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C M Y K
WILKES-BARRE, PA WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2012 50timesleader.com
The Times Leader
742751
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Colts ready to releaseAll-Pro QB Manning
SPORTS, 1B
Indianapolisdrops Peyton
WILKES-BARRE Two men lost theirlives inone of twohouse firesthat ragedinthe city Tuesday.
The victims, who have not been identi-fied, werepulledunconscious by firefight-ersfromthethirdfloorof 37PineSt.inthecitysEast End neighborhoodshortly after5 p.m. Tuesday.
Firefightersperformed CPRon themen just outside the still-burning building; one in
the backyard and one inthe street. Both weretransported by ambu-lance to Wilkes-BarreGeneral Hospital, but were pronounced deadshortly after arriving atthehospitalat 5:30p.m.,acting Luzerne CountyCoroner Bill Lismansaid. Carbon monoxide
intoxication was ruled the cause of death.Lisman didnot release thenamesof the
victims because their families have notbeen contacted. Neighbors identified thevictims as middle-aged men of Hispanicdescent named Jos and Willy.
Michele Boice, of Harveys Lake, said
W I L K E S - B A R R E B L A Z E S
AIMEE DILGER PHOTOS/THE TIMES LEADER
Above: Paramedics
and firefightersremove a fire vic-
tim from the sceneof a Wilkes-Barre
house fire Tuesday.Far left: Flames are
coming through a
home on the cornerof Pine and Maxwell
streets.Left: Wilkes-Barre
firefighters removea victim from the
Pine Street fire.
Two mendie afterfire rescueTwo vacant homes, targets of
complaints, burn in other blaze on
Academy St. early Tuesday morning.
ByMATT HUGHES
EDWARDLEWIS
See FIRE, Page 8A
Lisman did
not releasethe names of
the victims
because their
families have
not been
contacted.
COLUMBUS, Ohio MittRomney and Rick Santorum bat-tled to the wire in a close SuperTuesday finish,as eachchalked upvictories instatestheyexpectedtowin and ran neck-and-neck in thefight for the days biggest prize,Ohio.
Romney wonVirginia,Vermont,Massachusetts and was projectedto winIdaho,pilingup conventiondelegates, and told cheering sup-portersin Boston thatwas just thebeginning.
Were going to get more beforethenight is over, theformer Mas-sachusetts governor said. Wereonour way.
His mood, however, appearedless celebratory than resigned toseveral more weeks of hard cam-paigning.
SantorumwonNorthDakotaa surprise as well as Oklahomaand Tennessee. The latter two de-nied Romney the Southern break-
SUPER TUESDAY2 0 1 2ELECTION
Romney, Santorum duke it out
W I N N E R S
Vermont VirginaMassachusetts Idaho
M I T TR O M N E Y
Tennessee Oklahoma North Dakota
R I C KSANT ORU M
Georgia
NE W TG I N G R I C H
Both win states, and prized Ohiois too close to call between themByMARK Z. BARABAK
Los Angeles Times
See SUPER, Page 8A AP PHOTO
Danny Min-
cey leavesMississippi
BoulevardChristian
Church to
cast his voteTuesday in
Memphis,Tenn.
INSIDEA NEWS: Local 3A
Nation & World 5AObituaries 6AEditorial 7A
B SPORTS: Scoreboard 2BBusiness 7B
C TASTE: Birthdays 4CMovies/TV 6CCrossword 7CFunnies 8C
D CLASSIFIED
WEATHERDominic Argenta
Clear, warmer, breezy.
High 57. Low 30.
Details, Page 8B
PLAINSTWP. Boothswerefil-led and counter seats taken Tues-day as Andys River Road Dinercustomers returned for food andconversationat theeatery thathadbeen closed since Septembersflooding.
For the first timein six months,the aroma of fresh-brewed coffeefilledthe airand contributedto theatmosphere of old friends getting
used to being re-tired, but its greatto see all of ourfriendsagain.
Andy HornickJr.,39, isthe ownernow, but he has hismom, Kathy, anddadto help.
Andy Jr.has beenworking at the din-
er since he was a sophomore inhigh school. He said it cost
Andys Diner is back,serving up satisfactionBy BILLOBOYLE
To seeadditionalphotos, visitwww.timesleader.com
HAZLETON An early-morning blaze that de-stroyed an apartment build-ing, damaged a home nextdoor and left about 24 peo-ple homeless on Wednesdaywas intentionally set.
Hazleton Deputy FireChief Shawn Jones said atwo-story building at 133-135 E. Diamond Ave. thatcontained six apartments
five of themoccupied was fullyengulfed inflames whenfirefightersarrived alittle before 5a.m.
The firequicklyspread to theattic of a
single-familyhome at 137E. Diamond
Ave., which sustained fire,smoke and heavy waterdamage, Jones said.
Jones said at the scenethat officials considered theblaze suspicious becausefirefighters responded to afire on the porch of theapartment building justbefore 11 p.m. Monday. Hesaid someone had set fireto a chair on the porch.
Later on Tuesday, DeputyFire Chief Brian Mandaksaid state police fire mar-
Fire that left24 homeless
was set, statemarshals say
See HAZLETON, Page 8A
Hazleton
Code En-
forcement
Officer Ri-
chard Wech
said the
building
presents an
imminent
danger.
By STEVEMOCARSKY
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PAGE 2A WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2012 THE TIMES LEADER www.timesleader.com
Burke, KennethColabella,Helena
Elmy, EdwardFrazier, Mary
Johnston, RobertJones, NanetteMiller, JoannMoses, Hope
Monelli, MargaretMuth, MiriamRaughley, Alex
Rollman, FlorenceScarantino, IgnatiusVan Scoten, DorisWilliams, Robert
OBITUARIES
Page 6A
A BRIEFTHAT RAN on1C in
Tuesdays Health Sectioncontained misinformation.Jayden May, a 7-year-old fromHanover Township who wasdiagnosed with Type 1 Dia-betes, will be receiving a dia-betic alert dog that requiresthe family to raise $20,000.To help with fundraisers ormake a donation, contact SaraMay at: [email protected].
A STORYTHAT RANon 1A inTuesdays edition incorrectlysaid the Hanover Area SchoolDistrict has decided whichdays will be used as makeupsfor the two flood-relatedclosures from September. Theboard has not decided wheth-er to tack them on to the end
of the school year or to bein-session two other days.
BUILDING
TRUST
The Times Leader strives tocorrect errors, clarify storiesand update them promptly.Corrections will appear in thisspot. If you have informationto help us correct an inaccu-racy or cover an issue morethoroughly, call the newsroomat 829-7242.
HARRISBURG No playermatched all five winning
numbers drawn in TuesdaysPennsylvania Cash 5 gameso the jackpot will be worth$225,000.
Lottery officials said 48players matched four num-bers and won $292.50 eachand 1,879 players matchedthree numbers and won$12.50 each.
LOTTERY
MIDDAY DRAWING
DAILY NUMBER 0-3-3BIG FOUR 9-1-4-3
QUINTO 8-6-7-3-3TREASURE HUNT
04-11-13-21-29
NIGHTLY DRAWINGDAILY NUMBER 4-8-0
BIG FOUR 7-0-7-2QUINTO 9-6-3-9-2
CASH FIVE
15-16-19-25-36MEGA MILLIONS
20-24-31-33-36MEGA BALL 44
PRASHANTSHITUT JOEBUTKIEWICZ DENISESELLERS ALLISONUHRIN LISADARISMICHAELPRAZMA
An company
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Issue No. 2012-067
WILKES-BARRE On Mon-day, all five City Council mem-bers said they had questions re-garding the waiving of permitfeesfor thedemolition of theHo-tel Sterling and were looking for-ward to discussing the issue.
At Tuesday nights work ses-sion, none of the council mem-bers brought it up.
The ques-tion hasntbeenraised to coun-cil, said Coun-cil ChairmanMike Merritt.
Asked whathe meant bythat, Merritt
said Mayor Tom Leighton hasnot yet offered a recommenda-tion on whether the city shouldwaive the estimated $50,000 inpermit fees as requested by theLuzerne County Council.
Merritt said council couldwaiveall,part or none of thefees.
A majorityof councilmembers
interviewed Monday said theywould oppose dropping the fee,whichwouldbe paidby thecoun-ty. They cited the citys financialinvestment in the Sterling about $300,000 as the reason.
TheCounty Councilcan opttoprovidethe$1 millionfor demoli-tion, mothball the building forpossible future development ordo nothing. The county has astake in the property because of$6 million in community devel-opment loans for the project.
The city, which condemnedthe 114-year-old structure, couldbe forced to come up with thedemolition cost should the coun-
ty decide to revoke its offer to fi-nance the demolition. City Con-troller Kathy Kane informedcouncil of a movement to sup-port state legislation that wouldclarify the law as it applies to ar-bitration awards and to munici-pal pensions, binding arbitrationand unfunded state mandates.
Kane gave a packet of informa-tion for each council memberfrom the Coalition for Sustaina-ble Communities. She said she will meet with council and theadministration to discuss theconcerns in detail.
On Thursday, council willvote:
On theappointments of DanLavery to the city Housing Au-thorityand Christine Jensen, for-mer city human resources direc-tor,to the PlanningCommission.
To enter into a 30-monthleaseagreementwith FAHSCon-struction group, Binghamton,N.Y.,for 5,000square feetof prop-erty under the Veterans Memo-rial Bridge. Leighton said thecompanywill make repairs tothebridge this spring.
To purchase newenergy effi-cient widows for the police de-partment headquarters for$81,646 from Northeast WindowInc.
City Council doesnt address Sterling feeMayor has not yet madeproposal on waiving $50K in
fees, councilman says.
By BILLOBOYLE
[email protected] Leighton
WILKES-BARRE A cityman who police say slashed ateen boy in the head with a ma-chete will stand trial next
month, a county judge saidTuesday.
Junior Alberto Diaz-Reyes,25, of South Grant Street, ap-peared in Luzerne CountyCourt on Tuesday on charges ofaggravated assault, simple as-sault, disorderly conduct andharassment in the June 2011 in-cident.
Judge David Lupas said hewill issue court papers schedul-inga trial forsometimein April.
Assistant District Attorney William Finnegan said Diaz-Reyes attorney, ChristopherODonnell, is waiting for docu-mentation in thecase to review.
Police allege Diaz-Reyesswung a machete that slashed a16-year-old boy in the foreheadduring an argument in the area
of East Northamptonand SouthGrant streets.
The boy was taken to Geisin-ger Wyoming Valley MedicalCenter, Plains Township,wherehe wastreated forlacerations tohis forehead, injuries to his lefteye and a fractured skull, policesaid.
According to court papers,Diaz-Reyes was drinking beerwhilesittingon stepsto another
house at EastNorthamptonandSouth Grant streets when theboy and his friends walked by,and Diaz-Reyes started speak-ing to the boy in Spanish.
An argument erupted whenthe boy told Diaz-Reyes he didnot speak the language. Diaz-Reyes and the boy shoved oneanother as the boy tried to walkaway.
Diaz-Reyes ran after the boy,pulling out a machete that heswung at the boy, striking himin the forehead and eye, thecomplaint says.
Diaz-Reyes is currently jailedat the Luzerne County Correc-tional Facility on $10,000 bail.
A request to reduce his bailamount hadbeen previouslyde-nied by a judge.
2011 machete attackin W-B heads to trialJunior Alberto Diaz-Reyes
charged with slashing teen
boy in head last June.
By SHEENADELAZIO
FOR THOSE WITHDISABILITIES
CLARK VAN ORDEN/THE TIMES LEADER
Rich Burns, deputy administrator of the Luzerne-Wyoming Counties MH/MR Program,speaks Tuesday during Luzerne County Councils proclamation ceremony naming
March as Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month. The Arc of LuzerneCounty says it joins people everywhere in raising awareness about disability issues.
WILKES-BARRE A Lu-zerne woman charged withusing another womans creditcard to make several purchasesin 2010 was sentenced Tuesdayto two years probation.
Annette Billings, 46, of Ben-nett Street, was sentenced on asingle count of identity theft byCounty Judge Tina PolachekGartley. Billings pleaded guiltyto the charge in December andpaid $1,161 in restitution Tues-day. A remaining $161 must
still be paid, Polachek Gartleysaid, and 25 hours of communi-ty service completed.
WILKES-BARRE Thesentencing of a Pittston manconvicted of several chargesrelating to a case in whichprosecutors say he had aninappropriate relationship witha young girl has been delayeduntil April.
Albert Chase, 33, who wasscheduled to be sentenced nextweek on three counts of invol-untary deviate sexual inter-course, and one count each ofrape of a person less than13years old and aggravated in-decent assault will now be
sentenced on April 17, a senior judge said.
Senior Judge Kenneth Browngranted a request by Chasesattorney, Nanda Palissery, todelay the sentencing to give anexpert time to review a reportby the state Sexual OffendersAssessment Board.
WILKES-BARRE A Pitt-ston Township man facing newcharges in relation to firing agun into a tax office in earlyJanuary has asked a judge toreduce his $100,000 bail.
Michael Kozloski, 28, was
originally charged in Januarywith related charges, but thosecharges were later dismissed.
New charges, filed on Feb.28, by Pittston Township policeinclude aggravated assault,discharging a firearm into anoccupied structure, person notto possess a firearm, simpleassault, reckless endangermentand indecent exposure.
A preliminary hearing istentatively scheduled forMarch 13 for Kozloski, hisattorney Jonathan Ursiak saidin court papers, and asked ajudge to reduce his bail amountbecause it is excessive and violates his constitutionalrights.
COURT BRIEFS
WYOMING -- A man whostopped to ask for directions ata state police barracks was ar-rested on evidence of drunkendriving.
State police at Wyoming saidRaymond J. Rock, 67, of Ed-wardsville, drove his 2005 Che-vy Malibu into the parking lot oftheir Wyoming Avenue barracks
at about 4:30 Monday afternoonand pulled to the back of thebuilding, where patrol cars areparked.
Rock parked in the spacereserved for the Troop P areacommander, got out of his vehi-cle and knocked at the reardoor, which is restricted to statepolice personnel only. Aftergetting no answer, he walked toanother building on the proper-ty and spoke with members of
the Troop P Vice Unit, who hadwatched Rock pull into theparking space, state police said.
Troopers determined he wasunder the influence of alcoholbecause he allegedly had astrong odor of alcohol on hisbreath, was unsteady on his feetand didnt know exactly wherehe was, state police said.
Rock said he was looking forhis accountant, state police said.
He was taken into custody
and transported to Wilkes-BarreGeneral Hospital for a blood-alcohol test. Charges are pend-ing those test results, statepolice said.
HANOVER TWP. -- Police areinvestigating an altercation thatinvolved gunshots outside anAmerican Legion in a residen-tial neighborhood early Tuesdaymorning.
Police said a large fight that
involved several gunshots werereported outside AmericanLegion Post 609 at Lee ParkAvenue and St. Marys Road atabout 3:43 a.m.
Several people were injured inthe fight but there were noinjuries related to the gunshots,police said.
Anyone with informationabout the gunshots is asked tocall Hanover Township police at825-1251.
POLICE BLOTTER
HANOVER TWP. Threepeo-plewerearrestedin separatedrugsweepsconductedbythestateOf-fice of Attorney Generals Lu-zerneCounty DrugTaskForce.
Marion Gause, 44, of MyersCourt, Wilkes-Barre, also knownas Unique, and Nichole Lane, 42,of East Ridge Street, Nanticoke,were arrested Friday afterthey al-legedly soldheroin in theparkinglotattheHanoverMall,SansSou-
ciParkway.AsearchofLanesresi-dence uncovered heroin packetsstampedNo Way Outand Ma-fia,townshippolice said.
Gause and Lane were charged with several drug traffickingcharges andjailedat theLuzerneCounty Correctional Facility forlackof $50,000baileach.
Gause is a member of theBloodsstreetgang, policesaid.
Drug agents arrested EdwardClark Pacheco, 31, also known as
Q,on Mondayafter heallegedlysold heroin in the same parkinglot. A search at Pachecos resi-denceon East MainStreet,Nanti-coke, allegedly uncovered heroinpackets stamped CVS andHangover, crack cocaine, cellphones, a digital scale and a .40-caliberhandgun,police said.
Pachecowaschargedwith mul-tiple drug offenses and jailed atthe LuzerneCounty CorrectionalFacility forlackof $50,000bail.
Separate drug sweeps net 3 arrestsTimes Leader staff
DALLAS TWP. Thesupervisors first worksession Tuesday endedwith the townships twofire companies agreeingtoworkout their bound-aries with LuzerneCounty 911.
DallasFireand Ambu-lance addressed theboard about disputedterritories within thetownship after two for-mer supervisors did notapprove suggestionsmade by the fire compa-nies and Luzerne Coun-ty 911.
In August, 911 ap-proached the township
to redistrict the dis-patching territories due
to a new computer-aid-ed mapping system.
Andrew Zahorsky ofLuzerneCounty911saidthe county wantedboundary clarificationon streets bothfirecom-panies shared.
The map was final-ized in August, and Za-horsky said 911 startedusing the new technolo-gy last week.
ConradHiggins of theKunkle Fire Co. said thefire company is willingto work out the issues,though he felt Kunklesterritory has been de-pleted over the last 50
years he has been a partof the company.
In other business, theboard discussed chang-es that will need to bemadeto thezoning ordi-nance to comply withstate Act 13, governingthe natural gas and oilindustries.
Jack Varaly, the town-ships planning consult-ant, said the new statelaw supersedes localzoning laws. The town-
ship approved compre-hensive regulations on
natural gas activities inOctober as two compa-nies pursued gas facili-ties there.
Varaly saidthereare afew areas the law doesnot address, such asbuffer zones and lot siz-es, the township coulduse to strengthen its or-dinance.
Supervisor LizMartinsuggested the townshipprotest the law by notcomplying, but Solicitor Thomas Brennan saidthe townships power isgiven by the state, andlawsuits could arisefrom such an action.
Dallas Twp. fire companies working out boundariesBySARAHHITE
[email protected] next supervisors
meeting will be at 7:30p.m. March 20 in themunicipal building.
W H AT S N E X T
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C M Y K
THE TIMES LEADER www.timesleader.com WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2012 PAGE 3A
LOCAL
timesleader.com
WILKES-BARRE
Prison guard on trialA Luzerne County jury heard testi-
mony Tuesday in the case of a countyprison guard charged with sellingdrugs to another guard.
Christopher Walsh, 29, of Pittston,faces three charges in the case. Testi-
mony is expected tocontinue throughtoday.
On Tuesday, jurorsheard several record-ed conversationsbetween Walsh andanother guard, Jo-seph Ciampi, about
grand jury subpoe-nas, testimony and how investigatorswere tipped off to the drug activity.Ciampi offered testimony to thegrand jury during the investigationand had resigned from his position atthe county prison as a guard. Ciampihas not been charged.
Walsh was charged in March 2011along with three other prison work-ers, following a 13-month probe.After a grand jury hearing, prosecu-tors learned Walsh allegedly soldcocaine to corrections officers.
NANTICOKE
Bishop coming for serviceSt. John the Baptist Orthodox
Church, 106 Welles St., will hold a
thanksgiving service this evening atabout 7, after the Lenten Liturgy ofpre-sanctified gifts at 6.
His Grace Bishop Tikhon, the bish-op of Philadelphia and Eastern Penn-sylvania, is expected for the services.
The service is to give thanks forthe safety of firefighters and the Rev.Adam R. Sexton and his family aftera fire broke out in the church rectoryduring Sundays service, said Sexton,who is also the city fire departmentschaplain.
Its thanksgiving to the communi-ty for all their support, he said.
A pot luck in the church parlorsbelow the church will follow thethanksgiving service.
HARRISBURG
Disciplinary actions takenDisciplinary actions were taken by
state departments against 171 licens-ed or commissioned professionalsand organizations across the state inFebruary.
Two of the measures were leviedagainst area professionals, accordingto the Department of State:
Mark H. Bell, of Shavertown,was indefinitely suspended for noless than 18 months retroactive toJune 28, 2011, by the state Board ofMedicine because he is unable topractice medicine and surgery withreasonable skill and safety to patientsby reason of illness or addiction todrugs or alcohol.
David Lloyd Naugle, of Hazleton,Luzerne County, was temporarilysuspended by the state Board ofOptometry, pending a hearing, on thegrounds that his continued practiceof optometry within the state may bea danger to public health and safety.
NANTICOKE
Genealogy session is setPeople hoping to trace their family
tree can learn a bevy of techniquesApril 21 when Luzerne County Com-munity Colleges Educational Confer-ence Center hosts a Family History
Seminar.Searching for our
ancestors: Navigatingfederal, state andlocal records, willrun from 8 a.m. to
3:30 p.m. with ses-sions covering howto use the newlyreleased 1940 census,
state archives, military records in thenational archives and Luzerne Coun-ty naturalization records.
Tom Mooney, genealogy columnistfor The Times Leader, will give aninformal noon talk on why localhistory is important to genealogy,and Northeast Pennsylvania Genea-logical Society Secretary Helen T.OBrien will conclude with, Wheredo we go from here? A buffet lunchis included.
The local and state genealogicalsocieties are sponsoring the event.Cost is $35 until March 12, $45 fromMarch 13 through April 16. Informa-
I N B R I E F
Walsh
Mooney
HAZLETON Mayor Joe Yannuzzion Tuesday announced formerPennsyl-vaniaState PoliceCmdr.FrankV.DeAn-drea Jr. as his choice to be the next citychief of police.
Frank and I go way back. Ive knownhim a long time. I know his experiencewith thepolice andhisexperiencein the
gaming, Yannuzzi said at a press con-ference at City Hall.DeAndrea, 48, a native of Hazleton,
served as commander of the PoconoDowns GamingEnforcement Office un-til retiring last April. That positiontopped off a 23-year career with the
state police.Im honored to actually be asked to
be the chief of the city of Hazleton,DeAndrea said. As many of you know,Ive spent 25 years in law enforcement,23 of them with the state police. Andother than three years in Philadelphia,the majority of my time has been in Lu-zerne County.
DeAndrea said he grew up as a law
enforcement officer working with citypolice officers, many of those years as aforensics expert for the state police.Through allof my lawenforcement ca-reer, I feel Ive always had a good rela-
N E W C H I E F Former state police Cmdr. Frank V. DeAndrea Jr. to face City Councils approval
Hazleton mayor tabs new top cop
STEVE MOCARSKY/THE TIMES LEADER
Mayor Joe Yannuz-
zi, left, announcesthat retired Penn-
sylvania State Po-lice Cmdr. Frank V.
DeAndrea Jr., right,
as his choice toreplace retiring
Hazleton PoliceChief Robert Ferdi-
nand at a press
conference on Tues-day at City Hall.
By STEVEMOCARSKY
See HAZLETON, Page 4A
Luzerne County union representativePaula Schnelly urged county council Tuesday to further examine the Lu-zerne-Schuylkill Workforce InvestmentBoard, an outside county agency thathandles job placement and training pro-grams.
Representatives of the board, knownas the WIB, spent more than an hourbriefingcouncil onthe boards work dur-ingTuesdayswork session as partof on-going updatesby outsideboards andau-thorities.
Schnelly said WIB employeeshave received ex-cessive pay in-creases and enhan-cements to theirbenefit packagesthat could reducefunding availableto service the un-employed.
She tried to playan audiotape of a
conversation atthe end of a Janu-ary 2010 WIBmeeting that was obtained through apublic information request, but CouncilChairman Jim Bobeck said councilmembers must review the tape beforedeterminingif it is permissibleto playitat a council meeting.
Schnelly playedthe tapefor themediaafter the meeting. It was a conversationamong WIB employees after a January2010 meeting had ended, but the identi-ty of thespeakersand contextof thepre-cedingmeeting could notbe immediate-ly verified for publication.
Themeeting occurred before a contro-versial change that resulted in the elim-ination of 36 county union jobs.
The WIB hired outside companies toprovide employment programs for
See COUNCIL, Page 4A
C O U N T Y C O U N C I L
Union headurges close
look at WIBoperationsWorkforce Investment Board
workers getting too much
compensation, Paula Schnelly says.
By JENNIFERLEARN-ANDES
Martha Herron,chair of theWIB, told coun-cil the agencyis now meetingall governmentperformancestandards withno audit defi-
ciencies.
WILKES-BARRE For thesecond consecutive year, May-or Tom Leighton has named aCity Hall employee as GrandMarshal of the 32nd annual St.Patricks Day Parade.
City Clerk Jim Ryan wasstunned when Leighton madethe announcement at a CityHall press conference Tuesday.
Iknowtherehave beena lot
be,Leighton said,joking. Buteven the city clerk didnt knowwho we selected.
ing Marie McCormick, city ad-ministrator, as the 2011 GrandMarshal.
Parade a wee bit more Irish; Ryan made grand marshalBy BILLOBOYLE
[email protected] years grand marshal is a person that Ihave admired and respected for years. He issteadfast, dedicated, and the polar opposite ofthe Irish stereotype.
Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tom Leighton
On City Clerk Jim Ryan, named Grand Marshal for St. Patricks parade
HANOVER TWP. Blood spattercovered a blue Hyundai outside a Ma-rion Terrace apartment after LisaScoffone allegedly was stabbed mul-tiple times by her boyfriend, JosephDunaj, on Tuesday.
Township police arrested Dunaj, 27,outside 1601 Mark Drive as Scoffone
was leaning over the vehicle just after11:30 a.m.Scoffone was rushed by township
paramedics to Geisinger WyomingValley Medical Center, Plains Town-ship, where she underwent surgery,Police Chief Al Walker said.
Walker said Dunaj was jailed at theLuzerne County Correctional Facilityon a probation violation. Charges areexpected to be filed against Dunajpending an investigation, Walker said.
Police allege Dunaj stabbed Scof-fone inside their apartment.
Court records indicate Dunaj isserving a two-year probation sentencethat was imposed by a Luzerne Coun-ty judge on May 6 on a criminal tres-pass charge when he smashed a win-dow at the same apartment on Nov.20, 2010.
Scoffone filed a protection fromabuse order against Dunaj in January
in the apartment complex, said themother was outside honking her carshornand getting no response from thedaughter.
(Scoffones) mom stopped me tohelp her check on this Lisa girl, shesaid she wasnt answering, Bryantsaid. I walked in and yelled and she(Scoffone) came down from upstairs.
Bryant saidshe leftand later return-
ed to find police at the same apart-ment.I feel bad; I dont even know these
people. With this happening aroundhere, its kind of scary, Bryant said.
Bryant said the victims mother wasreturning a young boy to the apart-ment Tuesday morning. The apart-ment is adjacentto a small playgroundin the apartment complex.
A front window was smashed andblinds were damagedin the1601 MarkDrive apartment.
Township police detectives DavidLewis and Dean Stair were at theapartmentinterviewing witnesses andcollecting evidence immediately afterthe incident.
County Detective Dan Beky arrivedand spent a short time inside theapartment before going to policeheadquarters in an attempt to ques-tion Dunaj.
2010 that he violated seven times, ac-cording to court records.
Earlier in the morning, LorindaBryant said she was walking to a busstop and was asked by Scoffonesmother to help her check on Scoffone.
Bryant, who resides on Mark Drive
Boyfriend Joseph Dunaj accused of attack on Lisa Scoffone
PETE G. WILCOX/THE TIMES LEADER
Blood on a blue Hyundai at Marion Terrace in Hanover Township shows the aftermath of a stabbing on Tuesday.
Joseph Dunaj was arrested on accusations he stabbed girlfriend Lisa Scoffone, who underwent surgery, police said.
Woman stabbed multiple times
PETE G. WILCOX/THE TIMES LEADER
Police conduct a probe of a stabbing
in Hanover Township on Tuesday.
By EDWARDLEWIS
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C M Y K
PAGE 4A WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2012 THE TIMES LEADER www.timesleader.com N E W S
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tionship with the members of theCity of Hazletons police, he said.
I live in Hazleton, Ive raised sixkids in Hazleton, I think its a phe-nomenal place. Ive alwayshad a lotof respectfor thepolicedepartment(here) andIm actuallyvery excitedto be the chief of the department,he said.
Yannuzzi said DeAndreas ap-pointment must be ratified by atleast three citycouncil memberson Thursday. If council approves,DeAndrea will start work Fridayandwill beswornin at10a.m.Mon-day.
Responding to a report that themayors top pick for the post wasJerry Speziale, the former sheriff ofPassaic County, N.J., who actedalongside Richard Gere in the 2009police drama Brooklyns Finestand resigned in 2010 to take a$200,000-a-year job with the PortAuthority Police Department, Yan-nuzzi said that was inaccurate.
Yannuzzi said he offered the jobfirstto DeAndrea,but DeAndrea ini-tially refused.
Heasked if hecould doanythingelseand I said,Yes, helpme whenIput the ad in and, when we get theresumes, you rank them. So Frankdidthat.I guessgoingthroughthat,talking to me, talking about the po-lice, thechallenges, it gothis adren-aline going, Yannuzzi said.
Yannuzzi said he and DeAndreanarrowed a list of applicants downto six and settled on Speziale, butnegotiations fell through.
When that happened, Frankaskedif hecouldbeconsidered andIsaid, Giveme your resume.He did,and of course I knew that was myoriginal choice.
SoI askedhim andhe accepted,Yannuzzi said.
Yannuzzi said Hazleton has anoutstanding police department,but, using a sports analogy, said itscomprised ofa lotof good athleteswho are not a team yet becausethey dont have the quarterback tolead them through it.
This ismy choicefor thequarter-back: Frank V. DeAndrea Jr., hesaid.
HAZLETONContinued from Page 3A
a person that I have admiredand respected for years,Leighton said. He is stead-fast, dedicated, and the polaropposite of the Irish stereo-type.
Leighton said Ryan hasbeen an anchor of his neigh-borhood whowears hisIrishpride on his sleeve.
Ryan, with his wife, Jean-marie, and children Bridgetand Daniel, was shockedwhen his name was called.
Im speechless; I had noclue, Ryan said. Its a tre-
mendous honor andI hopetouphold the honor of all theprevious grand marshals.
Leighton notedpast honor-ees include former Gov. Ed-ward G. Rendell, former CityAdministrator James F. Co-nahan and Jack and CeceMcCarthy.
Themayorsaid Ryan is thefirst child, andonly son, bornto Edward J. Ryan and Mar-cella P. Ryan, in Syracuse,N.Y. He said Ryan grew up ina large Irish family of 30 firstcousins.
One of Ryans first cousinsis world famous. Tom Kenny,thevoice of cartooncharacterSpongeBob SquarePants, isthegodson andfirstcousinof
Ryan.In a Times Leader story in
2009, Kennysaid Ryanwas14when he stood as his godfa-ther.
Obviously he has utterlyfailed in his responsibilities,Kenny joked in the story.
Ryans ancestors hailedfrom County Longford, Ros-common,and CountyTipper-ary.
Growing up in the Tipper-ary Hill neighborhood, thefamily was never far fromtheir Irish roots, Leightonsaid. The area boasts of theonly traffic light in the worldwhere you will find the greenlight over the red, in respectfor these roots.
MARSHALContinued from Page 3A
adults and underprivilegedyouths, and this work was previ-ously handled by employees ofthe countys now-defunct Work-force Investment DevelopmentAgency.
A state hearing examiner or-dered the county in June to re-
hire theemployeesand paythemlost wages and benefits. The rul-ing stemmed from an unfair la-bor practices claim arguing thecounty played a role in the out-sourcing and failed to negotiatethe outside contracting of union jobs as required by a collectivebargaining agreement.
The payment of past wageswas estimated at $1 million atthat time, and Schnelly, of theAmerican Federation of State,
County & Municipal Employees,or AFSCME, said the amounthas increased since then.
County commissioners hadappealed the ruling, but a deci-sion has not been publicly is-sued.
Schnelly said she has not re-ceived a decision on the appealand noted she has forwarded in-formation to the FBI about theWIB that she believes warrantsinvestigation.
County council members ap-point members to the 33-personboard that oversees the agency.
WIB representatives had left Tuesdays meeting by the timeSchnelly spoke.
Martha Herron, chair of the WIB, told council the agencywas facing multiple deficienciesand on the verge of losing allgovernment funding three yearsago. It is nowmeeting allgovern-ment performance standards
with no audit deficiencies.The agencys executive direc-
tor Lucyann Vierling said theagency, one of 22 WIB zones inthe state, oversees two Career-Link offices in Luzerne Countyin addition to other programs.The agency received $9.06 mil-lion in funding, mostly federal,in the 2010/11 fiscal year, butthat amount has decreased to$7.4 million this fiscal year, shesaid.
In other business, countyManager Robert Lawton an-nounced county Security ChiefJohn Robshaw and Chief Engi-neer Joe Gibbons have come up with a plan to reopen county-owned Moon Lake Park dailyfrom the second week of Aprilinto November. Workers fromboth departments will open thegatesto allow access.The park isopen weekends only for now be-cause of security staff layoffs.
COUNCILContinued from Page 3A
Some lawmakers and law en-forcers say a statewide ban ontexting while driving that goesintoeffect Thursday isonly a firststep in reducing distracted driv-ing and will be difficult to en-force.Theyadvocatea banon anyhand-held cellphone use.
Approved by legislators in thefall, thenewlawwilltakeeffectat12:01 a.m. Thursday and makestexting while driving a primaryoffensecarrying a $50fine. A pri-mary offense means police offi-cers can pull over a driver for noother reason than they see themtexting.
But how can an officer knowfor sure that someone is textingrather than dialing their phone?
Thats an issue some local po-lice chiefs said their officers aresure to encounter.
Wellhaveto crossthat bridgewhen we come to it, said KeithKeiper, chief of the Kingston Po-lice Department.
He said officers will considerextended time spent looking at aphoneas a cluethattextingistak-ing place.
Its going to be hard to do,Keiper said, adding that he ex-pects court challenges to sometickets.
State Police CommissionerFrank Noonan, a Clarks Summitnative,notedthattexting isa se-rious problem and we are hopingthat we can educate citizens onthedangersof texting while driv-ing and prevent future acci-dents.
Noonan echoed Keipers com-ments about howofficerswill de-termine when to initiate a trafficstop.
Our troopers will attempt touse observations of the driverwhile the vehicle is in motion to
determine if trafficstopsare war-ranted. An example might be themotorist continues to manipu-late the device over an extendeddistance with no apparent voicecommunication.
State Rep. Eddie Day Pashin-ski, D-Wilkes-Barre, said oneshouldpull over beforesendingatext, email or using the web.
According to the state Depart-ment of Transportation, distract-ed driving played a role in 14,000crashes in Pennsylvania in 2010
and 68 people were killed. Text messaging while driving
hasskyrocketedover thepast fewyears and the trend is increasing,according to AAA. The auto clubreported that its research found21 percent of drivers admittedtextmessagingwhile driving.Ac-cording to the Virginia TechTransportation Institute, a driv-ers crash risk is doubled whenlooking away from the road fortwo or more seconds.
Michele Drago, a 22-year-old
Larksvilleresidentand a senioratMisericordiaUniversity, doesnottext while driving but said shehas seen firsthand the dangers itposes.
She was a passenger in a vehi-cle when the driver was textingand the vehicle almost veered offtheroad.She saidthat while myfriends dont do it as much asthey used to its still done. Andthelaw,which shefullysupports,might scare some into stoppingbut it will likely still occur.
(People who text while driv-ing) are sneaky about it. Theyllbe more sneaky than they arenow, Dragosaid. She agrees thatpolice have a tough task ahead.
Its going to be a hard law toenforce, Drago said.
Pennsylvania will become the35th state to ban text messagingfor all drivers. Its a good firststep, said Wilkes-Barre PoliceChief Gerry Dessoye, who alsonoted it will be difficult to knowat a glance whether someone istexting or simply dialing theirphone.
While Keiper said the textingbanhelps, ultimately he ishopingthe legislature will approve acomplete ban on hand-held cell-phone use while driving.
Provisions that would havedone just that were taken out ofthe texting ban bill before finalpassage.
Thetexting whiledrivingbanwill be difficult to enforce in itscurrent form because police maynot knowor beableto prove thatthedriver wastextingas opposedto dialing the phone. We need ahand-held cellphone use whiledriving ban. But, unfortunately,ashardas itwas togetthe textingbanpassed, I just dont think thatwill happen any time soon, saidRep. Phyllis Mundy, D-Kingston.
N E W S T A T E L A W Beginning at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, texting while driving will be illegal in Pennsylvania
Drivers must keep fingers off phone keypads
AIMEE DILGER/THE TIMES LEADER
Beginning Thurs-day, this activitywill be illegal.Texting whiledriving will be aprimary offensecarrying a $50fine. A primaryoffense meanspolice officers canpull over a driverfor no other rea-son than they seethem texting.PennDOT reportsdistracted drivingplayed a role in14,000 crashesstatewide in 2010and 68 peoplewere killed.
There have been at least two billsthis legislative session that, ifapproved, would outlaw usingcellphones while driving: House Bill 896 was unanimouslyapproved by the House on May10and was sent to the Senate, whereit remains in that chambers Trans-portation Committee. That billsought to address distracteddriving, which would encompasscellphone use while driving andany other activity that takes atten-tion away from the road. House Bill 330, which would banall hand-held cellphone usagewhile driving was referred to theHouse Transportation Committeeon Jan. 31, 2011, and has not been
considered by the committee todate.
B A N B I L L S O N H O L DBy [email protected]
Kingston repeals old sharedpolice services ordinance
KINGSTON -- Council voted Mondaynight to repeal an ordinance regardingshared police services between King-ston and Edwardsville.
Mayor James Hag-gerty said the ordi-nance essentiallygranted Kingston andEdwardsville policeofficers equal author-ity and standing ineither borough, re-gardless of the sharedmunicipal border.
Henry Mattern, Kingstons municipalsolicitor, said the ordinance was unnec-essary, as state law allows officers toenter other municipalities for officialpolice business.
Haggerty said Kingston officials wereunaware that the ordinance was even in
effect. He had only learned about theagreement, which dates back to 1991,when he was consulted by anotherlawyer in his capacity as a private at-torney.
He also raised the issue of the differ-ing hiring practices used by the twocommunities.
Also, Municipal Administrator PaulKeating said the municipality had beenawarded a federal SAFER grant of$149,000, which will go toward twoyears of funding the salary of a newfirefighter. The new hire will serve tokeep the department at 29 members asone firefighter is slated to retire laterthis year.
Keating also said Kingston is likely tobe awarded a combined federal andstate grant through the K-Route pro-gram, which will fund 80 percent of theestimated $900,000 that it will cost torepave Pierce Street from the VeteransMemorial Bridge to Wyoming Avenue.Keating estimates work on the streetsintersections will be completed in thefall of 2012 with the actual repaving ofthe street itself following in spring
2013.Councilman Jack Schumacher pro-
vided his fellow council members withphotographs of the roadroad bridgeover Pierce Street that he feels showthe deterioration of the structure aswell as a lot of overgrowth and litter.
Other council members who live inthe vicinity of the bridge echoed hisconcerns.
The council next meets at 7:30 p.m.April 2.
B. Garret Rogan
Fairview crews are readyto start repaving projects
FAIRVIEW TWP. - - Township Road-master Russell Marhold said on Mon-day that the road crews already hadfinished patching roads for the springand were gearing up to start repavingprojects.
The news came just before Secretaryand Treasurer Barbara Wasiakowskisaid that Luzerne County CommunityDevelopment officials were cutting
their yearly budget for road improve-ments by about $50,000. Supervisorswill receive $75,000 as opposed to anexpected $125,000.
Marhold said the township will try toreplace two community roads thisseason.
The board next meets 7:30 p.m. April2.
Jon OConnell
Plymouth Twp. soil testfindings are revealed
PLYMOUTH TWP. -- Township Engi-neer Joe Mullen presented findings ofsoil tests done on Tilbury Terrace Roadat Mondays supervisors meeting.
There are roughly 60 homes on theroad, which was badly damaged byflooding last July and September.
Mullen, of Pennoni & Associates,explained how his company boredholes into the road and the slope belowto determine the stability of the area.
Mullen said the friction of the sat-urated, sliding earth, which is mostly
sand and gravel, and the weight ofvehicles, caused the road to collapse.This was a classic failure, he said.
Chairperson Gale Conrad said analternate road would be built for usewhile Tilbury is being repaired.
The board next meets in regularsession at 6 p.m. April 2.
Camille Fioti
Resident questions W-BTownship sewer bills
WILKES-BARRE TWP. -- At Mondaynights council meeting, Michael Sro-movski questioned more than $7,000worth of bills for the sewer departmentthis past month.
Township Administrator MichaelRevitt said the pumps at WilkeswoodStation were failing and Roto-Rooterhad to be called in to clean and repairthem. Damage caused by the sewerbackup also had to be fixed, he said.
Council next meets at 7:30 p.m.March 26.
Susan Denney
MEETINGS
Haggerty
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THE TIMES LEADER www.timesleader.com WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2012 PAGE 5A N A T I O N & W O R L D
Look in THE TIMES LEADER for todays valuable inserts from these advertisers:
BEIRUT
Syrias president defiant
Syrias president defied mountinginternational pressure to end the
year-old crackdown on an uprisingagainst him and said Tuesday he wasdetermined to go on fighting what hecalled foreign-backed terrorism.
After a powerful American senatorcalled for airstrikes on Syria, PresidentBarack Obama said unilateral U.S.military action against President Bash-ar Assads regime would be a mistake.
The United States said it is propos-ing a new United Nations SecurityCouncil resolution demanding an endto violence in Syria, first by govern-ment forces and then by opposition
fighters. Russia and China, powerfulallies that have blocked a SecurityCouncil resolution against Syria, madeclear they were still standing by theregime in Damascus.
WASHINGTON
Afghan transition stressedPresident Barack Obama said Tues-
day the furor in Afghanistan over theaccidental burning of Qurans under-scores the need for the U.S. to transi-tion out of the war there.
Obama emphasized that the U.S. stillplans to end its combat role in Af-ghanistan by the end of 2014. Thedrawdown will be a central topic ofdiscussion at the NATO meetings inChicago in May.
Obama said in a news conferencethat the recent accidental burning ofMuslim Qurans by U.S. forces and theprotests that followed underscore thechallenges in Afghanistan and why theU.S. is drawing down its combat rolethere.
Thirty people died in the Quranprotests, including six Americantroops.
HARRISBURG
All-electronic tolls favoredA new report bolsters the prospect of
the Pennsylvania Turnpike convertingto an all-electronic tolling system.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commis-sion posted the report on its websiteTuesday, but officials stressed that any
actual conversion is at least five yearsaway.
The study by an outside consultantrecommends replacing toll booths withoverhead gantries on travel lanes.They would electronically deduct tollsfrom vehicles with E-Z Pass trans-ponders and photograph license platesof other vehicles so bills could be sentto the registered owners.
Commission spokesman Carl DeFe-bo said that, if the commission ap-proves all-electronic tolls, that firmalso could oversee the implementationof the new system.
LONDON
Small World writer diesHow do you sum up the work of
songwriter Robert B. Sherman? Tryone word: Supercalifragilisticexpiali-docious.
The tongue-twisting term, sung bymagical nanny Mary Poppins, is likemuch of Shermans work both com-plex and instantly memorable, for childand adult alike. Once heard, it wasnever forgotten.
Sherman, who died in London at age86, was half of a sibling partnershipthat put songs into the mouths of nan-nies and Cockney chimney sweeps, jungle animals and Parisian felines.
Robert Sherman and his brotherRichard composed scores for filmsincluding The Jungle Book, TheAristocats, Mary Poppins and Chit-ty Chitty Bang Bang. They also wrotethe most-played tune on Earth, Its a
I N B R I E F
AP PHOTO
Nugget goes for $8,100, by George
A McDonalds Chicken McNuggetfound by Rebekah Speight of DakotaCity that she believes resembles Presi-dent George Washington is placednext to a U.S. quarter bearing theimage of the nations first president.Speight sold the 3-year-old nugget for$8,100 on eBay.
TEHRAN, Iran Efforts to find a dip-lomatic solution to Irans disputed nucle-ar program appeared to geta boost Tues-day when world powers agreed to a newroundof talks withTehran, andIrangavepermission for inspectors tovisit a site suspected of secretatomic work.
The two developmentscountered somewhat the crisisatmosphereover Irans nuclearprogram, the focus of talks in Washington between Presi-dent Barack Obama and Israels visitingprime minister.
Speaking ata news conference,Obamasaidhe sawa windowof opportunitytouse diplomacy instead of force to resolvethe dispute over Irans nuclear program.
Hesaid heis focusedon sanctionsal-ready imposed on Iran and on interna-tional pressure to keep Tehran from de-
veloping a nuclearweapon.Iraniansneedto show they are serious about resolvingthe crisis, he said, adding that his policyisnot oneof containmentbut of stoppingIran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
The U.S. and its allies say Iran is on apath that could lead to the production of
a nuclear weapon. Iran in-sistsits program isfor ener-gy production and otherpeaceful purposes.
EU foreign policy chiefCatherine Ashton said thefivepermanent members ofthe U.N. Security Council
andGermanyhad agreed toa new roundof nuclear talks with Iran. Previous talkshave not achieved what the powers want an end to uranium enrichment on Ira-nian soil. The last round ended in failurein January 2011. Ashton said the EUhopes Iran will now enter into a sus-tained process of constructive dialoguewhich will deliver real progress.
Iran nuke talks to resume
AP PHOTO
President Barack Obama gesturesTuesday during a news conference inthe James Brady Press Briefing Roomof the White House in Washington.
Iranians need to
show theyre serious
about resolving the
crisis, Obama said.
By ALIAKBARDAREINI
Associated Press
C R I S I S Major powers OK new round; Iran to allow inspection of suspect site
WASHINGTON Morethan 70 percent of students in- volved in school-related ar-rests or cases referred to lawenforcement were Hispanic orAfrican-American, accordingto an Education Departmentreport that raises questionsabout whether students of allraces are disciplined even-handedly in Americas schools.
Black students are morethan three times as likely astheir white peers to be sus-pended or expelled, accordingto an early snapshot of the re-port releasedto reporters. The findingsc om e fro m anational col-lection of civilr ig ht s d at afrom 2009-10
of more than72,000 schoolsserving 85 per-cent of the na-tion.
The Educa-tion Depart-m en t s ai d i t would releasemore detailsTuesday.
The sad fact is that minor-ity students across Americaface much harsher disciplinethan non-minorities, even within the same school, Edu-cation Secretary Arne Duncantold reporters.
Duncan said some school of-ficials might not have beenaware of inconsistencies inhow they handle discipline,and he hoped the report wouldbe an eye-opener.
Raul Gonzalez, legislativedirector at the National Coun-cil of La Raza who taughtschool in New York, said zerotolerance policies in bothschools and the court systemdisproportionately affect blackand Hispanic kids. He said thepolicies have created a systemthat takes kids out of schooland ultimately leads them intoprison where they becomehardened criminals.
Weve lost control of alljudgment here, and its almostalways a black kid or a Hispan-ic kid affected, Gonzalez said.
According to the EducationDepartments report, 42 per-cent of the referrals to law en-forcement involved black stu-dents and 29 percent involvedHispanics, while 35 percent ofstudents involved in school-re-lated arrests were black and 37percent were Hispanic.
Black students made up 18percent of the students in thesample, but they were 35 per-cent of students suspendedonce and 39 percent of stu-dents expelled, the report said.
MinoritystudentspenaltiesharsherReport raises questions about
whether Hispanics and blacks
are bring treated fairly.
By KIMBERLY HEFLING
AP Education Writer
According to
the Education
Departments
report, 42
percent of the
referrals to
law enforce-
ment involved
black stu-
dents and 29
percent in-
volved His-
panics.
COLUMBUS, Ohio Anursing homewhere a 31-year-old man died after a meth labfire that injured several otherpeople was cited for 18 viola-tions last year, including notproviding adequate care, ac-cording to state records ob-tained Tuesday.
The victim was not a pa-tient or employee of ParkHavenHome in Ashtabula,au-thorities said as they sought
to uncover how the meth labwas setup ina residents roomand how long it went unde-tected.
Policesaid chargeswereex-
pected against two men whowere also burned in the fire.
The fire broke out Sundaynight, east of Cleveland, au-thorities said.
Three residents and twonon-residents were hospital-ized, including Shaun War-rens of Ashtabula, who diedMonday at a Cleveland hospi-tal. An autopsy was plannedTuesday.
Police believe two visitorsand one Park Haven residentknew about the meth lab, Po-
liceChief RobertStell told theStar Beacon of Ashtabula.
The homes alleged viola-tionsin a December surveyin-cluded not providing ade-quate care, failing to investi-gate how a resident was in-
jured and not properlyresponding to residents com-plaints about missing proper-ty.
An earlier review of the fa-cility, in June, resulted in cita-tions for two violations.
Meth lab burns at nursing homeA man who was not a
resident died at facility
cited with 18 violations.
The Associated Press
AP PHOTO
Firefightersenter ParkHaven NursingHome on Sun-day to investi-
gate a firecaused by ameth lab in aroom at thehome in Ash-tabula, Ohio.
STATE COLLEGE Law-yers in the Jerry Sandusky case were ordered Tuesday to ap-pear in court early next week toaddress how much informationstate prosecutors should becompelled to disclose beforethe start of trial on child sex-abuse charges.
Judge John Cleland sched-uled oral argument on the de-fense request for additional de-
tails to be heldMonday morn-ing in the Cen-tre County Courthouse inBellefonte.
Sanduskylawyer JoeAmendola said
last week he wanted the attor-ney generals office to providemore details about the allega-tions to help him prepare pos-
sible defenses based on an alibi,the statute of limitations, dou-ble jeopardy or other grounds.
Sandusky, 68, is a formerlongtime assistant footballcoach at Penn State.
He is confined to his home ashe awaits trial on 52 criminalcounts that involve 10 boysover 15 years. He denies the al-legations.
Cleland wants jury selectionto begin May 14, although the
two sides continue to hash outpretrial issues.
Next weeks hearing centerson the bill of particularss ou gh t b y A me nd ol a t ha t would provide more detailsabout the times, dates and loca-tions where crimes allegedlyoccurred, the names of people who were present or nearby,and special events such asfootball games on the days ofthe purported crimes.
Judge schedules hearing on Sandusky attorneys request for more information
Lawyer Joe
Amendola said
last week he
wanted
Attorney
Generals Office
to provide more
details about
the allegations.
The Associated Press
Sandusky
DRESSED UP WITH SOMEWHERE TO GO
AP PHOTO
Members of The Joseph A. Ferko String Band prepare to march with Philly Pops musicians, staff and othersTuesday in a parade to the Pops new headquarters in Philadelphia. The Philly Pops is an orchestra that
authentically performs a wide variety of musical genres and is made up of musicians from the Philly area.
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PAGE 6A WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2012 THE TIMES LEADER www.timesleader.com O B I T U A R I E S
The Times Leader publish-es free obituaries, whichhave a 27-line limit, and paidobituaries, which canrunwitha photograph. A funeralhome representative can callthe obituary deskat (570)829-7224, senda faxto (570)829-5537 or e-mail to [email protected]. If youfax ore-mail,please call toconfirm. Obituaries must besubmitted by 9 p.m.SundaythroughThursdayand 7:30p.m. Friday and Saturday.Obituariesmustbe sent byafuneral home or crematory,ormustnamewhois hand-li t ith
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G enettisA fterFu nera lLu ncheons
Starting a t$7.95 p erp erson
H otelBereavem entRates
ST.M ARYS
BUYNAK Stephen, funeral 9 a.m.today in the John V. Morris FuneralHome, 625 N. Main St., Wilkes-Barre. Funeral Mass at 9:30 a.m. inthe St. Stanislaus Kostka worshipsite of St. Andre Bessette Parish.
ECKENRODE Janice, funeral10a.m. Thursday in the Lehman-Gregory Funeral Home Inc., 281Chapel St., Swoyersville. Friendsmay call 4 to 7 p.m. today at thefuneral home.
FISCHER Theodore, Shiva 2 to 4and 7 to 9 p.m. today and Thurs-day and 2 to 4 p.m. Friday, at 604Wildflower Drive, Plains Township.
HOGAN Eugene, funeral 9:30 a.m.today in the Kielty-Moran FuneralHome Inc., 87 Washington Ave.,Plymouth. Mass of Christian Burialat 10 a.m. in All Saints Parish,
Plymouth.GERMAN Leonard, Shiva Thursday2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. and 2 to 4p.m. Friday at 445 North GatesAve., Apt.1, Kingston.
GRODIS Ruth, funeral11a.m. Thurs-day in the Metcalfe and ShaverFuneral Home Inc., 504 WyomingAve., Wyoming. Friends may call 5to 8 p.m. today at the funeralhome.
LEWIS Janice, memorial service 11a.m. Saturday in E. Blake CollinsFuneral Home, 159 George Ave.,Wilkes-Barre. Friends may call 10a.m. until the time of the service.
ROWLANDS David, memorialservice 8 p.m. today in the Howell-Lussi Funeral Home, 509 WyomingAve., West Pittston. Friends maycall 5 p.m. until service time in thefuneral home.
SKORONSKI Phyllis, funeral10 a.m.today in the Andrew Strish FuneralHome,11 Wilson St., Larksville.
STOUT Sarah, funeral11a.m. todayin McCune Funeral Home, 80 S.Mountain Blvd., Mountain Top.Friends may call 10 a.m. until thetime of the service at the funeralhome.
WALKER Alfonzo, funeral noontoday in the First Baptist Church ofWilkes-Barre, 48 S. River St.,Wilkes-Barre. Friends may call 9a.m. until the time of the service atthe church.
ZLUCHOWSKI Michael, funeral 9a.m. today in Jendrzejewski Funer-al Home, 21 N. Meade St., Wilkes-Barre.
FUNERALS
NANETTE WARNICK BAR-TOWJONES, age85, passed awayThursday,March1, 2012. Born andraisedin Pennsylvania, sheattend-edKingstonHighSchoolandgrad-uated from Penn State Universityin 1949. She married William W.Jones in 1952 and raised three
daughters. Nanetteretired after16 years as a social worker for thestate of Florida in Palm BeachCounty. Shewasprecededin deathby herhusband, WilliamW. Jones.She is survived by her daughters,Carol Jones, Linda Connor andGail Starr and five grandchildren
Services were held Sunday,March 4, 2012, at WinkenhoferPine Ridge Funeral Home in Ken-nesaw, Ga. Burial will be at OakLawnCemetery in Hanover Town-ship at a later date.
EDWARD J.ELMY, 89, former-lyof MainStreet,SugarNotch,andAltoona, passed away on Monday,March5, 2012, atHampton House,Hanover Township.
Funeral arrangements arependingfrom theGeorge A. StrishInc. Funeral Home, 105 N. MainSt., Ashley.
MARGARET (EDWARDS)MONELLI, age 87, of Old Forge,passed away Monday morning,March 5, 2012, at Moses TaylorHospital in Scranton. Two sons,John Monelli Jr. and Leo Monelli,and several siblings also precededherin death.She issurvivedby hersons Ronnie Monelli and wife Pa-
tricia of Old Forge, Randy Monelliand wife Lori of Sunrise, Fla., andBradley Monelli and fiancee Mi-chelleRanielloof OldForge;broth-ers, Robert and William Edwards;14 grandchildren and many great-grandchildren.
Graveside services bythe Rev.James A. Wert will be conductedonThursdayat 9 a.m. inthe MarcyCemetery, Foote Avenue in Du-ryea. Relatives and friends maypaytheirrespectstodayfrom5to 8p.m.at theThomasP. KearneyFu-neral Home Inc., 517 N. Main St.,Old Forge. Please visit www.Kear-neyFuneralHome.com for direc-tions or to leave an online condo-lence.
DORIS D. VAN SCOTEN, for-merly of West Pittston and FortyFort, passed away in ColoradoSprings, Colo., on February 11,2012. Doris was born October 30,1927, in Greenfield Township, Pa.,to the late Arnold R. and Lura A.(Kenyon) Decker. She was preced-ed in death byhusbandJames, for-mer Pittston YMCA director; sonKim, and sister Janice Howanitz.Surviving are son James Van Sco-tenand hiswife, Betty; grandsons,Joshua and Jason; sister LouiseNorthup; sisters-in-law, Jean Scottand Marilyn Van Scoten.
A memorialservicewillbe heldinColoradoSpringsat a later date. The family would like to thankOdyssey Hospice for the specialcare given toDoris.Memorial con-tributions may be mailed to Odys-sey Hospice, 5526 N. AcademyBlvd., Colorado Springs, CO80918. Arrangements were madethrough All Veterans FuneralHome, Wheatridge, Colo.
Mary Dolores McDermott Fra-zier, 98, died March 4, 2012.
Mrs. Frazier was born in Wilkes-Barre and was a graduate of St.Anns Academy. She had formerlyworked for Bell Telephone of Penn-sylvania, BellTelephoneof NewJer-sey,and C&PTelephoneof Virginia.She was a member of St. Pauls Ca-tholic Church, Portsmouth, since1943. She volunteered for the RedCross Blood Program for 42 years,the Christ Child Society for 27years, Maryview Hospital Auxiliaryand the U.S.O.
She was married to Johnnie E.Frazier for almost 65 years until hisdeath on January 26, 2012, and wasalsopredeceasedby a son,JohnFra-
zier, and a daughter, Marilou F.Spacek.
Sheis survivedby herson-in-law,James R. Spacek; grandchildren,Michael and David, sons of the lateJohn Jack Frazier, John Spacek,Margaret Bairley and KathleenBarnes; six great-grandchildren;nieces, Jeanne Marie Natale, PeggySarsfield, Elaine Chismer, SisterJoanne McDermott, R.S.M., Patri-ciaMcDermott, ScharleneMcPhail,Mary Jane Bruns and Kitty Civisco;
nephews, Joseph J. Kerrigan, Jo-seph McDermott, Jaime McDer-mott and The Rev. ChristopherMcDermott.
A Mass of Christian Burial willbe celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Friday,March 9, at St. Pauls CatholicChurch by Fr. Leo Manalo. Burialwill follow in Greenlawn MemorialGardens. A Christian Wake Servicewill be held at 7 p.m. Thursday atFoster Funeral Home, Portsmouth.In lieu of flowers, memorial dona-tions may be made to St. Pauls Ca-tholic Church Restoration Fund,518 High St., Portsmouth, Va.23704.
Mary McDermott FrazierMarch 4, 2012
Joann B. Mimi(nee Bonfanti)Miller, of Her-sheys Mill, for-merly of Merion,Pa., passed awayMarch 5, 2012.
Sheis survivedby her son AllieMiller III (Sta-
cey)of DesMoines,Iowa, herdaugh-ter Patti (Thomas) Kiely of Berwyn,and her six grandchildren, T.J., Max,Tanner, Noah, Emmie, and Antonia.
Relatives and friends are invitedto her Memorial Mass on Friday,March9, at11a.m. atSs. Peter &PaulChurch,1325Boot Rd.,West Chester,Pa.
In lieu of flowers, contributions inJoanns memorycanbe madeto MainLine Animal Rescue, 1149 PikeSprings Rd., Phoenixville, PA 19425.
Arrangements are by the DAnjo-lell Memorial Home of Malvern Frazer. Visit www.danjolell.com
Joann B. MillerMarch 5, 2012
Miriam Loretta Muth, affection-ately knownas Mom,Gram-
my,Gigi,and Boo,of OldRiverRoad,Wilkes-Barre, wasreceivedbythechoirs ofangelsin heavenin theearly morning of Tuesday, March 6,2012. Shepassedawaypeacefullyatherhome,surrounded byher lovingfamily.
Miriam was born on September5, 1916 in Wilkes-Barre, the daugh-ter of the late Isaiah and ElizabethTracy Winters. She graduated fromCoughlin High School in 1934.
ShemarriedthelateJohnJ.Muthin 1949 and together they celebrat-ed 52 wonderful years of marriage.She was a devoted member of theformer St. Therese R.C. Church inWilkes-Barre for 61 years and cur-rentlyheld membershipat SaintNi-cholas Church in Wilkes-Barre.
Anyone who knew Miriam lovedher with all their hearts. Her unwa-vering, all-conquering faith definedher, radiatingwarmth andloveto allwith whom she came into contact.Shepassedthis inspiringfaithon toher family and loved ones. She wasknown toalways betherewitha lov-inghug, warm smile, cheerfulsong,and the reassuring words, Godwilling. Her loved ones have beendeeply impacted by the incrediblelove of Miriam, and they will missher so very deeply every day. Shewas truly amazing.
Miriams greatest joy in life camefromher family. Shefound immensehappiness in sitting on her frontporch, going for rides through thevalley, reading, and playing count-less Scrabblegameswith her family.She took great pride in the accom-plishments of her children andgrandchildren,and shewas activelyinvolved inall oftheiractivities.Mi-riam also found great peace andpleasure in attending weekly Mass-es.
Miriam cherished every secondofeveryday andwasappreciative ofall of her blessings. She had a deepappreciationfornatureanda loveofpoetry, as she could remarkably re-cite numerous poems from memo-ry. Miriam enjoyed experiencingthe beauty of the Lords creationthrough travel. Among her manytrips were vacations to Hawaii, theFinger Lakes, Canada, DisneyWorld and Ireland. Her visit to Ire-land, particularly the hometown ofhermother, wasa life-longdreamofhers.
Miriam is preceded in death byher parents, her husband, and hersister, Florence Winters Downend.
Miriam treasured her eight chil-dren with all her heart. Survivingareher children,JohnMuth andhiswife Susan, of Bear Creek; Rita Jef-ferson and her husband John, of
Ashley; Joseph Muth and his wifeGeralyn, of Wilkes-Barre; MiriamNeher and her husband Ronald, ofMountainTop;GerardMuth andhiswife Robin, of Nanticoke; FlorenceMuthof Wilkes-Barre;CatherineRi-chards andher husbandThomas, ofHanover Township; and Jean Muthof Wilkes-Barre.
Miriam was also deeply belovedby her 14 grandchildren, Katie Neh-er Grove and her husband Charles;
Michelle Harned and her husbandCurtis; Ronald Neher Jr. and his wife Ashley; Brian Muth and hiswife Sarah; Sara Muth and her fian-c Marty Kane; Melissa Osick andher husband Brian; Lisa Jefferson;Patrick Muth; Thomas Richardsand his girlfriend Michelle Beloin;AmyMuth; SamanthaMuth; Rebec-ca Richards; Ally Muth; and AbbyMuth.
Miriam felt extraordinarilyblessed to have her seven great-grandchildren as well. They areMollyand AndyGrove; Krissy, Jack,and Olivia Neher; Hunter Harned;and Nathan Muth. Also, she just re-ceived the exciting news that hereighth great-grandchild is expectedthis summer.
The funeral will be held on Fri-day, March9, 2012at 8:45 a.m.fromJacobs Funeral Service, 47 Old Riv-er Road,Wilkes-Barre, followedby a
Mass of Christian Burial to be cele-bratedat 9:30a.m.in SaintNicholasChurch, 226 South WashingtonStreet, Wilkes-Barre.
Interment will follow in SaintMarys Cemetery, Hanover Town-ship.
Family and friends may call onThursday,March 8,2012from4 to8p.m. at the funeral home.
To send the family an onlinemessage of condolence, you may visit www.jacobsfuneralservice-.com.
In lieu of flowers, memorial con-tributionsmaybe made in Miriamsmemory to Our Lady of VictoryHomes of Charity, 780 Ridge Road,Lackawanna,NY 14218-1682, or AveMaria University, 5050 Ave MariaBlvd., Ave Maria, FL 34142-9505.
Miriam L. MuthMarch 6, 2012
Robert D. Williams, 73, of Lu-zerne, passed away peacefully
surrounded by his loving family onMonday in the Wilkes-Barre Gener-al Hospital.
Born in Wilkes-Barre he was theson of the late Fred Williams andDorothy Durling Williams Grobow-
ski. He was educated in the WestPittston schools. He served in theArmy Reserves. For many years hewas employed at the Wilkes-BarreGeneralHospital,SalekOpticalandretired from Clearbrook TreatmentCenters after 25 years. He was amember of Our Lady of Hope Par-ish, Wilkes-Barre. Roberts life re- volved around his family andfriends with addiction problemsand helping them with their sobrie-ty. Hewasso lovedby everyonewhoknew him and he gave himself in somany ways. Robertenjoyed theout-doors and had a passion for fishing.
Preceding him in death were hischildren Maureen Williams and Ri-chardWilliams,sister MaryJean Te-desco.
Surviving arehis wifeof 52years,the former Marion Mozdian; chil-dren Marion Otway and her hus-
band, Darran, Swoyersville; RobertWilliams, Wilkes-Barre; two grand-children; sisters Carolyn Williams, West Pittston; Dorothy Stucker, Wilkes-Barre; brother, Fred Wil-liams, Sunbury; nieces and neph-ews.
Funeral services will be atthe convenience of the family
from the Metcalfe and Shaver Fu-neralHome Inc., 504Wyoming Ave-nue, Wyoming.
Interment will be in the MountOlivet Cemetery, Carverton.
Robert D. WilliamsMarch 5, 2012
Hope Cicon Moses of Hallandale,Florida, passed away Monday,
March 5, 2012, at Aventura Hospitaland Medical Center, Aventura, Flor-ida.
Bornin Exeter, shewasthe daugh-terof thelateJosephCicon andMaryDupock Cicon. Hope was a graduateof the Nesbitt School of Nursing,Kingston.
Prior to her retirement, she was aregistered nurse at Aventura Hospi-tal and Medical Center.
After retirement, Hope continuedto work at Aventura Hospital as acase manager.
Hope was a parishioner of St. Phi-lip Antiochian Orthodox Church inFort Lauderdale,Florida. Shewas al-soamemberofTheOrderofSt.Igna-tius of Antioch.
She was preceded in death by herhusband, James Moses, formerly ofWilkes-Barre.
Surviving are her sons, JamesMoses of Miami, Florida, and Mi-chael and daughter-in-law Sandra ofAllentown, and several nieces andnephews.
Funeral will be held Friday at 11a.m.from theMamary-DurkinFuner-al Service, 59 Parrish St., Wilkes-Barre, with services at 11:30 a.m. inSt. Mary Antiochian OrthodoxChurch, 905 S. Main St., Wilkes-Barre.
Interment will be in the parishcemetery, Hanover Township.
Friends may call Thursday from 5to 8 p.m.
Hope Cicon
MosesMarch 5, 2012
Kenneth C. Burke, 63, a residentof West Pittston, died Monday,
March5, 2012athis homefollowinga lengthy illness.
Mr. Burke was born in Pittston,son of the late John and MargaretRose Burke, and was a graduate ofNortheast HighSchool,Duryea. Heserved with the Army as a PrivateFirst Class in Germany during theVietnamEra. Following his militaryservice, he was a salesman and car-pet installer and had worked forVanguard Fire Extinguisher Co. forsome time. Prior to his retirementin1995 dueto illhealth,hehad beena cook at the Sky Liner Diner, Pitt-ston Township.
Mr. Burke was a former memberof the Jaycees, the West Side Club,Avoca; the Ancient Order of Hiber-nians; the Polish Club of Dupontand the Veterans of Foreign Wars,Duryea. In addition to his parents,Ken was precededin deathbyan in-fant brother, John Burke.
Surviving arehis wifeof 37years,Linda Richardson Burke, at home;children, Shyloe McDonald and herfianc, Gary Lance, West Pittston;Jessica Lee and her husband, Den-nis, Plymouth; Jill Burke and herfianc, Jeff Hoover, West Pittston;JohnBurke,WestPittston; step-son,Bernard McDonald, Dallas; broth-ersandsisters, PatriciaHowellsandher husband, John; Joseph Burkeandhiswife,Vera,andLorraineGre-
navich and her husband, Ted, all ofNanticoke; Margaret Ann Burke,New York City; James Burke, Jen-kins Township; nine grandchildrenand numerous nieces and nephews.
Funeral will be held Friday at9 a.m. from the H. Merritt
Hughes Funeral Home, Inc., a Gold-en Rule Funeral Home, 211LuzerneAvenue, West Pittston,with FuneralMass at 9:30 a.m. in Sacred HeartWorship Center of Nativity Parish,
Duryea. Interment will be in ClarksGreen Cemetery, Clarks Green.FriendsmaycallThursdayfrom4 to7p.m.A ChristianWakeServicewillbe held Thursday.
The family requests that flowersbeomitted andthatmemorialdona-tions be made for funeral expensesin care of the funeral home.
Kenneth C. BurkeMarch 5, 2012
Robert S. Johnston, of Dallas,died Tuesday, March 6, 2012 in
the Hospice Community Care Inpa-
tient Unit at Geisinger SouthWilkes-Barre.Born December 17, 1922 in
Brooklyn,N.Y, hewas theson ofthelate John E. and Elizabeth AitkenJohnston.
He graduated fromTunkhannockHighSchoolin 1940and Penn StateUniversity in 1947. Bob enlisted intheAviationCadetProgram in1942andflew35 missionsoverEuropeasaco-pilotandpilotof theB-24heavybomber in the 15th Army Air Forcebased in Italy.
He wasself-employed as a Manu-facturers Representative.
Bob was a member of the Dad-dow-Isaacs American Legion, Post672, Dallas; Veterans of Foreign Wars; Irem Temple Wilkes-BarreShrine Club and Dallas UnitedMethodist Church.
Preceding him in death were abrother, Harold Johnston, and sis-ter, Mildred Karshner.
several nieces and nephews.A memorial service will beheld Friday, March 9, 2012 at
11a.m.fromthe HaroldC. SnowdonFuneral Home Inc., 140 N. MainStreet, Shavertown. The ReverendRobert G. Wood, Pastor of DallasUnited Methodist Church, will offi-ciate.Friends maycallat thefuneralhomeFridayfrom10a.m. until timeof service.
Robert S. JohnstonMarch 6, 2012
IgnatiusM. Scarantino,92, of Pitt-ston, passed away Sunday eve-
ning, March 4,2012in Wilkes-BarreGeneral Hospital.
Born in Italy on September 10,1919, he was the son of the late Jo-seph and Caroline Martel Scaranti-no. He was a graduate of PittstonHigh School and served in the U.S.Army during World War II. He hadbeen employed as a machinist andretired from American Chain andCable.
Mr. Scarantino was a member ofSt.JosephMarelloParishat St.Roc-cos Church, the San Cataldo Socie-ty and the Knights of ColumbusCouncil 372, of Pittston.
He was preceded in death bybrothers, Louis R., Nicholas, Samand Phillip Scarantino, and sisters,Rose Scarantino,GraceDorula, and
Mary Pace.Surviving are sisters-in-law, Mrs.
Louis R. (Mary) Scarantino andMrs. Nicholas (Carmella) Scaranti-no,both ofPittston; numerous niec-es and nephews.
Funeral serviceswill be at11a.m. on Thursday, March 8,
2012 from the Peter J. Adonizio Fu-neral Home, 251 William Street,Pittston, with a Mass of ChristianBurialat11:30a.m.inSt. JosephMa-rello Parish at St. Roccos Church,Pittston. Interment will be in St.Roccos Cemetery, Pittston Town-ship. Friends may call Thursdayfrom 10 to 11 a.m. at the funeral
home.Onlinecondolencesmay be made
at www.peterjadoniziofuneral-home.com.
Ignatius M. ScarantinoMarch 4, 2012
ALBERTW. RAUGHLEY, 61, ofMcGinnis Street, Plymouth,passed away Tuesday, March 6,2012 at home.
Funeral arrangements arepending from the Yeosock FuneralHome, 40S.MainSt., PlainsTown-ship.
Florence Carr Rollman, 97, for-merly of Washington Square
Apartments in Wilkes-Barre, diedSunday at Little Flower Manor.
Born September 1, 1914, inWilkes-Barre,she wasa daughterofthelate Peter andMary BurkeCarr.
Florence attended Saint MarysHigh School and was employed by
the former Wilkes-Barre Lace Millfor several years prior to marriage.
Mrs. Rollman dedicated most ofher life to caring for her family.Florence was a member of the
Parishof Saint Nicholasand wasac-tive in the residents club of Wash-
ington Square Apartments, whereshe had resided for 31 years.
Her husband, John C. Rollman,
diedOctober 17,1986. Sisters,AnnaPeranto and Emily Trevethan, and
brothers, James, John, George andHarry Carr also preceded her indeath.
She will be missed by her sons,John J. and his wife, Jean Rollman,
of Wilkes-Barre; James F. and hiswife,DoloresRollman,of Barnegat,
New Jersey; and William P. and his
wife,Gail Rollman,of Williamsport;
granddaughters, Shannon Reilly, Tiffany Rollman, Elizabeth Davisand Melissa Caroccia; great-grand-
children, Morgan, Victoria, AidenandMaya; nieces,nephews, cousins
and friends.
Celebration of Florences Life
will be held Saturday at 8:30 a.m.from McLaughlins - TheFamily Fu-
neral Service, 142 South Washing-
ton Street in Wilkes-Barre, with Fu-neral Mass at 9:30 a.m. in theChurch of Saint Nicholas. Inter-ment will be in Saint Marys Ceme-
tery in Hanover Township. Visita-tionwill be heldat McLaughlins on
Friday from 4 to 6 p.m.Inlieuof flowers,memorialdona-
tions maybemadeto Parishof SaintNicholas, 226 South Washington
Street, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701-2897, or the charity of your prefer-ence.
Permanent messages and memo-ries can be shared with Florences
family at www.celebrateherlife-.com.
Florence P. RollmanMarch 4, 2012
HELENA COLABELLA, 90, ofthe Nanticoke Villa, died Monday,March 5, 2012, at the HospiceCommunity Care at GeisingerSouth Wilkes-Barre. Born on Nov.30,1921,in Nanticoke,she wasthedaughterof thelate Frankand Ste-phania Stefaniak Adamski. Shehad been employed by GeneralElectric Corp., Syracuse, and Gen-eral CigarCo., Nanticoke. Shewaspreceded in death by sisters, Mar-tha and Florence, and brothers,John and Ignatius. Surviving arebrother, Joseph, of Tulsa, Okla.;nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be heldFriday at 9:30 a.m. from the Stan-ley S. Stegura Funeral Home Inc.,614 S. Hanover St., Nanticoke,withMassof ChristianBurial at10a.m. in the secondary site of St.Faustinas Parish (St. Mary ofCzestochowa Church), Nanticoke.
Final interment will be in the par-ish cemetery, Nanticoke. FriendsmaycallThursdayfrom6 to8 p.m.
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8/2/2019 Times Leader 03-07-2012
7/34
As prime minister of Israel, I willnever let my people live in theshadow of annihilation.Benjamin Netanyahu
During a trip to Washington this week, the Israeliprime minister asserted his countrys right to defend
itself against an Iranian nuclear threat. Netanyahu visited Capitol Hill onTuesday.
House transportation bill
seen as bad public policyT
he recent commentary by U.S. Rep.Lou Barletta, R-Hazleton, about thetransportation bill (Investing in in-
frastructure will help shore up economy,Feb. 29) certainly sounded like a greataccomplishment. Closer examinationreveals Lou is not telling us everything.
The House of Representatives NaturalResources Committee approved whatTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood callsthe worst transportation bill Ive ever seenduring 35 years of public service. LaHoodspent14 years in Congress, serving as aRepublican representative from Illinois. Hetold a news outlet that Congress alwayscame together in the past to support trans-portation, but HR 7 is the most partisantransportation bill hes ever seen.
For 30 years, federal transportation
legislation has allocated a small portion ofthe national gas tax to transit funding. Butunder the new five-year bill just passed bythe House committee, funding for publictransportation systems will disappear.Thats a bad public policy for all of us.
David MartinTunkhannock
Early screenings crucialin colon cancer prevention
Every year during March, medical pro-fessionals, patients, family membersand others observe National Colorectal
Cancer Awareness Month a time whenconcerned individuals raise awarenessabout the incidence of colorectal cancer.The message is straightforward: There are
simple steps we can take to prevent anddiagnose this disease.
Colorectal cancer is the second-leadingcancer killer in America, claiming morethan 40,000 lives every year. According tothe Pennsylvania Department of Health,the states colorectal cancer incidence andmortality rates are higher than the nation-al average (57.9 per 100,000 compared toU.S. average of 52).
Fortunately, however, colorectal canceris one of the most preventable and easilydetected cancers if screening occursearly enough. Regular colorectal screen-ings can detect polyps that can be removedbefore they become cancerous. A recentstudy in the New England Journal of Med-icine was consistent with the value ofcolonoscopy for this purpose, demonstra-ting a 50 percent decrease in colon cancerdeaths in patients who had adenomatous
colon polyps removed.Whether youre male or female, follow
these guidelines, based on the U.S. Preven-tative Services Task Force recommenda-tions, beginning at age 50 (age 45 if Afri-can-American):
Have a fecal occult blood test yearly;or
Have a fecal occult blood test everythree years combined with a flexible sig-moidoscopy every five years; or
Have a colonoscopy every 10 years.If you have a personal or family history
of colorectal cancer, colorectal polyps orinflammatory bowel disease, talk withyour health care professional about earlierscreening
No matter what your age, you should
know colorectal cancer risk factors, symp-toms and your family history. Make screen-ing tests part of your healthy life. Talk withyour doctor about the colorectal screeningoptions available, using the above list as aguide.
Colorectal cancer is highly preventable,treatable and often curable when detectedearly. Do the right thing for yourself andyour family: Get screened early.
Dr. Thomas J.CastellanoChief of the Section of Gastroenterology
Wilkes-Barre General Hospital
Writer believes mandatewill hurt service members
P
resident Barack Obamas push of hisunconstitutional health care mandate
is now taking a shot at military person-nel and veterans.Obamas plan calls for increases between
30 percent and 78 percent in Tricare an-nual premiums for the first year. After that,the plan will impose five-year increasesranging from 94 percent to 345 percent more than three times current levels inhopes it will push service members out ofTricare and into Obamacare.
Not included in these cuts are civilianunionized defense employees.
How are we letting this happen?
RaymondPickKingston
Burning of Quran requiredno apology from Obama
Something is wrong in this world. TheNational Endowment for the Arts cansupport a photographer who places a
crucifix in urine and calls it art. Yet Unit-ed Nations/American troops accidentallyburn a copy of the Muslim Quran (whichreportedly had been desecrated by prison-er extremists writing notes on the pages),
and 10 people, including four Americans,are killed.
President Obama degrades America by
apologizing. Where are we going? Therewere no apologies to America for thedeaths (murders).
James P. WestShavertown
Poor management blamedfor downfall of USPS
Ipreviously challenged postal manage-
ment to not close the mail processingcenter in Scranton and to increase ser-
vice, not decrease it. By announcing thatnot only the Scranton facility will close,but 11other processing facilities, includingReading, Lancaster, Williamsport and Erie,the U.S. Postal Service management hasfailed miserably to provide any evidencethat its mission is to save the USPS andnot dismantle it from within.
As I have seen in the last five years, badand subversive management decisionshave pushed the USPS to the precipice ofnothingness.
I recently read a letter to the editorabout cutting costs, referring to USPScommercials. Id like to expand on wherecosts can be cut.
Pay for performance bonuses: How can acompany projected to lose $14 billion stillhand out bonuses, spot awards, etc.?
Detail assignments: When a valuedmember of the postal service managementteam fills in a vacancy in another facilityand area, not only do they receive salaryand compensation, but also per diem suchas travel, meals and, if far enough, hotelaccommodations. How much is this costannually?
A football field-sized behemoth knownas the Flats Sequencing System: The USPSis into this machine roughly $1.4 billion,and it has been referred to as a boon-doggle. It isnt known when, or even if,there will be cost savings.
Second ounce free: This was recentlyannounced so that major mailers essential-ly will pay the one-ounce price for up totwo ounces of mail. How can a corporationthats bleeding money have giveaways likethis?
Keep in mind, since 2004 the USPS hashad a decrease of 135,909 employees, but anet increase of 822 headquarters positions.Why are they necessary?
These are some of the facts that ourelected representatives should be lookinginto and have investigated externally.When these closings and consolidations gointo effect, it will be a sad day for what
was once the U. S. Postal Service.Im afraid when the dust settles history
will not be kind to not only the interestswho destroyed the Postal Service, but alsoto those who stood idly by and let it hap-pen.
Constantine WaydaAshley
MAIL BAG LETTERS FROM READERS
Letters to the editor must include thewriters name, address and daytimephone number for verification. Lettersshould be no more than 250 words. Wereserve the right to edit and limit writersto one published letter every 30 days. Email: [email protected] Fax: 570-829-5537 Mail:Mail Bag,The TimesLeader, 15N. Main St., Wilkes-Barre, PA18711
SEND US YOUR OPINION
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THE TIMES LEADER www.timesleader.com WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2012 PAGE 7A
I
T WOULD BEeasyto callthe gridlock in Congresslaughable, except for the
real impact it has on oureveryday lives suchas thegri-dlock on highways.
Case in point is the massivetransportation spending bill, aconfusion of practical and po-litical priorities that lawmak-ers seem incapable of turninginto clear federal policy. Sincea five-yeartransportation fund-ing plan expired in 2009, Con-gress has managed only a se-ries of nine stopgap measuresto keep federal gasoline taxesflowing back to the states.
Lawmakers are in the throesof their latest attempt at a re-placement plan, but the Houseand the Senate have strayed,seemingly oblivious to thedatethis month when the tempora-ry highway bill expires.
Of the two, the Senate is
closer to having its act togeth-er. It forged a bipartisan ap-proach to a two-year bill that
would continue many currentprograms, including the use ofgas taxes to support publictransportation. Thats impor-tant federal policy of 30 yearsstandingthat mustbe retained.
Still, theSenatebillhas beenhit with a blizzard of distract-ing amendments, includingone to strip mandated contra-ceptive coverage from the fed-eral health care law. Please!
The House, meanwhile,weighed in with a stinker of atransportation bill that wouldhave scrapped the guaranteedtransit support and helped payfor expanded road projectsthrough moreoffshoredrilling,including in the Arctic Nation-al Wildlife Refuge.
The Dallas Morning News
OTHER OPINION: HIGHWAY BILL
Stalled Congressmust get in gear
MOONLAKE PARKthe nearly 650-acreLuzerne Countycampground and
recreation area in PlymouthTownship deserves better thanto fall into further disrepairwhile,for yetanotherseason, itsfuture remains murky.
Theplace shouldswarmwithvisitors onwarmspringdays. Bysummer, its double Olympic-sized swimmingpool ought to drawoodles of area resi-dents seeking coolrelief. Instead, mostpark amenities havebeen idled in recentyears because of thecountys ongoingbudget problems. Asrecently asthis week,public access hasbeenrestrictedto Saturdays andSundays, from 9 a.m. to 4:30p.m. Moon Lakes gates will belatched on weekdays.
Fortunately, two state law-makers hope to intervene, res-toring at least some activitiesand ensuring lake access for
trout season. State Rep. GeraldMullery and state Sen. JohnYudichak, whose constituentshave voiced concern about thepark, intend to muster supportfrom state agencies, such as thePennsylvania Fish and BoatCommission.
Their stated aim: a partner-ship between county and state.
Perhaps the best outcome,however, would be for MoonLakes ownership to one day betransferred, ending any countycontrol. This oasis probably
could be better protected andmaintainedas a state parkor theproperty of another conserva-tion-minded
