of core forest in the watershed. The presence of more trucks and compressor stations could also affect air quality. About 45,000 people, mostly in Wayne County, would live within a mile of a well, the report states.

Opponents of the moratorium say the report, which was not published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, is a scare tactic by an anti-drilling group bent on keeping the industry out of the Delaware River Basin.

“This report is intended as a pre-emptive strike in the event the new (Delaware River Basin Commission) administration takes a more balanced and less ideological view as it moves forward,” said Tom Shepstone, a Wayne County consultant who publishes the pro-industry blog NaturalGasNow.org.

It disgusted Curt Coccodrilli, a Jefferson Twp. resident and leader of the Northern Wayne Property Owners Alliance. His group’s leases with gas companies that have lain dormant because of the moratorium.

“Once again, it’s radical green tyranny run amok as the common man gets steamrolled without being heard,” he said in an email.

Roughly 20,000 acres leased to Chesapeake Energy Corp. will not expire until 2018, Mr. Coccodrilli said. Whether the gas industry has any interest in developing the basin is unclear.

A spokeswoman for the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which maintains industry well logs, said the formations may have been exposed to too much heat to be productive.

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

PITTSTON TWP. — Area residents greeted foreign exchange student Polina Lynova with banners and hugs as she arrived at the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre International Airport this week.

The 16-year-old student from Kazakhstan, a country bordering Russia and China, is looking forward to learning about the many cultural differences.

“I’m excited to know more about the culture and maybe to share my culture, too,” Polina said.

Her new host family, the Thomas family of Blakely, welcomed Polina at the airport Monday.

She has been in the United States since July 28 and spent her first couple weeks in Alabama refining her English. During the 2015-16 school year, she will attend Valley View High School as a junior. She will return home in June.

James Tiger from the American Councils for International Education connected Polina with the Thomas family. This is the first foreign exchange student he placed.

Mr. Tiger, from the Carbondale area, was inspired to help place foreign ambassadors by the students he taught English to in Moldova. He spent two years in the U.S. Peace Corps, the government’s volunteer program that spreads social and economic development. Many of his students came to the United States to take part in exchange

programs.

Pauline Thomas worked with Mr. Tiger, who suggested that she host a student.

“I went home and talked to my family that night ... we couldn’t wait to do it, we’re thrilled,” said Mrs. Thomas.

Her granddaughter, Shayonna, will also be in 11th grade and Mrs. Thomas predicts they’ll be fast friends.

The Blakely family is planning to visit Lancaster during Polina’s stay and also check out a Christmas show in New York City.

“A lot of American things,” said Mrs. Thomas.

Contact the writer:

kbolus@timesshamrock.com,

@kbolusTT on Twitter

Bridges are among humanity’s greatest innovations. Without them, progress would have been exclusive to strong swimmers and hardy hikers. Everyone else would have been limited by big rivers and deep canyons.

Crossing natural boundaries was key to creating civilization. Crossing legal boundaries is key to fleecing civilization. Laws are only as strong as those who swear oaths to support them.

God help the residents of Roaring Brook Twp. and everyone else downstream.

For years, township officials dithered as an illegal trucking company owned by landfill/casino/auto parts magnate Louis DeNaples violated township zoning. The illegal business operated upstream from the drinking water supply of 160,000 people. After its trucks damaged an old stone bridge over a creek that feeds the drinking water of 160,000 people, the DeNaples firm laid down a new bridge over the old span.

Important: The old bridge wasn’t removed, but built upon. Its brittle remains still stretch beneath the newer span. Why would anyone build a new bridge on top of an old one that was failing? We’ll get to that.

No one disputes that Mr. DeNaples paid to build the newer bridge, or that his employees plowed it in winter. Even when violating local zoning, Louis DeNaples is civic-minded. The rub is that the township believes it owns the bridge and Smith Road, which traverses it, and Mr. DeNaples insists he does. Also, he would really appreciate it if the township would change the zoning so he could legally reopen his trucking business upstream from the water supply for 160,000 people.

DeNaples spokesman Al Magnotta delivered that message at Thursday’s supervisors meeting. Aside from asserting Mr. DeNaples’ ownership of the bridge and the contested stretch of Smith Road, Mr. Magnotta asked supervisors to issue a temporary permit to allow the DeNaples-owned trucking business to resume operating upstream from the water supply for 160,000 people.

This is while they consider permanent zoning changes that would allow the DeNaples-owned trucking business to indefinitely operate upstream from the water supply for 160,000 people.

To their credit, supervisors Anthony Jordan, Robert Farischon and Eric Schield did not immediately fold. Instead, they agreed to hold a public meeting on Aug. 19, when they will do whatever Louis DeNaples wants. In the meantime, the ownership of Smith Road and the DeNaples bridge remains unsettled. Township Solicitor Joe O’Brien said Thursday that the deed Mr. Magnotta said names Mr. DeNaples’ firm, WBD Inc., as the owner may not be accurate.

“We’ve always thought we owned it,” Mr. O’Brien said. That must have troubled Roaring Brook taxpayers who expect the people they elect and pay to represent them to know what they own and be prepared to provide proof. I once thought I was destined to write the Great American Novel. I’m still doing this.

So I called Al Magnotta on Tuesday. He was firm about the deed and what it reflects. I asked why the DeNaples firm would build a new bridge over an old one. If they had removed the existing structure, Al explained, they would have needed a “waterway permit” from the state Department of Enviromental Protection. I asked whether that was why they built a new bridge over a crumbling old one.

Al said he didn’t know. “I had nothing to do with it,” he said. His explanation for the new bridge being built atop the old one suggests that the stream beneath — which spills into the water supply of 160,000 people — deserves regulatory protection. Those charged with providing that protection are still deliberating.

DEP spokeswoman Colleen Connelly told me an analyst went to the site Tuesday and will issue a report soon. The agency is still “working to determine” whether a stream that flows into the water supply of 160,000 people deserves protection.

That’s where we stand today. We don’t know who owns a road and bridge that served an illegal trucking business operating upstream from the water supply for 160,000 people, or whether the state deems that water supply worthy of protection.

Have a nice day.

CHRIS KELLY, the Times-Tribune columnist, prefers tap water to the bottled variety. Contact the writer: kellysworld@timesshamrock.com,

@cjkink on Twitter. Read his daily blog at blogs.thetimes-

tribune.com/kelly

WILKES-BARRE — Highmark’s senior leader in the region hopes the recently completed merger between Blue Cross of Northeast Pennsylvania and the larger Pittsburgh-based health insurance company will help slow down health care cost increases and grow jobs in the area.

Senior vice president Brian Rinker said the buildings at 19 and 70 N. Main St. in downtown Wilkes-Barre will remain key operations. He hopes the merger will also help the company now occupy a vacant building it owns at 169 N. Pennsylvania Ave., which he said is “well-suited and ready for business” and a good place to add jobs.

Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield serves about 3.2 million members and employs more than 4,700 people in northeastern and western Pennsylvania. More than 700 of those employees are in Northeast Pennsylvania.

As part of the agreement, Highmark will maintain a “reasonable” level of jobs, but Mr. Rinker said that will depend on the amount of business. He hopes the company will continue to be a market leader and grow jobs.

“We’re hopeful we’re larger here in Northeastern Pennsylvania over time,” he said.

Customers who purchased Blue Cross products before July will not see changes from the merger until they renew their health insurance plans in January. Customers who purchased in July will keep their plans until next July, Mr. Rinker said. Benefits, doctors and phone numbers will remain the same until then.

Beginning next year, customers will choose Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield products that will be “similar but not the same” to what they have now, Mr. Rinker said. Premiums, deductibles and co-pays will be based upon the policies customers choose, he said.

“What we’re hoping is that Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield will have better resources to manage health care costs over time,” Mr. Rinker said. “That would be the benefits of a larger company. We think we’re in a position to manage them better.”

Mr. Rinker, 54, formerly was senior vice president and chief administrator officer at Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

He was paid a yearly salary of $66,675 plus a $21,006 bonus for a total compensation of $87,681 in 2013, the most recent figures available, according to Ronald Ruman, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Insurance Department.

Mr. Rinker would not provide his current salary. Salary information for Highmark executives are listed in the company’s financial filings, which are submitted to the Pennsylvania Insurance Department at the end of each year, said Highmark spokesman Anthony Matrisciano.

A Wilkes-Barre native, Mr. Rinker holds a bachelor’s degree from King’s College and a master’s degree in health administration from Wilkes University. He lives in Forty Fort with his wife, Lisa.

He said his primary goals in his new position are to convert the business as “seamlessly as we can for customers” and to ensure the transition is “as least disruptive as possible.”

Contact the writer: dallabaugh@citizensvoice.com

Moosic Borough Council President Joseph Mercatili announced Tuesday that he is stepping down from his position as president but will remain a councilman.

After 38 years on council, about 34 of them as president, Mr. Mercatili said he is resigning for personal reasons.

He will finish out the remaining two and a half years of his term, he said, and has not decided whether to seek re-election.

The end of court actions in the kids-for-cash scandal may be near.

A federal judge has approved a $4.75 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit brought against Robert J. Powell, a key player in the scandal. Powell co-owned a detention center in which juveniles were improperly jailed as part of a scheme to enrich him and others, including former Luzerne County judges Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan.

Powell, 56, a former Drums-based lawyer, served an 18-month prison sentence after admitting he paid more than $700,000 in bribes to Ciavarella and Conahan to funnel juveniles to his detention center.

The scheme made national headlines and sent Powell, Ciavarella, Conahan and local developer Robert Mericle to prison.

Some of the juveniles wrongly jailed, as well as their parents, filed a class-action lawsuit in 2009, seeking damages. Powell and the plaintiffs in that suit reached a tentative settlement agreement in March, pending its approval by a federal judge.

That approval came Monday in a nine-page ruling from Senior Judge Richard Caputo, of U.S. Middle District Court.

The court filing details how the plaintiffs can collect the money owed to them. Those details include:

• A claims committee will be formed, to supervise and administer the processing of claims.

• That committee will mail notice of the settlement to the last known address of all no later than Aug. 24. Notice will also be published in The Citizens’ Voice and the Times Leader.

• All plaintiffs who want to claim a portion of the settlement money must submit a proof of claim form by Oct. 5.

• That is also the “opt-out” deadline for plaintiffs who do not want to be included in the settlement.

• Those who opt out of the settlement and plan to pursue a separate claim “shall be required to participate in confidential, non-binding mediation with the Powell defendants.”

• The final approval hearing in the case will be held on Dec. 16 at the Max Rosenn United States Courthouse, in Wilkes-Barre.

• The settlement money will be kept in escrow, pending the final hearing.

The settlement class — those who qualify for a piece of the settlement money — includes all juveniles who appeared before Ciavarella between Jan. 1, 2003 and May 28, 2008 and were adjudicated delinquent or “placed,” according to the agreement.

It also includes parents of juveniles who were adjudicated delinquent or placed by Ciavarella, who suffered financial loss or “any loss of companionship and/or familial integrity” for which they have not been reimbursed.

Powell pleaded guilty in July 2009 to failing to report a felony and being an accessory to a crime. He was later sentenced to 18 months in federal prison and was permanently disbarred.

emark@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2117

Robert Quinn wanted to die. He forced police to kill him. And that amounts to “suicide by cop,” investigators announced Tuesday in clearing two Pittston City police officers of any wrongdoing in Sunday’s fatal shooting of the 77-year-old.

“This person wanted to be shot by police,” Luzerne County Coroner Bill Lisman said. “He wanted police to end his life.”

The coroner said this is the first time in Luzerne County history a fatal police shooting is being ruled a “suicide by cop” rather than justifiable homicide. Suicide by cop is becoming the preferred ruling around the country in lethal force cases when cops kill someone who clearly wished to die, Lisman said.

New details about the fatal encounter emerged Tuesday in a statement released by Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis.

The district attorney revealed Quinn lured police to the scene by having a friend call 911 to report a man with a gun. When the friend asked who had the gun, Quinn replied “me” and displayed the gun with his finger on the trigger, Salavantis said in the statement.

In the news release, Salavantis announced the officers — Dion Fernandes and Kyle Shumosic — were justified in fatally shooting Quinn outside the Anthracite Apartments on North Main Street in Pittston.

Fernandes and Shumosic told Quinn to “put down the gun” more than 15 times before Quinn “pointed his firearm directly at one of the officers,” Salavantis said.

“It was at this point that both Pittston City police officers discharged their weapons resulting in the death of the man pointing the firearm,” Salavantis’ press release said.

Police later determined the gun Quinn possessed was a pellet gun, but it “was a very realistic replica of a higher caliber pistol,” Salavantis’ statement said.

Quinn’s acquaintances and his ex-wife told investigators that Quinn complained of constant pain and had suicidal thoughts for over a decade, the statement said. He even recently talked about being shot by police, they said.

Lisman said there is no doubt “this man intended for police to shoot him and end his life.”

According to Salavantis’ statement:

Pittston police were dispatched to the apartment complex around 8:45 p.m. and the officers arrived on scene within two minutes.

Quinn, seated in a mobility scooter, was holding a gun and smoking a cigarette.

“Multiple independent witnesses advised investigators that they heard both officers repeatedly stating, ‘Sir, please put down the gun,’ as many as 15 to 20 times,” the statement said.

As officers from other departments arrived on scene, Fernandes and Shumosic asked that they attempt to enter the rear of the building to approach and subdue Quinn from behind.

“Pittston officers continued to request that the man put down the weapon throughout the process,” Salavantis said in the statement.

Soon, the man finished his cigarette, tossed it on the ground and stood up. That’s when the man pointed his gun at one of the officers, forcing police to fire at him, Salavantis said.

King’s College criminal justice teacher Paul Lindenmuth said it appears clear “this man wanted police to kill him” and it was a “suicide by cop.”

For some people with suicidal thoughts it “is a whole lot easier to have the police do it,” he said.

“Police officers aren’t out there wanting to take somebody’s life. Sometimes it’s the only thing that they can do when they are put on the spot,” Lindenmuth said. “They have to make a choice whether to use deadly force based on the threat.”

bkalinowski@citizensvoice.com

570-821-2055, @cvbobkal

A man and two women were arraigned today for hiding a 4-month-old in Carbondale the day before, police said.

Michelle Longabucco, 29, Frank Ciesielski, 33, and Melissa Frisbie, 32, were all in Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of bail today for concealing the whereabouts of a child, conspiracy and other counts.

Carbondale police said the three approached the 4-month-old’s mother, Kaitlyn Biglin, around 1 p.m. at her Westgate Drive apartment and asked if they could take the baby, according to a criminal complaint.

The mother agreed and told them only for an hour. They left and the hour passed, but they did not return.

Ms. Biglin came to police headquarters at 5 p.m. and told them what happened.

Patrolman Dominick Andidora called Deputy District Attorney Jennifer McCambridge, who told the officer to have the Lackawanna County 911 Center find out Ms. Frisbie’s cell phone location, but the attempt was unsuccessful.

A lookout was issued for Ms. Longabucco’s 2005 Dodge Neon Tuesday night. Officers found the car on Meredith Street at 10:30 p.m. and took the three into custody. The child was found safe.

Ms. Frisbie, 1 Battle Ave. lot 5 in Carbondale, also had a dirty syringe, a glass pipe with marijuana residue and a spoon with heroin residue, police said. She is also charged with drug paraphernalia possession. Her bail was set at $25,000.

Mr. Ciesielski, 21270 State Route 267 in Friendsville, struggled with police and was shocked with a stun gun. He is also charged with resisting arrest. His bail was set at $25,000.

Ms. Longabucco, 190 Montdale Road in Dalton, was arrested without incident. Her bail was set at $10,000

Preliminary hearings are set for Tuesday.

Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, @jkohutTT on Twitter

Lackawanna County will pay a former department head $110,000 to settle a lawsuit claiming the deputy director was fired to give the job to a political supporter.

Jim McLaine, the county’s former director of purchasing, claimed in the lawsuit that then-newly-elected commissioners Jim Wansacz and Corey O’Brien fired him in March 2012 to give the position to David Pettinato.

The lawsuit contended that Mr. McLaine was more qualified than Mr. Pettinato, but Mr. Pettinato was the pick because his sister-in-law was a longtime political affiliate of Mr. Wansacz and had donated $1,750 to his and Mr. O’Brien’s campaign in 2012.

Attorneys for the county sought to dismiss the suit in July 2014, arguing Mr. McLaine was also politically affiliated with the duo because he donated $350 to their campaigns, but U.S. District Judge Robert Mariani denied the motion.

“We thought we had a meritorious defense, but our insurance company wanted to settle,” county solicitor Donald Frederickson said Wednesday.

Ironshore insurance covered all but $37,000 of the settlement, and Mr. Frederickson said if the county went ahead anyway and lost, the company would not have paid any more, meaning the county would have been on the hook for the difference.

The settlement agreement specifies the county was not accepting any blame.

“It is further acknowledged that payment of the sum by the county, defendants and/or their insurers ... are made solely for the purposes of avoiding the excessive cost of litigating this matter only and that the county defendants do not in any way admit any liability,” the agreement reads.

The deal also specified both sides will pay their own attorney fees and costs, which for the county totaled $27,334 to the Elliott Greenleaf & Dean law firm, and both sides agreed not to discuss the agreement.

Attorney Kim Borland, who represented Mr. McLaine, said only that “the matter has been amicably resolved.”

Mr. Pettinato left his job in the fall of 2014. Mr. O’Brien resigned earlier this year to join Health Resources Corp. as vice president for business development.

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

SCRANTON — Disorderly conduct charges were filed against a Binghamton man for using threatening and obscene language in June in the city’s federal courthouse, the United States attorney’s office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today.

On June 25, Karl E. Kelly attended the detention hearing of a friend charged with armed bank robbery.

Mr. Kelly, 35, stands accused of using obscene language and threatening a third person at the end of the hearing, after the judge ordered his friend incarcerated before trial.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI.

The maximum penalty under federal law is 90 days imprisonment and a $300 fine, but a judge does have flexibility based on the federal sentencing guidelines.

— PETER CAMERON

Police charged a Scranton teen with attempted homicide after they said he picked a fight with a stranger last month and then chased him through South Scranton before shooting at him.

Naseem Smith, 17, 1412 Pine St., was also charged with assault and firearms counts Wednesday.

Mr. Smith had been near the intersection of Providence Road and Olive Street around 1 p.m. July 1 after attending summer school at Scranton High School. He confronted the victim, Saddiq Fields, and both began to argue, police said.

Mr. Fields showed a box cutter and the fight dissipated. But later, as Mr. Fields was walking through a wooded area near South Webster Avenue and Genet Street, Mr. Smith approached with two others and they attempted to surround him.

Mr. Fields fled on foot, returning to South Webster Avenue and knocking on the door of a home shouting for help.

With his companions behind him in a car, Mr. Smith followed Mr. Fields to the porch and aimed a semi-automatic pistol, shouting “I’ll air him right here,” police said.

The companions convinced the gunman to get back in the car, and they appeared to leave the area.

As Mr. Fields resumed his walk home, Mr. Smith headed back toward him, raised the gun out the car window and shot at him, police said.

Mr. Fields was not injured.

Mr. Smith is being charged as an adult. He already was locked up at Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of $150,000 bail on charges stemming from a July 28 incident.

Police say he deceived a man whose cell phone had been stolen, saying that he would return the device. Instead, police said Mr. Smith robbed him at gunpoint. In that case, Mr. Smith was charged with robbery, carrying a firearm without a license, terroristic threats, simple assault and resisting arrest.

Contact the writer: joconnell@timesshamrock.com, @jon_oc on Twitter

HARRISBURG — State Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane went on the offensive at a press conference Wednesday, blasting an investigation of her and characterizing the resulting charges as part of an effort to prevent the release of pornographic emails that would embarrass high-ranking officials.

Ms. Kane said she wants to release the emails, which she claims contain pornography, racially insensitive information and religious bigotry, but she is prevented from doing so because of grand jury secrecy rules.

Other than restating her position that she broke no laws, she did not address the specific accusations against her — that she leaked secret grand jury information to a Philadelphia newspaper in order to embarrass a former state prosecutor she thought had made her look bad.

She instead focused on what she contends was improper motives of unnamed state officials, whom she claims want to oust her from office to derail her efforts to expose state prosecutors and judges involved in the “porngate” scandal.

“From the moment this email traffic became discoverable ... some involved in this filthy email chain have tried desperately to insure that these emails, and more importantly their attachment to it, never see the light of day,” she said.

“These individuals believe that they are (at) the precipice of their ultimate goal,” she continued. “Should I be removed from office ... the one person who would challenge that order would no longer have standing to do so.”

Ms. Kane was charged last week with perjury, obstructing the administration of law, official oppression, conspiracy and false swearing. Patrick Reese, a member of her security detail and a former Dunmore police chief, was charged with indirect criminal contempt for allegedly accessing emails related to the grand jury investigating her.

Reading from a prepared statement, Ms. Kane started the press conference by stating her defense will not be that she was a victim of an “old boys network.” What followed was a scathing rebuke of the case filed against her, but it did not address how the alleged improper motivation behind the charges is pertinent to her defense.

Several veteran defense attorneys questioned Ms. Kane’s logic.

“She is saying the whole case began because she uncovered some pornographic emails among state officials. What does that have to do with the charges against her?” said Ernie Preate, a Scranton attorney who formerly served as attorney general. “The charges she is facing have to do with her allegedly lying to the grand jury. I don’t get the connection.”

Attorney Sam Stretton of West Chester, who has defended numerous attorneys accused of wrongdoing, also questioned the defense strategy.

“The ultimate issue is not if people had good or bad motivations. The issue is did you commit this crime?” he said. “If this is her defense, she should plead guilty.”

Attorney William Costopoulos said he’s not convinced Ms. Kane will even be able to present that defense at trial.

“The allegations she made are not a defense to the charges that have been brought,” he said. “I don’t believe anything she said today was for anyone other than the court of public opinion.”

In charges filed last week, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman said Ms. Kane released information from a 2009 grand jury investigation into the finances of former Philadelphia NAACP head J. Whyatt Mondesire to retaliate against former assistant attorney general Frank Fina, who led the investigation of Mr. Mondesire.

Prosecutors contend Ms. Kane believed Mr. Fina was responsible for leaking information from another grand jury investigation into Philadelphia legislators caught on tape accepting bribes. Ms. Kane declined to press charges against the legislators. Information regarding her decision appeared in a story in the Philadelphia Inquirer in March 2014.

In her statement, Ms. Kane tied that story to the efforts to oust her, noting it was published shortly after the email scandal broke.

“Newspaper stories appeared questioning my decision on a case which was thought to embarrass and intimidate me,” she said. “They then moved to the empaneling of investigative grand juries and the abuse of grand jury secrecy laws, all in an attempt to conceal their involvement in a chain of pornographic and racially or religiously offensive emails.”

Ms. Kane’s office previously said six state employees were fired for their involvement in exchanging the emails. She also reprimanded numerous people from her office. She said Wednesday she’s forbidden from identifying all people involved based on a protective order issued by Montgomery County Judge William Carpenter, the same judge who presided over the grand jury investigation of her.

“You may be asking why would individuals go to such lengths to conceal their involvement in this email chain. But make no mistake: the stakes for these individuals, whose participation in this email chain has remained concealed behind the cloak of grand jury secrecy, could not be higher,” she said.

Ms. Kane said Judge Carpenter’s order is based on a “tortured interpretation” of the state’s grand jury secrecy laws. She called upon him to vacate that order.

Attempts to reach Judge Carpenter for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful.

After Ms. Kane’s press conference Wednesday, Ms. Ferman issued a statement saying, “The District Attorney’s Office does not respond to comments made by criminal defendants.”

Ms. Kane again also addressed those who have called for her to resign, highlighting the numerous successes her office has achieved during her tenure. Addressing her two sons at the end of her statement, she said she remains committed to her duties as the state’s top prosecutor.

“Only the Lord knows how this will turn out. But regardless of the outcome know that, at all times, I tried to stay true to the promise I made to the people of Pennsylvania on the day I swore my oath of office,” she said.

Contact the writer: tbesecker@timesshamrock.com

Del Valley Hall of Famers announced

Four people will be inducted into the Delaware Valley Hall of Fame later this year, the committee announced.

The late Colonel Davis W. Hazen from the class of 1958 will be inducted into the Academic/Professional Division. Following his graduation from St. Bonaventure in 1963, he began a long and distinguished military career that included both extensive active overseas service and teaching.

Carissa Sain Knoche from the class of 2000 will be inducted into the Athletic Division. Following an outstanding high school career in cross country, track and field and basketball, she excelled in basketball at Carnegie Mellon University. Carissa is currently the head women’s basketball coach at the University of Chicago.

Kathleen Marinaccio from the class of 1987 will be inducted into the Academic/Professional Division. An honors graduate from Pratt Institute, she continued her studies at Parsons School of Design for Advanced Adobe Illustration. Kathleen has had a long and distinguished career as an artist, currently serving as director of design services at Warner Bros. She is also a professor/counselor at Otis College of Art and Design.

William B. Schneck from the class of 1974 will be inducted into the Athletic Division. An outstanding high school athlete, he excelled in golf, wrestling and soccer. Hewas the school’s first soccer player to be named to the All-American Team. He continued his athletic career at Lehigh University and is a lifetime participant in a variety of sports. He is director of plant operations at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.

The four inductees will be honored at Delaware Valley’s Homecoming festivities on Oct. 17 and at a banquet at the Mt. Haven Restaurant on Oct. 18.

Golfing for animals

The recent Annual Dakota Williams Memorial Golf Outing at Cricket Hill Golf Course raised a record-breaking $8,000 for the Dessin Animal Shelter.

The fundraiser is held in memory of Dakota Williams, an animal lover and friend of the Dessin shelter. This year was the fifth annual golf outing, which has raised a total of more than $23,000 over that time. The money has been donated for shelter projects such as the outdoor dog pavilion, inside improvements to the shelter and the general welfare of the animals in Dessin’s care.

Tony and Amy Williams, along with their daughter Alyssa and son Isaiah, presented the check to Annelle Snyder, co-chairwoman of the Dessin Animal Shelter board of directors. Annelle acknowledged the efforts of the Williams family and friends.

High notes

State Rep. Karen Boback recently presented an award honoring Keystone College Professor Thomas G. Cupillari, who officially retired in June after serving the college for 50 years.

The professor retired as a full-time professor in 2007 but continued as director of Keystone’s Thomas G. Cupillari ’60 Astronomical Observatory in Fleetville, which he founded in 1973.

HARRISBURG — State Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane’s determination to fight serious criminal charges has the potential to further destabilize a state government already torn by partisan infighting due to a lengthening state budget stalemate.

Ms. Kane, a Democrat, vowed Wednesday to fight against charges of obstruction, lying to a grand jury and conspiracy and rejected calls from Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and Republican legislative leaders to resign. Instead, she called for the release of pornographic emails tied to an earlier scandal in her office. She said the release of those emails is key to her defense against the charges.

The options for removing Ms. Kane from office and picking a successor require cooperation among Democrats and Republicans when bipartisanship is in short supply:

■ The Supreme Court and its arm, the disciplinary board, could suspend Ms. Kane’s law license making her ineligible to remain as attorney general under the state Constitution. The seven-member court has two vacancies and a lame duck — Justice Correale Stevens — completing an interim term. An unprecedented number of three court seats are on the ballot in November.

■ A majority vote is needed to impeach Ms. Kane in the GOP-controlled House of any charges relating to misbehavior in office. A resolution to impeach Ms. Kane was assigned Monday to the House State Government Committee, a first step in a lengthy process.

■ A two-thirds vote is needed in the GOP-controlled Senate to convict an impeached Ms. Kane of charges and remove her from office. That means the votes of both Democratic and GOP senators are needed.

■ Mr. Wolf can nominate a successor to fill the rest of Ms. Kane’s term until January 2017 once the office is vacant. Confirmation also requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate.

■ Mr. Wolf can nominate a successor to fill the rest of Ms. Kane’s term until January 2017 once the office is vacant, if it is vacated.

It doesn’t help matters that Mr. Wolf and GOP leaders remain far apart on a host of budget-related issues, including state revenue needs, education funding, a severance tax on natural gas production, public pension reform and privatizing the state liquor stores. Mr. Wolf and GOP legislative leaders have traded barbs and waged media campaigns against each other either directly or with proxies for weeks now.

Ms. Kane’s troubles complicate an already tense political situation, said Christopher Borick, Ph.D., a Throop native who is director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion.

“They’ve kind of settled into trench warfare with the budget situation,” he said.

Meanwhile, the attorney general’s office is on the ballot in 2016. Republican Sen. John Rafferty of Montgomery County has already entered the GOP race.

Should Ms. Kane leave or be ousted, picking a successor could get tricky. The first deputy would automatically become acting attorney general.

GOP senators said they want some consultation with Mr. Wolf before they put up any votes for a nominee for the interim term. This could involve the governor sending prospective names over and asking the caucus to rank them in preference, said Drew Crompton, a top aide to Senate President Pro Tempore Joseph Scarnati, R-25, Jefferson County.

It doesn’t mean the nominee has to be a Republican, added Mr. Crompton.

Wolf spokesman Jeff Sheridan said he can’t comment on matters that have not happened.

Impeachment is not to be taken lightly, said House Minority Leader Frank Dermody, D-33, Allegheny County. The Clarks Summit native played a key role in the 1994 impeachment of state Supreme Court Justice Rolf Larsen, one of the few in Pennsylvania’s history.

“You realize you are nullifying an election,” he added. “It’s serious.”

Contact the writer: rswift@timesshamrock.com