Former Nanticoke Area standout Aly Byorick is seeing action as a reserve with the Xavier University women’s basketball team. But coach Kevin McGuff sees good things ahead from the freshman.
“Aly is a great kid and I’m happy she is part of our program,” McGuff said. “Like all freshmen, she is in the process of learning what it takes to become successful at the Division I level. But she certainly has a bright future here at Xavier.”
The 6-foot guard is averaging 11 minutes of action as a backup for the 6-4 Musketeers, who have no seniors and just two juniors on the squad. The former two-time Pennsylvania all-state selection is averaging 1.3 points a game, while recording 19 rebounds and four assists. She had eight points and nine rebounds in 22 minutes of action in a 97-60 victory against McNeese State.
Byorick is the career leading scorer at Nanticoke with 2,271 points. She helped lead the Trojanettes to a combined 58-2 record during her junior and senior years.

12/24/2007 Hurdles to revitalization not so high By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com Despite recent setbacks, Nanticoke and Luzerne County Community College officials remain optimistic about the sale of the Kanjorski Center on East Main Street, especially since one hurdle is not as high as expected. LCCC wants to buy the Kanjorski Center for its health sciences center, a project that city, county, college and state officials say will be the keystone of downtown revitalization. Sale agreements are in progress, and a final price has not been determined. Obstacles to the sale include possible delays in a county bond containing $20 million for LCCC projects, the loss of $5.6 million in federal funding for a parking garage and the prospect of having to pay back a $1.8 million grant. “We are proceeding with every expectation this is going to move forward, and I have every confidence that it will,” LCCC President Thomas Leary said. Good news is that the city’s municipal authority, which owns the Kanjorski Center, might only have to pay back a small percentage of the $1.8 million to the federal government in order to sell the building. State Rep. John Yudichak, D-Nanticoke, recently met with federal Economic Development Administration officials in Philadelphia. “They were enthusiastic about the project and committed their full support to helping us complete the deal,” he said. Under the terms of the $1.8 million EDA grant used to construct the Kanjorski Center in 1994, the building must be used for economic development. If the building is sold or used for other purposes, the municipal authority either has to get permission from EDA for the new use or pay the money back, according to Paul Matyskiela of the EDA Philadelphia Regional Office. Nanticoke and Luzerne County Community College officials have two options: They can convince EDA to allow the Kanjorski Center to be used for educational purposes, in which case they wouldn’t have to pay the agency back. But EDA would still control the building, and it would be subject to federal restrictions. They pay EDA whatever sum to which the agency agrees after submitting an assessment adjustment. Then federal involvement is removed from the project entirely. Matyskiela estimates the city might have to pay the EDA only $385,000, based on the required appraisal of the outside of the Kanjorski Center the municipal authority submitted. EDA is waiting for the authority to add any adjustments to the appraised value of the building. “Obviously, if the appraised value of the building goes down, that amount will also,” Matyskiela said. City officials were pleasantly surprised to hear that, since they expected to have to fork over the whole $1.8 million. “It’s news to me, but it’s very good news,” City Administrator Kenneth Johnson said. The cash-strapped city does not have the money, but Johnson thinks a deal should be worked out to pay the $385,000, noting, “We’ve spent money on things less valuable than this.” Paying off the EDA might make more sense, Matyskiela believes. City officials are exploring both options. “They made the argument that it was job training; we didn’t say no, but we want them to put it in writing and make a case for it. But do they want to have us hanging around?” Matyskiela said. “Their decision is, basically, what is it worth to you to get the federal government out of your hair?” But the decision may have to wait. Nanticoke General Municipal Authority Chairman Ron Kamowski said any deal with EDA is in limbo until the county frees up $20 million for LCCC to buy the Kanjorski Center. The $20 million bond Community colleges have only one funding source in the state’s capital budget: the Community College Capital Fund. LCCC received $10 million from the state for the first phase of its master plan, and Luzerne County pledged the required $10 million match. But officials fear a complaint filed with the state Department of Community and Economic Development to stop the county from borrowing up to $93.5 million could hold up the project. The amount includes the $20 million total for LCCC. Luzerne County activist Tim Grier, who filed the complaint, said LCCC should have asked the Pennsylvania State Public School Building Authority for a low-interest loan. Then the county could pay back $10 million and the state could kick in its $10 million, without the county having to float a $20 million bond, he said. “This authority exists strictly to help community colleges like LCCC with building projects. LCCC bypassed this authority and went straight to the county,” Grier said. “There was a way cheaper option to go.” Leary said he was only recently made aware of the Pennsylvania State Public School Building Authority. He stressed LCCC was following the procedure all community colleges follow, and fulfilled all the requirements of the Pennsylvania Department of Education. “The county has traditionally supported capital projects,” Leary said. “This is a very ambitious project, but the college followed the protocol which has been established for a long time. … This is the funding we are familiar with.” No parking zone The biggest blow was the loss of $5.6 million for a parking garage. U.S. Rep Paul Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, re-routed federal transportation funding for the project. City officials now have to steer money away from other projects — such as most of a $2.3 million grant meant for paving roads — to build the Kanjorski Center’s garage. Surface parking near the building is limited. When the Kanjorski Center was fully occupied, the municipal authority ran shuttle buses between it and a parking lot on Lower Broadway. Leary said the college made it clear that in order to move downtown, it needs approximately 375 parking spaces for students and faculty. Main Street businesses also want more parking. “It’s not a luxury,” Leary said. “It’s a necessity people expect when they come into town.” Johnson agreed the parking garage is critical to the project. “What LCCC is accepting as a fait accompli (an accomplished fact) is that we provide the parking,” he said. “We can find another way to do it, but it will be difficult without Kanjorski,” municipal authority member Dennis Butler said. “We have all the pieces in place, except for him.” Kanjorski said lack of the garage should not inhibit LCCC’s plans to move forward, a viewpoint contradicted by local officials — and himself. On May 10, 2005, Kanjorski wrote in a letter to a former municipal authority chairman: “(One) of our top priorities should be the construction of a parking garage to be used by the tenants of the Kanjorski Center and customers for downtown Nanticoke businesses. The language I inserted into the highway bill specifically authorizes use of the funds for a parking garage. … Building a parking garage is necessary for the future economic viability of the Kanjorski Center.” Yudichak called Kanjorski’s idea a parking garage could be built five years down the road “preposterous.” “We have private investors willing to put up their own money in a new restaurant and new commercial space. How do you tell private investors, ‘take a seat on the bench for five years and we’ll see if we can get something for down the road?’” Yudichak said. “How many more years do the hard-working people of Nanticoke have to wait to get help in revitalizing their city?” Kanjorski said he took the money away because he heard at a July 2006 public meeting, Nanticoke’s mayor and council said they didn’t want a parking garage. He said he didn’t want to see the money lost, noting city officials have a pattern of not using money he obtains for them. That angered city officials, who had frequently stated their intentions of building a garage. They just disagreed with Kanjorski on its size: they wanted to build it smaller. They also wanted a tenant for the center, vacant since October 2005. “City officials never said no to the parking garage, never said no to the money,” Yudichak said. “They said, ‘scale back the parking garage and find us some tenants and some private investment.’” Nanticoke Councilman James Litchkofski wants an explanation from Kanjorski. “Besides Nanticoke being his hometown, we are his constituents. We employ Paul Kanjorski, the taxpayers do. He governs through the consent of the people, not arrogance,” Litchkofski said. “If he makes decisions that affect the lives of thousands of people, then he needs to get to Nanticoke and tell those people why the money isn’t coming.” Kamowski is pessimistic about further federal money. “If the congressman says we have not been communicating with him, we beg to differ. City officials and Leary have met with Kanjorski, and he told them that the $5.6 million was definitely taken away, and he was going to bring bigger, larger, easier-to-use moneys to the table,” he said. “The congressman never gave concrete information about where the money would come from.”

12/24/2007
Municipal authority sees development possibilities at Concrete City site as its next project
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

Someday there might once again be well-kept houses and green lawns at a historic, former experimental housing community.

The closing nonprofit Regional Equipment Center gave Concrete City, located off Front Street in the Hanover section of Nanticoke, to the municipal authority for a $10 consideration.
“We’re the proud owners of the deed now,” Municipal Authority Chairman Ron Kamowski said.
The authority is tied up with selling the Kanjorski Center on East Main Street to Luzerne County Community College for a health sciences center. Concrete City will be its next focus.
“Once the LCCC deal is on its way and moving, we want to look into turning it into a little upscale residential community,” Kamowski said. “We don’t want industrial. They would want the land for free, no taxes, then in 10 years they’d move.”
Concrete City, which consists of 39 acres in Hanover Township and Nanticoke, contained 20 two-family residences built in 1911 by Delaware, Lackawanna and Western railroad’s coal division. Homes rented for $8 a month to favored employees of the Truesdale Colliery. Each house is constructed entirely of poured concrete, which made it unique at the time — and to this day.
Concrete City closed in 1924 when Glen Alden Coal Co., which took over the development in 1921, balked at putting in a sewer system to replace the concrete outhouses. The homes still stand, reduced to crumbling concrete shells adorned with paintball splats, target practice bullet holes and graffiti.
The municipal authority will have to work out what to do with the concrete houses.
“We would definitely like to see one of the structures remain and be restored as a monument to the area. You don’t need six or eight of them sitting around,” Kamowski said.
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission designated Concrete City a historic site and erected a marker in 1998. Because of its status, municipal authority members were concerned about their ability to sell the property.
That shouldn’t be an issue, a PHMC spokeswoman said.
Concrete City was determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places 16 years ago, but it has to be re-evaluated, PHMC public relations specialist Jane Crawford said in an earlier interview.
“The owner can sell this property to anyone,” she said, but cautioned, “If a developer, for example, is going to use state or federal funding and state permits, the Historical and Museum Commission would review the plan because of this National Register eligibility.”
That includes permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection or the federal Army Corps of Engineers, Crawford said.
“The agency (PHMC) works with people in this situation for the best outcome,” she said.

12/23/2007
Nanticoke borrows $300,000
The tax anticipation note will cover expenses until tax revenues start rolling in.
slong@timesleader.com

The city is borrowing $300,000 as a short-term loan in early January.
City Administrator Kenneth Johnson said the so-called tax anticipation note is common among municipalities to help them cover daily expenses until property tax payments and earned income tax revenues start rolling in.
While Nanticoke is still considered an Act 47 financially distressed city, Johnson said the city is doing better with cash flow since earned income tax revenues recently started pouring in.
“Right now we haven’t even dipped into the sewer fund. We’re paying payroll. We’re paying most of our bills through EIT (earned income tax),” Johnson said. “We’re doing better. I’m much more optimistic than I was a few weeks ago,” he said.
Council members approved accepting the loan from PNC Bank during the monthly meeting Wednesday night.
Officials tried to get competitive bids from other banks, including M&T. Johnson said even after a last minute phone call was placed earlier in the week, M&T never submitted a proposal.
But the city will still see some savings in interest costs because PNC Bank dropped the interest rate to 3.39 percent from 3.59 percent.
“When the fed (federal government) dropped the rate a quarter-of-a-point, I went back to them (PNC) and said could you reissue a new rate, and they said sure,” Johnson said.
He was unsure of exactly how much money the city would save.
The loan must be repaid by Aug. 31, 2008.
The $250,000 short term loan taken out in July at a 4.34-percent interest rate from PNC Bank will be paid back by Dec. 31. The city will pay roughly $5,425 in interest for this year’s loan.
Johnson said the city has enough money to repay the loan.

12/20/2007
Nanticoke officials hope to settle contracts
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

City officials are anxious to settle contracts for Nanticoke’s seven public works employees and six clerical employees so they can be sure the 2008 budget is accurate.
The contracts expire Dec. 31. Kenny James, a 33-year employee of the public works department, urged council on Wednesday to think of the “little guys” in the ongoing negotiations.
“The only thing we’re asking for is, be fair,” he said.
Resident Hank Marks spoke up on their behalf, saying the public works and clerical employees are loyal, and they aren’t the problem — police and fire salaries are higher.
James agreed, saying he didn’t begrudge the police and fire departments their contracts, but noted, “We’re the little guys. We don’t have the power of the union.”
Public works employees are represented by the Teamsters Local 401, police by the Fraternal Order of Police Wyoming Valley Lodge No. 36, and firefighters by the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 2655.
The public works department has shrunk from 37 employees when James started in 1974 to seven today. Employees have gone without raises, new equipment, and undergone several health insurance provider changes, he said.
James, who also sits on the Greater Nanticoke Area school board, said he understands the cash-strapped city’s position. The teachers’ contract expired in August 2005 and negotiations are still in progress.
Nanticoke’s financial recovery plan, drawn up by the city’s recovery coordinator Pennsylvania Economy League, calls for minimal raises for clerical employees — none the first year of the contract and $800 a year for the second and third. It also calls for employees to share equally in cost increases to their portion of the health care, vision and dental insurance the city pays for.
Nanticoke would realize bigger savings by raising doctor’s visit and prescription co-payments instead of having a premium share, James said.
Council passed the $4.18 million budget 4-1 on second reading, with Mayor John Bushko voting no.
Tax collector Al Wytoshek wanted to know whether total real estate tax is 44 or 44.5 mills. A mill is $1 on every $1,000 assessed valuation.
The city levies 30 mills for general purposes and 0.5 percent for the Mill Memorial Library. Wytoshek sparred with city officials over whether the debt service millage is 13.5, as he said, or 14 mills as Johnson and PEL said.
Debt service millage can only be used for outstanding loans. Last year the city paid off its 1995 loan and part of its 1998 loan, PEL Executive Director Gerald Cross said, so council lowered the 29.38 debt service millage for 2007.
Wytoshek said the county tax bills say 13.5 mills for debt service. Regardless, Johnson said, the 14 mills was properly advertised and within the law. Unlike for an increase in general purpose millage, municipalities don’t have to petition county court to raise debt service millage, a fact confirmed by solicitor William Finnegan.

12/20/2007
Nanticoke’s 2008 budget includes no new taxes
Council members increased the city’s earned income tax to 2 percent earlier this year.
slong@timesleader.com

Council members approved the 2008 budget of $6.7 million during Wednesday night’s regular meeting.
But residents will be happy to know their taxes are not going up. At least not right now.
Residents will still pay a 2 percent earned income tax, which was increased earlier this year.
City officials acknowledged the city might need to raise taxes for debt services in 2009 because the debt service millage was reduced too much when council members figured the 2007 budget.
In 2006, the millage set aside for debt service was 30 mills, but it was reduced more than half to 14 mills for 2007, City Administrator Kenneth Johnson said.
“They were able to drop it because they changed the whole tax structure of the city with earned income taxes,” he said.
“But from what my finance director has told me – and I don’t do that analysis because that is her job – she tells me that the 14 is actually too low.”
He said a former council member suggested lowering the debt services but council lowered it too much.
The city’s property tax rate for 2008 will remain at 44.5 mills, which Johnson said is the same as this year’s tax rate, with 30 mills paying for the general fund, 14 mills paying for debt service and 0.5 mill paying for the library. A mill is a $1 tax on each $1,000 of assessed property value.
City Treasurer Al Wytoshek asked if the city could leverage a tax rate of 44.5 mills without getting approval from a Luzerne Court of Common Pleas judge.
City Solicitor William Finnegan, Pennsylvania Economy League Executive Director Gerald Cross and Johnson informed Wytoshek the city only had to appear before a judge for such a request if the general fund tax rate would be higher than 30 mills.
Mayor John Bushko was the sole vote against the budget, saying he felt the funds allocated for attorney’s fees were too high. He said if some of those funds were cut the city could apply more money toward capital projects to fix the city’s roads.

12/15/2007
Teacher strike at GNA averted, for now
By mguydish@timesleader.com

The threat of a teacher strike at Greater Nanticoke Area has ended – at least for the short term – according to a union official who credits the progress made in negotiations this week.
Jane Brubaker, of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said enough success had been made during Wednesday’s negotiations to satisfy the union and prevent a strike that had been threatened to start as early as Monday morning. A strike was threatened Dec. 3 when the school board voted to reject a state fact-finder’s report that offered a compromise between the latest offers made by each side.
Frustrated with the pace of talks that have been going on since 2005, the union had urged the board to reconsider and vote to approve the report. The union voted to accept the fact-finder’s report.
By state law, the board had 10 days to do so, which meant a second vote had to occur by Thursday. Since the union must give a 48-hour notice before a strike, the earliest a strike would occur would be Dec. 17.
The board made no public attempt to meet for a second vote, but a negotiation session was held on Wednesday. Brubaker said some progress was made so there would not be a strike on Monday.
But, she added, “There is still a possibility that one will occur in the future.”
Though the contract talks have been largely quiet and out of the public eye, the fact-finder’s report revealed the chief sticking points, including the board’s effort to have teachers pay part of their health insurance premium and a change in tuition reimbursement for teachers who take additional college courses.

12/13/2007
GNA school board, teachers union make progress in informal talks
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

The Greater Nanticoke Area school board and teachers union negotiating teams met informally at the high school Wednesday to talk about the recently released report from the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board fact-finder.
The school board is not going to re-vote on the report, member Robert Raineri said.
But he indicated the session, which was just between the teams, without attorneys present, went fairly well.
“We’re making a little headway here. We need to tweak a few health insurance issues,” Raineri said. “We’re looking at raising their deductibles, trying to find a happy medium.”
GNA teachers, without a contract since August 2005, took a strike authorization vote on March 14. The Greater Nanticoke Area Education Association could give the district 24-hour notice on Friday and start striking Monday.
Pennsylvania State Education Association spokesman Paul Shemansky said striking is an option, but suggested it may not be necessary if the two sides keep on with contract talks.
“I think negotiations are going to continue to take place here. That’s a good thing,” Shemansky said. “I don’t think they’re too far apart.”
Health insurance is one of the main sticking points in negotiations. The report by fact-finder Robert C. Gifford, Esq., a neutral third-party, took into account contract proposals from both sides.
GNAEA wants to raise deductibles and co-payments for doctors’ visits and prescriptions, saying it would cost the district 2.3 percent less for a traditional plan and 4.3 percent less for a voluntary Health Maintenance Organization plan.
The school board wants teachers to pay a premium share in 2007-08 of $10 per paycheck for single coverage, $12 per paycheck for husband-wife or parent-child coverage, and $15 per paycheck for family coverage. In 2008-09, teachers would pay 3 percent of their premiums, and in 2009-2010 they would pay 4 percent.
Gifford sided with the teachers, because their proposal “offers plan design changes that will provide cost savings to the District.”
Teachers accepted the fact-finder’s report on Nov. 29. The board rejected it on Dec. 3. The board had 10 days starting Dec. 5, when the report was made public, to re-vote. Under state law, both sides must let each other and the Pennsylvania Labor Relations board know for a second time whether or not they accept the report.

12/12/2007
LCCC officials worried
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com and bjarvis@citizensvoice.com

Luzerne County Community College officials are concerned delays in state approval of Luzerne County’s borrowing plan will hold up new projects in downtown Nanticoke.
The state approved LCCC’s master plan earlier this year, and Phase I is under way. The college was supposed to get $20 million from a county bond to help pay for it. The state would reimburse $10 million; the other $10 million is from the county.
College President Thomas P. Leary is concerned about the potential loss of the county’s $10 million share, as well as the effect a delay in the funding would have on establishing the expanded programs.
At the LCCC board of trustees’ Tuesday meeting, members approved a motion by Dr. Thomas O’Donnell to refrain from moving forward until it was certain money would be readily available.
According to trustee and Luzerne County Commissioner Greg Skrepenak, if political activist Tim Grier succeeds in his effort to stop the county from borrowing up to $93.5 million, it would have a direct impact on LCCC.
“I’d be lying if I said it would not have an effect on this college, and not a good one,” Skrepenak said. “We may have to default on our payment, which would threaten our ability to secure financing.”
Still, Leary and Skrepenak expressed confidence funding would eventually be secured, although it might have to come from other sources.
Leary said the $20 million would be used for:
Continued construction of the Public Safety Training Institute, for certification of emergency personnel.
Purchase and renovation of the Kanjorski Center on East Main Street in Nanticoke into a Health Sciences Center for the nursing, dental hygiene respiratory therapy, surgical technology and Emergency Medical Services programs.
Equipment for the culinary arts institute, which the college wants to create in a leased facility to be built by a private developer at Market and Main streets in Nanticoke.
The college is still moving ahead with a sale agreement and architectural plans for the Kanjorski Center, Leary said. LCCC had hoped to occupy the building by January 2009.
In the worst-case scenario, opening would be pushed back a semester until fall 2009, Leary said.
“It may be that I’m optimistic by nature, but I believe it’s going to happen. So many people have worked so hard that I can’t see it failing,” he said.
The Nanticoke General Municipal Authority, which is responsible for the Kanjorski Center, had hoped the sale could be consummated quickly. The authority is broke, and has to borrow $45,000 a year from the financially distressed city for maintenance and utilities.
“Luckily, the weather’s been with us, so we’re not super-buried in utility costs. But it’s still an in-the-red proposition,” authority Chairman Ron Kamowski said.
Nanticoke Mayor John Bushko said selling the Kanjorski Center is the first step in downtown revitalization. Several private investors have expressed interest in new projects because of LCCC’s plans.
“We’re just going to have to pray for the best, because that’s a must for the whole downtown. That’s the key project,” Bushko said of the sale. “I guess we’re just going to have to wait and see.”

12/11/2007
A mission to clean up Quality Hill Playground
By kziolkowski@citizensvoice.com

During the last 10 years, Quality Hill Playground in Nanticoke gradually became a center for dumping and teenage mischief. It’s easy accessibility to all terrain vehicles and vandals made it a hot target. But one man came from behind the curtain to turn the local park into a destination for children of all ages.
Kenneth Gill, 43, is a Nanticoke resident who has lived approximately 100 feet from the entrance to the park his entire life. When he was younger, the park was thriving with children, local sports teams and families. The park always had a constant flow of moving traffic until a few years ago when the grass on the ball fields grew too high, the rest rooms were vandalized and the equipment slowly decayed due to age. The local Little League stopped using the field and all attention turned away from the eyesore.
Gill watched as the once flourishing park began to slowly fall apart right before his eyes and decided to take action. Since the 1950s and 60s, a group called the Quality Hill Playground Association was responsible for the upkeep of the park. Since most members of the group had passed on, Gill decided to take the reigns as president. Through word of mouth, he was able to gain more than 20 supporters in a short amount of time to join his quest in revitalizing the park.
Since joining the association in 2000, Gill has lead his group of volunteers in removing most of the dumped material from the baseball field, restoring the restrooms, putting up new basketball and tennis nets, repainting and replacing equipment, cleaning out buildings and erecting a new sign in front of the park.
Gill and the association applied to the Lowe’s Heroes program for the park. Lowe’s Heroes volunteer teams are made up of employees from the local store, representatives from nonprofit organizations and concerned individuals from the community. The teams work with homeowners, community groups and schools on safety projects. After reviewing his application, the group spent two whole days repainting the restrooms, putting a new roof on the sandbox, repainting the exterior of the buildings and installing new steel doors on the rest rooms. In the spring, Lowe’s will return to install new rest room fixtures.
Recently, Gill and the Quality Hill Playground Association have been running fundraisers such as selling lottery tickets and comedy club tickets as well as asking for donations from local businesses. Currently they will depend mainly on the services of volunteers to clean the park in early April, when they run their annual Easter Egg Hunt. The association has requested money from the city, but has been told that there are no funds available for such projects.
Future plans for the park include cleaning out the largest building in the park and turning it into a pavilion so families can start to enjoy the park together.
Gill truly exemplifies the meaning of a local hero. His dedication to the association and the playground, as well as its surrounding neighbohood is something to be admired.

12/10/2007
Regionalized police force recommended in draft study
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

Three South Valley communities could benefit by combining their police forces, according to the draft of a study by a regional police specialist.
For the last year, representatives from Nanticoke City and Newport and Hanover townships have been meeting with the Pennsylvania Economy League as part of the South Valley Regional Police feasibility study.
Consultant Bryan D. Ross, retired chief of the Berks-Lehigh Regional Police Department, drafted a report. It estimates the three communities could save more than $400,000 and have a better-trained force that is more efficient and more effective at fighting crime. The new department would provide 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week coverage, PEL Policy Specialist Joseph L. Boyle said.
The study recommends at least 29 full-time officers, the total number in the three communities now: Hanover Township has 16, Nanticoke has 12, and Newport Township has one. Manpower and salaries would not be decreased, Hanover Township Commissioner Jeff Lewis pointed out.
“Almost everybody would be making close to $50,000. That’s not bad for a cop in Luzerne County,” Boyle said.
The only thing officers are not guaranteed is that they would keep their rank, he said.
Nanticoke Mayor John Bushko is pessimistic.
“It doesn’t save you any money at all. Not a dime,” he said. “I would like to see it work, but there is no financial gain for us at all.”
The combined department would go with the highest salary of the three, Hanover Township, he explained. For example, in Nanticoke patrolmen are paid $40,131 a year, while in Hanover Township they are paid $46,076.
Nanticoke was declared Act 47, or financially distressed, by the state in May 2006. Nanticoke’s financial recovery plan, drawn up by PEL, states, “The city shall continue to aggressively explore alternative policing arrangements with special emphasis on the creation of a possible regional police commission.”
Incoming Nanticoke Councilman Jon Metta said from what he’s seen of the study, combining police departments makes sense.
“It probably would save money and provide better overall coverage,” Metta said. “We still get a vote on how our money is spent, too.”
Opinion on regionalization is divided among Nanticoke’s 12 full-time officers, Bushko said. A regional department might be better for career advancement, because there’s not much chance for promotion in Nanticoke, he said.
The officers in a regionalized department would have better training, which Bushko said he sees as one of the few advantages.
The three communities are experiencing a rise in criminal activity, Newport Township Commissioner John Zyla believes. A regional police department with specialized officers could help solve crimes better, he said.
“Am I in favor of it? Absolutely,” Zyla said. “I think it would be beneficial to our community ... with the expertise we are going to get. As long as it’s affordable.”
The regionalization report is only a draft, Lewis emphasized. Officials from all three municipalities say they want more information before making any decisions.
“We’re looking into some different options on how we can structure it (the regional department),” Lewis said.
There will be a public presentation of the study by Ross on Jan. 24 at Luzerne County Community College. During a meeting in February, officials of the three municipalities will discuss whether they want to take the study further.
“It will be interesting to see if it does pan out, since we have so many variables,” Lewis said.

12/7/2007
Bidder asks GNA to table copier contract
By Elizabeth Skrapits - Citizens Voice

A disgruntled bidder questioned the Greater Nanticoke Area bidding process Monday, claiming it unfairly favored the current vendor for a copier contract.
District resident Robert M. Hughes, representing Edwards Business Systems of Scranton, asked the GNA board to postpone voting on bids for a five-year photocopier lease and maintenance agreement.
The only bidder to receive full specifications was the current vendor, Topp Business Solutions of Scranton, Hughes alleged.
The other two bidders were not given specific information about the district’s needs, such as what kind of computer network it has, or whether the bid was for unlimited copies.
“This at the very least should be tabled, and the information given to all bidders,” Hughes said. “This is not a fair contract for taxpayers.”
The board didn’t table the vote, but instead approved a contract with low bidder Topp. Topp bid $277,500, Edwards bid $297,186 and Xerox of Wilkes-Barre bid $304,900.
The spec sheet that bidders are given contains a bare minimum of information. Hughes said he asked for more, but never heard from the district secretary, and GNA’s information technology coordinator said he couldn’t call Hughes from a cell phone inside the school building.
Superintendent Tony Perrone said copier specs were available for three weeks, but Hughes only came to see him four days before bid deadline. Perrone said he sent Hughes to the people who generally deal with such matters, and if Hughes couldn’t get to them, he should have told Perrone.
Board member Robert Raineri said after the meeting that he would investigate the bidding process.
“I’m going to question how that was done, just for my own satisfaction,” he said. “We have to make sure these bids are fair to everyone.”

12/7/2007
GNA negotiating teams reschedule meeting for next week
By Elizabeth Skrapits - Citizens Voice

Greater Nanticoke Area teachers and school board negotiating teams didn’t meet Wednesday as planned, due to weather conditions in Nanticoke, school board member Robert Raineri said.
The two sides will get together next week instead, to discuss the fact-finder’s report, which was released publicly on Wednesday.
The meeting will just be between the negotiating teams, according to Jane Brubaker, the teachers’ Pennsylvania State Education Association representative.
“Their solicitor will not be there, I will not be there. It’s just going to be a meeting with local folks,” she said.
GNA teachers approved the fact-finder’s report, but the school board rejected it. The board now has seven days to reconsider.
State law requires that no less than five and no more than 10 days after the report is made public, the board and union have to notify each other whether they accept the report or not.
“I hope they can come to an agreement, and the board will realize this is something that will not cause a tax increase. It’s well within their budget,” Brubaker said of the fact-finder’s recommendations. “With in excess of $8 million in their budget reserves, they are in excellent financial condition.”
GNA teachers have been without a contract since August 2005. The main issues are health care and salaries.

12/6/2007
Fact-finder’s report for GNA teachers contract dispute released with report
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board released the fact-finder’s report for the Greater Nanticoke Area teachers contract dispute on Wednesday.

* Read the report

Salaries and health insurance have been the main sticking points in negotiations, ongoing since months before the GNA teachers contract expired in August 2005.
These two issues are addressed in the fact-finder’s report, along with the other four roadblocks: credits earned for a master’s degree equivalency, personal leave, tuition reimbursement and early retirement incentive.
Fact-finder Robert C. Gifford, Esq. sided with the Greater Nanticoke Area Education Association in the matter of health care. GNAEA asked for a higher deductible and increased co-payments for doctor visits and prescriptions. On salaries, Gifford recommended increases somewhat more than the district proposed, but somewhat less than the union proposed.
“If you compare what the fact-finder recommended to other (contract) settlements in Luzerne County, it is very reasonable,” said Jane Brubaker, the teachers’ Pennsylvania State Education Association representative. “It is very close to what is average to this area. It does recommend some cost savings to the district.
“This is certainly not something that would need to impact the taxpayers of the district.”
Last week, the teachers accepted the report. On Monday, the GNA school board rejected it by a vote of 6-1. The two new board members abstained from voting.
Within 10 days after the report is made public, the parties are required by law to contact the board and each other a second time about whether or not they accept the fact-finder’s recommendations.
“We’ve accepted the report. We will not be changing our vote. We are asking (the board) to reconsider,” Brubaker said.
Teacher and board negotiating teams met Wednesday to discuss the report, but representatives from both sides could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.
The board has to wait at least five days before re-voting, Brubaker said. That window gives the public an opportunity to look at the fact-finder’s report and make comments, she said.
If the board stands firm on its decision to reject the report, the teachers could opt to strike.
“That is something the bargaining team will be considering, along with other options,” Brubaker said.
The union took a strike authorization vote on March 14, she said. If the union gives its 24-hour strike notice on Dec. 14, 10 days after the report’s release, teachers could hit the picket lines as early as Dec. 17, Brubaker said.
Based on the school calendar, she estimated the strike could last two to five days, depending on snow days. Once it starts, the state Department of Education calculates the number of days a strike can last so the district can get the required 180 days of instruction in by June 15 or the deadline of June 30.

12/6/2007
GNA contract issues released
Salary, insurance among sticking points
mguydish@timesleader.com

After nearly three years of contract talks that stayed under the public radar, the problems preventing a teacher contract at Greater Nanticoke Area are in the open, thanks to a state fact-finder report.
The issues at an impasse: “master’s degree equivalency,” personal leave, tuition reimbursement, early retirement, salary and health insurance.
The contract expired in August 2005, but the two sides started negotiations months earlier. The talks garnered scant public attention until Monday when the school board voted to reject the report. The union had accepted the report, and has threatened to strike if the board doesn’t reverse its decision.
By law, the board can do so within 10 days of the first vote.
The union asked for fact-finding, a nonbinding process offered by the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, and both sides met with Fact Finder Robert C. Gifford informally on Nov. 8, followed by a formal hearing Nov. 13. Gifford issued his report Nov. 26, outlining the position of both sides and recommending an option in each case.
Master’s equivalency: The board essentially wants to eliminate this, requiring teachers to earn an actual master’s degree, rather than the equivalent number of credits, before they get incentives currently granted. The change would only apply to those hired after Feb. 21, 2007. The union wants to maintain the status quo. Gifford proposes maintaining the status quo.
Personal leave: Teachers get two days per school year with several limitations, including a buyout at $20 per day at the end of the school year. Teachers also have the option to convert unused personal days to sick days. The union wants to change the contract to allow accumulation of up to five personal days as “personal leave.” The district contends this would allow teachers to change personal days into a vacation. Gifford recommends keeping the status quo.
Tuition reimbursement: The district wants to eliminate reimbursement for courses taken beyond a “master’s equivalency,” and to keep the current reimbursement maximum of $130 per credit. The district also wants teachers who receive reimbursements to remain employed by the district for three years afterward, or to repay some or all of the reimbursement, depending on when they leave. The union wants reimbursement increased to $155 per credit, and to loosen restrictions on eligible online courses.
Gifford proposes increasing reimbursement to $140 per credit and requiring repayment of all the money if the teacher leaves the district within a year and half the amount if the teacher leaves in the second year.
Early retirement: The union proposes a number of changes to the existing system that eliminate some age requirements, alter deadlines and change retiree health-care coverage. The district opposes the changes, and notes that the old contract expressly said the entire early retirement offer expired with that contract. Gifford proposes keeping the system in place with fewer and more modest changes than the union suggests.
Salary: The union proposes raises that would increase total base payroll by nearly $1.4 million over five years, with average raises of 4.32 percent the first year, and 4.09 percent, 3.58 percent, 3.43 percent and 3.25 percent the following years. The union pointed out that the district has increased the surplus steadily to more than $5.6 million. The district proposed a total payroll increase of a bit more than $1 million, with the annual raises averaging 3.02 percent, 2.87 percent, 2.79 percent, 2.68 percent and 2.55 percent.
Gifford proposes annual raises starting at an average of 3.51 percent the first year and 3.4 percent, 3.11 percent, 3.03 percent and 3 percent the following years.
Health insurance: The union proposes a variety of changes in coverage – excluding sharing in premium costs – which it claims will result in savings between 2.3 percent and 4.3 percent depending on the plans chosen by teachers. The district proposes teachers pay 3 percent of their premium in 2008-09 and 4 percent the following year. The district notes total insurance costs have risen between 111 percent and 200 percent since the 1999-2000 school year, depending on which coverage plan you look at.
Gifford proposes adopting the union’s changes.
Read the report:
http://www.dli.state.pa.us/landi/lib/landi/plrb/fact_finding/greater_nanticoke_area_sd__psea.pdf

12/06/2007
Nanticoke council passes first reading of budget
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

City council passed the 2008 budget 4-1 during a first reading Wednesday night. Mayor John Bushko was the only “no” vote.
The $4.18 million balanced budget doesn’t call for tax or fee increases. Earned income tax remains at 2 percent, with 0.5 percent for Greater Nanticoke Area school district. The real estate tax remains at 44.5 mills — 30 for general city purposes, 14 for paying back debt, and 0.5 for the Mill Memorial Library. A mill is $1 on every $1,000 of assessed value.
The only changes to the budget were in police overtime, which was reduced from $60,000 to $30,000, and firefighters’ overtime, which was reduced from $40,000 to $20,000. City officials also added $5,000 for Nanticoke’s recreation committee when Councilman Joe Dougherty pointed out there was nothing in the budget for the newly recreated entity.
The second and final reading of the budget will be Dec. 19 at 7 p.m.

In other business, council:
Appointed Joseph R. Aliciene & Co. to conduct audits for 2007, 2008, and 2009. Dougherty and Bushko voted “no” because they believed J.P. Mazzoni, who performed the audit in previous years, should have a chance to re-apply.
Requests for proposals were sent to eight accounting firms, but Mazzoni said he never got his, city fiscal manager Holly Quinn said.
Debated and ultimately tabled a resolution for the state Department of Agriculture to perform health inspections. Dougherty said the city would lose $4,000 a year by giving up the inspections. Councilman Brent Makarczyk asked for a performance review of the current health inspector, Margaret Brezny.
Nanticoke Redevelopment Authority member Chester Beggs told council there are 11 properties incorrectly listed as belonging to the authority that taxes haven’t been paid on for 30 years. They were sold to private owners who built homes on them, Beggs said. Tax collector Al Wytoshek said he would follow up on it with the Luzerne County tax assessor’s office.

12/6/2007
Nanticoke mayor disagrees with budget
slong@timesleader.com

Council approved the first reading of a $4.18 million budget for 2008 Wednesday night. No tax hike is planned.
Mayor John Bushko was the sole vote against the budget. He said there were several line items with which he didn’t agree.
“There is nothing in there for capital improvements,” Bushko said. “The 100,000 for lawyers is way over budget. I would say you could cut that in half.”
Nanticoke Recreation Board member Jim Samselski asked if money would be allocated for the recreation board because nothing appeared on the currently proposed budget.
Councilman Joe Dougherty said the issue had been brought to council’s attention and money would be allocated to the board.
Council must adopt a budget by Dec. 31 but can revise it as late as February because a new council member, Jon Metta, will be sworn into office next month.
Council also hired a new certified accountant to handle the city’s audits.
Joe Mazzoni, a licensed certified public accountant from Dallas, served as the city’s auditor for five years, Bushko said.
City workers sent out eight proposals seeking bids for an auditor, but only Joseph R. Aliciene & Co. of Pittston submitted a formal bid, city administrator Ken Johnson said.
Another company called inquiring about the offer but never submitted anything in writing, Johnson said, noting Aliciene came in to meet with him and discuss what work the city needed completed. The post office did not return any of the proposals, Johnson said.
Mazzoni said he never received a proposal packet in the mail. Bushko asked if the decision to hire an accountant could be tabled to allow Mazzoni more time to submit his paperwork.
But in a 3 to 2 vote, with Bushko and Dougherty voting against, Aliciene’s company was hired to a three-year contract with the city to serve as the city’s accountant.
“I just wanted him to have the opportunity to bid on it,” Bushko said. “I believe it was sent. Things happen in the mail you don’t know.”
Aliciene will be responsible for conducting the city’s 2007, 2008 and 2009 audit.
Aliciene’s firm handles the audits for the City of Pittston and Nanticoke School Board, Johnson said.
Council approved a resolution allowing a liquor license to be transferred to Robert Hagenbaugh, who plans to open a restaurant at 396 E. Washington St.

12/5/2007
Nanticoke school strike could occur Dec. 17
Teachers union is waiting to see if school board changes its mind on a fact-finder’s report on contract.
By mguydish@timesleader.com

A teachers strike in Greater Nanticoke Area School District could come as early as Dec. 17, union lead negotiator Jane Brubaker said.
The union members voted unanimously last school year to authorize a strike, meaning the negotiating team can call for a strike whenever it feels it is necessary. The only legal requirement is to give the district 48 hours notice.
Union President Deborah Zaborney warned the district Monday night that a strike was likely after the school board voted 6-1 with two abstentions to reject a fact-finder report that the union had accepted. The Times Leader had incorrectly reported the vote was 8-1, but new board members Tony Prushinski and Frank Vandermark Jr. abstained.
“They’ve been negotiating for three years, and I know the report just came out,” Prushinski said Tuesday, adding that he had seen the report but did not get a chance to scrutinize it closely before he was sworn in as a board member Monday. “I didn’t think it would be fair to anyone to make a judgment without knowing more.”
The union contract expired August 2005.
“There are a number of tentative agreements that were reached on some issues,” Brubaker said, but a few major sticking points stalled the process, prompting the union to request that both sides submit to state fact-finding. “It can be requested by either party and it’s usually used when you’ve reached a point where you’ve got to change the dynamics to move the parties forward.”
A fact-finding hearing was held Nov. 13. Before that, the last negotiating session had been Sept. 26, Brubaker said. When the report was issued, both sides had 10 days to accept or reject it.
The union approved it, contending it was fair and that the district could afford it without a tax increase. Now that the board has rejected it, both sides have 10 days to reconsider their votes. If nothing changes, the process is over.
Brubaker said the union is waiting the 10 days to see if the board reconsiders its vote before deciding whether to call a strike. That would mean a strike won’t happen until Dec. 17 at the earliest.
The fact-finding report becomes public record after either side rejects it and officially notifies the state Labor Relations Board, which oversees the process. Department of Labor spokesman Christopher Manlove said the notification came late Tuesday afternoon and that the report would probably be available this morning.

12/5/2007
Kitchen fire damages Nanticoke home; no one is injured
Times Leader staff

A pot of boiling oil left unattended resulted in a structure fire Tuesday night.
The fire at 269 Mountain View Drive sparked at about 9 p.m. No one was injured by the fire and the family was not displaced.
“It was a kitchen fire. It started on the stove: unintentional,” Nanticoke Fire Chief Mike Bohan said.
Bohan said the kitchen is “pretty well destroyed” but that the rest of the first floor of the home received mostly smoke and water damage.

12/4/2007
Nanticoke steps closer to strike
By Elizabeth Skrapits - CVoice

Greater Nanticoke Area teachers could be the next in the county to go on strike, depending on what happens in the next 10 days.
The school board voted 6-1 with two abstentions on Monday to reject the fact-finder’s report, which is drawn up by a neutral third party based on contract proposals from both sides. Greater Nanticoke Area Education Association members voted last Thursday to accept the report.
Now that the board has turned the report down, it has 10 days to reconsider and take a re-vote.
“It’s time now to meet in the middle and find a compromise that’s fair to all,” GNAEA President Barbara Zaborney told the board after the vote. “If you don’t reconsider… the next step in an impasse resolution is a strike. The choice is yours.”
New board members Tony Prushinski and Frank Vandermark, freshly sworn in by Magisterial District Judge Donald Whittaker, abstained from voting on the report.
Jeff Kozlofski, just re-appointed as board president, was the sole yes vote. His vote drew cheers and applause from the more than 200 people, mostly teachers and supporters, who partly filled the high school auditorium.
The six board members who voted against the report did so because they had to accept it as a whole, board vice president Ken James said.
They apparently didn’t agree with parts of it. The fact-finder’s report will most likely be made public after the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board is notified of the board’s decision, said Robert Raineri, a member of the school board’s negotiating committee. Until then, he couldn’t discuss the report’s specifics.
Zaborney said the fact finder’s recommendation was for a five-year contract. However, Greater Nanticoke Area teachers have been without a contract since August 2005.
“We will be back at the bargaining table two years from now. Just two years,” Zaborney said.
Health insurance and salaries are main sticking points, as they are in the two other Luzerne County districts without a contract, Lake-Lehman and Northwest Area. Both of those teachers’ associations held brief strikes in June, and Lake-Lehman teachers returned to the classroom Nov. 9 after a second, 19-day strike.
Greater Nanticoke Area teachers were willing to make changes and compromises for the fact-finder’s report, said Jane Brubaker, the teachers’ Pennsylvania State Education Association representative. The recommendations in the report would not require a tax increase to fund, she said.
The teachers’ union will wait to see what the board does during the next 10 days and make plans accordingly, Brubaker said.
After the meeting, Kozlofski urged the two sides’ negotiating teams to sit down together just to talk. Raineri said the board’s negotiating team has requested a meeting with the teachers, which will most likely take place this week.
Kozlofski is optimistic.
“In my opinion, they’re getting together, they’re going to negotiate, they’re going to settle this,” he said.

12/4/2007
For Acker, a smooth road from GNA to St. Joe’s
Bill Arsenault - Times Leader

It didn’t take long for Sarah Acker to get adjusted to women’s major college basketball.
The 6-foot-3 center from Nanticoke Area has played in all six games and started five for St. Joseph, which is 4-2 after a 65-58 victory against Manhattan on Sunday.
Acker played 22 minutes and finished with six points, five rebounds, three blocks and two assists.
On the season, Acker is averaging 26.7 minutes. She’s second on the team in scoring (10.7 ppg.) and leads in rebounds (9.0) and blocked shots (nine).
“Sarah has been a great addition to our team,” coach Cindy Griffin said. “Her size and ability to rebound have meant the most to us thus far. She is becoming a steady offensive threat around the basket, as well.”
Griffin doesn’t see Acker slowing down as the season progresses.
“We expect Sarah to continue to improve her off hand and her understanding of post defense and compete with some of the best post players in the country,” Griffin said.

12/4/2007
Teacher strike threatened in Nanticoke
Ralph Nardone - Times Leader

Greater Nanticoke Area teachers threatened a strike at Monday night’s school board meeting.
What prompted the threat was the board’s refusal to accept a state-appointed fact-finder’s report presented to them, which outlined recommendations to alleviate a contract impasse.
The voted 8 to 1 against acceptance of the report.
The specific details of the recommendations were not available.
The union did not set a strike date, but Barbara Zaborney, president of the Greater Nanticoke Area Educator’s Association, told the board the fact-finder’s recommendations are “more than reasonable” and said a strike will happen at an “opportune time.” She would not elaborate.
Nanticoke teachers have been working without a contract since August 2005, according to Jane Brubaker of the Pennsylvania State Education Association.
Zaborney said the recommendation did not require any tax increases for the district. She added the education association membership voted “overwhelmingly” to accept the recommendations even though they included significant “compromises.”
“We are an important part of the school district,” Zaborney said. “We are professional educators offering the best possible education for the residents and taxpayers.”
She added the teachers helped the district in the past when money was tight, agreeing to wage freezes and other concessions. However, she noted the board promised them their “sacrifices would be remembered.”
“That time is now,” she said.
Board president Jeff Kozlofski, who cast the only vote to accept the fact-finder’s report, said he thinks it is a “fair deal for both the district and the teachers.”
“Nobody wins if there is a strike,” Kozlofski said. The biggest losers are the district students, he added. However, without accepting the union’s offer, essentially the whole negotiation process is “back to square one.”
Kenny James, vice president of the school board, stressed the board wants “a fair contract for the teachers.”
He pointed out the district is one of the poorest in Luzerne County and whatever agreement is made has to “work for the community as a whole.”

12/3/2007
Difficult financial decisions in Nanticoke’s future
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

Nanticoke’s budget and financial recovery plan don’t call for laying off employees.
But in the future, as costs go up while the financially distressed city’s income stays the same, council and Mayor John Bushko might have to make difficult personnel decisions.
At present, layoffs are a “remote” possibility, Councilman James Litchkofski said.
Councilman Bernie Norieka says expenses are already reduced to bare bones, so personnel is the only major place left to cut costs.
Out of every dollar the city takes in, 75 cents goes for salary and benefits — particularly in the police and fire departments — a sizeable chunk of the budget, he said. Council should look at personnel reduction, whether it means freezing hires, through attrition, or layoffs, Norieka said.
Police and fire personnel can’t be laid off under their contracts, which are up for negotiation next year. Clerical staff and public works department employees could be cut. Their contracts expire at the end of this year and currently are under negotiation.
The public works department, at seven men, is already understaffed, Litchkofski said. As soon as their contract is settled, the city can start subcontracting out services such as pothole patching to save money and free the men up for other work, he said.
Nanticoke’s $4.18 million 2008 budget is balanced, and does not contain any fee increases or new tax hikes. Residents already pay an earned income tax of 2 percent, twice the normal rate, because of the city’s distressed status.
The higher income tax will help the city for a while, but Pennsylvania Economy League representatives predict that within five years, expenses will overtake revenues. As with household budgets, costs for necessities, including utilities and health insurance, go up, but the amount of money coming in stays about the same.
During a budget discussion last week with representatives from the PEL, Nanticoke’s financial recovery coordinators, Norieka asked if cutting two of the city’s six clerical employees would help. There are two in the tax office, one collecting refuse fees, two in the economic development office, and one in the police department. PEL Executive Director Gerald Cross said laying off two employees only saves $50,000.
Bushko strongly opposes the idea. Clerical salaries range from $19,000 to around $28,000, making them the lowest-paid employees in the city, he said.
Besides, the city really only pays for three of the six, he said. Greater Nanticoke Area pays one tax office worker’s salary; one community development salary is paid for through federal Office of Community Development funds, and refuse fees cover their collector’s salary, Bushko said.
Although it costs the city $17,000 for one Blue Cross/Blue Shield family plan, three of the six clerical workers take buyouts. They get $2,000 from the city, Bushko said.
He doesn’t think raising the buyout to $4,000 while making the other employees pay $50 to $100 per paycheck toward their health insurance premiums will save the city money.
Incoming Councilman Jon Metta said he couldn’t tell what the future will hold. Good contracts should help prevent layoffs, as well as monitoring overtime and following the recovery plan, he said.

12/3/2007
Nanticoke worker hours at issue
Councilman wants clerical staff to join other city employees in working a regular eight-hour day.
slong@timesleader.com

Some city officials want to ensure all employees work a standard eight-hour day.
The city’s financial recovery plan adopted by council last December requires all full-time city employees work at least 35 hours per week.
Most of the city’s employees do work eight hours a day with a paid lunch, but not all.
Nanticoke’s six clerical employees are considered full-time employees. They work 30 hours a week and receive city-paid health insurance benefits, accrued sick leave, two weeks of paid vacation time and 22 paid holidays.
The six women work 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a paid hour for lunch in the city’s refuse department, tax collection office, community development and police department.
Councilman Bernie Norieka wants them to work a standard work day, just as he said they would in a private sector job. That’s an additional hour a day per employee, he said.
“If they don’t like it they can go look in the private sector and they will see there are no other benefits,” Norieka said.
He said he knows he is not popular right now with employees, but he said he is representing the taxpayers. “Somebody has got to take a stance and we have to get the city back on its feet.”
He said the city needs to find ways to cut costs, but it appears that can only be done by looking at personnel costs.
“Seventy-five cents out of every dollar goes to pay employees’ salaries and benefits,” said Norieka, who was appointed to council in April after former councilman Bill O’Malley resigned.
He wants to improve the efficiency of the office staff by increasing the hours and realigning staff to help the code enforcement department.
With the office staff working longer hours, more paperwork and city functions will run smoother by maybe realigning some of the office staff into other departments, including code enforcement, Norieka said.
Incoming councilman Jon Metta, who will replace Norieka on council, said he believes the city needs to follow the recovery plan because it can’t afford not to.
“It is very tight. We can’t go out of the plan,” he said.
Although he won’t be sworn in until January, Metta has attended nearly every public City Council meeting and workshop to keep abreast of the city’s issues. As a councilman, he will oversee the city’s finance department.
Supporters of the clerical staff, including Mayor John Bushko and city treasurer and tax collector Al Wytoshek, said it’s not the workers’ fault that they work fewer hours than other city employees. Bushko has served on council for 14 years.
Wytoshek, a former council member, said former administrations offered the employees perks when the city couldn’t always offer a pay raise during contract talks. “It’s not the girls’ fault they got all the benefits because we were looking to pacify them ’cause we knew we didn’t have the money to pay them extra.”
City administrator Ken Johnson said the salaries range from about $19,000 to $30,000, plus benefits.
Johnson is actively negotiating with the clerical staff’s union officials, but no determination has been reached regarding additional salary compensation or the exact working hours.
Morale concerns
Worried about staff morale, Johnson said he respects the workers because he knows they work hard and didn’t ask for these additional perks.
The perks, he said, were granted through contracts with previous administrations.
Jim Murphy, an agent for Teamsters Local 401, which represent the city’s street department and clerical personnel, declined to comment Sunday because of ongoing negotiations.
Bushko and Wytoshek believe the office staff should be compensated appropriately for the additional hours they are being asked to work.
“I don’t think anybody should have to work an extra hour without extra pay,” Bushko said.
The recovery plan does not provide for a pay raise in the first year of a new contract. It does provide an $800 pay raise during the second and third years of a contract. The contract ended last year, but it was extended for a year with no pay increase. So they have worked one year already without a pay increase.
If the city does agree to increase the clerical workers’ salaries, it must also be approved by the city’s financial advisors, the Pennsylvania Economy League and the state.
“Any proposed settlement would be reviewed to determine its effect on the city and its budget,” said Jerry Cross, PEL executive director.
Johnson said he just wants to ensure the municipal building is open the necessary hours to be more convenient for Nanticoke citizens needing to pay their bills.
“The function of city government is to provide services,” Johnson said.
“The more convenient we can make those services, the better it is for the citizens of Nanticoke.”
What’s next
What: Nanticoke City Council meeting
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Municipal building, 15 E. Ridge St.

11/29/2007
Nanticoke Area Notes
By Pam Urbanski
K.M. Smith Elementary School institutes Pre-K Counts program

Pennsylvania has made great strides in serving young children through early childhood initiatives such as the Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts program.
Established by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the program gives children an opportunity to get a head start in the classroom. Seventy-five million dollars was made available to Pennsylvania school districts for the program.
Diane Klish, director of the Family Center in Nanticoke, wrote the grant for the Nanticoke program and was fortunate to receive it. Nanticoke Area is just one of six schools in the county that was awarded the funding. In Pennsylvania, the push is on to initiate early learning standards.
“All schools are really trying to standardize their kindergarten programs so that when a child enters kindergarten, no matter where in Pennsylvania, the student is expected to know certain skills and learn certain academics,” Klish said.
“We’re really excited about this new program. It gives our youngest children an opportunity to get ready for the kindergarten classroom,” she said.
Klish said that, at first, the emphasis is placed on socialization. “We teach our children many things including how to get in line, how to take turns, how to treat their classmates and teachers with respect and empathy,” she said.
Continuing, she said, “In addition to socialization, children learn important skills such as holding a pencil and scissors correctly, cutting, colors, how to spell their first and last names and more.”
The Pre-K Counts program is housed in the K.M. Smith Elementary Center. There is one teacher and an aide. The program runs five days a week and children go to class two and a half days a week. Parents can chose from two different times: morning sessions are from 8:20 to 11:05 a.m. and afternoon sessions are from 11:40 a.m. to 2:25 p.m. The program is free.
For more information or to enroll your child in the program, call the school at 735-3740.

Tax rebate period ends
Nanticoke City Tax Collector A.J. Wytoshek announced the rebate period for 2007 school taxes and school per capita taxes has ended.
Taxes are payable Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 1 to 4 p.m. at the tax office in the Nanticoke City Municipal Building. Mail-in payments will not be accepted by postmark. Nanticoke City property and city per capita taxes are now in penalty value, which ends Dec. 15.
Anyone needing assistance or an appointment should call 735-2800.

Santa is coming to town
Santa Claus will make a stop in Nanticoke on Sunday, Dec. 9. The Santa parade will start at 1 p.m. at the Nanticoke Area High School and finish at Patriot Park where the Christmas festivities will be held.
There will be horse and buggy rides and sounds of the season will be provided by the Greater Nanticoke Area choir. There also will be fun activities, surprises and, of course, a gift from Santa.
The event is sponsored by Nanticoke Civic Pride.

Basketball bus trip set
The Nanticoke Recreation Board is sponsoring a basketball trip to see former Nanticoke Area High School standout Sarah Acker play on the college level. Sarah plays for St. Joseph’s University. The game is Sunday, Feb. 24. St. Joseph’s will play George Washington University. The buses will leave from the Nanticoke Area High School parking lot at a time to be announced. Cost is $20 per person or $25 per person if you would like a T-shirt. Reservations must be made by calling Mike at 735-7421 or Jim at 735-8108. Reservations are due by Feb. 15.

11/28/2007
Nanticoke officials launch cost-cutting effort
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

City officials, aided by financial advisers, went hunting for ways to trim next year’s expenses.
They discovered their cost-cutting options are limited, and even laying off city employees won’t help.
Council, Mayor John Bushko, city administration and representatives from the Pennsylvania Economy League, Nanticoke’s financial recovery coordinator, met Tuesday to go over the $4.18 million 2008 budget. The city is having a hard time meeting expenses in 2007, which cuts into next year’s budget.
The city raised its share of earned income tax from 0.5 percent to 1.5 percent this year, but money didn’t come in as anticipated, and neither did real estate tax. PEL expected county-wide reassessment to take place by 2008 instead of being postponed, research associate Harry Miller said.
In addition, higher health insurance costs — a 15 percent rate increase instead of 10 percent — and spending more than planned on a city administrator and for legal fees helped bust the budget.
The city’s main expenses are for police and fire departments, but their contracts have minimum staffing levels that must be met, Miller said. Councilman Bernie Norieka suggested laying off the refuse money collector and an employee from the tax office.
That would only save about $50,000, PEL Executive Director Gerald Cross said. Instead, Miller suggested clerical employees’ duties be shifted to the public works department and code enforcement office.
The officials decided to slash overtime in half. Police overtime will be reduced from $60,000 to $30,000 and firefighters’ from $40,000 to $20,000.
Since changes to the budget are minimal, the city won’t have to re-advertise it. Council plans its second vote on the budget during the regular meeting Dec. 19 at 7 p.m.

11/23/2007
Nanticoke takes action to smooth Kanjorski Center transition
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

The Nanticoke General Municipal Authority board voted to take over the Kanjorski Center from the Nanticoke Redevelopment Authority, in hopes it will pave the way for an easier sale to Luzerne County Community College
LCCC wants to buy the Kanjorski Center to turn it into a health sciences center. Transferring the property from the redevelopment authority to the municipal authority would streamline the sale process because the college will only have to deal with one entity, the municipal authority’s solicitor Joseph Lach said.
When the Kanjorski Center was about to be built, a September 1993 agreement among the city and both authorities gave each of the three parties a specific role in the creation of the office building.
The city’s role was to obtain the grants and other funding to construct the center, then sign the money over to the municipal authority.
The municipal authority had charge of developing, constructing, leasing and managing the office building, which was to have Travelers’ Insurance Co. as its first tenant.
The redevelopment authority was tasked with acquiring parcels of land on East Main Street and putting them together to form the development area for the center. The redevelopment authority then held the deed to the property.
The 1993 agreement gives the municipal authority the option to purchase the property from the redevelopment authority at any time for $10, with written notice of its intention. The redevelopment authority then has 30 days to transfer the deed to the municipal authority.
Redevelopment authority board member Steve Buchinski, who sat in on the municipal authority meeting, said his board’s solicitor, Susan Maza, would have to interpret the agreement. However, Lach said he believed the agreement was “very straightforward.”
“In my personal opinion, not only is it legal, but it make sense,” Lach said.
Besides streamlining the sale, in a city with a population of under 10,000 and limited resources, it doesn’t make sense to have responsibilities for the downtown projects spread out in different directions, Lach said.
“It seems unreasonably cumbersome to have all these different groups trying to get something done,” he said.
Municipal authority board member Dennis Butler wants city officials and the municipal and redevelopment authority boards to continue to work together on their common goal: the sale of the Kanjorski Center and related downtown revitalization projects.

11/21/2007
Rates dip for health trust schools
Costs will drop next year and probably for next 2 or 3 years.
guydish@timesleader.com

While there’s no dollar figures attached yet, members of the Northeast Pennsylvania School District Health Trust will see their health insurance rates drop not only this coming year, but also probably for the next two or three years.
Add to that what has become an annual habit of giving members one-month without paying premiums – equivalent to another 8.5 percent decrease – and the Trust is finally providing the kind of taxpayer savings promised when it was formed in 1999, Executive Director Andrew Marko said.
Next year’s rates will be, on average, 4.1 percent less than this year, Marko said, the biggest rate reduction in the Trust’s history and the third in a row. While it won’t be certain until sometime next year, members will also likely get one month free of premiums. Much of the savings are possible because of a hefty surplus of about $12 million and a constant search for ways to save more, Marko said.
It’s a sharp change from the early, turbulent years of the Trust marked by double-digit increases and multimillion-dollar deficits.
“The goal of the trust has always been to bring stability to districts without interfering with benefits, and we have reached that goal,” Marko said. “We expect to maintain this level for two or three years at least.”
The Trust was formed by 10 school districts, two vocational-technical schools and the Luzerne Intermediate Unit, but Dallas and Pittston Area school districts withdrew this summer, claiming they could save more money on their own. Five months later, the Trust announced the changes in insurance premiums each member will pay this year, and all but one saw decreases ranging from 1.5 percent to 7.8 percent.
While the Trust initially planned to spread costs evenly among districts and set a single rate for all, that plan was scuttled early, and each gets a slightly different premium, so each has a slightly different change in the premium annually.
Marko said Tunkhannock Area will see a 0.5 percent increase while the rest will see the following decreases: Hanover Area, 6.4 percent; Lake-Lehman, 3.8 percent; LIU, 5.3 percent; Greater Nanticoke Area, 4.4 percent; Northwest Area, 7.8 percent; West Side Vo-Tech, 2.9 percent; Wilkes-Barre Area, 1.5 percent; Wilkes-Barre Area Vo-Tech, 2.5 percent; Wyoming Area 7.6 percent; and Wyoming Valley West, 7.6 percent.
Marko said that, barring some major change, members can also expect one month without a premium, which amounts to several hundred thousand dollars for most.
“We expect to maintain stability, with zero increases or even decreases for the next three or four years,” Marko said.

11/16/2007
GNA board OKs plan for school improvement
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

Greater Nanticoke Area School Board approved a plan Thursday for Nanticoke High School’s second year of state-mandated school improvement.
To comply with the federal No Child Left Behind law, students take the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests to determine their reading and math abilities. Districts must make adequate yearly progress goals in test participation and school attendance.
Nanticoke High School’s problem is with reading proficiency in economically disadvantaged and special education students, according to the Department of Education.
As part of the plan, teachers will use the state’s “Adopt an Anchor” program, Superintendent Anthony Perrone said. It enables teachers to align their curriculum with PSSA standards to help prepare students for the tests.
Principals will do classroom walk-ins each day to see how the teachers are doing, Perrone said. The principals will submit weekly reports.
“I’m happy we have a plan and are moving forward,” board member Pattie Bieski said.
She thanked federal funds coordinator Michael Pawlik for his work.
Greater Nanticoke Area’s Educational Center and Elementary Center received warnings from the state for test performance. The problems concern reading and math for special education students at the educational center and reading for special education students at the elementary center.
In other business, board member Robert Raineri said teachers contract negotiations are in the fact-finding process, where a neutral third party looks at both sides’ proposals and makes recommendations.
It should end Nov. 26, after which the teachers union and school board will have 10 days to vote on the fact-finder’s report, Raineri said. He expects the board to vote during the Dec. 3 meeting.
Greater Nanticoke Area teachers have been without a contract since June 2005. Health insurance and salary increases are main sticking points
Hank Marks of the Greater Nanticoke Area Taxpayers Association said most full-time teachers “don’t know how well they have it.”
“They’re well-paid, have top-shelf benefits, and only work 180 days a year,” Marks said.
He also noted, “Our education is not very good as far as test scores are concerned,” which provoked a few indignant noises from the audience.

11/16/2007
GNA random drug testing policy gets initial approval
slong@timesleader.com

The Greater Nanticoke Area School Board approved the first reading of a random drug-testing policy during its meeting on Thursday.
At the request of district officials, state troopers used drug-trained sniffing dogs to inspect the high school on Oct. 13 while the building was in lock-down. “There were no drugs of any kind found,” Superintendent Tony Perrone said.
Specifics of how the entire drug-testing policy will work and how often the testing will be conducted are still being ironed out, but Perrone said the district will use a private medical lab to conduct the testing.
“We are trying to make this a drug-free school zone,” he said. “It will just be athletes now, but eventually it will be extracurricular also.”
Parents must sign a waiver to allow for the testing or their child won’t be allowed to participate on the district’s sports teams.
Students on prescription medication would not be subject to penalties that would be enforced on students who test positive for illegal substances, Perrone said.
Officials also approved the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment improvement plan.
The plan, which is required to be submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, describes the district’s testing standards and what activities it will use to help students improve their standardized test scores.
School board member Patricia Bieski said the district has a long way to go to improve the scores, but at least it is now moving in the right direction.
“I am glad we are not just talking anymore and are moving forward to improve the PSSA scores,” she said.
Further details of the plan were not available.

11/15/2007
Nanticoke Redevelopment Authority stops short of approving contract with architectural firm
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

The redevelopment authority board postponed voting to approve a contract with architectural and planning firm Facility Design & Development Ltd. for downtown improvements, saying they want more answers.
The contract is for streetscaping Main and North Market streets, including new sidewalks, streetlights, parking, planters and benches. It would follow recommendations in the strategic plan the Scranton-based architectural and planning firm prepared for Nanticoke and unveiled in April 2006.
The streetscaping is part of an overall plan for downtown redevelopment, the cornerstone of which is the sale of the redevelopment authorityowned Kanjorski Center on East Main Street to Luzerne County Community College for a health sciences center.
LCCC also wants a culinary arts center constructed on the site of the city-owned senior center at Market and Main
streets. Since city and state officials expect the projects to bring millions of dollars in private investment downtown, they want to give its main streets a new look.
Municipal authority Chairman Ron Kamowski signed off on the contract with Facility Design & Development at the authority's Oct. 22 meeting.
The redevelopment authority met two days later, but members wanted to wait until city council voiced its support and authority solicitor Susan Maza checked over the contract. Council gave the OK on Nov. 7.
The redevelopment authority wanted a few items in the contract changed or clarified. Redevelopment authority Chairman Chester Beggs called for a joint meeting with the municipal authority.
"I don't want to sign anything and have more money problems," he said.
The other members agreed. They would like a representative of Facility Design & Development to be present at the upcoming meeting.
The authority's main question was how much the project will cost. The firm's fees
would be 10 percent of the budget, based on available funds, the contract states. Maza said the wording was vague. She said the board should be given a specific budget amount with a breakdown showing how it could be used.
The $15,000 Facility Design & Development would receive on signing the contract is already covered.
State Rep. John Yudichak, D-Nanticoke, did not attend the meeting, but said earlier the municipal authority had received a $100,000 grant for professional services related to the downtown projects. The grant can cover architectural fees, legal fees, site preparation, the appraisals, and anything else needed to get things ready, he said.
But funding for the project itself is still being worked out.
U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, DNanticoke, took away $5.6 million federal transportation funding from the redevelopment authority The money was for streetscaping and a parking garage for the Kanjorski Center.

11/15/2007
Nanticoke officials gear up for contract talks
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

To stay on budget and follow the financial recovery plan, city officials will have to gear up for tough contract negotiations next year, including taking away some employee perks.
"Act 47 is not a bed of roses, and it's not a cure-all," Gerald Cross, executive director of Nanticoke's financial recovery coordinator Pennsylvania Economy League, told council. "The responsibility still rests with the city fathers."
Under state Act 47, the Municipalities Financial Recovery Act, distressed municipalities like Nanticoke have to pass a balanced budget for three straight years. The $4,183,677 budget for 2008 that council and Mayor John Bushko passed in preliminary form on Wednesday is balanced.
"This is the first reading and numbers could change," Bushko said.
Revenue is mainly from earned income tax, increased last year from 1 percent to 2 percent, with 0.5 percent going to the Greater Nanticoke Area School District.
The biggest hike in expenditures is $110,000 for legal fees, up from $20,657 in the 2007 budget. Bushko thought the amount was excessive.
But Joseph Boyle, PEL policy specialist, said the city chose the amount to plan for labor lawyers' fees, with four employee contracts expiring. The clerical staff and public works contracts, which expire Dec. 31, are in negotiations, and talks will start next year for police and fire contracts, up Dec. 31, 2008.
Personnel expenses make up 75 percent to 80 percent of the budget, PEL research associate Harry Miller said.
Labor costs got the city in financial trouble in the first place, Miller said. Nanticoke's financial recovery plan calls for extensive changes to new contracts that will save the city money.
The subject of the six members of the clerical staff was particularly thorny.
Clerical salaries are in the "low $20,000s," fiscal manager Holly Quinn said.
But clerical staff get benefits fully paid by the city - health insurance is approximately $17,000 a year per person - 22 paid days off, two weeks of vacation, several sick days a year and pensions, Councilman Bernie Norieka said.
In addition, clerical staff work six-hour days. The recovery plan calls for them to work an eight-hour day, with one hour paid lunchtime.
It isn't fair for them to have their hours increased, with only an $800 a year raise allowed them by the recovery plan, tax collector Albert Wytoshek believes.
They should have been working seven hours a day all along, Norieka said. Bushko, agreeing with Wytoshek that $800 wasn't much, said the staff signed on for six hours.
Cross said most people in Nanticoke earn less than $50,000 a year. He pointed out that residents wouldn't like paying higher income taxes so city employees could have higher salaries and benefits.
"Poll the citizens of Nanticoke next time you're out, and see how they feel about the working conditions (in city hall)," Cross said.
"That'll fly like a lead balloon," Wytoshek admitted.
Bushko requested another meeting to go over the budget line by line. He hopes to cut expenditures, he said.
"Unless you're willing to talk personnel reduction or benefit reduction, there's not much we can do," Miller said.

11/15/2007
Nanticoke rolls out '09 budget
slong@timesleader.com
The financially distressed city currently in Act 47 status got its first glimpse at the 2008 budget during a specially called meeting Wednesday night.
The $4.18 million budget is a 23.3 percent increase over the 2007 general fund budget of $3.38 million.
The 2008 budget does not include any higher taxes, sewer or refuse fees. But there is also no plan to fund capital improvements, which frustrated Mayor John Bushko, who has been actively seeking to get the roads and sewer lines fixed.
Higher health care costs, repayment of state loans and labor benefits under current union contracts account for the largest increases in the budget.
Medical insurance costs rose 14.7 percent for 2008, City Administrator Kenneth Johnson said. The city pays 100 percent of the costs for full-timers and their families.
A series of no-interest loans scheduled for payback to the state next year were expenses, which could not be put off, also increased the 2008 budget.
A $200,000 loan and a $70,000 payment on the 10-year, no-interest loan from 2006 must be paid next year, Johnson said.
The police department's budget increases $161,694 and the fire department budget increases $281,183 over the next year due to "significant wage increases under the current bargaining agreements," Johnson said.
Bushko proposed going line by line to review each department.
"Unless you are willing to talk labor, benefits and the number of employees reduction you won't reduce the budget tremendously, and some you can't touch because you are under budget contracts," said Henry Miller, a senior research associate for the Pennsylvania Economy League.
Taxes were raised earlier this year when the city adopted a commuter tax of 1.33 percent and raised the earned income tax to 2 percent. Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Mark Ciavarella on Tuesday approved the city's request to maintain the new tax rate approved in the spring.
The city expected to receive $1.7 million this year by increasing the income tax in late spring, but as of Sept. 30 only $580,673 had come in.
Johnson and PEL officials believe most of those 2007 taxes, an estimated $736,667, will come in next year by April 15.
Johnson and PEL think an additional $1.02 million will be generated from the higher taxes in 2008.
The city council is hoping to pass the budget by Dec. 19.

11/13/2007
Need for appraisal questioned
slong@timesleader.com

An appraisal of the exterior of the Kanjorski Center will be conducted within the next two weeks in an effort to keep the downtown renovation project on track. The building, owned by the Nanticoke Municipal Authority, is part of a plan to move some Luzerne County Community College programs into the heart of the city.
The Kanjorski Center appraisal is expected to cost $3,000, according to Ron Kamowski, authority chairman.
Other city-owned structures, including the Senior Citizen Center, which also may be purchased by LCCC, will be appraised at a later date, state Rep. John Yudichak, D-Nanticoke said .
Kamowski would not release the names of the other sites because the authority hasn’t decided which properties should be appraised, he said.
A $100,000 state community revitalization grant will pay for appraisals and other behind-the-scenes work, including legal fees, and will be used to acquire properties needed to proceed with the three-pronged, $21 million project, Yudichak said.
LCCC wants to move its health sciences program into the Kanjorski Center and its culinary arts program into the Senior Citizens Center by 2009.
A private restaurant developer, yet to be named, has expressed interest in working with the culinary arts center by opening a restaurant in downtown Nanticoke.
The federal Economic Development Administration requires an appraisal on the Kanjorski Center’s outer shell to determine the building’s value before it can be sold to the college.
“We need an appraisal to determine the monies owed to the EDA,” Kamowski said.
Results from the appraisal are expected to be presented to the authority in about two weeks.
Nanticoke City Administrator Kenneth Johnson doesn’t see the need for an appraisal since the property is being transferred from the municipal authority to the community college.
“It’s not the cost that bothers me. What’s the appraisal for? Why do they want an appraisal?” Johnson said. “We are going to be transferring this to LCCC, another public entity.”
When the Kanjorski Center was constructed 13 years ago, the federal EDA paid $1.8 million toward the total cost.
The money was provided with the stipulation that at least a portion of the original funds be repaid to the EDA if the building is sold within 20 years, Kamowski said.
An interior appraisal will not be conducted because the college is expected to spend $6 million on renovations that would make it suitable to house the health sciences program with dental labs, faculty offices and classrooms.
U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, said he’s working with the EDA office to reduce the building’s cost so LCCC can purchase it at a reasonable cost.
“We are trying to get a waiver or reduce the amount,” Kanjorski said, noting he would assist LCCC to help it qualify to buy the building.
He said he is planning to meet with the economic development officials after the appraisal is complete.
Earlier this year, Kanjorski rerouted a $5.6 million federal allocation from the Nanticoke project to the Hotel Sterling in Wilkes-Barre and another project in Lackawanna County. He said he feared the 11th Congressional District would lose the funding because Nanticoke officials were taking too long to complete the deal.
City council members Brent Makarczyk and James Litchofski insist the $5.6 million still belongs to Nanticoke.
City, county and school officials have made numerous requests to Kanjorski to redirect the money to Nanticoke and the municipal authority.
Makarczyk and Litchofski said they believe the appraisal is a smokescreen being used by Kanjorski to keep the federal money away from his hometown.
“It’s even been brought up that it could be a delay tactic until the bill gets passed and the money be removed from our possession,” Makarczyk said.
Kanjorski said he is working to find additional funds for the project.
“It’s not the cost that bothers me. What’s the appraisal for? Why do they want an appraisal?”
Kenneth Johnson
Nanticoke City Administrator

11/13/2007
Schools gang up on staph
Institutions stress hygiene to combat drug-resistant infections.
mvough@timesleader.com

After two school districts reported cases of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, local schools are taking measures to prevent students, faculty and staff from becoming infected. Cases have been confirmed in the Wyoming Area and Wilkes-Barre Area school districts.
Most are trying to prevent infection through education. Some are sending home informational letters and good-hygiene tips to parents and educating their employees on the spread of the bacteria. One local university recently installed automatic hand sanitizers in the dining hall.
MRSA is a bacterial infection that is resistant to certain antibiotics, but it can be treated. The elderly are most prone to the infection because of weak immune systems, but anyone can become infected. The infection is generally spread through direct contact. If someone has an open wound, the bacterium is able to penetrate the skin, causing the infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
When the students from the Wilkes-Barre Area School District contracted the infection, Andrew Kuhl, director of secondary curriculum, said officials informed parents.
Superintendent Jeffrey Namey sent parents an eight-page letter that explained what happened and included information about the disease, its symptoms and instructions on how to stay protected and how to keep areas clean, Kuhl said.|
Employees were briefed on the disease.
“Meetings were held for all faculty and they were given the same type of information the parents received for their use for their particular building,” Kuhl said.
Younger students were taught how to properly wash their hands, Kuhl said.
“The nurses had the kids sing their ABCs while washing their hands so they knew they properly washed their hands long enough.”
At Kistler Elementary School, where one case was reported, district officials sanitized the building.
“We are doing that in all of our buildings,” Kuhl said. “Our staff has been taking precautions right along. I feel we were well-prepared.”
There have been no reports of MRSA in the Greater Nanticoke Area School District but officials are taking precautions. “We have not had any issues, which is good,” said Sandy Najaka, registered nurse at the high school. “We are using disinfectants and wiping down tables, desks, gym equipment and things like that.”
Nanticoke administration sent letters to parents, telling them there have been no MRSA cases in the district, Najaka said.
“We told parents to make sure they teach their children basic hygiene such as covering their mouth when they cough, washing their hands, not taking drinks or eating other people’s food. Common-sense things,” she said.
The school has a hygiene education program that teaches the younger children about general hygiene and discusses communicable diseases with the older students.
Nanticoke Webdesign note: Go to www.gnasd.com to read letter.
Misericordia University had a quick response, too, according to Charlotte Slocum, director of student health services.
She said the school placed automatic hand sanitizers in the dining hall and added more in the health center and weight rooms.
Misericordia is discouraging students from sharing razors or soaps and suggests students wash their bed sheets and laundry frequently. If they become sick, they are encouraged to visit the health center immediately, Slocum said.
Wilkes University is using MRSA as an educational tool.
“It is important to note that we’ve taken this national news of MRSA and staph infections as an educational opportunity by informing our students and staff about the signs and symptoms and how to prevent it,” said Christine Seitzinger, associate director of marketing communications.
A four-page document of information regarding MRSA was sent to all students on campus, she said.
Little People Day Care School Inc., Wilkes-Barre, has always followed a strict cleaning regimen, said director Christine Lupcho.
“We’ve been doing what we’ve been doing, and so far, so good,” she said. “Our toys are always cleaned, usually a couple times a week. We have cleaning people come in every night. We follow our state regulations; we have to keep everything really clean to begin with, which we’ve been doing.”
Signs and Symptoms
How to Stay Healthy
• Red bumps such as pimples or boils
• Deep, painful abscesses or pus-filled lesions
• If a wound is not healing even with the use of treatment, contact a physician immediately.
• If not treated, these wounds can cause infections in bones, joints, surgical wounds, the bloodstream, heart valves and lungs, which can become life threatening.
•Take daily showers
• Continually wash hands throughout the day
• Keep open wounds properly covered until healed
• Do not share food or drinks with other people
• Sanitize toys that may be shared among more than one child
• Sanitize commonly touched areas around the home
• Athletes should shower immediately after practice or a game
Information collected from the Pennsylvania Department of Health and The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

11/13/2007
Same but different
Former Ship’s Inn now Map’s
By Ron Bartizekrbartizek@timesleader.com

The nautical theme remains, but everything else about the former Ship’s Inn restaurant has been given an upgrade at the new Map’s that opened in mid-October.
“Nanticoke is a town of traditions,” said owner Pam Hardesty, in explaining the continued seafaring decorations that include maps on the wall. But don’t think that’s the origin of the name – “Map’s” also is the possessive of “Pam” backwards.
“We flipped it around,” Hardesty, 45, said, “and it worked right out.”
The once-popular spot has been spruced up inside and out, she said. Hardesty bought the building that had been closed for two years, then got to work.
“We’ve completely remodeled everything,” with new booths, new carpeting, all new lighting, fresh paint and a new canvas awning,” she said. With 50 seats, “it’s cozy.”
The restaurant has a full bar and liquor license. That will come in handy for manager Joy Kelly, who Hardesty said is known for her signature perfect Manhattan. Kelly, a family friend, has catered private parties in the region for many years.
Co-owner Tosha Hardesty, Pam’s daughter, will be in the kitchen. From the Nanticoke High School class of 2000, she is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and was most recently a sous-chef at Skytop Lodge in the Poconos.
“She wanted to bring her skills back to the community,” Pam Hardesty said.
The menu will be “fine dining, American cuisine,” using fresh ingredients, with everything cooked to order.
Hardesty has been a waitress at many local restaurants, she said, but “I’ve never owned one.” Staffing beyond the owners and manager will mostly be family members, along with a few high school students.
She’s not giving up her day job yet, though, in the billing department of a health care organization.
The restaurant had a “soft opening” during the second week in October, Hardesty said. Monday night it hosted an invitation-only reception for community dignitaries.
FINDING MAP’S
Address: 15 W. Ridge St., Nanticoke
Hours: Wed.-Sat., dinner only, 5 p.m.
Phone: 258-0140
Other: Will be booking private parties Sundays-Tuesdays.

11/12/2007
Educational Support Professionals are the backbone of the schools

Editor: Wednesday, Nov. 14, we celebrate Educational Support Professionals Day. On this day we honor the custodians, maintenance, cleaners, aides, cafeteria workers, secretaries, hall monitors, transportation assistants, tech aides and others who provide invaluable services to our schools.
ESP Day is designed to recognize the ESP for their never ending hard work and dedication to making public schools great for every child.
Today’s Support Professionals make it easier for students to learn in positive, supportive and safe environments.
All ESPs are equal and essential partners in the education process.
Thanks to all the Educational Support Professionals who are essentially “the backbone of our schools.”

J.D. Verazin
President
Greater Nanticoke Area Educational Support Professionals

11/9/2007
Nanticoke employees will be paid
Despite continued financial problems, city will be able to meet its payroll obligations.
slong@timesleader.com

All 39 city employees will receive paychecks today, even though the city continues to experience cash flow problems, city Administrator Kenneth Johnson said.
Council members expressed concern last month that the city might not have enough money in its general fund to cover payroll expenses. Late last week, tax collector Berkheimer Associates sent the city a check for earned income taxes paid during the second and third quarters, Johnson said. He would not reveal the amount of the check.
“If this continues, we should be OK,” Johnson said. “Regardless, the city will make payroll and try to pay other bills.”
Mayor John Bushko Wednesday night dismissed the notion that the city would not have been able to pay its employees. There is enough money to meet payroll for the rest of the year, he said.
In May, the city voted to increase its earned income tax from 1 percent to 2 percent after obtaining approval from a Luzerne County court. The city receives 1.5 percent and the remaining .5 percent is paid to the Greater Nanticoke Area School District.
However, the income generated from the tax has not flowed in as quickly as estimated by the Pennsylvania Economy League officials, who are mandated by the state to help the city recover from its Act 47 status.
Despite repeated requests, Nanticoke residents are not contacting their employers to have the extra tax amount withheld from their paychecks. Residents who don’t have the funds removed now will get hit with a tax bill next spring.
“The monies will come in, just not at the rate anticipated,” Johnson said. “I knew we were going to have some issues with it, but didn’t know it would be this rough.”
Gerald E. Cross, executive director of the Pennsylvania Economy League, said the city’s cash flow is under control.
By the numbers
2007-08 budget review
Total city employees: 39 full-time
Total payroll: $65,000 payable bi-weekly on Fridays
-Source: City of Nanticoke records
Pennsylvania Economy League and City Administrator Kenneth Johnson will present the 2008 budget to the city council 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 14 at Nanticoke’s municipal building at 15 E. Ridge St. The budget is anticipated at $3.1 million. Council has until Dec. 31 to approve the budget.

11/8/2007
Nanticoke official adds clerk’s duties
City’s administrator takes over the job after the city clerk resigns.
slong@timesleader.com

City administrator Ken Johnson is now serving double duties with the city after being named the new city clerk during Wednesday night’s meeting.
Johnson read a letter of resignation dated Nov. 5 from city clerk Anthony Margelewicz effective immediately.
“I have to realize that I cannot carry out the duties as custodian of the city records while I am not able to control the deposition of storage,” Margelewicz stated in the letter.
He said the “work environment had become increasingly hostile” and he was not allowed access to a computer for at least a year while handling his part-time duties.
None of the council members, Mayor John Bushko or Johnson would elaborate on these claims.
Bushko called Margelewicz a great friend after accepting his resignation.
He also said the city needed to take applications from people interested in filling the appointed seat.
Bushko said the clerk’s job should be handled by a city resident, not a city administrator.
City councilman Bernie Norieka countered that, saying the city didn’t need to fill the city clerk position because Johnson could handle those duties.
“I think Mr. Johnson has enough on his plate,” Bushko said.
Johnson said although serving as the city’s administrator is a challenging job, he would do the clerk’s job as requested.
There are other communities in Pennsylvania where the city administrator and clerk are the same official.
The city will save $6,400 a year by consolidating the clerk’s job with Johnson’s duties as city administrator.
“The council will save money we don’t need to pay for that position,” Norieka said.
As clerk, Johnson will now be responsible for maintaining the city’s minutes from each meeting, handling roll call duties and endorsing documents with the city’s official seal as necessary.
Margelewicz did not return calls seeking comment.

11/8/2007
Nanticoke taking money from projects to replace $5.6 million in federal funds
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

Increasing unlikelihood of getting $5.6 million federal money means city officials will have to re-route funding from other important projects.
Council voted Wednesday to use most of a $2.3 million federal grant for street improvements around the Kanjorski Center on East Main Street.
Council originally planned to use the money to repave Alden Road, Prospect Street, Union Street and possibly three others. City officials are keeping $700,000 of the $2.3 million to repave and do sewer work on Alden Road.
Nanticoke General Municipal Authority is selling the Kanjorski Center to Luzerne County Community College for a health sciences center. The project is considered crucial to millions of dollars in private investment downtown.
The Kanjorski Center lacks parking. U.S. Rep Paul Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, got the city $5.6 million to build a parking garage in the 2005 federal transportation funding act. However, Kanjorski is taking the money away from Nanticoke in a bill passed by the House but still in the Senate.
The $2.3 million, which is federal K-route money, can’t be used toward a parking garage, Councilman Brent Makarczyk said. It can be used for things like sidewalks, streetlights, and on-street parking, which the $5.6 million would also have gone toward.
Makarczyk, angry about comments by Kanjorski in an Oct. 21 article in The Citizens’ Voice, said he believes the city will never get the $5.6 million, so has to divert money from other projects, like the K-routes.
He refuted Kanjorski’s statement that the parking garage is not necessary right now. On several occasions in 2005 and 2006, Kanjorski referred to the need for parking at the Kanjorski Center, Makarczyk pointed out. Neither did city officials ever say they didn’t want the money, as Kanjorski claimed, Makarczyk said. He said they wanted it to be spent wisely.
“In my opinion, he decided the project was not what he wanted, so he took taxpayer money and tried to kill the project,” Makarczyk said. “For a ‘hometown hero’ to go out of his way to kill the biggest city project in years, to me is very sad.”
Councilman James Litchkofski agreed.
“It seems to me (Kanjorski) is devaluing the project and devaluing the residents. It’s a shame,” he said.
In other business, council accepted city clerk Anthony Margelewicz’s resignation.
“I have come to realize that I cannot carry out the duties as custodian of the city’s records when I am not able to control their disposition or storage,” Margelewicz states in his resignation letter. “At the same time I have not had reliable access to a computer for a period in excess of one year and the work environment has become increasingly hostile.”
City Administrator Kenneth Johnson will take over clerk duties, which include meeting minutes, at no extra pay.

11/8/2007
Deployment ceremony set Saturday for troops
By bkalinowski@citizensvoice.com

National Guard officials are busy preparing for Saturday’s deployment ceremony to bid farewell to members of the 109th Field Artillery who will leave for the Middle East within weeks.
The event will mark the final time the entire battalion will be united in formation until the soldiers return in late 2008 or early 2009.
Family, friends, veterans or simply patriotic members of the community are encouraged to attend, said Sgt. John Paul Karpovich, a battalion human resources official who organized the event.
“This is it. It’s a time when we say, ‘Go forward, carry on the mission, be safe, represent the Wyoming Valley and come home safe,’” Karpovich said.
Soldiers will hear an inspirational message from battalion commander, Lt. Col. Kevin Miller, and an Army chaplain. Other speakers slated include U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke; state Sens. Ray Musto, D-Pittston Township, and Lisa Baker, R-Lehman Township, and state Rep. Phyllis Mundy, D-Kingston.
About 160 soldiers from Alpha Battery (Plymouth), Bravo Battery (Nanticoke), Headquarters Battery (Wilkes-Barre), and Golf Company (Wilkes-Barre) are set to mobilize between Nov. 26 and Dec. 3 for an eventual deployment to Afghanistan, Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula.
This is the third time since Sept. 11 the 109th has been called to serve the nation and Karpovich is hoping the soldiers will receive a much deserved send-off. “It means a lot when someone cares and says, ‘Thank you for what you are doing.’ That means the world to someone who wears the uniform,” he said.

11/1/2007
Nanticoke Area Notes
Pamela Urbanski writes Nanticoke Area Notes every other Thursday. You can reach her by e-mail at pamurb806@aol.com.

GNA soccer program helps area kids get in their kicks

Over the last several months, area athletes have been taking part in the Greater Nanticoke Area Youth Soccer Program. GNAYS intramural soccer, as it is called, gives kids ages 5-17 an opportunity to give the sport a try and to learn a little more about the game.
“A lot of the young people who play in our league do so because they want to see if it is a sport that they will like and might continue with in high school,” said Dave Lane, GNAYS president. “It is also an opportunity for them to learn the fundamentals of the game and to work on the skills that they have already acquired.”
Lane says it is also just a way for kids to have some fun with their friends and play a sport they really enjoy.
This is Lane’s fifth year as president of GNAYS. He and his wife, Charlene, put in a lot of time making sure players have a successful season. From coaching to taking care of the fields, it is a job that takes up their Saturdays and many hours during the week. Why are they so dedicated?
“We do it because we love the sport and we enjoy watching the kids play and having a good time,” Lane said. He started coaching when his daughter, Kaitlyn, played U8; this year she is a U18 player. He also has another daughter, Lindsay, who plays U14.
“It is great to see them all go from U8 players and not knowing what they are doing to U18 skilled players,” Lane said.
There are 24 teams from Nanticoke that participated in the soccer program. More than 200 students and 40 coaches from Nanticoke have taken part.
Each team practiced twice a week and played a game on Saturday, starting in September and finishing up this past week. That means that between 300 and 400 young people and their families from all over the Wyoming Valley were in town for a Saturday soccer game.
Four fields were used: three at the Hanover Recreational Park and one at Lower Broadway. The soccer association made a donation to the Hanover Recreation Club and they in turn took care of the three fields. They also ran a concession stand at the fields located in the Hanover section of Nanticoke.
During the regular season, scores are not kept. Of course players know who wins and loses, but the stats are not kept and scores of games are not allowed to be published in the newspaper. That all changes when teams enter the County Cup.
The County Cup is an intramural soccer tournament where score is kept and a champion is crowned in each age division. Teams are entered from all around the Wyoming Valley.
This year, four Nanticoke teams entered the cup. Two teams will play for the championship on Saturday: a U14 girls team coached by Dave Chapin and a U18 girls team coached by Dave Lane. Two teams, a U12 girls team also coached by Lane and a U13 girls team coached by Paul Cimaksasky, made it to the third round of the tournament before being eliminated. As with any quality youth program, a lot of volunteers give their time.
Thank you to all the coaches and adults who helped to make this season a success. Hats off to the officers of GNAYS: Dave Lane; Patty McNulty, treasurer; Paul Cimakasky, secretary; and Jay Bohn, U8 commissioner.
Congratulations to all the players for a fine season and for representing your community so well.

Calling all mat men

Registration for the Nanticoke Elementary Wrestling Program will be held Nov. 12 from 7 to 9:30p.m. at Green Street’s Restaurant. The program is recommended for children in fourth through sixth grades; however, kids ages 5-9 may be admitted if a parent provides supervision.
The program is structured to teach all participants the basics of wrestling, as well as expose them to some actual competition. Practices will be held twice a week, beginning in December. Cost is $25 per wrestler, $40 per family. For more information, call Joann at 735-2376 or Bob at 735-1434.

Craft fair scheduled
The Friends of the Mill Memorial Library will hold a fall craft fair Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Vendors will sell jewelry, crafts and holiday items, including beautiful stained glass. There will also be a book sale, and be sure to stop by Granny’s Attic. Also stop by for some delicious food and baked goods, the kids’ face painting and more surprises to come. For more information, call the library at 735-3030.

10/29/2007
Closing nonprofit selling 40 acres to Nanticoke
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

For sale: 40 acres in Nanticoke and Hanover Township containing a 97-year-old historic landmark.
The nonprofit Regional Equipment Center is giving Concrete City, located off Front Street in the Hanover section of Nanticoke, to the Nanticoke General Municipal Authority to sell for economic development. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission designated the experimental former coal-mine housing community a historic site and erected a marker in 1998.
The property consists of seven acres in Nanticoke and 33 acres in Hanover Township.
“You’re going to have property in Hanover Township?” Nanticoke Mayor John Bushko asked the night the authority voted to accept it.
“If we can sell it, John, I don’t care if it’s in Russia,” municipal authority chairman Ronald Kamowski said.
The municipal authority is broke, and needs money for maintenance on the mostly-vacant Kanjorski Center on East Main Street — at least until it can be sold to Luzerne County Community College.
The Regional Equipment Center, which was created to allow municipalities to borrow heavy equipment, is closing by the end of the year. Executive Director Joseph Yudichak offered Concrete City for a token payment of $10, Kamowski said.|
“We were negotiating with the (Nanticoke) historical society at one time, and they wanted to save one building, fence it in,” Yudichak said. “The cost of maintaining one building, and fencing and insurance was just too much for us.”
Municipal authority solicitor Joseph Lach will do a title search on the property. Once the ownership is clarified, authority members hope they can find someone to buy it, Kamowski said. He’s not sure what the authority will do with the concrete structures.
“We really have no plans right now,” Kamowski said. “The property became available to us, and we figured it was the last piece of developable land left in the city limits, so we took it.”

Concrete City in wilderness
At the end of a deeply-rutted rocky dirt road loom the shells of what were once considered a unique marvel of company housing for coal miners.
Paintball players, target practicers and partiers have littered the once-immaculate grounds with beer containers, spray paint cans and assorted types of spent ammunition.
Tangles of overgrown foliage give no hint of the lush lawns and gardens residents once cultivated. Graffiti-covered bare concrete is devoid of any trace of the white paint with green trim that once graced the homes.
Concrete City’s 20 two-family residences were built in 1911 by Delaware, Lackawanna and Western railroad’s coal division to house 40 favored employees of Truesdale Colliery. Each house, made entirely of poured concrete, rented for $8 a month — but only to English-speaking, high-level mine employees.
Glen Alden Coal Co. took over Concrete City in 1921. The company didn’t want to put in a required sewer system — each residence had a concrete outhouse — and abandoned the housing complex in 1924.
As legend has it, Glen Alden Coal Co. tried to demolish it, but gave up when they discovered even 100 sticks of dynamite didn’t dent the buildings.
“Well, they could today,” Yudichak said.
The houses are weathered and crumbling, and years of use as a training ground and shooting range by firefighters, police and the military — as well as damage by vandals — have taken their toll.
“The problem with it is, the buildings are a disaster waiting to happen. Someone has to take it over and do something,” Yudichak said. “Someday there will be a major accident there.”

10/27/2007
Nanticoke businessman hopes to rebound from devastating fire
bkalinowski@citizensvoice.com

Joe Waiter looks at the damage in disbelief.
A freak fire last weekend ravaged the Nanticoke auto garage he has run for three decades.
Now, the 59-year-old is forced to start anew.
But the hardest part, Waiter says, is he could not prevent what happened.
Nanticoke fire officials determined the devastating blaze was accidental and originated under the hood of a 1998 Ford F-150 truck parked overnight inside Waiter’s Broadway Garage on Alden Road.
Signs point to a faulty cruise-control switch that has caused fires in Ford vehicles around the country, led to millions of recalls and prompted class-action lawsuits, Waiter said he was told by a fire investigator.
“Your life changes in an absolute instant. It’s devastating,” Waiter said. “I don’t think I should have a life’s work ended in an instant at no fault of my own. That’s the hard part. That’s the depressing part.”
Kevin Thomas, the investigator probing the blaze from York-based Kufta Associates, said he couldn’t comment about the fire.
According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration files on its Web site, more than 4.5 million Ford vehicles — including Ford F-150s — that were equipped with the cruise-control deactivation switch used from 1992 to 2003 had the potential to “overheat, smoke or burn” and created “a significant risk of fire.”
A 2005 CNN report on the issue said the $20 switch, attached to the brake master cylinder, was designed to be powered — or hot — even when the vehicle was off. Over time, brake fluid could seep into the electrical components of the switch, sparking a fire and fueling the flames even when the vehicle had been idle.
The fire at Waiter’s garage began Friday, Oct. 19, around 12:30 a.m., more than six hours after he closed for the night. Waiter said he completed general maintenance on the truck, which the owner recently purchased.
Regardless of how the fire occurred, Waiter can’t escape the feeling of losing his livelihood — at least temporarily.
He has been in the business since 1960, when he began working for his father. He opened his current garage at 107 Alden Road in 1978. Now, it’s ruined.
The exterior of the building doesn’t give a true picture of the fire’s wrath. A large hole opened up in the roof. Black smoke stains the eaves. Inside, though, nearly everything — including business records — is burned beyond repair.
He has adequate insurance, but says it does little to ease the mental anguish of the loss. Plus, he knows there’s a long road ahead before life will become normal again.
Waiter says the building must come down, but his career will not end. He predicts he’ll reopen in a new building within a few months.
“I will be back,” Waiter said.

10/25/2007
Redevelopment authority joins chorus clamoring for federal funds
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

The city’s redevelopment authority on Wednesday added its members’ voices to those of the Nanticoke General Municipal Authority in asking for $5.6 million federal funding.
Last week, city council and mayor John Bushko asked the two authorities, which own and manage the Kanjorski Center, to send letters to the U.S. Department of Transportation asking how to start drawing down on the money to build a parking garage for the building. The municipal authority board signed the letter Monday, and both letters will be mailed together.
Luzerne County Community College wants to buy the Kanjorski Center for a Life Sciences Center. The authorities are jointly prepared to immediately start designing and building a parking garage, as well as other improvements related to more than $40 million in downtown redevelopment projects, according to the letter.
The anchor for the projects is LCCC’s presence downtown in the Kanjorski Center and at a new Culinary Arts center to be constructed at Market and Main streets.
The $5.6 million was earmarked by U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke in the 2005 Transportation Funding Act. He has since taken the funding away from Nanticoke, giving part of it to Wilkes-Barre in a bill that hasn’t passed in the Senate. City officials believe the $5.6 million is still theirs until the bill passes.
Unlike the municipal authority, the redevelopment authority is waiting to vote on a contract with Facility Design & Development Inc. as designers and architects for downtown projects on Market and Main streets, including the culinary arts center.
Redevelopment authority chairman Chester Beggs, who is also on the municipal authority board, suggested both authorities wait until city council approves the contract. Additionally, Beggs wanted redevelopment authority attorney Susan Maza to look over the contract.
The municipal authority signed off on the contract, conditional on council’s approval, but the redevelopment authority is holding off until after next week’s council meeting.
The redevelopment authority plans to ask the municipal authority to have the Kanjorski Center appraised.

10/24/2007
Nanticoke still fighting for federal funding
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

Members of the Nanticoke General Municipal Authority aren’t giving up hope they can get back $5.6 million in funding for an important project.
U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, originally got the $5.6 million in the 2005 Transportation Funding Act, to be used for a parking garage and other improvements to East Main Street around the Kanjorski Center. The congressman later took the money away from Nanticoke. He gives part of it to Wilkes-Barre in a bill that is still in the Senate.
Kanjorski previously went on the record saying he most likely won’t get the $5.6 million back.
The redevelopment and municipal authorities, which own and manage the Kanjorski Center, need the money for a parking garage.
The building has no parking, which is part of the deal for the sale of the building to Luzerne County Community College for its new health sciences center.
City officials are anxious to start building. They believe that until and unless the bill passes, the $5.6 million belongs to them. Council voted last week to ask the two authorities to send letters to the U.S. Department of Transportation, asking if it can start releasing the funds.
“We’re still hoping the congressman will change his mind about the money he re-allocated,” municipal authority chairman Ron Kamowski said. “We know he cares about Nanticoke. Maybe he will have a change of heart.”
In other business, the authority will contract with Scranton-based Facility Design and Development Ltd. for the Market and Main street redesign project, conditional on council’s approval. Authority member Chester Beggs wanted city officials’ cooperation, and the other members agreed.
Fees will not exceed 10 percent of the project costs, which Kamowski noted was “lower than standard.” The firm’s principal, Alex Belavitz, will be paid a $15,000 retainer, which Kamowski said was fair, considering all the work he has done for the authority over the past two years, much out of his own pocket.
The authority is broke, relying on the city for funds. But money to pay for professional services, including those of Facility Design and Development, is available from an unidentified source. Kamowski said he wasn’t sure from whom or how much there is.
Solicitor Joseph Lach said until a formal announcement is made, he can’t disclose where the money comes from. All he could say is it isn’t from a private source, and it is for “the professional services that will tie the project together.”
“If someone wants to give us money, we’ll take it,” authority member Henry Marks said.

10/21/2007
Congressman says approval of educational use for Kanjorski Center more important than garage
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

Nanticoke probably won’t get its $5.6 million federal funding for a parking garage at the Ka

10/20/2007
Nanticoke man will receive crime prevention award

A Nanticoke man is one of 17 Pennsylvanians selected to receive the Governor’s Crime Prevention Volunteer Award, according to an announcement by Gov. Ed Rendell on Friday.
Nicholas Pucino was the only Luzerne County resident selected for the award.
“These Pennsylvanians are to be commended for their leadership and commitment to making their neighborhoods safer,” said Rendell.
The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency made Friday’s announcement as part of crime prevention month, which was developed by the National Crime Prevention Council to encourage volunteer, grass-roots collaboration in preventing crime.
As the state’s criminal justice planning agency, the commission works to prevent and reduce crime in Pennsylvania and respond to the needs of victims. At Rendell’s direction, it collaborates with state and local elected officials, juvenile and criminal justice agencies, victim service agencies, community-based organizations, nonprofits, schools and others to achieve these goals. For more information about the commission, visit www.pccd.state.pa.us.

10/19/2007
Printing business opens in Whitney Pointe development
nsohr@citizensvoice.com

The Whitney Pointe development is mostly rocky ground strewn with mounds of coal.
For more than three decades the land has lain fallow as developers concentrated their efforts in the north end of the Wyoming Valley, or passed the region by.
But now, in the center of 323 strip-mined acres, there is a small, drab-gray building — the first business to set up shop in the beleaguered park.
C.P.S. Direct Marketing and Communications, a developer and printer of marketing materials, officially opened the doors to its new facility Thursday.
“For a few generations, this (development) has been a symbol of the failure of the south valley,” said state Rep. John Yudichak, D-Nanticoke. C.P.S.’s opening “sets a new stage. It tells the world that we’re open for business.”
Yudichak said he has been in contact with several other businesses interested in locating in Whitney Pointe, which is owned by Ken Pollock, and a spur from the Canadian Pacific line is under construction.
“I never envisioned anything going in here,” said C.P.S. owner Wayne Oplinger. “But when I sat back and thought about it, it’s a great place to do business.”
Oplinger moved his 11-year-old business from South River Street in Wilkes-Barre to Whitney Pointe as it became clear the growing business needed more room.
He employs 15 sales people, graphic artists and press operators. In the next few years, Oplinger said, he hopes to see his staff grow to around 60 to fill orders mostly from Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey, but as far away as Florida and Hawaii.
“You’re seeing this first in a long line of success stories in the county, and here in the south valley,” said Luzerne County majority Commissioner Greg Skrepenak.
Current plans for Whitney Pointe include 150 residential lots and 19 industrial parcels.

10/19/2007
Nanticoke council approves plans for parking garage
City officials ask Kanjorski to reroute federal funds to pay for the project.
slong@timesleader.com

City council Wednesday night approved plans for the parking garage project for Luzerne County Community College’s relocation into downtown.
Council voted 4-0 to allow the Nanticoke Redevelopment Authority to proceed with the $7 million garage on East Main Street even though the federal funds originally earmarked to pay for it have been diverted to another project.
Some councilmen believe that if the authority moves forward with the project, U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, will have to reroute the $5.6 million funding package back to the city for the LCCC project.
“It’s my understanding all Congressman Kanjorski has to do is make one phone call to reroute that money,” Councilman Bernie Norieka said.
Mayor John Bushko said he believes the original allocation has been given to other projects, so new funding must be found to replace it. After speaking with Kanjorski before the council meeting, the mayor said he wanted to give Kanjorski time to try to find new money for the project.
The federal funds in question were part of the Federal Highway Transportation Bill. Kanjorski said he diverted the money to other projects in the district, including the Hotel Sterling, because he was concerned the money would be lost if Nanticoke did not proceed in a timely manner.
Wednesday’s vote allows the authority to proceed with the design and building phase on a 400-vehicle garage adjacent to the Kanjorski Center. LCCC intends to move two of its programs into the center by January 2009.
Councilman James Litchkofski drafted a letter to J. Richard Capka of the Federal Highway Administration in an attempt to force Kanjorski to reroute the funding to Nanticoke. In the letter, he asked about steps the city, Redevelopment Authority and Municipal Authority should take to ensure Nanticoke receives the money.
Plymouth Township Supervisor Gale Conrad and Newport Township Board of Commissioners sent letters to Kanjorski requesting the money be restored because it will propel the development of other projects in the South Valley region.
“We are forced to ask why is the South Valley less deserving of federal funds than any other region in the 11th Congressional District,” the letter stated.
Councilman Brent Makarczyk called for the removal of Kanjorski staffer Walter Sokolowski from the Redevelopment Authority. Administrator Kenneth Johnson said council cannot remove Sokolowski from the board, but can request his resignation.
Neither Sokolowski, a former mayor of Nanticoke, nor Kanjorski could be reached for comment.

10/19/2007
GNA evacuated after bomb threat found
jgrad@timesleader.com

A threat scrawled on the mirror in the boy’s room of a middle school caused the Greater Nanticoke Area School District to dismiss classes early Thursday and led to the entire school being searched for explosives.
The building was swept by a cadre of Nanticoke police officers, and no explosive devices or weapons were found. Classes are scheduled for today at the regular times.
Superintendent Anthony Perrone said “someone wrote something on a mirror that ‘we’re going to blow this place up at 11:30.’ ”
The discovery of the threat led to an immediate evacuation of the school and the early dismissal for the district’s middle school and elementary schools. Middle school students were bused home at noon and the elementary schools were bused home at 1 p.m. The high school was dismissed at its regular time.
The threat caused classes to be canceled for about 800 students, Perrone said.
“We immediately called 911 and the police and they were here immediately,” Perrone said. “They were phenomenal. They went through the whole school.”
Perrone insisted that the school is safe but expressed apprehension about talking to the media about the crime because he said he feared it may embolden others to commit copycat acts. He said, however, when the district and police find out who is responsible, they will be prosecuted.

10/18/2007
Blaze damages Nanticoke home
An 88-year-old woman is displaced by the fire, which melts neighbor’s siding.
jgrad@timesleader.com

Flames burned high enough to scorch an attic window and hot enough to melt plastic siding on a neighboring home nearly 20 feet away Wednesday afternoon.
Fire department fans pumped smoke and heat out of a second-story window as firefighters doused the melting side of the neighboring home with water.
The fire began about 4:10 p.m. at 178 W. Ridge St. Displaced from the home was 88-year-old Sophia Homitz.
The American Red Cross was attempting to help Homitz find housing as the sun set. Homitz was too shaken up to talk at the scene.
David and Amy Saraka were visiting her mother’s home on West Ridge Street when they spotted the fire.
“We had just pulled in and we were helping my mom with her house,” Saraka said. “That’s when we noticed the black smoke.”
Saraka said, “my husband ran like hell trying to get her off the front porch. She wouldn’t move.”
Eventually David Saraka and Sue Heinz managed to pull Homitz to safety. No one was injured.
Larry Karnes is a captain and a 17-year veteran of the Nanticoke Fire Co. He said that structurally the home is sound, “however, it’s total devastation inside. First and second floors are burned up pretty bad.”
“When I came up with the control car, the flames were coming out of that attic and flames were blowing out of that hole.”
The temperature inside the structure was so hot it melted the rugs in the house, which clung to the firefighters’ protective gear and caused slight heat exhaustion to some of the early responders.
The neighboring home sustained “extensive damage on the outside,” Karnes said. “We broke in. We haven’t notified them.”
Karnes said the origin of the fire is now being investigated. If the fire company does not find the fire’s origin, a fire marshal will be dispatched to the scene from Troop P Wyoming of the state police.
Chip Miller, a 27-year veteran of the Nanticoke Fire Co., was one of the first to respond. He described the first floor as having extensive fire damage and speculated that the fire may have started in the cellar of the home.
UGI responded to the scene to cut power and gas to the home, as per standard company protocol. Nanticoke City Medic, Nanticoke police, Honey Pot Fire Co. and Hanover Township Fire Co. also responded to the scene.

10/18/2007
After Nanticoke Yard Sale, Halloween, Christmas events

Editor: Citizens' Voice
On Saturday, Oct. 6 the Nanticoke Civic Pride Committee sponsored another citywide yard sale with a treasure hunt. Over 250 people participated in the sale and over 350 maps were given out, and many of these people came from out of town.
The yard sale is not only for our citizens to sell their items, but a chance to meet their neighbors and other people from all over.
It also gives people a chance to see our beautiful city and what we have to offer, not only now, but in the future.
I want to thank the Nanticoke Civic Pride Committee, Mayor John Bushko, Yvonne Bozinski, Theresa Sowa and Betci Cheshinski for all their help. Also, the girls in the tax office in the city building who accepted phone calls and made our maps and lists. Dave Alberola from Emjaze Marketing, Inc. for graciously donating his bench sign on Main and Market streets and the Salvation Army who sent one of their trucks to take all the usable items. A big thank you to The Citizens’ Voice for their well written stories about the yard sale and especially to the citizens of Nanticoke, who know that our city is growing stronger each day.
Finally, the Civic Pride Committee not only works tirelessly for the yard sale but other community activities such as our upcoming Halloween parade for the children of Nanticoke which will be on Sunday, Oct. 27 from 2 to 4 p.m. and our Santa Parade and party which is held sometime in December. For more information on these events and many more please go to our website at Nanticokecity.com.
J.D. Verazin
Nanticoke Civic Pride Committee

10/18/2007
Nanticoke City wants access to federal funds
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

City council, tired of waiting to see whether a $5.6 million federal grant will be pulled, voted Wednesday to take action.
Since the $5.6 million belongs to the city by law, officials say, they are asking to access the money.
It is needed for a parking garage at the Kanjorski Center on East Main Street, which Luzerne County Community College is buying to turn into a health sciences center. The project is key to start approximately $40 million in downtown redevelopment.
U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski put the $5.6 million earmark into a federal transportation funding bill President Bush signed into law in 2005. Kanjorski redirected it to Wilkes-Barre and Lackawanna County projects in a bill passed in the House in February. The money was restored to Nanticoke by the Senate, but removed in another bill that passed in the House on July 31 and is now in the Senate.
During meetings with city and college officials and in letters to them, Kanjorski indicated he wouldn’t help get the $5.6 million back, according to council members.
“It is my serious belief we’re not going to get that money at all,” Councilman Bernie Norieka said.
Since the new bill taking the money away hasn’t been passed in the Senate, the money is still available for Nanticoke, Councilman Jim Litchkofski said.
Council voted to ask the city’s redevelopment and municipal authorities, which own and manage the Kanjorski Center, to submit a letter to Federal Highway Administrator J. Richard Capka. In it, they ask how to start drawing funds from the $5.6 million. They say they want to start building the garage, and that $1.2 million in state and local funds are ready to contribute to the project.
Council also voted 3-2 — Mayor John Bushko and Councilman Joe Dougherty voted no — to ask Walter Sokolowski to resign from the redevelopment authority board. He was not at Wednesday’s meeting.
Sokolowski was Kanjorski’s chief of staff in Wilkes-Barre at the same time he was on the redevelopment authority, Councilman Brent Makarczyk said. Sokolowski knew Kanjorski tried twice to take away the $5.6 million and never said a word, Makarczyk said.
“His actions, what he did, are unforgivable at this point, and I don’t think he deserves a seat on that board,” Makarczyk said.
Bushko pointed out that although council could ask for Sokolowski’s resignation, he doesn’t have to give it.
Sokolowski was recently hired by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, according to its spokesman, Doug Harbach. Sokolowski will serve as an enforcement agent at the Mount Airy Casino Resort when it opens.

10/18/2007
Firefighters teach valuable lessons to children and senior citizens
Pam Urbanski - Nanticoke Area Notes

The Nanticoke Fire Department was very busy last week as it joined with other fire companies around the U.S. in celebrating National Fire Prevention Week.
The theme for this year was “It’s Fire Prevention Week — Practice your Escape Plan.” According the National Fire Protection Association, in 2006, fire departments nationally responded to 1.6 million fires and 24 percent were home fires. Home fires killed 3,030 people — roughly eight people every day. Yet, only 23 percent of households actually have developed and practiced a home-fire escape plan.
“Fire prevention week gives us an opportunity to go into classrooms and share fire safety tips with the students,” said Fire Chief Mike Bohan.
The program consisted of a movie entitled “Planning Your Escape.” A discussion about fire safety and a firefighter who dresses in full gear including breathing apparatus is also part of the demonstration.
“It’s important that children are able to see what a firefighter looks and sounds like in full gear,” said Bohan. “We don’t want children running away and hiding from firefighters who are trying to rescue them.”
An interesting thing happened to Chief Bohan that proves seeing a firefighter dressed up is important. His granddaughter Kalya attends Little Stars. Kayla has been at the fire department many, many times for visits. During the presentation, Kayla began to cry when firefighter Miller approached her in full gear.
“It was scary for her but an important thing for her to experience,” the fire chief said.
This year, the fire department including career and volunteer firefighters, met with 1,315 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. The firefighters also visited Head Start, Little Stars, Learning Station and Big Daddies.
Students in kindergarten and first grade toured the fire-safety house, an actual house where children practice escaping two ways as theatrical smoke is blown through the house. Each fire safety program ends with Ember the fire dog showing children what to do in case their clothes catch on fire: “Stop, drop and roll.”
Firefighters also take time to visit the three high-rise apartments in the city. “Our seniors really appreciate our program and we enjoy visiting with them,” Bohan said.
The chief also recommended that parents/caregivers review what was learned and ask questions about the fire-safety program.

Smoke detectors available
The Nanticoke Fire Department once again has teamed up with WNEP-TV, Channel 16, for Operation Save A Life, a program designed to distribute and install smoke alarms in city homes that do not have the life-saving devices.
Kidde Corporation has donated 10,000 smoke detectors to a 17-county region including Luzerne County.
One of the most important things you can do to is to install smoke detectors and keep them working,” said Chief Mike Bohan. “Putting up smoke detectors and not having working batteries or taking the batteries out to put them in something else is a mistake.”
“Twice a year you should change the batteries. Change your clocks change your batteries,” he advised. Testing batteries once a month by pressing the button on the smoke detector is also a good idea.
The Nanticoke Fire Department will distribute and install, free of charge, residential smoke detectors. Call the fire department at 735-5860 to make arrangements.

Annual Halloween parade set
The City of Nanticoke is holding its annual Halloween parade Saturday, Oct. 27, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Patriot Park. Children ages 1 to 14 are invited to show off their Halloween costumes. Of course, prizes will be awarded and there will be surprises and treats for each child. In case of inclement weather, the Halloween festivities will be held at city hall, 1 East Ridge St. For more information, call 735-2800.

Band sponsoring trip to NYC
The Greater Nanticoke Area High School marching band is sponsoring a trip to New York City on Sunday, Nov. 18 to see the 75th anniversary performance of the Rockettes’ Christmas Show at Radio City Music Hall. The bus will leave Nanticoke at 8 a.m. and return at 11 p.m. Cost is $65. Children 12 years of age and under will receive a free goodie bag.
Call Cindy Garren at 735-0792 to register.

Spaghetti dinner and more
Parishioners of the Transfiguration of Our Lord Church are holding their third annual spaghetti dinner Sunday. Serving will be from noon to 4 p.m. A Ukrainian auction featuring home-cooked meals and goodies and a bale sale also will be held.
Tickets can be purchased at the door or by calling John at 735-6878, Gerry at 824-3880 or Jill at 824-4603. The church is located at Center and Bliss streets in the Hanover section of Nanticoke.

Youth group fundraiser
The youth group of the Holy Child/Holy Trinity/St. Mary of Czestochowa/St. Stanislaus parish community is collecting empty inkjet, laser cartridges and used cell phones. The youth group has partnered with Planet Green in a fundraising effort to collect these items. Collection boxes are located in the vestibules of all the churches.
Also, if you drink Coke or any other Coke products that have the “mycokerewards” labels on them, please save them and drop them off at boxes in the church vestibules or at the parish office. For most Coke products, the codes are on the bottle caps, while on other products the labels are on the opening of the box.

Spaghetti at St. John’s
You won’t have to cook dinner Sunday, Oct. 28. Instead, you can fill up on homemade spaghetti and meatballs at St. John’s Orthodox Church. The dinner will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tickets are $7 for adults and $3.50 for children 10 and younger. Take-out soups also will be available.
The dinner will be held in the church basement located on Welles and Front streets in the Hanover section of Nanticoke.

10/14/2007
Yard sale, hunt helpers lauded
Times Leader

On Oct. 6, the Nanticoke Civic Pride Committee sponsored another citywide yard sale with a treasure hunt. More than 250 people participated in the sale and more than 350 maps were given out. Many of the participants were from out of town.
The yard sale is not only for our citizens to sell their items, but a chance to meet neighbors and people from all over. It also gives people a chance to see our beautiful city and what we have to offer, not only now, but in the future.
I want to thank:
• the Nanticoke Civic Pride Committee, Mayor John Bushko, Yvonne Bozinski, Theresa Sowa and Betci Cheshinski for their help.
• the girls in the city tax office who accepted phone calls and made our maps and lists.
• Dave Alberola from Emjaze Marketing Inc. for donating his bench sign on Main and Market streets.
• the Salvation Army, which sent one of its trucks to take usable items.
• The Times Leader for its well-written stories about the yard sale.
• Nanticoke citizens, who know that our city is growing stronger each day.
The Civic Pride Committee not only works tirelessly on the yard sale but on other community activities such as our upcoming children’s Halloween parade. It will be held for Nanticoke children from 2 to 4 p.m. Oct. 27 and our Santa Parade and party will be held in December.
For more information about these events and many more, go to our Web site at www.nanticokecity.com.
J.D. Verazin - Civic Pride Committee

10/12/2007
New heat units, windows OK’d for GNA high school
slong@timesleader.com

The high school will be getting new windows, heating units and window shades after the Nanticoke Area School District approved participation in the state’s Energy Conservation program during Thursday’s meeting.
The $1.1 million contract will be paid for using funds from the district’s general fund, board member Gary Smith said. The district will save thousands of dollars in interest fees by just paying for the work instead of acquiring a bank loan.
About 70 new windows will replace the ones originally installed when the school was constructed in the early 1970s. The school’s wall air conditioning and heating units are being replaced because it is becoming difficult to find parts, Smith said.
“We pay for it upfront, but they ultimately pay for themselves,” Superintendent Tony Perrone said.
Work to replace the windows and wall units is scheduled to begin in early 2008 after all the materials arrive.
To avoid disrupting classroom activities, the work will be done at night or during school vacations, Smith said.
Board members also unanimously approved a payment of $5,000 to the city of Nanticoke for new equipment to be installed in the new police cruisers.
Perrone said the money is being well spent because for the last two years, officers patrol the high school grounds and have lunch with the students daily.
“They offer me a service,” Perrone said. “The behavior of the kids has improved 100 percent.”
In other news:
Administrators are seeking two yearbook advisors from the faculty to work with the high school seniors, Perrone said.
Michael Fedorko and Amber Hyder were appointed as student advisors for the 2007-08 school year.
Judith Clarke and Bethanne DeAngelo were hired to work 30 hours a week at $14 an hour as family development specialists at the Family Center.
Heather Zegarski was appointed as a classroom aide for the pre-kindergarten program. Her hours and salary were not available.
Stanley Cardinale was hired as a crossing guard, but his salary was not available.

10/12/2007
Nanticoke school board approves energy performance review
By Elizabeth Skrapits

Greater Nanticoke Area school Board gave final approval Thursday night for CM3 Building Solutions of Trevose, Bucks County, to undertake a $1.17 million energy performance review of the 1972-era high school building.
The project includes a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, a new hot water heater, direct digital controls, and replacing windows and shades in 50 classrooms, board President Jeff Kozlofski said.
He said the board wouldn't need to raise taxes: the project should pay for itself within 12 years through energy savings.
In other business, the board:
Hired Judith Clarke and Bethann DeAngelo as family development specialists at $14 an hour. They will be paid via a grant, Kozlofsky said.
Appointed Heather Zegarski as a pre-kindergarten classroom aide.
Elementary teacher Janice Shiffka resigned as of Oct. 7. Her position will be posted.
Donated $5,000 to Nanticoke City police for new equipment. "They're always helping us out down here," Kozlofski said. "Their presence is felt and appreciated."

10/6/2007
Kanjorski meeting with Nanticoke, LCCC officials deemed 'productive'
By Elizabeth Skrapits - Citizens' Voice

While he was in town on Friday, U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, met with representatives from Nanticoke City and Luzerne County Community College about securing money for downtown parking.
The meeting, which included Nanticoke Mayor John Bushko, City Administrator Kenneth Johnson and LCCC interim President Thomas Leary, went well, city officials said.
"Clearly there was a commitment by the congressman to facilitate the college moving downtown," Johnson said. "He ended the meeting by saying it was very productive."
Parking is a key element in the college's planned move of its health sciences department into the Kanjorski Center on East Main Street. There was $5.6 million allocated for a garage and on-street parking in a 2005 transportation funding act, but a bill currently in the Senate takes it away.
Even if Kanjorski can't restore the $5.6 million, he will try to get whatever he can for the project, Bushko said. Kanjorski will work with Republican Sen. Arlen Specter and Democratic Sen. Bob Casey, he said.
The senators and congressman will also help the city do something about a $1.9 million federal grant that has to be paid back if the Kanjorski Center is sold, Johnson said.
It is critical to find funding quickly, since the college needs to move into the building by January 2009, Bushko said.
"Everybody in the room knew how crucial timing is," Johnson said. "The congressman indicated first thing Monday when he gets back to the (Washington, D.C.) office he will work on the issues."

10/5/2007
Nanticoke yard sale features treasure hunt
Citywide event gives shoppers a chance to win one of four $25 prizes.
slong@timesleader.com

Do you love antiques? Do you love finding unique, one-of-a-kind art pieces or furniture at reasonable prices?
Well, don’t miss Nanticoke’s Citywide Yard Sale on Saturday. Shoppers could also win a little green to stuff in their own pockets.
This fall the Nanticoke’s Civic Pride Committee is also hosting a treasure-hunt game.
By following written clues, shoppers can decipher the codes to find a yard sale on a particular street. Another set of clues will guide the shopper to the marked mystery item. If the shopper purchases the mystery item they win one of four $25 prizes.
“You never know what kind of surprises we are going to have,” said committee member J.D. Verazin, who developed the treasure hunt idea.
In its second year, the citywide yard sale allows residents to make some extra money while clearing out unwanted items and encouraging visitors from as far away as Shickshinny to visit Nanticoke.
It also allows Nanticoke residents to meet other people living in the city as many locals also travel the streets during the citywide shopping event.
“It brings people into town to see what we have to offer,” Verazin said. “It promotes community involvement and community pride.”
Committee members will pass out lists of the more than 200 homes across the city which registered to participate in Saturday’s event at Patriot Park in downtown Nanticoke.
Residents who did not sign up for the sale can still participate by placing items in their front yards for sale. The lists will just help shoppers find the homes easier.
A Salvation Army truck will be parked near the Old Nanticoke Bridge on North Market Street at the former street department facility from 3 to 5 p.m. to accept gently worn clothing items or other items Nanticoke residents wish to donate to a good cause.
Shopping details…
What: Nanticoke Citywide Yard Sales
When: Saturday
Where: pick up maps and addresses of yard sales at Patriot Park, Broad and Market Streets
For more information: visit www.nanticokecity.com

10/4/2007
Nanticoke plans second citywide yard sale for Saturday
By Elizabeth Skrapits - Citizens' Voice

The old saying goes that one person's trash is another's treasure. Nanticoke plans to take that to a new level this weekend.
The Nanticoke Civic Pride Committee has planned a city-wide yard sale Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the theme is "Treasure Hunt."
When you stop by Patriot Park to pick up a map showing the more than 200 people who are participating in the sale, you will also get a list of hints and clues. Follow them to find the four places around the city where secret "treasures" are waiting to be purchased. If you buy one, you win $25.
Civic Pride Committee member J. D. Verazin came up with the idea for the second citywide yard sale of the year.
The first was on July 14.
"Hopes are we're going to have a bigger and better one next year, because plans are already in the making," Verazin said.
After Saturday's sale, a Salvation Army truck will be stationed near the Nanticoke bridge on Lower Broadway Street from 3 to 5 p.m. so residents can donate unsold items.
"That's a way for the community to help the Salvation Army and the Salvation Army to help the community," Verazin said.
The Salvation Army requests people bring only items that are usable or salvageable, he said. If the truck isn't at the spot, don't leave anything there, Verazin said.

10/4/2007
Nanticoke council urges restoration of funds
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

City council members reiterated their support Wednesday for Luzerne County Community College's plans to move downtown, and made a public plea to U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, to restore funding for parking.
Luzerne County Community College is buying the Kanjorski Center on East Main Street for a health sciences center, but the building lacks parking.
In March, city officials adopted a plan drawn up by Facility Design and Development Ltd. It calls for 215 to 220 spaces in a parking garage, and an additional 100 to 150 spaces on the street to take care of downtown businesses and residents, councilman Brent Makarczyk said.
Kanjorski put $5.6 million for a downtown parking garage into the federal transportation funding bill that became law in 2005. In February, and again in July, Kanjorski put provisions in new bills taking away the $5.6 million for Nanticoke. The latest bill, HR 3248, is in the Senate.
City and college officials didn't learn the funding had been pulled until September. By then, many people had put a lot of work into bringing the college downtown, in hopes of a "way to kick-start, perhaps, a regional project," councilman James Litchkofski said.
"This is our best chance for revitalization, and I think it would be foolish to walk away from the plan," he said.
LCCC plans to occupy the Kanjorski Center by January 2009. Time is tight, Litchkofski said. If Kanjorski won't come through, city officials must find another way to get the money, he said. They believe it would be easiest if Kanjorski strikes the provision out of HR 3248 before it passes in the Senate.
"We implore Congressman Kanjorski to become the final piece of the puzzle," Makarczyk said. "We hope he can come down and be the saver (of the project)."
Mayor John Bushko, who met with Kanjorski two weeks ago, said he believes the Congressman is on board, but simply wants to do more research. It's frustrating because it's taking so long, Bushko said, but stressed he didn't think Kanjorski would ruin the project.
"We'll have a plan B, but let's not give up on our plan A," Bushko said.
In related business, council agreed to apply for state slot machine gaming funds on behalf of LCCC.
The $8.6 million the college is requesting would be spread out over several years, City Administrator Kenneth Johnson said.
He said the money would be used for LCCC's $26 million master plan, which includes constructing new buildings and renovating existing ones.
In other business, council:
Approved Joseph Kordek as code enforcement officer at $35,000 a year, to start in about two weeks. Kordek is zoning officer for Ashley and Sugar Notch boroughs.
Hired Amos Vanderhoff to fill a vacancy on the police department. He was a police officer in Warrior Run.
Under a new city policy, Vanderhoff and Kordek will have to pass medical exams before starting work.
"We have a lot of injuries, and we think we should cover our bases first, make sure people are fit before they take the job," Bushko said.

10/4/2007
Nanticoke High School homecoming: It truly was a night fit for a queen
By Pam Urbanski - Nanticoke Area Notes

Greater Nanticoke Area Junior-Senior High School has a new queen.

Miss GNA Melanie Laird and her court were crowned during homecoming festivities. Prior to the homecoming game students held a parade and bonfire.
"It really was a nice event for our students," said Principal Mary Ann Jarolen.
"It was a community event. The Nanticoke Police and Fire Departments led the parade, and the fire department did a great job in controlling the bonfire, making sure it burned properly. We had a nice crowd along the parade route," she said.
The GNA marching band provided the music and students who participate in fall sports were introduced during the bonfire.
Prior to the football game, Miss GNA and her court arrived in style at the stadium, riding in some cool cars. Upon arrival, they were greeted by members of the 109th National Guard who escorted them to the center of the field where they were introduced to families, friends and fellow students who elected them.
Homecoming queen Melanie Laird she is the daughter of Sarah and Bob Laird. She is a member of the volleyball and swim teams. She is also a member of the National Honor Society and the French Club. Her plans are to study nutrition.
Her court, in alphabetical order, is as follows:
Kaitlin Bowalick, daughter of Greg and Trish Bowalick. She is a member of the yearbook staff, student council and National Honor Society. She is named in Who's Who among American High School seniors and the National Honor Roll. She is a member of the soccer and basketball teams.
Keira Lohman, daughter of Kevin and Doreen Lohman, is a member of the basketball, volleyball and track teams. She excels academically as well as a member of the National Honor Society, National Honor Roll and Who's Who Among American High School Students.
Leigh Ann Rentko, daughter of Karen and Jack Rentko, is a three-letter winner in field hockey and basketball and a two-letter winner in soccer and track. She also was named second team all-scholastic for basketball and all-state in basketball and track. She is a member of student council and Who's Who among American High School Students.
Rachel Zerfoss, daughter of Alan and Janice Zerfoss, is a three-letter varsity winner in field hockey and cross-country and a two-year varsity letter winner in soccer and track. She is a member of Majestic X Field Hockey club. She has been class treasurer for the past 3 years and is also a member of Who's Who among American High School Students and the National Honor Society.

Fall festival in Newport Twp.
The Newport Township Community Organization's fourth annual fall festival will be held Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. at Holy Child Grove in Sheatown. Festival will feature ethnic and American food, as well as a bake sale and a chili cook-off. Entertainment will be provided by the David Blight Dancers and students from Front and Center Music Company. The band Nameless will perform from 2 to 4 p.m.
Children's activities include face painting, a free hayride, an art contest, a moonwalk and a talk and demonstration by State Police Trooper Martin Connors from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
O'Hara's Orchards will sell 6 to 8 varieties of apples and sliced caramel apples. Popcorn also will be sold by Cub Scout Pack 430 of Glen Lyon.

City-wide yard sale
The Civic Pride Committee is holding a fall, city-wide yard sale Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. An added feature is a treasure hunt where participants have a chance to win $25. Committee member J.D.Verazin came up with the idea, which will list clues to street names in town. Residents of Honey Pot and Hanover section of Nanticoke also are participating. Stop at Patriot Park for a map of the city. For more information, call 735-2800.

Chinese auction at St. Stan's
St. Stanislaus Church will hold its annual Chinese auction Sunday. Doors open at 11 a.m. and auction begins at 1 p.m., at the school hall on West Church Street. Prize include gift certificates and theme baskets. For information, call 735-4833.

BBQ at Holy Child
Holy Child Parish is holding its annual chicken barbecue Sunday from noon to 3 p.m. in the parish dining room on Newport Street in Sheatown. Cost is $8. For information, call Michele at 735-8909.

10/4/2007
PennDOT misspells street signs
Elizabeth Skrapits - Citizens' Voice

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation knocked the "L" out of Kosciuszko Street in Nanticoke Wednesday morning.
As part of a complete overhaul of the intersection of Kosciuszko and Main streets, PennDOT put up new street signs. And for about an hour, Kosciuszko became "Koscluszko" and Jefkin was "Jifkin."
"As soon as they went up, we saw," PennDOT Project Manager Jim Grabowski said.
PennDOT removed the signs shortly afterwards and sent them back to the printer. It won't cost anything to have them redone, since it was a printer's error, he said.
However, although Kosciuszko Street will be properly spelled, Jifkin Street will stay the same, Grabowski said.
"Actually, 'Jifkin' is right. The blue sign is wrong," he said. "I'm from Nanticoke, and when I saw the 'Jefkin' sign down there, I was surprised they kept it up."
Does PennDOT often deal with misspelled signs?
"Not really. For the amount of signs we put up, no. And it's not a big deal to change it," Grabowski said.
Work at the intersection, which has been going on since April, is expected to wrap up by the end of next week.
Permanent traffic signals will be unveiled Thursday, with different timing on the lights to improve traffic flow, Grabowski said. Sidewalks need to be fixed in two places, the correctly-spelled signs have to go up, and some important manhole and storm drain work will be done, he said.
"People may be complaining when we dig up the road we just paved, but we found a drainage system underground that wasn't on the plans," Grabowski said.

10/4/2007
Nanticoke seeks casino tax funds for LCCC
slong@timesleader.com

The city is seeking $9.6 million in casino taxes from the state Department of Community and Economic Development to help Luzerne County Community College relocate its culinary arts and health sciences program downtown.
Council members during Wednesday night’s meeting unanimously approved allowing the city to apply for the funds on behalf of the city and college. It might be tough for the city and college through their partnership to actually win a portion of the money because several cities across the county are seeking a portion of the money. Communities surrounding the Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs in Plains Township get top priority for the casino tax funds.
Moving two of the college’s largest and most popular academic programs downtown would not only provide an economic boost to Nanticoke, but the entire county, City Administration Ken Johnson said. He believes that means there is a good possibility they could be approved.
Councilman James Litchkoski said he was disappointed and hurt when he learned the $5.6 million in federal transportation funds originally designated for a parking garage in downtown was pulled by U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke. The congressman redirected the money into the Hotel Sterling project in Wilkes-Barre.
“It is the way to kick-start perhaps the regional economy,” Litchkoski said. “This is our best chance at revitalization. I think it would be foolish for us to walk away from this plan. We need this to come to fruition.”
College officials originally applied for the money first, but were told they could resubmit the application if the city sponsored it, Johnson said.
Community and Economic Development money assists cities and counties in funding projects designed to spur economic development, helping add new jobs and tax revenue.
Community college officials couldn’t apply for the money on their own because they are not a city.

10/3/2007
Nanticoke councilmen plan to make their points
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

Nanticoke councilmen, upset about the possible loss of $5.6 million in federal money and frustrated at delays in restoring it, plan to make their feelings known at tonight's council meeting.
The point they say they want to get across is that if U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, supports his hometown and plans to bring Luzerne County Community College downtown, he will allow the city and college to start using the money immediately.
"We're pleading with him not to take the money away," Councilman Brent Makarczyk said. "We're ready to move, we're ready to start drawing down. Don't take the rug out from underneath us."
The $5.6 million, granted to Nanticoke in a 2005 federal law, was removed by Kanjorski in a bill passed by the House of Representatives in February. When it was restored in the Senate in June, it was removed again in a new House bill in July. That bill is in the Senate.
The money is to make improvements to Main Street and help build a parking garage for the Kanjorski Center on East Main Street, which LCCC is buying to renovate into a health sciences center. City officials call it the biggest chance for downtown revitalization in decades.
Kanjorski announced he would work with city and college officials to get money for the parking garage, but does not mention returning the $5.6 million, the councilmen say.
"We don't want to find an area for new funding down the road. Just give us what you said you were going to give us," Makarczyk said. "From my understanding, the money is still there."
Federal authorities confirmed that the $5.6 million is available for Nanticoke to start spending immediately, unless Kanjorski persists in taking it away and giving $3 million to Wilkes-Barre and $2 million to Lackawanna County, according to council's list of 25 points regarding the situation.
Councilman James Litchkofski categorized the list as "talking points, for the public record," to be read at tonight's council meeting.
Other issues the councilmen outline in the list include:
Kanjorski wants to build a larger parking garage by adding a third or fourth deck, which would increase costs by $4 million "and essentially kill the project."
Kanjorski's recent requests for additional information and desire to expand the project "appear to be nothing more than delay tactics that will only precipitate the loss of federal funding."
Kanjorski said in 2006 that the $5.6 million could be used for the parking garage project when it had a different developer, so "Why is the $5.6 million no longer OK for the LCCC project?"
If Kanjorski doesn't want to cooperate in returning the $5.6 million, council will "respectfully ask him not to impede the project any further," the document states.
"I believe bringing LCCC downtown, the streetscaping and so forth, is what is right for the city. This isn't something that was pulled out of the air, this isn't some slapdash idea. This is something that was researched, that was backed up by various studies," Litchkofski said. "I am frustrated, and I am at a loss as to why this money can't come to Nanticoke."

9/29/2007
Specter pledges to work with Kanjorski on regaining LCCC funds
By dallabaugh@citizensvoice.com

U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter said he would work with U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, to try to regain federal funds for Luzerne County Community College's expansion into downtown Nanticoke.
"They (federal funds) are hard to find, but it is a necessary project to build that facility so development can go forward," Specter said during a visit to the college on Friday.
The college is buying the Kanjorski Center in downtown Nanticoke for a health sciences center, slated to open in January 2009. Kanjorski earmarked $5.6 million in a 2005 transportation funding bill for a parking garage and improvements to East Main Street, such as new streetlights. City officials say more parking and street improvements are crucial for LCCC's plans.
A bill passed in the House that is currently in the Senate takes the $5.6 million away from Nanticoke and gives $3 million to Hotel Sterling in Wilkes-Barre. Specter said the $5.6 million was not final, but it was on the books.
"When the allocation was made, it came through Congressman Paul Kanjorski's office. When he made a shift, I respect that," Specter said.
The senator said he spoke Friday morning to Kanjorski, who stressed the importance of getting funding for the project in downtown Nanticoke.
"I think it is very important to move ahead there with the parking area so the college can be developed," Specter said.
Nanticoke Mayor John Bushko, who attended the event at LCCC on Friday, also spoke of the importance of obtaining federal funds for the parking garage and streetscape improvements.
"I thought we were going to get the money back," Bushko said. "We might have to expand on the garage. It might be too small. I might ask for more money."
Members of the Nanticoke General Municipal Authority, which manages the Kanjorski Center, believe the parking garage might be more expensive than anticipated. Authority chairman previously said that it averages $2,200 a spot to build a parking facility.
Elizabeth Skrapits, staff writer, contributed to this report.

9/25/2007
Kanjorski Center sale almost complete
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

Luzerne County Community College is completing plans to buy the Kanjorski Center on East Main Street
"The sale is going through. It's almost done," Mayor John Bushko told the General Municipal Authority, which manages the building.
That's why getting back $5.6 million in federal funding to build a parking garage for the Kanjorski Center and make other improvements downtown is more important than ever, authority members say.
The college wants to use the Kanjorski Center as a health sciences center. A final price and terms are being worked out, according to attorney Joe Lach, who is providing legal aid to the authority. The municipal authority initially considered leasing the Kanjorski Center to LCCC, because a $1.9 million federal Economic Development Agency grant used to construct it would have to be paid back if the building is sold.
U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski promised to help the city with the EDA grant situation and assist in returning the $5.6 million, Bushko said.
In the federal transportation funding bill President Bush signed into law in August 2005, Kanjorski included $5.6 million for a parking garage for the Kanjorski Center.
In a bill passed in the U.S. House in February, Kanjorski removed the money for Nanticoke. Instead, he gave $3 million to Wilkes-Barre for the Hotel Sterling renovation. The provision taking the money away from Nanticoke was stricken out in Senate committee in June. The money was re-routed again to Wilkes-Barre in a new bill passed in the House on July 31. That bill is still in the Senate.
"Technically, a phone call from the Congressman to the Senate can put the money back," municipal authority chairman Ron Kamowski said.
If Kanjorski can't get the original $5.6 million back, he will try to get the city money some other way, Bushko said.
Kanjorski previously told Bushko he re-assigned the federal funds because he didn't think the city would use them. The Congressman stated he did not know until recently LCCC planned to buy the Kanjorski Center.
Last week, Kanjorski met with Bushko, LCCC Interim President Thomas Leary, and Nanticoke administrator Kenneth Johnson about the project. Bushko said Kanjorski's aide, Walter Sokolowski - who is on Nanticoke's redevelopment authority board - told him the city should know in about two weeks whether the $5.6 million is reinstated.
The college has to occupy the Kanjorski Center by January 2009, Kamowski said. LCCC's timetable is "tight, very tight," Bushko said. He said it will cost the college almost $8 million for modifications and additions.

9/25/2007
Homecoming queen is grandfather's hero - Citizens' Voice

I've been blessed with seven grandchildren, who have all overcome adversity and become heroes to me. One, Melanie Laird, has just experienced the honor of being elected homecoming queen at Greater Nanticoke Area.
Melanie lives in Pond Hill with parents Bob and Sarah Laird and sister Elisa. When her dad was in the Navy and Melanie was one day old, she underwent surgery at UCLA because one lung had not developed properly. No one knew how physically active she would be able to be in the future.
In junior high she began to play on the volleyball team. However, one shoulder began to get lower and her back started to curve; her ribs were growing together.
More surgery was required. After recuperating, she joined the swim team, but the slight scoliosis became more pronounced. An assessment at Shriner's Hospital in Philadelphia found that she would need rods in her back.
She recovered with few setbacks and was even able to resume her sports activities.
As an honor student planning on college and a kind, friendly person who interacts well with others of all ages, this Pond Hill resident well deserves being chosen GNA homecoming queen and being nominated as my everyday hero.

9/22/2007
Nanticoke revises loan request to gain time from state
By slong@timesleader.com

City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to revise a loan request that would give the city six more months to repay a $200,000 loan to the state Department of Community and Economic Development.
The loan originally was scheduled to be repaid by June 2008. Depending on the city's cash flow, the state should release the money within the next month.
While the city's cash flow is "not so good," it has enough to continue handling day-to-day operations, said Councilman Bernie Norieka, the finance director.
"All the city employees will be collecting their checks," Norieka said. "There will be no interruption of services."
City officials originally requested the zero-interest loan in July and a public hearing was held in August to determine if Nanticoke was eligible to receive the money.
"We really think the state is going to give us the money. It's in their best interests," Pennsylvania Economy League Executive Director Gerald Cross said.
The Nanticoke Municipal Authority received another $15,000 loan from the city after officials unanimously voted to grant the loan so the authority can pay its monthly expenses, including the maintenance of the Kanjorski Center. This is the third loan the authority has received from the cash-strapped city.
The authority is required to repay the loan to the city, with interest, after the building is sold to Luzerne County Community College.
In other business, council approved a 2008 budgetary document required by the state to fund the city's pension funds.
Mayor John Bushko and City Administrator Kenneth Johnson did not attend the meeting. They were in Washington, D.C., on business

9/20/2007
Nanticoke officials meet with Kanjorski to restore funds
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

They gave it the old college try, and came back optimistic new college funding could be restored.
Nanticoke Mayor John Bushko, City Administrator Kenneth Johnson and Luzerne County Community College Interim President Thomas Leary traveled to Washington, D.C., Wednesday to confer with U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, about $5.6 million in federal money taken from the city and given to Wilkes-Barre.
The $5.6 million, designated in the federal transportation funding bill President Bush signed into law in 2005, is crucial for Nanticoke's redevelopment and municipal authorities to build a parking garage for the Kanjorski Center on East Main Street.
LCCC plans to buy the authority-owned building to transform it into a health sciences center. The college's presence downtown is a key factor in revitalization. City officials feared loss of the $5.6 million and their subsequent inability to provide sufficient parking could scuttle the deal.
The meeting in Kanjorski's office started at 1 p.m. and ended after 5 p.m. It concluded with "a commitment on all sides to work cooperatively for the benefit of Nanticoke and LCCC," according to a statement from Kanjorski.
"As a long-time supporter of LCCC, I look forward to continuing to work with Mr. Leary and city officials to bring academic programs of the college downtown," Kanjorski stated.
"I believe we had a very productive meeting with the Congressman and his staff," Leary said as he drove back from Washington with Bushko and Johnson. "I remain very optimistic that this partnership between the college and the city of Nanticoke will be accomplished with the Congressman's assistance."
"I think things went well," Johnson agreed.
Bushko said Kanjorski asked for more information, such as cost estimates, so he will be more comfortable with the project. City officials will get together whatever Kanjorski needs, Bushko said.
"When he goes to bat for us, he wants to know we're all on the same page," Bushko said.
It might be too late for Kanjorski to amend the proposed legislation that takes funding away from Nanticoke, because it is currently in the Senate awaiting passage. U.S. Senators Arlen Specter and Bob Casey can still make changes to the bill, or Kanjorski could get funding for Nanticoke by a different route.
On February 27, H.R. 1195, which amended the act President Bush signed into law in 2005, was introduced in the House of Representatives. It took away the $5.6 million for Nanticoke. Instead, Wilkes-Barre was to get $3 million for parking for the Hotel Sterling restoration project. H.R. 1195 was passed in the House and sent to the Senate on March 27.
The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works passed H.R. 1195 during its June 6 meeting. The committee struck the provision giving the $3 million to Wilkes-Barre, effectively restoring the original $5.6 million earmark for Nanticoke.
However, on July 31, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3248, which puts the amendment giving money to Wilkes-Barre instead of Nanticoke back in the transportation bill. The new bill went to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on Aug. 3.
"H.R. 3248 has been passed by the House, according to our staff, and therefore, if the Senate were to pass it as it is now, it would go to the President for his signature," said Pete Rafle, Communications Director for the Committee on Environment and Public Works. "It can be amended, but it would have to be amended in the Senate."
Leary and Bushko are also asking the Congressman for help in getting the federal Economic Development Agency to forgive a $1.9 million loan used to build the Kanjorski Center. The loan has to be paid back if the building is sold before a certain date.

9/20/2007
Nanticoke talks with Kanjo over parking plan ‘positive’
slong@timesleader.com

Seeking federal funding to build a parking structure in downtown Nanticoke, Luzerne County Community College and Nanticoke city officials meet with U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski for several hours Wednesday at his Washington, D.C., office.
Nanticoke City Administrator Kenneth Johnson described the meeting as a “very positive” and productive discussion to update Kanjorski on the progress of the plan allowing the college to purchase the four-story Kanjorski building.
“He wants some more conscious and detailed information about downtown,” Johnson said noting the city would get the congressman the information quickly.
Kanjorski expressed desire to continue working with the city and college to help revitalize the South Valley community.
LCCC is planning to purchase the Kanjorski Center to house its health sciences program and purchase the Nanticoke Senior Citizens Center to house the culinary arts program. Both are scheduled to be opened in 2009.
However, a parking facility must be built to allow enough space for college students and visitors to park.
The $5.6 million originally allocated for the project was rerouted by Kanjorski for the Sterling project in Wilkes-Barre.
Kanjorski said he diverted the funds because he did not think Nanticoke wanted a downtown parking structure.
City officials said they always wanted a parking facility, but wanted one that was not as elaborate or expensive as the one the congressman favored.

9/20/2007
Jenna Butzek forgoes her scissors to pursue a modeling career
By Pamela Urbanski - Nanticoke Area Notes

I was driving up Main Street the other day when I noticed a special sign congratulating Nanticoke resident Jenna Butzek on receiving a modeling contract.
One might think that a young lady who receives such an honor probably has been working very hard and very long. Think again.
This is a success story about a talented young lady that you don't hear very often. Jenna is a graduate of Nanticoke Area Junior-Senior High School and a student at Empire Beauty School in Moosic. "I always have been interested in doing that kind of work," Jenna said. But she thought she might want to focus more on hair and makeup so she decided to talk with family friend Joann Danko.
Joann, who is a former Nanticoke resident, is the assistant director for Accents II, a select talent and model agency. Jerry Wildes is the director. Joann trains and grooms individuals with the hopes of getting them into the entertainment business. Personal development is another area in which she helps young people gain confidence. "I love what I do," Joann said.
She has been dedicated to this profession for close to a dozen years. In talking to her you can tell she has great enthusiasm and is passionate about her work. She has sent people all over the world.
"When Jenna came to see me, it had been a while since I last saw her. She had grown into a beautiful young lady. We talked about her interests and I encouraged her to attend some of our sessions," Joann said. After only two sessions, Joann entered Jenna into convention class. "It usually takes about two years for someone to enter into a convention, but I knew immediately that Jenna had a lot going for her," she said.
They were off to New York City and the INTA, the largest modeling convention in the world, at the Hilton Hotel.
Jenna would compete against more than 7,000 young ladies for the right to model and/or act.
"After talking with some of the parents and realizing how long their sons/daughters were preparing for something like this, I thought to myself, what are we doing here," said Nancy Butzek, Jenna's mom.
Jenna entered the fitness model category. She modeled and acted for the judges. They really liked what they saw. So much so that she won first place in the swimsuit competition. Yep, she took home top honors after defeating some 6,500 girls. But she wasn't done yet. She took third place in the TV/commercial category and she finished second place overall for fitness model of the year.
Jenna just blew everybody away. She is just amazing. For Jenna it was a total shock. "I really wasn't expecting anything to come of this. I thought it would just be fun and a good experience," Jenna said.
She was so sure an award was out of the question, she wore sweatpants, flip-flops and a T-shirt to the awards ceremony. "I was so embarrassed I had to go up on stage like that. But I made up for it because on the last night everyone attended a ball and everyone was dressed formally. That's when I received the fitness model of the year award. I felt a little better," Jenna said.
Following that competition, Jenna received 13 callbacks, seven for modeling and six for acting. She has signed a major modeling contract with MMG Talent in New York City and already has had an all-night shoot for the movie "Consent." "That was really difficult because we worked from 6:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m.," she said.
You can get a glimpse of Jenna by checking out the Accents II billboard across from Sam's Club in Wilkes-Barre Township.
Jenna is the daughter of Nancy and John Butzek.
Congratulations and good luck Jenna!

Mystery dinner theater set
If you're looking for something different to do next weekend, I have the perfect event for you.
The Nanticoke Special Care Auxiliary is hosting a mystery dinner theater Saturday, Sept. 29, at 6 p.m. at Alden Manor. Bracken Theater Group will perform as those eating dinner get to figure out who dunnit.
"I enjoy volunteering because it's something we can do as a group to help our patients," said auxiliary member Claire Cohen. Last year, the auxiliary donated $10,000 to the hospital for patient care and new equipment. Proceeds will benefit patients at Special Care Hospital on Washington Street. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased at the door or by calling Claire at 735-6919 or Mary at 735-2193.

Golomki and haluski sale
St. Mary's Catholic Women's Council will hold a golomki and haluski sale Wednesday from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Head Start School basement on South Hanover Street. Cost is golumki is $1.50 each and haluski is $3 per container. There will be no advance orders.

9/17/2007
Sterling project gets Nanticoke cash
U.S. Rep. Kanjorski said inaction by Nanticoke officials prompted him to redirect $5.6M to Wilkes-Barre.
slong@timesleader.com

Federal funds totaling $5.6 million that were allocated for a major Nanticoke redevelopment project have been diverted to Wilkes-Barre’s Sterling Hotel project because local officials failed to take action, U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski said Friday.
Originally, the money was intended to pay the bulk of the construction costs of a $7 million parking garage on East Main Street.
Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, said he chose to “redirect these funds” to other projects within his district because he did not want to lose the money.
“I did not want the city of Nanticoke to lose … $6 million,” he said.
But, state Rep. John Yudichak, D-Nanticoke, insists that the $5.6 million in federal highway bill funding is still available to the city.
Officials with the city, the Nanticoke Redevelopment Authority and the Nanticoke Municipal Authority were considering a plan promoted by the South Valley Partnership that included Luzerne County Community College moving its culinary arts and health sciences program into the downtown when Kanjorski granted requests from developers seeking funding to build a parking garage and complete phase one of the of Sterling Hotel renovations in Wilkes-Barre.
The partnership’s plan would include landscaping, new sidewalks, new lighting, on-street parking, retail space throughout several streets in downtown Nanticoke and a parking lot adjacent to the Kanjorski Center.
Kanjorski claims he was never notified of the college’s plan to move into the downtown until after reading papers regarding the Sept. 4 press conference during which officials announced formal plans to move the college’s two programs downtown.
“As a longtime supporter of LCCC, I applaud any effort to draw students into downtown Nanticoke,” Kanjorski said.
Former city councilman William O’Malley said Walter D. Sokolowski, a Kanjorski staff member, is a member of Nanticoke’s Redevelopment Authority board and should have informed Kanjorski about the college’s plans.
Kanjorski said he knew the city was planning the street renovation project, but thought the $5.6 million could not be used because of restrictions on the funds.
But, Yudichak said state Department of Transportation officials confirmed the federal money could be used to pay for the project.
He’s asking Kanjorski to work with U.S. Sens. Robert P. Casey, D-Scranton, and Arlen Specter, R-Philadelphia, to ensure that the funds are reverted back to their original designation before the bill is sent to President Bush for his signature.
“We should not be in a position where we are pitting one community against another. We have a viable product that will generate new energy and new tone for the South Valley,” Yudichak said.
He believes the Sterling Hotel developers will not lose any money for their project because Kanjorski could allocate more money toward that project before Bush signs the bill.
Kanjorski and Yudichak expressed desires to work together with other officials to ensure funding is found to build a parking garage so college students, teachers and visitors will have parking spaces accessible to the Kanjorski Center and new culinary arts institute.
“If you would like me to help you pursue funds for parking I think I can again be helpful there, but it is essential that I know the money will be spent,” Kanjorski said.

9/15/2007
Nanticoke officials hope Kanjorski will help get federal funds back
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, defended his decision to take $5.6 million in federal transportation funding away from Nanticoke, saying he didn't want to lose it for his district.
City officials say they definitely planned to use the money for a crucial project - and hope Kanjorski can help them get it back.
In the federal transportation funding bill President Bush signed into law in August 2005, Kanjorski included $5.6 million for a parking garage and street improvements in downtown Nanticoke.
In February, Kanjorski put an amendment in a new bill taking the $5.6 million away. Instead, he opted to give Wilkes-Barre City $3 million for parking at the Hotel Sterling and Irem Temple.
The bill to amend the federal transportation act, House Resolution 1195, passed in the U.S. House of Representatives in March and is now in committee in the U.S. Senate.
No $5.6 million means Nanticoke can't build a parking garage for the Kanjorski Center. Luzerne County Community College plans to use it for a health sciences center and also build a culinary arts institute further down on East Main Street, a move city, county and state officials hope kicks off South Valley revitalization.
"It may jeopardize the sale of the Kanjorski Center if we can't provide parking," Nanticoke Municipal Authority member Dennis Butler said. "That would have changed everybody's plans. Why weren't we notified he was taking it until now?"
In a letter to Nanticoke Mayor John Bushko dated Friday, Kanjorski said he is committed to doing whatever he can to help the city and LCCC, but it is essential that he knows the money will be spent.
"I'm trying to get Nanticoke back on track," Kanjorski said. "I want people to know there could never be a personal or political conflict that interferes with the betterment of Nanticoke."
Kanjorski said he cut the $5.6 million because at a July 2006 meeting of the redevelopment authority - which owns the Kanjorski Center; the municipal authority manages it - former councilman William O'Malley said the mayor and council opposed building a parking garage for the center.
"I took action to reassign the money, because I didn't want it lost," Kanjorski said. "I had requests from three or four cities, the most pressing of which was Wilkes-Barre."
Nanticoke officials always wanted more parking for the Kanjorski Center, O'Malley said. What they opposed was the original plan for a garage that was too big and expensive.
"He took one portion there out of context and said we weren't in favor of the parking garage. That's true: we weren't in favor of a $7 million, 400-car garage. But at the same meeting, we had plans for another one that made more sense," O'Malley said.
"At no time did anybody say we weren't doing a parking garage," Butler said. "We debated on the size of the parking garage, not on the necessity of having one."
At that time, the Kanjorski Center had been mostly vacant for two years and dependent on a fiscally distressed city, said state Rep. John Yudichak, D-Nanticoke.
"They weren't saying no, they were saying 'let's find a tenant, let's find a project that is sustainable, that will lead to greater economic development in the downtown,' and we have that," Yudichak said.
City officials wanted to follow the South Valley regional plan that called for not only a parking garage, but on-street parking, new streetlights and sidewalks, and other improvements, O'Malley said.
Kanjorski said he was unaware LCCC wanted to buy the Kanjorski Center until he was invited to a recent press conference, which he did not attend.
"I was in a meeting where Kanjorski's top aide, Wally Sokolowski (a member of the redevelopment authority) sat right next to me, and we discussed the necessity of parking," said municipal authority chairman Ron Kamowski.
"I cannot understand that the congressman was not aware we were trying to strike up a deal with LCCC that would enable us to match the $5.6 million he got us, and to bring a continually renewable source of business to the downtown area," he said.
Kanjorski said he would seek money for the parking garage project, after he is briefed on the specifics.
"I'm very pleased the congressman is willing to help us, to restore that $5.6 million that is currently law," said Yudichak. "This money has been committed to Nanticoke, it's in the current law. All we're saying is, let the law stand."
Claire Schechter, assistant managing editor, contributed to this report.

9/14/2007
Revitalization money may be cut
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

The possible loss of federal funding puts the cornerstone of Nanticoke's downtown revitalization project in jeopardy, although it could help prop up an important Wilkes-Barre City project.
In the federal transportation funding bill passed in August 2005, U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, included $5.6 million to build a parking garage for the Kanjorski Center on East Main Street in Nanticoke.
City, county and state officials, confident funds were in place to remedy the parking problem at the office building, moved forward with plans to bring Luzerne County Community College into it - the centerpiece of downtown revitalization. Plans were drawn up for a two-story parking deck with a restaurant and shops in front, to be built on the vacant lot next to the Kanjorski Center.
What local officials didn't know until this week was in February Kanjorski had the bill amended to pull the $5.6 million for Nanticoke, cut it to $3 million, and reassign it to parking and street improvements at the Wilkes-Barre Sterling Hotel down River, Market or Franklin streets as far as the Irem Temple.
"No one was aware of this action," said state Rep. John Yudichak, D-Nanticoke. "Perhaps there was some misunderstanding that we can clear up."
The amendment to the transportation bill, House Resolution 1195, passed in the U.S. House of Representatives in March and is in committee in the U.S. Senate.
Luzerne County Commissioner Greg Skrepenak believes Nanticoke lost the money because Kanjorski and Yudichak are political adversaries. The chairman of the county commissioners pointed the finger of blame directly at the veteran congressman.
"I have nothing against Paul," Skrepenak said. "I work well with Paul and I work well with John, but when you look at this, it just doesn't add up. This is what gives politicians a bad rep. I think if a project is viable for the community and the big picture, you put personal feelings aside and do the right thing."
Kanjorski did not respond to messages left with his office and chief of staff Thursday.
Municipal and redevelopment authority members knew the Kanjorski Center needed more parking, either a lot or garage, to make it marketable.
"What type of parking we were going to put in was up in the air," said Ron Kamowski, chairman of the Nanticoke General Municipal Authority, which is responsible for maintaining the building. "Part of the ($5.6 million) was always geared towards parking. We were just trying to spread out the funds to allow us to also beautify the downtown."
Redevelopment authority member Walter Sokolowski, who works in Kanjorski's Wilkes-Barre office, could not be reached for comment.
LCCC officials recently announced the college planned to turn the Kanjorski Center, mostly vacant since October 2005, into a state-of-the-art health sciences center. The college also plans to build a culinary arts center at Market and Main streets. City, county and state officials hoped the college's presence downtown would provide a catalyst for revitalization of the entire South Valley.
"If we can't give LCCC parking, it will definitely become an issue with the sale," Kamowski said.
"I don't want to see everything go up in smoke," Nanticoke Mayor John Bushko said. "If we lose it, we'll do something, I'm sure. But I don't think we can come up with $3 million for a parking garage. And there's not enough room for surface parking."
LCCC Interim President Thomas Leary is optimistic.
"I have not had any conversation with the congressman or his office, and based on the congressman's record, I would fully expect he would support this important project that will benefit the citizens of Nanticoke and the students of Luzerne County Community College," Leary said.
Yudichak said he worked with college, county and other local officials to put together a letter to Kanjorski, asking him to reconsider and lend his support to the Nanticoke project.
The Citizens' Voice obtained a draft copy of the letter. It requests the presence of Kanjorski and U.S. Sens. Arlen Specter and Bob Casey at a meeting - date unspecified - to review the project in detail.
Skrepenak said he supports the draft letter to Kanjorski. Skrepenak was disappointed he didn't learn the money for Nanticoke was yanked from the bill until recently.
Skrepenak insisted his stance should not be interpreted to mean the two projects in Wilkes-Barre are not worthy of federal funding. Nanticoke has been languishing, and bringing the college downtown would help breathe new life into the city, he said.
"The focus has been on Wilkes-Barre for a while, and I certainly believe Wilkes-Barre has a come a long way," Skrepenak said. "Wilkes-Barre is the county seat and needs a lot of attention. However, Nanticoke and the South Valley need a shot in the arm. This project helps the community college and benefits Nanticoke's economy. The county has been supportive and the state legislature has been supportive. We thought Paul was too."
Todd Vonderheid, president and CEO of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry, declined to discuss the funding situation.
James Conmy, staff writer, contributed to this report.

9/10/2007
Pope John Paul II School’s book sale ends today
Event is an attempt to empty the library, which will be used by the Nanticoke Food Pantry.
By sdelazio@timesleader.com

Another page has turned for Pope John Paul II School.
Since Saturday, Nanticoke’s only Catholic school, closed recently by the Diocese of Scranton, has been selling the contents of its library to book lovers. The sale will conclude today.
“We have a big variety of books, from encyclopedias to religious,” said Alice Pawlowski, a Pope John Paul II graduate and book sale volunteer. “We have a big variety of books, not only children’s, and people should take advantage of it.”
Sale organizer Bill Borysewicz, youth director of Holy Trinity Church in Nanticoke and former music teacher at Pope John Paul II, said the sale comes as a final farewell to the longtime Catholic school, which was formed when three Catholic grade schools in Nanticoke closed and Pope John Paul II opened in 1982.
Once the library’s contents are removed, the area, along with another room on the first floor, will become the Nanticoke Food Pantry, run by St. Stanislaus Church, around late October.
The rest of the building, including the classrooms, will be used as a CCD center for the churches, under the leadership of Pastor Jim Nash, in just two weeks.
“All the money raised at the book sale will be put right back into the school,” Borysewicz said, citing that since the closure of several Catholic schools in the area, all are in debt to the diocese in some way. “I realized the books would never be used again and decided to bring up the idea of having a book sale,” Borysewicz said.
Borysewicz said there are nearly 2,000 books in the library and thought the sale would have a better turnout. He expects that in the near future there will be another sale in an attempt to clear out the library for the food pantry.
“Are we going to have to trash (the rest of the books), will someone want them for something? I just don’t know what will happen,” Borysewicz said. “This is very sentimental for a lot of people, since a lot of the parishioners came to school here.”
Gloria Eget, a visiting nurse from Nanticoke, said she stopped by the book sale to pick up some Bibles for her clients. “A lot of them don’t have one, so I thought I’d come and buy them one.”
Others, such as Phyllis Warren, also of Nanticoke, saw an announcement in the church’s weekly bulletin about the sale and decided to purchase a few religious books for the Lighthouse Worship Center in Nanticoke.
The center will open a library soon, Warren said, and she wanted to donate materials to be used there, along with the center’s Bible study group, and to be available for members of the church.
“One school closes, and another opens,” Warren said. “It’s sad to see Pope John Paul close, but that’s the way the Lord works. It’s his doing.”
Borysewicz said once the books are either sold or gone from the library, the shelves will be sold, too. “We got a lot of questions about the religious figurines and crosses in the school building, but we’re going to keep them for the CCD center.
“A lot of people are getting used to the fact that Pope John Paul has closed, and just wanted to come to the library to take home a memory.”
If you go

Where: 518 S. Hanover St. – Pope John Paul II School library
When: Today, from noon to 3 p.m.

Prices are:
10 cents-25 cents for softcover books
50 cents-$1 for hardcover books
$3 for a set of encyclopedias

Watch for another book sale at the school in the near future.

9/9/2007
Officials say LCCC's plans for Kanjorski Center are healthy for Nanticoke
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

Luzerne County Community College's plans to take over the Kanjorski Center on East Main Street should help make Nanticoke a healthy community - literally and figuratively.
Local and state officials believe the college's adaptation of the Kanjorski Center into a health sciences center and the creation of its culinary arts institute at Market and Main streets will bring economic health to the ailing downtown by attracting new businesses and bringing more potential customers to existing ones.
By bringing the health sciences department - one of the college's largest - downtown, LCCC will be able to provide many expanded or new health care services and educational opportunities to city and county residents, from children to seniors, at little or no cost.
"It has a positive impact on just about every group in the city, including students, business people, senior citizens, and high school students who will be graduating," said LCCC Interim President Thomas Leary. "I don't think there are any real limitations on how these facilities will enhance the community."
Engaging residents will be a priority, according to Dr. Dana Clark, dean of nursing and health sciences at LCCC. She hopes to meet with community service groups within the next few months, as well as form an advisory committee made up of area residents.
The college already provides public services such as health fairs and blood pressure screenings at places like senior centers and grocery stores, but will have the opportunity to do more.
The Kanjorski Center is near four senior high-rise apartment complexes. Nanticoke Villa at Main and Walnut streets and Nanticoke Housing Authority owned Oplinger Towers at 270 E. Main St. are right down the street. Housing Authority owned Park Towers at 1 E. Green St., and Nanticoke Towers, 100 Nanticoke Ave., are a few blocks away.
"We are going to be working with the Agency on Aging, have discussions about some partnership events," Clark said. "I think it's going to be very, very helpful for seniors."
LCCC has a clinic that provides tooth cleaning, exams and other dental care to children and adults at reduced costs, Clark said. The new dental facility on the first floor of the Kanjorski Center will have additional dental chairs and state-of-the-art equipment.
Other things the college is planning include:

The culinary arts institute will also have social and educational programs open to everyone, such as speakers from out of town and cooking classes in a proposed 70-seat auditorium, Clark said.
LCCC plans to officially occupy the Kanjorski Center in January 2009, the year Mercy Special Care Hospital at 128 W. Washington St. celebrates its 100th anniversary.
The two Nanticoke institutions have always had an informal relationship. But recently, the college started talks with representatives of the 50-bed long-term care hospital on forging a stronger partnership.
"We want to do things with (LCCC), but we don't want to wait until 2009," said Mercy Special Care Hospital administrator Robert D. Williams. "It seems to be a nice fit, that we're very excited about."
Mercy Special Care Hospital employs nurses, nursing aides, phlebotomists, and respiratory therapists - all professions students can learn at LCCC. Students currently do phlebotomy and nursing internships there, but Williams hopes to strengthen that relationship by offering scholarships.
The hospital has laboratories comparable to those that will be constructed in LCCC's new facility, and a full-service respiratory department using cutting-edge hyperbaric oxygen therapy for hard-to-heal wounds, Williams said.
By interning at the hospital, which is "in their own backyard," students can get practical experience in the acute care and chronic care services they are going to be facing when they graduate, he said.
"It's kind of a before and after: they receive the training at the community college, then they are able to see the real-life experience throughout their training and after graduation at hospitals like ours," Williams said.

9/8/2007
State releases $72,000 to Nanticoke
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

The state has released its hold on the last of Nanticoke's federal grants, clearing the way for the financially distressed city to apply for more.
The state Department of Community and Economic Development is allowing the city to have approximately $72,000 in Community Development Block Grant money left over from 2001, city administrator Kenneth Johnson said.
Council learned from Nanticoke's financial recovery coordinator Wednesday that the state freed up $358,460 in CDBG money for 2007 and $381,267 the city had coming for 2006. By Friday, city officials were told they could also have the 2001 funds.
DCED froze all Nanticoke's grant money due to financial management problems and incorrect grant administration by previous city officials. The current council and mayor hired key personnel to handle city finances and administration and followed other conditions called for by the state.
"It seems like at present we're comfortable with the changes the city has made. The financial management system is much stronger," said DCED spokesman Greg Morgan in Harrisburg. "The important thing is, they've definitely improved what we've asked them to improve in."
CDBG money, allotted annually to the third-class city, can go for projects such as road paving in areas that are designated low- to moderate-income.
Fire apparatus is acceptable, and the city will use part of the 2006 and 2007 CDBG money for payments on a fire engine. The $72,000 from 2001 might be used to pay off the loan taken out to buy it, Johnson said.
Johnson had hoped to use CDBG money for the city's 20 percent match of a $2.3 million federal grant that will be used for repaving Alden Road, Prospect Street, Union Street, and possibly three others. However, since CDBG money is federal - although administered by the state - it can't be used to match other federal funds.
The paving could wait until 2010, when the city has enough money from earned income tax, Johnson said. He will also talk with State Sen. Raphael Musto, D-Pittston Township, and State Rep. John Yudichak, D-Nanticoke, to see if state funding is available.
Johnson said the city can use liquid fuels money, which municipalities receive from the state tax on gasoline. However, there won't be enough for the entire match, and the city must set some of the money aside for emergency snow removal.
"I'm willing to recommend we use liquid fuels, because this is a big project - this is a monster," Johnson said. "We're talking major impact. We've got a great opportunity here for infrastructure improvement."

9/7/2007
Nanticoke considers hiring two new police officers
Citizens Voice

Nanticoke City Council briefly discussed the possibility of hiring two new police officers at Wednesday's meeting. Mayor John Bushko said he would like to hire three, but there isn't enough money. There are 11 officers, one of whom is out on disability, and the overtime pay "is really getting up there," Bushko said.
Members of the Rotary Club presented police Chief James Cheshinski with six portable spotlights for his department. The club held fundraisers at the Honey Pot Cabbage Roll and during South Valley Heritage Days to purchase the spotlights, member Frank Vandermark said.
Council named tax collector Berkheimer Associates as tax officer, delinquent tax collector, and tax hearing officer in a new agreement. Berkheimer will receive 1.9 percent of collections instead of 2.75 percent, city administrator Kenneth Johnson said.

9/6/2007
Nanticoke eyes police, fire hires
slong@timesleader.com

Mayor John Bushko urged council on Wednesday to hire at least two more police officers and firefighters because of injuries, a retirement and some vacancies.
He would like to hire three police officers, but doubts there is money to pay the salary of a third officer.
Bushko announced during Wednesday’s council meeting that he recently received results from the civil service tests. He said the city needed to do something to reduce the numerous hours of overtime being worked by officers.
“Right now, we have 11 police officers. One is out on heart and lung (disability) and our overtime is getting up there,” Bushko said.
Councilman Brent Makarczyk, fire department director, said he would like hire to one or two new firefighters to alleviate some of the overtime other firefighters are working to cover for employees who have been out while recovering from injuries.
But Makarczyk and Bushko realize the city’s finances must be considered. The city’s Act 47 recovery plan does not include any provisions to hire any police officers or firefighters.
In other business, council members learned the city would save a tremendous amount of money after a new contract with Berkheimer Associates, the city’s tax collection agency, was signed.
For years the city paid 2.75 percent on the total amount collected by the tax collection firm. Under the new contract, set to expire Dec. 31, 2008, the city will only pay 1.9 percent of the total funds collected.
The city’s exact savings can’t be calculated because it would depend on the total amount of taxes that Berkheimer collects, City Administrator Ken Johnson said.
“That would be very difficult because of the earned income tax issues and when it’s coming in,” Johnson said. “Ultimately, it will be a significant savings, that is the best I can say. That is a significant percentage difference.”
Also Wednesday, Johnson said some of the city’s roads are expected to be repaved next year.
The council passed a resolution agreeing to repave Alden Road, Prospect and Union streets using funds from the federal government, which will reimburse the city 80 percent of the costs. It will be the city’s responsibility to pay the remaining 20 percent.
The exact costs to pave the roads are not known.

9/6/2007
State releases Nanticoke's community development cash
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

City officials received good news Wednesday about grants needed for paving streets - and even better news about their relationship with an important state agency.
Nanticoke can now have its $358,460 Community Development Block Grant money for 2007 and $381,267 for 2006. Approximately $72,000 from 2001 is still on hold, said Gerald Cross, executive director of Nanticoke's financial recovery coordinator, the Pennsylvania Economy League.
CDBG money is from the federal government, but it is administered by the state Department of Community and Economic Development. DCED froze Nanticoke's CDBG funds because the city had financial management problems, and past administrations didn't follow grant rules.
In the beginning, meetings between DCED and city officials were strained, according to Cross. But as council and Mayor John Bushko showed good intentions by hiring fiscal manager Holly Quinn and city administrator Kenneth Johnson and worked to set up financial controls, DCED thawed towards the city.
"I do think you need to step back and congratulate yourselves," Cross said.
He added that the improved relationship with DCED "will put Nanticoke City on the same standing with other cities" when it comes to getting grants.
It is important for the financially distressed city to be on good terms with the state - particularly since DCED gave it the distressed designation and is responsible for monitoring its recovery progress.
The city will use $32,930 of the 2006 CDBG money for a fire engine payment, and $279,709 for improving Maple Street from West Broad Street to West Green Street; West Noble Street from Hanover Street to Fairchild Street; and West Ridge Street from Market Street to Hanover Street.
The 2007 CDBG money is slated for another fire truck payment of $32,930; there is $261,016 for repaving Nanticoke Street from Market Street to Main Street and Slope Street from Main Street to Hill Street; and the remaining $64,522 is for administration.
The money is available now, but it is too late to pave this year, Johnson said. The jobs have to be bid out, and by the time bids come in, it will be too cold for road work.
Alden Road, Prospect Street and Union Street will also be repaved next year using $2.3 million in federal money council signed an agreement for on Wednesday.
Nanticoke needs to come up with a 20 percent match - about $484,000, Johnson said. It will come from a combination of sources, including CDBG funds and liquid fuels money, which the state gives municipalities from the gasoline tax.

9/6/2007
Nanticoke business evacuated after gas leak discovered - Citizens' Voice

A small gas leak in downtown Nanticoke led to the brief evacuation of the Weis Market off of Market Street on Wednesday morning.
The leak occurred before 10:30 a.m. while a contractor was clearing brush near a natural gas regulator station behind Weis near North Walnut Street, UGI spokesman Chet Merli said. The brush trimmer damaged a 1-inch fitting on an 8-inch main, causing a low pressure leak.
The company received notification of the leak around 10:30, Merli said, and leak was sealed off by about 11 a.m. shortly after a maintenance worker arrived. In the meantime, emergency personnel evacuated the supermarket as a precaution for about 10 minutes, a store manager said.
The gas was not released into the ground and the amount released into the air was "not enough to cause a problem," Merli said.

9/6/2007
Nanticoke Area Notes
By: Pam Urbanski
Community Ambulance calling for subscription drive support

If you've ever been sick or injured or require emergency care from home, you know how invaluable our community ambulance is.
The Nanticoke Fire Department Community Ambulance is dispatched when people call 9-1-1 and have a medical emergency. They serve residents in the Nanticoke and Plymouth Township areas. Paramedics and emergency medical technicians provide services 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week. Volunteers make up the rest of the crew and their assistance is invaluable.
I was quite surprised to learn of the training an EMTs and paramedics must have. The training provides clinical and administrative skills needed for a person to care for another person.
A paramedic provides advanced-level pre-hospital emergency life support under the direction of an emergency room physician through radio contact. They commit to an entire year of intensive training. They must log more than 2,000 hours of training, pass a national registry test and be Pennsylvania certified. A physician or medical director also must certify them annually. Finally, they must continue with their education.
Dan Shaw has been a paramedic for 25 years. He is also the coordinator for emergency services for the Nanticoke Ambulance. For him, the job is most rewarding. "I feel good about and believe in what I do," said Shaw. "I know I am making a difference in someone else's life."
Dan tells me he goes a step further for requirements and reviews every call. "We scrutinize every call and make sure we follow state guidelines," Shaw said. "Nanticoke Area is a very busy place. We're always going."
Last year, they handled more than 2,000 calls.
Shaw is asking residents for their help and support in maintaining quality emergency services in the Nanticoke Area. "We are now conducting our annual subscription drive. The money we collect will go a long way in providing residents the best care we can," he said.
Shaw tells me the money goes toward upkeep of the ambulance and also for purchasing the best equipment. "Our ambulance cost upward of $125,000 and a cardiac monitor for the unit cost around $20,000. This fundraiser helps us to make capital purchases The money also is used to pay personnel to man the ambulance 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week," Shaw added.
A subscription rate for an entire household is $50. A household with senior citizens is $35. Additional donations also are accepted.
Why subscribe?
"A call with basic life support care cost $525. That could be anything from treating a sprained ankle or broken bones. If you require advanced life support, are a cardiac patient, have an accident, the cost is $825. We bill the insurance companies. If you do not have insurance, you are required to pay the whole bill. If you have insurance, we accept their payment, but we do not charge you for the balance of the bill," Shaw explained.
As you can see, we all should be sending in our subscriptions. I guess we all figure "It won't happen to me. I won't need emergency care." But, we never really know.
Subscription letters have been mailed. Anyone who did not receive one or for more information, call 735-5201.

Book sale at Pope John Paul
A sale of books from the Pope John Paul II Elementary School will hold a book sale Saturday from 3 to 6 p.m., Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Monday from noon to 3 p.m. at the school library, 518 S. Hanover St., Nanticoke.

Course to be presented
The Rev. James Nash, pastor of the Holy Child, Holy Trinity, St. Mary of Czestochowa and St. Stanislaus Parish Community, announced a nine-week course entitled "The Challenge of Living the Beatitudes Today," will be presented by Sister Gertrude Grimes on Thursdays beginning Sept. 27 at the Holy Trinity Parish Hall, 520 S. Hanover St., Nanticoke. Times for the presentation are 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., 1 to 3:30 p.m. and 7 to 9:30 p.m.
To register your name and time selection, call the church office at 735-4833 or Sister Gertrude Grimes at 383-2763.

Community group to meet
Newport Township Community Organization will meet Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus building (formerly St. Dennis Church) on East Main Street in Glen Lyon.
The group will discuss its various projects including promoting the elimination of abandoned buildings, the cleaning up of neglected properties, the improvement of recreation parks and its upcoming fall festival to be held Oct. 6. All township residents are welcome to attend.

9/5/2007
LCCC's master plan reshapes Nanticoke
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

A school with technologically advanced labs and classrooms to train new generations of nurses, emergency medical technicians, dental hygienists and respiratory therapists.
A state-of-the-art culinary and hospitality school to prepare students for jobs ranging from pastry chef to casino manager anywhere in the United States.
And an unprecedented opportunity to transform Nanticoke's business district - not to mention bring new growth to surrounding communities.
These plans are coming to life, now that the Pennsylvania Department of Education has approved the $20 million first phase of Luzerne County Community College's master plan. It calls for renovation of existing buildings and the creation of new ones, like a culinary arts center at Main and Market streets and the purchase of the Kanjorski Center on East Main Street for a health sciences facility.
"I'm really excited about this," LCCC interim president Thomas Leary said.
The college's plans for downtown Nanticoke are part of a $40 million private and public investment strategy state Rep. John Yudichak, D-Nanticoke, believes will provide the most significant revitalization opportunity the South Valley has ever seen.
"We have to start thinking regionally," said Luzerne County Commissioner Chairman Greg Skrepenak, one of the speakers at a presentation Tuesday in front of the Kanjorski Center.
"With food and health, we hope to make you a healthier community," quipped Dr. Dana Clark, dean of nursing and health sciences at LCCC.
The health sciences center will host nursing, dental, surgical technology, respiratory therapy and emergency medical services programs, according to Clark. She estimates 1,000 students will come to the building each day. In addition, LCCC plans to provide services to community residents, including drug, alcohol and gambling education resources and health care programs.
Kanjorski Center renovations will cost $7 million to $8 million and should be complete in time for LCCC to occupy the building in January 2009, said Pat Clemente of the A & E Group of Wilkes-Barre.
Although the outside of the Kanjorski Center will stay the same, the inside will be gutted, he said. The architectural firm's plans include a 6,000-square-foot addition to the 44,000-square-foot building and remodeling the second and third floors for nursing and technician programs. The first floor will be a dental clinic with 24 chairs, Clemente said.
Facility Design and Development Ltd., the firm responsible for the South Valley strategic plan that calls for bringing LCCC downtown, is designing the culinary arts center.
It will feature the latest technology and include work areas with individual cooking stations, said Salvatore Shandra, chairman of hotel and restaurant management at LCCC.
He said the 20,000-square-foot building would allow the college to expand its culinary and hospitality programs to prepare students to meet industry needs on local, state and national levels.
A price for the Kanjorski Center is still under negotiation, Leary said. The final hurdle to selling it is a $1.8 million federal Economic Development Administration grant that must be paid back if the building is sold. Yudichak said state and federal officials want to set up a meeting with EDA representatives to show what is being done with the center.
Members of Nanticoke's redevelopment and municipal authorities, which own and manage the Kanjorski Center, are thrilled with LCCC's plans. The center has been 80 percent vacant since October 2005, and maintenance costs coupled with a lack of revenue have bankrupted the authorities.
"We've had our ups and downs," said redevelopment authority Chairman Chester Beggs, who also sits on the municipal authority board.
"We've been stuck in a rut for too long," agreed Hank Marks, also a member of both authorities.
City, county and state officials worked together to bring the project to fruition. The help of U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, was also crucial, especially in obtaining a $5.6 million federal grant for a parking facility for the Kanjorski Center, municipal authority member Dennis Butler said. Surveys show most students drive to campus, so more parking is necessary, Leary said.
"This is a historic day in Nanticoke," Mayor John Bushko said. "I've been (in office) 15 years and this is the first time everybody agreed on doing a project. It's unbelievable."

9/5/2007
LCCC expands downtown
Culinary, Health Sciences centers to open in 2009
By slong@timesleader.com

Luzerne County Community College students could be roaming around the city’s downtown by 2009.
The college’s Health Sciences Center is expected to be open in January 2009 at the Kanjorski Center on East Main Street.
Nanticoke’s Senior Citizens Center, at the corner of East Main and North Market Streets, will be transformed into the college’s new 20,000-square-foot Culinary Arts Institute scheduled to open in fall 2009. School officials are still negotiating the sale of both buildings.
“Our new health sciences and hotel and restaurant management downtown Nanticoke facilities will enhance our college’s ability to meet the increased demand for a trained work force in the health care and hospitality professions,” interim President Thomas Leary said Tuesday at a press conference announcing the plans.
With an additional 12,000 square feet of space, the Nursing and Health Sciences program will be able to expand its community outreach services to serve more area residents, said Dana Clark, dean of LCCC’s Nursing and Health Science program.
“We are going to have a model of health care that we hope will be a state and national model,” Clark said, noting she wants to encourage residents to serve on the advisory committee. “We would like you to tell us what you need as part of health services in the future.”
Once renovated, the three-story building with a basement level will have two nursing classrooms and labs, a simulation bay, respiratory therapy lab, lung function lab, 24-seat dental clinic, dental lab, surgery technician lab and house the college’s emerging drug-and-alcohol studies program.
New courses in physical therapy technology, occupational therapy technology and pharmacy technology will also be offered.
Boasting a classroom demonstration kitchen, two modern kitchen labs with individualized work stations and a pastry arts lab, the culinary institute’s two-story, 20,000-square-foot building will more than triple the college’s hotel and restaurant management facilities.
With the additional space, the college hopes to expand courses by having enough space to offer classes in casino management and leisure/spa management, said Salvatore Shandra, LCCC’s Hotel and Restaurant Management program chairman.
A private developer plans to open a restaurant in conjunction with the institute, allowing students to learn the restaurant management business in a hands-on environment. Details regarding the restaurant’s name, theme and menu offerings haven’t been worked out.
“We are so fortunate to have a private investor to go and put a facility up for us that we can still keep education separate from service,” Shandra said. “So the students are going to get the best of both worlds right within the same distance where they are educated.”

9/3/2007
Nanticoke business owners anticipate downtown changes
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

Owners of existing businesses, some of which have been on East Main Street for decades, are looking forward to watching plans for downtown Nanticoke become a reality - and they hope to be part of the revitalization process.
Last week, Luzerne County Community College officials received the all-clear from the state Department of Education to go ahead with the college's master plan. The plan includes obtaining the Kanjorski Center on East Main Street for a health sciences center and constructing a culinary arts institute on the site of the city-owned senior center at Market and Main streets.
"To take the college and to tie it into the business community really can transform the town," said Bob McDonald, owner of McDonald's Newsstand. "It really is Nanticoke's biggest asset."
McDonald said the store has been at 73 E. Main St. for more than 100 years. It has been in his family since 1969; he took it over in 1982.
"I think it will be wonderful. If and when it happens, I expect to remodel and join in the fun," McDonald said of proposed improvements to the business district. "I believe in the town."
LCCC's plans to expand operations from its base at Kosciusko Street near Middle Road to downtown Nanticoke have encouraged private investors, who are formulating plans of their own. One as-yet unidentified developer wants to demolish the former CVS building next to the Kanjorski Center for mixed-use commercial space. The additional foot traffic brought in by the college would especially be a boon to shops and restaurants.
"It's definitely going to help us, definitely. The people in charge of it have to be commended. They worked hard on it," Clifford Pomicter said. "But come in and talk to us too. Ask the little guys what we want."
Pomicter co-owns Mary Lou's Deli and Mini Mart, 135 E. Main St., with his wife Mary Lou. It's a cozy place featuring what Pomicter calls "mom's food, comfort food."
The couple tried a similar venture in downtown Nanticoke about 20 years ago, but they gave up.
"At that time there was no parking on the main street. That killed us. We had to close," Pomicter said. "We tried it again 20 years later, and we're still fighting the same."
The Nanticoke General Municipal Authority plans to build a parkade in the vacant lot next to the Kanjorski Center. It will be set back from the street, with a privately owned restaurant and possibly retail space in front.
"We need parking to take care of the businesses they have now, not down the road," Pomicter said.
He thinks there should be more on-street parking, in addition to the parkade. The city has federal grant money, which was secured by U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, for streetscape improvements such as new streetlights and sidewalks. Pomicter believes there has to be some way to widen the roads and make the sidewalks safer for the additional people who hopefully will be using them.
James Bartuska co-owns Bartuska's Furniture with his brother Denis. Their grandfather, Peter Bartuska Sr., started the business at 147 E. Main St. in 1934.
The brothers are looking forward to the transformation, James Bartuska said. Anyone who comes downtown is someone who may stop in at the store, who ordinarily might not, he said.
"We're very excited every time we hear and read anything," Bartuska said. "The only thing is we still don't know what's going on."
Since the former YT Hardware was recently demolished, Bartuska's warehouse is the last remaining building on the block of East Main Street to the east of the Kanjorski Center.
Bartuska doesn't know whether he should be seeking estimates for stuccoing and painting the side of the building that once shared a wall with YT or if the warehouse site is part of plans for the parkade complex.
"We've been wanting to sit down with them; unfortunately, things have happened rapidly," State Rep. John Yudichak, D-Nanticoke, said of downtown merchants.
"For businesses that have already invested in Nanticoke, we want to enhance their business as well. We don't want new development to edge them out."
One of many subjects for discussion among local elected officials is the creation of a redevelopment/economic development fund to help existing businesses, Yudichak said. Nanticoke's municipal authority board members would particularly like to look into grant funding for refurbishing building façades along Main Street.
Overall, the business owners are looking forward to a new day downtown.
"I'm excited about the changes, and I'm optimistic about the future of the city," Bartuska said.
"It's about time. It really is," Pomicter said.
"More than just bodies on the street, which is tremendously important, I really believe it will change peoples' attitudes," McDonald said.

8/30/2007
County calls emergency on bridges
Nanticoke/West Nanticoke span over Susquehanna River will be first worked on, county engineer says.
By Jennifer Learn-Andesjandes@timesleader.com

The Nanticoke/West Nanticoke Bridge will be the first span tackled under the state of emergency declared by Luzerne County Commissioners on Wednesday, said county Engineer Joe Gibbons.
Gibbons said that the bridge over the Susquehanna River is “one step above” requiring a weight restriction – something he wants to avoid.
The emergency declaration will allow him to shop around for a consultant qualified to conduct specialized testing of that bridge and others without seeking public requests-for-proposals. Gibbons said the public request process would be more of a hindrance in this situation because very few companies specialize in the repairs he is seeking.
“It’s almost similar to a CAT scan for a person,” he said.
The testing will identify feasible repairs that may be done to delay the need for costly replacement, he said. Commissioners want to focus on bridges that are needed for emergency evacuations and school transportation.
The Water Street Bridge in Pittston and the Poplar Street Bridge in Plymouth Township will also undergo specialized testing, he said.
“I’ll be able to sleep a lot better when those three projects are completed,” Gibbons said.
Gibbons estimated that studies and some basic work on the three bridges will cost at least $1 million.
The study may determine that something as simple as cleaning and coating bridge components will protect the Nanticoke/West Nanticoke Bridge from further salt corrosion during the winter, Gibbons said.
He estimates that the Nanticoke/West Nanticoke Bridge would cost $25 million or more to replace.
The Water Street Bridge has a weight limit, but Gibbons does not expect consultants to find a fix that will allow the county to avoid replacing the structure. Gibbons said he doesn’t want to start pushing for a replacement until he receives a prognosis from a consultant.
Gibbons wants a consultant to explore the possibility of a “radical project” to fix the Poplar Street Bridge, which may not be used by buses and emergency vehicles because it has been downgraded to a 10-ton weight limit.
He thinks it will be possible to remove and replace the “superstructure part” of the bridge, which is essentially the metal beams and deck. That would be cheaper than building a new bridge from scratch, he said.
Commissioners Greg Skrepenak and Rose Tucker approved the declaration during a special meeting. Minority Commissioner Stephen A. Urban said he was unable to attend due to a “scheduling conflict,” but sent an e-mail to the county chief clerk/manager expressing support for the declaration.
Wilkes-Barre resident Stanley R. Suchoski challenged the declaration during the meeting.
“Is the sky falling here? Are the bridges in such a deteriorating condition here that we need this procedure?” he asked.
While stressing that safe bridges are important, Suchoski questioned whether the declaration will give a “blank check to contractors and suppliers” and whether the money spent will lead to tax increases after reassessment.
Skrepenak said all county bridges in use have been deemed safe, but he wants to make sure they stay that way. He said spending a lot of money won’t be an issue because the county doesn’t have funds to fix everything at this time. The special testing will lead to a formal plan to budget work that must be done in coming years, he said.
This is not just some shot in the dark that we’re taking after the tragic situation in Minnesota,” he said.

8/27/2007
‘Perfect case study’ for development
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

8/26/2007
A new musical produced by a Nanticoke native will be featured in a major New York City theatre festival next month.
Geri Anne Kaikowski - Citizens' Voice

Michael Height has been developing a musical titled “Tully (In No Particular Order)’’ since the fall of 2005. He became involved with the show when two college friends, who wrote the play, approached him about doing a reading of their show.
“Tully (In No Particular Order)’’ was submitted along with nearly 400 others for inclusion in the New York Musical Theatre Festival.
The show underwent a blind jury process presided over by musical theatre notables. At the end of the process, “Tully (In No Particular Order)’’ was one of 18 works chosen to be presented as part of the NYMF Next Link Program.
“Tully (In No Particular Order)’’ features music & lyrics by Stephanie Johnstone and book and additional lyrics by Joshua William Gelb. The show will also be directed by Joshua William Gelb.
The musical tells the story of a man named Tully who has lost his memory. But there are affairs, murders and betrayals forcing him to remember and to face the consequences of his actions.
The show will receive seven performances at the Sage Theater, 711 Seventh Ave., New York City. Performance dates and times are: Sept. 20-22, 8 p.m.; Sept. 23 and 25, 4:30 and 8 p.m. and Sept. 28, 4:30 p.m.
Tickets are available for purchase through Theatermania.com (http://www.theatermania.com, beginning Sept. 1.
For more information on the show, visit http://www.tullymusical.com, the show’s Myspace page athttp://www.myspace.com/tullymusical. Information on the New York Musical Theatre Festival can be found at http://www.nymf.org or by calling 212-664-0979.

8/25/2007
State approves LCCC revisions
By eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

The wait is over for Luzerne County Community College officials.
On Friday, they received word the Pennsylvania Department of Education approved revisions to the first phase of the college’s master plan. It includes two major projects in downtown Nanticoke: the conversion of the Kanjorski Center on East Main Street into a health sciences center and construction of a culinary arts institute at Market and Main streets.
Construction is already underway on a third project, the Public Safety Training Institute at Prospect Street and Middle Road.
For LCCC Interim President Thomas Leary, the announcement was the highlight of a hectic Friday, as college faculty and staff prepared for the start of classes on Monday.
“I was thrilled,” Leary said. “We’re looking forward to a great year, and this is the icing on the cake.”
He added the projects “will benefit the students, the college and the community.”
“This was the major piece that needed to be in place,” said state Rep. John Yudichak, D-Nanticoke. “We have an opportunity now to do something of great significance that will start revitalization of the South Valley region.”
Funding for the projects is a 50-50 split between the state and Luzerne County, which will each contribute $10 million.
Yudichak particularly credited commissioner chairman Greg Skrepenak and LCCC board chairman Ross Scarantino for helping get plans and funding in place.
There will be an official announcement Sept. 4 at the Kanjorski Center.
Before then, a sales agreement for the building must be hammered out. Under the terms of a $1.9 million federal Economic Development Administration grant used to build the Kanjorski Center, the city has to pay back the money if it is sold.
Even though community colleges can be eligible for EDA funds, the agency has indicated it won’t forgive the grant if LCCC buys the center.
U.S. senators Arlen Specter and Robert Casey have sent letters to the EDA asking for reconsideration.
The full grant amount might not have to be paid back, Yudichak said. It also would not affect the price of the Kanjorski Center.
Members of the Nanticoke General Municipal Authority, which manages the center, will be glad to turn the office building over to LCCC. The center has been mostly vacant since October 2005, when its main tenant moved out.
Without the rental income, the authority went broke and had to borrow money from the financially distressed city to pay its bills.

8/25/2007
LCCC receives approval to receive $20M for major capital projects
slong@timesleader.com

Luzerne County Community College officials received approval Friday afternoon for their $20 million request to proceed with three major capital projects, Interim President Tom Leary said.
Luzerne County and the state Department of Education will each provide $10 million, allowing the college to secure the lease/purchase of the Kanjorski Center, renovate the Nanticoke Senior Citizen Center for the college’s culinary arts program and continue construction on the Public Training Safety Institute.
“I would have to describe it as rather exhilarating. It is a very exciting time for the college and Nanticoke,” Leary said. He added that it was nice to finally see such a project come to fruition after working on it with so many people.
Nanticoke Mayor John Bushko was ecstatic to learn the funding had been received because this would provide a much needed economic boost to downtown Nanticoke.
“It’s a great shot in the arm. It’s the savior of our downtown district,” Bushko said.
“It helps the city, the downtown and the school.”
The college plans to finalize negotiation details next week to purchase the Kanjorski Center owned by the Nanticoke Redevelopment Authority, Leary said.
He and other school officials presented a revised master plan to state Department of Education budget officials almost three months ago requesting the funding.
Details of the Kanjorski acquisition and LCCC culinary arts program expansion will be released during a news conference on Sept. 4 at the Kanjorski Center.

If you go
What: Luzerne County Community College’s news conference
When: 2:30 p.m. Sept. 4
Where: Kanjorski Center in Downtown Nanticoke

8/25/2007
County readies bridges appraisal
Officials will declare a state of emergency so engineer can address work on some spans.
By Jennifer Learn-Andes jandes@timesleader.com

8/23/2007
Agency hears testimony on loan for Nanticoke
Financially distressed city seeks extra funds until it gets money from higher tax.
By Ron Lieback@timesleader.com

The state Department of Community and Economic Development heard testimony at a public hearing Wednesday night from the Pennsylvania Economy League and the city regarding a short-term loan and a grant under the financially distressed municipalities act, or Act 47.
The city is requesting additional funding through a $200,000 loan, and $136,000 in grant funds through the act. In April, the city created a higher earned-income tax and a commuter tax to help balance out the budget.
Starting May 1, residents were required to begin paying an additional 1 percent in earned-income tax and nonresidents started paying a 1.33 percent commuter tax.
The higher rates were estimated to generate $1.7 million, but collections of the earned-income taxes were started a month late as the city worked to ensure its payroll tax collector, Berkheimer Associates, was prepared to garnish the appropriate workers’ wages.
“It is the city’s position that the recovery plan (Act 47) is the key to our recovery,” said Kenneth Johnson, city administrator. “Our current problem is with (earned-income tax) collections.”
Pennsylvania Economy League Executive Director Gerald Cross said the city needs the additional revenue to bring the budget back to normal.
“The PEL believes the balance will be collected by the city by April or May 2008,” Cross said.
Tom Ruskey, from the office of state Rep. John Yudichak, D-Nanticoke, also requested that if a revision of the Act 47 grant and loan is completed, the state Department of Community and Economic Development would look into hiring a person in the city for direct involvement managing the funds due to future projects in the city.
“We’re currently working with the city on several economic development projects,” Ruskey said. “There is $40 million in public and private investments … all of these new projects will lead to future monies coming in and adding to the vitality of downtown.”

8/23/2007
GNA Superintendent Anthony Perrone looks forward to the new school year
Pamela Urbanski - Nanticoke Area Notes - Citizens' Voice

I enjoy talking with Nanticoke Area School District Superintendent Anthony Perrone. As always, he is excited about the start of another school year. Yes, even after all these years.

One doesn’t have to listen to him speak a long time to understand he really cares about the students ­— all students. He is anxious to get started.
“We have two new programs this year that are funded entirely by grants. A pre-school program for 4-year-olds will begin in early fall. We can accommodate up to 40 children and our goal is to have 20 in the a.m. and 20 in the p.m,” Perrone said. “For more information you can call K.M. Smith School at 735-3740.”
Because of grant money, the district also was able to hire two family center specialist counselors, who will work with children who have been removed from their homes and are under the jurisdiction of Children and Youth and in foster care.
“We will offer family counseling and home visits. Our goal is to get the students back with their families,” Perrone said.
Something he is going to place emphasis on this year is raising the PSSA test scores. “Our scores have been a little low, so we will all work very hard to raise the scores. We will follow the state curriculum and adhere to their recommendations,” Perrone added.
Mary Ann Jarolen, high school principal, will lead a committee of parents, faculty and staff to review those recommendations. The superintendent also is proud of the district’s buildings and grounds. I agree with him. I was walking around the complex the other day and men were busy making sure the outside is attractive to everyone.
“I’m very proud of our campus. We have two new schools and new building projects have been completed. Paving has been done at the high school and K.M. Smith School. Our athletic fields are looking good,” he said.
Perrone’s wish for the New Year? “I hope we can work out a contract with our teachers and that everyone gets along. The emphasis should be on the kids. That is what we are here for,” Perrone said.

School bells to ring at GNA
It is hard to believe we are nearing the end of August. Where did summer vacation go?
The Greater Nanticoke Area School District opens its doors for a new school year Tuesday. Full-day classes will be in session for all students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The cafeteria will be operating on the first day of school and breakfast will be available Wednesday. There is no school Friday, Aug. 31, and Labor Day.

Road work continues
Jeff Novitski, assistant construction manager for PennDOT, reminds motorists a traffic advisory is still in effect for Main and Kosciuszko streets. The good news, however, is that the work is ahead of schedule. “We had set a completion date of Nov. 2, but we are ahead of schedule. Don E. Bower Construction Company has being doing a great job working overtime and keeping things running smoothly as they add a new drainage system, sidewalk and paving work and the addition of new traffic signals,” he said.
“A problem arose the early part of this week when the utility company replaced some underground conduits that did not work properly,” Novitski said. “Unfortunately, they had to tear up the road work we just did. We are hoping they will have the problem corrected by the middle of the week so that we can have the overlay done at the end of the week. Once that is done, the traffic signals and clean-up work is all that is left to do,” Novitski said.

As for college students, using Middle Road while construction continues is good advice. He asks for people to be patient, slow down and be aware of the increased motor vehicle and pedestrian traffic. “It is the responsibility of all of us to keep our children safe,” he said.

8/22/2007
Nanticoke seeks new housing director
Head of the city’s Housing Authority for the past 2 years is leaving post Aug. 31.
slong@timesleader.com

The search is on for a new director at the Nanticoke Housing Authority for the third time in seven years. After handling the agency’s day-to-day operations for two years, Perry A. Clay is leaving to become the director of the Rental Housing Program at Virginia Beach, Va. His last day is Aug. 31.
It could take several more months until Clay’s replacement can be found. In the interim, the authority can hire an outside consultant, appoint someone as an interim director or allow a board member to handle the daily activities on a nonpaid basis.
Solicitor Vito DeLuca plans to meet with board chairwoman Christina Buttrick by the end of the month to discuss options on filling the position until a permanent director can be hired. The next regularly scheduled board meeting is Sept. 20.
DeLuca, who began serving the board in 1998, is not worried about any renovation projects being halted because of Clay’s departure.
The board is seeking sealed bids for its capital fund improvements projects to renovate the agency’s five buildings.
“Probably close to three years of the last seven years they operated without a permanent housing director,” DeLuca said.
Most of the administrative staff has more than 20 years experience in handling housing authority issues, Clay said.
The Pennsylvania Housing Authority Act requires housing authority executive director applicants to meet stringent criteria and be hired through the Civil Service Commission.
Board members want to take their time to find the right candidate because an executive director’s job is protected under state law, DeLuca said.
“You are locked in with them and can’t just get rid of them without just cause,” DeLuca said. Housing directors serve until they retire, resign, die or get another job. “It is a very important position, not only for the housing authority, but for the city, too.”
After gaining board approval, Clay implemented a nurse’s aide training program for residents, partnered with Luzerne County Community College to offer a series of workshops and developed New Horizons Development of Nanticoke, a nonprofit agency that renovates historical sites to provide middle-income housing for elderly residents.
It will be the board’s decision if these programs will be continue to be offered to residents.

8/19/2007
Hometown boy savors championship moment
jbombulie@citizensvoice.com

Receiver Jim Jones couldn’t sprint to the trophy fast enough once it was displayed on a table at the 10-yard line.
Defensive end Troy Blackwell pumped skyward the Gatorade cooler that he had just emptied on coach Rich Ingold’s head.
Lineman Deon McPhee danced to the sounds of “Glory Days” playing over the loudspeakers like he was Courteney Cox in the “Dancing in the Dark” video.
Kicker Dave Davis recorded all of it for posterity on his hand-held video camera.
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers all celebrated their American Conference championship game victory over the Green Bay Blizzard on Saturday night.

Only one player, however, could say he celebrated it on his home turf — Nanticoke Area graduate Todd Bargella, the team’s only local product.
When Bargella posed for pictures after the game – with the trophy in one arm and his biggest fan, an adorable 9-year-old named Haley who emerged from his rooting section in the stands wearing a miniature replica of his No. 86 jersey, in the other – he was doing so just miles from where he grew up.
“I’m flabbergasted right now,” Bargella said. “Just to run out of that tunnel and see my friends who I played mini-football with cheering me on and my parents, my family, my friends, I can’t describe the feeling. I’m ecstatic.
“Bringing home a championship like this to the community is fantastic. This community lacked sports championships for a while now and this is the beginning of a new era. I’m thankful and blessed to be part of this team.
“We have one more game to go and we’re going to do what we do best, which is win football games.”
While af2 teams sometimes add former high school standouts from their home region in a bid to draw fans, Bargella was no token local for the Pioneers on Saturday night.
Now a 6-foot-5, 275-pound lineman, Bargella harkened back to his high school and college days as a tight end when he caught a 9-yard pass in the first quarter. He nearly scored on the play too, being knocked out of bounds at the 1.
Later, with the Pioneers clinging to a three-point lead in the fourth quarter, receiver Tyreak Saviour fumbled after making a catch at his own 15-yard line. If Green Bay recovered, the Blizzard would have great field position and a chance to take the lead. Instead, Bargella, blocking down field, alertly fell on the ball.
Finally, with 20 seconds left, Bargella jumped on Green Bay’s onside kick, salting away a 46-43 victory for the Pioneers. He stood and raised the football to a cheering crowd of 5,635.
“Right then and there, I knew we were going to bring a championship home,” Bargella said.
Saturday night’s conference championship comes at a time when things are looking up for Bargella.
After graduating from Western Carolina in 2004, he had a pro day for NFL scouts but found no takers. He spent a little time with the Columbus
Destroyers of the Arena Football League, but shortly thereafter took a job as a corrections officer at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility, all the while thinking he could be putting his sport management degree to better use.
Last year, he was hired as an assistant athletic director at Lackawanna College, a position he finds fulfilling. Now, after a year off, he’s back playing
the sport he loves on a championship team.
“I wasn’t satisfied with myself. I had to come out to play one more time,” Bargella said. “I called Coach Ingold and asked him to come aboard and he welcomed me. I have to thank Coach Ingold for believing in me and giving me an opportunity to be a part of all of this.”