Latest news with #TIMES-TRIBUNE
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Late Dickson City councilman remembered for dedication, vision for town
Mike Fedorka had a vision for Dickson City and spent more than 20 years fostering new development and improving a town he cared about deeply. Whether it was working with health care institutions on projects worth tens of millions of dollars or spearheading efforts for a new Borough Building, the longtime planning commission chairman and four-term borough councilman spent more than two decades committed to enhancing Dickson City. Fedorka, 69, died Sunday night after he was fatally injured in a head-on collision in the 700 block of North State Street in South Abington Twp. He was a husband, father and grandfather. 'There are few people who cared as much about Dickson City as Mike Fedorka did,' said council Vice President and planning Vice Chairman Robert Hall, a longtime friend of Fedorka's. Hall and Fedorka worked together on the planning commission for more than 20 years while also serving together on council. Fedorka won his first term on council in 2007 and was reelected four years later, serving through 2015. He was elected again in 2019 and reelected in 2023, with his current term set to expire Dec. 31, 2027. He also ran for Lackawanna County commissioner in 2023. * Democratic commissioner candidate Michael Fedorka debates in University of Scranton's Loyola Science Center in Scranton, Pa., on Thursday, April 27, 2023. (TIMES-TRIBUNE FILE) * Show Caption 1 of 2 Democratic commissioner candidate Michael Fedorka debates in University of Scranton's Loyola Science Center in Scranton, Pa., on Thursday, April 27, 2023. (TIMES-TRIBUNE FILE) Expand In a phone interview Tuesday, Hall recalled the 9 p.m. phone calls he'd receive as his colleague pored over planning documents into the night. 'He was sitting down at the Borough Building, looking at drawings, just trying to make things better, trying to help developers to move into our town,' Hall said, emphasizing that the planning commission is volunteer work and unpaid. 'He gave 110%, 100% of the time.' With about 25 years heading Dickson City's planning commission, Fedorka helped facilitate developments throughout the borough. 'Mike always had a vision, a long-term vision to bring these developers here, to add to our tax base,' Hall said. 'He just had it. He saw into the future a little bit.' Council President Jeff Kovaleski, who was elected to council in 2011, said he could only describe it as a friendship working with Fedorka. 'You might have differing sides on things, but at the end of the day, you're friends,' he said. 'Mike and I really all had the best outlook for Dickson City that you could possibly have. He always looked out for the citizens in the community.' Fedorka always put Dickson City residents first and looked at things 'from all different angles,' Kovaleski said. 'He was a true community guy,' he said. 'He lived in the community. He coached in the community. He constantly sponsored Little League teams.' Through his company, Fedorka Cabinetry, Fedorka sponsored local Little League teams for at least 15 years, including the Teener League team that Kovaleski currently coaches. 'I am so proud to wear the Fedorka shirt,' he said. Despite the time he committed to Dickson City, Fedorka always emphasized the importance of family, Kovaleski said. 'One of the things he had always said to me was, 'Always make time for your kids because you can't get that time back,'' Kovaleski said. 'He loved spending time with his family.' Mayor Robert MacCallum knew Fedorka for about 20 years, predating his political career, and worked with him first as Dickson City's controller and later as mayor. On Tuesday, MacCallum said the borough had received messages from elected officials at all levels of government in Pennsylvania regarding Fedorka's passing, including Lackawanna County Commissioner Bill Gaughan and state Rep. Bridget Kosierowski, D-114, Waverly Twp., as well as from representatives on behalf of state Sen. Marty Flynn, D-22, Dunmore, and Gov. Josh Shapiro's office. 'He was always part of the community, and then he was just one of the best people to work with,' MacCallum said, praising Fedorka's work with both council and the planning commission. 'I view Mike as a family member.' Fedorka was always looking for new businesses and opportunities for Dickson City, MacCallum said. 'You knew things were going to be moved as quickly as they could be — government has a lot of red tape — but Mike was a stickler to the rules,' he said. 'We felt total confidence in Mike.' Both Kovaleski and Hall credited Fedorka for his role in helping Dickson City get a new Borough Building at 901 Enterprise St. 'I think that would be something that, if you asked Mike, he would look back on and say that was the thing he'd be most proud of,' Hall said. In early 2010, Dickson City council voted to purchase the building for $1.15 million, and the town received a $5.7 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fund a project to convert the building into a new municipal headquarters. When Lackawanna County put the building up for sale, Fedorka pitched the idea of buying it to his fellow council members, worked with the USDA to secure a low-interest loan and then essentially acted as the borough's construction manager, going to the construction site daily, Hall said. Carl Scartelli, right, gives a tour of construction in April 2013 at 8 Eagle Lane, that will be the site of Dickson City's new borough building. On the tour from left are: Alan Cerep, Dickson City Borough Engineer and construction manager; Cesare Forconi, borough manager; Mike Fedorka, borough council; Scott Allen, SDA Architects and Carl Scartelli. (TIMES-TRIBUNE FILE) The previous Borough Building on Boulevard Avenue was cramped with the Police Department working out of the basement, and it was not wheelchair accessible, Hall said. The end result was a Borough Building with a state-of-the-art police station and great Department of Public Works facilities, Hall said, calling it 'Mike Fedorka's vision.' Kovaleski also considers Fedorka a key figure in the development of Geisinger's $58 million project to construct a 61,000-square-foot cancer center off Viewmont Drive, which is set to open next month. 'When it's all said and done, to be able to leave your stamp on something that benefits hundreds, thousands of people who have cancer, I think that is going to be his most important signature item in Dickson City,' he said. Borough Manager Cesare Forconi said Fedorka was a friend and colleague for more than 25 years. He was instrumental in bringing both the Lehigh Valley Hospital–Dickson City on Main Street and Geisinger's cancer center to the borough, Forconi said. 'He was instrumental in developing the policies and functions of the Dickson City Planning Commission, working tireless hours, meeting with developers to help them meet the borough's requirements,' Forconi said. As a councilman, Fedorka supported council's vision for revitalizing Main Street, refurbishing parks and 'working together with the entire council to make many great things happen for Dickson City,' he said. 'His experience will be difficult, if not impossible, to replace,' Forconi said. 'We are all saddened by his untimely passing.' The borough hung bunting Tuesday on its Borough Building and flew its flags at half-staff in honor of Fedorka, Kovaleski said. Borough officials are now seeking legal advice for the processes to fill Fedorka's seats on planning and council.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Road to Warped' tour set for Scranton theater, needs zoning OK for lot
The show will go on, but maybe only indoors. Entrepreneur Josh Balz, who has The Road to Warped Tour set for June 12-15 at his Ritz Theater at 222 Wyoming Ave. in downtown Scranton, planned on also using a parking lot across the street as an outdoor venue for the four-day festival. But he needs to get city zoning approval to use the parking lot for a carnival, vendors and an outdoor stage. On Thursday, the city zoning board issued a public notice in The Times-Tribune of the board's agenda for a June 4 meeting at City Hall starting at 6 p.m., during which Balz will seek 'a special exception to hold an event in the parking lot with vendors and a live music stage as part of a four-day music and craft gathering event at 245-247.5 Wyoming Ave.' In a phone interview Friday, Balz — who in April announced the Road to Warped Tour — said he thought he only needed an event permit from the city to use the parking lot for the festival. 'I didn't think I needed zoning approval. I just thought I would need an event permit. So I didn't think it would be this much of a process,' Balz said. Josh Balz A zoning board denial of use of the parking lot would significantly hamper his plans and keep everything confined to the approximately 500-seat theater, he said. 'It just creates a nightmare,' Balz said about a possible zoning board denial. 'It (the festival) loses its wonder. It loses its heart,' without an outdoor component. 'It does a whole lot of damage to the situation.' His festival is an offshoot of the revived Vans Warped Tour, which had been an annual tour from 1995-2019 of up-and-coming and classic punk, emo, hardcore and pop punk music. The Vans Warped Tour had often stopped in Scranton at the Montage Mountain pavilion venue. Singer Isis Queen of the band Barb Wire Dolls, based in Crete, Greece and Los Angeles, performs in front of the crowd on Monday during the Vans Warped Tour 2017, held at Montage Mountain in Scranton. (TIMES-TRIBUNE / FILE PHOTO)A jammed packed crowd watches the band Chiodos perform during the Vans Warped Tour at the Toyoya Pavilion at Montage in Scranton in 2019. (TIMES-TRIBUNE / FILE PHOTO)Music fans pack the front of the stage as they watch Australian band The Amity Affliction perform on Tuesday during the Vans Warped Tour 2013 held on the grounds of the Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain in Scranton. (TIMES-TRIBUNE / FILE PHOTO) The revived Vans Warped Tour has three main events, with the closest one in Washington, D.C., and that was sold out in April. The Road to Warped Tour in Scranton is a small stop along the way. Some of the same bands will play both the Ritz and the D.C. festival, which overlap for two days. It would be the Ritz's biggest event since it opened in its current incarnation last year. Local and rising acts will begin at noon, with headliners later. The performances will be all-ages shows. One-day tickets cost $55 plus fees, and full festival tickets cost $199 plus fees. For information and ticket sales see The Ritz also hosts Noir Dark Spirits restaurant and bar, a goth ice cream parlor, a tattoo shop, a mead bar and a salon. A new marquee is seen installed on the Ritz Theater in downtown Scranton on Saturday, May 11, 2024. Balz also hoped to close the 200 block of Wyoming Avenue for the Road to Warped festival, but learned the city required advance notice of at least a year for such a request. The street will stay open during the festival, he said. The zoning hearing, set for only eight days before the festival starts, puts Balz 'between a rock and a hard place,' he said. The zoning application says Balz would rent the parking lot for the festival. 'We request allowance to hold an event in the approved parking lot featuring a small carnival area by S&S Amusements with vendors and a live music stage as part of a four-day music and craft gathering,' according to the zoning application on file at City Hall. 'This setup will attract both locals and out-of-town visitors, creating a lively and engaging experience that encourages longer stays. By adding these features, the gathering becomes more appealing to guests traveling from outside the region, boosting foot traffic and benefiting local businesses. This event supports Scranton's efforts to revitalize downtown as a vibrant entertainment destination.' Balz said he worked out an arrangement with the private commercial parking lot, in which he would provide passes to the parking lot patrons to instead use nearby parking garages during the festival. 'I'm just taking a giant gamble. I'm trying to make Scranton proud of what I'm doing. That's where I'm a little disappointed,' Balz said. 'But there are rules and I'm just trying to follow them.'
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Chris Kelly Opinion: Rise of the ‘MAGAcrats?' #SCRAN'NON
'You ought to be in pictures / You're wonderful to see / You ought to be in pictures / Oh, what a hit you would be … ' — from the 1934 smash hit sung by Rudy Vallee In the beginning, antisocial media was heralded as a revolutionary tool for 'democratizing' the internet. Sure, you could post photos of your pets, friends and family events, but users could also share opinions, conspiracy theories and actual fake news far and wide, with almost no consideration or consequences. Now, much of the limitless floorspace of what was once sold as a 'marketplace of ideas' is a post-apocalyptic dollar store staffed by malicious morons, frothing bigots and grinning grifters. It's a liar's paradise. For all its noise and numbskullery, antisocial media sometimes inspires a conspiracy theory that rings true even to critical thinkers. Sometimes there are pictures, which is why people seeking or holding public office should be careful about who they pose with and consider the consequences of the images being broadcast beyond their control. Chris Kelly (TIMES-TRIBUNE FILE) Scranton School Director Sean McAndrew is a textbook example. He's a Democrat running for city council, but his biggest donor and longtime friend is a MAGA Republican. The pair posed for a photo at a Trump event. That image and another in which McAndrew smiled alongside other local MAGA Republicans is generating a boatload of chatter on Facebook, X, and in my inboxes. It's being cited as hard evidence that McAndrew is what I call a 'MAGAcrat.' What's a MAGAcrat? A Machine Democrat who teams up with MAGA Republicans to achieve a common goal — in this case taking down mutual enemies and taking control of county and city government and the school board. MAGAcrats are the palpitating heart of the continuing hostile takeover I've been squawking about for months. To go even mildly viral, a conspiracy theory needs a catchy name. I've settled on #SCRAN'NON. Pass it on. The top priority of local MAGAcrats and MAGA Republicans this election cycle is getting rid of Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, an actual Democrat. If they can't beat Paige at the polls, they want to stack city council against her agenda, a la the Janet Evans 'Legion of Dumb' opposition to then-Mayor Chris Doherty. If you miss Ray Lyman threatening to sic the 'fed'ral attorney general' on 'Mrs. Cutelli' from the spit-soaked podium at marathon council meetings, you might be a MAGAcrat. Sean McAndrew swears he's not a MAGAcrat or a Machine Democrat. When we chatted Thursday, he said he was aware of the photos and the angry buzz they're pollinating, but he denied playing any part in a coordinated campaign to unseat the mayor. 'I'm endorsed by nobody,' he said. 'I'm not part of any 'Machine.' I'm a Democrat running independently and will work with whoever gets on council and whoever is the mayor because that's how we move the city forward.' McAndrew said the picture of him and friend and former Councilman Pat Rogan at a Trump event was taken seven years ago. 'Pat asked me to join him to see the president speak and I accepted the invitation,' he said. 'I didn't support Trump then and I don't support him now. People are trying to pigeonhole me based on a picture without talking to me.' A picture of McAndrew with MAGA Republicans Chris Chermak, a county commissioner, and city council candidate Marc Pane was taken at a recent fundraiser for county Department of Planning and Economic Development grants manager Sandra Opshinsky Hailstone, who is battling breast cancer. I've known Sandi for more than 20 years. She is a wonderful person and a devoted public servant. Please pray for her recovery. 'It was a benefit for Sandi,' McAndrew said. 'It was a great event for the community to come together. I was standing in line to get a water, and those guys happened to be there. Chris said, 'Hey, smile.' I thought he was taking pictures for the event. I smiled in it. I'm not the type of person who is going to just walk out of a picture and not talk to somebody because of their political affiliation.' Chermak also snapped a selfie with former county economic development Director Brenda Sacco, the county Democratic Machine's candidate to succeed departed Democratic Commissioner Matt McGloin. If county judges put Sacco in the seat, she will form a de facto 'Cheese and Crackers' majority that would sideline Democratic Commissioner Bill Gaughan and give the Machine control of county government. Back to Sean McAndrew, whose uncle, Mark McAndrew, is a councilman and a regular critic of the mayor's policies. He would be an enthusiastic member of a majority to hamstring her agenda. Sean said the family connection shouldn't matter to voters. 'My uncle is on council, but I have a record on the school board that speaks for itself,' he said. 'I hold my own views. … My uncle doesn't make this decision. The voters do.' McAndrew said my hypothesis that he is complicit in a coordinated effort to take down Paige is baseless. He's not part of any conspiracy, especially #SCRAN'NON. 'I'm just your guy on North Garfield Avenue, who's just trying to make my home better for myself and all my fellow Scrantonians,' he said. Maybe the pictures of McAndrew mugging with MAGA Republicans are innocent artifacts of circumstance. Maybe I'm reading too much into the sudden chumminess among natural political rivals. Maybe there's nothing suspicious about Marc Pane cropping Sean McAndrew out of the picture with Chermak before posting it on Facebook. I reached out to Pane to ask why he did that. 'I don't know if I did or not,' he said. 'I'll have to look.' I was looking at the picture as Pane said that. McAndrew was cropped out. Pane said '90%' of the rank partisanship in our politics is attributable to the cynical, pernicious idea that people of opposing parties can't be friends. He also rejected my conspiracy theory, but sent me deeper down the rabbit hole by taking a shot at the mayor. 'I'm sure there's a huge pile of people that would pack together — independents, Republicans and Democrats alike — to take Paige down because we all think she's doing a horrible job,' he said. There are 30 words in Pane's quote. Am I crazy to single out 'we' and wonder who he's talking about? Is it possible that my frame doesn't fit the picture? Maybe. Maybe my belief in a MAGAcrat/MAGA Republican conspiracy to unseat the mayor and seize control of local government really is all in my head. Maybe three decades of reporting on local Machine politics on both sides has warped my lens, leading me to see a guy on Garfield Avenue and his bipartisan pals as foreboding ghosts from an awful, backward time of governmental gridlock cheered on by malicious morons, frothing bigots and grinning grifters. Maybe Ray Lyman had a point. CHRIS KELLY, the Times-Tribune columnist, invites you to join him in the rabbit hole. Contact the writer: ckelly@ @cjkink on X; Chris Kelly, The Times-Tribune on Facebook.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Chris Kelly Opinion: Musk, Bresnahan ‘taken to tax' in Scranton
Taxes are among the most reviled and resisted necessities of civilization. Nobody wants to pay them, but if you want the services and security of an organized society, everybody with the means has to pony up their fair share. Unless you're a billionaire, in which case you simply buy the government and have your lackeys rewrite the tax code in your eternal favor. (See Elon Musk, et. al.) Chris Kelly (TIMES-TRIBUNE FILE) There were no billionaires on Courthouse Square in Scranton on Tuesday, but the space crackled with rage against 'broligarchs' and the simping politicians who sell out everyday Americans in exchange for power, prestige and profit. U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan's name came up often. 'He's a two-faced SOB,' Dave Mattern spat matter-of-factly. The 68-year-old retiree from Clarks Summit who relies on Social Security cited as evidence the freshman MAGA Republican congressman's robust stock trading and two votes for a budget 'framework' that would require massive cuts to Medicaid and other bedrock services to fund tax cuts for billionaires. Bresnahan campaigned on banning congressional stock trading, but was exposed in a New York Times report as 'one of the most active stock traders in the freshman class,' according to Capitol Trades, a site that monitors the stock market activity of lawmakers. Since January, Bresnahan reported 264 stock trades, according to the site. He bought up to $1.7 million in stock since taking office, according to his periodic transaction report, and sold up to $3.03 million. Bresnahan has repeatedly promised not to vote for a budget that slashes Medicaid, but Mattern said he pays attention to what politicians do rather than what they say. 'He's already voted for it (the budget framework) twice,' he said. 'You can't believe a word that comes out of his mouth.' Ellen McGuigan, a retired teacher from Glenburn Twp., also blasted Bresnahan for 'choosing billionaires over families.' 'I cry every night' over Musk's chainsaw massacre of our government and institutions, the 63-year-old said, clutching a sign that read, 'Hey, Rob, where's the most likely fraud and abuse?' The answer, she said, is billionaires who don't pay their fair share. 'People don't understand,' she said. 'A tax break is a government handout.' The Tax Day protest, organized by the bipartisan nonprofit Action Together NEPA, was one of four 'Families over Billionaires' rallies across the region. The Scranton edition drew about 75 protesters. Many pointed out that any event held at noon on a Tuesday isn't easy for working people to attend. 'We're here!,' declared Beth Perry, who I've bumped into at a few protests. Although the crowd was a little smaller, the Clarks Summit retiree said older Americans are ideal candidates for activism. 'We do so much calling and writing letters and showing up because we have the time,' she said. 'And coming together like this allows us to have some camaraderie, which is really important.' At 74, Perry said she's been retired for '14 glorious years,' earned every penny of her Social Security checks. I asked what she did for a living. 'I sold drugs,' she said, to titters of laughter from her friends. Actually, Perry worked in the pharmaceutical industry, and said she's 'blessed to have a pension' in addition to Social Security. 'And I saved and saved and saved so my kids would never have to worry,' she said. Now she worries the 'broligarchs' are looting the futures of her grandchildren. Her sign – one of many carrying pointed messages for the square head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency – harkened back to Musk's 'Sieg heil' salute: 'HELP CONTROL THE NAZI POPULATION – HAVE YOUR DOGE SPAYED OR NEUTERED!!' I asked Perry if she had anything to say specifically about Elon Musk. 'Nothing you could publish,' she said with a grin. I'll ask her again at the next protest, or the one after. Perry said she'll keep showing up. History is on her side. 'I've been doing this since Vietnam,' she said. That war ended 15 years before Rob Bresnahan was born. CHRIS KELLY, the Times-Tribune columnist, started paying Social Security tax at 16. Contact the writer: ckelly@ @cjkink on X; Chris Kelly, The Times-Tribune on Facebook.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judges deny Sacco entry in litigation over Lackawanna commissioner vacancy
A panel of Lackawanna County Court judges denied Brenda Sacco's petition to enter litigation over filling a commissioner vacancy, ruling that her interests are adequately represented by the county Democratic Committee and she has no legal standing to intervene in the case. The litigation was started last month by Democratic Commissioner Bill Gaughan and the county over filling the vacancy of former Democratic Commissioner Matt McGloin for the nearly three years remaining on his unexpired term. Brenda Sacco. (TIMES-TRIBUNE / FILE PHOTO) In a decision issued Wednesday, Senior Judges Carmen D. Minora, Robert A. Mazzoni and Vito P. Geroulo determined Sacco has no 'legally enforceable interest' in the case. That renders moot her companion motion for a protective order against the media from reporting on her, and thus the ruling also dismisses that motion. The judges noted the Lackawanna County Democratic Committee's legal response in the battle to fill a commissioner vacancy closely mirrored Sacco's petition to intervene in the matter. The committee and Sacco both contended the county's Home Rule Charter trumps a state court rule that would cut the committee out of the candidate selection process. 'In fact, the Democratic Committee's Answer is identical to Sacco's Proposed Answer. It is apparent to this court that the Democratic Committee simply copied Sacco's Proposed Answer' and adopted it as its own, the ruling says. 'It is so identical that the Democratic Committee's claim for relief is advancing Sacco's interest,' instead of its own 'in requesting a denial and dismissal of Gaughan's Petition to Amend. That claim has since been amended' by the Democratic Committee. The Home Rule Charter process had the Democratic Committee picking three candidates to forward to county judges, who then would select one of the three to fill the McGloin vacancy. The committee named three candidates — Sacco, who is a former county director of economic development, Olyphant Borough Council President James Baldan and Scranton School Director Robert J. Casey — as candidates to potentially replace McGloin. The Gaughan/county challenge claims the charter is trumped by Pennsylvania Rule of Judicial Administration 1908 of 2019, which says the county court — not a political party — shall receive applications from any interested candidates for the position. Noting she is the Democratic Committee's top candidate, Sacco sought court approval to formally enter the litigation, claiming she is victim of a 'smear campaign' against her via reporting by The Times-Tribune. If allowed to intervene in the case directly, Sacco would have backed the Home Rule Charter/county Democratic Committee process that made her the top finalist; and she also would have filed a separate motion for a protective order against Gaughan/the county 'from orchestrating false news stories about (her) in the local press,' according to her legal petition prepared by attorney Paul James Walker of Clarks Summit. In response to such claims in Sacco's petition, Lackawanna County Solicitor Donald Frederickson issued a statement Friday saying: 'To the extent that Lackawanna County is being accused of 'leaking' information to the press, this accusation is completely false and not based in reality. Any information which the county has provided to the press is public information which any citizen and taxpayer is entitled to receive. At no time was any confidential or privileged information relating to any employee or former employee disseminated by the county government.' The Democratic Committee's answer, filed Monday and prepared by attorney Adam Bonin of Philadelphia, claims the court rule was not established to guide Courts of Common Pleas when filling a county vacancy, but rather was created to give guidance when filling other elected office vacancies pursuant to statutory authority, including under the Pennsylvania Borough Code and the Pennsylvania Public School Code. 'It is specifically denied that the resignation of Commissioner Matt McGloin created such a scenario, as his vacancy must be filled pursuant to a Home Rule Charter provision and not pursuant to statutory authority,' the Democratic Committee reply states. 'The Supreme Court cannot simply promulgate internal rules that change the scheme of an enacted Pennsylvania Home Rule Charter.' Meanwhile, Republican Commissioner Chris Chermak opposes the county's participation in the litigation and also has filed in court a legal action to remove the county as a party to the case. The panel of judges has scheduled oral arguments in the litigation to be heard April 22. Briefs from all parties in the case must be filed with the court no later than Monday.
