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The Times Leader timesleader.com
WILKES-BARRE, PA
TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2011
Four diocese schools will close
K-8 sites include Dallas, Pittston LAFLIN – Four more Catholic elementary schools in the Diocese of Scranton – two in Luzerne County and two in Lackawanna – will close at the end of this school year, Bishop Joseph Bambera announced Monday night. Gate of Heaven School in Dallas, St. Mary Assumption School in Pittston, Sacred Heart School in Carbondale and Marian Catholic School in Scranton will not reopen for the 2011-12 school year, Bambera said at a press conference after a closed-door meet- See SCHOOLS , Page 7A
Drug gangs put down area roots
2012 S P E N D I N G P L A N
Diocese of Scranton Bishop Joseph Bambera explains the rationale in closing four Catholic elementary schools. Looking on is Rev. John Lambert, V.E., Episcopal Vicar for School Planning.
ing at St. Maria Goretti Parish Center with invited pastors and principals, and teacher and parent representatives from the affected schools. About 750 students will be directly affected by the school closures. “We have the available desks, seats, to accommodate all of those children in the existing schools,” Bambera said. The bishop said he hopes to maintain as much of the staff as possible. Whether teacher retention will be based on seniority
By STEVE MOCARSKY smocarsky@timesleader.com
SWEET SOUND OF STRINGS
By EDWARD LEWIS elewis@timesleader.com
AIMEE DILGER/THE TIMES LEADER
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Obama will draw the line President’s speech set for Wednesday will lay out different approach to deficits than GOP’s. By JIM KUHNHENN Associated Press
BILL TARUTIS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER
Limited law enforcement services make eastern Pa. conducive to activity, say feds.
Recognizing the opportunity for high profits in an area with limited law enforcement services, drug trafficking gangs have set up permanent operations throughout eastern Pennsylvania, according “…Gang to a federal remembers port of drug and are keep- gangviolencereleased on Friday. ing girlFor one local undercover friends drug agent, here … .’’ gang violence Local and narcotic undercover trafficking is bedrug agent coming an epidemic. “I’m not surprised; we’ve been dealing with gangs for years around here,” said the agent, who asked his name not be used to protect his cover. “As littleasfiveyearsago,agangmember would come here from New York City or Newark, stay here for a few days to sell their dope, and go back. “Nowadays, the trend seems to be gang members are keeping girlfriends here, getting them pregnant, and they’re using their houses and apartments as stash houses. You see this in a lot of Section 8 apartment complexes. What isbecomingdangerousthataddsto the violence are the different gang affiliations and sectors moving in
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iolinists Sara D’Andrea, Barbara Guirin, Betsy Macko and others practice “Fancy Fiddles” for the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association District 9 String Fest 2011, held Monday evening at the Wyoming Valley West High School. Students from 11 schools in the region performed.
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama, plunging into the rancorous struggle over America’s mountainous debt, will draw sharp differences with Republicans Wednesday over how to conquer trillions of dollars in spending while somehow working out a compromise to raise some taxes and trim a cherished program like Medicare. Obama’s speech Obama will set a new longterm deficit-reduction goal and establish a dramatically different vision from a major Republican proposal that aims to cut more than $5 trillion over the next decade, officials said Monday. The speech is intended as a declaration of Obama’s commitment to seriously tame the deficit while outlining his long-term budget principles — key components of his campaign for reelection in 2012. After gingerly avoiding any discussion until now of cuts in the government’s massive benefit programs for the elderly and poor, Obama will acknowledge a need to reduce spending on Medicare and Medicaid while at the same time tackling defense spending and calling for increased taxes on the wealthy, White House officials said. This time the stakes are higher than last week’s budget fight that barely avoided a government shutdown. The cuts accomplished last week See BUDGET, Page 12A
Rising gasoline prices appear to be idling many motorists Drivers bought about 2.4 million fewer gallons in early April, a 3.6% drop from 2010.
See GANGS, Page 12A
WEATHER
INSIDE
Ryan Brennan Periods of rain. High 55, low 41. Details, Page 10B
A NEWS: Local 3A Obituaries 4A, 8A Nation & World 5A Editorials 11A
By CHRIS KAHN AP Energy Writer
NEW YORK — Soaring gas prices are starting to take a toll on American drivers. Across the country, people are pumping less into the tank, reversing what had been a steady increase in demand for fuel. For five weeks in a row, they have bought less gas than they did a year ago. Drivers bought about 2.4 million fewer gallons for the week of April 1, a 3.6 percent drop from last year, according to MasterCard SpendingPulse, which tracks the volume of gas sold at
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140,000 service stations nationwide. The last time Americans cut back so much was in December, when snowstorms forced people to stay home. Before the decline, demand was increasing for two months. Some analysts had expected the trend to continue because the economic recovery was picking up, adding 216,000 jobs in March. “More people are going to work,” said John Gamel, director of gasoline research for MasterCard. “That means more people are driving and they should be buying more gas.”
Instead, about 70 percent of the nation’s major gas-station chains say sales have fallen, according to a March survey by the Oil Price Information Service. More than half reported a drop of 3 percent or more — the sharpest since the summer of 2008, when gas soared past $4 a gallon. Now it’s creeping toward $4 again. People are still taking a hit, even as they conserve gas. That’s because gas prices are going up faster than people are cutting back. Gas is 32 percent more expensive than it was in April 2010. In See GAS, Page 12A
Store owner hopes city’s building purchase spurs fixes W-B now owns three vacant buildings in same cluster as Place One dress shop. By JENNIFER LEARN-ANDES jandes@timesleader.com
WILKES-BARRE – Michaelene Coffee’s women’s clothing store, Place One, is sandwiched among five vacant storefronts in downtown Wilkes-Barre, and she’s hoping city government’s recent purchase of a third property in the cluster will spur some activity in the neglected block. “I take great pride in my store and business, and I’m willing to work on my building. My concern is what’s going to happen with AIMEE DILGER/THE TIMES LEADER the buildings surrounding me,” Coffee said. She would like to see improvements simi- Wilkes-Barre owns the Norton’s building in this South Main Street cluster and recently See BUILDING, Page 12A
purchased the rust-colored building next door. The corner property is scheduled to be auctioned at a back-tax sale in August.