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THINGSYOUNEEDTOKNOWTHISWEEK
>>NIGHTOFTHENINJA:
You survived “Talk Like aPirate Day.” You lived through “National Jelly Doughnut Day.”Now, prepare yourself for the next wave of superfluous inventedholidays: Today is “International Ninja Day.” It’s a day for you tochannel your “inner ninja” and show off whatever ninja skillsyou possess.If that means hiding in a plant at the office andleaping out and scaring co-workers, then go for it. Don’t expectto be thought normal, but go for it.
>>FORYOURVIEWINGPLEASURE:
Time waswhen Christmas specials ran once a year, and watching theannual showings of our favorites was an event. Now, thanks tothat wonderful invention we call cable TV, you can watch theseholiday shows over, and over, and over …. and over again. Casein point, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” airs tonight at 8 on ABC. Itwill be back. The1984 version of “A Christmas Carol,” starringGeorge C. Scott, is on AMC tonight at 8 AND10:30. Same thingon Tuesday night. Same Scrooge time, sameScrooge channel. And ABC Family willfeature “The Year Without a Santa Claus”at 9 p.m. Thursday. And at 6 p.m. Friday.And it too will be back before Dec. 25.
>>GAMETIME:
Fans of the AFC Northwill want to tune in to the NFL Network thisThursday night at 8 to catch the ClevelandBrowns and Pittsburgh Steelers. The once bitterrivalry has been predominantly one-sided inrecent years with Pittsburgh getting almost allthe wins. Although Cleveland did win in 2009, you’dhave to go back to 2003 to find another Brownsvictory. But, chin up, Cleveland fans. The Browns didhave the better of the rivalry in the1950s.
>>SUGARPLUMFAIRYTIME:
Since1892, Tchaikov-sky’s “Nutcracker Ballet” has been a holiday performance lovedby millions worldwide. The Scranton Civic Ballet Company hasn’tbeen around THAT long, but it has been presenting the Christ-mas classic for 25 years. And it will be doing it again this Fridayat 7:30 p.m. at the Scranton Cultural Center. Which, luckily,happens to be located in Scranton, so the name fits nicely. Can’tmake Friday’s show? There will be another one at 2 p.m. Sunday.
>>VROOOOOM:
After a week’s worth of holiday highlights,what better way to relax than with a weekend full of loud motor-cycle noises. The AMA Arenacross Series will be in-vading the Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday,Saturday and Sunday. Theprofessionals have thecourse Friday and Saturdaynights starting at 7. And at10 a.m. Sunday the amateursget their turn. Ticket prices varyper event, and you can get themany number of ways. Go towww.mohegansunarenapa-.com for more info.
C M Y K
WILKES-BARRE, PA MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011 50¢
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NANTICOKE If the Luzerne County Community College Board of Trustees ap-provesacontractrenewalforPresidentTho-mas Leary today, it could prove to be a con-troversialconclusiontoacontroversialyear.ForLCCC,2011beganwithareportbytheAuditor General’s Office that determinedformer Associate Dean Peter Paul Moseshadstolenatleast$104,000incashfromthecollege cafeteria from 2004 through 2006.Moses was fired in 2008 after discovery of thetheftandwasfoundguiltyincourt,butatthe time he had been charged with stealing less than $18,000. The news got worse in June, when TheMiddle States Commission on Higher Edu-cation put LCCC on probation for failing tosufficiently prove it was meeting accredita-tion standards. Accreditation is needed toget state and federal subsidies.LCCC remains accredited, and Leary haspredicted probation will be lifted after thecollegeprovidesrequestedevidence to the commis-sion. Within weeks after go-ing on probation, LCCCaxed five managementposts in response to theloss of $1.2 million in statemoney. Gov. Tom Corbettslashed education spending, refusing tomakeupforfederalstimulusmoneythathadhelpedschooldistrictsandcollegesthroughthe past two years. The cuts were
LCCC vote caps rocky year
President’s contract renewal on agenda 
ByMARKGUYDISH
 mguydish@timesleader.com
Leary
SeeLCCC,Page14A
TIGERROARSBACKTOWIN
Twoyearsafter
hispersonal life and golf careercame crashing down, TigerWoods is a winner again.One shot behind with twoholes to play, Woods closedwith clutch birdie puttsSunday to win the ChevronWorld Challenge by one shotover former Mas-ters cham-pion ZachJohnson.It was the83rd titleworldwidefor Woods,but his firstsince theAustralianMasters onNov.15,2009.
1B
SPORTSSHOWCASE
NFL
PACKERS38N.Y.GIANTS35STEELERS35BENGALS7N.Y.JETS34REDSKINS19CARDINALS19COWBOYS13PATRIOTS31COLTS24
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 09815 10011
KINGSTON -- A LuzerneCounty agency likely will beamong the first -- if not the very first--inNortheasternPennsylva-nia to switch to compressed nat-uralgastofuelafleetofvehicles.Stanley Strelish, executive di-rector of the Luzerne County  Transportation Authority, toldthe authority board last weekthat he hasbeen in discus-sions with UGIPenn NaturalGas aboutbuilding a com-pressed naturalgas (CNG) fill-ing station inForty Fort tofuelafleetofabout60vansaftera transportation agency consolida-tion takes place in the county next year.Plans are in the works for theLCTAtoconsolidatewiththeLu-zerne/WyomingCountiesTrans-portationDepartmentandHazle-ton Public Transit. The Pennsyl- vania Department of Transporta-tionispushingforsmallertransitsystems to consolidate. TheLCTArunspublicbusser- viceinnorthernLuzerneCounty,HPT runs public bus service insouthern Luzerne County, andL/WCTD provides para-transitservice to the elderly, childrenand youth services, and special-needs persons throughout Lu-zerne and Wyoming counties. The L/WCTD has about 60 vans that are in poor shape and will need to be replaced over anapproximately eight-year period,Strelish said. After researching theoptionsanddiscussingitwithUGI representatives, Strelishsaiditmakesthemostsensetogo with CNG vans.According to the U.S. Depart-ment of Energy, CNG has a highoctanerating andexcellentprop-erties for spark-ignited internalcombustion engines. It is non-toxic, non-corrosive and non-car-cinogenic and presents no threatto soil, surface water or ground- water.“It’s definitely the way to go. It will present a significant savingsto the authority,Strelish said.“The initial cost of the vehiclesmay be a little higher, but the
LCTA iseyeingnaturalgas vans
Official says agency in talkswith utility to install CNGfilling station in Forty Fort.
BySTEVEMOCARSK
 smocarsky@timesleader.com
Strelish
SeeLCTA,Page14A
SANTA TIME COMES A BIT EARLY FOR THIS GROUP
FRED ADAMS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER
C
hildren of the day care and nursery school at the Wilkes-Barre YMCA were greeted Sunday by a very jolly Ole St.Nick at the annual Christmas Party. Santa gave out presents, all of which were bought by community members. Theparty’s sponsors were M&T Bank, Wilkes University pharmacy students, Surgical Specialists, Rodano’s and the Y.
 WASHINGTON Facing bankruptcy, the U.S. Postal Ser- vice is pushing ahead with un-precedented cuts to first-classmailnextspringthatwillslowde-liveryand,forthefirsttimein40 years, eliminate the chance forstampedletterstoarrivethenextday. The estimated $3 billion in re-ductions, to be announced inbroaderdetailtoday,arepartof wide-ranging effort by the cash-strappedPostalServicetoquickly trim costs, seeing no immediatehelpfromCongress. The changes would provideshort-term relief, but ultimately could prove counterproductive,pushing more of America’s busi-ness onto the Internet. Thecouldsloweverythingfromcheckpayments to Netflix’s DVDs-by-mail,addcoststomail-orderpre-scription drugs and threaten theexistence of newspapers andtime-sensitivemagazinesdeliver-ed by postal carrier to far-flung suburbanandruralcommunities. Thatbirthdaycardmailedfirst-class to Mom also could arrive a day or two late, if people don’tplanahead.“It’sapotentiallymajorchange,butIdon’tthinkconsumersarefo-cused on it and it won’t registeruntiltheservicegoesaway,saidJim Corridore, analyst with S&PCapital IQ, who tracks the ship-ping industry. “Over time, to theextentthecustomerserviceexpe-rience gets worse, it will only in-creasetheshiftawayfrommailtoalternatives.There’salmostnoth-ing you can’t do online that youcandobymail.
Postal cuts to slow delivery of 1st-class mail
U.S. Postal Service willannounce estimated $3billion in reductions today.
ByHOPEYE
 Associated Press
SeeMAIL,Page14A
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PAGE 2A MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011 THE TIMES LEADER www.timesleader.com
Barnard,RalphMazzanti,EvelynMcKelvey,ElizabethPokorny,MaryAnnSearfoss,RichardSwantkowski,AlanWiegand,Edward
OBITUARIES
Page 8A
BUILDINGTRUST
The Times Leader strives tocorrect errors, clarify storiesand update them promptly.Corrections will appear in thisspot. If you have informationto help us correct an inaccu-racy or cover an issue morethoroughly, call the newsroomat 829-7242.
One player matched all fivewinning numbers drawn inSunday’s “PennsylvaniaCash 5” game and will win a jackpot worth $342,260.Lottery officials said 98players matched four num-bers and won $230.50 each;3,789 players matched threenumbers and won $10 each;and 43,925 players matchedtwo numbers and won $1each.
None of the tickets soldfor the Powerball gameSaturday evening matchedall six numbers drawn, whichwere:
05-18-33-43-45
Powerball:
8
Power Play:
3
Players matching all fivenumbers and the Powerballwould have won or sharedthe $40 million jackpot. Theprize goes to an estimated$52 million for Wednesday.Tickets that match thefirst five numbers, but missthe Powerball, win$200,000 each, and therewere three of those. Theywere sold in: Florida(2) andMissouri(1).There were no Power PlayMatch 5 winners.
LOTTERY
MIDDAYDRAWING
DAILY NUMBER –
7-2-8
BIG 4 –
4-6-2-2
QUINTO -
4-7-3-3-2
TREASURE HUNT
13-20-21-26-29NIGHTLYDRAWING
DAILY NUMBER -
1-6-8
BIG 4 -
8-4-4-5
QUINTO -
5-6-8-4-5
CASH 5
10-17-19-25-38
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Issue No. 2011-339
HAZLETON – The city’s pro-posed 2012 budget has been thesubject of some debate as City Council prepares to vote on the$4.06 million spending plan that wouldincreasepropertytaxesby about14 percent.Amongthecatalystsofthatde-bate is Councilman Jack Mun-die’s belief that council plans tosell the water company in orderto satisfy future anticipated def-icits.MayorJosephYannuzzihasre-cently stated he is aware of nosuch plan, and CouncilwomanKarin Cabell agrees with him.Cabell said she has no knowl-edge of any such plan, and thatcouncil has never formally or in-formally discussed it.“What I am educated on and will gladly comment on is thebudget,” said Cabell, indicating taxincreasesreflectedinthepre-sentproposedbudgetarereason-able and necessary. The proposed budget wouldincreasethecityrealestatetaxto3.23 mills from the current 2.83mills. One mill equals $1 in taxforevery$1,000ofassessedvalueon a property. The budget will be presentedfor its second reading on Wednesday.Answering Mundie’s voicedconcern that the city is spending moneyunnecessarily,Cabellsaidincreases in health insurance,contractual obligations tounions, rising fuel costs and therising cost of doing businesshave made a tax increases neces-sary.“I may also add our tax reve-nueshavedecreased,ourpopula-tion increased, and with that in-creasearecord-breakingneedforservices, hence, causing the per-fect storm,” Cabell said, noting the total increase in cost to resi-dents would be approximately $32 per year.Cabell said council has beenable to increase revenues for po-lice and code enforcement with-out any additional increase tocity residents.“Wehavebeenabletodothesetwo things through senior retire-mentsonthepoliceforce,aswellasadditionalstatefundingforanofficer and cruiser, via their autotheft task force. We were able toincrease the amount of code offi-cers directly from the savings of no longer having a city engineer.By approaching the new hires inthis manner, we have been ableto keep the hiring’s deficit neu-tral.” said Cabell.At the heart of that discussionisaseemingconflictbetweenthecity’sabilitytopayitsbillsanditscitizensabilitytopaytheirtaxes.Mundie believes the city mustcome up with a solution that isequitable to both the city and itsresidents.Addingtocityconcernsisthat,in 2013, the city will be approxi-mately $600,000 shy of revenuefrom the 2012 budget becauseHazleton City Properties will nolongerbepayingthatinstallmentamountforpurchasinglandfromthe city.Mundiesaidheisstillawaitinsome numbers from the city ad-ministrator and will further clar-ify his position at the next read-ing of the proposed budget. The mayor believes he andcouncil should focus on the 2012budget at this time, before ad-dressing these projected con-cerns for 2013. However, he alsoemphasized he is working withPennsylvania Economy Leaguein order to minimize excessivetaxburdenonresidentsinthefu-ture.Yannuzzi said he is not only crafting a budget, but also trying to improve the quality of life forcity residents.
Tax hike in Hazleton budget is debated
The $4.06M budget will bepresented for its secondreading on Wednesday.
ByGERIGIBBONS 
Times Leader Correspondent
PLAINSTWP.
– Police saidJoel Rolon-Arroyo of Old Forgefaces charges of driving underthe influence and possession of marijuana as the result of a traffic stop.Police said he was clockedtraveling110 mph in a posted 55mph zone while traveling on I-81south. Police said the investigat-ing officer who stopped Rolon-Arroyo’s vehicle said he observ-ed a suspected marijuana ciga-rette and open containers of beer in plain view. The man was taken into cus-tody for alleged DUI and posses-sion of marijuana, police said.He was taken to Wilkes-BarreGeneral Hospital, where heconsented to a blood test. Policesaid charges are pending receiptof the test results.
YATESVILLE
– Police saidthey arrested three men onSaturday afternoon in the theftof metal from Lispi’s Junkyardon Pittston Avenue in Yatesville.Arrested were George Angelo Timko, 32, of Simpson, AllenElbert Watson, 38, of Carbon-dale, and Edward James Mar-cinkevich, 40, of Old Forge.Police said they were ar-raigned before Magisterial Dis-trict Judge Michael Dotzel oncharges of theft, conspiracy tocommit theft, receiving stolenproperty, and criminal trespass. Watson was also charged withpossession of drug parapherna-lia, police said.All three were committed toLuzerne County prison for thelack of $20,000 bail each.
SUGARLOAF
– An unknown vehicle struck a utility pole atstate Route 487 at Fritz HillRoad early Sunday.Anyone with informationshould contact PSP Bloomsburg at 387-4261.
HANOVERTWP
.
– Policesaid they are investigating a burglary that occurred over-night Saturday into Sunday atthe Star Mini Mart, South MainStreet, Lee Park.Police said entry was gainedby cutting a hole in the roof andan undetermined amount of money was taken from an un-locked safe. The person then left throughthe same roof hole.Police said the robber is be-lieved to be a male of unknownrace, wearing dark-colored skimask with a thin build.He was believed to be wear-ing a zip-up sweatshirt with a large skull decal on the front.
HAZLETON
– At around10:45 p.m. Saturday, policeresponded to the area of 8th andAlter streets on a report of a gunshot.Police said there were noreported injuries or damage.Anyone with information isasked to call city police at 459-4940.
POLICE BLOTTER
LOS ANGELES — The week-end following the long Thanks-giving holiday is traditionally sluggish for the film business —and this year was no exception. With no new movies opening nationwide, audiences shiedaway from the multiplex afterheading there in droves over tur-keyday.Asaresult,itwasthesec-ond-slowest moviegoing week-end of the year, with ticket re-ceipts totaling only $82 million,according to data compiled by Hollywood.com.“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn—Part1”claimedtheNo.1spotattheboxofficeforthethirdconsecutive weekend, again be-sting “The Muppets.” The vampire film pulled in$16.9 million, according to an es-timate from distributor SummitEntertainment. After 17 days intheaters, the fourth installmentin the series has grossed an im-pressive $247.3 million in NorthAmerica.Still,that’sslightlylow-er than the $255.4 million thethird “Twilight” film, “NewMoon,” grossed during the sametime period in 2009.“I think our audience hasgrownalittlebitolder,andthere-fore their interests have changed— they may be shopping or do-ing other things they weren’t a  year and a half ago,” the studio’sDomestic Distribution PresidentRichie Fay said of the differencebetween the two “Twilightfilms. “That audience was also a big repeat audience, so maybethis time they’ve only seen themovie once, when they wouldhave seen it 4
 1
 ⁄  
2
 times before.”Heading into the weekend, it was expected that Walt Disney Studios“The Muppets” wouldbe able to outsell “Breaking Dawn.”Despitebeingbelovedby critics and moviegoers, word-of-mouthonthekid-friendlypicture was not strong enough to propelittothetopspot.Instead,themo- vie came in far below expecta-tionswith$11.2million,bringinits overall total to $56.1 millionsinceitsopeningoverThanksgiv-ing.Dave Hollis, Disney’s execu-tive vice president of distribu-tion,saidhebelievesthefilmisinthe process of “transitioning intobeing a family film” after playing to a large contingent of nostalgicadultslastweekend.(Roughly65percentofthecrowdwhosawthemovie upon its debut last week-end was over the age of18.)“Last weekend, we had that white-hot core of ’Muppets’ fanscome out en masse,” Hollis said.“The kind of business we’re do-ing right now is going to mirrorourperformancesonfamilyfilms— meaning it’s poised to havestrong legs over time.”Compared with their competi-tion, “Hugo” and “Arthur Christ-mashad relatively modestdrops. Martin Scorsese’s 3-D“Hugo” fell 33 percent to $7.6million, while “Arthur Christ-mas,” an animated 3-D holiday tale,sawreceiptsdrop39percentto $7.4 million.
‘Twilight’ still brightfor dim film weekend
Audiences stayed away fromthe multiplex with no newmovies opening nationwide.
ByAMYKAUFMAN 
 Los Angeles Times
 WASHINGTON PresidentBarack Obama, in lauding theactors, musicians and others re-ceiving Kennedy Center HonorsSunday night, also was looking for advice.“Everybody likes him,” Oba-ma said of Yo-Yo Ma, one of theseveral artists honored. “You’vegot to give me some tips.”Obama noted that the cellisthas appeared on Sesame Streetand said, “I thought about ask-ing him to go talk to Congress.”SecretaryofStateHillaryRod-ham Clinton was home for lessthan 36 hours between diplo-matic travels but found time tohonor the artists.On Saturday night, betweenher historic visit to MyanmarandatriptoGermanytodiscussAfghanistan’s future, Clintonhosted a dinner for some big namesfromBroadway,jazz,pop,classical music and Hollywood.Ma, Barbara Cook, Neil Dia-mond, Sonny Rollins and MerylStreepalsoweresalutedbyOba-ma and their fellow artists withtributeperformancesattheKen-nedy Center for the Performing Arts.After visiting the isolatedSoutheast Asian country alsoknown as Burma, Clinton saidsuchU.S.artistshaveworldwideinfluencebyusingtheirfreedomof creativity and expression.“You may not know it, butsomewhere in a little tiny roomin Burma or even in North Ko-rea, someone is desperately try-ing to hear you or to see you, toexperience you,” Clinton toldthecrowd.“Andiftheyarelucky enough to make that connec-tion, it can literally change livesand countries.”Entertainers who have gath-ered for the event include Ste-phen Colbert, Kevin Kline, Tra-ceyUllman,AnneHathawayandothers.Asurpriselineupofstars will perform as part of the na-tion’s highest honor for those who have defined American cul-ture through the arts.CBS will broadcast the showon Dec. 27.Drawing one of the loudestlaughs of the evening, Obama made passing reference to Dia-mond’s 70s-era wardrobe, say-ing, “Now, his shirts aren’t asflashyastheyusedtobe.Inotice you’rebuttonedupallthewaytothe top.”Diamond said it’s a “great co-incidence”thathisworkisbeinhonored in a show hosted by Caroline Kennedy. The son“SweetCaroline”isastoryabouthe and his former wife, but thename is Kennedy’s, he said onthe red carpet.“I’m going to have to thankher for that,” he said.Obama said all the honoreesfelt the need to express them-selves and share it.“That’swhywedance,evenif,as Michelle says, I look silly do-ing it,” he added to laughter.Streep, 62, has made morethan45moviesandwontwoOs-cars in a career spanning Shak-espearetoABBAwiththemovie“Mamma Mia!” For her part,Streep said she is in awe of theaccolades.“Look where we are, look who’s here,Streep said. “It’soverwhelming. I feel very proud.”Lionel Richie told the AP thathe got into the music businessbecause he wanted to be Dia-mond.“He’s a great storyteller,” Ri-chie said, as with the hit single“America.” “He’s not an acrobat-ic singer. Basically he told thestory in a very simple voice.”Ma, one of the best-knownclassical musicians, has playedthe cello since he was 4. Now at56, he is hailed as a musical am-bassador whose work hasspannedstylesaroundtheworldfrom Bluegrass to sounds fromtheSilkRoad.Hisstarpowerhasdrawn fans including Colbert,conductor John Williams andeven Elmo from “SesameStreet.”Cook,84,madeherBroadway debut in 1951 and later had herbreakthrough in Leonard Bern-stein’s musical version of Vol-taire’s “Candide.” She toppedthat performance as Marian theLibrarian in 1957’s hit musical“TheMusicMan,”forwhichshe won a Tony Award.Glenn Close called Cook aniconforanyonewhohasworkedon Broadway, adding that Cook went on to a successful solo ca-reer and is still performing.Rollins,81,isajazzsaxophon-istwhohassharedthestagewithMilesDavisandDizzyGillespie,among others. He is one of thelast surviving giants from thegolden era of jazz.“America is the home of jazz.It’s what we started,” he said.“By the way, hip hop music is a part of jazz, believe it or not.”
AP PHOTO
PresidentBarackObamamakesremarksatareceptionSundayfortherecipientsofthe2011Ken-nedyCenterHonorsintheEastRoomoftheWhiteHouseinWashington.
Obama helps laud 5
President gets laughs duringKennedy Center Honorsceremony for artists.
ByBRETTZONGKER 
 Associated Press
AP PHOTO
SingerBarbaraCook,left,blowsakisstoPresidentObama,notpictured,duringhisremarks.NexttoCookisfellow2011Kenne-dyCenterHonorsrecipient,singerandsongwriterNeilDiamond.
 
C M Y K
THE TIMES LEADER www.timesleader.com MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011 PAGE 3A
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 timesleader.com
 
 WILKES-BARRE
Etruscan Press gets grant
E
truscan Press, based at WilkesUniversity, will receive a $7,500grant from the National Endowmentfor the Arts to support marketing campaigns to expand readership forthe literary works it publishes. Thisis one of 863 grants awarded anddistributed as part of the NEA’s Art Works initiative.Etruscan Press’s activities fundedby the grant will include creating aninnovative web-based peer-mentor-ship program connecting authorsdirectly to readers and other authors;expanding readership via socialmedia; and bringing books to under-served populations through corpo-rate connections and sponsorshipprograms.
 WILKES-BARRE
Raffle benefits charity
 The Building Industry Associationhas announced that all proceedsfrom the Outdoor Theme ProjectRaffle will benefit the Ronald McDo-nald House of Scranton. The 2012 Builders Expo will beMarch 2, 3 and 4 at the109th Armo-ry and will feature many eventsalong with many builders, remod-elers and services.For information, call the BIA Of-fice at 287-3331.
 WEST PITTSTON
Last day for pickup set
 West Pittston Borough announcesthat the last day for pickup of flooddebris will be Dec. 31.Eligible debris, as per FEMA gui-delines, shall consist of only thefollowing: disaster generated debrisand materials damaged as a result of the flooding. Ineligible debris in-clude the following: reconstructiondebris consisting of materials used inthe reconstruction of disaster-dam-aged improved property and con-crete slabs or foundations-on-grade.All eligible flood debris placed atthe curb must not be placed together with regular household garbage andcardboard. Anyone having cardboardshould place the cardboard separate-ly and contact the Public WorksBuilding at 655-7786 to have itpicked up by the Public Works De-partment.
HUGHESTOWN
Christmas events listed
 The Hughestown Hose Co. willhost its annual Breakfast with Santa at the first station banquet Hall Dec.18 starting at 7 a.m. with the lastseating at noon.Santa Claus will arrive at 9 a.m.and will hand out gifts for all thechildren in attendance. After Santa arrives, he will be available for pic-tures during the breakfast. There will also be activities for kids toparticipate in for free. Mrs. Claus willbe on hand to read stories to thechildren. This year’s toy raffle, which will bepulled during the breakfast, is a Lionel train set with track and trans-former. Tickets are $3 each. Break-fast tickets are $8. Children 5 andunder are free. Tickets for either the raffle orbreakfast are available from any department member or by calling Station143 at 654-4188 and leaving a message.After the breakfast, the Hose Co. will collect canned goods from resi-dents starting at noon. Cannedgoods should be in a plastic or paperbog on their front porch no laterthan noon.St. Peter’s Lutheran Church,100Rock St., Hughestown, will hold itspoppy seed and nut roll sale Dec. 20. The last day to order is Dec.11. Do-nations are $8. Call 654-1849 or 654-1594 to order. Pick-up date will beDec. 20 from noon to 4 p.m.
 WILKES-BARRE
Gifts for needy seniors
Home Instead Senior Care’s Be a Santa to a Senior is hosting holiday gift wrapping events that are open tothe public. Volunteers will deliverthe gifts to area seniors who other- wise might be overlooked this holi-day season.Gift wrapping events will be heldtoday, 9 a.m. to1p.m. at Area Agen-cy on Aging, 93 N. State St., Wilkes-Barre, and Thursday, noon to 4 p.m.,Home Instead Senior Care, 269 Ben-nett St., Luzerne. Contact Alyssa Maria at 714-4260 for more informa-tion.
NEWS IN BRIEF
 WILKES-BARRE – Just afternoon on Dec. 6, Abdul HakeemShabazz dialed 911.He had been shot and was ly-ing on the ground on North 3rdStreet in Hazleton.A year later, three men willstand trial on homicide and re-lated charges in Shabazz’sdeath. ThetrialofbrothersIzelWal-ter Garrett, 19, and Isiah JesseGarrett, 22, both of Mechanics-burg, and their cousin TyrekSmith, 25, of Harrisburg, willbegin today with jury selection.A jury and alternates will beselected,andtestimonymaybe-gin as early as Tuesday. Testi-mony is expected to last two weeks, according to court pa-pers.Luzerne County Judge Tina Polachek Gartley will presideover the trial.Assistant District AttorneysFrankMcCabeandJillMatthewLada are prosecuting the case.IzelGarrettisrepresentedbyat-torneys Brian Corcoran and Al-lyson Kacmarski; Isiah GarrettbyattorneyRobertMozenter,of Philadelphia; and Smith by at-torney Royce Morris, of Harris-burg.Police said the shooting wasthe end result of a drug dealgonebadthatincludedcounter-feit money. The Garretts and Smith were visiting the Garretts’ father andhis girlfriend in West Hazleton.Isiah Garrett told authoritieshis father arranged for Shabazzto sell marijuana to him, hisbrother and cousin.During an interview with au-thorities, Izel Garrett said Sha-bazzenteredtheapartmentandput a “brick-size amount” of marijuana on the table afterSmith pulled out $400 to $500in cash.“The victim examined themoneyandnoticedittobefake.Hethrewthemoneybacktothetable and an exchange of wordsoccurred between Smith and(Shabazz),” court papers say Izel said.Isiah corroborated his broth-er’s statement, saying Shabazzlooked at the money as if some-thingwasn’trightwithit.Smiththen pulled out a gun, pointing it at Shabazz. Shabazz reachedforthegunandSmithhithiminthe head with a closed fist.Izel added that Smith thenfired two shots at Shabazz.Izel’s girlfriend accompaniedhim and his brother on the triptoWestHazletonthatweekend. The girlfriend, who was in a bedroomatthetimeofthedrug sale and shooting, told officialsthat after hearing two gunshotsshe heard Smith say, “How youlet him get up and get away? Why you letting him run?”Shabazz fled the house afterbeing shot. He was found lying outsideof210N.ThirdSt.,nearBoundary Street.He died the following morn-ing at Geisinger Wyoming Val-ley Medical Center in Plains Township.An autopsy performed by fo-rensic pathologist Dr. Gary Ross found that Shabazz wasshot twice -- through the leftarm and in the left stomach.
Shabazz homicide trial to begin
Izel Garrett and IsiahGarrett and their cousin,Tyrek Smith, are charged.
BySHEENADELAZIO
 sdelazio@timesleader.com
Isiah Garrett Izel Garrett
PLAINS TWP. – The closing of the Di-sasterRecoveryCenteratLuzerneCoun-ty Community College at the end of No- vembermarkedthedepartureoftheFed-eral Emergency Management Agency’spublic face locally, but the agency willcontinue to maintain a presence in LuzerneCountyformonthsand yearstocome.At the former Sun-shine Market on Route315, FEMA has set upboth a staging area fortemporary housinunits and an office forabout55workers.FEMA’s SunshineMarket facility is not a public office; in fact,public access to the fa-cility is forbidden dueto the safety hazardposed by big-rig trucksdragging mobilehomesinandoutoftheparkinglot.It is, however, thebaseofoperationsfrom which outreach workers are assistinfloodvictimseligiblefortemporaryhous-ing assistance in finding a place to stay andinplanningtheirreturntopermanenthousing, be it through rebuilding theirhomesorfindingnewones.Inmid-Octoberthefirsttwo-andthree-bedroom mobile homes and smaller oneandtwo-bedroomparkunitsbeganarriv-ingintheSunshinestagingareafromFE-MAstoragelotsanddealers.FEMARegionIIIDisasterRecoveryDi-rector Jack Schuback said he recognized withindaysofthefloodthatdamagewasextensiveenoughinsomeareastorequiretemporaryhousinginmobilehomescom-monlycalledFEMAtrailers.“Westartedthatprocessliterallywithindaysafterthedisasterdeclaration,”Schu-backsaid. The housing units continue to arrivedaily as others roll off the lot for place-ment in existing mobile home parks, inparksbeingexpandedorpurpose-builttohouse flood victims and on private prop-erty outside the FEMA-defined floodplain.Oftheroughly300NortheasternPenn-sylvania households slated to receive theunits, about 110 are currently occupying them, Schuback said. Those householdsrepresentaminutefractionoftheapproxi-mately 42,000 Pennsylvania residents who reported damage from TropicalStormLeeand49,000whoreporteddam-agefromTropicalStormIrene.In return for the rent-free housing, vic-tims must formulate a permanent hous-ing plan with FEMA and work towardsthatgoal. The placement process begins when
Route 315new sitefor FEMA
Despite closing recovery center atLCCC, federal agency maintainspresence in Luzerne County.
ByMATTHUGHES 
 mhughes@timesleader.com
“We’llprobablybe hereabout twoyears, andthe stagingoperationwill alteritself overtimes.’’
Jack Schuback
FEMA Region IIIDisasterRecoveryDirector
See FEMA, Page14A
 WILKES-BARRE -- As thenumber of days beforeChristmas decreases, thecongestion at local shopping areas increases, leaving many with a Scrooge-likefeeling after bat-tling for gift pur-chases.Fortunately,events such asthe Wilkes-BarreJewish Commu-nity Center’s Ho-liday Boutiqueare popping upmore frequently inthearea,allow-ing holiday shop-pers access to a  variety of local and uniqueproductsinalow-stressenvi-ronment. That’stheexactreasonVe-ronica Kendzor of Swoyers- ville was in attendance Sun-day.“I was at the mall yester-day and I had to just stopshopping,” she said. “There were a lot of people and it wasaggravating.Thisisnice,and a lot of these things are very original, very fun pre-sentsIcangetformyfamily.” The Weis Auditorium attheJCCwasfilledwithmorethanadozenvendorstouting an array of products.Kathy Roth of Kingston isthe creator of Good GrieDoggy Duds, which arehandmade, customizablecoats that help keep pups warm in the colder months.Roth deals in fleece, cordu-roy, weather-re-sistant, denimand quilted mate-rials.Sheoperatesfrom her home,not a store, sosuch an exclusiveproductasthisde-pends heavily onshows such as theboutique tospread the word.“We generatethe bulk of thebusinessthisway,”Rothsaid.“It’s good to be able to talkface-to-face with people in-terested in the coats, like Ican here.”Chris Keren and her hus-band, Liron, of Luzerne, runthe Nature Creation stand atthe mall, but they decided tobringtheirall-naturalpainre-lief and relaxation cold andhot packs to a more intimatesetting.“It’s nice because there area lot of familiar faces herethat we can share this with,”Chrissaid.SheandLironaremembers of Temple Israel.“To me, this is also aboutsupporting the community.”Barbara Sugarman, adultand cultural director at JCC,agrees. This is the first timein several years the JCC hasheld the holiday boutiqueevent.“We did this because it is,overall, a community event,”Sugarman said. “It’s Hannu-kah, it’s Christmas, it’s theholiday season.” While shoppers are pur-chasing gifts to give to lovedones, they aren’t only sup-portinglocalretailers,butal-so helping out a community organization. A portion of the sales from the JCC Holi-dayBoutiquewillbenefittheadult and senior adult pro-grams at the center.Other companies presentattheHolidayBoutiquewere Whimsy Press, a boutiquedesign firm based in Atlanta;homemade dog cookies by K-9CookieJar;theJCCKnit-ting Bee, which sold hats,scarves, and baby items; andRobyn Finberg Design withcustom-made tutus, hairbows and head bands.
Shoppers escape crowds at Holiday Boutique
More than a dozen vendorsattend event at JCCC thatalso benefits programs.
BySARAPOKORNY 
 spokorny@timesleader.com
DON CAREY/THE TIMES LEADER
Jackie Kranson, left, chats with Judy Moskow after buy-ing jewelry at Sunday’s Holiday Boutique at the JCC.
“A lot of thesethings are veryoriginal, veryfun presents Ican get for myfamily.”
Veronica Kendzor
Swoyersville
PRETTYNICEFORNOICE
BILL TARUTIS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER
H
e’s a pro with a puck, and apparently the same goes for a bowling ball. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pen-guins left winger Brandon DeFazio threw a couple down the lane at the second annual ‘Pens & Pins’Charity Bowling Tournament at Chacko’s Family Bowling Center in Wilkes-Barre on Sunday afternoon. Theevent benefited Allied Services.

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