Week in Review
Driver killed during storm
Matthew Ryan, 31, of Kunkletown, was killed when a tree fell on his car.
Monroe County Coroner Thomas Yanac said Ryan, 31, was killed when a tree was uprooted during a severe thunderstorm that moved through the area.
State police at Fern Ridge said Ryan was traveling westbound in a 2016 Subaru Impreza during a thunderstorm with high winds when the tree fell on top of his vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Unconscious woman charged
Penny Shelton, 52, of 23 Stoney Lonesome Road, Summit Hill, was found unconscious behind the wheel of a vehicle in Summit Hill.
Police said she was unruly and uncooperative and was eventually arrested for driving under the influence of a controlled substance, resisting arrest, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
OSHA issues citations
Strong Contractors Inc., of Bensalem, Bucks County, could face $110,971 in penalties for exposing workers to fall hazards while working at a church in Weatherly.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced citations, saying the contractor was cited for exposing employees to fall hazards and failing to provide appropriate eye protection.
The citation resulted from a Dec. 21 inspection at Trinity Baptist Church in Weatherly.
Lansford discusses meters
Lansford Borough Council held a spirited discussion about parking meters.
Council is considering everything from replacing the broken ones to getting rid of meters entirely.
Three separate motions died at the past meeting, where c decided to determine costs associated with the different plans before making a decision on whether or not to have meters in the town in the future.
Carbon to get $400,000 grant
Carbon County will be receiving more than $400,000 from the state to help in the completion of the Delaware & Lehigh Nature Trail.
Gov. Tom Wolf and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary Leslie S. Richards announced the county will receive $403,986, to connect the D&L Trail from the northern trailhead at the northern end of the county parking lot in Jim Thorpe to the new pedestrian bridge with a safe delineated travel path along the Lehigh River.
Ex-deputy coroner sentenced
Edward C. Smith, 60, a former deputy coroner for Carbon and Schuylkill counties, will spend up to two decades in prison after contacting an officer he thought was a young boy for sex.
Smith was sentenced by Luzerne County Judge David W. Lupas to a maximum of 20 years in state prison as a result of a guilty plea to felony counts of unlawful contact with a minor and criminal use of a communication facility.
The Tamaqua man entered a guilty plea on the charges in January, in exchange for prosecutors withdrawing charges of criminal attempt of involuntary indecent sexual intercourse with a person less than 16, criminal attempt of indecent assault of a person less than 16 and another count of unlawful contact with a minor.
Wells contaminated in Carbon
The Department of Environmental Protection confirmed local wells were impacted by a leak from a gas station on Interchange Road in Towamensing Township.
DEP said gasoline contamination impacts to the drinking water wells at nearby residences, stemming from the Sunoco gas station in the township.
The gas station owner has been cooperative so far in its investigation, DEP said.
Pleasant Valley, teachers reach pact
Pleasant Valley School Board and the teachers union agreed on a three-year contract.
The product of collective bargaining between the district and the union in which both sides formally adopted.
Details of the contract will not be released until it is signed.
Woman charged in drug death
Coaldale police charged Peggy Hill, 52, formerly of Sixth Street, Coaldale, with providing fentanyl-laced heroin that led to the overdose of a mother of three in March.
Hill is accused of selling heroin to a Coaldale woman, Brittany Marley, who died of an overdose in the overnight hours of March 15.
Marley, 27, was determined to have died of an overdose.
Hill was arraigned on charges of drug delivery resulting in death, possession with intent to deliver, and related charges. She was released on $50,000 bail.
Cattle barn destroyed
A fast-moving fire destroyed a cattle barn on property belonging to the Altemose family in Brodheadsville.
West End Fire Chief Don Zipp said his company was aided by Jackson Township Fire Department, Blue Ridge Hook and Ladder Co., Kunkletown Volunteer Fire Company and Polk Volunteer Fire Company. About 40 firefighters were on the scene.
It took the departments until 1 a.m. to get the fire under control.
Zipp said no cattle were lost in the fire. He also said the fire was not suspicious in nature.
Panther Valley is raising taxes
The Panther Valley School Board is considering a property tax increase as part of its 2018-19 budget.
The board narrowly passed a proposed final budget that includes a 3.37 percent tax increase for Carbon County residents and a 5.53 percent increase for Schuylkill.
Business manager Ken Marx said if the budget is formally approved, the tax rate for Carbon County residents would be 62.2270 mills and the tax rate for Schuylkill County residents would be 53.95.
Fire damages Franklin business
A two-story garage that houses a business in Franklin Township sustained severe damage after a fire broke there.
Township fire Chief Lynn Diehl said the fire took place at Kitchens and More, 228 Indian Hill Road.
Upon arrival, Diehl said firefighters encountered a garage fire, which was heavily involved. He said the garage was converted into a business, which is where the owner was doing some grinding work when the fire sparked and got out of control.
Northern Lehigh to undergo improvements
Northern Lehigh School District is forging ahead with a near $12 million facility improvement project.
The school board agreed to adopt a resolution, authorizing up to $15.5 million of general obligation notes to fund various capital projects.
The resolution means the district will incur the nonelectoral debt to refund all or a portion of the district’s outstanding general obligation bonds and undertake capital projects, including energy savings, roofing and other improvements to various public school buildings and facilities.
Panther students caught stealing
Three Panther Valley High School students are facing theft charges after they took money from a teacher’s classroom.
Michael Cullen, 18, of Coaldale, Xander Kern, 18, of Nesquehoning, and a 17-year-old boy from Lansford were charged by Summit Hill police with theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property.
Police allege they broke into a classroom and took $280 in fundraiser money that was in a locked filing cabinet.
9th District nominees picked
Democrat Denny Wolff and Republican Dan Meuser won contested races in Tuesday’s primary election balloting for a two-year seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, 9th Congressional District, setting the stage for a November showdown to decide who will represent Carbon and Schuylkill counties in Washington.
Wolff, who served as Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture secretary under Gov. Ed Rendell, defeated two other candidates, Gary Wegman, a dentist from Reading, and Laura Quick, a United Parcel Service driver from Palmyra, while Meuser’s triumph came over Schuylkill County Commissioner George Halcovage of Pottsville and Scott C. Uehlinger of Topton, who once served in the Central Intelligence Agency.
Meuser does not reside in the district.
Cartwright’s opponent determined
Republican John Chrin easily defeated two other candidates to win his party’s U.S. House nomination in the newly drawn 8th Congressional District.
He will face incumbent U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright of Moosic, who was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
Chrin defeated Joe Peters and Robert Kuniegel to win the nomination.
Chrin lives in Palmer Township, Northampton County, which is part of the redrawn 7th District.
Vehicle rolls over on Route 54
A driver escaped injury when he ran off the road and hit two utility poles on Route 54 in Nesquehoning.
Police said the vehicle was traveling west when it left the road, striking two utility poles and rolling over onto the driver side.
Hauto and New Columbus fire companies responded along with Lehighton ALS.
Car engulfed in flames on pike
A young man escaped serious injury in a crash along the turnpike in Carbon County.
The crash occurred in the northbound lanes at the 83.0 mile marker. The black sedan hit the center medial concrete divider, then came to rest along the right berm. It was there the vehicle caught fire.
The car was fully engulfed in flames by the time the Franklin Township fire company arrived on scene.
Storm rips through area
A brief but powerful storm ripped through the area on election day, bringing with it reports of up to 60 m.p.h. wind gusts and around an inch of rain.
The high winds brought down utility poles, trees and electrical lines, leaving areas without power. PPL reported as many as 80,000 customers in the area were without power at times during the storm, including 19,000 in Monroe County and roughly 4,000 in Carbon.
A Kunkletown man was killed when a tree fell on his car.
Stores along Route 443 in Mahoning Township, such as Walmart and Tractor Supply, were without power.
A downed tree at Third and Lafayette streets in Palmerton caused ambulances to have to take an alternate route to the St. Luke’s Palmerton Campus, according to scanner reports.
A utility pole caught fire on Moseywood Road in Kidder Township.
At different points, Lentz Trail in Carbon County, and Jonas Road in Monroe County were closed.
In Tamaqua, borough workers and police worked to reroute local traffic and remove the tree, which fell from the sidewalk area out in front of 102 N. Lehigh St.
In Barnesville, a downed tree limb came crashing down onto two garages at 21 Bittner Road, causing a headache for property owners Mae and Joe Bittner and tenant Corey Thompson.
Polling place moved
A polling place in East Side Borough had to be relocated Tuesday following the storm.
“A utility pole with a transformer snapped in front of the East Side Borough Building around 4 p.m. and the live wires were hanging in front of the building entrance so they weren’t allowing anyone to enter,” said Wayne Nothstein, Carbon County commissioner.
Poll workers relocated to the Lehigh Gorge Family Campgrounds.
