AndesPAPME

his office. But as caseloads con-tinued to climb, so did his con-cern that illusion was becomingreality.

That concern wasthemotivation behindhis decision lastmonth to limit thetype of cases his officewill accept to juve-niles, defendantscharged with homi-cide or a felony sexual

assault and persons who are in-carcerated, facing an involuntarymental health commitment orstate parole violation.The policy is designed to re-

WILKES-BARRE – Lu-zerneCountyChief Pub-lic Defender

AlFlora Jr. andhis staffhave heard the tauntscountless times fromdefendants dissatis-fied with the represen-tation they’ve beenprovided.The attorneys are

not “public defenders,” as their ti-tles state. They’re “public pre-tenders”whoprovideonly an illu-sion of an effective defense totheir clients.For years Flora considered the

jab an insult to the attorneys in

Editor’s note:First of a two-partseries on fundingand staffing issuesat the LuzerneCounty PublicDefender’s Office.

No rest forDEFENSE

Showing aheavy case-load, casefiles lie onthe floor andatop thefiling cabi-nets at theLuzerneCounty Pub-lic Defend-er’s Office.

CLARK VAN ORDEN PHOTOS/THE TIMES LEADER

Al Flora, chief public defender, last month put limits on the cases his office will accept. He is concerned about the quality of representation his office can provide.

Attorney Joseph Saporito’soffice at the Luzerne CountyPublic Defender’s Office haspiled-up paperwork.

Caseload troublesoffice head FloraBy TERRIE [email protected]

See DEFENDER, Page 12A

LUZERNE COUNTY PUBLIC DEFENDER’S OFFICE

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Details, Page 12C

Robert C. Lawtonwill likely beLuzerne County’s first perma-nent home rule manager, gener-ating curiosity about the 49-year-old California man and his pastexperience.Al Segalla, president of the Ca-

laverasCountyTaxpayersAssoci-ation, was impressed with Law-ton’s performanceas chief admin-istrative officer in the northernCalifornia county from 2007-09.

“When he was here, he was ve-ry conscious of using good man-agement skills to guard the peo-ple’s money,” Segalla said. “Ourtaxpayers group was satisfiedwith him.”Segalla believesLawton left for

a position in Solano County, Cal-if., where he had previouslyworked, because he faced pres-sure from some members of theelected Calaveras governingbody.“There’s a faction in our local

politics that wanted to expandgovernment and increase taxes,and I don’t think he was anxiousto do that,” Segalla said.Segalla said Lawton would

help Luzerne County’s cost-cut-

ting efforts.“He’d be good for that. He has

to answer to supervisors, but hebelieves in representing the tax-payers,” Segalla said. “Depend-ing on your politics, you’ll love orhate him.”Solano County Taxpayers

member George Guynn Jr., whohas faithfully attended county

government meetings for sevenyears, does not share Segalla’sopinion of Lawton.Guynn said he sees no evi-

dence thatLawtonadvocates sav-ings and said Lawton has notbeen receptive to taxpayers whoattend meetings.

Front-runner for manager draws praise, some reservation

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Robert C. Lawton will likely beLuzerne County’s managerunder home rule. Originallyfrom New York, he worked re-cently in California.

Robert C. Lawton couldbecome Luzerne Countymanager under home rule.

By JENNIFER [email protected]

“I think he’s the type of guy who will walk aroundand be able to put his finger on the pulse prettyquick. I think he’s a self-starter who can see aproblem and fix it.”

Walter GriffithLuzerne County controller

See LAWTON, Page 6A

Claiming they are under-funded and overworked, a grow-ing number of public defendersthroughout the nation are chal-lenging the government entitiesthat control their purse stringsby refusing to take new cases.LuzerneCounty entered the

fray lastmonthwhenChiefPublicDefenderAl Flora Jr.announced his officewouldlimit the number of cases itaccepts because caseloads havebecome so high he can no long-er guarantee effective repre-sentation to clients.Public defenders in several

states, includingMissouri,Florida, Tennessee andKen-

tucky, have taken a similar hardline stance, saidDavidCarroll,research director for theNation-al Legal Aid andDefenderAsso-ciation, a non-profit organiza-tion that provides legal aid tolow incomepeople.“Public defenders across the

country are starting to say, ‘We

Local defender’s hard linepart of a national patternBy TERRIE [email protected] “I am not going to sit

by and see our officeflounder under mywatch.”

Al FloraChief public defender

See NATIONAL, Page 12A

O’Brien

User: jhealey Time: 01-07-2012 22:59 Product: Times_Leader PubDate: 01-08-2012 Zone: Main Edition: Main_Run PageName: news_f PageNo: 1 A Color: CMYK

C M Y K

PAGE 6A SUNDAY, JANUARY 8, 2012 THE TIMES LEADER www.timesleader.com➛ N E W S

“He seems to think that staffpeople are superior to the public.The interactions we’ve had havenot been very pleasant,” Guynnsaid.Lawton was Solano County’s

deputy county administratorfrom January 2005 to January2008, receiving a salary of$135,000. He returned as thecounty’s principal managementanalyst in January 2010, at a sala-ry of $122,000.Lawton said in his Luzerne

County application that heworked to reduce costs in Solano.Guynn is displeased with the

Solano County administrationoverall, saying Lawton is “just astaff person and has to be withthe politicians and what they’regoing to do.”“The county is big on wasting

public money. That has been myobservation,” Guynn said.

Tough conditions prevailedCalaveras County Chamber of

Commerce Executive DirectorDiane Gray said Lawton was “ve-ry accessible and personable.”Gray said he had a “tough job”

there.“We’re a small, rural communi-

ty where small town politics areugly. It was the beginning of a re-cession. He handled it all verywell I thought,” Gray said, noting

Lawton believed county govern-mentmust play a role in econom-ic development.At the time of Lawton’s hiring,

he was quoted saying he and hiswife, Francine, were “thrilled” tomove to Calaveras, which re-minded them of the area in NewYorkwhere the two of them grewup.In his Luzerne County applica-

tion, Lawton said he gained ap-proval of Calaveras County’s firststructurally balanced budget infive years and first strategic planwhilehewasadministrator there.The administration reduced gen-eral fund expenditures by 17 per-cent and put an additional 25 per-cent into reserves.Dave Haley, vice president and

division manager at the real es-tate development company Cas-tle & Cook Calaveras Inc., wasquotedat the timeofLawton’sde-parture saying the countyneededa more “strong” and “dynamic”chief administrative officer.Haley said last week the elect-

ed supervisors were -- and prob-ably still are -- too controlling,which stifles thecreativity and in-dependent ideas of the chief ad-ministrator. The board shouldkeep the manager accountablebut not unnecessarily intervene,he said.“You have to be able to man-

age, and when you have a head-strong political body that doesn’tallow you do, that it’s very bad,”Haley said.Haley believes Lawton has the

knowledge and skills to be an ef-fective manager in LuzerneCounty.LuzerneCounty’s charter is de-

signed to prevent the 11-memberpart-time county council from in-terfering in daily operations. Sev-en council votes are required toterminate the manager.

Lawton’s backgroundLawton graduated in social sci-

ence from Orange County Com-munity College in New York in1982 and worked in various posi-tions for the New York State As-sembly and Senate through1992.After receiving a bachelor’s de-

gree in political science from theState University of New York atNew Paltz in 1992, Lawton head-ed to the University of Iowa to at-tend school and work as a re-search fellow and teaching assist-ant. He obtained a master’s de-gree in political science from theuniversity in 1994.He returned to New York,

working in various county andstate jobs over the next decade,except for a short stint as admin-istrator of Marinette County,Wis.In December 2004, Lawton an-

nounced he was leaving his$50,000 position as chief of staffto the chair of the 15-memberSchenectady County legislatureto take a $94,000 position as dep-uty administrator in SolanoCounty.

Local officials impressed

Rick Morelli, the only LuzerneCounty Council member openlyacknowledging Lawton’s rankingas the top finalist, said Lawton isthe “total package.”Lawton views Luzerne Coun-

ty’s switch to a new governmentas a professional opportunity andimpressed the interviewing teamwith his approachable style andexperience handling layoffs,large staffs and big budgets inother counties, Morelli said.“He was a clear front-runner

from the beginning,” Morellisaid.

Luzerne County ControllerWalter Griffith came into workon a recent Saturday becauseLawton wanted to meet himwhile he was in town for the in-terview.“I think he’s the type of guy

whowill walk around and be ableto put his finger on the pulse pret-ty quick. I think he’s a self-starterwho can see a problemand fix it,”Griffith said.Lawtonvoluntarily toldhim, in

the interest of full disclosure, thathe chose to deed his CalaverasCounty property back to themortgage holder when he had to

relocate because the propertylost significant value with themarket decline and couldn’t besold.Councilmembers haveprivate-

ly said Lawton’s credit historywas good otherwise, though theshort-sale may result in a higherpremium if he must be bondedfor county work.Griffith credits Lawton for vol-

unteering the information abouthis property.“I think that goes to the guy’s

character that he was open aboutit up front,” he said.

LAWTONContinued from Page 1A

WILKES-BARRE – People who want to quiztheir electedofficialswill have theopportunity onJan.28whentheLeagueofWomenVotersWilkes-Barre sponsors its annual Legislative Breakfast.Jane Manganella, coordinator, said the annual

eventgivesguests theopportunity to sharebreak-fast with the legislator of choice and discuss is-sues that impact their lives.The breakfast is fol-

lowed by a panel discus-sion that gives further op-portunity for guests tohear legislatorsstancesonissues in their responsesto written questions sub-mitted through a modera-tor.The breakfast is being

held on the same day andat the same time as the“Ready to Run” confer-ence at The University ofScranton. That event isdesigned to encouragewomen to seekelectiveof-fice.Luzerne County is

above the norm when itcomes towomenholdingoffice – four of the eightrepresentatives in Luzerne County are women:State Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Lehman Township; andstateReps.PhyllisMundy,D-Kingston,KarenBo-back, R-Harveys Lake, andTarahToohil, R-ButlerTownship.StateSen.JohnYudichak,D-PlymouthTownship; and state Reps. Eddie Day Pashinski,D-Wilkes-Barre, Mike Carroll, D-Avoca, and Ger-aldMullery, D-Newport Township, will also be atthe event.Manganella said seating is limited and she en-

couraged those planning to attend tomake reser-vations by Jan. 23.

Legislators setfor discussionat breakfastBy BILL O’[email protected]

WHAT: League ofWomen Voters Legis-lative BreakfastWHERE: King’sCollege CampusCenter, Sheehy Farm-er Center, 3rd floorWHEN: at 8:30 a.m.,Jan. 28RESERVE: By Jan.23. Tickets are $15;checks may be sentto: LWVWB, P.O. Box1480, Wilkes-Barre,PA 18703. Reserva-tions by phone at675-3429.

I F YOU GO

PLAINS TWP. – Edwin Matthews,feels lucky to be alive.On Sept. 24, 2011, the 74-year-old

resident of Nanticoke fell at his homewhile working on his car. He was tak-en to GeisingerWyoming ValleyMed-ical Center’s emergency room, wherehe credits the interdisciplinary teamthere with not only saving his life, butmaintaining the quality of his life.Matthews’ hip surgery was done

within the 48-hour window, increas-ing the likelihood the patient will sur-vive and thrive in the long term.AsMatthews sat at themedical cen-

ter Friday morning with Dr. AnthonyBalsamo, orthopedic surgeon and di-rector of the Geisinger Geriatric Frac-ture Care Program, it was clear thetwonot only have a relationship basedon excellent medical services thatBalsamo and his team have provided,but on mutual caring between thetwo.“Youmademe look good,” says Bal-

samo, of Matthews’ high level of com-pliance and quick recovery after hisfall.Matthews and his wife, Arlene, in

turn, laud the efforts of Geisingeralong every step of that recovery.From the Emergency Room staff, thenurse coordinator, hospitalist and or-thopedic surgeons themselves, everymember of the team has a job to do,and Matthews believes that they do itwell.Balsamowas also quick to point out

family members are an intricate partof that team, as well. He remembers

how Arlene, a former nurse’s aide her-self, took the time to learn how to as-sist her husband in his recovery. Fam-ilies are also a good source of accurateinformation and continuing support.“The hip fracture patient needs to

have a plan,” said Balsamo, “some-thing to work toward and believe in.”He said patients need to move

around after surgery, to decrease theincidence of pneumonia, skin break-down, clotting and cognitive impair-ment.Balsamo emphasized even the

choice of pain medication is impor-tant in insuring the patient can be “upand around” as quickly as possible.Dr. John Lynott, a relatively new

member of the orthopedic team, said

the interdisciplinary approach insuresevery patient concern is addressed.He emphasizing it is not a “multidisci-plinary approach” but an “interdisci-plinary approach,” meaning that eachmember of the team works togetherand communicates effectively.Part of that effective communica-

tion can be attributed to Geisinger’selectronic medical record which pro-vides up-to-the-minute patient infor-mation at each step of care.That medical record also contrib-

utes to the evidence-basedmodel thatBalsamo says allows the team to gath-er information thatwill not only assistindividual patients but will help doc-tors identify trends in the long term.Both Lynott and Balsamo say that

with an upcoming “boomeratic gener-ation” (those 65 and older), programssuch as the Geriatric Fracture Pro-gram are key to improving both thelength and quality of life of olderadults. By connecting patients withresources needed to expedite their re-covery, future injury can be avoided.Matthews and his wife can appre-

ciate the statistics but aremostly gladthat Edwin’s future looks promising.“I am even a volunteer here at the

hospital,” said Matthews, a Eucharis-ticministerwho administersCommu-nion to patients in their hospitalroom.Balsamo, putting his hand on Mat-

thews’ shoulder, says, “That is whatit’s all about.”

Fast action crucial for hip recovery

BILL TARUTIS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER

Director of Geriatric Fracture Care Dr. Anthony Balsamo, right, and partner Dr. John Lynott talk about orthopedictreatment and care as hip surgery patient Edwin Matthews of Nanticoke listens at Geisinger Wyoming ValleyMedical Center in Plains Township on Friday morning.

Hospital’s interdisciplinary teamworks with family members tomaintain quality of life.

By GERI GIBBONSTimes Leader Correspondent

User: jhealey Time: 01-07-2012 22:40 Product: Times_Leader PubDate: 01-08-2012 Zone: Main Edition: Main_Run PageName: news_01 PageNo: 6 A Color: CMYK

COLONELSTOP MONARCHSTurning in Wilkes’ bestlong-range shooting per-formance in a dozenyears, Matt Mullins’ ca-reer-best 30 points andnine threes lifted theColonels to a 66-56 winover rival King’s onWednesday night at Scan-dlon Gymnasium. Mullinshelped thwart a spiritedsecond-half comeback bythe Monarchs, scoring 17points in the final 13 min-utes after King’s hadtaken the lead.Sports, 1B

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Applicants for two LuzerneCounty government boards hadto sit at the head table before anaudience of county councilmembers and citizens Wednes-day night to answer questionsabout why they should be ap-pointed.It’s a complete reversal from

past county practice because for-mer commissioners did not pub-licly disclose the names and

qualificationsof all citizenswho were con-sidered forboard posts.Council

members planto select ap-pointees on

Tuesday.SixDemocrats and fiveRepub-

licans were interviewed for twounpaid county election boardseats.

The council will choose onefrom each party, and those twowill select a third.Ten were interviewed for

three seatson theassessment ap-peals board.The six Democratic election

board applicants: CalmanBaggs,Wilkes-Barre, a retired countytransportation scheduler/oper-ations manager; Thomas Baldi-no, Mountain Top, a Wilkes Uni-

COUNTY COUNC I L Board applicants in open interviews for first time

Hopefuls make public pitchBy JENNIFER [email protected]

Bobeck

See BOARDS, Page 12A

Luzerne County Council Chair-man Jim Bobeck said the councilplans to hire the permanentcounty manager at Tuesday’smeeting.He declined to identify the per-son offered the position. It is expected to be Robert Law-ton, Rio Vista, Calif., who hasbeen principal managementanalyst for Solano County, Calif.,since January 2010.

PERMANENTMANAGER H I R EEXPECTED

LOS ANGELES — In a movethatheightensthegrowingtensionbetween Silicon Valley and Holly-wood, Wikipedia and other web-sites went darkWednesday in pro-testoftwocongressionalproposalsintended to thwart the online pira-cy of copyrighted movies and TVprograms.The web-based encyclopedia is

partofaloosecoalitionofdot-comsand large tech-nology compa-nies that fearCongress is pre-pared to sidewith Hollywoodand enact ex-treme measures— possibly in-cluding theblocking of en-tire websites—tostoptheonlinesharing and un-authorizeduseofHollywood pro-ductions.The fight will

test which Cali-fornia-based in-dustry has themost sway inWashington.For now, Sili-

con Valley ap-pears to have the upper hand. Sup-porters of the legislation— calledthe Stop Online Piracy Act in theHouse and the Protect IntellectualProperty Act in the Senate — saythe bills are aimed at protectingjobs in themovie andmusic indus-tries. But a campaign includingtech heavyweights such as GoogleInc.andYahooInc.hassuccessfullyportrayed thebills asanattackonafree andopen Internet.“It has nothing to dowith stolen

songs or movies,” said Justin Ru-ben, executive director of MoveO-n.org, which is participating in theblackout.Rubensaystougherlegis-lation—evendirectedoverseas—couldmakedomesticculturalcom-mentators more prone to legal at-tack.Rather than showing encyclope-

dia articles, Wikipedia displayed ablacked-out page describing theprotest andofferingmore informa-tiononthebills.Manyarticleswerestill viewable on cachedpages.

ONL I N E RU L ES

Hollywoodlights vs.InternetdarknessSeveral websites go darkWednesday in protest ofproposed online-piracy bills

By RYAN NAKASHIMAAP Business Writer

The one-day outagewas timedto coincidewith keyHouse andSenatecommitteehearingsas theyprepare tosend thebills to thefull floorfor debate.

INSIDE: Rep. Holden withdrawssupport for legislation, Page 12A

See DARK, Page 12A

WILKES-BARRE – The presi-dentof thecity firefighters’unionsaid a special committee of fire-fighters wanted the city to pur-chasethreenewfireenginesfromadifferent company than the oneselected back in 2005-06.Union President Mike Bilski

said this weekhe spoke tosome of themen whoserved on thecommittee,andhewas toldthey favoredAmerican La-

France of Summerville, S.C., notKME-Kovatch Organization ofNesquehoning.“These guys are mechanically

inclined; they know about heavyequipment,” Bilski said. “Theyliked features offered by Ameri-

can LaFrance, like turning radi-us. But I guess KME offered thesame things.”Since it became known last

week that a $1 million donationwas used to fund the purchase,Mayor Tom Leighton has stoodby his decision to conceal thenameofthedonor.Hehasofferedno explanation of why he did notreveal the donation itself.Bilski said the fire department

neverknewtheoriginofthemon-ey used to purchase the trucks.“We had no clue for years,” he

said. “It was always mentioned

how much money was beingspent on the new engines. All Iknow is the committee made itsrecommendation, and some-bodyafterthatmadethedecisionto gowithKME.”

City’s responseDrew McLaughlin, the city’s

administrative coordinator, is-sued a response on behalf ofLeighton:“Despite any firefighter’s con-

tention to the contrary, seven

Union head differs over fire trucksHe says committee wanteddifferent company to buildengines using $1M donation.

By BILL O’[email protected]

See TRUCKS, Page 12A

Bilski

Twomen who grew up in the WyomingValleywill have a public airing of a 90-min-ute documentary they are making on theKnox Mine Disaster.After graduating from Wyoming Area

High School, Dave Brocca was a PennState film major, moved to Los Angeles

and got into the movie business.Brocca, of West Pittston, interned at

IFILM.com and has been in Los Angelesever since.He and his cousin, Albert Brocca, have

teamed up to produce and direct, andeventually established their own compa-ny, Pitch Films.Over the last four years they have been

working on a 90-minute, feature-lengthdocumentary titled “The Knox Mine Di-saster: The End of Anthracite.”Now, in conjunction with Mining His-

Coming soon: Knox film in the works

PITTSTON DISPATCH PHOTO

David Broccaposes withJack Scanel-la, the cine-matographerof the originalKnox MineDisasterfootage.Brocca andhis cousin,Albert Broc-ca, are work-ing on a docu-mentaryabout TheKnox MineDisaster.

Trailer of the documentary on the ’59mine disaster, being filmed by 2 Valleynatives, will be screened locally.

By JACK [email protected]

See FILM, Page 12A

PROUD TO BE POLISH AND AMERICAN

CLARK VAN ORDEN/THE TIMES LEADER

Norma Johnson, bottom right, along with others from the Kingston Senior Center sing ‘God Bless America’ at theconclusion of the Polish Festival Day on Wednesday. For more photos from Kingston and Nanticoke, see Page 6A.


C M Y K

PAGE 12A THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2012 THE TIMES LEADER www.timesleader.com➛ N E W S

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U.S. Rep. Tim Holden, one of30 co-sponsors of the Stop On-line Piracy Act, on Wednesdayannounced he was withdrawinghis support.“Based onmybackground as a

sheriff, the Stop Online PiracyAct, commonly referred to asSOPA, was brought to me as alaw enforcement bill,” Holdensaid.“At its core, the bill’s intent to

eliminate theft by foreign web-sites protects the intellectual

property of American manufac-turers of all spheres. However,the possible unintended conse-quences, such as stifling innova-tion and limiting free speech onthe Internet, have come to theforefront of debate. An open In-ternet requires thatwe findabet-terapproachthat isacceptable toall sides. Therefore, I withdrewmy co-sponsorship of this billand will work to find a solutionthat protects both the opennessand innovation of the Internet aswell as intellectual property.”Thebills are designed to crack

down on sales of pirated Ameri-can products overseas, and theyhave the support of the film andmusic industry. Among the op-ponents are many Internet com-paniessuchasWikipedia,Yahoo,

Google, Facebook, AOL, eBayand Twitter.U.S. Rep. Tom Marino, R-Ly-

coming Township, is a co-spon-sor of the bill. And Sen. BobCasey, D-Scranton, is a co-spon-sor of the related bill in the Sen-ate, called Protect IP Act, or PI-PA.Efforts to obtain a comment

fromMarino were unsuccessful.John Rizzo, Casey’s press sec-

retary, issued a statement say-ing, “Sen.Caseyhasheard fromanumber of his constituents onthe issue and looks forward to afull debateon the legislation.Hisgoal is to fight to protect law-abiding citizens while stoppingcriminals who are hurting Penn-sylvania companies and work-ers.”

Holden now against piracy billU.S. rep. is one of SOPA’s 30co-sponsors, but he said hehas changed his mind.

By ANDREWM. [email protected]

Reddit.com shut down its socialnews service for 12 hours. Othersites made their views clear with-out cutting off services. Googleblacked out the logo on its homepage, directing people to a pagewhere they could add their namesto a petition.The one-day outage was timed

to coincide with key House andSenatecommitteehearingsastheyprepare to send the bills to the fullfloor for debate.However, sponsor Rep. Lamar

Smith, aTexasRepublican, soughtlastweektoremoveacontroversialprovision from the House bill thatcould forceInternetserviceprovid-ers to interfere with the way Webaddresses work for foreign sitesdeemed dedicated to piracy. He

postponed work on the measureuntil February.Critics believe such tinkering

with core Internet technologytreads into dangerous territorythat could lead to online censor-ship. It might also give hackers anewway towreakhavoc.The White House raised con-

cernsthatthebillscouldstifleinno-vation.Overtheweekend,theOba-ma administration reacted to twoonline petitions, saying it “will notsupport legislation that reducesfreedom of expression, increasescybersecurity risk or underminesthe dynamic, innovative global In-ternet.” At the same time, the ad-ministration called on all sides to“pass sound legislation this yearthat provides prosecutors andrights holders new legal tools tocombat online piracy originatingbeyondU.S. borders.”That nuanced stance is Presi-

dent Barack Obama’s attempt at“threading the needle” between

twoimportantconstituenciesasheseeksre-electioninNovember,saidJeffrey Silva, a technology policyanalyst atMedley Global AdvisorsinWashington.Ontheonehand,hisadministra-

tion has defended a free, open In-ternet as it watched repressive re-gimes fall in the Middle East withhelp from social media such asTwitter. It has also been a propo-nent of the concept of “net neutral-ity,” which prevents Internet ser-vice providers fromslowingonlinetraffic that comes from file-sharingsitesknowntotrade inpiratedcon-tent.On the other hand, Obama and

otherDemocratshavegonetoHol-lywood dozens of times to raisecampaign funds over the years.“The administration is trying to

fight toprotect theInternetspace,”Silva said. “But at the same time, itdoesn’twanttodisenfranchiseHol-lywood and the business commu-nity.”

DARKContinued from Page 1A

tory Week, Albert Brocca willscreen a trailer of the movie atthree venues:• Today at 7 p.m. in Room104

of the McGowan School of Busi-ness at King’s College after theInaugural Msgr. John J. CurranMemorial Lecture -- “The KnoxMine Disaster: The AnthraciteMineworker and The Culture ofCorruption” -- by professor Rob-ert P. Wolensky and William A.Hastie.• On Saturday Brocca and

Wolensky will present the trailerat the Anthracite Heritage Mu-seum in Scranton for the 53rdAnniversary of the Knox disas-ter.• On Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. at the

Earth Conservancy Building,Main Street, Ashley, in front of

the Huber Breaker, the trailerwill be screened for the HuberBreaker Preservation Society.Attorney F. Charles Petrillo willspeak on: “Last Shift: The End ofDeep-Coal Mining in the Wyom-ing Valley 1959-1974.”

Chance meetingThe idea for the documentary

sprang from a chance meeting atBrocca’s great grandmother’s fu-neral when his uncle, Bill Best,the president of the HuberBreaker Preservation Society, in-troduced Brocca to Wolensky,who became a consultant andbacker of the movie.They talked about anthracite

history and Dave was fascinated,especially by the 1959 break-through of the Susquehanna Riv-er that ended deep mining in theWyoming Valley.“The Knox is a fantastic story,

and there are still people aroundtoday to tell it. I read Bob’s book

and Jeff Goodell’s ‘Big Coal’ andI was in,” he said.Step one was an interview

with Wolensky.“Bob recommended people

we should interview, and once

we got going, one interview justled to the next. It was very excit-ing, kind of like unraveling apuzzle. We have about 12 hoursof interview footage,” Broccasaid.

The Broccas flew home twicea year with their camera gear toshoot the interviews.Among the subjects are the

late Steve Lukasik, the first pho-tographer on the scene, and hisbrother Bill; Jack Scanella, whofilmed the disaster; Bill Hastie, amine inspector at the scene; halfbrothers John Gadomski, whodied last year, and Bucky Mazar,who were working in the mine,and Audrey Calvey.

Story of survivorsDave Brocca said that while

the movie is the story of a disas-ter, it’s also about survival.“It’s a story of survivors. Not

just the men who got out alive,

but also the families that had tocope with the loss of a loved oneand a community that had tosurvive the loss of over 10,000jobs once the mines closed.”Previously unknown film foot-

age has been found since WVIAproduced a documentary on theKnox in 1984.Brocca said that while video of

what was happening aboveground exists, he and Albertwant to depict what was happen-ing down in the mine.“We’ve all seen the raging vor-

tex of the Susquehanna. I’d liketo show what happened under-ground. To do the film justice,we’d like to do a re-enactment ofwhat the miners experienced un-derground. We’re looking toraise funds to achieve this,” hesaid.The cousins have a campaign

going at kickstarter.com, whereanyone can pledge to the projectwith a credit card.

FILMContinued from Page 1A

PITTSTON DISPATCH PHOTO

Albert Brocca researches old Knox-related articles. He and cousinDavid Brocca are making a documentary on the mine disaster.

Log on to http://www.knoxminedi-saster.com or contact Dave andAlbert Brocca directly at [email protected].

T O L E A R N M O R E

years later, these are the facts:Chief Jacob Lisman organized acommittee to request and reviewRFPs (requests for proposal).Chief Lisman worked with thatcommittee, and the committeerecommended to the administra-tion topurchase the engines fromKME. The city acted on their rec-ommendation.”At lastThursday’sCityCouncil

meeting, City Attorney Bill Vin-sko read a statement that ad-dressed the city’s decision to pur-chase the fire engines fromKME-Kovatch.Vinsko said bid proposals were

received and KME was selectedfor several reasons, includingKME was recommended by thecommittee that prepared theRFPs and that KME owned cer-tain patents for preferred equip-ment.Earlier this week, Vinsko said

other RFPs were solicited and re-ceived. He said he would providecopies of those proposals, but hedidnotrespondtoinquiriesaboutthemWednesday.KarenCeppaHirko, thewoman

who brought the issue to publiclight, said the only patent she isaware of that KMEholds is for anon-board system that blends spe-cial foam with water to aid indousing fires.That feature isnot contained in

any of the three fire engines pur-chasedwith the donationmoney,shesaid.Hirko ismarried toacityfirefighter.Sources in the city fire depart-

ment, who requested anonymity,said the fire engines replaced in2005-06didhave the foaming sys-tem, but becauseof repeatedmal-functions the equipment was notasked for in the new trucks. Thecity uses an external system tomix the foam, the sources said.“Mr. Vinsko said at the council

meeting that everything wasdonelegally,andheclaimedKMEhad a patent that they wanted orused on the trucks,” Hirko said.“But that’s not the case.”Lisman, the city fire chief at the

time and now retired, did not re-turn callsmade to his home.SteveCormier, general counsel

for KME, said the company builtthe engines to the city’s specifica-tions. He said he had “no knowl-edge of where the funding camefrom.”

AnonymousdonorLeighton has said he didn’t re-

veal the $1million donation usedtopurchase the trucksbecausehedidn’t want to risk revealing theanonymous donor’s identity.However, the operations direc-

tor for the Kids for the Kingdomcharityusedtomakethedonationsaid donors did not require con-cealing the donation – they justdidn’twant their names revealed.“As far as I know, it would have

been perfectly OK for the city to

reveal a $1 million donation wasmade,” said Tim Dabel, oper-ations director for Kids for theKingdom. “I don’t knowof any re-strictions that would have re-quired the city to conceal the do-nation was made and theamount.”When pressed for an explana-

tion, McLaughlin, who routinelyfields questions for Leighton, is-sued a terse response.“Inmy two email responses be-

low, as well as the mayor’s quotefor attribution, I’ve answeredyour question,” McLaughlinwrote in the email. “The mayorwas presented with an option bythe charity/donor and he exer-cised his judgment and he hasstated why he judged the situa-tion as he did.”Several people are questioning

the city’s decision to conceal thedonationwhen itwas given.In2005-06,thecitywasinfinan-

cial difficulty. The mayor said re-peatedly it was faced with a $10million deficit when he assumedofficein2004,andthecityhadlostits credit rating.That’s why when Leighton ad-

dressed council at last week’swork session – stating “this typeof philanthropy should be cele-brated by the community andnotthe subject of persistent gossipand conspiracy theories” – heraised political observers’ con-cerns.“I stilldon’tknowwhyhedidn’t

celebrate it in 2005-06,” Hirkosaid.

TRUCKSContinued from Page 1A

versity political science profes-sor; Bonnie Dodson, a retireefrom Pittston; Barry Finn,Swoyersville, a retired televisionmeteorologist; James Geiger,Hazleton, Wilkes-Barre AreaSchoolDistrict deanof students;and Barbara J. Williams, Ply-mouth, administrator atThe Meadows Manor.The five Republican

election board conten-ders: John Ermel, FortyFort, a retiree who re-cently worked as a tem-porary disaster reliefcenter manager; Wil-liam Martin, Dallas, aproduction manager/purchasing estimator atthe Art Print Co., Tay-lor; Patrick Musto, Dal-las, president of Tuft-Tex Carpet; John New-man, Nanticoke, a re-tiredU.S. Postal Serviceexecutive; and John Ruckno,Dallas, a retired Mellon Banktrust officer/money manager.County Election Bureau Di-

rector Leonard Piazza askedtheir views on voting systems,resolving conflicts and the hand-ling of potential election law vio-lations.Williams,Musto andErmel al-

so applied for the appeal board.The other applicants: Neil Al-

len, Kingston Township, retiredvice president of Republic Na-tional Bank of New York; Antho-ny Draus, Dupont, a Realtor atFrank P. Golden Real Estate,Scranton; Diane R. Hullick,Mountain Top, a retired countyassessor’s office certified Penn-sylvania evaluator; Frederick M.Javer, Harveys Lake, a state-cer-tified general appraiser; BrianNewirth, Mountain Top, a pro-ject manager/business systems

analyst; DonaldWarren, Kingston, aretired bank vicepresident; andBruce Simpson,Wilkes-Barre, a re-tired 25-year gov-ernment employee.Questioned by

county AssessmentDirector Tony Alu,all applicants saidthey would have noproblems devotingtime to the post andpromised to makefair decisions basedon evidence.

Some said they’d be willing towork without pay, while otherssaid they’d leave it up to councilto decide the appropriate com-pensation. The home rule char-ter allows appeal board mem-bers to receive up to $8,000 an-nually, though council membersare considering a flat paymentfor days worked.The applicants stressed addi-

tional relevant experience.

For example, Allen and Drausserved as temporary appealboardmembersduring the coun-ty reassessment in 2008.Simpson said he conducted

hearings as a federal magistrateand valued property seized bythe federal government.Ermel, Warren and Williams

said they handled real estatematters through their work.Hullick worked in real estate

sales in addition to the asses-sor’s office position.Musto said he has experience

buying and selling properties.Council Chairman Jim Bo-

beck said after the session thatsome applicants may be disqual-ified because of home rule char-ter prohibitions.

BOARDSContinued from Page 1A

Luzerne County Interim ManagerTom Pribula said he met withseveral county union leadersWednesday to see if they’d bewilling to agree to a 12-day fur-lough or giving up union-nego-tiated pay hikes -- options pro-posed to reduce the number oflayoffs.Pribula said no union leadershave the offer.Council Chairman Jim Bobecksaid the unions would have toagree to the proposals for councilto implement them.The county would generate $2.5million if all county workers andelected officials to take 12 unpaiddays off. The union raise freezewould save $1.2 million.

UN I ONCONCESS I ONS

It’s a completereversal frompast county prac-tice becauseformer commis-sioners did notpublicly disclosethe names andqualifications ofall citizens whowere consideredfor board posts.


WILKES-BARRE – Somestudents at Wilkes-Barre Ar-ea’s GAR High School say theassault involving a freshmanwho nearly lost his hand froma machete attack 10 days agowas the result of rival tensionsbetween students of African-AmericanandDominicanher-itage.While the incident may be

isolatedtooneschool, thebru-tality of the offense has notbeen overlooked.City police officers warned

privately about hostilities be-tween the different races thathavemovedintotheneighbor-

hood in recent years.During abreak at a hearing in Wilkes-Barre Central Court twomonths ago, a casual conver-sation involvingofficers, adis-trict judge, a lawyer and a re-porter centered on racial ten-sions in the GAR neighbor-hood.Those officers predicted

some sort of violence, espe-cially with teenagers andyoung adults whom they de-scribed as “gangwannabes.”

Dangerous ‘wannabes’Law enforcement author-

ities are still investigating

whatrole–ifany–gangrivalryplayed in the machete assaultnearGAR.“Gangmembersaredanger-

ous no matter what sect they

GANGS IN NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA

RACIAL TENSIONSCREATE CONCERN

PETE G. WILCOX/THE TIMES LEADER

AWilkes-Barre police officer at his post in the GAR High School gym during a basketball game. Concern about gang violence is higher after a 15-year-oldboy was attacked with a machete near GAR on Feb. 9. Police said the victim is black and the attacker, Juan Borbon, 19, is Hispanic.

A Wilkes-Barrepolice officer

watches care-fully at theGAR High

School gymna-sium Friday

night during abasketball

game. While itis normal tosee a policepresence athigh school

sporting eventsacross the

area, fear of anincident is

higher at GARafter a studentwas attacked

with a machetenear school

grounds Feb. 9.

Cops: Gang rivalry may haveplayed part in machete attack

By EDWARD LEWIS [email protected]

See GANGS, Page 12A

❏ Teachers alert to gangsigns, Page 7A

❏ Area school officialsbelieve there are mem-bers of gangs in localschools, Page 12A

I N S I D E

The Times Leader

C M Y K

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WASHINGTON — A resurgent RickSantorumhopestospringhisnextbigsur-prise in Michigan. Newt Gingrich looksfor a campaign revival in the Bible Belt.

Mitt Romney has hishome state of Massa-chusetts, and the luxuryof pickinghis spots else-where, if not every-where,astheracefortheRepublican presidentialnomination roars back

to life.After a briefmidwinter lull, theRepub-

lican field faces a cross-country series ofnine primaries and four caucuses be-tween Feb. 28 and Super Tuesday onMarch6.At stakeare518delegates,morethan three times the number awarded so

GOP contendersface 13-state testafter brief lullBy DAVID ESPOAP Special Correspondent

See GOP, Page 6A

20 1 2ELECTION

Luzerne County Interim ManagerTom Pribula didn’t ask county councilmembers for permission before he toldSheriff John Gilligan he would be fur-loughed.The elected council

members learnedabout the furloughthrough media cover-age.What’s wrong with

this situation?Nothing.This is how the

county’s new homerule government issupposed to operate,with a manager inde-pendently overseeingday-to-day operationsand personnel mat-ters.“It’s a 180-degree

change,” said JimHaggerty, one of thedrafters of the historichomerule charter thattook effect Jan. 2.The charter power

switch was meant tostop elected officials –previously three coun-ty commissioners androw officers – frommaking politically motivated decisionsabout hirings, firings and promotions,Haggerty said.Personnel decisions that had been

made by row officers and commission-ers for decades now are handled by an

HOME RULE

‘Cultureshock’ innew countygovernmentTo avoid involvement of politics,manager’s personnel decisions notrun past county council members.


See OPERATES, Page 10A

“Thosedecisionsare nowmade bythe nonpo-litical man-ager sim-ply in thebest in-terest ofthe coun-ty.”

JamesHaggerty

Charter drafter

The potential for tension betweenAfrican-Americans and Dominicansin Wilkes-Barre has increased dra-matically over the last decade justbased upon population changes, U.S.

closest to the school have the high-est numbers of Dominicans living inthem compared to elsewhere in thecity.In the census tract in which GAR

past decade, with about 4,500 Afri-can-Americans living within citylimits in 2010. The Dominican pop-ulation, on the other hand, wentfrom about a dozen in 2000 to morethan 600 just 10 years later.Data also show neighborhoods

Census data show.Students at GAR Memorial High

School have said a recent macheteattack by a Dominican against ablack student was racially motivated.Census data shows the black pop-

ulation in the city has doubled in the

Population changes can increase potential for racial tensionBy STEVE [email protected]

See TENSION, Page 7A


C M Y K

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appointed professional managerand 11-member part-time electedcouncil. The council’s only invol-vement in hiring: appointing themanager and confirming topdivi-sion heads.

Politics removed“Those decisions are now

made by the nonpolitical manag-er simply in the best interest ofthe county,” Haggerty said.Charter drafter Christopher

Kersey concurred.“Thewhole pointwas to have a

professional, nonpoliticalmanag-erwho is going tomakedecisionsbased onwhat’s best for the coun-ty – not what’s best for politicalcontributorsorapolitical future,”Kersey said.The charter prohibits council

members from lobbying theman-ager on employment matters.The county manager should

keep the council informed aboutoperational decisions, but up-dates at county council meetingsand executive sessions shouldgenerally suffice, Haggerty said.Council Chairman Jim Bobeck

said he learned about Gilligan’sfurlough from a newspaper andhas no problem with that. He be-lieves many still wrongly believecouncil members have some sortof veto power over themanager’spersonnel actions.Unless something major

arises, the manager can updatecouncil about his progress at itsmeetings, Bobeck said.“The manager should not

waste his time giving daily up-

dates to council. The manager’sjob is not to appease council,” hesaid.Pribula is scheduled to brief

council about the layoffs thathave been initiated during an ex-ecutive session at Tuesday’scouncil work session, Bobecksaid.“After-the-fact is critical be-

cause that will demonstrate itwas the manager making the de-cision without council interfe-rence,”Bobeck said, noting the11council members can’t be ac-cused of “playing favorites” or at-tempting to safeguard anyoneconnected.

Morelli caught off guardCouncilman Rick Morelli, also

a charter drafter, said councilmembers and the manager mustdevelop a communication plan toensure council members stay ontop of important developments.Councilmembers can’t intervenein the manager’s decisions butmust monitor his performance,he said.Morelli said he was recently

caught off guard when he and hiswifewent to dinner in theWilkes-Barre area and were approachedby two county workers who toldhim they had been laid off due tobudget cuts.

He said he understands theseparation of power between thecouncil andmanager but feels un-comfortable as a councilmember“when it looks like we have noidea of what’s going on.”“We have to have this fine line

between letting the manager dohis own job yet holding the man-ager accountable by asking intel-ligent questions,” Morelli said.Pribula, whowill serve asman-

ager until Robert Lawton as-sumes the role Feb. 29, said he iscomfortable making personneldecisions because it’swhat he didasamanager in theprivatesector.

‘Culture shock’“It’s takingmeback to theproc-

ess I’m used to, but to those whonever worked any place exceptLuzerne County and govern-ment, it’s a culture shock,” Prib-ula said. “Many feel they need togoaround themanagerandspeakto council members.”Pribula said the ideaof running

proposed layoffs by councilmem-bers “never even crossed mymind.”“They’re not supposed to influ-

ence you. I don’t feel like I need torun a process by them or seeksome sort of approval from themfornormalcourseofbusiness,”hesaid.

OPERATESContinued from Page 1A

AIMEE DILGER/THE TIMES LEADER

Acting countymanager TomPribula, right,answers ques-tions at Mondayevening’s councilmeeting, held togive citizens achance to speak.

User: rrusso Time: 02-18-2012 22:36 Product: Times_Leader PubDate: 02-19-2012 Zone: Main Edition: Main_Run PageName: news_04 PageNo: 10 A Color: CMYK

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TWO TICKETS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE!Kentucky moves on to national title game SPORTS, 1C

WILKES-BARRE –Just two years afterthe first parking me-

ters in the United Stateswere put into use – in Okla-homa City in 1935 -- they ap-peared on the sidewalks ofWilkes-Barre.Seventy-five years later,

the metal money-makers gen-erate more than $350,000 peryear in revenue for the city.Since 2007, the city has

collected $1.87 million indimes and quarters fromparking meters.And it might be a surprise

that meter parking today ac-

tually costs less than it did in1937.According to the federal

Bureau of Labor Statistics, anickel – the price for 45 min-utes in 1937 – is equal to 79cents today. Therefore, ac-counting for inflation, itcosts less per hour to park inWilkes-Barre now than it did75 years ago.At 2012 prices, each min-

ute cost 1.76 cents in 1937;today a quarter buys 20 min-utes, a rate of 1.25 cents perminute.

PARK I NG I N W-B

Meters aiddowntown

Devicescreaterevenue,access


Parking meters arrived on Public Square only in October 2010. Local merchants heralded their arrival.

Mayor: They increase turnover of spacesBy BILL O’BOYLE [email protected]


Vicki Llewellyn and Braiden, 4, who takes dance classesdowntown, find parking on Public Square easy and safe. See PARKING, Page 14A

derstands he is swamped but be-lieves there’s an “informationvoid.”Citizens and especially work-

ers would like to know what’shappening and on the horizon,she said, noting his link on the

county web sitecontains only hisname and email.“Give them some

information,” Cia-ruffoli said.“They’ve beenwait-ing for you to come,and you’re a bigdeal to them.”Lawton said he

plans online post-ing of all the infor-mation commis-sioners have ap-proved in the past,but itwill take some

time to work out the details withthe information technology de-partment.No data previously released by

commissioners will be kept fromthe public or council, he said.

In the past, Luzerne Countycommissioners had to publiclyvote at least once a month onagendas packed with contractsawarded to businesses, employeehires and fires andpurchases.Much of that pub-

lic disclosurehas van-ished under the newhome rule govern-ment because themanager now pri-vately handles mostof these executive de-cisions – not the 11-member, electedpart-time council.County Manager

Robert Lawton hasonly been on the job amonth but said he’sbeen thinking about the best wayto keep people informed aboutthe day-to-day operations underhis control.Home rule charter drafter Ve-

ronica Ciaruffoli raised the issueduring last week’s county councilmeeting, telling Lawton she un-

Much public disclosure vanishesunder county home rule government

DON CAREY/THE TIMES LEADER

Luzerne County Manager Robert Lawton, on the job a month, isconsidering a plan to keep the public informed about his actions.

Manager handlesmost decisionsBy JENNIFER [email protected]

“Give themsome informa-tion. They’vebeen waiting foryou to come, andyou’re a big dealto them.”

Veronica CiaruffoliHome rule charter

drafter

See MANAGER, Page 12A

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RED BUD, Ill. — The MegaMillionswinners—at least threeof them — stayed out of sight.The losers, who could number100million, hadplenty to say Sat-urday about losing out on theworld’s largest-ever lottery jack-pot and their dashed dreams ofcolossal wealth.Journalists descended on con-

venience stores in Illinois andMaryland, and lottery officialsthere and in Kansas proudly pro-claimed they sold winning tick-ets in the $640 million world re-cord-breaking Mega Millionsjackpot. The winners will earn$213 million before taxes. Threeother ticket holders became mil-lionaires.But on the street, online and

outside the stores where the win-

ners had purchased their tickets,Americans grumbled abouthopes that were raised, and thenvanished. And they mused aboutwhat they would have done with

See WINNERS, Page 2A

Calm before mega storm:Winners stay out of sight

AP PHOTO

Dennis Wilson of Kansas Lot-tery discusses the winningMega Millions ticket sold inKansas, Saturday

By JIM SUHRAssociated Press

WILKES-BARRE – Thereconfiguration of PublicSquare with wider side-walks, diagonal parkingand the removal of busesbrought another benefitto downtown businesses– “people parking.”“Businesses like mine

can now put tables andchairs outside for ourcustomers to sit and en-

joy lunch,” said Phil Ru-dy, owner of Circles onthe Square. “And thereare no bus fumes forthem to have to inhale.”Larry Newman, vice

president for economicdevelopment at the Grea-ter Wilkes-Barre Chamberof Commerce, said the AIMEE DILGER/THE TIMES LEADER

Phil Rudy of Circles on the Square says he’s able to puttables and chairs outside for his customers.

For shops, more parkingproduces more businessBy BILL O’[email protected]

See BUSINESS, Page 14A


C M Y K

PAGE 12A SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012 THE TIMES LEADER www.timesleader.com➛ N E W S

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“That would be entirely con-trary to the intent of the homerule charter,” Lawton said.The online posting may start

with spreadsheets on personnelchanges and copies of contracts,but Lawton said he’d eventuallylike to present the information ina database searchable by the de-partment, vendor and date.Lawton said he spent much of

his first month meeting withcounty employees and commu-nity leaders to discuss pendingprojects throughoutthe county. Interimbudget chief VicMazziotti has oftenbeen at his side in re-cent days as they as-sess current countyfinances and startplanning the 2013budget.Lawton said he

will present a com-prehensive mid-yearbudget analysiswithdetailed reports onspending and reve-nue in each depart-ment.He’s also considering explor-

ing new financial software pro-grams because the contract forthe current system expires at theend of the year. A complicatedconversion is required, regard-less of whether the system ischanged, because hundreds ofspending categories must beconverted to the new govern-ment structure.Lawton said he hasn’t selected

permanent division heads or im-plemented major changes be-cause he wants to make sure he’sfully researched options.“As carpenters say, measure

twice, cut once,” he said.

Mistaken impressionThe manager appoints, pro-

motes, disciplines, suspends andremoves employees in depart-ments that are not controlled bythe court, controller or districtattorney. Council approval is re-quired only for his appointmentsto eight division head positions.The manager also supervises

and directs these county depart-ments.Approving purchases and con-

tracts is another significant re-sponsibility in the manager’shands.Some of the 11 county council

memberswere under themistak-en impression themanagermustcome to them for approval on allpurchases over $25,000.The home rule charter re-

quires council approval if a con-tract or purchase would cost thecounty $25,000 in any futureyear or $75,000 in two or morefuture years.In other words, the manager

could authorize the spending of$1million on additional supplies

this year withoutcouncil approval if hebelieves the expense isnecessary and able tobe covered within the2012 budget adoptedby council.The manager would

have to go to council ifit’s a multi-year com-mitment requiringmore than $25,000 tobe paid in 2013.Charter drafters rea-

soned council shouldhave a heads-up beforethe county is locked in-to a financial obliga-

tion that may impact future bud-gets, said charter drafter JimHaggerty.The check and balance on the

manager is that he must adhereto council’s budget and purchas-ing procedures, Haggerty said.“Council appropriates the

money, and it’s up to the admin-istration to spend that moneywisely. Decisions on what to buyare executive,” Haggerty said.Haggerty said Lawton will de-

cide the bestway to inform coun-cil and the public about hiswork.Haggerty, who is the mayor inhome rule Kingston, said themanager in his municipality pro-vides monthly updates on keydecisions.The county’s charter requires

the manager to keep council in-formed about the county’s finan-cial condition, future countyneeds and activities and oper-ations in all county departmentsthat he supervises.The manager also must pre-

sent an annual “state of the coun-

ty” report and hold at least onewell-publicized evening forumannually to obtain commentsand suggestions from the public.

Range of opinionsCouncil members offered a

range of opinions on the level ofinformation that should be pro-vided by the manager.• LindaMcClosky Houck said

she’s requested regular financialreports so all council memberscan track adherence to the bud-get and potential problem areasinvolving overspending or reve-nue shortfalls.“I’d like to see a manager’s re-

port that says more than, ‘We’redoing OK.’ I’d like to see somelevel of detail,” she said.• Elaine Maddon Curry said

council members should discussas a groupwhat information theywant from the manager, thoughshe stressed the data, particular-ly on personnel, should come af-ter the fact so there’s no poten-tial for councilmembers to inter-vene in daily operations, whichis a charter prohibition.• Harry Haas said the pur-

chasing, ethics and personnelpolicies that will be adopted bycouncil should ensure executivebranch decisions are “above

board.” He supports the manag-er’s continued attendance atcouncil meetings to provide up-dates on key issues.• Jim Bobeck said council

members have loaded the countywebsite, www.luzernecoun-ty.org, with information on thelegislative branch -- meetingagendas, ordinances, resolu-tions, reports andmeeting audiorecordings. He expects the man-ager and his executive govern-ment branch will do the same.“The website is your 21st Cen-

tury gateway to government ac-cess,” Bobeck said.• Edward Brominski said he

wants more information fromthe manager on county spend-ing.Council’s expectations on in-formation disclosure should bediscussed during upcomingmeetings to develop a countymanager evaluation system, hesaid.• Stephen A. Urban, a former

commissioner, said he wants themanager to provide public re-ports on all bids submitted forcounty purchases, similar toones on past commissioneragendas. He said he’s been sub-mitting public information re-quests to obtain data because hedoesn’t want to be accused of

meddling with the executivestaff by personally contactingthem.“Personally I feel as a member

of council there’s very little infor-mation flowing out of the exec-utive side. Government is sup-posed to be open and transpar-ent,” he said.•TimMcGinley said he’s opti-

mistic Lawton will develop a for-mat to update the public and em-ployees about executive branchdevelopments and spending.“I think everybody’s cognizant

of the fact that we need to do abetter job with communicationfor everybody’s sake – council,employees and the public,” hesaid.• Rick Williams said Lawton

has been forthcoming in all in-quiries and will come up with aneffective plan to communicatehis decisions. Council membersmay discuss reports and updatesthey want from the manager butmust be careful they don’t un-necessarily “add a documenta-tion burden that prevents themanager from doing his job,” hesaid.• Eugene Kelleher said he be-

lieves reports from the executiveside will pick up after Lawtonhas completed his assessment of

operations and staff.“I have faith that he’s going to

do a very good job. I think in twoor three more months you willsee many new things in placeand decisions made,” he said.• Stephen J. Urban said he’d

like a monthly report on con-tracts and personnel actions,with the understanding that it’sfor informational purposes andnot council approval.“Council is going to be tasked

with giving the manager a per-formance review, and we’re notthere everyday. I don’t thinkwe’re getting enough informa-tion on day-to-day activity,” hesaid.• Rick Morelli, a charter draf-

ter, said hewill propose amonth-ly public council work sessionsolelywith themanager anddivi-sion heads to discuss develop-ments and budgets. The manag-er has a “lot of power” andshould “put out as much infor-mation out there to the public aspossible,” he said.“The reason this county got in

trouble before was too manythings happened behind thescenes. Not only does this firstcouncil have to set the bar high.So does this first manager of thecounty,” he said.

MANAGERContinued from Page 1A


LuzerneCounty In-terim Bud-get/FinanceChief VicMazziotti, atleft, andcounty Man-ager RobertLawton havebeen spend-ing manyhours dis-cussingcounty fi-nances inrecent days.Lawton saidthey willcompile athoroughmid-yearreport.The county’s char-

ter requires themanager to keepcouncil informedabout the county’sfinancial condition,future countyneeds and activ-ities and oper-ations in all countydepartments thathe supervises.


C M Y K

THE TIMES LEADER www.timesleader.com THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012 PAGE 3A

LOCAL➛ timesleader.com

THEY WEAR MANY HATS

FRED ADAMS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER

Anna May Kunkle and Kathy Hoystrich enjoy trying on hats Wednesday at a temporary millinery set upat Genetti Hotel & Convention Center in Wilkes-Barre, where the Red Hat Society met for its eighth

Wilkes-Barre area Red Hat Day Luncheon. The event, sponsored by Wilkes-Barre Area Queens Council,featured entertainment, prize and cash drawings. All Red Hat chapter members were invited along with afemale guest.

SCRANTON

Emanski’s probation endsA federal judge

has granted localbusinessman Ri-chard Emanski’srequest for earlyrelease from federalprobation so that hecan expand a newbusiness.

Emanski, owner of King Glass andPaint in Swoyersville, pleaded guiltyin 2010 to supplying free carpeting toa Wilkes-Barre Area school directorwho helped Emanski obtain con-tracts with the district.Emanski was sentenced in June

2010 to five months in prison, fol-lowed by two years of federal proba-tion. His attorney, Carl Poveromo,filed a motion in March asking thatthe probation sentence be suspendedso that Emanski could expand anoth-er business, R&J Enterprises, whichhauls water for the natural gas drill-ing industry.Poveromo said the probation was

interfering with the business becauseit inhibited his ability to travel toother states to seek to expand thebusiness.The motion was approved Tuesday

by Thomas Vanaskie, a judge withthe Third Circuit Court of Appeals,who was specially appointed to pre-side over the motion.

WILKES-BARRE

Saudi culture program setThe Saudi Interest Club of Wilkes

University will hold a communityevent Friday at 5 p.m. for those in-terested in learning more about theculture.The Arabian Nights event will be

held in the Henry Student Center, onSouth Street in Wilkes-Barre, in thesecond floor ballroom, and will rununtil 8 p.m.Attendees can learn about Arab

cultures, try Middle Eastern foodand participate in other activities.

WILKES-BARRE

Deceased workers citedIn recognition and memory of

individuals who have lost their livesin work-related incidents, the Lu-zerne County Council has pro-claimed today in the county as“Workers Memorial Day.”A special proclamation was present-

ed to representatives of the GreaterWilkes-Barre Labor Council by countyCouncilman TimMcGinley on behalfof the entire County Council.A candlelight vigil will be held

today at 7 p.m. at the UFCW Local1776 Union Office, 2007 Route 315,Pittston Township, next to Pazzo’sRestaurant.For more information, call Walter

Klepaski at 270-9109.

WILKES-BARRE

Bank acts against LupasAnother bank is seeking to fore-

close on property owned by a Wilkes-Barre attorney charged earlier thismonth with mail fraud for allegedly

bilking clients in aninvestment scheme.Bank of America

on Wednesday fileda notice of mort-gage foreclosureagainst attorneyAnthony Lupas andhis wife, Lillian, for

a loan they had on a property onDogwood Drive, Laflin.According to the filing, the Lupas-

es obtained the mortgage in Decem-ber 2007 for $265,000, and paymentshave been in default since December2011.The bank says the Lupases owe a

total $266,984.

JACKSON TWP.

Prison will test boilersThe State Correctional Institution

at Dallas will conduct tests of itssteam boilers between 9 a.m. and 3p.m. beginning Friday and runningthrough through Thursday, May 3.“The testing involves venting

steam through the roof of the boilerplant at 100 percent capacity, whichwill create more noise than usual,”Superintendent Jerome Walsh said.“We want to prepare the communi-

ty for the noise that may be heardand to assure them that there are noproblems or incidents occurring atthe prison,” he said.

N E W S I N B R I E F

Emanski

Lupas

Jackson Township taxpayer Ed Ches-novitch told LuzerneCountyCouncil onTuesday he saw a county detective driv-ing a county-owned vehiclewith hiswifeinside, even though take-home vehiclesmust be used solely for county business.Similar complaints alleging employee

misconduct have surfaced at countymeetings over the last decade, but citi-zens have no clear-cut means to force in-vestigations and resolution.That will change in 30 days, with im-

plementation of the new county ethicscode adopted Tuesday.The code requires employees and offi-

cials in county gov-ernment and itsoutside boards andauthorities to re-frain from specificprohibited activity,including bans on:•Gifts, loansand

rewards from peo-ple or businessesregulated by the county or with existingor potential county financial relation-ships.• The full-time hiring of family mem-

bers of a county official or officer.• Misuse of county equipment, vehi-

cles, materials and other resources.• Disclosure of confidential informa-

tion obtained through official duties forpersonal benefit.• Providing special county services or

privileges not available to everyone.A five-person ethics commissionmust

address all complaints and impose puni-shment for violations. The county man-ager, district attorney, controller andtwo citizens serve on the commission.Complaints may be filed startingMay

24 using a form that will be finalized bythe commission. Alleged infractions be-fore that date aren’t covered by the code,officials said.

Ethicspolicy isapprovedCouncil approves new county ethicscode, which takes effect in 30 days.


The approvedethics code will beposted on thecouncil section ofthe county websiteat www.luzerne-county.org.

ONLINE

See ETHICS, Page 9A

WILKES-BARRE – Luzerne CountyDistrictAttorneyStefanieSalavantishasdetermined no county prison workerscommitted any crimes relating to thebirthof twins, oneofwhomlaterdied, atthe prison in January.In a report issued Tuesday, Salavantis

said an investigation by two county de-tectives determined that prison staff fol-lowed all necessary procedures to en-sure the safety of themother, SamanthaGonzalez, and the newborns.Luzerne County officials had asked

Salavantis to investigate the baby’sdeath to ensure there was no wrongdo-ing.“The investigation conducted by my

office revealed that the babieswere bornextremelyprematurely, resulting inmul-tiple complications,” Salavantis said inpress release.

“The cause of the (one) baby’s deathwas extreme prematurity along with re-spiratory distress and cardio-respiratoryfailure, not any criminal activity.”According to Salavantis, Gonzalez

was taken to the prison on Jan. 26 basedon a warrant for failing to appear inSchuylkill County Court.Gonzalez was taken to her cell and

told a cellmate at around 3 or 4 a.m. that

she did not feel well, but did not notifyprison officials or seek medical atten-tion.At around8:30 a.m.Gonzalezwas tak-

en to the prison infirmary after com-plaining of stomach cramps and vomit-ing. Gonzalez appeared to be normal asshe was returned to her cell.At9:15a.m.aprisonguardadvised the

infirmary of an emergency inGonzalez’scell.AnursearrivedandfoundGonzalezto

be in labor and immediately contacted911.The nurse then delivered the two ba-

bies. The prison physician was present,and an ambulance arrived a short timelater.Gonzalez and the newborns, both of

whomwerebreathing,were transportedtoanareahospital.Thebabieswerebothadmitted, but one suffered complica-tions anddied.Theother baby survived.

DA: No crime related to jail baby’s deathBy TERRIE [email protected]

“The cause of the (one)baby’s death was extremeprematurity along withrespiratory distress andcardio-respiratory failure,not any criminal activity.”

Stefanie SalavantisLuzerne County District Attorney

WILKES-BARRE – A formerMonroe County judge facingthe tail end of a 10-year proba-tionary sentence handed downin a Luzerne County case inwhich prosecutors say he mo-lested his young daughter in2004 was denied a requestWednesday to have his proba-tion terminated early.Senior Luzerne County

Judge Joseph Augello said hewould not terminate the proba-tion of Mark Pazuhanich, 55, ofEast Stroudsburg, until Decem-

ber 2012 butdid modifythe terms byallowing Pa-zuhanich tohave contactwith hisdaughter,whois now 18.“An ability to

have contact with his daughterwould be a plus,” Pazuhanich’sattorney,FrankNocito said. “It’sa good step (toward recovery),and there is little danger of reof-fending.”Pazuhanich was charged in

November 2003 with fondlinghis daughter at a Hilary Duffconcert at the F.M. Kirby Cen-ter for the Performing Arts onPublic Square, Wilkes-Barre.He pleaded no contest to in-

decent assault, public drunken-ness, endangering the welfareof children and corruption ofminors in July 2004, and wassentenced shortly thereafter byAugello to10 years probation. Ano-contest pleameans adefend-ant does not challenge the evi-denceprosecutorshavebroughtagainst them.As the sittingMonroeCounty

district attorney, Pazuhanichwas elected in November 2003to fill a 10-year Monroe Countyfamily court judgeship, createdbecause of an overload of familycourt cases.Pazuhanich is a native of

Wilkes-Barre and a 1978 gradu-ate of King’s College.As a newly elected judge in

2004, he never heard a case. Hisduties at firstwere limited toad-ministrative work and he wasplaced on administrative leavein February 2004.In October 2004, Pazuhanich

was banned from serving as a

judge for life, and then dis-barred as an attorney inNovem-ber 2006.Assistant District Attorney

Jim McMonagle said he object-ed to the termination of proba-tion but said because Pazuhan-ich’s daughter was agreeable toreconnectingwithher father, hehad no objection to allowingthat.Nocito said Wednesday his

client has had no infractionsduring his probation, has at-tended counseling and rehabil-itation, and is up-to-date withany court-related bills.

Ex-Monroe County judge to stay on probation in molestation caseBy SHEENA [email protected]

COURTESY OF THEPOCONO RECORD

Pazuhanich

WILKES-BARRE – People removingfurniture and other household itemsfrom a house closely linked to a teen’sshooting death raised suspicions in theneighborhood on Wednesday.Three men, a woman and two chil-

dren, carried out dressers, mirrors,clothing andmattresses from117Hill St.and loaded the items in a small boxtruck.They opened the cargo door at 11:15

a.m. and closed it just before 12:30 p.m.A man helping to load the truck said hewas helping people who lived there relo-cate.TylerWinstead,14, was found critical-

ly injured in front of the house with agunshot wound to his chest on April 5.

Hewas said tobewalkinghome fromtheCatholic Youth Center on South Wash-ington Street with Elijah Yusiff, wholived at thehousewithhismother,Ange-lina DeAbreu.At least one person from the neighbor-

hood said she saw DeAbreu removingitems from the house.“I saw the daughter and Elijah’s moth-

er wearing sunglasses,” said Roberta

Smith. “They were moving furniture.The dad was in the house moving furni-ture to the door. He didn’t come out-side.”Investigators searched 117 Hill St. at

least twice on April 10 and April 13. Abottle of bleach and a computer towerwere carried from the house by investi-gators on April 13.Twomore search warrants in the case

were approvedbyLuzerneCountyPresi-dent Judge Thomas Burke on Tuesday.Search warrant affidavits were sealed.Police also were unaware the family

was moving until told by The TimesLeader on Wednesday.Yusiff told reporters the night Tyler

was shot that he heard a gunshot andsaw aman driving away in a red vehicle.While investigators have not said if a

red vehicle was in fact involved, those inthe neighborhood have their own theo-ry.“Deep in my mind, I know what hap-

pened,” Glenn Thomas said. Thomas

lives across the street from Tyler Win-stead’s house at 121 Hill St., where helived with his grandparents, Willie andCarol Golden, his legal guardians.“That little boy was killed in that

house and they laid the body outside.People weren’t allowed to wear shoes inthat house and his body was lying in thestreet, his shoeswere lying on the curb,”Thomas said.No charges have been filed in the

deadly shooting that has left the neigh-borhood concerned.“There is a lot of fear in our children

and a lot of concern in adults,” OrlandaCarter of South Welles Street said.Willie Golden said he was startled to

learn people were removing items from117 Hill St.“Total surprise that they are moving

out orwhatever they are doing,” he said.Golden said his wife and grandchil-

dren (Tyler’s three brothers and two sis-ters) are doing well under the circum-stances.

Residents move from searched homeWilkes-Barre house gone over twicein wake of fatal shooting of teen.

By EDWARD [email protected]

PETE G. WILCOX/THE TIMES LEADER

Residents at 117 Hill St. move belong-ings into a rented truck Wednesday.

User: ljones Time: 04-25-2012 21:34 Product: Times_Leader PubDate: 04-26-2012 Zone: Main Edition: Main_Run PageName: local_01 PageNo: 3 A Color: CMYK

C M Y K

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Council members, who arebarred from interfering with day-to-day operations by the code, al-ready have been heeding the giftrestriction.For example, a county trans-portation authority official re-cently gave temporary bus passesto council members at theirmeeting to encourage themto trythe bus system. Several councilmembers gave their passes to aRuth’s Place homeless shelterrepresentative in the audience.Council Chairman Jim Bobeckalso reminded his colleagues ofthe ban, which he described asthe “no free lunch” provision,when tax collectors invited coun-cil to a dinner last month. Coun-cil members should pay theirownway if theywanted to attend,he said.According to the code:The county manager will des-ignate someone to receive com-plaints. The designee must date-stamp complaints, acknowledgereceipt in writing, forward themto the commission and notify theaccused.Filers must provide theirname, address, phone numberand signature, and identify the al-leged violator and code infrac-tions.If a complaint meets basic re-quirements, the commissionmust start a preliminary inquirywithin 30 days. The inquirymustbe terminated or opened as a fullinvestigation within 45 days.Investigations should wrap upwithin 60 days unless the com-mission requests up to 60 moredays. The commission has thepower to conduct interviews andissue subpoenas.When evidence leans toward apossible violation, the commis-sion must issue a findings reportand allow the accused an oppor-tunity to respond and admit ordeny the allegations.The investigation subject mayrequest a hearing.The commission recommendspenaltieswhen it concludes a vio-lation has occurred, ranging fromreprimand letters to fines. Em-ployeesmay be suspended or dis-missed.Violations of federal or statelaw must be turned over to theproper authorities for criminalprosecution.

ETHICSContinued from Page 3A

User: ljones Time: 04-25-2012 21:34 Product: Times_Leader PubDate: 04-26-2012 Zone: Main Edition: Main_Run PageName: news_03 PageNo: 9 A Color: CMYK

The Times Leader

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WILKES-BARRE, PA SUNDAY, JULY 8, 2012 $1.50timesleader.com

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Municipal and school districtofficials aren’t the only ones frus-trated with Luzerne County’searned income tax collector.David Wert, of Wilkes-Barre,

says he still hasn’t received hisapproximately $2,500 local in-come tax refund for 2011, and the

Centax-DonWilkinsonAgency – thetax collectorwith whom hefiled his 2011return – is giv-ing him a run-around.

Centax has come under fire inseveral Pennsylvania counties,including Luzerne County, inthe past couple months, as thecompany is having problems dis-tributingmillions of dollars in in-come taxes received from em-

ployers to municipalities andschool districts.The Luzerne County Tax Col-

lection Committee learned inMay that Centaxwas having “ex-treme difficulties reconciling,processing and efficiently distri-buting earned income tax pursu-ant to Act 32,” committee Fi-nance Chairman Paul Keatingsaid at a June 27 committeemeeting.Act 32 mandated that almost

all counties in the state appointone tax collector for all earnedincome tax collection starting

Jan. 1. Previously, EIT was col-lected by tax collectors appoint-ed by each community.As it turnsout,Centaxwasnot

the tax collector for Wilkes-Barre in 2011; it was BerkheimerAssociates, according to city ad-ministrator Marie McCormick.So Wert apparently mailed histax return to the wrong agency.But Centax never informed

him of the error.Experiencing everything from

employees hanging up as soon

Centax comes under fire from communitiesEarned income tax collectorhaving problems distributingincome tax money.

By STEVE [email protected]

See CENTAX, Page 12A

Wert

6 09815 10077


Nation & World 5AObituaries 8A

B PEOPLE: 1BBirthdays 6B

C SPORTS: 1COutdoors 10C

D BUSINESS: 1D

E VIEWS: 1EEditorials 3E

F ETC: 1FPuzzles 2FBooks 5F

G CLASSIFIED: 1G

WEATHERAva SwiderskiPartly cloudy. Morningrain, T-storms. High 85,low 65.Details, Page 12C

PLYMOUTH – Three peoplewere killed and a fourth personwaswounded ina shootingSatur-day night inside an apartmentbuilding at First and Orchardstreets in Plymouth.LuzerneCountyDistrict Attor-

ney Stefanie Salavantis said twomales and one female were dead,while the wounded victim was

twice in the head Friday after-noon. He remains hospitalized,according to Salavantis. A spo-keswoman at Geisinger Wyom-ing Valley Medical Center inPlains Township said on Satur-day she could not release infor-mation on Hughston’s condition.In Plymouth, police closed off

the streets near the apartment

male. He was taken to an areahospital. The D.A. would not re-lease their identities.Investigatorsdonotbelieve the

shootings, which occurred atabout 7:30 p.m., were connectedto another shootingFriday on JayStreet in Wilkes-Barre.“There’s nothing that says it

may be related,” Salavantis said.In the Wilkes-Barre shooting,

Kenyatta Hughston, 22, was shot

3 killed in Plymouth shooting


Policeinvesti-gate ashoot-ing nearFirstandOrchardstreetsin Ply-mouthSat-urdayaround8 p.m.

Another hurt in apartment gunfireBy JERRY [email protected]

See SHOOTING, Page 2A

On the surface, Luzerne Coun-ty’s new home rule governmentdoesn’t seem very different fromthe system it replaced sixmonthsago.An appointed manager and

part-time, 11-member council re-placed the threeelected commis-sioners, but mostof the decisionsthey’ve made todate haven’t per-ceptibly alteredthe structure ofcounty govern-ment.The county offers the same ser-

vices. The majority of workersare in the same jobs. Employeesare temporarily handling the du-ties of most elected row officerseliminated by home rule.Council Chairman Jim Bobeck

said much of the first half of theyear was devoted to the tediousbut important crafting of codesand procedures outlining howthe new government will oper-ate.“When you change a form of

government in place hundreds ofyears, it doesn’t stop on a dime,”Bobeck said. “The first sixmonths have been dedicated toimplementing the vision of thenew government, and the nextsix months as well as the nextyear will be a continuation ofthat.”County Manager Robert Law-

ton, who started work Feb. 29,said he wanted to assess oper-ations and personnel and get hisarms around county finances be-fore instituting major changes.He’s engrossed in preparing a

comprehensive mid-year finan-cial report anddevelopingcorrec-tive plans so the county doesn’tend the year with a deficit.Lawton said he held off on se-

lecting eight division heads des-ignated in the charter becausethe positions weren’t budgetedbut saidheplans to takeactiononthe appointments soon.Home rule charter drafter

Countysystem awork inprogressAfter six months, LuzerneCounty home rule drawspraise but still feels its way.


See HOME, Page 12A

HANOVER TWP. – After last night Al Uzdella can putaway the potato slicer.The former fire chief won’t need it to make french fries

at the Breslau Hose Co. No. 5 bazaar anymore.The volunteer firefighting company held its last one this

weekend, ending a more than 30-year run.It’s not that people don’t turn out for the three-day

festival of food, drink and entertainment.Just the opposite.People packed the grounds of the hose company on the

corner of First and Delaney streets.But it’s been a struggle getting volunteers.Uzdella, who’s in his 60s, helped out at a job he’s done

For decades people have loved the Breslau Hose Co. bazaar,but lack of new volunteers has made this year its last

DON CAREY PHOTOS/THE TIMES LEADER

Volunteers Greg Kopiak, left, and Frank McKenzie of the Hanover Township Breslau Hose Co. No. 5 serve up cheesesteak hoagies at the final bazaar Thursday.

When the joy ended

The fire company’s signboard tells the tale. The BreslauHose Co. No. 5 bazaar has come to an end.

By JERRY [email protected]

See BAZAAR, Page 12A

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for years and offered a matter-of-fact explanation.“Somebody has to do it,” he

said.Approximately 75 people are

needed to set up, pour the beer,make the cheese steaks andfrench fries, sell the tickets, cleanupandeverythingelse associatedwith the bazaar expected to raise$25,000 in funds for the hosecompany.It almost didn’t happen with-

out Dan Wegrzynowicz.“Nobody wanted to run it,” he

said Thursday afternoon in theshade of a tent as the temper-ature approached 90 degrees andthe final details were being at-tended to a fewhours before the 6p.m. start.Wegrzynowicz, a firefighter for

16 years, got involved at a meet-ing earlier this year.“I raisedmyhand and said, ‘We

at least have to do (it) one moreyear,’ ” he said.Thedecisionhas to bemadeby

the end of February in order tobook the bands and start theplanning process, he said.Wegrzynowicz, who served as

chairman for the bazaar, took offtwo days of work. Co-chairmanChris Weaver said he worksaround his work schedule.At 43, Wegrzynowicz is one of

the younger volunteers. Weaveris 36.Many of the others helping out

are in the 50s, 60s and 70s.Weaver followed the lead of his

60-year-old dad, Gary.“He was chairman of the ba-

zaar years ago,” said the youngerWeaver. “He taughtmehow to doit.”Weaver looked at his participa-

tion as a way to give back and la-mented the lack of “kids” gettinginvolved in the fire company andits bazaar. “I wish more peoplewould volunteer for their com-munity,” he said.His dad rattled off a list of men

who answered the calls for emer-gencies andbazaars–HarryMan-gan, Lenny Price, Uzdella, GaryMakarczyk, Frank McKenzie,Lou Sewell, Stanley Browski, To-ny Truskoski and the late GeneLasecki, who was township firechief.He said their efforts helped

double the size of the fire hall inthe 1980s, adding a ground-floorkitchen, and social room and abasement garage with a truck topull their water rescue crafts.The township owns the front halfof the building with a single bayfor two trucks, anoffice and smallstorage areas.“Our first bazaar was across

the street,” said theolderWeaver.

The former St. Casimir churchallowed use of its property. Thefirefighters built the stands onthe church lot and cooked thefood and washed the pots at thehose company, Weaver ex-plained.The grass lot’s since been used

for parking for the bazaar.“I’m expecting a good turn-

out,” said Chris Weaver. Peoplecome from far away to attend thesocial event and reunite with oldfriends.For more than two decades

Tess Urban of Lee Park Avenue, amember of the hose company’sWomen’s Auxiliary, has beenbringing a group to work at thebazaar.Her daughter Mary Ann Rom-

pola and son-in-law Randy andtheir children Sarah, Emily, andRyan traveled from Indiana tomake potato pancakes. Anotherdaughter, Ellie Urban, grand-daughter Angela Genoese andher boyfriend traveled from outof state and pitched in. So did Ur-

ban’s friend, Sabine Thomas.“We’ve done this for 25 years,

since the kids were little,” saidUrban. “It’s a tradition.”It ended with the hose compa-

ny’s final bazaar. But a new onecould beginwith plans to consoli-date the township’s fire compa-nies and hold one large festival ina few years.

BAZAARContinued from Page 1A


Volunteer Al Uzdella of the Hanover Township Breslau Hose Co. No. 5 cuts potatoes for french friesat the final Bazaar Thursday.


Left to right, Chairman Dan Wegrzynowicz and Co-ChairmanChris Weaver of the Hanover Township Breslau Hose Co. No. 5Bazaar headed up the final event last week.

HANOVER TWP. – Firefight-ers will some day be answeringthe call from a centrally locatedheadquarters along the SansSouci Parkway.Plans are being made to build

the facility on the former SquareH lumber company site, but nodate has been set yet to breakground.Fire Chief Jeff Tudgay said

none of the six companiesthroughout the township will be

eliminated.“We’re putting companies in

one location,” he said Saturday.The departments cover a

22-square-mile area with “every-thing under the sun you canimagine,” said the chief. Thetownship has residential neigh-borhoods, shopping centers,manufacturing facilities, theSusquehanna River and Inter-state 81 and other major road-ways running through it.The move has to do with

economics and staffing, ex-

plained Tudgay.“We don’t have the manpow-

er,” he said.Last year the Hanover Area

Fire District was created to serveas the “parent company” and toact as the applicant for grants,he added.Funding is being sought for

the construction. The local sharegaming funds are being pursuedas a source, he said.The Breslau Hose Co. No. 5,

Franklin Hose Co. No. 4 and theGoodwill Hose Co. No. 1will

relocate to the planned SansSouci facility, said Tudgay. It willbe manned around the clock.Franklin, which used to be on

Lee Park Avenue, is stationedwith Breslau on First Street.Goodwill will move from CenterStreet in the Hanover Greensection.Newtown Hose Co. No. 2 will

remain on Raymond Drive.Askam Hose Co. No. 6 onMcGovern’s Hill Road will staysomewhere in that area, saidTudgay.

Hanover set to consolidate 6 fire companiesBy JERRY [email protected]

Christopher Kersey said severalgoals of the new governmenthave already “come to fruition.”He noted:• An ethics commission has

been set up to police the coun-ty’s first ethics code, with sever-al complaints already filed.• Council is publicly inter-

viewing applicants for outsideauthorities and boards. In thepast, names of appointees ap-peared on commissioner agen-das with no public discussion.• The public also heard op-

tions and details about the 2012amended budget the same timeas council. In the past, commis-sioners had public budget hear-ings but hammered out the ac-tual budget in private.“I think you’re going to have

much more honest budgetingunder the new government,”Kersey said.Lawton’s recommendation to

cancel county funding for theHotel Sterling demolition andthe Market Street Square trainstation renovationalso showthemanager is making nonpoliticaldecisions based on what’s bestfor the county – another homerule objective, Kersey said.Kingston Mayor Jim Hagger-

ty, a charter drafter, said he is“extremely pleased” with thenew government after sixmonths.The manager is making pro-

fessional decisions about day-to-day operations “without re-gard to politics.”The new council is a “tremen-

dous improvement” over theformer three-commissionerboard, he said. Council mem-bers from both political majorpolitical parties and an Inde-pendent have proven to be “dili-gent, transparent and largelynon-partisan,” he said.More citizens are involved in

county government through ap-pointments to outside boards,and most of these volunteerswouldn’t have a chance to servewhen appointments were con-trolled by twomajority commis-sioners, he said.

Division headsThe appointment of division

heads must be priority becausethese administrators will helpLawton implement consolida-tions that comply with the newgovernment structure andmake county government moreefficient, Kersey said.Fairmount Township resi-

dent Michael Giamber, a fre-quent county meeting attendeeand fervent home rule support-er, said division head appoint-ments can’t wait.“The monumental task of

standing up a new governmentrequires a cabinet of experts toadvise the manager and helpsteer the organization forward.Themanager cannot be expect-ed to accomplish the transitionalone,” Giamber said.Charter drafter Richard Hef-

fron agreed, saying in-housepromotions are an option. Hef-fron particularly wants to seethe restructuring of the centrallaw office and the judicial ser-vices division covering civiland criminal court records andother offices.Streamlining of offices will

free up funding for other prior-

ities, he said.Charter

drafter Veroni-ca Ciaruffoli,another regu-lar at councilmeetings, saiddivision headswill help Law-ton restruc-ture officesand sortthrough inher-ited financialproblems.“We put a

new managerin to transitioninto a wholenew organiza-tional struc-ture, which isdifferent thantaking some-thing that al-ready existsand refiningit,” she said.Ciaruffoli

said the coun-ty’s new lead-ers aremovingthe govern-ment in theright direc-tion, thoughshe wantsthem to re-view the char-ter again tomake sure ev-ery home rulemandate is un-derstood andfollowed.

Poised to move forwardKingston resident Brian Shin-

er, who hasn’t missed a councilmeeting, said progress underthenewgovernmentwas largely“hampered by mundane neces-sities mandated by the charter,”including drafting of the admin-istrative, ethics and personnelcodes.“Now that all of those things

are finalized, they can move onwith the taskof actually runningthe county,” Shiner said.Shiner said Lawton should be

ready to start implementingchanges.“Mr. Lawton has had four

months now to get his feet wetand get to know and understandour county a little better. Nowhe needs to start making somefirm and aggressive decisions,”Shiner said.Shiner said he accepted coun-

cil’s decision to raise taxes 2 per-cent in the amended budget toprovide wiggle room until thenew manager was on board.“Now it’s time to startmaking

all the necessary cuts in the lineitems of the budget and to in-crease our revenue,” Shinersaid, noting that he’s also refer-ring to the judicial branch.He believes most of the new

council members are trying tomake the best decisions with noulterior motives and supports acouncil of “average citizens” asopposed to “seasoned politic-ians.”The council composition will

change again in 2014 becausefiveof the11seats areup for elec-tion in 2013, he said.Jackson Township resident

Ed Chesnovitch, a charter sup-porter and faithful meeting at-tendee, said he will continue topush for charter compliance.“I think we’re on the path, but

it’s a new government. It’s alearning experience, and some-times they sidestep the charter.”

HOMEContinued from Page 1A

Bobeck

Ciaruffoli

Haggerty

Kersey

Lawton

as thephonewas answered tonothaving his messages returned,Wert was beginning to lose pa-tience.“They can’t even tellme if they

received my return or not. It’slike it’s Looney Tunes downthere,” saidWert, whoworks as acar salesman at Ertley Kia inMoosic.

Representatives frustratedMunicipal and school district

representatives sitting on the taxcommittee are just as frustrated,if not more. Several have saidthey might not be able to meetpayroll or pay other bills if theproblem with Centax is not re-solved soon. They might have totake out tax anticipation loans todo so.Luzerne County Tax Collec-

tion Committee Solicitor JeffMalak said that as of July 2, un-

distributed earned income taxcollections totaling $5.4 millionhave been sitting in a special in-vestment trust account createdforLuzerneCounty becauseCen-tax hasn’t been able to reconcilewhat amounts are owed towhichmunicipalities and school dis-tricts.Since the June 27 committee

meeting, atwhich theTCCvotedto have Malak research how toend the contract with Centax,Malak said he has sent a letter tothe stateDepartment of Commu-nity andEconomic development,which has been overseeing theimplementation ofAct 32, askingfor emergency relief.Specifically, the committee is

requesting permission fromDCED for Centax to releasefunds in the account to munici-palities and school districtsbased on predetermined percent-ages andworry about reconcilingthe amounts with what is actual-ly owed them at a later time.Malak also sent a letter to the

office of state Attorney General

Linda Kelly asking her to look in-to collections to determine ifthere was “any type of fraud or il-legal activity,” as suggested by aTCCmember at the lastmeeting.TheTCCwas set to vote to fire

Centax at the meeting, but thatday, the TCC received a letterfrom Centax pointing to a clausein its contract that allowed theagency 90 days to cure any prob-lem pointed out to company offi-cials.

Bond rate set by DCEDAt that meeting, committee

members asked how DCED de-termined that Centax was Act32-compliant and eligible to beconsidered as an EIT collector.Others questioned why Centax’s

performance bond was set at$3.28 million when the agencyhad more money than that tiedup.At the meeting, Malak said

DCED set the bond rate andmade the determination.In response to an inquiry from

TheTimes Leader onwhatmadea tax collector Act 32 compliant,a DCED spokesman said a taxcollection committee cannot ap-point a tax collector that:• Has been convicted of a felo-

ny involving fraud, extortion ordishonesty;• Has engaged in conduct that

adversely reflects on theTaxOffi-cer’s credibility, honesty or integ-rity;• Is unable to attain bonding

requirements;• Has not met the mandatory

education requirements estab-lished by DCED; or• Has not met additional re-

quirements established by boththe tax collection committee and

DCED.The spokesman did not supply

the requested mandatory educa-tion requirements or additionalrequirements requested by closeof business Friday.The spokesman also said that

each county tax collection com-mittee was responsible for set-ting the bond rate “in an amountequal to themaximumamount oftaxes that may be in the posses-sion of the tax officer at any giventime; or sufficient to secure thefinancial responsibility of the taxofficer as determined by the taxcollection committee.”Malak said the committee fol-

lowed DCED guidelines on thebond determination and said theEIT revenue collected should nothave surpassed $3.2 million be-fore distribution began by April.Unfortunately, because revenuewas still “trickling in” from 2011collections and small amounts ofrevenue distributed for 2012,most municipalities didn’t real-ize there was a problem untilMay.

CENTAXContinued from Page 1A

Luzerne County isn’t the onlyPennsylvania county experiencingproblems with the Centax Group.According to the Republican-Herald, the Schuylkill County TaxCollection Committee oustedCentax on June 27 for failing toprocess earned income tax bills ina timely manner.That county TCC plans to appointBerkheimer Associates as the newEIT collector at a meeting onTuesday.And according to the Observer-

Reporter, the Greene County TaxCollection Committee authorizedits solicitor on June 28 to file acourt injunction halting Centaxfrom collecting earned incometaxes in that county.The action was taken after munici-palities reported receiving neitherfull disbursements nor monthlyreports from Centax since it begancollecting earned income taxes forthat county’s municipalities andschool districts in January, thenewspaper reported.

P R O B L E M S E L S E W H E R E

The Luzerne County Tax CollectionCommittee is scheduled to meetnext at 6 p.m. July 27 at the Lu-zerne County Community CollegeEducation Conference Center, 1333S. Prospect St., Nanticoke.

W H AT ’ S N E X T

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gaining agreements.The three councilmen voted against

a financial software switch at lastTues-day’s meeting, saying Lawton didn’tprovide details until the preceding Fri-day night.The eight other council members

said they supported the proposal forNewWorldSystemsCorp. software be-cause it will save money, improve fi-nancial tracking and was unanimously

endorsed by a team of county adminis-tratorswho evaluated all options. Law-ton said he didn’t release the proposedcontract earlier because final negotia-tions wrapped up Friday.Councilwoman Linda McClosky

Houck said the administration answer-ed several questions she had about thesoftware and selection process, with

As Luzerne County’s new home rulegovernment begins its tenth month,county council members are still de-bating the extent county ManagerRobert Lawton should keep them in-formed.CouncilmembersStephenA.Urban,

Stephen J. Urban and Rick Morellihave repeatedly complained at publicmeetings about a lack of timely infor-mation.Under home rule, the manager han-

dles day-to-day operations while coun-cil approves the budget, larger multi-ple-year contracts and collective bar-

Lawton irks some on councilMembers divide over manager’stimeliness providing information.


EUROPEAN TEAMRETAINS RYDER CUPErasing some of theirworst Ryder Cup memo-ries, the Europeansplayed their hearts outSunday at Medinah inIllinois to match thegreatest comeback inhistory and head homewith the gold trophy.German Martin Kaymerholed a 6-foot par putt tobeat Steve Stricker andgive Europe the point itneeded to keep the cup.Page 1B

SPORTSSHOWCASE

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’Stuff the Bus,’ Methodist ChurchApple Festival, Slovak Ladies

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>> A TRAVELIN’ MAN:Way back in 1873, Jules Verne cele-brated the globetrotting pursuits of the idle rich in his novel“Around the World in 80 Days.” Back then, 80 days was 80days. It was a big deal. Today, you could probably circle theworld in 80 hours – 60 if you load up on coffee. In fact, therecord for a non-stop trip around the globe is 42 hours and23 minutes by a U.S. military aircraft. And why is this impor-tant? Because this Tuesday is Phileas Fogg Wager Day –marking the start date of Fogg’s fictional journey. You couldtry to re-create his exploits, but with the price of gas thesedays, you’d probably go broke around Poughkeepsie.

>> REBUT THIS!: Fans of politics and arguing are in luck.

The first of three presidential debates is this Wednesday atthe University of Denver. It starts at 9 p.m. and the desig-nated topic is domestic policy. Savvy political types expectthe debate to go something like this: ROMNEY: “My oppo-nent’s policies have failed to create jobs.” OBAMA: “Myopponent has outsourced jobs and destroyed thriving com-panies.” ROMNEY: “You’re a big poopiehead!” OBAMA: “No,YOU are!” ROMNEY: “Nyah, nyah, nyah! POOP!” OBAMA:“Pffffhhhttthhhh!” ... The debate is on ALL the usual net-works.

>> MARCH OF THE PENGUINS: Goodnews, bad news, hockey fans. First, thebad. It looks like the NHL won’t be drop-ping any pucks or gloves any timesoon. The league is making like theNFL and NBA and dabbling in its ownset of labor problems, putting thestart of the season in serious jeopar-dy. Good news: WHO CARES? TheWilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins beginplay this week with a pair of preseasonhome games. The Rochester Americansvisit the arena Friday night and the Her-

shey Bears take their new logo out for a test drive Saturday.

>> CAN YOU HEAR THE THUNDER? Aye! ’Tis always afine day when Irish songs be fillin’ our eardrums. And thisSaturday you can enjoy some of the musical culture fromthe Emerald Isle when the lads of Celtic Thunder visit theF.M. O’Kirby Center. The group got its start with those fund-raisin’ banshees over at PBS before goin’ out on the highroads of the land on tour. If you want to be checkin’ the

céilidh out – that’s the gaelic word for party -- it starts athalf past seven in the even tide. That’s Irish talk for

7:30 p.m.

>> A STATE OF WAR:When the PhiladelphiaEagles and Pittsburgh Steelers play thisSunday, just to be fair, they should play inthe Centre County hamlet of Fisherman’sParadise. Why? That’s the exact center ofthe Commonwealth, if you believe somecartographers from Penn State. As itstands, the game will be at Heinz Field inPittsburgh. And they’ve got the field in good

shape again after it was destroyed by Bane inthe new “Batman” movie. The Pennsylvania

grudge match starts at 1 p.m. on FOX.

5THINGSYOU NEEDTO KNOWTHIS WEEK


Nation & World 5AObituaries 6AEditorials 9A

B SPORTS: 1BWeather 6B

C CLICK: 1CBirthdays 3CTelevision 4CCrossword/Horoscope 5CComics 6C

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WEATHERTony Shusta. Partly cloudyHigh 67 Low 46

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WILKES-BARRE – The newpresident and dean of The Com-monwealthMedical College has avisionfor theschool thatstretchesbeyondmedicine.Dr. Steven J. Scheinman, 60,

joinedTCMCinSeptemberfrom SUNY Up-state MedicalUniversity,where he wasprofessor ofmedicine andpharmacology

andserved foreightyearsas its se-niorvicepresidentanddeanof theCollege ofMedicine.In a meeting last week with

Times Leader reporters and edi-

tors, Scheinman said he pursuedthe positionwith the urging of hiswife because he wanted the op-portunity to build something.“Whydothesamethingagain?”

Scheinman said his wife wouldask him.Initially reluctant to consider

the TCMC position “seriously”because of the school’s financialchallenges, Scheinman came

away impressed after meetingwithTCMCofficials and its boardof directors. He said he saw thecommitment of the school’s facul-ty and the community at-large.Hepraised the curriculum and hebeamed when talking about ex-panding the class size to 100 nextyear.“I’m excited. I think this is a

good fit.”Scheinman wants to advance

the college’s educational, admin-istrative, andresearchactivities in

new ways. The school’s ability toattain those goals depends on be-ingable to findnecessary financesandScheinmansaidthattaskgoesbeyond tuition and other tradi-tional means of fundraising.“It’s not a good thing to rely so

heavily on tradition,” Scheinmansaid. “We have to create relation-shipswith partners from through-out the region who will help posi-tion us tomove forward.”

More than college of medicineNew president and dean ofTCMC wants to advanceschool in new ways.

By BILL O’[email protected]

See TCMC, Page 10A

Scheinman

INSIDE: Affiliation formed with EastStroudsburg University, Page 10A

PITTSBURGH — The Kremlin is watching,European nations are rebelling, and some sus-pect Moscow is secretly bankrolling a campaignto derail the West’s strategic plans.It’s not some Cold War movie; it’s about the

U.S. boom in natural gas drilling, and the politi-cal implications are enormous.Like falling dominoes, the drilling process

called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is shak-ing up world energy markets from Washingtonto Moscow to Beijing. Some predict what wasonce unthinkable: that theU.S.won’t need to im-port natural gas in the near future, and that Rus-sia could be the big loser.“This is where everything is being turned on

its head,” said FionaHill, an expert on Rus-sia at the Brookings In-stitution, a think tank inWashington. “Theirdays of dominating theEuropean gas marketsare gone.”Any nations that

trade in energy couldpotentially gain or lose.“The relative for-

tunes of the UnitedStates, Russia, and China — and their ability toexert influence in the world — are tied in nosmallmeasure toglobal gasdevelopments,”Har-vard University’s Kennedy School of Govern-ment concluded in a report this summer.The story began to unfold a few years ago, as

advances in drilling opened up vast reserves ofgasburied indeep shale rock, suchas theMarcel-lus formation in Pennsylvania and the Barnett,in Texas.Experts had been predicting that the U.S. was

running out of natural gas, but then shale gas be-gan to flood the market, and prices plunged.

Gas drillinghas worldimplicationRussia could be a loser as America’s naturalgas boom shakes up energy markets.

By KEVIN BEGOSAssociated Press

See GAS, Page 10A

“Their days ofdominating theEuropean gasmarkets aregone.”

Fiona HillExpert on Russia

ST. MARY’S BYZANTINE 125TH ANNIVERSARY


The Very Rev. Edward G. Cimbala blesses the bread and salt held by Roger Nenni and Paul Gresh atSt. Mary’s Byzantine Catholic Church in Kingston on Sunday. At left, members of the St. Mary’s Byz-

antine Catholic Church clergy look on after the procession from the old school into the church before aMass celebrating the church’s 125th anniversary. For a story, see Page 3A.

Lawton S.A. Urban S.J. Urban Morelli

See COUNCIL, Page 10A

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C M Y K

PAGE 10A MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2012 THE TIMES LEADER www.timesleader.com➛ N E W S

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•Councilman JimBobeckreceived a plaque from his col-leagues Tuesday night for servingas the first council chair under thenew home rule governmentthrough Aug. 31.• Councilman Stephen A.

Urbanwas overheard tellinganother elected official hemayrun for county controller againstWalter Griffith next year, but it’sunclear if he was serious or jok-ing.• Tuesdaywill be a busy night

formeetings, with three in thecourthouse jury room on the

second floor.Council’s strategic initiatives

committee will meet at 6 p.m.,followed by a special countycouncil meeting at 6:45 p.m. todiscuss the need to fill four of fivecounty Flood Protection Author-ity seats due to a failed attempt tochange the structure of the board.The council legislative ou-

treach committee will meet at7:15 p.m.•The Pittsburgh-based law

firmMurray, Hogue&Lannis willcharge the county $175 or $350per hour to handle the county’ssuit seeking half the proceedsfrom the sale of the Triple-Abaseball franchise jointly pur-chasedwith Lackawanna County,Lawton told council.

The higher rate is for a partnerand is discounted from the nor-mal $500-per-hour charged by thefirm, Lawton said. The $175 is fora senior partner, reduced from thefirm’s standard rate of $350, hesaid.The county advertised state-

wide for a law firm and receivedthree proposals.Stephen A. Urban, who sup-

ported the litigation as a commis-sioner, said he approved of Law-ton’s selection. “It’s a good compa-ny. You hired the best,” he said.• Councilman Edward Bromin-

ski said during Tuesday’s meetingthat senior passengers on countyTransportation Authority buseshave dropped since he raised aconcern about ridership counts in

July.Authoritymanagement has

vehemently refuted Brominski’sallegation that authority busdrivers were logging nonexistentsenior citizen passengers – hecalled them “ghost riders” – toboost government funding basedon ridership.Brominski hinted that the

decline of senior riders from71,754 in June to 36,253 in Au-gustmay be evidence he put astop to the practice.“I would just hope that the

public would encourage all thesenior citizens to stop going onvacation and start riding thebuses again,” Brominski said.• Two public countymeetings

will be held today.

The Records Retention Com-mittee will meet at10 a.m. in thecouncil meeting room on the firstfloor of the courthouse to discussoptions to store and computerizerecords.Council’s newAuthorities,

Boards and Commissions Com-mittee will meet at 6 p.m. in thesame room to discuss the pro-posed creation of a recreationadvisory board and publicly in-terview applicants for unpaidvacant seats on theWorkforceInvestment Board andHousingAuthority.Council must fill more than 30

vacancies on outside boards be-fore the end of the year.• Lawton has proposed amend-

ments to the county personnel

code clarifying categories ofemployees.• Council unanimously grant-

edHazleton-area developer Ge-orgeHayden’s request for tax-exempt KeystoneOpportunityZone designation on two down-townHazleton properties he’spurchasing, but Brominski andStephen A. Urban took issue withpart of Hayden’s opening state-ment that council members whovoted against it would “not allowHazleton to develop.”“I don’t appreciate your little

strong-arm tactic,” Brominskisaid, eliciting an apology fromHayden.Urban rattled off a list of several

Hazleton-area projects funded bythe county in recent years.

BEATContinued from Page 3A

Russia had been exportingvast quantities to Europe andother countries for about $10 perunit, but the current price in theU.S. is now about $3 for the samequantity. That kind of math gotthe attention of energy compa-nies, and politicians, around theworld.Some European governments

began to envision a future withless Russian natural gas. In 2009,Russia had cut off gas shipmentsvia Ukraine for nearly two weeksamid a price and payment dis-pute, andmore than15Europeancountries were sent scramblingto find alternative sources of en-ergy.The financial stakes are huge.

Russia’s Gazprom energy corpo-ration, which is state-controlled,had $44 billion in profits lastyear. Gazprom, based in Mos-cow, is the world’s largest pro-ducer of natural gas and exportsmuch of it to other countries.But last month Gazprom halt-

ed plans to develop a new arcticgas field, saying it couldn’t justi-fy the investment now, and itsmost recent financial reportshowed profits had dropped byalmost 25 percent.The U.S. presidential cam-

paigns have already addressedthe strategic potential.A campaign position paper for

RepublicanMitt Romney said he“will pursue policies that workto decrease the reliance of Eu-ropeannations onRussian sourc-es of energy.”In early September, President

Barack Obama said the U.S.could “develop a hundred-yearsupply of natural gas that’s rightbeneath our feet,” which would“cut our oil imports in half by2020 and support more than600,000 new jobs in natural gasalone.”Poland’s Ministry of the Envi-

ronment wrote in a statement toTheAssociated Press that “an in-creased production of naturalgas from shale formations in Eu-rope will limit the import viapipelines from Algeria and Rus-sia.”The issue has reached the

highest levels of the Kremlin,too.Hill, of the Brookings think

tank, heard President VladimirPutin speak in late 2011at aMos-cow gathering of academics andmedia. She said in a blog postthat “the only time I thoughtthat he became truly engagedwas when he wanted to explainto us how dangerous frackingwas.”But one top Gazprom execu-

tive said shale gas will actuallyhelp the country in the long run.Sergei Komlev, the head of ex-port contracts and pricing, ac-knowledged the recent disrup-tions but predicted that the U.S.fuels wouldn’t make their way toEurope on any important scale.Whether exports happen in-

volves a dizzying mix of math,politics and marketplaces, alongwith the fact thatU.S. natural gascompanies — and their share-holders — want prices to rise,too.James Diemer, an executive

vice president for Pace Global,an international consulting com-pany based in Virginia, believesthat shale gas costs more to ex-tract than the current marketprice. Pace, which recently re-leased a report called “ShaleGas: The Numbers vs. TheHype,” has been studying shalegas for Gazprom and other cli-ents.“The capitalwill stop flowing”

to U.S. shale gas, and the pricewill go up, Diemer predicted. Hewould not divulge the kind ofwork Pace is doing for Gazprom.Pace is ownedbySiemens, aGer-man company.Pace’s work for Gazprom has

raised some eyebrows in Wash-ington, and Hill noted that in-dustry watchers in Europe al-ready believe Russia is bankroll-ing environmental groups thatare loudly opposing plans forfracking in Europe, which couldcut down on Russia’s natural gasmarket.“I’ve heard a lot of rumors that

the Russians were funding this. Ihave no proof whatsoever,” shesaid, noting that many criticsgive the rumors credence be-cause Gazprom owns mediacompanies throughout Russiaand Europe that have run storiesexamining the environmentalrisks of fracking.

GASContinued from Page 1A

AP FILE PHOTO

Anadarko Petroleum Corp., workers produce natural gas fromtheir drilling platform on a farm near Mead, Colo. In 2009. Amer-ica’s natural gas boom has upset world energy markets. Some saythe process, known as fracking, could mean that the U.S. won’tneed to import natural gas in the near future, and that majorexporter Russia could be the big loser.

The school will graduate itsfirst class in May after receiving“provisional accreditation” inJune following a year of proba-tion due to the financial prob-lems.The newpresident said hewill

play amajor, highly visible role insecuring the needed financialpartners, whom he plans to findamong local hospitals, collegesand philanthropists.“I’m sure everyone held back

duringtheperiodofuncertainty,”

he said. “ButnowIcan look themall in the eye and tell them wehavecomethroughtheworstof itandwearehereforthelonghaul.”Scheinman said one of his top

priorities istohireadevelopmentdirector to begin identifying fi-nancial supporters.“Thatwillhappenasquicklyas

possible,”hesaid.“AndIwillurgethe successful candidate to usemeasmuch as possible. Iwant tobe in front of those communityleaders.”Philanthropy will not be the

only approach to raising money.Scheinman said he will aggres-sively pursue governmental sup-port He mentioned Geisinger

Health System, CommunityHealthSystemandBlueCrossHementionedGeisingerHealthSys-tem, Community Health Systemand Blue Cross as key partners.The funding will be used to

build quality programs aroundscience and health care quality,taught in “state-of-the-art” medi-cal school facilities, Scheinmansaid.“We provide an innovative cur-

riculum featuring small groupteaching at a phenomenal facili-ty,” he said. Our students will bewell-prepared to enter whateverfield they chose to enter.”According to his biography,

Scheinman, who is board-certi-

fied in internal medicine and ne-phrology,hasearned internation-al prominence for his research in-to the genetics of inherited kid-ney diseases and kidney stones.He has published more than 80peer-reviewed articles, reviews,andbookchaptersontopicsrelat-ed to kidney disease and genet-ics. Formost of his career hewasprincipal investigator on grantsfunded by the NIH, AmericanHeart Association, and otheragencies. He has been an invitedspeaker at numerous nationaland internationalmeetings and avisiting professor atmanypromi-nent universities across the U.S.and abroad.

TCMCContinued from Page 1A

WILKES-BARRE – The Com-munity Medical College’s newpresident wouldn’t say muchabout it, but judging from thelook on his face, you could tellhe was excited about today’spress conference.Dr. Steven Scheinman, new

president of TCMC, told TheTimes Leader on Thursday the

press conference at EastStroudsburg University will an-nounce the institution’s newpartnership to offer a collabora-tive doctor ofmedicine andmas-ter of public health degree pro-gram. ESU President Marcia G.Welsh, Ph.D., and Scheinmanwill sign an agreement to offerthe dual degree program.The agreement is a result of a

$1.5 million federal grant re-ceived by TCMC from the

Health Resources and ServicesAdministration over five years,with a subcontract for ESU, toprovide the funding for en-hanced integration of publichealth and health care through adual degree program and otherhealth training programs be-tween the two institutions.“There’s excitement on both

ends,” Scheinman said Thurs-day. “We’re all excited about do-ing this.”

TCMC forms partnership with ESUBy BILL O’[email protected]

When: Today at 1 p.m.Where: ESU’s Innovation Center,562 Independence Rd., EastStroudsburg.More information: Contact Bren-da Friday, ESU interim director ofuniversity relations, at 570-424-3532, or e-mail [email protected].

T C M C - E S U P R E S SC O N F E R E N C E

the reply copied to all councilmembers before the meeting.Councilwoman Elaine Mad-

don Curry said council alsoshould honor the recommenda-tion because the evaluationteam of “end users” knows whattype of system will improve jobperformance.“I trust you,” Maddon Curry

said to administrators in the au-dience.But Morelli said it’s “not our

job to be rubber stamps.”Stephen J. Urban said four

days wasn’t enough time to “di-gest” a $1.28 million softwarecontract. He told his colleagueshe would seek their vote forcingLawton to provide weekly pro-ject updates if he’s “not kept inthe loop” again.“You have to remember, he

doeswork for this board too.Wehave the right to replace him ifwe need to. We also have theright to review him within ayear,” he said of Lawton.Stephen A. Urban, a former

commissioner, said during themeeting that heworks at his pri-vate sector job Friday, Saturdayand Sunday nights and wasn’tgrantedenough time to readandprocess the contract, but a ma-jority was prepared to proceed.“I’m not happy with this form

of government if this is how it’sgoing to operate,” he said.Stephen A. Urban also com-

plained in a published reportthat Lawton should have in-formed council about actingelection director Tom Pizano’sretirement Thursday.Councilman Jim Bobeck said

themanager -- not council -- han-dles personnel decisions aboutelection office staffing. Pizano’sdeparture was sudden, and themanager sent council an emailFriday saying the retirement

“came as a surprise” and brief-ing themonplans he formulatedto get through the Nov. 6 elec-tion.“Bob Lawton’s first immedi-

ate instinct can’t be that he hasto let council know. It has to befor him to understand the situa-tion and deal with it and then in-form council,” Bobeck said.“Council has no authority tochange his decision in any way.”Councilman Eugene Kelleher

agreed, saying Lawton must becertain before he announces apersonnel action to council.Some people were trying to talkPizano out of retiring, Kellehersaid. “Even if we’re told sooner,what difference would thatmake to us?” Kelleher said.Councilman Harry Haas said

he doesn’t need or want to“know every detail of daily oper-ations.”“That’s not council’s role,” he

said. “Council members are thecasters of the vision. The man-ager is the executor of that vi-sion.”Councilman Rick Williams

said he was “not in the least bitoffended” to receive informa-tion on Friday for a Tuesdayvote. It’s reasonable to expectcouncil members to digest ma-terial on an upcoming contractin a few days, he said.Williams said Lawton com-

municates pertinent informa-tion in a “timely fashion,” andhedoes not fault Lawton for devel-oping a plan to cover the elec-tion before briefing council.“I thinkMr. Lawton’s doing an

outstanding job given the situa-tion he’s in and the conditionand past patterns of our countygovernment,” Williams said.McCloskyHouck saidLawton

sent notice to county councilThursday when he appointedJoan Hoggarth interim judicialservices and records divisionhead and said she’s never hadany problem obtaining data orexplanations she needs before a

meeting to make an informeddecision.“We have the opportunity to

ask questions. It’s not like any-one ever walks into a meetingand is handedapaper to vote on.It depends on how much timeyou put in,” she said. She ex-pects Lawton will continue in-creasing the information sup-plied to council and would sup-port a periodic update on majorstaffing changes.“I am not aware of every sin-

gle thingoccurring indailyoper-ations, but I don’t think I need tobe,” she said. “I think we’re alltrying to figure out the comfort-able level of information thatshould be supplied.”Councilman Edward Bromin-

ski said he wants Lawton to in-crease updates to council.“I’m not as involved as I

thought Iwas going to be.Wedoget information, but there arestill toomany things that I thinkwe should be informed on,” hesaid.Kelleher said therewere a “ve-

ry few occasions” where hethought the administrationdidn’t allow council “propertime to think things over,” buthe attributes that to delays ap-pointing division heads.“I think the guyhas been over-

whelmed,” Kelleher said of Law-ton. “At this point, he’s doingmany jobs and wearing manyhats, and that’s part of the prob-lem.”Lawton is reviewing options

to hire the eight permanent divi-sion heads, which require coun-cil confirmation. Lawton pre-sented several potential appoin-tees to council in executive ses-sion, though he hasn’t made afirm decision or completedbackground checks.“If the division heads are ap-

pointed, and the manager stillgets things to us late, then wehave a reason to be critical,” Kel-leher said.Council Chairman Tim

McGinley said improving coun-cil-manager communication isamong his personal goals.Lawton recently informed de-

partment heads they must sub-mit more detailed informationsooner for council agendas,McGinley said.“This is all part of that grow-

ing period we continue to gothrough. I think we are makingsome strides and will continuetomake strides,”McGinley said.Council now receives thor-

ough reports from the adminis-tration for each agenda item de-scribing thematter up for a vote,the recommended action, how itwill be financed, thebackgroundand how a recommendationwasreached.These reports,which arepost-

ed on the county website(www.luzernecounty.org) be-fore meetings, also require theadministration to discuss alter-natives andwhether other agen-cies are involved.Lawton’s agenda submission

on the financial software, for ex-ample, was several pages.“I think a lot of workers in the

county are still learning theprocess because they didn’thave to submit something likethis before,” McGinley said.“These reports areveryhelpful.”Lawton said he welcomes in-

quiries from council memberswho need more informationabout agenda itemsbeforemeet-ings.Themanager also is exploring

ways to inform the public abouthis actions. He now requires asummary sheet with all con-tracts he approves highlightingthe terms and conditions, howthe service or product will befunded and the approval proc-ess.Lawton has been posting all

contracts under his section ofthe website.“This will greatly simplify the

public’s ability to understandwhat it is they’re looking at,”Lawton said.

COUNCILContinued from Page 1A

User: jsoprano Time: 09-30-2012 23:43 Product: Times_Leader PubDate: 10-01-2012 Zone: Main Edition: Main_Run PageName: news_03 PageNo: 10 A Color: CMYK

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