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Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
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‘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
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Zachary Kovaleski, Holy Cross High School
Over the next few weeks, The Times-Tribune is honored to present the profiles of each member of the Scholastic Superstars Class of 2025. These outstanding students were nominated by their schools and chosen by a panel of local officials. * Zachary Kovaleski (Zachary Kovaleski) * Zachary Kovaleski, Holy Cross High School(Zachary Kovaleski) Show Caption 1 of 2 Zachary Kovaleski (Zachary Kovaleski) Expand Zachary Kovaleski, Holy Cross High School Q: What accomplishments are you most proud of and why? A: I am most proud of being able to maintain my grades and balance my time between school, extracurriculars, work, service projects, and my hobbies. Q: What were your most rewarding school or community activities? A: At school, the student council has allowed me to help students find enjoyment in school, and in the community, assisting in my parish has demonstrated the impact of bringing people together for good. Q: What is something you do to relax? A: In my spare time, I like to write short stories, spend time with friends, take long drives, golf, and listen to music to relax. Q: Plans after high school graduation? A: College, major in civil engineering to ultimately become a practicing engineer and entrepreneur. Q: Who do you most admire and why? A: I admire my father, Jeff Kovaleski, more than anyone, for how he has been able to balance being a principal, borough council president, and committee head while also spending time taking care of his family and putting his moral values first. Q: What advice do you have for younger students? A: Always keep working, never give up, and be there for each other, because you never know what someone is going through or how much reaching out to them can mean. Show others that you appreciate them. A little about Zachary Kovaleski Hometown: Dickson City Parents: Brenda and Jeffrey Kovaleski Some of his honors: Valedictorian, National Honor Society, honorable mention Cum Laude on the National Spanish Exam, Voice of Democracy Audio Essay district winner. Some of his activities: History club, chess club, Mock Trial, student council. Some of his athletics: Baseball, golf. Some of his community service: Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership program, Leadership Northeast's Tomorrow's Leaders Today program, Little League volunteer, church volunteer. What his nominator said: 'He is a joy to know and an outstanding member of his own local community.'
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Sport
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Ryleigh Kilmer, Mountain View Junior-Senior High School
Over the next few weeks, The Times-Tribune is honored to present the profiles of each member of the Scholastic Superstars Class of 2025. These outstanding students were nominated by their schools and chosen by a panel of local officials. Ryleigh Kilmer, Mountain View Junior-Senior High School Q: What accomplishments are you most proud of and why? A: I am most proud of co-founding our Fellowship of Christian Athletes club and representing our Future Business Leaders of America chapter on the state and national level. Each of these opportunities has allowed me to further develop my leadership skills. Q: What were your most rewarding school or community activities? A: As a member of the Susquehanna County Recreation Center volunteer committee and the Hallstead Bridgewater Church kids ministry service team, I am able to give back to my community in a positive way. * Ryleigh Kilmer Ryleigh Kilmer (Ryleigh Kilmer) * Ryleigh Kilmer (Ryleigh Kilmer) Show Caption Ryleigh Kilmer 1 of 2 Ryleigh Kilmer (Ryleigh Kilmer) Expand Q: What is something you do to relax? A: I love to go shopping and try new kinds of food. Q: Plans after high school graduation? A: College, and enroll in a pharmacy program to earn my Doctor of Pharmacy degree. Q: Who do you most admire and why? A: I admire our high school principal, Dr. (Mark) Lemoncelli. Whether it's a kind smile or a greeting by name, he makes it known that his office door is always open and that he will listen to and support each of us. Dr. Lem embodies service leadership, sets a great example for everyone who has the pleasure of knowing him, and will never hesitate to advocate for any of his students. Q: What advice do you have for younger students? A: Do not be afraid to reach out for help or utilize the resources around you. You will not only find assistance, but may also form a connection that will be beneficial in the future. A little about Ryleigh Kilmer Hometown: South Gibson Parents: Matthew and Ashley Kilmer Some of her honors: Susquehanna County Transcript Athlete of the Month, National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society. Some of her activities: Future Business Leaders of America, student government, Fellowship of Student Athletes, School Counselor Advisory Council. Some of her athletics: basketball, volleyball. Some of her community service: The Susquehanna County Recreation Center project, church volunteer. What her nominator said: 'She is a self-confident, intelligent young woman who will continue to flourish in life after high school.'
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Developer seeks to convert Archbald junkyard to data centers
A junkyard on the Eynon Jermyn Road in Archbald could become data centers. A developer filed a zoning application with the borough April 10 looking to convert the Highway Auto Parts auto salvage yard into the 'Archbald Data & Energy Center.' The proposed data and energy center would consist of three two-story data center buildings, each under 70 feet tall with roughly 150,000-square-foot footprints; two sites for equipment yards and ancillary buildings; a one-story, 20,000-square-foot office and operations building; and a roughly 211,000-square-foot equipment yard for electrical substations, switch equipment and related items, according to zoning documents obtained by The Times-Tribune on Tuesday via a Right to Know Law request filed with Archbald. The zoning application lists a 1.6 million square foot impervious area, which would include buildings and pavement, across a 3.75 million square foot lot. The proposed data center site would be adjacent to the Highlands at Archbald housing development. The Highlands at Archbald sign along Eynon Jermyn Rd. in Archbald on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER) The data center buildings are anticipated to have concrete walls and flat roofs, according to the plans. The Archbald Data & Energy Center is the third data center development proposed for Archbald in recent months, and the second involving James Marzolino, who signed the Archbald Data & Energy Center zoning permit application. Marzolino, of Five Up Realty LLC, 805 Enterprise St., Dickson City, previously signed a memorandum of purchase and sale agreement Oct. 15 to buy a 186.21-acre parcel just north of the junkyard on the opposite side of the Eynon Jermyn Road. For that development, a New York City-based firm, Western Hospitality Partners, operating as Archbald 25 Developer LLC, submitted plans to Archbald looking to build 'Project Gravity' — a six data center campus that would span the wooded area from the Eynon Jermyn Road to Business Route 6. Attempts to reach Marzolino were unsuccessful Wednesday. Highway Auto Parts currently still owns the property. According to an addendum in the Archbald Data & Energy Center's zoning application, Marzolino would remove the junkyard and its facilities to build the data centers and associated buildings, access points, interior roads and other improvements. The 86.1-acre site is approximately 40% covered by an auto salvage yard and retail sales building; the salvage yard currently accepts, stores and cannibalizes automobiles and light trucks, using heavy machinery and regular deliveries and shipments of junk automobiles and parts, according to the addendum. The addendum estimates the data center development would employ 50 to 60 workers, compared to fewer than 30 at Highway Auto. Daily traffic would be limited to service employees, technicians and engineers who operate and maintain the data center. Upon zoning approval, the developer would submit a land development plan including detailed site plans with locations of all improvements, as well as grading, utilities, stormwater management facilities and erosion and sedimentation controls. The data centers would be built as close to the center of the parcel as possible to maximize the distance of the buildings from the residential neighborhoods to the east and south of the parcel, with the proposed plan calling for 200-foot buffers with appropriate setbacks from that buffer area, according to the addendum. The project will maintain or supplement the existing vegetation for the buffer. With the proposed data center next to his Highlands at Archbald development, which includes housing and a Club at the Highlands venue with a nine-hole golf course, Ken Powell, the owner of Powell Developments, does not believe the data centers will impact his Highlands development. 'We've sheltered ourself from the junkyard right from day one,' he said in a phone interview Tuesday, explaining he used barriers, banks and trees to separate his properties from the junkyard. 'It's not like they're going to be seen from our place.' He did raise concerns about noise, though he hasn't heard anything definitive about the proposed data center. 'From the way I look at it, it's not going to be any worse conditions than I had with the junkyard,' Powell said. 'If anything, it creates jobs, and it brings money into the area.' The site for the proposed data center falls into a C-2 general commercial zoning district, and data centers are currently principally permitted uses in C-2 zones in Archbald. For principally permitted uses, the borough's zoning officer will issue a permit if a developer's zoning application meets all of the requirements contained in Archbald's zoning ordinance, according to the zoning ordinance, which the borough adopted in March 2023. Archbald Borough Council is now looking into applying stricter zoning to data centers by making them conditional uses rather than principally permitting them. Conditional uses require written approval from borough council following a hearing, according to Archbald's zoning ordinance. That means data center developers would have to attend a public hearing, which would be advertised in The Times-Tribune's legal notices, where borough officials and residents could ask questions. Should council decide to approve the conditional use, borough officials could tie conditions to their approval. However, until council adopts that amended zoning legislation, any data center to apply with the borough will be grandfathered in under the current zoning, even if Archbald council later applies more stringent requirements. Archbald was first approached during a January council work session by a firm looking to invest an estimated $2.1 billion for 'Wildcat Ridge AI Data Center Campus' totaling 17.2 million square feet, plus about 1.2 million square feet of commercial space, across nearly 400 mountainside acres along Business Route 6 and Wildcat Road, or Route 247. That development would encompass 394 acres bounded by a PPL access road across from Terrace Drive to its west, continuing east along Business Route 6 until its split with Wildcat Road, and then moving up Wildcat for more than half a mile. The data center campus would consist of 14 three-story-tall data center buildings, each with a 126,500-square-foot footprint, according to conceptual plans for the project. Because hundreds of acres of that property are zoned for resource conservation and residential housing, Archbald Borough Manager Dan Markey said Wednesday that the borough would have to rezone the land or grant a potential data center overlay. Otherwise, a zoning application would be rejected. Then, Western Hospitality Partners submitted a sketch plan ahead of the borough's April 2 planning commission meeting for a second data center campus known as Project Gravity. Although smaller than the first proposed data center, Project Gravity would be built on just over 186 acres between Business Route 6 and the Eynon Jermyn Road, with entrances on either road. A sketch plan for the project calls for at least six two-story data center buildings, each with a 135,000-square-foot footprint. Project Gravity has since submitted its preliminary land development plan and zoning application, Markey said. 'Until the law is changed, the borough has to follow the law as it is written,' Markey said of Archbald's current zoning allowing data centers as principally permitted uses.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
24 students honored in Scholastic Superstars program
The Times-Tribune recognized 24 graduating high school seniors for their outstanding work in the classroom and community during its Scholastic Superstars program on Monday evening at Lackawanna College in Scranton. It has been a Times-Tribune tradition for three decades. Students received a medal while their parents and guests applauded during the ceremony sponsored by PPL Electric Utilities. Larry Holeva, executive editor of The Times-Tribune, presented the awards. Each high school in the Times-Tribune coverage area is invited to nominate up to three seniors. After the names of students and schools and other identifying information is removed, the winners were voted on by judges from local colleges. The winners are: • Grace Beckish, North Pocono High School • Owen Carso, Delaware Valley High School. • Ella Cohen, Scranton Preparatory School • Chelsea Empet, Mountain View Junior/Senior High School • Gabriella Estadt, Valley View High School • Emily Hanson, Blue Ridge High School • Lia Hartman, Western Wayne High School • Matthew Hill, Scranton High School • Sara Hoban, Abington Heights High School • Ryleigh Kilmer, Mountain View Junior/Senior High School • Zachary Kovaleski, Holy Cross High School • Stephanie Kucharski, Old Forge High School • Winni Lin, Riverside High School • Gavin Monahan, Holy Cross High School • Declan Moran, Scranton High School • Zarina Mustafina, West Scranton High School • Kaia Negvesky, West Scranton High School • Ivy Neureuter, Scranton High School • Adam Paranich, Abington Heights High School • Maura Pivirotto, Abington Heights High School • Allison Rocco, North Pocono High School • Christian Segiel, North Pocono High School • Austin Shramko, Riverside High School • Logan Zdaniewicz, Tunkhannock Area High School This year's judges were Lois K. Draina, Ph.D., retired dean, Marywood University; Aaron Mattern, senior regional director of enrollment management, Penn State Hazleton, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre; and Joseph M. Roback, associate vice president, admissions and enrollment, University of Scranton. Additional coverage can be found at and will appear in print Wednesday. Starting Wednesday, The Times-Tribune will publish a biography and photo of one Superstar a day, excepting Mondays.
