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Let the good times roll
I need what to cast a vote?
Briggs Farm Blues Fest, Wyoming Farmers Market, Cori’s Place
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Pennsylvania’s voter ID laws are changing, but for the better?
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WILKES-BARRE, PA
SPORTS SHOWCASE
MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012
50¢
Time for 40-hour week?
PLYMOUTH SHOOTING
CHARGED
Leaders thinking about longer work week for county employees. WIMBLEDON TITLE Roger Federer won his record-tying seventh Wimbledon title Sunday, beating Andy Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 under a closed roof on Centre Court. The 17-time Grand Slam champion excelled once the roof was closed early in the third set, giving Murray little chance to end Britain’s 76-year wait for a homegrown men’s champion. Federer is now 17-7 in Grand Slam finals, including 7-1 at Wimbledon. Murray dropped to 0-4 in major finals, with three of those losses coming against Federer. 1B
By JENNIFER LEARN-ANDES jandes@timesleader.com
AIMEE DILGER PHOTOS/THE TIMES LEADER
NATIONAL LEAGUE
BRAVES 4 PHILLIES 3 CUBS 7 METS 0 PIRATES 13 GIANTS 2 ROCKIES 4 NATIONALS 3 INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE
BISONS 10 YANKEES 3
INSIDE A NEWS: Local 3A Nation & World 4A Obituaries 6A Editorials 9A B SPORTS: 1B Weather 6B C CLICK : 1C Birthdays 3C Television 4C Crossword/Horoscope 5C D CLASSIFIED: 1D
WEATHER Andreana Henry Partly Cloudy. High 84, Low 57 Details, Page 6B
Sawud Davis leaves his preliminary arraignment in Nanticoke.
TWO ACCUSED IN LOCAL TRIPLE HOMICIDE By SARA POKORNY and JERRY LYNOTT spokorny@timesleader.com and jlynott@timesleader.com
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ANTICOKE – After Shawn Hamilton and his half brother, Sawud Davis, fled a Plymouth apartment where police said they shot and killed three people and critically wounded a fourth person Saturday night in a drug deal, the pair visited a cousin recovering from a gunshot wound in the same hospital where the sole survivor was undergoing emergency medical treatment.
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INSIDE: Plymouth neighbors don’t know what happened to their street, Page, 10A
Hamilton, 18, and Davis, 16, of Philadelphia, Maldonado attempted to reach for packets of herowere arrested early Sunday morning at a residence in shown to him by Davis. in the rear of 178 East Ridge St., NantiDavis pulled a .40-caliber pistol from his coke, not far from where each one was latwaistband and shot Maldonado, police said. er arraigned on three counts of criminal Hamilton told police Davis said “he homicide in the shooting deaths of Bracouldn’t leave any witnesses” and fired bedley James Swartwood, 21, Nicolas Robtween eight to 10 more shots. ert Maldonado, 17, of 401 First St., PlyDistrict Justice Donald Whittaker commitmouth, and 15-year-old Lisa Abaunza of ted Hamilton and Davis to the Luzerne Duryea. County Correctional Facility without bail. Autopsies will be conSwartwood They said nothing as ducted today. they were heckled while Maldonado’s older brothbeing led from their preer, 19-year-old Danny, was liminary arraignment Sunin critical condition at Geisday afternoon. inger Wyoming Valley MedTheir arrests capped a ical Center. feverish 11 hours for invesHamilton and Davis were tigators and quelled fears charged with attempted the gunman was still loose homicide in connection and a danger to the public. with the surviving victim. Luzerne County District Autopsies will be conAttorney Stefanie Salavanducted today. The shooting allegedly See SHOOTING, Page 10A occurred when the younger
Topic for Tuesday A discussion on the 40-hour work week is scheduled during Tuesday’s council work session. Uniform working conditions with fair compensation will make county government more efficient, Williams said. “I have great hope our new county manager is moving in that direction, but I recognize that it will take a while to change the practices of the past,” Williams said. Union head Paula Schnelly, who represents 516 employees in three units, said county officials must be prepared to pay more if workers add five to 7.5 hours to their work week. “I wonder if the county realizes union employees are hourly – not salaried – and would expect just compensation for additional hours worked at their current hourly pay,” said Schnelly, of the American Federation of State, See COUNCIL, Page 10A
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THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS WEEK
>> THEM’S GOOD EATS: The Travel Channel’s
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Shawn Hamilton leaves his arraignment Sunday at District Justice Donald Whittaker’s office. Below, the First and Orchard street, Plymouth, residence.
Luzerne County Council members will discuss switching all employees to a 40-hour work week – something taxpayers have been seeking for more than a decade. Most of the county’s roughly 1,550 employees work 32.5 or 35 hours per week. Union officials say they’re open to discussion, but changes must be negotiated and come with additional compensation. About 80 percent of the county workforce is unionized. Councilman Rick Williams Williams raised the issue, saying council should establish recommended work force standards, including uniform benefits. There’s no consistency because employees work under 11 different union conLawton tracts and policies governing non-union workers. County Manager Robert Lawton has the power to change the hours and benefits for the roughly 300 non-union workers, Schnelly but alterations for union employees must be negotiated in collective bargaining agreements subject to council ratification.
Andrew Zimmern has one very brave stomach. He’s eaten duck embryos, sauerkraut pie, fried bees and even had some snapping turtle soup down the road in Drums. (That’s the town near Hazleton, not the percussion instrument.) Of course, when you’re the host of a show called “Bizarre Foods’’ that kind of menu is in the job description. Tonight, Zimmern begins his seventh season of chowing down on fare that would curdle the innards of lesser souls. This time, he’s focusing on our own country’s crazy cuisine in “Bizarre Foods America.” Catch it at 8 p.m. on the Travel Channel. Bring your popcorn.
>> STRAINED PINAPPLE, ANYONE? So, this
Tuesday is July 10 and that means you have your choice of two “holidays” to observe. You could celebrate “Don’t Step on a Bee Day.” (Which, when you think about it, should be everyday.) Or, you can sit back with a nice, cool drink and enjoy “National Pina Colada Day.” Especially if you’re not into yoga and have half a brain.
>> STAR POWER: Trivia time: Who hit
the first home run in All-Star Game history? Yes, it was Babe Ruth in 1933. Too easy? How about this. Who was the MVP of the highest scoring All-Star Game? Hmmm. Stumped, eh? The Orioles’ Roberto Alomar in the AL’s 13-8 win in 1998. Here’s another easy one. When and where will the 2012 All-Star Game be played? Why this Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, of course. If you care to watch the action, you can see it at 7:30 p.m. on FOX.
>> ICE, ICE, BABY: Hollywood loves a good sequel. Well, actually, Hollywood loves a
sequel if it makes money. It doesn’t worry about the “good” part. Luckily, for fans of the animated “Ice Age” franchise, the movies have been pretty good. The fourth film in the Paleolithically-inaccurate series, “Ice Age: Continental Drift,” opens this Friday. And there is one question on moviegoers minds: Will that darn squirrel thing get that darn acorn already? It’s been a decade of fruitless nut pursuit; someone give him a granola bar, please!
>> RIBBIT!: As long as you promise not to bring that Zimmern fella from the first item, the folks at the Pocono Environmental Education Center have a fun, muddy good time waiting for you. This Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to noon, are Frog Frenzy days. It’s a catch-and-release learning experience for nature lovers curious about the little amphibians. The center is at 538 Emery Road, Dingmans Ferry. (You want to head up Route 84 to get there.) It does cost $5. The frogs have overhead, you know.
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Shooting shakes up Plymouth neighborhood Residents of street want change now. By BILL O’BOYLE boboyle@timesleader.com
PLYMOUTH – Kids were riding bicycles, a man was fixing his car and others were sitting on their porches as a neighborhood struggled to get back to normal after Saturday night’s shooting that left three people dead and another clinging to life. But most of the residents kept their doors locked and they stayed inside. At the corner of Orchard and First streets, the three-story building where the shootings occurred once housed a small neighborhood market. Across the street was a tavern, and a few doors from there a barber would cut hair on Mondays. Not far from the murder scene is John Mergo Community Park, where kids play baseball and soccer. And a half block down Orchard Street kids would buy penny candy in Minnie’s Store. It was a quiet neighborhood for decades, but all that changed Saturday around 7:30 p.m. Stan Siberski, who lives next door to what is now a crime scene, has lived on First Street for 45 years. “It’s not the old neighborhood,” Siberski said Sunday. “We’ve noticed a lot of shady activity; it’s all young people.” A man on the third floor of the building where the crimes oc-
WHAT’S NEXT?
curred said he is the brother of the landlord. Neither the man nor his brother would talk about the incident. Some neighbors said the building rents to Section 8 tenants, who use federal program housing vouchers for all or part of their rent. Plymouth Councilman Bill Dixon said the program should watch over its buildings and send inspectors out regularly. “Small boroughs like Plymouth just can’t afford it,” Dixon said. “Our funding is always being cut – funds we need to inspect buildings and to fight crime.” Dixon praised the borough police. A neighbor said cops arrived on the scene within three minutes of the shootings. “We’re frustrated,” Dixon said. “Our police force is not doing a bad job. I just think we need to equip them better, but we just don’t have the money.” Dixon said the police are “overworked and underpaid.” He said towns like his are seeing a shift in residents – especially those in programs such as section 8. People move to the area from other cities or states and when they find trouble in one town, they move – or shift – to the next town, he said.
“We need more resources,” Dixon said. “This certain ‘element’ moves into small towns where they know the police forces are low in manpower.” Dixon also said landlords of Section 8 housing should screen their tenants and then keep an eye on the buildings. But neighbors knew something was going on in the building where the shooting occurred. Siberski said it has been the worst he has seen in his 45 years there. “Drug deals have been going on
AIMEE DILGER/THE TIMES LEADER
The porch of 401 First St. is littered with medical gloves after four were shot inside Saturday evening. The door has been kicked.
Jody, said, “We have a lot questions.” She sat with family and friends at her home in Glen Lyon and talked about her son. “He was a little rough around the edges,” she said, acknowledging his run-ins with police. Swartwood was awaiting trial on drug charges in Luzerne County Court. Her son loved skateboarding and was taking courses at Luzerne County Community College and planning to study business, she said. He was without a permanent address and was just staying at the First Street apartment, she said. They spoke three days before the shooting. “He called to see how me and A mother’s questions the kids were doing,” she said. Despite the lack of stated evi- Swartwood has two brothers dence by the district attorney, and a sister. Bradley Swartwood’s mother, His mother said she last met
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County & Municipal Employees, or AFSCME. The AFSCME court-related unit recently rejected the administration’s proposed contract, largely because nearly 70 support workers would switch to 40-hour work weeks without additional pay, Schnelly said. The unit’s 42 sheriff deputies work 35 hours and would have received additional compensation, but their hourly rates would decrease when the extra hours were factored in, she said. Schnelly said the administration informed her after the vote the proposed 40-hour switch applied only to deputies, but she said paperwork from negotiations and affirmations from
one of Hamilton’s shoes and asked about it. Hamilton said he spilled juice on it and bought a new pair. He put the old pair in the box of the pair he just bought and they left the store. They drove back to Nanticoke, where Hamilton and Davis went to their apartment. Ginther later drove them to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center to visit a patient. During Hamilton’s interview at the state police barracks in Wyoming he said he knew Swartwood as “Wuz” and Nicolas Maldonado as “Cannon.” Hamilton previously bought marijuana from Swartwood. Before the shooting Hamilton paid Swartwood $250 for a 1/2 ounce of marijuana and went with him into the Plymouth apartment to get it. During the exchange Davis pulled out bundles of heroin to show Swartwood, and Nicolas Maldonado reached out. At that point Davis shot Maldonado. Hamilton said he did not want to be involved and told the same to Davis, who then shot the others. Hamilton and Davis left the apartment and met up with Ginther and went to the mall to shop for clothes and sneakers. After buying the clothes, Hamilton threw his old jeans and shirt into a garbage can in the center of the mall. Police searched the East Ridge Street residence of Hamilton and Davis and recovered a .40-caliber Smith and Wesson pistol, and a pair of size 111/2 white Nike sneakers with suspected blood on them in a bag in the kitchen. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for 10 a.m. July 18 for Hamilton and Davis.
AIMEE DILGER/THE TIMES LEADER
Plymouth resident Stan Siberski and his dog sit on his First Street porch. He and others who live near the scene of Saturday’s shootings say they are troubled about the state of the neighborhood.
there,” he said. “I know that; it happens in broad daylight.” JoAnn Conklin, 60, who moved into her First Street house two and a half weeks ago, said before they moved in, her boyfriend had to clean out the basement because people had broken in and drug paraphernalia was strewn about. Conklin said she saw one of the suspects fleeing the building Sunday night and watched him run up Orchard Street. “I don’t know if there was a car waiting for him or what,” she said.
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COUNCIL
tified as Swartwood underneath an air conditioning unit. All had gunshot wounds. Emergency medical personnel attended to Swartwood, who was still alive. The apartment smelled of marijuana and police saw some and a scale commonly used in street level drug trafficking in the residence. Swartwood, Abaunza and Nicolas Maldonado were later pronounced dead by acting county coroner William Lisman. Shortly after midnight police interviewed Brandon Ginther, no age or address available, who admitted to driving Hamilton and Davis to the Plymouth apartment. Ginther, who was not charged, said Hamilton called him for ride between 5 and 6 p.m. Saturday. He met Hamilton and Davis in Nanticoke and Hamilton said he wanted to buy a gun. They drove around, but the gun shops they visited were closed. They later drove back to Nanticoke and picked up Swartwood and one of the Maldonado brothers. Ginther did not want to stick around and dropped off Hamilton, Davis and the other two passengers at the First Street apartment. Ginther got a call from Hamilton short time later telling him to “hurry up” and he picked up Hamilton and Davis who were walking on West Shawnee Avenue. They drove to the Wyoming Valley Mall, where Hamilton and Davis went shopping in Macy’s men’s store. Hamilton came out wearing new clothes and they next went to the Finish Line store. A clerk there noticed what appeared to be blood on
Plymouth Borough Council meets Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the borough building, West Shawnee Avenue.
SHOOTING tis, who was at the apartment building on the corner of First and Orchards streets with investigators on Saturday, said all resources would be dedicated to the case. “Everybody cares about their community, and when they hear of something this tragic occurring it’s just a shock to everybody, and it’s very emotional,” said Salavantis. “Right now my condolences go out to the families, they are what I’m thinking of right now,” she said. She reiterated the position of investigators that the shooting was not connected to one Friday afternoon on Jay Street, WilkesBarre. The victim, 22-year-old Kenyatta Hughston, was shot in the head and listed in critical condition at Geisinger Wyoming Valley. No arrest has been made in the Wilkes-Barre shooting. Police said Hamilton told them Hughston was the cousin of him and Davis. “I can say right now that there is no evidence in our hands that can say the two are connected at this point in time,” said Salavantis. “Obviously there are questions out there with one occurring 24 hours before the other. We’re doing everything in our power to make sure we find out what happened in Wilkes-Barre as well.”
“I never heard of this stuff happening in Plymouth,” she said. “But we felt something was going to happen in that building.” Cars would drive up, people get out and enter the second floor apartment and then come out soon after, she said. Rubber gloves remain on the porch of the apartment where the shootings occurred. Neighbors said the place was often a scene for parties. “Everybody knew something was going to happen there,” said
another neighbor who wouldn’t give his name. “But nobody ever expected anything like this.” He and another neighbor said police were called to the building on Friday night. They said it appeared to be a domestic dispute and an infant was taken from the apartment. Leon Sank lived across the street. He erected a memorial to his son, Paul Richard Sank, a soldier who served in Afghanistan, who returned home and died at the age of 24. Sank’s house is decorated in patriotic style. “The neighbors said they saw four people go in the building, but only two came out,” Sank said. “I was working with power tools in the garage and a neighbor came over and told me to call 911.” Siberski said he thought maybe somebody was working in the apartment or that fireworks were being shot off. “It’s gotten rougher around here,” Sank said of the neighborhood he’s lived in for 17 years. “That’s been a troubling place. The police have been there several times.” Dixon said council will discuss what it can do at its meeting Tuesday. “The people themselves have to speak out and help police,” he said. “If they see suspicious activity, report it. “We need help from the state, the county, the federal government, but so does every other town.”
AIMEE DILGER/THE TIMES LEADER
Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis talks with the media after the arraignment of Sawud Davis, 16, and Shawn Hamilton, 18, at District Judge Donald Whittaker’s office in Nanticoke.
her son two weeks ago in Nanticoke. Her son knew the Maldonado brothers and went to school with them, she said. Swartwood and Danny Maldonado II were 2010 graduates of John S. Fine High School in Nanticoke. Previously they attended Wyoming Valley West. “He was a rough around the edges, but he was harmless,” she said. Danny Maldonado became a father on June 1. According to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center’s birth reports, Maldonado and Ashley Bryant had a daughter on June 1. The mailbox at the First Street apartment had the names Bryant – Maldonado on it. Barbara Abaunza, the mother of Lisa Abaunza, declined comment when contacted Sunday afternoon. Her daughter graduated from eighth grade at St.
Mary’s Assumption School in Pittston last year. She attended Scranton Preparatory School. In the police affidavits What happened in Plymouth was detailed in affidavits prepared by state trooper Charles Prula and county Det. Lt. Gary Sworen: Plymouth police responded to a report of shots fired in a residence at 401 First St. around 7:36 p.m. and two black males seen leaving the scene. Officers arrived and met a witness who said he heard shots fired and through an opening in a front door window saw a male lying on the floor. Police saw the male, later identified as Nicolas Maldonado, in a pool of blood. They went into the apartment and found a male on the floor in the bedroom, Abaunza in the living room area and a male later iden-
LUZERNE COUNTY WORK WEEK HOURS
IF YOU GO
• Residual union: 32.5 hours except road and bridge and 911, which are 40 hours • Court-related: 32.5 hours except sheriff deputies, who are 35 hours • Court-appointed support: 35 hours • Non-union: 32.5 hours to 40 hours, depending on the department • Court-appointed professionals: 35 hours
A discussion on 40-hour work weeks is planned for Tuesday’s public county council work session, which begins at 6:30 p.m. in the county’s Emergency Management Agency building, Water Street, Wilkes-Barre.
fellow union negotiators back up her interpretation that the county’s proposal applied to all court-related workers. Contract negotiations aren’t held in public. “If that wasn’t the intent of the county, it wasn’t clarified,” Schnelly said.
• Assistant district attorneys/ public defenders: 37.5 hours (1,000 hours per year for part-timers) • Prison: 40 hours • Aging: 37.5 hours • Detectives: 37.5 hours • Transportation: 40 hours • Children and Youth: 37.5 hours • Mental Health and Developmental Services: 37.5- to 40 hours, depending on hire date
ing arbitration. The union’s contracts with rank-and-file residual workers and court-appointed support staff expire at the end of 2013 and 2014. The county provided hourly pay increases to sheriff deputies as their work week was gradually increased from 32.5 to 35 hours from 2008 through Binding arbitration 2010, the expired contract The court-related contract shows. All three county commiswill be decided through bind-
DON CAREY/THE TIMES LEADER
Luzerne County contracts.
sioners in office at the time supported the hourly pay increase, saying the county could avoid adding staff if the deputies put in more time. The county’s recent proposed contract with detectives did not propose an increase from their current 37.5-hour week, according to a copy of the proposal obtained by the newspaper. That contract was rejected by a council majority and advanced to binding arbitration. The court-appointed professionals union, which includes
domestic relations and probation officers, went from 32.5 to 35 hours years ago, said union representative Charles Majikes. The union’s contract expires at the end of 2014. More hours, more pay? Majikes said a pay increase must come with more hours. He personally agreed with the court-related unit’s rejection of the recent proposal. “I’m appalled that they’re asking people to work more for less, especially with recent layoffs and cutbacks. Where does
it end?” Majikes said. Teamsters Local 401’s Pat Connors, who represents 350 human service employees and assistant public defenders/district attorneys, believes union members are receptive to 40hour weeks with additional pay. “We wouldn’t have an issue discussing it, but they need to be compensated. You can’t expect them to take the same pay and work more hours,” Connors said. The four Teamsters union contracts expire at the end of 2013. Mental health and developmental service employees hired after January 2005 and transportation employees already work 40 hours, with the rest at 37.5. Unionized prison guards have had 40-hour work weeks at least two decades, said former union head Tony Seiwell.
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WILKES-BARRE, PA
TUESDAY, JULY 24, 2012
PRICE TO PAY
SANCTIONS SLAM PENN STATE • $60 MILLION FINE
• FOUR-YEAR POSTSEASON BAN
• LOSS OF LEAGUE REVENUE
• CONSENT DECREE
• LOSS OF 20 SCHOLARSHIPS
• 111 WINS VACATED
AP FILE PHOTO
The Penn State football team gathers on the field before the September 2010 game against Temple at Beaver Stadium in State College. The NCAA slammed Penn State with an unprecedented series of penalties Monday, including a $60 million fine and the loss of all coach Joe Paterno’s victories from 1998-2011, in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.
Facing uncertain future
S
By DEREK LEVARSE
dlevarse@timesleader.com
TATE COLLEGE -- Penn State football will continue on. Rather than deliver the death penalty to the Nittany Lions, the NCAA instead placed the program into a coma on Monday, one that will likely take years to recover from. • Penn State football will continue on. But barely. • Dismayed with what it called “an unprecedented failure of institutional integrity” at the university in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal, the NCAA granted President Mark Emmert unique authority to impose severe sanctions on Penn State, forgoing the usual enforcement process. Citing the university-commissioned Freeh with the NCAA’s executive board -- composed report, which concluded that top university of university presidents from across the nation officials were predominately to blame for not -- before issuing five separate penalties bringing allegations of child sexual abuse against the Lions. to light, Emmert unleashed some of the • A fine of $60 million, which will harshest penalties in NCAA history. be paid out in five annual install“These events were perverse and ments of $12 million, according to unconscionable,” Emmert said. “No Penn State President Rodney Erickpenalties can repair the damage son. The money is forbidden from done by Jerry Sandusky. coming at the expense of any But the culture that led to other program at the univerthe actions and inactions sity -- athletic or academic. that allowed (children) Gov. Tom Corbett said to be victimized will in a statement that no taxnot be tolerated in college athletics.” See PSU, Page 2A Emmert consulted
SIX PAGES OF COVERAGE
Message to victims Local advocates praise strong action taken by NCAA. By SHEENA DELAZIO sdelazio@timesleader.com
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hile the sanctions imposed on Penn State on Monday by the National Collegiate Athletic Association may not affect the victims of Jerry Sandusky, future victims of sexual abuse can rest assured steps have been taken to protect them, several local advocates said Monday. “(The sanctions) were a good message to the victims,” Janet MacKay, executive director of the county’s Victims Resource Center, said. “It shows them someone did hear what they said. (The NCAA) took seriously that they were impacted. It gave a clear message that we need to protect children.” MacKay cited the $60 million fine, to be paid over a five-year period into an endowment for programs preventing child sexual abuse and/or assisting victims of child sexual abuse, as See VICTIMS, Page 2A
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SPORTS
A failure of leadership
Pride still strong Sanctions shock students Still game to go?
Q&A on loss of wins In their own words A peachy proposition
Players ignore ‘noise’ One player’s commitment Opinion: From pride to shame
Paternos blast NCAA Joyner looks to future
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SANCTIONS SLAM PENN STATE
Family blasts NCAA
Joyner: PSU focus is now on future The Associated Press
Relatives of the late coach Paterno say the NCAA’s sanctions defame his legacy. The Associated Press
The statement issued by the family of Joe Paterno in response to the sanctions announced by the NCAA: Sexual abuse is reprehensible, especially when it involves children, and no one starting with Joe Paterno condones or minimizes it. The horrific acts committed by Jerry Sandusky shock the conscience of every decent human being. How Sandusky was able to get away with his crimes for so long has yet to be fully understood, despite the claims and assertions of the Freeh report. The release of the Freeh report has triggered an avalanche of vitriol, condemnation and posthumous punishment on Joe Paterno. The NCAA has now become the latest party to accept the report as the final word on the Sandusky scandal. The sanctions announced by the NCAA today defame the legacy and contributions of a great coach and educator without any input from our family or those who knew him best. That the President, the Athletic Director and the Board of Trustees accepted this unprecedented action by the NCAA without requiring a full due process hearing before the Committee on Infractions is an abdication of their responsibilities and a breach of their fiduciary duties to the University and the 500,000 alumni. Punishing past, present and future students of the University because of Sandusky’s crimes does not serve justice. This is not a fair or thoughtful action; it is a panicked response to the public’s understandable revulsion at what Sandusky did. The point of due process is to protect against this sort of reflexive action. Joe Paterno was never interviewed by the University or the Freeh Group. His counsel has not been able to interview key witnesses as they are represented by counsel related to ongoing litigation. We have had no access to the records reviewed by the Freeh group. The NCAA never contacted our family or our legal counsel. And the fact that several parties have pending trials that could produce evidence and testimony relevant to this matter has been totally discounted. Unfortunately all of these facts have been ignored by the NCAA, the Freeh Group and the University.
AP PHOTO
NCAA President Mark Emmert announces penalties against Penn State on Monday during a news conference in Indianapolis.
Leadership failed
NCAA: ‘Football first’ culture enabled abuse The Associated Press
Excerpt of NCAA statement on sanctions of Penn State football: By perpetuating a “football first” culture that ultimately enabled serial child sexual abuse to occur, The Pennsylvania State University leadership failed to value and uphold institutional integrity, resulting in a breach of the NCAA constitution and rules. The NCAA Division I Board of Directors and NCAA Executive Committee directed Association President Mark Emmert to examine the circumstances and determine appropriate action in consultation with these presidential bodies. “As we evaluated the situation, the victims affected by Jerry Sandusky and the efforts by many to conceal his crimes informed our actions,” said Emmert. “At our core, we are educators. Penn State leadership lost sight of that.” According to the NCAA conclusions and sanctions, the Freeh Report “presents an unprecedented failure of institutional integrity leading to a culture in which a football program was held in higher esteem than the values of the institution, the values of the NCAA, the values of higher education, and most disturbingly the values of human decency.” The NCAA recognizes that student-athletes are not responsible for these events and worked to minimize the impact of its sanctions on current and incoming football student-athletes. Any entering or returning student-athlete will be allowed to immediately transfer and compete at another school. Further, any football student-athletes who remain at the university may re-
PSU Continued from Page 1A
payer dollars will be involved in paying the fine, which will go toward programs for preventing child sexual abuse and assisting victims. • From a football standpoint, the most serious punishment is a massive reduction in scholarships, the lifeblood of any program. Beginning with the 2014 season, Penn State will be able field only 65 scholarship players -- down from the NCAA cap of 85 -for four years. Starting with the upcoming recruiting class of 2013, Penn State will also only be allowed to sign 15 scholarship players in each of the next four years, reduced from the usual limit of 25. • Similarly damaging is a four-year postseason ban that will prevent the Lions from playing in a bowl game or the Big Ten championship until the 2016 season. • Those two will affect the program’s future. The NCAA also struck at Penn State’s past, vacating all wins from 1998-2011, 112 in total -- 111 by Joe Paterno and one by interim coach Tom Bradley. The decision removes the late Paterno from the NCAA record books as major college football’s all-time winningest coach, dropping him from 409 career victories to 298. The 1998 date was cited in the Freeh report as the first year Penn State officials were made aware of allegations against Sandusky, who was convicted last month of 45 counts of child abuse. • The program and the university will be on NCAA probation for five
AP FILE PHOTO
Penn State President Rodney Erickson addresses members of the Penn State Board of Trustees in January during its regularly scheduled meeting in State College. Erickson signed off on the sanctions that were imposed Monday by the NCAA.
years, and the school will be assigned an independent athletics “integrity monitor” for that span to help ensure future compliance. All of these penalties were agreed to by Erickson, who was the lone Penn State representative to sign off on a consent decree drafted by Emmert and the NCAA. Erickson will not be at the university during much
tain their scholarships, regardless of whether they compete on the team. … “There has been much speculation on whether or not the NCAA has the authority to impose any type of penalty related to Penn State,” said Ed Ray, Executive Committee chair and Oregon State president. “This egregious behavior not only goes against our rules and constitution, but also against our values.” Because Penn State accepted the Freeh Report factual findings, which the university itself commissioned, the NCAA determined traditional investigative proceedings would be redundant and unnecessary. “We cannot look to NCAA history to determine how to handle circumstances so disturbing, shocking and disappointing,” said Emmert. “As the individuals charged with governing college sports, we have a responsibility to act. These events should serve as a call to every single school and athletics department to take an honest look at its campus environment and eradicate the ‘sports are king’ mindset that can so dramatically cloud the judgment of educators.” Penn State fully cooperated with the NCAA on this examination of the issues and took decisive action in removing individuals in leadership who were culpable. “The actions already taken by the new Penn State Board of Trustees chair Karen Peetz and Penn State President Rodney Erickson have demonstrated a strong desire and determination to take the steps necessary for Penn State to right these severe wrongs,” said Emmert.
of the affected years, having announced he will step down from his position in 2014. Signing the consent decree means that Penn State will not appeal any of the sanctions handed down Monday. “It is important to know we are entering a new chapter at Penn State and making necessary changes,” Erickson said in a statement. “We must create a culture in which people are not afraid to speak up, management is not compartmentalized, all are expected to demonstrate the highest ethical standards, and the operating philosophy is open, collegial, and collaborative.” Later in the day, Erickson told the Centre Daily Times that he and school leaders had their “backs to the wall on this. We did what we thought was necessary to save the program.” Erickson said the alternative would have been the “death penalty” -- shutting down football for a year or more -- on top of other sanctions. In addition to the NCAA punishment, the Big Ten also announced Monday that Penn State will be ineligible to receive its share of the conference’s revenues from bowl games for four years. The league estimated that total to be $13 million, which will be be donated to child abuse programs in Big Ten communities. Tasked with holding everything together is Bill O’Brien, who has yet to coach a game for the Lions. O’Brien, who was hired in January to take over for the deposed Paterno, affirmed his commitment to the program despite the crippling sanctions. “I will do everything in my power to not only comply, but help guide the university forward to become a na-
tional leader in ethics, compliance and operational excellence,” O’Brien said in a statement. “I knew when I accepted the position that there would be tough times ahead. But I am committed for the long term to Penn State and our student athletes. “I was then and I remain convinced that our student athletes are the best in the country. I could not be more proud to lead this team and these courageous and humble young men into the upcoming 2012 season. Together we are committed to building a better athletic program and university.” Released in January, O’Brien’s contract contained no sort of “escape clause” -- language that would allow him to leave his post in the event of circumstances such as NCAA sanctions. As written, the contract would require O’Brien to essentially buy out the remaining four-and-a-half years left on it, which would cost him more than $4 million. O’Brien and players did not speak publicly on Monday and declined comment. O’Brien is scheduled to address the situation on Thursday in Chicago at Big Ten media days. Emmert said he hopes the swift and historic message sent to Penn State causes universities across the country to evaluate the role of athletics at the collegiate level. “The gut-check message is do we have the right balance in our culture?" Emmert said. "Or are we in a position where hero worship and winning at all costs has subordinated our core values? “We have to make sure we have the balance right.”
Statement by Penn State acting AD David Joyner: The Freeh Report concluded that individuals at Penn State University entrusted to positions of authority shunned their basic responsibility to protect children, and innocent children suffered as a result. Our hearts go out to the victims of this abuse and their families. Today Penn State takes another step forward in changing the culture at the institution as we accept the penalties of the NCAA for the failure of leadership that occurred on our campus. We are deeply disappointed that some of our leaders could have turned a Joyner blind eye to such abuse, and agree that the culture at Penn State must change. As we move forward, today’s student athletes have a challenging road ahead. But they will do the right thing, as they have always done. I am confident all of our head coaches will come together to make the change necessary to drive our university forward. Penn State will continue to fully support its established athletic programs, which provide opportunities for over 800 student athletes. Working together, the path ahead will not be easy. But it is necessary, just, and will bring a better future. Our faculty, staff, students, athletes, and parents will work together as Penn State begins this new chapter. Though this cooperation and collaboration, Penn State will become a national model for compliance, ethics, and embodiment of the student athlete credo.
VICTIMS Continued from Page 1A
well as the adoption of recommendations from the Freeh Report, which include security measures, compliance with the Clery Act and abuse-awareness training. MacKay, who said she read the entire Freeh report, penned by former judge and FBI director Louis Freeh on behalf of Penn State, added that she hopes other universities will examine their policies and procedures. “Policies and procedures have been kind of ignored (in regard to sexual abuse),” MacKay said. “As advocates, we weren’t being heard until the realities were shown, unfortunately in a very dramatic way.” MacKay said that because of the NCAA sanctions, Sandusky’s conviction and general media coverage of the topic, hopefully more victims of sexual abuse will feel comfortable to come forward with their stories. Luzerne County Detective Lt. Gary Sworen, who works with the county’s Child Advocacy Center that deals with children who are victims of sexual abuse, agreed with MacKay. “We need to be open (about child sexual abuse). These things do happen,” Sworen said. “We have to try to protect our young people.” Sworen said he too believes the sanctions will help future victims of sexual assault. But as for the victims of Sandusky, Sworen said it’s hard to say whether they’ll get the closure they want. “The sanctions…are a starting point towards recovery and closure,” he said. “Education is important. (Sexual abuse) has to be addressed.” Psychiatrist Richard Fischbein of Kingston, who treats sexual offenders and victims, said it’s hard to tell how the NCAA’s actions will affect Sandusky’s victims, as victims tend to find it more helpful when the offender is prosecuted. “How it helps individual (victims) varies,” Fischbein said. “Some have developed a lot of anger that the school didn’t help them, while others may feel they wouldn’t have been a victim if the actions were properly reported.” He said he believed the NCAA was sending a message that no football program or sports program can become so important that the school or powers that be lose human decency.
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Brian Hajeski, 41, of Brick, N.J., grieves after looking at debris of a home that washed up on the Mantoloking Bridge on Tuesday morning after superstorm Sandy rolled through in Mantoloking, N.J. Sandy, the storm that made landfall Monday, caused multiple fatalities, halted mass transit and cut power to more than 6 million homes and businesses.
SUPERSTORM LIVES UP TO HYPE FOR MUCH OF U.S. By TED ANTHONY AP National Writer
PITTSBURGH — The most devastating storm in decades to hit the country’s most densely populated region upended man and nature as it rolled back the clock on 21st-century lives, cutting off modern communication and leaving millions without power Tuesday as thousands who fled their water-menaced homes wondered when — if — life would return to normal. A weakening Sandy, the hur-
LUZERNE COUNTY AVOIDS WORST OF HUGE STORM
MORE STORM COVERAGE INSIDE • DAMAGE COSTS COULD BE LOW, PAGE 3A • DAILY ROUTINES ALTERED, PAGE 3A • FEW SEEKING SHELTER, PAGE 3A
ricane turned fearsome superstorm, killed at least 50 people, many hit by falling trees, and still wasn’t finished. It inched inland across Pennsylvania, ready to bank toward western New York to dump more of its water and likely cause more havoc Tuesday night. Behind it: a dazed, inundated New York City, a waterlogged Atlantic Coast and a moonscape of disarray and debris — from unmoored shore-town board-
By EDWARD LEWIS elewis@timesleader.com
• ABSENTEE BALLOT DEADLINE IS TODAY, PAGE 3A
One after another for several hours early Tuesday morning, Luzerne County 911 dispatched fire departments and road crews for fallen trees and kept a log of power outages for PPL Utilities and UGI Electric. That was it for storm damage in the county, except for garbage and recycling cans blown onto roadways. Reports of fallen trees and outages subsided as the winds decreased Tuesday morning. Stephen Bekanich, Luzerne County emergency management coordinator, said the county escaped significant harm from Hurricane Sandy as it wreaked havoc on other parts of Pennsylvania and the Northeast.
• STORM AFTERMATH PHOTOS, PAGE 4A • SANDY SHUTS DOWN NYC, PAGE 6A • BOUNTY CAPTAIN STILL MISSING, PAGE 6A • FIVE KILLED IN PA. DURING STORM, PAGE 6A • APPALACHIA HIT BY BLIZZARD, PAGE 6A • DISTRICTS FACE LOST HURRICANE DAYS, PAGE 7A • PRO TEAMS, NYC MARATHON HOPE FOR BEST, PAGE 1B • LOCAL RETAILER FINDS WAY TO STAY OPEN, PAGE 7B • WALL STREET TO REOPEN TODAY, PAGE 7B • FLOOD INSURANCE MAY BECOME HOT ITEM, PAGE 7B • SUPERSTORM COSTS MAY HIT $50 BILLION, PAGE 7B
See DEVASTATION, Page 12A
See LOCAL, Page 12A
NEARLY 37,000 ACROSS AREA LACK POWER By SHEENA DELAZIO sdelazio@timesleader.com
BILL TARUTIS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER
A worker saws a fallen tree on power lines along Ferguson Avenue in Shavertown, Kingston Township, Tuesday morning.
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WILKES-BARRE – Nearly 37,000 Luzerne County residents were without power Tuesday as a result of Hurricane Sandy, the two local providers said. PPL Utilities said Hurricane Sandy ties for third on its list of the company’s worst power outages with the snow storm of October 2011. But numbers fall short of the outages during historic flooding 13 months ago. “There are definitely less customers affected this year than last year,” Don Brominski, a spokesman for UGI, said of last year’s storms in August and September that left parts of the area under
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water. Last year UGI had a total of 60,000 customers without power, Brominski said, noting that is about 50 percent of the company’s total. PPL had a total of around 428,000 without power during the September 2011 flooding, and on Tuesday had a total of around 400,000 in its 29-county region. In Luzerne County on Tuesday, PPL reported a high of 20,428 customers without power; UGI reported 16,487. These numbers fluctuated throughout the day as power was restored or more outages were reported. By late Tuesday afternoon, both comWeather C TASTE Birthdays Television
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panies reported those numbers had been cut approximately in half. “We’ve made a number of improvements since last year to address outages,” Rich Beasley, a PPL spokesman said. Beasley said PPL has expanded its operations to include round-the-clock staffing of customer service representatives and has increased the number of phone lines for customers to call with problems. “We’ve also recruited an unprecedented number of outside people to assist us including local contractors and util-
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PEOPLE LEFT POWERLESS BY SANDY’S PUNCH About than 37,000 customers of UGI (blue) and PPL (yellow) lost electricity service as a result of Hurricane Sandy, though the numbers changed throughout Tuesday. The size of circles shows the relative scope of the problem in each municipality; the same size circle is used for fewer than 100 customers losing power.
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UGI Pringle 153
Fairmount Twp. 351
PPL
Harvey’s Lake
Dallas
West Pittston 14 Pittston 16 Exeter Twp. Dallas Twp. 715 193 Hughestown 7 2,100 3,323 Lake Twp. Dupont 5 Kingston Exeter 1,006 Twp. Laflin 10 1,370 Pittston Twp. Ross Twp. 2,151 287 Lehman Twp. 1,549 903 Jenkins Jackson Twp. 1,206 Plains Twp. Twp. 690 3,572 Larksville 776 330 Plymouth Hunlock Twp. Twp. 700 231 WILKES-BARRE 152 Laurel Run 11 Union Twp. Franklin Twp.
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Huntington Twp. 452
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Fairview Twp. 13
Rice Twp. 89 Salem Twp. 138
Wright Twp.
Dorrance Twp. 107
PETE G. WILCOX/THE TIMES LEADER
U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Hazleton, right, talks about storm damage with Luzerne County Emergency Management Agency Coordinator Steve Bekanich, far left, and Jim Brozena, executive director of the Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority, on Tuesday at EMA headquarters in Wilkes-Barre.
2,168
Hollenback Twp. 1 Nescopeck Twp. 23
White Haven 579 Butler Twp. 219
Sugarloaf Twp. 141
2,902 Foster Twp.
Hazle Twp. 5,577
Freeland 15
Hazleton 237 Conyngham 43
West Hazleton 14
Sources: UGI Electric Service and PPL Electric
Mark Guydish/The Times Leader
OUTAGES Continued from Page 1A
ity workers from as far away as North Carolina, Kentucky, Florida and Indiana,” Beasley said. Improved communications PPL also improved communications with emergency personnel, state and federal legislators, and local municipal officials through the use of email, as well as a conference call procedure, Beasley said. The conference call allows the president of PPL to meet with emergency personnel, legislators and municipal leaders and ask specific questions about progress. “After every storm, we conduct a review and initiate new procedures to fine tune the (restoration) process,” Beasley said. Beasley said the preparations and improvements paid off. “We were way ahead of this storm as far as additional staffing goes and we’re seeing results and being able to … (have) a more rapid response than we have in the past,” Beasley said. Martha Herron, a spokeswoman for PPL, which covers lower Luzerne County and Schuylkill County, said Schuylkill County seems to be affected by the storm more than the Hazleton area, but that Hazle Township did have the most outages in the area early Tuesday morning – 5,577. Brominski said there are two ways power is restored to customers out of service. Areas served by large transmission lines are usually restored first, Brominski said. Individual homes with trees on power lines but where neighboring properties have power usually are lower on the priority list. “We’re working and assessing at the same time,” Brominski said, noting there is no way to tell how long it could take a crew to restore power at any one property.
DEVASTATION Continued from Page 1A
walks to submerged mass-transit systems to delicate presidential politics. “Nature,” said New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, assessing the damage to his city, “is an awful lot more powerful than we are.” More than 8.2 million households were without power in 17 states as far west as Michigan. Nearly 2 million of those were in New York, where large swaths of lower Manhattan lost electricity and entire streets ended up underwater — as did seven subway tunnels between Manhattan and Brooklyn at one point, the Metro-
BILL TARUTIS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER
Crews from Westar Energy of Topeka, Kan., work to restore power along Huntsville Road near Chase Corners in Jackson Township on Tuesday morning.
T O P 1 0 P O W E R O U TA G E S I N P P L’ S 2 9 - C O U N T Y REGION PRIOR TO THIS WEEK: September 2003: Hurricane Isabel, 495,721 customers August 2011: Hurricane Irene, 428,572 October 2011: Snowstorm, about 400,000 September 1999: Hurricane Floyd, 282,386 January 2005: Snow/sleet/freezing rain, 230,980
July 2003: Wind/lightning, 202,781 November 2003: Wind storm, 185,2010 December 2002: Snow/ice/wind, 184,198 May 2011: Wind/rain/lightning, 182,478 December 2007: Snow/ice, 179,744
Kansas crews help out Brominski said in addition to ts normal crews, contractor crews from as far away as Kansas were assisting in restoration. “That’s more than double our standard work force,” Brominski said.
Beasley said restoration of power can take anywhere from hours to days, and that PPL had contacted customers before the storm to let them know that outages can last for up to a week. “There were no expectations that power could be restored within a relatively short period of time,” he said.
politan Transportation Authority said. The New York Stock Exchange was closed for a second day from weather, the first time that has happened since a blizzard in 1888. The shutdown of mass transit crippled a city where more than 8.3 million bus, subway and local rail trips are taken each day, and 800,000 vehicles cross bridges run by the transit agency. Consolidated Edison said electricity in and around New York could take a week to restore. “Everybody knew it was coming. Unfortunately, it was everything they said it was,” said Sal Novello, a construction executive who rode out the storm with his wife, Lori, in the Long Island town of Lindenhurst, and ended up with 7 feet of water in the basement.
The scope of the storm’s damage wasn’t known yet. Though early predictions of river flooding in Sandy’s inland path were petering out, colder temperatures made snow the main product of Sandy’s slow march from the sea. Parts of the West Virginia mountains were blanketed with 2 feet of snow by Tuesday afternoon, and drifts 4 feet deep were reported at Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the Tennessee-North Carolina border. With Election Day a week away, the storm also threatened to affect the presidential campaign. Federal disaster response, always a dicey political issue, has become even thornier since government mismanagement of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. And poll access and voter turnout, both of which hinge
gency officials monitoring the storm Monday night into Tuesday morning. Bekanich said the path of Sandy as it came ashore near Continued from Page 1A Atlantic City, N.J., and stayed south as it moved Sandy’s impact did not into western Pennsylvania compare to the devastation was the reason Luzerne by back-to-back tropical County was spared from storms that resulted in hiswidespread damage. Most of toric flooding in September the heavy rainfall and stron2011. ger winds stayed to the “We were lucky. All that south and west of Northeastwas reported were downed ern Pennsylvania. trees and power outages,” No flooding was reported Bekanich said Tuesday. He of the Susquehanna River or said that when it comes to any of the county’s streams property damage, most of the reports are “cosmetic.” A and creeks. Unlike last year’s flooding garage in Nanticoke did colcaused by heavy rainfall lapse. brought in by back-to-back “That’s the only substanremnants of hurricanes Lee tial damage we’ve heard and Irene, this week’s weathabout,” he said. er punch was more wind As of 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, than rain. PPL reported 6,384 custom“The river is not going to ers in the county without be a player in this event,” power. PPL had restored said Bekanich, sounding a power to 17,736 customers in Luzerne County since the sigh of relief. A record rainfall of 1.69 storm began. UGI reported inches was recorded for Oct. 1,769 Luzerne County cus29 at the Wilkes-Barre/ tomers without power in its last update on its website at Scranton International Airport on Monday. The old 9 p.m. and that it had rerecord was 1.3 inches set in stored service to15,723 cus1953. tomers on Tuesday. The highest wind speed Among those who lost Monday was 29 mph with a power was U.S. Rep. Lou gust of 44 mph. Other parts Barletta, R-Hazleton. of the county had wind gusts Barletta stopped into the county’s EMA office Tuesday with 67 mph recorded on Penobscot Mountain in Haafternoon to get an update nover Township, a gust of 60 on the county’s storm dammph in Bear Creek and a 57 age before he headed to the mph gust in Lehman, accordhardest-hit part of his district, Monroe County. Before ing to the National Weather Service in Binghamton, N.Y. he left he noted that he was At one point Tuesday, proud of his preparations nearly 50,000 people were Monday night that included without electrical service getting the barbecue grill and 14 roads, including state out in case he needed to Route 309 near the Crestcook and having batteries wood Industrial Park enand flashlights and other trance in Wright Township, emergency supplies. But he were blocked by downed said even with all his best trees and utility wires. planning, he realized he Power outages in the Back hadn’t thought of everything. Mountain had a trickle-down When he left his house effect for drinking water. Tuesday and headed to the United Water Pennsylvania garage to get his vehicle out requested customers in Dalhe realized he had an eleclas, Dallas Township, Kingtric garage door that he ston Township, Harveys could not easily open with Lake and Noxen to conserve the power out. water until further notice SANDY WAS NO because the loss of electrical LEE OR IRENE service had an impact on its operations. Unlike the madhouse the During the height of the EMA office was last year as storm from 9 p.m. Monday heavy rains made the river through 6 a.m. Tuesday, rise quickly, Sandy didn’t bring about as much nation- there were 672 calls to 911, al attention to the Wyoming said Fred J. Rosencrans, data manager for Luzerne County Valley and emergency re911. sponders weren’t kept quite Total calls to 911 on Monas busy. . day were 1,721 and on TuesThere were more security day until 3:15 p.m. there officers at EMA than emer-
LOCAL
upon how people are impacted by the storm, could help shift the outcome in an extremely close race. As organized civilization came roaring back Tuesday in the form of emergency response, recharged cellphones and the reassurance of daylight, harrowing stories and pastiches emerged from Maryland north to Rhode Island in the hours after Sandy’s howling winds and tidal surges shoved water over seaside barriers, into low-lying streets and up from coastal storm drains. One of the most dramatic tales came from lower Manhattan, where a failed backup generator forced New York University’s Langone Medical Center to relocate more than 200 patients, including 20 babies from neonatal intensive care.
COMPARING STORMS
In 15 months the region has suffered three named storms. Here’s how Irene, Irene combined with Lee, and Sandy measure up, according to Times Leader archives and National Weather Service records. River crests are in Wilkes-Barre; Sandy is projected. Approximate power outages are for PPL & UGI entire customer bases. Data Irene & Lee Sandy Rainfall 3.7 7.8 2.2 Wind gusts 55 60 Susquehanna crest 19 42.6 11.9 PPL power outages 370,000 * 340,000 UGI power outages 32,000 * 17,500 Luzerne Co. deaths 1 0 0 *Power outages became secondary after flooding displaced thousands Mark Guydish/The Times Leader
were 1,150 calls. Rosencrans said the average call volume is 1,300 per day. Many traffic lights throughout the county were flashing or inoperable. A traffic signal at South Main and Blackman streets in Wilkes-Barre became detached and hung by its wires. A fire truck was parked in the left lane of South Main Street preventing motorists from traveling under the hanging light. And multiple traffic lights along River Street were also not working, leaving motorists to serve as their own traffic cop. A large pine tree toppled on two vehicles and a garage behind a house on Boland Avenue, and another pine tree fell onto a pool behind a house on River Road, both in Hanover Township. A tree crashed onto a pickup truck on Birch Street, WilkesBarre, Monday night. Ashley firefighters cut away a large pine tree that fell across Hazleton Street. The tree pulled down utility wires to a trailer park. In Plains Township, where more than 3,500 PPL customers lost power, businesses were closed for the day including McDonald’s, which had a banner ripped to shreds and dangling off the façade. Bekanich said most of the trees that fell were in the higher elevations of the county consisting of Bear Creek Township, Mountain Top, White Haven and Freeland. Luzerne County Transportation Authority will resume bus service and the shared ride program today. Andrew M. Seder, a Times Leader staff writer, contributed to this report. Ed Lewis, a Times Leader staff writer, can be reached at 970-7196
AP PHOTO
Hurricane Sandy washed away a portion of the Atlantic City, N.J., boardwalk, lower right, on Monday. The area is the northern inlet section near the Revel Casino, top right. New Jersey took much of the full force of the storm.