REGIONAL BRIEFS
Shelter seeking holiday assistance
CARBONDALE - An area homeless shelter, which recently reopened, is looking for holiday assistance.
Schaeffer's Retreat, a privately funded and operated homeless shelter in Carbondale, opened Oct. 3 after a shortage in funds caused it to close in July.
Bonnie Schaeffer, 65, the owner and operator of the shelter, said the holidays are a particularly busy time of year and all cash and food donations are welcome.
For more information, contact Mrs. Schaeffer at 282-0761 or 430-6556. Donations can also be sent to 166 S. Church St., Carbondale, PA 18407.
Man charged with prescription fraud
SCRANTON - A Honesdale man was charged Wednesday in connection with prescription drug fraud in Lackawanna County.
Christopher Bates, 38, was arrested by the attorney general's office and charged with three felony counts, including forgery, acquiring or obtaining possession of a controlled substance and conspiracy to acquire or obtain possession of a controlled substance, according to court documents.
Mr. Bates was arraigned Wednesday and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Dec. 6. He was released on $5,000 unsecured bail, according to court documents.
City kitchen fire ruled accidental
SCRANTON - A kitchen fire that displaced four West Side residents late Tuesday began accidentally, authorities said.
Scranton fire Inspector Jack Joyce said the fire at 301-303 S. 10th Ave. began in the kitchen near the stove in the duplex's 301 side about 11:30 p.m.
The fire did not extend beyond the kitchen though other areas of the building suffered smoke and water damage, he said.
The American Red Cross of Lackawanna County provided shelter and money to the four individuals displaced.
City man jailed for machete caper
SCRANTON - A city man could spend up to 23 months in Lackawanna County Prison for waving a machete in public in a threatening manner on Cedar Avenue in South Side.
Lackawanna County Judge Vito P. Geroulo sentenced Brandon Cole, 20, 730 Willow St., to 11 to 23 months and two years of probation on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to charges of simple assault and terroristic threats in August.
City police said they saw Mr. Cole throw his machete beneath a Dumpster before he was taken into custody in the incident in March.
Stadium will honor former solicitor
SCRANTON - Part of the new PNC Field will honor a former member of the county's stadium authority.
At a Lackawanna County Multi-Purpose Stadium Authority meeting Wednesday, board members voted unanimously to name one of the hallways at the new stadium after former authority solicitor John McGee.
"He was instrumental in keeping baseball in this area, so it's only proper we honor him," board member Christopher Munley said.
The stadium is expected to be ready for the home opener on April 4.
Blakely group to chop up dining car
WILKES-BARRE - Jim Williams and Sons Surplus, a recycling center in Blakely, is chopping up an old dining car at the Market Street Square complex.
The dining car should be gone from the complex by the end of the week, said Andrew Reilly, director of the county redevelopment authority and community development office. Jim Williams and Sons Surplus bought the dining car for $5,000 at an auction in May.
The redevelopment authority plans to advertise a request for proposals to develop its properties at the complex. The authority bought the train station and adjoining parcels of property for $5.8 million in 2006.
Man who threatened Gov. Palin arrested
McADOO - A McAdoo man sentenced in federal court for harassing former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her lawyers allegedly tried to flee authorities who tried to arrest him in the borough Wednesday.
U.S. marshals said they attempted to serve Shawn Christy, 21, a warrant for allegedly violating probation ordered in the case, but he ran from his South Harrison Street home. The agency considered Mr. Christy a fugitive because he allegedly fled from the Catholic Social Services Residential Program in Scranton, where he had been placed as part of his sentence.
He appeared Wednesday in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Blewitt in Scranton. The judge ordered Mr. Christy to remain jailed until he is taken to Alaska for proceedings.
Mr. Christy - who along with his father, Craig, had been charged with making the harassing calls - was sentenced in June in federal court in Alaska to five years probation.