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Breezy conditions at FoxHill Country Club didn’tbother Holy Redeemer’sMariano Medico andPittston Area’s RyanTracy during Monday’sPre-District Golf Tourna-ment. Medico cruised tothe Class 2A champion-ship firing a 73, whileTracy claimed his firstcareer tournament victo-ry with a 75 to claim the3A title. PAGE 1B

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The concern that a weekendsuicide of a Pittston Area HighSchool student resulted fromyears of bullying remained moreanecdotal than fact Monday.But the district was taking no

chances by conducting inter-views with students in tandemwith an ongoing police investiga-

tion and looking into an exten-sive revamping of the 2006 anti-bullying policy, SuperintendentMichael Garzella said.There’s likely good reason to

radically rework the policy: Statestatistics suggest student bully-ing has long been either over-stated by those who insist it isrampant or is underreported byschools.The discrepancy is so wide a

West Chester state representa-tiveproposedanew law lastweekthat would sharply tighten re-quirements for school anti-bully-ing efforts.Garzella did not reject the con-

tention voiced by many and sug-gested on a Facebook memorialpage that the 16-year-old studentcommitted suicide after years ofbullying, including on or nearschool grounds.But Garzella did say that, at

least initially, there was no con-crete evidence of bullying,though thedistrictwas still inves-tigating.Garzella said a 2009 YouTube

video apparently of the studentbeing bullied on a school busseemed less conclusive thansome have suggested.“It’s very difficult to hear the

audio, and it’s hard to tell wheth-

er the child is being bullied or thekids are just messing around,” hesaid. Still, he added, “that’s onepiece of evidence; we’re not dis-missing anything.”

In response to the suicide, thedistrict brought in crisis counsel-ors Monday and converted the

School eyes its bullying policyPittston Area is taking a closelook at the weekend suicideof a district student.

By MARK [email protected]

BULLYING: OVERSTATED OR UNDERREPORTED?Annual state “School Safety Reports” filed by local school districts must include the number ofincidents of bullying. This chart shows bullying is a very small part of total incidents reported.

Pittston Area2011 3 82 3.66%2010 0 26 0%2009 0 57 0%2008 3 96 3.13%2007 1 50 2%

Greater Nanticoke Area0 34 0%0 82 0%0 74 0%0 68 0%1 80 1.25%

Luzerne County18 663 2.7%12 892 1.35%6 770 0.78%18 640 2.81%26 666 3.9%

Bullying incidents Total incidents Bullying as percent of total

Source: Pa. Department of Education Mark Guydish/The Times Leader

See BULLY, 0A

SCRANTON – Former Dallas head footballcoach Ted Jackson believes he lost his job leadingthe Mountaineers on the gridiron because some

school directors have a political af-filiation with his replacement.Jackson, 61, of Dallas, through

his attorney, Kim Borland, filed afederal lawsuit Monday againstthe Dallas School District and sixschool directors alleging he wasfired as head coach after he spokeout against the suspension of hisson, Ted Jackson Jr., as a coach inthe district.Jackson Jr. was suspended as an

assistant football coach for twogames during the 2011 season af-ter receiving unsportsmanlikeconduct penalties in consecutivegames. He stepped down as thehigh school’s basketball coach inNovember.

The lawsuit alleges school directors retaliatedagainst Jackson by opening the position of headfootball coach in December.Jackson applied for the position and claims in

the lawsuit he was asked if he would agree to “drophis son from his coaching staff if he was reappoint-ed to the position.”Jackson claims he replied he would abide by pol-

icy of the district’s athletic department with re-spect to the hiring of assistant coaches.Prior to Jackson’s interview, according to the

lawsuit, school directors changed district policyfrom having assistant coaches selected by the headcoach to being chosen by school directors.School directors in February hired Robert Zar-

uta as head football coach.The lawsuit alleges school directors Catherine

Wega,Maureen B.Matiska, Karen B. Kyle, Larry G.Schuler, Richard G. Coslett and Charles Preece,

Ex-coachsues Dallasover firingTed Jackson was relieved of his duties as headfootball coach in a move he calls political.

By EDWARD [email protected]

Jackson Sr.

Jackson Jr.

See COACH, Page 10A

Luzerne County Chief PublicDefender Al Flora has hired fourassistant public defenders aspart of a court ruling orderingthe county to provide his officewith sufficient staff.The addition of the $40,000

salaried positions comes as oth-er departments have been in-structed to hunt for personnelsavings.Personnel cuts will be neces-

sary before theend of the yearto avoid a pro-jected$875,000 year-end deficit anddevelop a real-istic spendingplan for 2013,

county Manager Robert Lawtontold county council last month.Lawton said he would wel-

come suggestions for cuts, in-cluding union concessions,

though he’s prepared to imposereductions if necessary.Flora said the four positions

were vacated when employeesleft, and he soonwill be advertis-ing for a fifth assistant public de-fender to fill another vacancy.He declined to discuss other

potential staff additions, sayinglawyers from the American CivilLiberties Union representinghim are negotiating with countyattorneys as part of court media-tion.

A county judge in June or-dered the county to provide ade-quate funding for the public de-fenders’ office to represent indi-gent defendants but didn’t spec-ify the dollar amount or numberof employees that must be add-ed.The order stemmed from a

suit filed by Flora through theACLUarguing the office couldn’tprovide adequate defense due toinadequate staffing and funding.Lawyers on both sides are at-

tempting to reach an agreementon what specific additions willmeet the “adequate” definition.As of Monday, the public de-

fender’s office spent 62 percentof its $2.49 million budget thisyear, or $1.5 million.With the four new staffers, the

office is “not even back to 2007staffing levels,” Flora said.In addition to Flora, the office

employs 37 people -- 13 part-time

Four more lawyers join Public Defender’s OfficeBy JENNIFER [email protected]

Flora

See FLORA, Page 10A

KINGSTON – Isaac Bolan, 7, couldn’t pin down thebest thing about school at Chester Street Elemen-tary.

“There’s a lot of thembecause I like school,” said the sec-ond-grader, who is participating inWyoming ValleyWest’sgifted program. He said he wants to be a scientist.

Unlike other gifted programs inLuzerne County, the district pro-vides a self-contained classroom forgifted students in grades onethrough five where gifted childrenwith similar abilities are groupedtogether.One is fifth grader Hannah Max-

well, 10. She said the best thingabout school is “learning with myfriends.” She – like Isaac – has loftygoals.

“I’d like to be a writer,” Hannahsaid. “I want to write realistic fic-tion.”Her former teacher, Nancy

McAndrew, said Hannah is alreadyon her way to a writing career. Shewas turning inwhole chapters regu-larly whenMcAndrew taught her insecond grade. McAndrew is headteacher of the gifted program.Both Isaac and Hannah have a

better chance of meeting their

goals, thanks to their teachers andclassmates in the unique program.

Grouping gifted studentsCharles Suppon, superintendent

of theWyoming ValleyWest School

AIMEE DILGER PHOTOS/THE TIMES LEADER

Ethan Nape of Nancy McAndrew’s second-grade gifted class at Chester Street Elementary in Kingstoncalls on a classmate during a game of occupation charades, during which each student was given an occu-pation to act out.

Altogether giftedAdvanced students have self-contained classes

Murphy Pick talks with his sec-ond-grade teacher Nancy McAn-drew outside the classroom.

By SUSAN DENNEY Times Leader Correspondent

See GIFTED, Page 10A

Ditch those oldprescriptionsDrop-off locations areavailable again this year

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District, said research shows thatgifted students learn best whengrouped with other gifted stu-dents.“They feed off of each other.

They are competitive by nature,”he said.Suppon believes the district’s

self-contained gifted classroomprogram is the only one like it inthe state. The program goes backto the very creation of the districtin 1967.“It’s up to each individual

school district how they want toimplement gifted services,” Sup-pon said. “The job of this districtis to challenge all of our students.For this district, this is the waywe feel we can challenge thesekids to the utmost.”The program begins in first

grade. The first year, studentscover the first-grade curriculumin the fall and the second-gradecurriculum in the spring. Fromthen on, the curriculum is ad-vanced by a year until studentscomplete the program in fifthgrade.“After fifth grade, students of-

ten join the honors program inthe middle school with some

kind of special study in a high ar-ea of interest,” said school guid-ance counselor Allison Cryan.Suppon said the program is not

simply accelerated. He said thecurriculum is “accelerated, com-pacted, differentiated and en-riched.”Students also do many special

projects. For example, the second

grade builds leprechaun traps.Fourth-graders build bridges.“A lot of it requires analytical

thinking,” Supponsaidof the spe-cial projects.McAndrew said the program

can take getting used to for someof the students.“My job is to challenge them.

This means not getting 100s all

the time. They’re perfectionists.The ‘100’ syndrome is there, butthey get over it quickly,” she said.Suppon said board members

sometimes question the programbecause of monetary concerns.Class sizes are smaller in the gift-ed classrooms.But district leaders empha-

sized the importance and success

of the program.

They’re kids at heartMcAndrew said that although

the students learn quickly, theyare still children. She said shesees “the contrast between talk-ing about world history and thenfighting over Legos.”Students who qualify are pro-

vided busing to the magnet cam-pus on Chester Street. Chapter14, or developmentally delayed,students are also taught at thecampus, along with children forwhom the campus is their neigh-borhood school.According to Suppon, about 50

percent of the students at Ches-

ter Street receive either gifted orspecial education.All students come together for

music, art, computer training, li-brary visits, physical education,recess and lunch.Cryan said students can enter

the gifted program through a par-ent or teacher referral. Then thestudent is screened by testing.Irvin DeRemer, director of ele-

mentary education for the dis-trict, said, “Most of the kids areidentified as first-graders.”He also said that allowances

could be made so that other chil-dren in a family could attend thesame school with a child in thegifted program.

GIFTEDContinued from Page 1A

AIMEE DILGER/THE TIMES LEADER

Murphy Pick and Ella Krypel work on a ‘What I Want to Be’ project in Nancy McAndrew’s second-grade gifted class.

Emma Watchilla, a second grade student in Nancy McAndrew’ssecond grade gifted class, draws a picture of herself as a teacher.

highschool library intoacounsel-ing center, Garzella said. Admin-istrators were talking to students“throughout the day,” both tohelp them cope with the tragedyand to listen to any informationabout potential bullying.Administrators also “met with

faculty on how to handle thewhole situation,” Garzella said,with the emphasis on helpingpeople cope while avoiding anyattempt to “sensationalize thewhole thing.”Jenkins Township police did

not return calls Monday.Garzella said the death

prompted him to look into revi-sions, including contacting Ha-zletonAreaSuperintendentFran-cis Antonelli to discuss extensivenew efforts being implementedthere.

Hazleton policy updatedHazleton Area unveiled a pol-

icy three years in themaking by acommittee spearheaded by Ha-zleton police Chief Frank DeAn-drea, whose daughter was a vic-tim of bullying.Antonelli said the new policy

includes a full anti-bullying curri-culum taught in all grades by allteachers from kindergartenthrough graduation.“It teaches the students how to

recognize bullying, how to reportit, how to seek relief if you’re avictim, and the consequences ofbullying,” Antonelli said. “In ad-dition to that, the committee de-veloped training modules for ev-ery employee, from me to theteaching staff, to the custodialand cafeteria workers. Everyonemust undergo the online traininginunlawful harassment and inan-ti-bullying.”After taking two courses, em-

ployeesmust takeanonlineexamand score 100 percent; anythingless and the program puts themback into training. Once theyscore 100 percent, they get a cer-tificate thatmust be presented totheir supervisor to prove thecourse was completed and testspassed.Despite all the changes, Anto-

nelli conceded the most impor-tant part of anti-bullying efforts isoften having the victim or otherstudent report it.Bullying has grown far beyond

the school halls, playgrounds andbus rides, thanks to the Internetand social networking. Studentscan effectively be bullied 24hours a day through sites likeYouTube, Facebook and Twitter,and school officials may neverfind out about it on their own.“The key is reporting,” Anto-

nelli said. “The victims need toknow there are reporting proto-cols and remedies in place.” Andto make sure the remedies work,theHazleton Area policy calls fordistrict officials to “sit downwithparents of both thevictimand theperpetrator and ask if they aresatisfied or dissatisfied with theproposed remedy. And if either isdissatisfied, it’s back to the draw-ing board to find an action planeveryone agrees with.”Asked how the district copes

with bullies who just get angrieror otherwise ignore school inter-vention, Antonelli was blunt:

“You file charges.”

Few reports of bullyingSchool districts are requiredby

state law to include cases of bul-lying in annual “School SafetyReports,” which list a wide rangeof incidents from harassment torape, tobacco violations andweapons. A review of data for thepast five yearswould suggest bul-lying is scarce locally. LuzerneCounty schools reported bully-ing incidents that comprised aslittle as 0.75 percent of total inci-dents reported in a given year tono more than 3.9 percent.Pittston Area reported no bul-

lying incidents in 2009 (the yearthe video inquestionwasposted)and 2010, and only one to threeincidents in the other three yearsreviewed.GreaterNanticokeArea,where

the Sept. 18 suicide of a 13-year-old student has also been blamedon bullying by some in the com-munity, reported only one bully-ing incident in the last five years:A 2007 case which comprised1.25 percent of all incidents wasreported that year.Since 2009, the state also has

required all districts to adopt oramend anti-bullying policies thatdetail disciplinary consequencesand prevention and interventionprograms.Policiesmustbeprom-inently displayed in schools andonline, and reviewed every threeyears.The law describes bullying as

“an intentional electronic, writ-ten, verbal or physical act, or se-ries of acts” that occurs in aschool setting, is “severe, persist-ent or pervasive,” and results in“substantially interfering with astudent’s education,” creates “athreatening environment” or“substantially disrupts orderlyoperation of the school.”But anti-bullying advocates

contend the law falls far short,and that bullying is grossly un-derreported. A Monday press re-lease from the Pennsylvania Stu-dent Equality Coalition touting aproposed new anti-bullying lawcited a 2009 study by the Centersfor Disease Control, which saidthat 19 percent of students inPennsylvania were bullied onschool grounds.The proposed law, submitted

by state Rep. Dan Truitt, R-WestChester, leaves fewer details ofanti-bullying policies up to thedistricts, tightening definitionsand reporting requirements.But both Antonelli and Garzel-

la warned that a district anti-bul-lying policy, however rigorous,can’t work alone. The effortmustgo beyond school walls, some-thing Antonelli said the new Ha-zleton Area policy tries to do byreaching out to parents and lawenforcement more aggressively.“It really needs to be a commu-

nitywide effort,” Garzella said,“and I think that’s howwehave toapproach it as we talk with ourstudents.”

BULLYContinued from Page 1A

The Times Leader does not nor-mally publish the name of a per-son who takes his or her own lifein a private way. Exceptions in-clude if the person is well-knownor we have confirmation throughofficial or family sources.

T I M E S L E A D E RP O L I C Y

who are named in the lawsuit,have a political affiliation withZaruta.Zaruta’s son, Bob Zaruta, is

chairman of the Luzerne Coun-ty Young Republicans, whichsupported the campaign ofStefanie Salavantis for Lu-zerne County district attorney.Salavantis, a graduate of

Dallas High School, won thepost in the 2011 general elec-tion.Salavantis’ brother, Stephen

Salavantis, was appointed by

school directors in February asa volunteer assistant footballcoach, according to minutes ofthe school board’s meeting.Salavantis did not return a

message for comment on Mon-day.The suit alleges the named

school directors supported Sa-lavantis’ candidacy but doesnot specify how.A review of Salavantis’ cam-

paign finance reports did notshow any contributions fromZaruta and school directorsnamed in Jackson’s lawsuit.Jackson claimed he has been

head coach at Dallas since1984, winning district and con-ference titles and the 1993

Class 2A state title, and has as-sisted numerous student ath-letes in going to college. Hewas replaced by Zaruta, whodid not have any head coach-ing experience at the varsitylevel, according to the lawsuit.Zaruta and Dallas school

district solicitor BenjaminJones did not return messagesfor comment.Jackson alleged high school

principal Jeffrey Shaffer in2010 gave him a “Satisfactory”report of how he conductedhimself coaching the footballteam on-and-off the field in2010. Shaffer noted on the2010 report, “Mr. Jackson hasdone an excellent job of coach-

ing his team this season.”Shaffer’s assessment of Jack-

son for the 2011 season was“Unsatisfactory,” noting Jack-son failed to follow policies,used expletives during games,and failed to assist athletes inthe process of gaining scholar-ships for college.Shaffer noted in the 2011

evaluation that Jackson toldthe football team he was “notsure he if was going to coachthe Oct. 22 (2011) game v. Po-cono Mountain as he was madabout suspension of assistantcoach (Ted Jackson Jr.),” thelawsuit says.Jackson has an overall re-

cord of 221-74-3.

COACHContinued from Page 1A

assistant public defenders and 10 full-time,a part-time first assistant, two juvenile unitsocial workers, a chief investigator, a depu-ty investigator, two staff investigators, fivesecretaries, a receptionist and an office ad-ministrator.The yet-to-be hired full-time assistant

public defender will bring the count to 39.Roughly 550 indigent defendants were

turned away from the public defender’s of-fice earlier this year because Flora cited alack of staffing, but a pool of county staffconflict counsel lawyers agreed in July torepresent them to erase the backlog.Flora declined to discuss the status of the

backlogMonday, citing the ongoingmedia-

tion in his court case.The county administration allowedFlora

to follow his selection process, instead ofthe one in the county personnel code, be-cause the hirings were part of the court or-der, officials said.The county’s personnel code involves the

county human resources department in theinitial screening and subsequent selectionprocess and requires the development of“knowledge, skills and abilities,” or KSAs,for the rating and ranking of all applicants.Instead, Flora said11of the 45 applicants

who responded to a public advertisementwere interviewed by a panel that includedseveral senior lawyers from his office andMike Zimmerman, of the county’s JuvenileTask Force. County Human Resources Di-rector Andrew Check also participated intwo of the three panel interviews, he said.Applicants were required to submit writ-

ing samples and information about thetypes of court cases they’ve handled. Panelmembers marked observations on a ratingsheet and collectively recommended sixapplicants to be interviewed by Flora, hesaid.Flora said he interviewed each of the six

for about an hour and contacted multiplereferences.He selected the following full-time assist-

ant public defenders, who are receiving theunion-mandated starting salary of $40,000plus benefits: Nancy Prescott, Jena Piazza,Maura Armezzani and Caelie Sweigart.The same selection processwas followed

for the past hiring of juvenile lawyers, hesaid.“It really works well. I thought it was a

very thorough process, and we hired thebest qualified with no cronyism involved,”Flora said.

FLORAContinued from Page 1A

BUTLER TWP. – Policereported the followingincidents:• A resident of Dog-

wood Lane in BentwoodVillage reported holeswere drilled in the gastank of his vehicle duringthe early morning hoursof Sept. 12.• A resident of Trapper

Springs Lane in the BeechMountain Lakes devel-opment reported his vehi-cle was entered the nightof Sept. 15, but nothingwas stolen. The residenttold police he was alertedby the family dog to some-one near in the area.• A laptop computer

was stolen from a resi-dence on Maple Street.The computer belonged toa 20-year-old woman fromHazleton who stored it ata friend’s residence. Thetheft of the Dell Inspiron15 computer with serialnumber 3266466061 wasdiscovered Thursday.• A driver who avoided

a deer on St. John’s RoadWednesday night lostcontrol and crashed intoseveral trees. Ryan Kotan-sky, 18, of Drums, sufferedminor injuries. His vehiclesustained severe damageand was towed from thescene.

POLICE BLOTTER

BERLIN — A Catholic reform group inGermany criticized the country’s bishopsMonday for declaring that believers who re-fuse to pay religious taxes won’t be able toreceive the sacrament, become godparents orwork in church institutions.A century-old agreement with the state

adds up to nine percent to the income tax billof Germany’s 25 million registered RomanCatholics, earning the church more than $5.2billion annually. The same tax applies to Pro-testants and Jews.The churches use the income to pay em-

ployees’ salaries and fund social work such ascare for the elderly. The churches themselvesaren’t taxed by the state but instead pay anadministrative fee for the collection of reli-gious tax. Donations represent a far smallershare of the churches’ income than in theUnited States.The Catholic bishops’ decree in Germany

last week is part of an attempt to stem thesteady flow of people who opt out of payingreligious taxes. It declares that they havecommitted a “grave lapse” and effectively leftthe church.But the group We are Church — which

claims to represent tens of thousands ofgrassroots Catholics — said the bishops’ de-cision to freeze believers out if they don’t payup was “the wrong signal at the wrong time.”“Instead of seeking to understand the rea-

sons for the high number of people leavingthe church, this decree by the bishops repre-

sents a threat to the church’s members," itsaid.The group said many German Catholics

choose not to pay religious taxes becausethey disagree with the church’s actions, notbecause they have lost their faith. It said thedecision undermined the bishops’ own ef-forts to regain credibility among believerswho have become disenchanted by the factthat for decades the Catholic Church coveredup child abuse by priests.Almost 3 million German Catholics have

opted out of paying church taxes in the pasttwo decades. In 2010, at the height of abuserevelations in Germany, some 180,000 tookthe step — the highest yearly number everrecorded.On Wednesday, Germany’s top administra-

tive court is scheduled to hear the case ofretired German theology Professor HartmutZapp, who wants to leave the church as aninstitution but remain a member of the Ca-tholic community.“The decree clarifies that one cannot par-

tially leave the church,” the bishops said lastweek.When a German Catholic decides to stop

paying religious tax, their parish priest willin the future send a letter outlining the costsof such a decision. These include being de-nied a church burial “unless you have shownremorse in some way before your death,” ac-cording to a template of the letter posted onthe website of the German Bishops’ Confer-ence.“Maybe you haven’t considered the conse-

quences of your decision and would like toreverse this step,” the letter adds, invitingthe believer to seek out their priests for aclarifying chat.

Group criticizes Catholic decreeReform group in Germany says bishops sendwrong message with “pay to pray” rule.

By FRANK JORDANSAssociated Press

User: maed Time: 09-24-2012 23:31 Product: Times_Leader PubDate: 09-25-2012 Zone: Main Edition: Main_Run PageName: news_03 PageNo: 10 A Color: CMYK

Ending of game haseveryone talkingThe NFL put its stamp ofapproval on the still-smoldering outcome ofMonday night’s GreenBay-Seattle game: Wrongcall. Right review. Wrongteam still wins. Seahawks14, Packers 12.The worst fear finallymaterialized: a mistakeby a replacement officialwould decide the out-come of a game. Page 1B

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The Department of Transpor-tation is easing requirements forobtaining an identification cardneeded to vote in the Novemberelection. The changes to the vot-er ID issuing process came hoursbefore a court hearing on wheth-er Pennsylvania’s voter ID lawwill effectively strip some peopleof the right to vote this year.PennDOT announcedTuesday

that those seeking identification

for voting purposes will have achoice of requesting either a non-driver photo ID issued by Penn-DOT or a voting-only ID card is-sued by the PennsylvaniaDepart-ment of State. PreviouslyDepart-ment of State IDs would be is-sued only when an applicantcould not meet the more strin-gent documentation require-ments needed to obtain a “se-cure” PennDOT ID.Department of State spokes-

manRonRuman said the applica-

tion process was adjusted to sat-isfy a week-old state SupremeCourt decision.“They had concerns that hav-

ing people go through the Penn-DOT ID procedure first mightnot have been what the legisla-ture thought of when they said,make the voter IDs be readilyavailable,” Ruman said.In a 4-2 decision last week, the

state Supreme Court ordered aCommonwealthCourthearing todetermine whether the state is

providing easy access to a validphoto ID, as promised by the law.If it is not, or if the judge believesany registered voters will be pre-vented from casting a ballot, thejudge should halt the law fromtaking effect in the election, thehigh court said.The Commonwealth Court

hearing held Tuesday in Harris-burg was continued until Thurs-day.PennDOTand theDepartment

of State have also dropped a re-

quirement for applicants to pro-videproof of residency toobtain avoter-only ID and will now mailIDs to voters when they cannotbe issued on the spot.Applicants seeking a voting-

only IDmust supply a name, dateof birth, address and Social Secu-rity number and swear underpenalty of law that they have noother form of ID that is valid forvoting.The information theypro-

State eases requirements to obtain voter ID cardBy MATT [email protected]

See VOTER ID, Page 10A

The Hotel Sterling’s demolition wassealed Tuesday when Luzerne CountyCouncil unanimously voted to earmarkthe remaining $232,729 needed tocomplete the teardown.Councilman Harry Haas said the

downtown Wilkes-Barre landmarkmust come down because it’s a deterio-rating safety hazard, but he mournsthe loss of another historic structureand fears the city’sdowntown will end upwith another vacantparcel.“I will be hammer-

ing the nail in the cof-fin with some tears to-night,” he said.Exeter Township resident Steve Sim-

ko echoed his sentiments during pub-lic comment.“I think we’re all going to miss it in

the long run,” he said of the structurethat’s dominated the corner of Riverand Market streets for 114 years.State Sen. John Yudichak issued a

statement commending council for itscommitment to resolving the problem.“With the possibility of downtown

development on this site and publicsafety concerns imminent, it was vital-ly important for movement on this pro-ject before the winter season arrives,”said Yudichak, D-Plymouth Township.A council majority had voted in April

to accept county Manager Robert Law-ton’s proposal to cancel an up-to-$1.5million community development busi-ness loan fund allocation for the Ster-ling demolition.Lawton said at the time he couldn’t

justify the spending with no firm plansto develop the parcel and create jobs.Wilkes-Barre and the property’s non-

profit owner, CityVest, have since ob-tained bids that reduced demolitioncosts and a proposal from an unnameddeveloper interested in building a resi-dential and commercial property at thesite after it’s cleared.With the lowest demolition bid at

$492,729, the county share would be$232,729 for teardown and site clear-ance, Lawton said. The city is provid-ing $260,000 in state gaming funds.CityVest is out of funds and spent

most of a $6 million county loan to ex-pand the parcel, tear down an attachedhigh-rise and remove hazardous mate-rial from the original hotel.The city must handle demolition,

and the county won’t accept any liabil-ity for the work, Lawton said.

HOTEL STERLING

Countyto kick in$232,729for razingCounty Council approves money thatwill be used to seal landmark’s fate.

By JENNIFER [email protected]

See STERLING, Page 10A

INSIDE: Countycouncil OKsKOZ for Hazle-ton properties,Page 10A

YATESVILLE – It was far fromnormal at Pittston Area HighSchoolonTuesday.Aslowbutsteady stream of parents took

students home, one of them in tears.A sophomore cheer-

leader with a 3.5 grade-point average had takenher life, SuperintendentMichael Garzella con-firmed. It was the secondsuicide of a district stu-dent in three days and,with the death Tuesday ofa 13-year-old Hazleton-ar-ea boy, the fourth teen sui-cide in Luzerne County in one week.Garzella said he received a call about

the latest suicide in his district around9:30Mondaynight after the studenthad

been flown by helicopter to a regionaltrauma center, where she died.Despite allegations that chronic bul-

lyingmayhavepromptedat least someof thesuicides,Garzella said there isno

hard evidence that wasthe case.He said numerous in-

terviews with studentsMonday about a suicideover the weekend result-ed in multiple claims ofbullying, but when ques-tioned further, the allega-tions were hearsay, notfirst-personobservations.

He also said there is no apparentconnection between the weekend

STUDENT SUICIDES SPARK FLURRY OF ACTIVITY,FROM PUBLIC FORUM TO COUNSELING


District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis talks with the media outside of Pittston Area High School about recent teensuicides after a meeting with law enforcement and school officials Tuesday.

TRAGEDY REPEATSBy MARK GUYDISH [email protected]

A woman comforts a crying girl as they leave the Pittston Area HighSchool on Tuesday afternoon. Students were allowed to leave the schoolearly after recent suicides.

Our policy: The TimesLeader does not normal-ly publish the name of aperson who takes his orher own life in a privateway. Exceptions includeif the person is well-

known or we have con-firmation through official

or family sources.

See TRAGEDY, Page 10A

HAZLETON – Police ChiefFrank DeAndrea did not releasedetails of Tuesday’s suicide of a13-year-old Hazleton boy. In-stead, he assured the communi-ty at a press conferenceTuesdaynight the police department,mayor’s office and the schooldistrict would be working dili-gently to support students fromthe Hazleton Area School Dis-trict, as well as area residents.“We already have grief coun-

selors in place with the family,”school district SuperintendentFrancis Antonelli said at theCityHall press conference, “andtomorrow those counselors willbepresent at area schools affect-ed by the tragedy.”DeAndrea said he had been in

contact with the District Attor-ney’sOffice and the state police.He said the preliminary investi-gation yielded “no evidence ofbullying.”DeAndrea lauded his patrol-

man who first arrived at thescene and unsuccessfully at-tempted CPR. He also thankedMayor Joe Yannuzzi for his fullsupport.

Hazletonteen 4thsuicideBy GERI GIBBONSTimes Leader Correspondent

See HAZLETON, Page 10A

User: ljones Time: 09-25-2012 23:43 Product: Times_Leader PubDate: 09-26-2012 Zone: Main Edition: Main_Run PageName: news_f PageNo: 1 A Color: CMYK

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vide is cross-referenced with vot-er registration data, and if the da-ta matches an ID will be issuedon the spot.Ruman said about 100 of the

10,000 Pennsylvania residentsthat have been issued PennDOTor Department of State IDs werenot able to get ID the day they ap-plied, sometimes due to discre-pancies regardingSocial Securitynumbers, butmost often becausetheir voter registration informa-tion had not been processed andentered into the state’s database.Counties legally have 10 days toprocess voter registrations.“What’s happening is people

were registering to vote and thengoing right over to PennDOT,and (theywere) not in the systemyet,” Ruman said.Previously applicants who

couldnotbe issued IDon the spotwould be notified by mail whentheir card was ready and wouldneed to return to the driver li-cense center where they appliedto pick up their ID. IDs will nowbe mailed directly to applicants.Votersmay apply for a voter ID

up to andonElectionDay,Nov. 6,or even after the election if theyvote by provisional ballot. Penn-DOT also said Tuesday that 48driver license centers, which aretypically closed Mondays, willopen onMonday, Nov. 5, to issuelast-minute voter IDs. Licensecenters in Wilkes-Barre, Hazle-ton and Dunmore are included.Voters who do not have ID on

Election Day are allowed to castprovisional ballots that will becounted if the voter providesproof of identification to theircounty election office within sixdays of the election. This yearthat deadline will be Tuesday,Nov. 13, because the sixth day af-ter the election is Veterans Dayand government offices will beclosed.Only registered voters will be

issued voter IDs. The deadline toregister to vote is Oct. 9.The Associated Press contrib-uted to this story.

VOTER IDContinued from Page 1A

Voters in the November electionwill be required to show an accept-able photo ID with an expirationdate that is current. AcceptableIDs are:• Photo IDs issued by the federalor Pennsylvania government(including Department of Statevoter ID card)• Pennsylvania driver’s license ornon-driver photo ID• U.S. passport• U.S. military ID (active duty,veteran or military dependent ID)• Employee photo ID issued by thefederal, Pennsylvania State orPennsylvania county or municipalgovernment• Photo ID from an accreditededucational institution in Penn-sylvania• Photo ID issued by a Pennsylva-nia care facilityThose without one of these formsof ID will need to obtain either aPennDOT non-driver photo ID or aDepartment of State voter ID froma PennDOT Driver’s License Cen-ter. The requirements for ob-taining these IDs are as follows:PennDOT non-driver photo ID:Social Security card, two proofs ofresidency such as lease agree-ments, current utility bills, mort-gage documents, W-2 form or taxrecords and one of the following:• Certificate of U.S. citizenship• Certificate of naturalization• Birth certificate with a raisedsealDepartment of State voter ID:Applicants must swear that theyhave no other ID that is valid forvoting and supply their:• Name• Date of birth• Address• Social Security number

V O T E R I DR E Q U I R E M E N T S

Once the site is cleared, thecounty will obtain the propertytitle from CityVest and overseedevelopment, officials said.The 4-acre parcel fronts the

River Common recreation areaalong the Susquehanna and isvisible entering the city overthe Market Street Bridge.Motorists and downtown

merchants have complainedabout congestion caused bytraffic barriers around the site.The city was recently forced topatch up holes in the structureto stop trespassers.County Chief Engineer Joe

Gibbons said the barriers couldbe removed 45 days after thecity allows demolition to pro-ceed, though he stressed thecity will control the timetable.Councilman Rick Williams

urged council members to re-lax one of Lawton’s conditionsin releasing the demolitionfunding. Lawton wants the de-veloper to complete informa-tion requested in the originalproposal. Williams said he’sconcerned a delay in the devel-oper’s response will hold upthe project, but no other coun-

cil members agreed with hismotion to cancel the require-ment.In other business, Lawton

said he has selected the Mur-ray, Hogue and Lannis law firmto handle the county’s litiga-tion seeking half the proceedsfrom the sale of the Triple-Abaseball franchise co-pur-chased with LackawannaCounty.

STERLINGContinued from Page 1A

PETE G. WILCOX/THE TIMES LEADER

Brian Shiner of Kingstonspeaks during public commentabout future county involve-ment with the Hotel Sterlingdevelopment project duringTuesday night’s county councilmeeting.

Luzerne County Councilunanimously voted Tuesday toforego property taxes on twodowntown Hazleton buildingsfor a decade as part of the Keys-tone Opportunity Zone, orKOZ, program.Council was pressed to make

a decision because the KOZ ap-plication must be submitted tothe state by Sept. 30.Hazleton City Council unani-

mously approved the KOZ pro-posal Sept.19, and theHazletonArea School Board is expectedto vote in support Thursday.The Hazleton Development

Corp. requested the KOZ ex-pansion as part of its plans to re-develop and attract tenants tothe former Hazleton NationalBank and Traders Bank build-ings, both on Broad Street.The company is negotiating

with a “major company” for anexpansion that could bring 400to 500 jobs to the city’s down-town, said Hazleton Develop-ment representative GeorgeHayden,whodeclined to identi-fy the prospective tenant.

Business tenants in KOZproperties also are exempt frommost state taxes, including thecorporate net income tax andsales tax on certain purchasesof equipment and other items.Critics of the KOZ program

say it gives some properties agovernment-funded competi-tive advantage, while support-ers say the temporary tax reve-nue loss is a necessary trade-offto attract jobs and develop-ment.Hazleton Development’s

Hayden Tower at the Markle,which is in a KOZ that expiresnext year, has been described as“a poster child of what KOZ issupposed to be,” Hayden toldcouncil.Hayden said the 11-story

Broad Street structure has beenrestored and is almost fully oc-cupied. The property will gen-erate $35,000 in county taxeswhen it returns to the tax rollsnext year, he said.Hazleton city would have

been forced to demolish thebuilding if Hazleton Develop-ment hadn’t stepped in to stabi-lize and market it, he said.

The county would lose$11,738 in property taxes an-nually on the two added proper-ties.Powell Realty owns the for-

mer Hazleton National Bankproperty at 101 W. Broad St.,which was purchased for$775,000 in 1997.The structure, assessed at

$428,900, has about 50,000square feet of rentable officespace, with 5,000 square feetcurrently leased.Scranton Tower Associates

purchased the other property at2-8 E. Broad St. for $162,000 in2009. Assessed at $1.77million,the property has about 40,000square feet of office space, with9,800 square feet occupied.Both properties need “major

repairs and renovations,” Hay-den said.Several council members

said they don’t support manyKOZs but believe Hazleton De-velopment’s project is a worth-while investment.Nanticoke resident John

Newman and countyControllerWalter Griffith spoke againstthe KOZ.

Properties OK’d for KOZBy JENNIFER [email protected]

ing harassment and bul-lying, and remedying itto the satisfaction of vic-tim and perpetrator.• Garzella said he

wants to implement asystem that would allowstudents or others to re-port bullying confiden-

tially, possibly including an online anony-mous report form.

Active, good gradesGarzella said that, along with good

grades and participation in cheerleading,the girl who committed suicide Mondaynight had “a family that was involved. Shedid not fit the profile.”Salavantis said theMonday evening sui-

cide happened in the Avoca area, but shesaid Tuesday afternoon she could not re-lease details at that point.Garzella stressed the need for coopera-

tion among students, parents and law en-forcement officials in preventing bullyingand suicides.He noted the district has a Student As-

sistance Program in place that provides ateam of professionals with appropriate ex-pertise to students whomay be strugglingwith such issues, but the team can only becalled in if students speak up.“I’m not going to sit here and say we

don’t have a bullying problem,” Garzellasaid. “I think we do. I think all school dis-tricts do.“We can look for the signs, but the real-

ity is it has to be reported.”

suicide and the one Monday evening.

Police at Pittston AreaLuzerneCountyDistrict Attorney Stefa-

nie Salavantis met with detectives, areapolice chiefs and Garzella and other Pitt-stonArea administratorsTuesday, and sheemerged from the meeting with the sameconclusion.“The rumors of possible bullying are ex-

actly that, rumors.We have no evidence ofthat,” Salavantis said. “However, we ask ifanyone has evidence, please come for-ward.”The tragedies sparked a flurry of activ-

ity:• PittstonArea set up apublic forum for 7

p.m. todaywith a panel of experts to discussteen suicide and bullying. Garzella said hishope is to provide informationonhow tode-tect possible problems and what to do orwhomto contact.No school district officialswill be on the panel, he added.• Counselors who had been brought in

Monday to help students cope with theweekend suicide will be kept on through-out the week, Garzella said. Counselorswere also made available at the intermedi-ate center, which houses grades threethrough five, and the middle school, withgrades six through eight. “We sent them tothe intermediate center because we’ve re-ceived calls from concerned parents,” Gar-

zella said.• The high school experienced a slow

but steady exodus of students leavingwiththeir parents most of Tuesday. Garzellasaid the district is encouraging parents toleave the children in school. “We believe itis the best place for them right now,” hesaid. But if parents insist, he said the dis-trict recommends they come to the schooland drive the student home, rather thanletting the student drive alone.•Acandlelight vigil has been scheduled

for 7:30 p.m. today by anti-bullying activ-ists atAlbertWest Park, SwallowStreet, inPittston.• Garzella is looking to update the dis-

trict’s anti-bullying efforts, and talkedwithHazletonAreaSuperintendent FrancisAn-tonelli about an extensive program beingimplemented there, including anti-harass-ment and anti-bullying curriculum taughtin every grade by all teachers, and manda-tory training for all employees on detect-

TRAGEDYContinued from Page 1A


Parents came to pick up students atPittston Area High School on Tuesdayafternoon. Students were allowed toleave early due to recent suicides.

Garzella

High school Principal RoccoPetrone emphasized the impor-tance of community support, re-minding students that suicidewas “a permanent solution to atemporary problem.”Petrone emphasized the wil-

lingness of district guidancecounselors, teachers and otherstaff members to offer support tostudents during this tragedy andat all times.DeAndrea also said the suicide

was not related to any social net-working websites and did notseem to be connected to threeother suicides of teenagers in Lu-zerne County in a week’s time.“This just simply seems to be a

tragedy for the community, theschool and the family,” he said,emphasizing respect be shownfor the family throughout thistime.Yannuzzi said he anticipated

community resources would beavailable for those affected by thesuicide, including churches andcommunity groups. DeAndreaencouraged residents to utilize acrisis number if necessary: 1-800-273-TALK.

HAZLETONContinued from Page 1A

Joe DeLucca shuddered onTuesday nightwhenhe learnedof a fourth teen suicide in aweek’s time inLuzerneCounty.“There’s a contagion effect.

It’s an incredibly real thing.That’s probably what I worryabout most now. Every schooldistrict has to be extremely vig-ilant at this point,” said DeLuc-ca, director of Non-Public, Fed-eral and State Programs for Lu-zerne Intermediate Unit 18.DeLucca, who has created a

suicide education and preven-tion program for teens and alsowrote curricula for trainingteachers and other school per-sonnel how to recognize anddeal with students whom theybelieve are or might be consid-ering suicide, previouslyworked as a high school guid-ance counselor. And teen sui-cide is a very personal topic forhim.

“I workedat greatlength withkids sufferingfrom depres-sion,” DeLuc-ca said. “Wehad a suicideepidemic – 10

kids at the school. One was ve-ry close to me – a football play-er I coached and one of my stu-dents.”DeLucca declined to identify

the school at which the phe-nomenon occurred, other thanto say it was in a different coun-ty. But he worries somethingsimilar could happen locally.The boom of online social

networking and instant elec-tronic access to news hasmadeit much easier for students tolearn about teen suicides asthey occur in their school dis-trict and others, and to sharethat informationwith each oth-er, he said.

Just seeing its prevalence lo-cally could be enough to trig-ger an attempt in a teen whohas been contemplating it.“The contagion effect is a ve-

ry real documented phenom-enonwith suicide.…When yousee epidemic numbers, youneed to take ahard look atwhatis occurring in that society.Schools are a microcosm of so-ciety. Managing those schoolsproperly is difficult but imper-ative,” he said.Four teens taking their own

lives recently in Luzerne Coun-ty – a 13-year-old student atGreater Nanticoke Area HighSchool on Sept. 18; a 16-year-old student at Pittston AreaHigh School on Friday; a Pitt-ston Area sophomore on Mon-day; and a 13-year-old from theHazleton area on Tuesday –presents a perfect opportunityto talk about suicide with stu-dents and educate them on thesubject, DeLucca said.

• Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young peopleages 15-24.• It is the fourth leading cause of death among children ages 10-14.• 60% of high school students claim that they have thought aboutcommitting suicide.• 9% of high school students say that they have tried killing them-selves at least once.• Suicide in those age 15-24 has increased at a rate of about 6%.• Suicide among those age 10-14 has increased about 100%.• Statistics that show the suicide rate has dropped are misleadingbecause the rate is still so high.• In 2011, there were 57 suicide deaths (all ages) in Luzerne County –one of the highest rates ever.Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Confer-ence of State Legislatures, Luzerne County Coroner’s Report.

SUICIDE STATS

Suicide fallacyTeen suicide expert Joe DeLucca said there is still fear that talking aboutsuicide will cause teens to think about or commit suicide.“This is one of the biggest fallacies. Talking to kids honestly and directlyis what they need. They deserve that. There are free programs andresources out there like the advocacy alliance, who will go to schools andprovide free depression screenings,” DeLucca said.Advice for parents“Love your children. Take care of yourselves so you can care for yourkids. Don’t push them too hard. … And by all means, let them be kids. Weare pushing kids too hard too fast. They are not all going to be the nextmajor leaguer or NBA superstar. But each kid has wonderful gifts andstrengths. Focus on those strengths,” DeLucca said.Advice for students“Care for and respect each other. You do not need to like or agree witheveryone, but you should respect them and their differences. If you thinka friend may be in danger, tell a trusted adult,” DeLucca said.ResourcesVisit timesleader.com for links to online resources.

SUICIDE PREVENTION

Area expert urges school vigilanceBy STEVE [email protected]

DeLucca

User: jmacintyre Time: 09-26-2012 00:05 Product: Times_Leader PubDate: 09-26-2012 Zone: Main Edition: Main_Run PageName: news_03 PageNo: 10 A Color: CMYK

JONES LEAVES PSUTO CHASE QB DREAMFor the second time thismonth, Paul Jones hasleft the Nittany Lions.This time, he won’t beback. Penn State’s quar-terback-turned-tight endhas departed for “person-al reasons,” according tocoach Bill O’Brien.“My dream is playingquarterback. And I’mgoing to chase it,” Jonesposted on his Twitteraccount. He had quit theteam after the Ohio gamewhen O’Brien decided tomove him to tight end.Jones changed his mindlater in the day. Page 1B

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WEATHERTerin Conklin. Partialclearing, rain tonight.High 68, low 58.

Details, Page 8B

UGI Energy Services has withdrawn itsapplication for an air quality permit for anat-ural gas compressor station in West Wyom-ing, the state Department of EnvironmentalProtection confirmed Wednesday.DEP received a written request to with-

draw the permit application on Wednesday.UGI Energy Services said it based its deci-sion on the LuzerneCounty ZoningHearingBoard’s Sept. 4 judgment against the compa-ny’s request to build the station in anagricul-tural zone of West Wyoming, according toDEP regional spokeswoman Colleen Con-nolly.The three-member zoning hearing board

voted unanimously to deny the company aspecial exception for the station and a varia-nce for an associated 100-foot communica-tions tower.DEP was reserving judgment on the air

quality permit application until a publichearing was held, but that became a “mootpoint” when the zoning hearing board shotdown the company’s plan inWestWyoming,Connolly said. DEP would not go forwarduntil the company received zoning approval.UGI Energy Services still has until Oct. 4.

to appeal the zoning board’s decision to theLuzerne County Court and can submit newplans for a compressor station in WestWyoming or elsewhere to DEP and zoningofficials at any time.Company spokeswoman Lillian Harris

and attorney Joseph Persico, the company’slegal council duringzoninghearings, didnotrespond to requests for comment.Connolly said she is not aware of UGI En-

ergy Services filing any additional applica-tions to DEP related to compressor stationsin the area.“They could resubmit the same applica-

tion,” Connolly said. “But they haven’t indi-cated to us what their next step is.”The compressor station was planned as

part of the company’s $150 million, 27.5-mile Auburn Pipeline extension project,which will link the Tennessee interstatepipeline inSusquehannaCounty to theTran-sco interstate pipeline in Luzerne County.The station was also planned as the startingpoint of a smaller pipeline connecting theAuburn Pipeline to UGI Utilities Inc.’s gasdistribution system.UGI Energy Services had said previously

it anticipates completing both the pipelineand compressor station by fall 2013.The company said theprojectwould stabi-

lize gas prices for utility customers and thatemissions from the compressor stationwould be well below federal and state caps,but the project was hotly contested bymanylocal residents and elected officials.

UGI pullsapplicationfor permitfor stationCounty board had denied exception forW. Wyoming gas compressor station.

By MATT [email protected]

See UGI, Page 10A

New poll results releasedWednesday show a majority oflikely voters in Pennsylvania ap-prove of the new voter ID law.Nearly all of the 1,180 likely

voters polled said they havethe proper ID that will allowthem to vote without any prob-lem on Nov. 6, according to the

Quinnipiac University/ CBSNews/New York Times SwingState Poll.“While judges and politicians

debate Pennsylvania’s voter IDmeasure, voters are solidly insupport of the measure, 62-35percent,” said Peter A. Brown ofthe Quinnipiac University Poll-ing Institute.The poll shows support for the

bill among 92 percent of Repub-licans, 37 percent of Democratsand66percent of registered Inde-pendent voters.Though senior citizens have

been cited by opponents as vot-ers likely to be disenfranchised,

thepolling showsonly 36percentof those age 55 or older opposethe law. The age group thatshowed the greatest oppositionwas 18-to-34-year-olds, with 37percent against it.Christopher Borick, a political

science professor at MuhlenbergCollege in Allentown, said thepoll results show the law is beingviewed through a partisan lens.“Among likely voters there is

solid confidence that they have

the correct ID,” Borick said.“However, it may be that margin-al voters who are not being in-cluded in polls of likely voters arethe least likely to have IDs andtherefore not showing up in pub-lic opinion polls.”The controversial voter ID law

has spurred lawsuits and courtdecisions and has seen the statemake changes to policies alongthe way.PennDOT announcedTuesday

it is easing requirements for ob-tainingan IDcardneeded tovote.The changes came hours before aCommonwealth Court hearingon whether Pennsylvania’s law

will effectively strip some peopleof the right to vote this year.In a 4-2 decision last week, the

state Supreme Court ordered aCommonwealthCourthearing todetermine whether the state isproviding easy access to a validphoto ID, as promised by the law.If it is not, or if the judge be-

lieves any registered voters willbe prevented from casting a bal-lot, the judge should halt the lawfrom taking effect in the election,the high court said.The Commonwealth Court

hearing held Tuesday in Harris-burg was continued until today.

Voter ID law in Pa. has solid support, poll showsNearly all of the 1,180 likelyvoters polled said they havethe proper ID for voting.

By ANDREWM. [email protected]

INSIDE: Obama adds to Pa. ad-vantage, Page 10A

YATESVILLE – SamanthaNeaman stood before hundredsof people she never met before

Wednesdaynight and de-scribed thenight her 13-year-old son,Kyle, commit-ted suicidefive years ago.Pittston Ar-

ea HighSchool senior Meredith Yoz-wiak told those same peoplehow being bullied and called fatin grade school led to her eatingdisorder and that she was “basi-cally committing suicide with-out knowing it.”

Teen suicide and bullying aresubjects of public forum atPittston Area High School.

By STEVE [email protected]

Garzella

See FORUM, Page 4A

Phone to laptop, digitaldevices are everywhere.

LIFE, 1C

Are we tooconnected?

PITTSTON – Hundreds ofcandlelights enveloped thefootball field at Albert West

Park Wednesday evening, flicker-ing in memory of four young livesextinguished too soon.Friends, classmates, relatives

and teammates offour teenage suicidevictims fromthePitt-ston Area, GreaterNanticoke Area andHazleton Areaschool districtsformed an unbrokenline around the muddy field as alight drizzle fell.“I justwish that he could see all

the people who turned out,” saidEmily Zurek, a friend of one ofthe victims and a 2011 PittstonArea graduate. “I wish he couldhave known how many peoplesupport himand care about him.”

Some mourners exchangeddeep hugs and sobbed on eachothers’ shoulders as friends of thevictims shared memories, ex-pressed grief and spoke words ofencouragement to the crowdover the field’s public address sys-

tem.They remem-

bered young livesthat burned bright-ly, andwhose flameswere put out withyears of light ahead.Onewas a football

player who loved the outdoors,whether fishing the Susquehan-na for bluegill, hiking to the topof Campbell’s Ledge or stealingintoablueberrypatch for a snack.The victim’s brother recalled

seeingabald eagle flyingover the

AREA TEEN SUICIDES

BILL TARUTIS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER

Chris Montagna and Brian Orth, left, console a friend during a candlelight vigil for area suicide victims atAlbert West Park in Pittston on Wednesday night.

IN REMEMBRANCE

See VIGIL, Page 4A

Comfort sought at vigilBy MATT HUGHES/[email protected]

INSIDE: • Groups offertheir help.• Dallas gets proactive.• State police come asprecaution.PAGE 4A

User: ljones Time: 09-26-2012 23:45 Product: Times_Leader PubDate: 09-27-2012 Zone: Main Edition: Main_Run PageName: news_f PageNo: 1 A Color: CMYK

C M Y K

●PAGE 4A THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2012 THE TIMES LEADER www.timesleader.com➛ N E W S

AREA TEEN SUICIDES

Theheadsof twoorganizationsthatworkwith youth say concert-ed efforts to make local schoolssafer and more supportive forchildren have been going on forthe past year.Joseph DeLucca, director of

non-public, federal and state pro-grams at Luzerne IntermediateUnit 18, said superintendents ofschool districts that comprise theLIU – all districts and privateschools in Luzerne County plusTunkhannock Area in WyomingCounty – had asked for a coordi-nated initiative to make their

schools safer for students.So in 2011, the LIU organized

the LuzerneCounty Safe SchoolsCommittee.DeLucca,who spear-headed the effort because of hisextensive background in schoolsafety and teen suicide preven-tion and education, serves aspresident.The approximately 30-mem-

ber committee is a cross-sectionof community members, includ-ing state and local police, schoolprincipals, superintendents andcommunity agency representa-tives, DeLucca said.He said that while suicide is a

major focusandhasbeenbrought

to the forefront by four recent lo-cal cases, the committee takes abroader view of safety.“The major initiative we are

currently working on is our SafeSchools Audit Training, (whichwill help school districts accom-plish) a complete,massive autop-sy of their policies, procedures,

buildings and grounds. You can’tchange what you don’t knowabout, so you have to do your as-sessments first to kind of seewhat improvements are neces-sary,” DeLucca said.Another group of volunteers

has concentrated on bullying,which has been suggested as a

cause of some suicides, althoughauthorities say they have yet tofind good evidence.The Luzerne County Anti-Bul-

lying Coalition began with sever-al organizations, including theLuzerne Foundation, F.M. KirbyCenter for the Performing Arts,the LIU, ARC of Luzerne County,the NEPA Rainbow Alliance, theNEPA Safe Zone Program of theFamily Service Association ofWyoming Valley and the VictimsResource Center.More have joined as recently as

Wednesday, including theUnitedWay and the Children’s ServiceCenter, said John Dawe, execu-tive director of the Rainbow Alli-ance and head of the coalition.All of the organizations have

beenworking for years to combat– and help young people dealwith–bullying in their ownways,Dawe said. But last year, theycoalesced to pool resources andwork together to address theproblem with a unified front.All of the member organiza-

tions seek funding from the Lu-zerne Foundation, but it makesmore sense for the foundation tofund one group for one purposethan it does to fundmany organi-zations for the same purpose,Dawe said.One coalition initiative is pro-

viding access to an anti-bullyingfilm for schools as well as in-ser-vice trainingonpre- andpost-filmdiscussion for teachers.

Push for safer area schools already under wayGroups focus on preventing suicide, bullying

Call John Dawe at 763-9876 formore information on the LuzerneCounty Anti-Bullying Coalition.Email Joseph DeLucca at [email protected] for more informationon the Luzerne County SafeSchools Committee.

L E A R N M O R E

DeLucca

By STEVE [email protected]

Dawe

DALLAS TWP. – With four re-cent teen suicides in other dis-tricts, Dallas School District offi-cials took proactive stepsWednesday that included a highschool assembly and evening au-tomated calls to parents remind-ing them of student counselingservices.The assembly focused on bul-

lying and what students can do ifthey feel bullied or otherwiseneed help with personal issues,Superintendent Frank Galickisaid, adding that the efforts weredistrict wide.“Each school handled the issue

with different techniques,” Gal-icki said.The morning announcement

at the middle school included areminder to all students theschool has “multiple opportuni-ties for students to reach out to”the staff on any concern, and thatthe school has a drop box in thelobby where students can submitconcerns about other students.Dallas Elementary School

Principal Tom Traver sent anemail to colleagues offering a“simple and to-the-point anti-bul-lying exercise” used by a NewYork teacher: Have studentscrumple a piece of paper andstomp on it, then unfold it,

smooth it and say they’re sorry.Point to the creases and scarsthey can’t fix, and advise them“That is what happens when achild bullies another child; theymay say they’re sorry, but thescars are there forever.”Galicki recorded amessage de-

livered to all district parents viathe district’s automated dialingsystem used to convey importantinformation quickly, such asschool weather closings. Themessage notes the district “hasmonitored carefully the eventsthat have impacted on our neigh-boring school districts,” and as-sures parents that Dallas “ismak-ing a significant effort to do itsbest to insure the safety of everystudent.“The district is currently re-

viewing all policies and proce-dures, meetings are being held inthe schools to reacquaint staffwith warning signs of suicide.Our middle and high schoolshave active Student AssistanceTeams that are reminding stu-dents and staff that they are avail-able to help with any issue.“It is important that we all

work together to meet our chil-dren’s needs. Should you be con-cerned at any time about the safe-ty and welfare of your child, youmay contact your child’s schooland we can work together toproperly intervene.”

R E A C H I N G O U T

Dallas schools takeproactive approachBy MARK [email protected]

EXETER –TheWyomingAreaSchool Board on Tuesday nightapproved the first reading of anew policy that defines bullyingboth inside the school and cyber-bullying as threats to the school’sorderly environment.The new policy states conse-

quences for bullying may reachas far as expulsion or referral tolaw enforcement, as the board’ssolicitor, Jarrett Ferentino, saidmany of these offenses are cov-ered under the criminal code.Emily Shemanski, a student

representative who sits with theboard, said before the meetingthat she thought the new policywas fair.“I think the consequences are

appropriate for the harm (bully-ing) could cause,” Shemanskisaid.Shemanski and her fellow stu-

dent representative, Brian Wiso-waty, agreed bullying does notseemtobeanaggressiveproblemin their school.Anti-bullying lessons are being

worked into the curriculum, butSuperintendent Raymond Ber-nardi said there is no cure-all forgetting victimized students totalk about it.“This is not just a lecture,” Ber-

nardi said. “It’s a very involvedprocess.”High School Principal Vito

Quaglia said the attention shouldnot be placed solely on bullying.

He said that in the 20 years hehasworked with education, nowmore thanever, younger studentsare dealing with stressors thatused to be characteristic of mucholder students andmay have oth-er reasons for hurting them-selves.A few of the high school’s stu-

dent ambassadors also intro-duced themselves to schoolboard members at the meeting.As part of a student-to-student

support program introduced thisyear to identify students whomay be struggling socially oremotionally, theambassadors arenot necessarily straight-A stu-dents or star athletes, but theyare chosen by faculty membersfor their strong personalities andapparent compassion.Bernardi said the ambassadors

are part of a program that hasbeen in the works since Januaryto identify at-risk students and in-tervene if school officials feel astudent might be in danger.In light of recent student sui-

cides in the Greater NanticokeArea, Pittston Area and HazletonArea school districts, everyone inthe room seemed to share in feel-ing that this could not have ar-rived at a more appropriate time.Bernardi said the ambassadors

were perceived by faculty as stu-dents whowould not stand silentif they happened across a peer indanger. “We’re trying to do ourbest to have our students comeforward if there are any issues,”Bernardi said.

W YO M I N G A R E A S C H O O L B O A R D

Policy: Bullying, cyberbullyingthreaten orderly school settingBy JON O’CONNELLTimes Leader Correspondent

PITTSTON AREA: Studentsarrived Wednesday morning tothe sight of police officers andstate troopersat everydoor, apre-caution taken after “rumors andinnuendo”ontheInternethintingat weapons being brought toschool, Superintendent MichaelGarzella said. Officers checkedeach school bus after students en-tered the school, and several offi-cers remained throughout theday.StatepoliceCapt.JamesDeg-nan said therewere no problems.HAZLETON AREA: West Ha-

zleton Elementary/MiddleSchool is kicking off its “kNOwBullying” event Monday at 10a.m. with 1,000 students andteachers gathered on the schoolbaseball field school to spell out“kNOwBullying.”PITTSTON AREA: “A Day 4

Dads,” presented by the PittstonArea School District, is an oppor-tunity for fathers to familiarizethemselves with issues threaten-ing their children. The presenta-tion, from9a.m. to1p.m.Dec.1atthe high school, will explore thetheme “HowWe Can Protect ourKidsfromToday’sToxicCulture.”Topics include Internet safety,gangs and violence, drugs and al-cohol prevention, bullying andschool violence, and suicide pre-vention.Policeandsocialworkerswill speak.


State police were called to thePittston Area High School afterrumors of threats Wednesday.

State policeprecautionat PittstonTimes Leader staff

Kathleen Carey, 18, sharedhow suffering bullying atMeyers High School in Wilkes-Barre led to her cutting herselfand contemplating suicide.A public forum at Pittston Ar-

ea High School to discuss teensuicide and bullying was filledwith emotion, concern, ques-tions and sharing of personal ex-periences as the district respon-ded to the recent suicide deathsof four area students – two ofthem Pittston Area students.The forum featured speakers

including Luzerne County Dis-trict Attorney Stefanie Salavan-tis, Pittston Area Superintend-entMikeGarzella,WyomingVal-ley Drug & Alcohol ServicesCEO Carmen Ambrosino andrepresentatives of the Children’sService Center and the VictimsResource Center.“I felt it was important to put

this together as soon as possiblebecause the events that oc-curred … have been tragic and agreat loss for our community

and our schools,” Garzella said.And while investigators have

not found solid evidence thatany of the suicide victims werebullied, despite widespread alle-gations, Garzella said investiga-tions into the deaths continue.“If bullying played a part in

any of these incidents, it will notbe tolerated in our schools. Itwill be dealt with. If we need topress charges, we will presscharges,” said Garzella, whonoted that his owndaughterwas

a victim of bullying.“This is a real crisis and we …

need to work together. This ismore than we can do as a schoolsystem. We need a communityeffort. … I think there’s more tothis than bullying,” he said.Several parents and adults in

the audience said administra-tors have refused to recognizebullying and it oftengoesunpun-ished. Others said it only getsworse if it’s reported. PittstonArea graduate Jill Zaleski, 19,

said it wasn’t students whomade her feel worthless, “it wassome of the teachers,” drawingapplause from the audience. Sheasked what would happen toteachers who bullied students.Garzella said they would be

disciplined.A man asked the maximum

punishment a bully could face ifit was determined that a suicidevictim was a target. Salavantissaid she didn’t want to “get intodetails as to what can occur” be-cause of the ongoing investiga-tion.Carolanne Jones, of Children’s

Service Center, urged anyonewho thinks someonemightwantto commit suicide to talk tothemabout it and tell an adult orcall Helpline even if asked tokeep it a secret. There is helpavailable 24 hours a day.Ambrosino said the “root

causes” of teen suicides in the ar-ea need to be found. He pro-posed creating a Luzerne Coun-ty Suicide Task Force to make ablueprint of programs that willbe “effective for prevention andfor intervention and treatmentand education at all levels of theschool and community.”

FORUMContinued from Page 1A


Samantha Neaman of Hazleton holds a photo of her son KyleKoslop, who was 13 when he committed suicide in 2007. Neamanspoke at Pittston Area High School at Wednesday night’s forum.

Susquehanna River while sit-ting with their father on a re-cent rainy afternoon; it remind-ed him of his brother.“He kind of swooped down

anddid a little circle around thecar,” he said. “Thatwas him go-ing off into the rain. He was aneagle.”Another was a cheerleader

who could light up a roomwitha smile and brighten another’sday with just a few words.“I just remember the first day

I tried out, she told me I wouldmake it,” said another memberof the Pittston Area cheerlead-ing team.Close friends had no words

to explain why she would takeher own life; she seemed happyuntil the end, they said.“On Sunday she was so hap-

py,” a friend said. “She hadbought her homecoming dressand was so excited to go to thedance.”The 15-year-old girl ended

her own life on Monday. Shewas the third student in Lu-

zerne County and the secondPittston Area student to com-mit suicide in a week. Officialsconfirmed a fourth child, a Ha-zleton Area student, commit-ted suicide on Tuesday.The Times Leader does not

normally publish the names ofthose who take their own livesin a private way.While no one can say for sure

what prompted the recent teensuicides, school and police in-vestigators have askedwhetherbullying played a role in any ofthe deaths.Monica Thomas of Ply-

mouth, co-founder of ParentsAdvocating for Safe Schools,said she organized the vigil todraw attention to bullying inschools, and how it can be a fac-tor in “the epidemic of teen sui-cides,” and to let the victims ofbullying know there is helpavailable.“The kids need to be aware

that there are people aroundthat can help them,” Thomassaid.Some speakers called on

those attending to uniteagainst bullying in areaschools.“I know it’s hard, but this is

the time to come together,”

said Courtney Mazonis of Nan-ticoke, a friend to a GreaterNanticoke Area student whocommitted suicide last Tues-day. “This needs to stop.”“We just have to come to-

gether and get the bullying tostop,” added Breaunna Koer-ney of Nanticoke, anotherfriend of the Nanticoke stu-dent.Students at Pittston Area

High School said the atmo-sphere at their school hasgrown somber.“It’s been very quiet… a dif-

ferent atmosphere,” said AdamValkos, a 16-year-old PittstonArea student and friend to oneof the victims. “A lot of sighing;a lot of moaning, especially thelast three days.”“People have been wander-

ing the halls, crying,” said Ka-tie Kena, a 14-year-old PittstonArea student. “It’s a mess.”Taylor Jones, a 14-year-old

Pittston Area freshman, said theschool is taking steps to respondto deaths, but it’s too early to saywhether those steps can preventfuture suicides.“They’re trying to do all they

can,” she said. “I just don’tknow what they can do exact-ly.”


Hundreds surrounded the football field at Albert West Park in memory of local teen suicidevictims on Wednesday night.

VIGILContinued from Page 1A

User: rstouch Time: 09-26-2012 23:43 Product: Times_Leader PubDate: 09-27-2012 Zone: Main Edition: Main_Run PageName: news PageNo: 4 A Color: CMYK

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WILKES-BARRE, PA SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2012 $1.50timesleader.com

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The Times Leader

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Asofficials continue to searchfor clues towhat led four teenag-ers to kill themselves over aneight-day span,mental healthexperts say the answers likely liein a complex series of life eventsrather than a single emotionaltrauma.Thepublic has a tendency to

look for quick-hit answers, such asbullying, a poor report card orbreaking upwith a boyfriend orgirlfriend, the experts said.Thatmaymake for a good

“newsbite,” but the reality is far

more complex, saidTonySalva-tore, a suicide crisis counselorwithMontgomeryCounty andauthor of the pamphlet, “SuicideLoss:What Schools ShouldKnow.”Suicide is the third-leading

cause of death for people age15 to24, according to theNationalInstitute ofMentalHealth. Ap-proximately 4,000 teenagers kill

Suicides complex, experts sayFemale : 21%

(7,820)Male: 79%(29,089)

15-24: 12%(4,371)

25-64: 72%(26,680)

65+: 16%(5,858)

BY GENDER:

BY AGE:

Mark Guydish/The Times Leader

U.S. SUICIDESThere were 36,909 suicides in the UnitedStates in 2009, according to the Centersfor Disease Control and Prevention.

Likely no easy answers existfor why teens took own livesBy TERRIE [email protected]

See EXPERTS, A

INSIDE: Advice from someone whoknows what it’s like to have been adeeply troubled teenager, Page 7A

Local mental health profes-sionals are working to re-estab-lish a psychological autopsycommittee that would investi-gate suicides in hopes of gain-ing insight that will aid preven-tion efforts.The committee, which will

include representatives frommultiple disciplines, is lookingto carry on work done by ateam 10 years ago.That committee studied

hundreds of coroner’s reports

dating back to 1992 and con-ducted interviews with familiesin an effort to identify the mostcommon factors that led per-sons to kill themselves.While work was already

under way to restart the com-mittee, the deaths of five teen-agers from suicide this year,including four that occurredwithin a recent eight-day span,have provided an additionalimpetus, said Rich Burns,acting director of the

Committee wouldinvestigate suicidesBy TERRIE [email protected]

See SUICIDES, Page 7A

WASHINGTON — BarackObama is cruising into the presi-dential debates with momentumon his side, yet he’s still strug-gling to revive thepassionandex-citement that propelled him totheWhiteHouse.MittRomney isgrasping for hislast, bestchance to re-boot his cam-paign after a di-sastrous Sep-tember.The fierce

and deter-mined compet-itors in thetight race havea specific mis-sion for thethree debates,the first ofwhich isWednesdaynight in Den-ver.Obama, no

longer the freshface of 2008,must convinceskepticalAmer-icans that hecan accomplish in a second termwhat he couldn’t in his first, res-toring the economy to full health.Romney, anxious to keep the

race from slipping away, needs toinstill confidence that he is acredible and trusted alternativeto the president, with a betterplan for strengthening the econo-my.“The burden in many ways is

heavier on Romney,” says WayneFields, a professor atWashingtonUniversity in St. Louis who spe-cializes in political rhetoric.“What we see right now is an un-certainty about whether he’sready for the job.”For all the hundreds of cam-

Obamaleads intofirst TVdebateRomney looking to rebootcampaign in Wednesday’sshowdown in Denver.

See DEBATE, Page 12A

By NANCY BENACAssociated Press

The TimesLeader andWilkes Uni-versity will hostforums for theU.S. congres-sional candi-dates runningfor election inNovember toserve the peo-ple of North-eastern Penn-sylvania.PAGE 3A

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WEATHERJeffrey TerpakMostly cloudy with lightshowers. High 64. Low 47.Details, Page 12C

In the five years he’sworked building wind tur-bines, Mike Kelly has facedplenty of obstacles, but he’snever dealt with challengeslike those presented by his“neighbors” near the Me-hoopany Wind Farm projectin Noxen Township.Virtually every day they

infiltrate the constructionsite, blocking roads andpreventing crews and equip-ment from passing by.They’ve also forced therelocation of several of thegiant wind-producing tur-bines and the re-routing ofmiles of roadways built intothe mountainside to reachthe sites.They’ve created lots of

headaches, and they aren’teven human.Kelly and fellow employ-

ees are being rattled byhundreds of rattlesnakesthat inhabit the section ofthe mountain where they’reworking.The issue isn’t so much

the threat the venomousreptiles pose to the work-ers, but the threat the work-ers pose to the snakes,particularly the timberrattlesnake.The snake, which is close

to becoming endangered, isconsidered a “special candi-date” species, which affordsit special protection underthe Pennsylvania Fish andBoat Commission.

Noxen Twp. windfarm project

workers face snakesat construction site

Not really rattledBy [email protected]

The timber rattlesnake is the largest venom-ous snake in Pennsylvania.Size: These rattlesnakes range in length from3 to 41⁄2 feet and may weigh up to 2 pounds.Life Span: The lifespan of the timber rattle-snake is 22 to 30 years.Color: This snake varies in coloration, withbands of color that are different on snakes

found in different regions.Habitat: The timber rattlesnake is found inthe forested rocky hills of many statesthroughout the eastern United States, andalso in swamps.Food: This rattlesnake eats small mammals,especially mice, rats, squirrels, and rabbits.Sometimes it will even kill birds.

Reproduction: Every three or four years inthe early spring, these rattlesnakes mate.About 10 young are born in late summer orearly fall with the average length of 11-13inches.Fun Facts: Although they rarely attackhumans, these rattlesnakes are venomousand very dangerous.

T I M B E R R AT T L E S N A K E FA C T S

FRED ADAMS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER

Kathy and Tom Michell work to place a transmitter on a timber rattlesnake they arereleasing into the wild after nursing it back to health.See SNAKES, Page 12A

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THE TIMES LEADER www.timesleader.com SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2012 PAGE 7A➛ N E W S

NEWSOFFOUR teensuicides in twoweeks affectedme profoundly.I do not pre-tend to under-stand each

student’s unique pain, but I canrelate to their feelings of hope-lessness. I attempted suicideseveral times during my teenyears.My family was not the Brady

Bunch, with solutions to prob-lems guaranteed within 30 min-utes. I had loving and caringparents who did the best theycould – a normal, dysfunctionalfamily. I went to Catholic highschool in another state for threeyears, transferring to publicschool for my senior year. I felt ascomfortable as I could in schooluntil ninth grade.There was something different

about being 13 or 14. My worldspun into a whole new galaxy,

and I was being swallowed into ablack hole of puberty, angst andan identity crisis. At that timemymother began battling severedepression. I was in eighth grade.I too had struggles with depres-sion.I played freshman basketball,

but I was not a “jock.” I was intomovies and video games, andjoined the audio/visual depart-ment. I did many normal activ-ities, yet never felt like I fit in.In Catholic high school, I was

asked why I sat with the “geeky”or “gay” kids at lunch and wasmade to feel embarrassed by mychoice. I should have gotten toknow those lunch peers better.They were always kind, let meeat in peace, and laughed at mystupid jokes. But I let what oth-ers said affect me. I was not

strong enough, mentally, to standup to the ridicule. I became aloner. I transferred to anotherschool and never saw the kidswhomademe feel good aboutmyself again. I did not thinkthere was anyone who truly likedme for who I was or cared aboutme.In public school I wanted to be

part of something outside myself,but felt no girl could love me andno one would accept me. I lovedand accepted myself, but I didnot think that I was normal andalways felt out of place. I receivedplenty of love and concern frommy parents, but I was afraid totalk to them; I felt ashamed anddifferent. My best friend was asophomore I only saw afterschool. I was silent, sad andterrified.I was never beaten or picked

on, but there were little momentsthat piled into a mountain ofdespair. Moments I couldn’tshare because they embarrassed

me.Whenmy father asked ifanything was wrong, I stuffed myemotions and let the problemsbuild to an unstable peak.That peak became an ava-

lanche of suicidal thoughts. Iwanted to die; I continued totrudge on.One day I sat alone outside the

auditorium and ate the sandwichpacked by my father. I wanted toread mymagazine and hide.Three girls who I never sawbefore sat across fromme, chat-ting and laughing.I was minutes into mymeal

when one of the girl’s sandwicheswas hurled in my direction, land-ing onmymagazine. I trembledwith fear; I brushed the sandwichaside and continued with mylunch. The laughs got louder.One girl shouted: “Hey, that’s mysandwich!” I had no way to dealwith this. I did not want to re-treat to the principal. I wouldn’tretaliate against the girls. I justran frommy problems.

It was just a little moment for astudent who had no girlfriend,average grades and hard testsahead. It felt like the end of myworld.A day later in English class,

everyone seemed somber. I askedthe teacher what happened. Shehad just received word a studenthad killed himself. I looked at hisempty seat and slouched. Thatvery student had previouslyattempted to befriend me.WhenI heard how he did it, I thoughtthat – perhaps – it would not betoo hard to endmy pain like that.I tried to take my life a few

days later. I failed. I tried a fewmonths after that. I failed. Onemore time at the end of highschool … failed. My second yearat college I tried once again andfailed.I now look at those failures as

successes that afforded the op-portunity to a good life. And tonow share what I learned.Life after high school and

college wasn’t smooth, but Ieventually found contentment. Ilove my wife andmy daughter.My friends today accept me forwho I am. I love them and theylove me. I am happy with my life.To have made it so far makes

me all the sadder for the liveslost these past weeks.I do not have an answer. But I

share what happened to me inthe hopes that parents do whatmy father tried to do for me. Hecut out articles about things thathe thought might help me. Some-times I would read them, some-times I would not. If I had readsomething like this, maybe, justmaybe, I would have felt that Iwas not alone.Sometimes a kid will talk to

his or her parents and feel com-fortable. Sometimes professionalhelp will work. I share my storyhoping others will do the same.No one is alone.We just feel like it sometimes..

Advice from someone happy – and lucky – to have survived teen yearsJOHN GORDONO P I N I O N

with anyone regarding the com-mittee. He said he supports theeffort, but noted he expects itmay find, as the 2002 committeedid, that surviving family mem-bers of suicide victims might bereluctant to participate.“We were the go-between be-

tween the group and the surviv-ing family members. The vastmajority did not want to partici-pate,” Lisman said.

Luzerne-Wyoming CountiesMental Health and Develop-mental Services program.“We can’t undo this tragedy,”

Burns said. “The whole purposeis … to see if there are any com-mon factors so we can learn

whatwe can do to prevent futuretragedies.”A psychological autopsy in-

volves a detailed examination ofall aspects of the suicide victim’slife to determine if there are anycommon patterns among indi-viduals who kill themselves.“It helps us understand who

the person was and what washappening prior to the suicideso we can focus our efforts on

the most preventive measures,”said Tara Gallagher, the chil-dren’s services coordinator forthe countymental health agencywho is helping restart the com-mittee.Gallagher noted officials in

Schuylkill County utilized psy-chological autopsies to discoverthat a large number of suicidevictims there had been at a tav-ern prior to their deaths.

“They used that informationto place posters in bars tellingpeople who to call for help,” shesaid.The 2002 Luzerne County

committee helped uncover dif-ferences in the manner in whichyouths and adults manifestsigns of suicides.The panel concluded that trig-

gers for youths include loss of aloved one and romantic break-

ups, and warning signs includedself abusive cutting, risk takingand withdrawal from society.Adults might have experiencedfinancial troubles, depression,illness or substance abuse.Gallagher said formation of a

new committee is still in the pre-liminary phases. It’s not clearwhen it might begin work.Acting Coroner William Lis-

man said he has not yet spoken

SUICIDESContinued from Page 1A

themselvesnationwideeachyear.Research has shown suicide

“doesn’t just happen,” Salvatoresays in the pamphlet. It’s the out-come of a complex interminglingof psychological, social, culturaland interpersonal factors over aperiod of time. Often personswho kill themselves suffer fromdepression or some other type ofmental illness.Classmates of a16-year-old boy

and 15-year-old girl from the Pitt-ston Area School District whokilled themselves days apart lastweek said the teens did not ap-pear troubled, although expertswarn the signs may not be obvi-ous.Days before their deaths, a 13-

year-old boy from Nanticoke fa-tally shot himself. A fourth teenfrom Hazleton took his life onTuesday.Their deaths, coupled with the

suicide of a 17-year-old boy in Au-gust, bring the total number ofteen suicides in Luzerne Countythisyear to five.Thatcompares tothree teen suicides in 2011, two in2010 and none in 2009, accordingto the Luzerne County Coroner’sOffice.The District Attorney’s Office

has joined with school officialsfrom the three districts to investi-gate the circumstances that led tothe latest deaths, including alle-gations by peers that some of theteens were bullied.So far, officials say there’s no

concrete evidence of bullying.Even if it’s shown the youthsweretargeted, mental health expertscaution it’s overly simplistic to tiea suicide to a single event.“What seems to happen is

stressors accumulate… (leading)to isolation, hopelessness, angerand negative self-image,” said Dr.Philip Rutter, an associate profes-sorofpsychologyatWidenerUni-versity in Chester.“Is bullying directly related to

suicide? It’s not totally legitimateto say that. It is fair to say someyoung people who are bullied be-come depressed and feel help-less.”A key difference between

youths and adults who commitsuicide is that youths tend to actmore impulsively to life stressorsthan adults, Rutter said.“One of the things with young

people is they are extremely pre-sent centered. They don’t havemuch of a future concept,” Ruttersaid.Thatmakes it difficult for them

to wait out the rough patches intheir lives, he said“Adults say, give it ayear, it gets

better. But a sixth- or seventh-grader isn’t able to give it a week-end,” Rutter said.That’s partly attributable to the

biology and physiology of teenag-

ers, said Dr. David Rudd, a psy-chologist at the University ofUtah who studies suicide.The frontal cortex of the brain,

which controls inhibition, is notfully developed until a person isin their mid 20s, Rudd said.“It controls theability to inhibit

impulses. When it’s not fully de-veloped you get more impulsivebehavior,” he said.There’s no evidence that any of

the four local suicides were link-

ed in any way. Some have ex-pressed concern that media cov-erage of the latest teen suicidescould spawn “copycat” action.“Oftentimes if there is a greatdeal of coverage, people who arestruggling perceive it’s a way toachieve significance,” Rudd said.“If theyarenotable toachievesig-nificance in life, they can achieveit in death.”That means families and class-

mates need to be extra vigilant in

watching for signsaperson ishav-ing suicidal thoughts.Sometimes those signs are ob-

vious – a person talks about sui-cide or starts giving away prizedpossessions. Other times they’refarmore subtle anddifficult tode-tect.“People go into another zone

when they are truly suicidal anddon’t necessarily communicateeverything,” Salvatore said.“They feel noone cares aboutme.When they feel that way theydon’t think anyone will under-

stand, so they don’t say any-thing.”In those cases, actions speak

louder than words.Friends and families need to be

on the lookout for mood changes– someone who was very socialsuddenly begins staying home allthe time; a normally calm personbecomes angry or aggressive.“If something goes off you

think is not right, don’t ignore it,”Salvatore said. “We think it can’thappen to us, it only happens tothem. Guess what, it can happen

to anyone.”Salvatore said friends and

classmates are the front line de-fense to suicide. They may seesigns that parents, teachers andother adults might miss, particu-larly messages posted on the so-cial networking site Facebook.But youths are often reluctant

to come forward out of fear theywill alienate their friends, Salva-tore said. It’s crucial they speakup if they sense the slightest hintof suicidal thoughts.“Kids need to be taught, don’t

keep a secret. It’s better to lose afriend for a month than to losethem forever,” he said.Salvatore said he also stresses

the need for the Luzerne Countycommunity to ensure suicide pre-vention remains a priority afterthis crisis subsides.“The typical response is to

have an assembly for the kids anda town meeting where you bringin experts. Then the school yearends … and things return to nor-mal,” Salvatore said. “Suicideprevention should be like fire pre-vention: You just don’t worryabout it after a fire. It’s got to besomethingweworry about all thetime.”

EXPERTSContinued from Page 1A

“People go into another zone whenthey are truly suicidal and don’t nec-essarily communicate everything.They feel no one cares about me.When they feel that way they don’tthink anyone will understand ...”

Tony SalvatoreSuicide crisis counselor with Montgomery County

“One of the things with young people isthey are extremely present centered.They don’t have much of a future con-cept. Adults say, give it a year, it getsbetter. But a sixth- or seventh-graderisn’t able to give it a weekend.”

Dr. Philip RutterAssociate professor of psychology at Widener University


William Tucker of Avoca hugs his daughter Rhiannon, 11, while waiting his turn to comment during Wednesday night’s public forum onteen suicide and bullying held at Pittston Area High School.

If you or someone you know ishaving thoughts of suicide, thereare numerous organizations thatcan help.National Suicide Prevention Hot-line – a 24 hour crisis line thatprovides counseling services –800-273-TALK (8255).

H E L P I S AVA I L A B L E

Numerous websites provide in-formation on suicide and preven-tion. They include:• American Association of Suicid-ology: www.suicidology.org• American Foundation for Sui-cide Prevention: www.afsp.org• Society for the Prevention ofTeen Suicide: www.sptsusa.orgNational Center for the Preventionof Youth Suicide: www.suicid-ology.org/ncpys

M O R E S U I C I D EI N F O R M AT I O N

“Often-times ifthere is agreat dealof cover-age, people

who are struggling per-ceive it’s a way toachieve significance. Ifthey are not able toachieve significance inlife, they can achieve itin death.”

Dr. David RuddPsychologist at the University of

Utah who studies suicide

RISK FACTORS AND WARNING SIGNS OF SUICIDE


Talking or writing about suicideFeelings of hopelessness, helplessnessDramatic mood changes, including strong anger and rageChanges in personalityLosing interest in most activitiesChanges in sleeping or eating habitsGiving away prized possessions

Mental illness and/or substance abusePrevious suicide attemptsFirearms in the householdNon-suicidal self-injury (cutting self or other high risk behavior)Exposure to suicide of friend or family memberLow self-esteem

Warning signs include:

Risk factors include:


Two Pittston Area students light candles at the teen suicide vigilWednesday night.

User: rsheposh Time: 09-29-2012 22:27 Product: Times_Leader PubDate: 09-30-2012 Zone: Main Edition: Main_Run PageName: news_02 PageNo: 7 A Color: CMYK

C M Y K

THE TIMES LEADER www.timesleader.com WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012 PAGE 3A●

LOCAL➛ timesleader.com

WILKES-BARRE

Station ruling clarifiedThe Luzerne County Zoning Hear-

ing board in a legal filing Tuesdayclarified its Sept. 4 decision to denyUGI Energy Services’ application tobuild a natural gas compressor sta-tion in West Wyoming.UGI applied for a special exception

to build the station in an agriculturaldistrict and for a variance to build anassociated 150-foot communicationstower; the company has appealed theboard’s decision to the LuzerneCounty Court.The board said in the filing that

although about 44 citizens testifyingagainst the compressor and otherssupporting them offered no evidencethe station presents a direct healthdetriment or public safety risk, theirapprehension was significant enoughto warrant concern for the long-termhealth, safety and welfare of WestWyoming residents. The board alsoconsidered one of the objectivesstated in the county zoning ordi-nance, to improve health and reducepollution in the community, anddetermined UGI’s project could notmeet these objectives.The board further decided the

station did not meet the ordinance’sdefinition of a utility building andyard, UGI’s stated use in its applica-tion to build the station, and thatUGI did not show its communi-cations tower met all the zoningrequirements for a variance set orthat the need for the tower to behigher than the surrounding treecanopy was a hardship that could notbe rectified.

WILKES-BARRE

Chemistry, poetry will mixRoald Hoffmann, winner of the

1981Nobel Prize in chemistry, willread from his poetry in conjunctionwith his appearance delivering the2012 Catherine H. Bone Lecture inChemistry Thursday at Wilkes Uni-

versity.Hoffmann will

read his poetry at4:30 p.m. in theSalon of Kirby Hall,202 S. River St. Thereading is free and areception will fol-low.Hoffmann also

will deliver the Bone Lecture, “TheChemical Imagination At Work InVery Tight Places,” at 7 p.m. Thurs-day in Room 101 of Stark LearningCenter.In 1981 the Nobel Prize was award-

ed jointly to Hoffmann and KenichiFukui of Japan’s Kyoto University fortheir theories concerning the courseof chemical reactions.

WILKES-BARRE

Activist heads lectureNative American rights activist

Harvey Arden will deliver the Peaceand Justice Center’s Barbara SabolLecture at 7 tonight in Burke Audi-torium at King’s College. The pro-gram is co-sponsored by the college’seconomics department.Titled “The Broomstick Revolu-

tion,” Arden will focus on his collab-oration with Seneca Hawk ClanElder Edna Gordon in a call for agrassroots, peaceable revolution forjustice in American society andaround the world.For 23 years, Arden was a staff

writer at National Geographic Maga-zine. He is the author of “WisdomKeepers: Meetings with NativeAmerican Spiritual Elders,” “DreamKeepers: A Spirit-Journey into Abo-riginal Australia”, and “Seneca Wis-domkeeper Edna Gordon: A Broom-stick Revolution.”For info call 208-5900, ext. 5778.

PITTSTON

Post office to be renamedThe Pittston Post Office on Dock

Street will be renamed in honor ofstate police Trooper Joshua D. Mill-er. Miller died in the line of dutynear Tobyhanna on June 7, 2009.A special ceremony including

elected and postal officials andfriends will be held Wednesday, Oct,24 at 10 a.m. to unveil the officialplaque to be displayed at the PittstonPost Office.The bill, sponsored by U.S. Rep.

Lou Barletta, R-Hazleton, was signedinto law by the president on June 5,2012 and will officially dedicate thepostal facility as the Trooper JoshuaD. Miller Post Office Building.

N E W S I N B R I E F

HoffmanPHOTO BYMICHAEL GRACE

KINGSTON -- A teacher in the Hazle-ton Area School District was chargedTuesday with stealing $6,000 from anon-school youth basketball league.Christopher Walsh, 36, of Glenview

Avenue,Dallas, is accusedof stealing themoney from the Luzerne County Light-ning Youth Basketball League betweenOctober 2011 and July 2012.Walsh was one of the founders of the

league, a nonprofit organization formedlast year to provide area youths an op-portunity to play basketball outside ofschool.According to an arrest affidavit, two

other founders, Jack Robinson and Cur-tis Lloyd, became suspicious this sum-mer when they noticed the league’s ac-count had less money than expected.

Robinson repeatedlyaskedWalsh, who han-dled all finances, forbank records, but hewould not turn themover. Robinsonwent toKingston police, whoobtained a search war-rant for the records.

A detective discovered Walsh hadmade numerous electronic transfersfrom the league’s account to his personalaccounts totaling $6,219. Walsh alsomade unauthorized purchases with theleague’s debit card totaling $481.85. Hereimbursed the league $687.90, for a netloss of $6,012.95.Walsh was arraigned before District

Judge Paul Roberts on charges of theft,theft by failure tomake required disposi-tion of funds and criminal use of a com-

munication facility. He was released on$25,000 unsecured bail. He faces a pre-liminary hearing on Nov. 8.Walsh teaches seventh and eighth

grade social studies in theHazletonAreaSchool District. Francis Antonelli, dis-trict superintendent, said he learned ofthe charges Tuesday from members ofthe media.Antonelli said Walsh was placed on

paid leave, utilizing his personal days,until the district has an opportunity toreview the charges.“If these charges prove to be true, I’m

extremely disappointed in the eventssurrounding Mr. Walsh,” Antonelli said.“Until we have an opportunity to deter-mine how to proceed, he won’t be teach-ing in our school.”Walshdeclinedcomment ashe leftRo-

berts’ office.

Speaking after the hearing, Robinson,Lloyd and Peter Moses, one of theleague’s coaches, said they were disap-pointed by Walsh, who they said hascoached basketball for years.“When you coach youth sports the

number one priority has to be the kids.Chris Walsh’s job was to pay the bills forthis organization. Instead, he decided topay himself,” Moses said.The alleged theft had a significant im-

pact on the league, which struggled topay several vendors. It also had to cancelplans to send several teams that hadearned a birth to a national tournamentin Florida.“These kids had to sacrifice a lot of op-

portunities they would not have had tosacrifice if these thefts did not takeplace,” Lloyd said. “It’s a sad day for ourorganization.”Lloyd and Robinson said the league,

which plays from March through June,will continue next year.

Teacher charged in theft from league$6,000 gone from youth basketball groupBy TERRIE [email protected]

Walsh

WILKES-BARRE – Respon-ding to demand and parlayingits relationship with membersof the Congregation of HolyCross member schools, King’sCollege has announced a new3+2 engineering dual degreeprogram with the University of

Notre Dame.The program, which will be

offered to incoming freshmenstudents in 2013, will provideKing’s students with the oppor-tunity to takemath, science andother courses at King’s andtransfer to Notre Dame for twoyears to complete engineeringcourses in their chosen field.Upon completion, students

will receive both a bachelor ofscience from King’s College inphysics, chemistry or computerscience and a bachelor of sci-ence in one of six engineering

disciplines from Notre Dame.Students must earn at least

60 credits from Notre Dame toreceive the degree from theSouth Bend, Ind. university.“The program is an example

of King’s College responding toboth studentdemandandexter-nal needs,” the Rev. John Ryan,president of King’s College,said Tuesday. Ryan said pollsand comments from employersindicate that engineering posi-tions “are someof thehardest to

King’s, Notre Dame engineer dealDual degree would start withthree years at King’s, lasttwo at Notre Dame.

By ANDREWM. [email protected]

CLARK VAN ORDEN/THE TIMES LEADER

King’s College President the Rev. John Ryan on Tuesday morn-ing announced a new engineering dual degree program with theUniversity of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind.See KING’S, Page 10A

Although not officially on theagenda for October’s regularPittston Area School Boardmeeting, the recent tragic lossesof two students to suicide wason the minds of those in attend-ance Tuesday night.Michelle Kovach, Pittston res-

ident and parent of a former dis-trict student, addressed theboard and standing-room-onlycrowd on her family’s experienc-es with school bullying.The circumstances surround-

ing the suicides are currently be-ing investigated.No law enforce-ment or school officials havestated any direct connection be-tween bullying and the suicides.Still, a possible connection

has been addressed in the mediaand discussed in the communi-ty.Kovach claimed her daughter

was bullied as a Pittston Areastudent by teachers and otherstudents for nearly a decade be-fore she and her husband pulledher from the district. She wasenrolled in a state online charterschool prior to this, her ninth-grade school year.Kovach said she felt she was

forced towithdraw her daughterafter feeling that the district didnot adhere to its own anti-bully-ing policy following what Ko-vach said was a physical attackagainst her daughter.

P I T T S T O N A R E A

WomancriticizesbullyingpoliciesMother claims she andhusband pulled daughter fromdistrict because of bullying.

By B. GARRET ROGANTimes Leader Correspondent

See PITTSTON, Page 10A

Scores in state writing tests– long a bright spot for localschool districts – slid in 38 ofthe 53 local schools where thetests were administered thisyear, paralleling a decline inmath and reading tests.Results in science tests also

dipped in the majority ofschools, though on average im-provements outweighed de-clines.The math and reading tests

garner more publicity becausepoor results have real-worldconsequences. Federal law re-

quires the percentage of stu-dents scoring proficient or bet-ter to rise steadily until hitting100 percent in 2014, and mis-

sing the annual goals can leadto a state takeover. A new statelaw defines schools as “lowachieving” based on thosetests, a designation that, cou-pled with a tax credit scholar-ship program, gives studentsthe opportunity to transfer toanother school.Even in years when local

schools posted mediocre re-sults in math and reading,writing scores often gave themsomething to crow about. Onaverage, Luzerne Countyschool districts have routinelyhad higher percentages of stu-dents scoring proficient or bet-ter in writing than in math orreading.This year’s results closed

that gap. The percentage scor-

ing proficient or better in writ-ing dropped faster than de-clines in math in four local dis-tricts while writing droppedand math improved in threeothers.Even with the drop, local

schools are doing well. Of 53schools tested, 28 had at least70 percent of students scoringproficient or better. Two highschools, Dallas and Coughlin,top the chart with 94.2 percentand 92.2 percent respectively.Six other high schools areamong the top 15 performers.The science tests continue

to be the area’s Achilles’ heelamong state tests, officiallycalled the Pennsylvania Sys-

Writing scores drop at area schoolsState report follows declinein math and reading results.

By MARK [email protected]

90%80%70%60%50%40%30%20%10%0%

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Reading WritingMath Science


LOCAL TEST TRENDSOn average, the percentage of students inLuzerne County school districts scoringproficient or better has declined in threeout of four state tests.

See WRITING, Page 10A

WALKING THE LINE


Wilkes University is observing National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week. On Tuesday, students participa-ted in a walk from the Wilkes Greenway to Kirby Park and back. Participants received orange, long-sleeved

T-shirts and lunch.

User: ljones Time: 10-16-2012 23:36 Product: Times_Leader PubDate: 10-17-2012 Zone: Main Edition: Main_Run PageName: local_01 PageNo: 3 A Color: CMYK

ground electrical fixture work.The project’s general contractor,Killian Construction Co., also isbased in Missouri.“(If more work were awarded

to local contractors) you wouldhave money staying in the area,”Rozitski said. “Youwouldhave lo-cal people working here, localpeople staying here, even localpeople going to the casino tospend theirmoney. These peoplefrom Missouri, they’re not get-ting taxedhere and they’re takingtheir money back with them.”But Soper said Killian, the pro-

ject general contractor, has onlybetween three and five employ-ees working in Plains Township.In total, the hotel and event

center is expected to create 350

construction jobs.Soper said some outside firms

were awarded work when localbids were not competitive.“It’s a situation where a couple

of trades’bidswereextremelyhighrelative to all the bids, and we

wouldn’t be able to build the hotelat those prices,” Soper said.“There’s a couple that just weresimply too high; would not allowus to build the project, and I don’tthink that would be fair to us orNortheastern Pennsylvania when

we promised to build this project.”Soper noted that contract ne-

gotiations are ongoing.Rozitski said some Missouri

companies underbid local unioncontractors by close to$1million,and indicated those companiescould not perform work to thesame standards as local compa-nies at that price.“The labor that they get won’t

even come close to being as qual-ified as the local people, especial-ly the local union people,” hesaid. “We have certified appren-tice programs; I don’t think theyhave any.”

WARNEDContinued from Page 1A


Work has begun on the hotel and event center at the MoheganSun Casino. Unions claim work is not being kept local.

A sign leading to the construc-tion site at the Mohegan Sun.

C M Y K

PAGE 10A WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012 THE TIMES LEADER www.timesleader.com➛ N E W S

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fill and, as a result, students graduat-ing with engineering degrees are inhigh demand.”The initiative, which Notre Dame

has in placewith other colleges, wasfirst discussed earlier this year. Ryansaid Notre Dame “bent over back-wards to do it.”“In a nutshell, what we gain are

committed engineering studentsand a closer tie with another Con-gregation of Holy Cross institution,alongwith increased visibility in theeastern Pennsylvania/Mid-Atlanticarea. We view all of this as a posi-tive,” said Cathy Pieronek, NotreDame’s assistant dean for academicaffairs.King’s altered some of its prepara-

tion courses tomirror Notre Dame’srequirements, down to the sametextbooks in many cases. And itchanged what was a physics minorto a new major.While Ryan believes the opportu-

nitywill helpmakeKing’smoremar-ketable to students interested in anengineering degree and those whowant a degree from Notre Dame, hedoesn’t believe the school will be in-undated with takers.“I don’t thinkwe’re going tohave a

flood of students. The first year, amodestnumber.Maybeeight,”Ryansaid. Eventually he sees it growingto about 20 a year.While it’s the first dual degree pro-

gramKing’s will have in place, Ryansaid it’s not likely the last.“I think more is to come,” Ryan

said, noting that discussions are un-der way with universities abroad.

KING’SContinued from Page 3A

temof School Assessment, or PSSA.On average, Luzerne County dis-tricts consistently have poorer re-sults in science than in the otherthree exams. This year the averagewas 64.7 percent proficient or betterin science, compared to 75.9 percentin writing, 73.5 percent in math and71.2 percent in reading.There are high achievers in the

science tests: of 53 schools, 23hadatleast 80 percent of students scoringproficient or better; Ross Elemen-tary in Lake-Lehman School districthit 100 percent.The poorest science results were

posted by high schools: GreaterNanticoke Area, Hanover Area,Crestwood, Wyoming Valley West,Hazleton Area and all three Wilkes-Barre Area high schools were in thebottomnineamongLuzerneCountyschools, along with West Side Ca-reer and Technology Center.On the plus side,Wilkes-Barre Ar-

ea’s Coughlin High School showedthe biggest improvement, bumpingthe percentage scoring proficient orbetter in writing up from 36.7 per-cent to 47.8 percent.

WRITINGContinued from Page 3A

Leighton said the numberscould change by the end of theyear if employees decide to for-go a 3 percent pay hike and giveback three paid non-federal ho-lidays, saving the city an esti-mated half-million dollars.Borum said he didn’t bring

the issue of the wage freeze upMonday night because he hasnot heard of any city unionsagreeable to the giveback.“Until the others do, we’re

not going to discuss it,” Borumsaid.

Layoffs, restructuringDrew McLaughlin, the city’s

administrative coordinator,said there are no immediate lay-offs planned. But if the unionsdo not accept the concessionsproposed, “restructuring of thecity workforce will be unavoid-able.”In his budget address, Leight-

on said all city employees willbe affected by the cuts. “I havesaid from day one that anyonewho collects a city paycheckwill share in the sacrifice,” hesaid. “No one is exempt.”McLaughlin said city officials

have spoken with Borum, buthave not yet heard back fromthe other unions regardingtheir position on concessions.Four city employees contact-

ed by The Times Leader onTuesday said they believe theconcessions will be rejected.The employees spoke on condi-tion theynotbe identifiedoutoffear of retaliation.Each of the employees ex-

pressed frustration over whatthey believe to be wastefulspending by Leighton’s admin-istration. They’re also con-cerned they would see a doublefinancial hit in the form of thetax increase and wage freeze.“He’s raising taxes and ser-

vice fees,” said one employee, a

police officer. “I’m going tospend almost another $200 ayear and they wantme to take apay freeze and give up holi-days.”

Employees weigh inThree other employees, all

members of the LaborersUnion, said they believe Leight-on’s administrative staff isbloated and cuts should bemade there first before going torank-and-file union members.“Youhave salaries that are ab-

surd,” said one employee.“You’re paying some of thesepeople $80,000. I think it’s crazythat you’re going to take the lowman on the pole.”“There’s so much dead

weight,” said another employ-ee. “It’s very frustrating.”Several of the employees said

they’re also upset that Leightonseems to be putting the blamefor the city’s financial problemson union members.“If the unions don’t give in to

his concession, he’ll spin it offnegatively to the public tomakeit look like we’re being greedy,”said the police officer.If there are going to be lay-

offs, the employees said they’rehopeful some of the more se-nior staff members who areclose to retirement will volun-teer.“There are people here 30 or

35 years and they’re 60 yearsold. It’s time to move on,” saidone Laborer’s Union employee.Mike Bilski, president of Lo-

cal 104 of the International As-sociation of Fire Fighters, saidseveralmembers are looking in-to the retirement package orvoluntary layoff.“We have guys interested in

retiring or taking a layoff,” Bil-ski said. “I don’t know the exactnumber, but two are definitelyretiring and a bunch are lookinginto it. They’ve asked for thecalculations.”Leaders of the city’s other

two unions, Teamsters Local401 and the Police BenevolentAssociation, did not returnphone messages.

TALKContinued from Page 1A

ers allowing them to live in pri-vately owned rental units, Yar-mel said.Federal officials added the res-

ident board requirement to in-volve participants in the admin-istration, operation andmanage-ment of facilities and services,according to a publication of theU.S.DepartmentofHousingandUrban Development,or HUD.Lisa Wolfe, a HUD

public affairs officer,said her agency hadquestioned the au-thority in the pastabout its failure tomeet the regulatoryrequirement. Author-ity officials told HUDthey had informedcommissioners of themandate, and com-missioners “declinedto appoint” a residentmember, she said.Wolfe endorsed the

current administra-tion’s willingness tocorrect the deficiencyand said there will beno sanctions against the author-ity for its past noncompliance.McClosky Houck questions

why the requirement wasn’tcommunicated to council in Ja-nuary, when information aboutbylaws and board members wasrequested from all outside coun-ty boards.She has been spearheading

council’s efforts to corral andpost data about these boards onthe county website.McClosky Houck also wants

to knowwhat efforts weremadeby Fagula to obtain compliancein the past. An authority seat is

up for renewal every year, shesaid.“It’s not like the county didn’t

have a chance to correct this. Ev-ery single year there was an op-portunity to name a resident tothat board,” she said.Fagula was out of the area on

authority business Tuesday andunavailable for comment, au-thority representatives said.Council is fillingtheseatofMi-

chael Rozitski and will ask theauthority to figure out a way tonotify and seek applications

from interested resi-dents. Citizens al-ready interviewedfor the opening can’tbe considered untilanother seat be-comes available,council memberssaid.Citizens Lucille

Maziarz, Louis F.Goeringer, RobertSaxe and John Bolinalso serve on theboard.Council also has

requested the arti-clesof incorporationfor the housing au-thority, which havenot been supplied todate,McGinleysaid.

This is the second issue that’srecently surfaced over themake-up of county boards. The countydistrict attorney and managerare seeking a court ruling thatcould remove four of the fivecountyFloodProtectionAuthor-ity members.Council had unsuccessfully

asked the four flood authoritymembers to give up their seatsbecause the state never ap-proved pre-home rule article ofincorporation changes amend-ing the board’s structure.A judge will decide whether

the four are eligible to serve.

VIOLATEContinued from Page 1A

“It’s not likethe countydidn’t have achance to cor-rect this. Ev-ery single yearthere was anopportunity toname a resi-dent to thatboard.”

Linda McCloskyHouck

County Council ViceChairwomanShe expressed a feeling of

personal guilt in response tothe suicides, claiming that ifshe had raised more aware-ness during her daughter’sstruggles, she might have insome way prevented future se-vere bullying.In response to Kovach’s

pointed criticisms, new Dis-trict Superintendent MichaelGarzella reiterated that thereis a zero-tolerance policyagainst bullying and encour-aged harmed students andwitnesses to come forward sothat all appropriate legal ac-tion can be taken against bul-lies.

He also pointed out that fu-ture responses to these typesof issues will be “proactive”and “countywide” as the prob-lem is hardly relegated to Pitt-ston Area. He went on to de-tail an anti-bullying campaignfeaturing public speakers, ex-pert testimony and posters.This only seemed to inflame

Kovach, who said “the stu-dents think the speakers andthe posters are a joke.” Shethen restated her claim thatthe only way to tackle the is-sue was to have the anti-bully-ing policies addressed asstrictly as possible.

Also Tuesday, the board ap-pointed special counsel to in-vestigate and determinewhether or not a teachershould be fired after an allega-tion of misconduct was filed.The board unanimously ap-

proved a resolution to hire at-torney Mark C. Walsh at anhourly rate of $150 per hour toinvestigate “whether dismiss-al proceedings should be initi-ated” against the teacher and,if so, “to prosecute the chargesbefore the board” at a hearing.It was obvious themovewas

in response to a teacher tellinga student “It’s day 13 and Ican’t stand you already.” Theexchange was recorded on astudent’s cellphone. The un-named teacher was formallyreprimanded according tounion contract.

PITTSTONContinued from Page 3A

Pittston Area School Board willhold a regular meeting at 7 p.m.Tuesday, Nov. 20.

W H AT ’ S N E X T

THE FACTS:What Obama didn’t mention isthat much of themoney that has been paying forthewarsinIraqandAfghanistanwasborrowed.Infact, the government borrows nearly 40 cents foreverydollar itspends.Thususingmoneythathadbeen earmarked for wars to build schools and in-frastructurewould involveevenmoreborrowing,adding to the federal deficit.

•••ROMNEY: “I know he keeps saying, ‘Youwant

totakeDetroitbankrupt.’Well, thepresidenttookDetroitbankrupt.YoutookGeneralMotorsbank-rupt. You took Chrysler bankrupt. So when yousay that I wanted to take the auto industry bank-rupt,youactuallydid.AndIthinkit’s importanttoknow that that was a process that was necessarytoget those companies backon their feet, so theycould start hiringmore people. Thatwas precise-lywhat I recommendedandultimatelywhathap-pened.”THE FACTS:That’s not precisely what he rec-

ommended. The restructuring unfolded with ahuge government bailout, a critical differencefrom Romney’s recommended path. He wantedprivate financing to rescue the automakers inbankruptcy. Few think the private sector, rakedthenbythefinancialcrisis,wouldhavenursedDe-troit back to healthwithout amassive infusion offederal aid. In late 2008, banks weren’t makingmany loans, much less to companies that wereout of cash.

•••OBAMA: “Andwhat Iwant todo isbuildon the

5 million jobs that we’ve created over the last 30months in the private sector alone.”THEFACTS:As he has done before, Obama is

cherry-picking his numbers tomake them soundbetterthantheyreallyare.Heignoresthefactthatpublic-sector job losses have dragged down over-all job creation. Also, he chooses just to mentionthe past 30 months. That ignores job losses dur-ing his presidency up until that point. Accordingto the Labor Department, about 4.5million totaljobs have been created over the past 30 months.Butsome4.3millionjobswerelostduringtheear-lier months of his administration. At this point,Obama is a net job creator, but onlymarginally.

FACT CHECKContinued from Page 1A

circumstances - reduce theshare that’s being paid by thehighest-income taxpayers,” hesaid.Obama responded with a

multi-pronged attack, invokinghis rival’s14percent taxburden -“when a lot of you are payingmuch higher” - and recalling hispledge toRepublicans in thepri-mary phase of the campaignthat hewould also seek to lowertaxes on the top 1percent. And,Obama said, Romney’s budgetmath “doesn’t add up.”“When he’s asked, how are

you going to do it, which deduc-tions, which loopholes are yougoing to close, he can’t tell you,”Obama said. “We haven’t heardfrom the governor any specifics,beyond Big Bird and eliminat-ing funding for Planned Parent-hood, in terms of how he paysfor that.”Then he went one step fur-

ther, invoking Romney’s back-ground as “a very successful in-

vestor.”“If somebody came to you,

Governor, with a plan that said,here; I want to spend $7 or $8trillion, and then we’re going topay for it, but we can’t tell youuntil maybe after the electionhow we’re going to do it, youwouldn’t have taken such asketchy deal. And neithershould you, the American peo-ple,” Obama said.Romney then also leaned on

his resume, saying throughouthis career - as a businessman,running the Olympics, and asgovernor of Massachusetts, healways balanced the budget.And Obama’s record is one that“puts us on a road to Greece.”“When we’re talking about

math that doesn’t add up, howabout $4 trillion of deficits overthe last four years, 5 trillion,” hesaid. “We have a president talk-ing about someone’s plan in away that’s completely foreign towhat my real plan is, and thenwe have his own record, whichis we have four consecutiveyears where he said, when hewas running for office, he couldcut the deficit in half. Instead,

he’s doubled it.”For bothmen, the attack lines

reprised themes that their cam-paigns have stressed in advertis-ing that has saturated the air-waves in battleground states.Obama used another line famil-iar from his ads also immediate-ly, pivoting from a questionabout job prospects for collegestudents to talk aboutRomney’sopposition to the bailout of theauto industry in 2009. “Wewould have lost a million jobs,”under Romney’s approach, hesaid.The sharply worded ex-

changes bore out pre-debatepredictions that Obama wouldmore aggressively challengeRomney in this debate than hehad in the first one. After a dis-tinctly lackluster performancein the first debate, which leftDemocrats demoralized, Oba-ma was under great pressure totry to create a turnaround in thesecond encounter.As thedebatebecameincreas-

ingly heated, moderator CandyCrowleyseveral timeshad toad-monish the candidates to stayon topic.

CLASHContinued from Page 1A

User: ljones Time: 10-16-2012 23:44 Product: Times_Leader PubDate: 10-17-2012 Zone: Main Edition: Main_Run PageName: news_03 PageNo: 10 A Color: CMYK

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