REGIONAL BRIEFS
Dunmore proposes cat ordinance
DUNMORE - Feeding feral cats in Dunmore may result in a $600 fine.
After complaints in the borough related to too many feral cats, the council will vote at the next meeting on an ordinance prohibiting people from feeding them.
Modeled after a similar ordinance in Clarks Green, Dunmore solicitor Thomas Cummings said reports of people putting food out for stray cats had led to an increase in the feral cat population in the area.
"It's a health and safety hazard," Mr. Cummings said.
The fine for feeding feral cats proposed in the ordinance is $600.
While the council reviewed the ordinance Monday, Mr. Cummings said a final vote on the ordinance will take place at the Oct. 22 meeting.
No clinics in NEPA traced to outbreak
SCRANTON - While two pain clinics in the state had medications related to an usual type of fungal meningitis outbreak, none are in Northeast Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed early last week that pain clinics in Altoona and Allegheny County received steroids produced by the New England Compounding Center, the company traced to the outbreak.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Monday the meningitis outbreak has affected 105 people in nine states, resulting in eight deaths.
While the state Department of Health is working to identify people who may have received the tainted steroids, no one in the state has tested positive for meningitis related to the outbreak, said department spokeswoman Holli Senior.
Wendy Wilson, a spokesman for Geisinger-Community Medical Center, said the hospital does not use products by the New England Compounding Center.
Woman, 82, dies in car crash
HANOVER TWP. - An 82-year-old Fairview Twp. woman died in a two-vehicle crash Monday morning on the Sans Souci Parkway.
Investigators said the victim, Joan Madden, was turning onto the road from a state Route 29 exit ramp when her Mercury Sable pulled into the path of a pickup traveling north about 11:10 a.m.
The driver of the Mazda truck, John Diel of White Haven, couldn't avoid the collision and slammed into the driver's side door of Madden's car, police said.
Ms. Madden was pronounced dead at the scene around 11:40 a.m., Luzerne County Deputy Coroner Dan Hughes said.
Investigators said they do not expect any charges to be filed.
Holbrook show at Kirby is off
WILKES-BARRE - Hal Holbrook's "Mark Twain Tonight" show at the F.M. Kirby Center is canceled, a spokesman for the Wilkes-Barre venue said Monday.
The performer canceled the show, originally set for Oct. 20, because of a scheduling conflict, Will Beekman, programming director, said in an email.
Refunds are available at point of purchase, and Internet and phone orders will be canceled and refunded automatically, according to Ticketmaster.
Flood authority appoints lawyer
WILKES-BARRE - Embattled members of the Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority appointed a new solicitor at their monthly meeting on Monday, ignoring more calls for their resignations and assertions the meeting was illegal.
Scranton-based attorney Chris Cullen is the new solicitor.
Four authority board members rejected county council's requests last week to resign and resolve an ongoing dispute over who can serve on the authority board. Four of the authority's five members are not eligible to serve because the authority's articles of incorporation were not amended.