CMYK
10
20$
$
ONLY @
Busting a gut in Wilkes-Barre
Looking for ‘Elite’ status
Ralphie May, Jim Breuer highlight comedy card at Kirby
Teams battle to reach round of eight in NCAAs
NEPA
TODAY’S
the GUIDE, INSIDE
SPORTS, 1B
Sign up now at nepadailydeals.com
DEAL
FOR
BLUE CHIP GOURMET 273917
DEAL! DAILY
The Times Leader timesleader.com
WILKES-BARRE, PA
FAA boss suspends snoozing controller
FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2011
“I THINK IT’S important to show people that nothing’s really impossible. Anything can be accomplished with hope and luck.” Tyler Butler Plains Township
Two jetliners had to land in Washington with aid from another airport. By JOAN LOWY Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Authorities have suspended a control tower supervisor working alone overnight who couldn’t be roused to guide two airliners landing at Washington’s Reagan airport, the nation’s top aviation official said Thursday. "As a former airline pilot, I am personally outraged "I am de- that this controller termined did not meet to get to his responthe bottom sibility to help land of this sit- these two uation for airplanes," the safety Federal Aviation Administration of the Administratraveling tor Randy public." Babbitt said. An aviaRandy Babbitt FAA tion official administrator who spoke on condition of anonymity because an investigation is under way said the supervisor — the lone air traffic controller on duty at the airport around midnight Tuesday — fell asleep. "I am determined to get to the bottom of this situation for the safety of the traveling public," Babbitt said. The supervisor, who wasn’t named, has been suspended from operational duties pending an investigation, Babbitt said. On Wednesday, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood directed FAA to launch a nationwide study of airport
CLARK VAN ORDEN/THE TIMES LEADER
Tyler Butler, 18, of Plains Township, will skateboard from Wilkes-Barre to Cleveland to raise awareness of cancer. He will begin his six- to seven-day trip on Saturday.
Set to get on board
Cancer awareness aim of Cleveland trip DAWN DRUMIN
Butler, 18, will begin his six- to sevenday journey on Saturday. He expects to skateboard 10 hours a day, stopping every 20 miles to rest. His girlfriend, Jillian Soprano, of Dallas Township, will be following behind him in his car. Instead of staying in hotels along the way, Butler will sleep in the car. Instead of eating in restaurants, he will eat food
PETE G. WILCOX/THE TIMES LEADER
Solicitor Charles McCormick speaks after the firing of Chief David Cerski.
Radick taking a grassroots approach
Candidate for county judge says experience, other attributes are key. By SHEENA DELAZIO sdelazio@timesleader.com
C CLASSIFIED: Funnies 18C CLARK VAN ORDEN/THE TIMES LEADER
Paula Radick, candidate for Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas judge.
Radick, 40, of Hazle Township, says she is running a grassroots campaign for judge because she was “disheartened” by the corruption probe in Luzerne County and wants to do something about it. “I feel I can make a positive change toward where Luzerne County needs to be,” Radick said. She said her experience as a Luzerne County assistant district attorney, managing attorney for the Barbara J. Hart Jus-
WILKES-BARRE – Attorney Paula Radick’s campaign for Luzerne County judge is not about money, billboards or television commercials. It’s about experience, accountability and what candidates could bring to the table as Luzerne County judge, Radick told The Times Leader’s endorsement board Tuesday. See RADICK, Page 12A
PAU L A R A D I C K
Age: 40 Education: A cum laude graduate of King’s College and a graduate of the Dickinson School of Law at Penn State University. Community affiliations: Previous vice president of the Wilkes-Barre Law and Library Association’s Young Lawyers Division, for which she chaired the volunteer project with St. Vincent DePaul Kitchen; Leadership Wilkes-Barre; LWB Alumni Council; POWER! Professionals; Hazleton Art League; Wilkes-Barre Family YMCA. Family: Daughter of Mary Lou Onorati Radick, of Hazleton, and the late Paul Radick.
Sterling Annex’s future remains uncertain
The Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry is still holding out hope that the Sterling Annex on River Street in WilkesBarre will become a museum or art gallery. A chamber official said the building was mothballed and secured so it wouldn’t continue to deteriorate while an owner and tenant was identified.
County also has an interest in en up on that 7-year-old plan. HOTEL STERLING The neighboring hotel, owned P I C K E T T O D A Y the building because of a by the nonprofit CityVest, has community development loan. been in the news because state Wilkes-Barre resident Sally Healey By JENNIFER LEARN-ANDES jandes@timesleader.com
09815 10011
See CERSKI, Page 12A
deaths are preventable. “The reason I skate is the number of people in my life who have had cancer.” Several relatives and friends have had cancer, and his mother has survived several types of the disease. A 2010 graduate of Coughlin High School, Butler has made a similar trek before. Last July he skateboarded from his home to Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. This method to raise cancer awareness worked.
he packed. “I want to make (the trip) harder and more rustic,” he said. Butler founded a local chapter of the Canadian organization Skate4Cancer, which works to raise awareness of cancer prevention. “We figure it’s easier to prevent cancer than to focus on a cure,” he said, adding that about 80 percent of cancer See SKATEBOARD, Page 12A
B SPORTS: Baseball 4B Business 10B
6
ASHLEY – Borough Council on Thursday night voted to terminate police Chief David Cerski two days after his pregnant ex-girlfriend obtained a protection from abuse order against the veteran officer. The termination took efFirst reported at fect at 12:01 this morning 6:25 and Cerski, chief since Febp.m. ruary 2001, will be ordered timesleader.com to hand in his borough-issued firearms, keys and other items by noon today. Cerski, 48, who was not at the meeting, could not be reached for comment. The firing topped a tumultuous tenure for Cerski, who had been investigated by state police,
Times Leader Correspondent
PLAINS TWP. – Tyler Butler of Plains Township is raising cancer awareness by riding his skateboard 340 miles to Cleveland.
A NEWS: Local 3A Obituaries 2A, 8A Birthdays 10A Editorials 11A
Lydia Mellner Mostly sunny. High 37. Low 18. Details, Page 12B
Ashley fires its top cop By JERRY LYNOTT jlynott@timesleader.com
INSIDE
WEATHER
COUNCIL DECISION
The former chief was the subject of a protection from abuse order obtained by his ex-girlfriend.
See FAA, Page 12A
THE GUIDE: Movies/Entertainment Crosswords/Horoscope
50¢
In the shadow of the Hotel Sterling is a brick four-story known as the Sterling Annex, and the future of this property is also up in the air. The Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry acquired the Sterling Annex for $125,000 in 2004, with hopes that someone would buy and use the building for a museum or art gallery. The chamber has not giv-
and county officials have been informed it will likely be demolished due to costly deficiencies that have deterred private development. Luzerne County government has an interest in the Sterling Annex because the chamber still owes $60,000 of the $75,000 in county community development funds borrowed to purchase the building. The chamber is current on its loan repayments but is seeking county approval to restructure payments on roughly $7.5 mil-
and others plan to picket in front of the Hotel Sterling at River and Market streets around 3:30 p.m. today to show support for preserving the landmark structure.
lion in outstanding loans, including the annex one, due to the struggling economy. The chamber is not seeking loan forgiveness. County Commissioner Stephen A. Urban said he would want to see concrete plans for the See ANNEX, Page 12A
AIMEE DILGER/THE TIMES LEADER