Week in Review June 7 — June 13
Bridge dedicated in Carbon
The Mansion House Bridge, a near $4-million hiking and biking part of the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, was dedicated in Jim Thorpe.
The pedestrian bridge, owned by Carbon County, provides an important link on the corridor and is the culmination of more than two decades of planning.
Although it was officially dedicated, the bridge will remain closed until trail improvements on the east side of the bridge are completed. That part of the project is expected to be completed by Jim Thorpe Borough.
When it’s complete, the bridge will create a 57-mile continuous stretch from Glen Summit, Luzerne County to Cementon, Lehigh County. Inmate attacks Monroe officer
Jose Miguel Maldonado, a Monroe County inmate, was charged with assaulting a corrections officer on May 30.
Officials allege he assaulted the CO at the jail following a verbal confrontation. Maldonado struck the officer repeatedly in the head and face and once the officer fell to the ground, Maldonado continued the assault on the officer until he was restrained by a number of other corrections officers.
Workers find asbestos at bridge
Work crews broke through the stone arch of the 1852 Wabash Creek Tunnel in Tamaqua, but appeared to shift gears slightly after finding a network of buried asbestos cable duct pipes running parallel to the curb.
The workers were excavating to replace the 166-year-old subterranean bridge when they came upon the asbestos conduit. Each of the pipes measures about 6 inches in diameter and appear to carry telephone cable along Broad Street.
A representative from Verizon was summoned, along with an asbestos abatement unit. A truck from Coventry Environmental of Spring City arrived at the project site before noon and workers began to set up a tent shield to begin removal and disposal of the hazardous material.
MCTI names acting director
The Joint Operating Committee of the Monroe Career and Technical Institute named Dennis Virga as acting director of the school, succeeding Carolyn Shegelski who retired.
Virga had been serving MCTI’s supervisor of curriculum and instruction.
He started his career with MCTI right out of East Stroudsburg University in 2006 as a Social Studies teacher; was promoted to instructional technology specialist; and during the 2016-2017 school year he was promoted to the supervisor’s post.
Arrest made in Panther lockdown
Summit Hill police charged a 15-year-old girl in connection with a lockdown June 1 at the Panther Valley Junior/Senior High School.
The girl is a student at the school and has been charged with terroristic threats after a threat was made to “shoot up the school.”
Panther Valley Junior/Senior High School was on lockdown for two hours that morning after threatening graffiti was found in an eighth-grade girls bathroom.
Police said the girl admitted to the threat.
Man rescued from Glen fall
An 18-year-old male was transported to Gnaden Huetten Hospital, Lehighton, after falling around 15 feet while hiking at Glen Onoko Falls.
Vince Yaich, Jim Thorpe Municipal Fire Department chief, said the teen had head injuries in addition to bleeding around the arms and other cuts and scrapes.
The incident happened between the first and second falls just off the trail. The rescue took around 45 minutes total.
Walnutport debates sinkhole
A sinkhole along the main thoroughfare in Walnutport caused borough officials to consider taking action.
Borough council debated the sinkhole at Main Street and North Canal Street at its workshop session after Mayor Wayne Weidner said it is in the borough’s best interests to see what it could do legally as far as safety.
Borough officials have said the sinkhole has been an issue recently, and went as far as to consider closing Canal Street.
The sinkhole was packed with stone and covered with a steel plate.
Another arrest at PV school
A 13-year-old girl admitted to placing bullets in a bathroom at Panther Valley Junior-Senior High School two days in a row, according to Summit Hill Police.
The school was placed on lockdown after someone reported finding a .30-06 round in a girls bathroom. It was the second lockdown in as many days at the school.
Summit Hill Police identified a 13-year-old girl as the potential suspect and she admitted to placing the round in both incidents. Police plan to file charges, but they did not release the suspect’s name because she is under 18.
Jury acquits man in drug death
A Schuylkill County jury found Kyle J. Merenda, 23, of Barnesville, not guilty of drug delivery resulting in death in the fatal overdose of Alexandria “Alex” Sienkiewicz on April 2, 2016. The verdict came after 4½ hours of deliberation.
According to testimony and police, Sienkiewicz, 23, along with Jonathan J. Seekins, 35, of Coaldale and Melanie L. Kropp, 26, of Mahanoy City, traveled to Merenda’s house to buy 50 bags of heroin the night of April 1, 2016.
Merenda, known as “Kilo,” warned them. “This stuff is strong,” both Kropp and Seekins testified.
The next morning, Sienkiewicz’s mother, Tammy, found her dead on her bed, a needle in her arm and small waxed paper drug bags nearby.
N. Lehigh taxes going up
Northern Lehigh property owners are in for a 1.22 percent tax increase next year as the district’s board of directors voted to hike the taxes for the 2018-19 school year.
The $34,474,274 spending plan was adopted with a 21.96 millage rate for Lehigh County and a 63.93 millage rate for Northampton County.
The district will use $2.3 million from the district’s fund balance.
Sherri Molitoris, co-director of business affairs/human resources, said the primary driving factors behind the budget increase were $4.1 million in Public School Employees Retirement System costs ($279,000 increase); $2.7 million for medical ($160,000 increase), and contractual matters and additional staffing.
Car rolls over several times
Tyler Behler, 20, of Lehighton, was seriously injured when he crashed his vehicle after traveling at a high rate of speed in Palmerton.
Police Chief Randy Smith said the incident occurred when Behler was driving his white Hyundai Tiburon east on the 1200 block of Mauch Chunk Road and lost control of his vehicle, which crossed over to the north side of the highway and hit an embankment, causing the car to roll several times. Behler was ejected from the vehicle.
He was flown by PennSTAR helicopter to St. Luke’s University Hospital, Bethlehem.
