POTTSVILLE — As the weather turned colder, the timing could not be better for the distribution of free cozy blankets Friday to senior citizens who benefit from the Meals on Wheels program in Schuylkill County.

The lap blankets were purchased and distributed by the Schuylkill Elder Abuse Prevention Alliance, which worked with the Diakon Community Services meal program to arrange their delivery. Most of the blankets were taken to homes where the meals are delivered by volunteer drivers, while the remainder were given to seniors who eat hot lunch meals at the Diakon-operated senior community centers in Mahanoy City, Pottsville, Schuylkill Haven, Shenandoah and Tremont.

This was the first time that SEAPA coordinated a blanket distribution. According to Diakon’s website, Meals on Wheels is designed to provide nutritious hot and cold noon-time meals to homebound individuals. The program not only provides short-term assistance to individuals recuperating from surgery or illness, but also offers long-term service for those who qualify.

SEAPA, which was previously known as the Schuylkill County Elder Abuse Task Force, is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporate entity comprising a group of people with an interest in protecting the seniors of Schuylkill County from elder abuse, according to its website. In 2004, a small group of concerned Schuylkill County citizens established the task force, becoming SEAPA in 2007.

From its beginning SEAPA has pursued several objectives:

• Promote awareness of elder abuse in Schuylkill County.

• Provide education and training to groups on how to identify, prevent and report elder abuse.

• Prosecute perpetrators of crimes against the elderly.

SEAPA has 30 members representing the banking industry, clergy, long-term care, law enforcement, funeral directors, health care providers and educators. The alliance remains vigilant in promoting awareness, informing county residents and elder services providers about elder abuse, and also working to ensure that crimes against the elderly are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

SEAPA board members and volunteers were in the parking lot behind MidPenn Legal Services in Pottsville by 8 a.m. to begin filling vehicles with boxes of blankets to be transported to the senior centers and other locations for the Meals volunteers to pick up. The cold morning kept everyone moving quickly to get the job done as fast as possible. SEAPA board Chairwoman Eileen Barlow, who is a MidPenn ombudsman, welcomed the opportunity to bring some additional warmth to many seniors.

“This is a first time for us,” Barlow said. “Some SEAPA members were at Penn State in the fall for their health and wellness fair, and one of things they brought back was a really nice little lap blanket. They brought it to one of our meetings. We looked at it and thought it was a neat thing and that we could get some of them. We were talking possibly ambulance companies or other first responders, and after batting things around, I said why don’t we just get a bunch of them and give them to the people on the route for Meals on Wheels.”

The blankets are not only something that brings some warm comfort to those who receive them, but they are also an outreach to the public.

“We’re trying to market the association as much as we can,” Barlow said, noting there is an advertising campaign coming up in The Republican-Herald. “Leslie Wagner (newspaper advertising representative) is on our board. We’re going to have an ad in the paper every week for 52 weeks. We’re trying to step it up a little more and get our contact information out to the seniors, so we figured what better way to do it than through the people who receive Meals on Wheels.”

SEAPA purchased 525 blankets in four different colors, with each blanket with the alliance name and a toll-free telephone number for the Schuylkill County Office of Senior Services embroidered into the blanket.

“The number is directly to senior services, so if they feel they need to report for themselves or someone who they know, it’s right there,” Barlow said. “The blanket is a comfort measure and it’s our way of bringing a little bit of comfort to somebody who may be very uncomfortable in a particular situation.”

In addition to Barlow, other SEAPA officers are Co-Chairwoman Lori Michael, Secretary Georgene Fedoriska and Treasurer Karen Kenderdine. If anyone knows or suspects an elderly person is being harmed, call the Schuylkill County Office of Senior Services at 1-800-832-3313.

For more information about Meals on Wheels and volunteering, call Diakon Community Services at 570-624-3010.

Contact the writer: jusalis@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6023

The founder of an organization that makes beds for shelter dogs and cats said finding volunteer help is becoming more difficult.

As a result, Paul Kattner said he is turning over donations collected for Beds4Paws to animal shelters across the region.

“We are sharing the proceeds of our containers with our four-legged friends and their keepers in many shelters,” said Kattner, who founded Beds4Paws in 2012.

In letters to the recipient shelters, Kattner notes that the donations may be used to purchase beds or any needed items.

The donations, he said, are from canisters at Denny’s, Stroehmann’s Bakery Outlet and Bonanza Restaurant in West Hazleton and Boscov’s restaurant at Laurel Mall in Hazle Township.

“We are grateful for our donors and the establishments that allow us to place our containers,” Kattner said. “Through the patrons of these establishments and their generosity this is made possible. It is very humbling to have the authorizations to distribute the checks on their behalf.”

Monetary donations have been turned over to the Hazleton Animal Shelter, Pocono Greyhound Adoption, Purrfect Love, Rescue the Animals, Hillside SPCA, Carbon County Animal Shelter, Murielle’s Place, True Friends AWC, Ruth Steinert SPCA and Mostly Mutts.

Kattner said anyone interested in volunteering for Beds4Paws can call him at 570-459-2689.

Altamont

Free community dinners are held 4:30 to 6 p.m. the third Thursday of the month, October to April, at Altamont Fire Company near Frackville. All are welcome but those planning to attend must call Deb at 570-391-6209 by the Sunday before so there will be an accurate count for food to be available.

Ashland

A soup-and-sandwich lunch, free to the community, will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Zion’s Reformed United Church of Christ. The lunches are held the third Wednesday of the month. For more information, call 570-875-2700.

Frackville

A clothing closet is held from 9 a.m. to noon every Wednesday and second Saturday of the month, weather permitting, at New Hope Wesleyan Church. Clothes and household items are sold by the bag. If school have a delay or are closed, the closet will be closed. Donations of clothing and small household items are always accepted. People are asked to leave donations by the garage door. For more information, call 570-391-6209.

Frackville

A Super Bowl Sunday American hoagie sale, pickup-only, will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 3 by First United Methodist Church, 25 S. Balliet St. Hoagies are $5 each and the deadline to order is Jan. 27. To order or for more information, call 570-874-2435. Shannon Mozdy is the church secretary/administrator.

Girardville

Rangers Hose Company will have a wing night beginning at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 9. Wings are $9 a dozen, fries are $3 and fries with any wing sauce, $4. The wings variety includes hot, mild, honey mustard, house, ranch, hot honey, spicy ranch, hot garlic, barbecue, garlic parm and teriyaki. People may eat at the firehouse or take wings out. Beverages will also be available. For more information, call 570-276-1406.

Hamburg

A Pennsylvania German New Year’s wish will be presented by Mike and Linda Hertzog at St. Peter’s United Church of Christ of Molltown’s 10:15 a.m. worship service. The church is at 219 Maidencreek Road, Fleetwood. For more information, call 610-944-9418.

Minersville

The Minersville Food Drive Committee is conducting its 34th annual holiday food drive now through Feb. 28. The purpose is to provide economically disadvantaged people of the Minersville area with food during the holiday season and into the new year. All donations of nonperishable items can be made by calling 570-544-2739. Monetary donations can be mailed in care of Minersville Area Food Drive Committee, 529 Lytle St., Minersville, PA 17954. Edward M. Butler is the drive chairman. For more information, call Butler at the aforementioned number or at 570-544-5604.

Pottsville

A Deppen Pie sale is under way until Feb. 7 by participating libraries in the Pottsville Library District. Pickups are set for Feb. 20. The cost is $12 per pie and all proceeds will benefit the participating libraries. Varieties of nine-inch pies include blueberry crumb, apple crumb, strawberry rhubarb crumb, cherry crumb, peach crumb, raisin crumb, shoofly, coconut custard, lemon sponge and no-sugar apple. Participating public libraries and their phone numbers are as follows: Ashland, 570-875-3175; Orwigsburg, 570-366-1638; Pottsville, 570-622-8880; Ringtown, 570-889-5503; Shenandoah, 570-462-9829; Tamaqua, 570-668-4660; Tower-Porter, 717-647-4900; Tri-Valley, 570-682-8922. To order, contact the library in your area by Feb. 7.

Tremont

Grand slam bingo is set for 5 p.m. Feb. 23 at the Tremont Firehouse to benefit the Pine Grove Area Lady Cardinals Softball Team. Tickets are $35 each. There will be 20 games of bingo, specials and raffles. For tickets or more information, call 570-449-7949.

SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — Michael Wiley told about 75 people on Friday that fighting diseases like Ebola is an exciting part of what he does for a living.

“I have a pretty cool job. It’s taken me across the world,” Wiley said during a one-hour presentation at Penn State Schuylkill’s John E. Morgan Auditorium. “I do a lot of traveling to Africa.”

Wiley, an assistant professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, outlined his work in combating the Ebola virus disease as the last part of Penn State Schuylkill’s program “Outbreak: Epidemics in a Connected World” sponsored by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. He did that work while a civilian government contractor with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.

Darcy Medica, Penn State Schuylkill’s director of academic affairs, said the program shows that disease outbreaks around the world can affect Americans.

“We live in an interconnected world,” she said. “This was a campus-wide effort.”

In his presentation, Wiley reminded those present that what he does carries risks.

“Ebola is spread by human-to-human contact,” with bats also involved in its transmission, Wiley said.

He said he works primarily in laboratories and that his job includes next generation sequencing of the human genome, which will be a key in combating diseases like Ebola.

“It’s an amazing technology,” Wiley said.

Wiley said he spent time working to control the largest Ebola outbreak, which occurred from 2013 through 2016 in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. He established a laboratory in Liberia, which had the most cases, and spent his time researching how to use sequencing of the human genome to detect cases of Ebola.

“It was kind of reactionary” as opposed to preventive, Wiley said. “Sequencing should be part of the first response.”

He said the entire outbreak resulted from a single event, and resulted in the epidemic from December 2013 to January 2016 that killed more than 11,000 people.

Lessons learned from that outbreak have been applied in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Belgian Congo and later Zaire, when two separate Ebola outbreaks occurred in 2016, according to Wiley. Sequencing was used quickly in the second outbreak in DRC, he said.

As of Nov. 24, 2018, there are 374 cases of Ebola in DRC, according to Wiley.

However, there is a problem now in trying to combat the disease, he said.

“We’re not allowed to go into the Democratic Republic of the Congo now,” Wiley said. “The United States won’t let us go because of the civil unrest.”

Without sequencing by professionals such as himself, he said, contact tracing cannot be done to determine who is infected with Ebola.

He said work is being done to make equipment smaller and shorten the time needed for sequencing.

Wiley said he must protect himself when working in Africa with special clothing and protective measures.

“All that stuff is there to protect you,” he said.

Although some of the research might sound threatening, Wiley said he must demonstrate that his work has more positive consequences than negative ones before he is allowed to use the techniques.

“Anything we make synthetically goes through a dual use,” he said.

Contact the writer: pbortner@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6014

ASHLAND — Ashland police have obtained an arrest warrant for a man stemming from an incident in the area of 1413 Centre St. in the borough around 9:40 a.m. Friday.

The warrant filed by Chief Gerard Daley charges Justin R. Braunstein, 23, with one felony count of aggravated assault and a misdemeanor count of recklessly endangering another person.

Daley said he was called to the area for a report of a vehicle accident and at the scene found two vehicles against a porch and a woman who was extremely upset sitting on a sidewalk.

The driver of one of the vehicles — Laurie Ann Lazarski — said she was driving east on Centre Street while her and Braunstein, her boyfriend, were having an argument.

The woman said that all of a sudden Braunstein grabbed the wheel, causing the vehicle to turn north.

Daley said that the Lazarski vehicle struck a parked vehicle owned by Tanya Stavrosky, of 1423 Centre St., Ashland, causing both vehicles to hit the porch at 1413 Centre St.

After the crash, Daley said, Braunstein left the vehicle with his dog inside and fled on Centre Street.

Daley said, a short time later, he checked a residence where Braunstein is known to frequent but he was not there. The man, Daley said, is homeless and lives in the vehicle that was involved in the crash.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Braunstein is asked to call Ashland police through the Schuylkill County Communications Center at 570-462-1991.

Contact the writer: fandruscavage@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6013

International speaker and author John Pridmore will talk about how he turned his life around during a Jan. 25 visit to Marian Catholic High School in Rush Township.

The 1 p.m. public event is part of the school’s Regional Day of Prayer for Mercy and Healing for the Opioid Crisis.

Pridmore wrote the book “From Gangland to Promised Land,” a story about how he was a troubled youth who ended up in jail.

“At 19, I was in prison again and because the way I dealt with my pain was with anger, I was always fighting. They put me on 23-hour solitary confinement and I came out of there even more angry and bitter,” according to his website.

Eventually, he became a gang member.

“I had what I thought was everything. Money, power, girls, drugs, the lot. But yet there was something missing. This struck me more than ever, when I thought I had killed someone outside of a nightclub I was working at. After nearly taking that man’s life, something incredible happened and my life began to change,” Pridmore wrote.

He accepted Christ as his savior and began working with at-risk youths to show them alternatives to violence.

Pridmore shares his story with thousands of people around the world each year.

Prior to the Marian engagement, he will speak during a private event at the Carbon County Prison.

Deeds

Cressona — St. Mark’s United Church of Christ to St. Mark’s United Church of Christ; 30 Pottsville St.; $1.

Delano Township — Melanie McGrath, Dylan Messerschmidt and Sumer Messerschmidt to John W. Kershitsky Jr.; property on Walnut Street, Delano; $10,000.

Eldred Township — Karen M. Appel to Brett A. Stehr and Henry L. Stehr; 10.088-acre property at township roads 875 and 409; $45,000.

Frackville — Brian Wagner to Dagoberto Danny Candelaria; 13 S. Second St.; $72,000.

Hubley Township — Frank J. Krammes to Masser Farms Realty Ltd.; 11.53-acre property; $115,300.

Kline Township — Charles B. Jr. and Linda S. Gillott to Dino and Donna Deritis; 2 Bruno Ave., Haddock; $129,000.

Mahanoy City — Tax Claim Bureau of Schuylkill County to Charles Freil; 20 S. Sixth St.; $3,000.

McAdoo — Christopher Cusatis to Deni Pinales De Castillo; 321 W. Blaine St.; $64,000.

Minersville — U.S. Bank NA to S&J Homes Inc.; 418-420 Pleasant St.; $4,500.

Shenandoah — Yasmil Hilario-Taveras to Jinabel Properties Corp.; 116 N. Chestnut St.; $1,500.

Patricia A. Bobko, executrix of the Last Will & Testament of William J. Cox, to Patricia A. Bobko; 237 S. Jardin St.; $1.

Steven Warmuth and Diana Richuitti to Jose A. Alberto; property on Washington Avenue; $18,000.

MINERSVILLE — Borough council members were surprised when the bids for Legion Memorial Park came in more than expected recently.

The yet-to-be-built park is planned for the site of the former American Legion building at 3 E. Sunbury St. that was demolished in July 2017.

The borough was awarded a $100,000 Keystone Communities Grant through the state Department of Community and Economic Development in 2017. The borough also contributed to the park.

Deck & Edson Associates, a Lititz-based firm, was chosen by the council in September 2017 for work on the creation of the park. Council President Jamie Kuehn said the estimate was $112,156.

“The bids exceeded our expectations,” Kuehn said Tuesday.

The following bids were received: Bognet Inc., $181,552; Miller Bros. Construction, $205,500; Performance Construction, $233,681; Spotts Bros. Inc., $244,468; RLS Construction Group, $274,664; Greenland Construction Inc., $519,800.

“Right now, the bids are way over our budget,” Kuehn said.

He noted the bids expire Jan. 19. After some discussion, the council authorized Keuhn in agreement with Borough Manager Robert Mahalchick to award a bid prior to the Jan. 19 cutoff date. There is a meeting Monday with borough engineer Donald Cuff, from Entech Engineering, and members of the community development committee to decide the next steps, Mahalchick said.

Kuehn said the project could be scaled back based on the amount of money available.

Contact the writer: ; 570-628-6028

Danette Lake thought surgery would relieve the pain in her knees.

The arthritis pain began as a dull ache in her early 40s, brought on largely by the pressure of unwanted weight. Lake managed to lose 200 pounds through dieting and exercise, but the pain in her knees persisted.

A sexual assault two years ago left Lake with physical and psychological trauma. She damaged her knees while fighting off her attacker, who had broken into her home. Although she managed to escape, her knees never recovered. At times, the sharp pain drove her to the emergency room. Lake’s job, which involved loading luggage onto airplanes, often left her in misery.

When a doctor said that knee replacement would reduce her arthritis pain by 75 percent, Lake was overjoyed.

“I thought the knee replacement was going to be a cure,” said Lake, now 52 and living in rural Iowa. “I got all excited, thinking, ‘Finally, the pain is going to end and I will have some quality of life.’  ”

But one year after surgery on her right knee, Lake said she’s still suffering.

“I’m in constant pain, 24/7,” said Lake, who is too disabled to work. “There are times when I can’t even sleep.”

Most knee replacements are considered successful, and the procedure is known for being safe and cost-effective. Rates of the surgery doubled from 1999 to 2008, with 3.5 million procedures a year expected by 2030.

But Lake’s ordeal illustrates the surgery’s risks and limitations. Doctors are increasingly concerned that the procedure is overused and that its benefits have been oversold.

Research suggests that up to one-third of those who have knees replaced continue to experience chronic pain, while 1 in 5 are dissatisfied with the results. A 2017 study published in BMJ found that knee replacement had “minimal effects on quality of life,” especially for patients with less severe arthritis.

One-third of patients who undergo knee replacement may not even be appropriate candidates for the procedure, because their arthritis symptoms aren’t severe enough to merit aggressive intervention, according to a 2014 study in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

‘We do too many’

“We do too many knee replacements,” Dr. James Rickert, president of the Society for Patient Centered Orthopedics, which advocates for affordable health care, said in an interview. “People will argue about the exact amount. But hardly anyone would argue that we don’t do too many.”

Although Americans are aging and getting heavier, those factors alone don’t explain the explosive growth in knee replacement. The increase may be fueled by a higher rate of injuries among younger patients and doctors’ greater willingness to operate on younger people, such as those in their 50s and early 60s, said Rickert, an orthopedic surgeon in Bedford, Indiana. That shift has occurred because new implants can last longer — perhaps 20 years — before wearing out.

Yet even the newest models don’t last forever. Over time, implants can loosen and detach from the bone, causing pain. Plastic components of the artificial knee slowly wear out, creating debris that can cause inflammation. The wear and tear can cause the knee to break. Patients who remain obese after surgery can put extra pressure on implants, further shortening their lifespan.

The younger patients are, the more likely they are to “outlive” their knee implants and require a second surgery. Such “revision” procedures are more difficult to perform for many reasons, including the presence of scar tissue from the original surgery. Bone cement used in the first surgery also can be difficult to extract, and bones can fracture as the older artificial knee is removed, Rickert said.

Revisions are also more likely to cause complications. Among patients younger than 60, about 35 percent of men need a revision surgery, along with 20 percent of women, according to a November article in the Lancet.

Yet hospitals and surgery centers market knee replacements heavily, with ads that show patients running, bicycling, even playing basketball after the procedure, said Dr. Nicholas DiNubile, a Havertown, Pennsylvania, orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine. While many people with artificial knees can return to moderate exercise — such as doubles tennis — it’s unrealistic to imagine them playing full-court basketball again, he said.

“Hospitals are all competing with each other,” DiNubile said. Marketing can mislead younger patients into thinking, “ ‘I’ll get a new joint and go back to doing everything I did before,’ ” he said. To Rickert, “medical advertising is a big part of the problem. Its purpose is to sell patients on the procedures.”

The role of money

Rickert said some patients are offered surgery they don’t need and money can be a factor.

Knee replacements, which cost $31,000 on average, are “really crucial to the financial health of hospitals and doctors’ practices,” he said. “The doctor earns a lot more if they do the surgery.”

Yet surgery isn’t the only way to treat arthritis.

Patients with early disease often benefit from over-the-counter pain relievers, dietary advice, physical therapy and education about their condition, said Daniel Riddle, a physical therapy researcher and professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.

Studies show that these approaches can even help people with more severe arthritis.

In a study published in Osteoarthritis and Cartilage in April, researchers compared surgical and nonsurgical treatments in 100 older patients eligible for knee replacement.

Over two years, all of the patients improved, whether they were offered surgery or a combination of nonsurgical therapies. Patients randomly assigned to undergo immediate knee replacement did better, improving twice as much as those given combination therapy, as measured on standard medical tests of pain and functioning.

But surgery also carried risks. Surgical patients developed four times as many complications, including infections, blood clots or knee stiffness severe enough to require another medical procedure under anesthesia. In general, 1 in every 100 to 200 patients who undergo a knee replacement die within 90 days of surgery.

Significantly, most of those treated with nonsurgical therapies were satisfied with their progress. Although all were eligible to have knee replacement later, two-thirds chose not to do it.

Tia Floyd Williams suffered from painful arthritis for 15 years before having a knee replaced in September 2017. Although the procedure seemed to go smoothly, her pain returned after about four months, spreading to her hips and lower back.

She was told she needed a second, more extensive surgery to put a rod in her lower leg, said Williams, 52, of Nashville.

“At this point, I thought I would be getting a second knee done, not redoing the first one,” Williams said.

Other patients, such as Ellen Stutts, are happy with their results. Stutts, in Durham, North Carolina, had one knee replaced in 2016 and the other replaced in 2018. “It’s definitely better than before the surgery,” Stutts said.

Doctors and economists are increasingly concerned about inappropriate joint surgery of all types, not just knees.

Inappropriate treatment doesn’t harm only patients; it harms the health care system by raising costs for everyone, said Dr. John Mafi, an assistant professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

The 723,000 knee replacements performed in 2014 cost patients, insurers and taxpayers more than $40 billion. Those costs are projected to surge as the nation ages and grapples with the effects of the obesity epidemic, and an aging population.

To avoid inappropriate joint replacements, some health systems are developing “decision aids,” easy-to-understand written materials and videos about the risks, benefits and limits of surgery to help patients make more informed choices.

In 2009, Group Health introduced decision aids for patients considering joint replacement for hips and knees.

Blue Shield of California implemented a similar “shared decision-making” initiative.

Executives at the health plan have been especially concerned about the big increase in younger patients undergoing knee replacement surgery, said Henry Garlich, director of health care value solutions and enhanced clinical programs.

Younger audience

The percentage of knee replacements performed on people 45 to 64 increased from 30 percent in 2000 to 40 percent in 2015, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Because the devices can wear out in as little as a few years, a younger person could outlive their knees and require a replacement, Garlich said. But “revision” surgeries are much more complicated procedures, with a higher risk of complications and failure.

“Patients think after they have a knee replacement, they will be competing in the Olympics,” Garlich said.

Danette Lake once planned to undergo knee replacement surgery on her other knee. Today, she’s not sure what to do. She is afraid of being disappointed by a second surgery.

Sometimes, she said, “I think, ‘I might as well just stay in pain.’  ”

Williams Valley school board members acted legally when they dismissed High School Principal Tracey R. Weller, the state secretary of education decided on Thursday.

In an 18-page opinion and order, Pedro A. Rivera ruled Weller deliberately violated school policy in several ways when dealing with a threat made by a student on social media.

“The District has demonstrated numerous instances where (Weller) failed to comply with the superintendent’s directive, District Policy and/or Code of Conduct requirements,” Rivera wrote.

Rivera decided that the district presented credible evidence that Weller willfully neglected her duties, did not comply with state law and district policy, and acted incompetently.

By so ruling, Rivera upheld the board’s dismissal of Weller on Sept. 27, 2018. The board voted in November to hire Christine Duey to replace Weller.

In his opinion, Rivera found that a student had posted threats of gun violence on Feb. 19-20, 2018, on social media, and that Superintendant Diane Niederriter had both contacted the state police to handle the matter and told all high school staff members that only the police would handle the matter.

He wrote that one of the threats pictured a masked young person with a gun along with a text that read, “I hate everyone at WV. Like why can’t they all just disappear.”

Rivera also found that Weller had a lead on a possible suspect but that, instead of informing Niederriter, she investigated the matter herself, interviewing two students, identified as E.H. and B.W., who believed they knew who the student making the threats was, and then talking to that suspect, identified as Z.R., in the presence of the accusers.

“Even (Weller) recognized that what she had done was wrong,” Rivera wrote. “Specifically, she knew she should not have placed two innocent accusers in harm’s way by identifying them to the suspect.”

He also ruled that Weller’s actions violated district policy and protocol by her failure to inform Niederriter immediately and later refusing to answer her questions about how she identified Z.R. as a suspect. In fact, Rivera wrote, Weller refused three times to answer Niederriter’s questions about how she obtained information.

“(Weller) went behind the superintendent’s back to conduct her own witness interviews,” Rivera wrote. “(Weller’s) persistent refusal to work together within her chain-of-command is especially troubling. School administrators must work together in situations like these where the District faces a threat from someone who might cause harm to students and staff.”

Additionally, those interviews imperiled the two innocent students by having them in the same room as the suspect, thereby violating the district’s Code of Conduct, according to Rivera. He noted that a parent reported that the two had received threatening messages from one of Z.R.’s relatives

“It is reasonable to conclude that (Weller’s) misconduct was potentially harmful to the accusers,” Rivera wrote. “Specifically, her careless behavior exposed the two students to a risk of retribution from an individual who had just made the most serious threat of gun violence in school history.”

Weller willfully neglected her duties under school law and policy, and persistently failed to comply with those same laws and policies, thereby justifying her dismissal, Rivera concluded.

Contact the writer: pbortner@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6014

While it may not come as much comfort for those fighting fever, aches, chills, congestion and other common symptoms of influenza, a pair of area doctors agreed that it’s been a fairly average flu season in Northeast Pennsylvania so far.

Lackawanna County had 409 confirmed and reported cases of flu between Sept. 30, and Jan. 2, according to state Department of Health data. Luzerne County had 1,158 confirmed cases in that time. Comparatively, the state health department reported 2,170 confirmed flu cases in Lackawanna County and 4,615 in Luzerne County between Oct. 1, 2017, and Sept. 29, 2018.

“True influenza usually hits early winter and it’s not unusual to see the cases start to spike in early-to-mid December, and that’s what we’ve seen this year,” said Dr. Richard Martin, a family physician at Geisinger Mount Pleasant in Scranton. “I think it’s too early to tell what to expect for the rest of the winter, but the statistics pretty consistently, year-to-year, kind of speak for themselves.”

Getting a flu vaccine is a simple step people can take to reduce their risk of contracting the virus, according to Martin and Dr. Tina George, an Avoca-based family physician with Commonwealth Health.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend everyone over the age of 6 months get the vaccine, with some exceptions. Flu season extends into May and both doctors said it’s not too late to get vaccinated. It’s especially important that young children, the elderly and individuals diagnosed with chronic diseases guard against influenza, Martin and George said.

Flu symptoms can be more severe, and the virus itself can be more deadly, for patients already suffering from heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, kidney disease and other chronic medical conditions.

“If you have any chronic respiratory diseases like COPD or asthma, make sure that you are on a good maintenance regimen with those things, because you are at much higher risk of having a more severe case of the flu should you get it,” George said. “Even people with non-respiratory diseases, like heart disease or kidney disease on dialysis, they have a much higher mortality (risk related to flu).”

To protect at-risk patients and reduce the flu risk for others, Commonwealth Health asks people who are sneezing, coughing, feverish or experiencing a runny nose or other respiratory symptoms, as well as children younger than 12, to refrain from visiting patients at any of its hospitals at this time.

Some of the aforementioned symptoms are common in people with the flu, but they don’t necessarily mean someone has the virus. Sometimes those same symptoms are simply signs of the common cold, Martin said.

“True influenza is usually characterized by very abrupt onset,” he said. “People will get a shaking chill and a spike in temperature to 102, 103 (degrees). They have a pretty severe headache, a dry cough (and) body aches. They may or may not get a sore throat, but the hallmark is really the sudden onset, the fever, the headache and the body aches.”

People who believe they have the flu should seek medical attention, as treatment is most effective within 48 hours of flu symptoms manifesting, George said.

Contact the writer: jhorvath@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9141

To reduce your risk of getting sick with the flu:

n Get a flu vaccine.

n Wash hands with soap thoroughly and regularly.

n Avoid touching mouth, eyes or face.

n Avoid others who are sick if possible.

n Disinfect contaminated surfaces.

People sick with the flu should:

n Seek medical treatment.

n Stay home to avoid spreading the virus.

n Stay hydrated.

n Stand and walk around periodically to help prevent pneumonia.

n Treat fever with over-the-counter antipyretic drugs, such as Tylenol and ibuprofen.

Man charged with dollar store theft

ASHLAND — A Pitman man was arrested by state police at Frackville and charged with retail theft after an incident at the Dollar General store Jan. 5.

Police said Jason E. Conner, 41, was charged after he shoplifted a container of antiperspirant valued at $2.50 and a Slim Jim valued at $1.95.

Police said Conner was identified on store security cameras and that he had been charged in a previous investigation for stealing items from Boyer’s Food Market, prompting merchants in the area to review store activity.

Police said that Conner was jailed stemming from the incident at the food market and will be arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Christina E. Hale, Frackville, for the Dollar Store theft.

The state Department of Transportation advises the motoring public of the following roadwork in Schuylkill County this week:

• Shoulder work and widening on Route 443 from Pine Grove to the Lebanon County line from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday. There will be lane restrictions.

•Spray patching on Interstate 81 in Foster Township between Highridge Park Road and Route 209 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday. There will be lane restrictions.

•Crack sealing on Tuscarora Mountain Drive in Ryan Township between Route 209 and state Route 54 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday to Friday. There will be lane restrictions.

•Crack sealing on Route 61 in South Manheim Township between Port Clinton and Deer Lake from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday. There will be lane restrictions.

•Crack sealing on Lakeside Avenue in Rush and Delano townships between Route 54 and Delano Road from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday. There will be lane restrictions.

•Drainage work on Route 61 in Butler Township between Fountain Springs and Frackville from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday. There will be lane restrictions.

•Pothole patching on Aristes Road, Union Township, between Little Mountain Road and Columbia County line from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday. There will be lane restrictions.

•Pothole patching on Route 61 in New Castle Township between Saint Clair and Frackville from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday. There will be lane restrictions.

•Road sign work on I-81 between Exit 124 (Route 61) and Exit 131(Route 54) from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Motorists can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 860 traffic cameras. 511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional Twitter alerts accessible on the 511PA website.

Deeds

Ashland — Joseph G. Groody, sheriff of Schuylkill County, to Nationstar HECM Acquisition Trust 2018-2; 1100 Spruce St.; $1,244.18.

Butler Township — Joseph G. Groody, sheriff of Schuylkill County, to Federal National Mortgage Association; 11 Gordon Road; $1,163.95.

Cressona — Joseph G. Groody, sheriff of Schuylkill County, to Lakeview Loan Servicing LLC; 45 Wilder St.; $1,222.12.

East Union Township — Hawk Mountain Land Management Inc. to Ayana L. McCray; 6.047-acre property on East Spruce Street, Brandonville; $24,900.

Adiana Hercules to Eagle Rock Resort Co.; Lot 29WSS4, Eagle Rock; $10,967.62.

Timothy W. Felegie to Ramon Torres Jr.; property at Shepp Street and Brandon Avenue, Sheppton; $81,000.

Hegins Township — Valley View BTS Retail LLC to Valley View BTS Retail LLC; 1204 W. Main St., Valley View; $1.

Joseph G. Groody, sheriff of Schuylkill County, to Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.; 202 Grove Drive, Hegins; $1,194.58.

South Manheim Township — Jeffrey R. Musser, trustee of the Jeffrey R. Musser Living Trust, to Timothy A. and Gina M. Sheehan; 2346 Spear Cove, Lake Wynonah; $220,000.

Tamaqua — Patricia A. Killian to Edward and Vicki Kennedy; 519 Arlington St.; $44,000.

Ramdeo Mangru and Rookmin Mangru to Ramdeo Mangru; 409-411 W. Broad St.; $1.

Tower City — Jessica M. Whitman and Derreck R. Warfel to Derreck R. Warfel; 100 E. Grand Ave.; $1.

Tremont — Harris M. Jr. and Charlotte A. Wellbank to John E. Kohr and Michael D. Kohr; 403 W. Main St.; $75,000.

Tremont Township — Shirley A. Daubert and Randy T. and Mary L. Daubert to Randy T. and Mary L. Daubert; 60.41-acre property; $1.

Wayne Township — Robert Berger and Denise Daily-Berger to Robert Berger; 1099 Indian Drive, Lake Wynonah; $1.

Mahanoy City

The Mahanoy Area United Veterans Parade Committee is looking for a veteran to be the grand marshal for this year’s Memorial Day weekend activities that include a program held at the tank monument and riding in the Memorial Day parade. This year’s theme will be Operation Iraqi Freedom. Anyone interested should call Francis Burke at 570-205-0261. All are welcome to join and help protect American History, the committee said in a release.

New Ringgold

A homemade soup sale with pickups set for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 2 at Friedens Lutheran Church, 525 Church St. The variety includes beef vegetable, chicken noodle, chicken corn noodle, chicken rice and chili ham and bean. People may order online at nrlp.org or call Betsy at 570-943-2980 or 570-573-2993. The order deadline is Jan. 27. The cost is $8 per quart and $4 per pint.

Pottsville

The Pottsville Rotary Club recently welcomed students of the month Riley Herndon and Zachary Turnitza of Pottsville Area High School, Briana and Brittany Kenton of Nativity BVM and Kayleigh Raczka and Shawn DeLaney of Minersville Area. The students told Rotarians about their school and community activities and plans for the future.

Ringtown

The Ringtown Area Public Library will celebrate Take Your Child to the Library Day Feb. 2 by hosting two programs for children: Mother Goose on the Loose for toddlers at 9:30 a.m. followed by Storytime for ages 3 to 6 at 10:15 a.m. All children must be accompanied by an adult. Throughout the day, children can play with the library’s large collection of educational toys, including many building, construction and STEM sets as well as the popular OSMO for iPad game collection for children ages 5 to 12. The Ringtown library, according to Director Tanya Savitsky, is a “proud Cruise Into Kindergarten library, committed to providing learning opportunities for young children and to helping families with all aspects of kindergarten readiness.” For more information, go to the library’s website at www.ringtownlibrary.org or email to ringtownlibrary@epix.net.

Schuylkill Haven

The Schuylkill Haven Area School District is conducting its annual kindergarten screening for students who will be age 5 on or before Sept. 1. Parents and guardians are requested to call the elementary center at 570-385-6731 between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. to register a child for the screening process, which will be held March 11-15. All children need to be registered before they can be screened, according to a district release.

Schuylkill Haven

The SEEDS --- Sensible Eating Every Day Support --- group meets from 10 to 11 a.m. Thursdays at St. John’s Reformed Church, Main Street. For more information, call Jane at 570-385-4079.

Shenandoah

Story/craft time at the Shenandoah Area Free Public Library, Washington and Main streets, is set for 11 a.m. to noon Feb. 2. The library’s book sale is 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. today and Jan. 16 and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Jan. 19. Hardcovers are 25 cents each and paperbacks, 10 cents each. The library now has a collection of Spanish language fiction and nonfiction books. Copies of the book “Lithuanians in America” are available.

Tamaqua

The Zion culinary team is offering hoagies and soup for the the weekend of the Super Bowl (Feb. 2). Soup will be available by quarts and the variety includes chicken noodle, ham and bean, chili and broccoli cheese. Soup is $7 per quart and hoagies are $5 each. Orders must be made by Jan. 25 by going online to www.ziontamaqua.com or calling 570-668-4451. Purchased items can be picked up from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 2.

HOMETOWN — The Rush Township board of supervisors will once again be led by Shawn Gilbert.

Supervisors held their reorganization meeting Monday and kept the same lineup with Gilbert as chairman and Robert Leibensperger as vice chairman. Jeannine Motroni is the third supervisor.

The board retained attorney Christopher Riedlinger as its solicitor at a rate of $100 per hour and ARRO Consulting as its engineer/zoning and code enforcement officer.

Peter Fagan will serve as the planning commission supervisor at a rate of $110 per hour and Burke & Burke will serve as the zoning hearing board solicitor at a rate of $85 per hour.

During the meeting, the board reappointed Deborah DelFranco as full-time secretary and Kelly Chicarelli as part-time administrative assistant.

William Brior will again serve as the sewage code enforcement officer and Samantha Brior as the alternate.

Elden Neifert, Anthony Sfarra, Lonnie Ahner and Ronald Neifert were reappointed as road crew workers, and Michael Zimmerman as sewer department employee.

Kenneth Zipovsky was reappointed as police chief at a rate of $66,000 per year, and new part-time police officers will receive $20 per hour.

Supervisors voted to continue holding regular meetings at 7 p.m. on the third Thursday of every month.

POTTSVILLE — Schuylkill County District Attorney Michael A. O’Pake and the Schuylkill County detectives are asking for the public’s help in locating a man who failed to appear in Schuylkill County Court two times last year.

Detectives said Gregory James Adams failed to appear on Aug. 10, 2018, and Oct. 12, 2018, for pre-trial conferences on three different cases.

The first case included felony charges of conspiracy, access device that is counterfeit or altered, access device issued to another person and receiving stolen property.

The second case included a charge of felony retail theft while the third case was for five misdemeanor counts of theft and six misdemeanor counts of loitering and prowling at night.

Adams, 50, is described as being white, about 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighing 250 pounds.

He has a last known address of 717 W. Chestnut St., Shamokin, or 1017-19 E. Webster St., also in Shamokin.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Adams or on any other fugitive in Schuylkill County is asked to call the district attorney’s office at 570-628-1350 or Schuylkill County Tip Line at 570-624-3988.

Information can also be sent by email to dadd@co.schuylkill.pa.us.

Anyone who may see or come in contact with Adams is asked to call the Schuylkill County Communications Center or their local police department immediately.

All information received will remain confidential.

Detectives said that a list of Schuylkill County bench warrants is available on the Schuylkill County website at www.co.schuylkill.pa.us.

Fugitive warrants served from Dec. 1 to 31 totaled 95, bringing the total fugitive warrants served in 2018 to 1,181.

Contact the writer: fandruscavage@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6013

POTTSVILLE — A Northumberland County man will not have to serve time in prison after admitting Tuesday to a Schuylkill County judge that he lied about providing home improvement services to an Ashland woman in September 2015.

Joseph A. Tumolo Jr., 45, of Coal Township, pleaded guilty to making false statement to induce agreement for home improvement services and theft by deception. Prosecutors withdrew a second count of theft by deception.

President Judge William E. Baldwin accepted the plea, placed Tumolo on probation for two years and also sentenced him to pay costs, $50 to the Criminal Justice Enhancement Account and $650 restitution, and submit a DNA sample to law enforcement authorities.

Ashland police charged Tumolo with making the false statement on Sept. 17, 2015, in the borough.

Also on Tuesday, Ivana A. Jimenez, 21, of Pottsville, pleaded guilty to simple assault.

Baldwin placed her on probation for 12 months and made that consecutive to the sentence Jimenez already is serving. He also sentenced Jimenez to pay costs and a $50 CJEA payment, and undergo anger management evaluation.

Pottsville police charged Jimenez with committing the assault on June 11, 2018, in the city.

In another Tuesday case, Noah J. Plasko, 18, of Pottsville, pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property. Prosecutors withdrew a charge of theft.

Baldwin placed Plasko on probation for 12 months, and also sentenced him to pay costs and a $50 CJEA payment.

Pottsville police charged Plasko with possessing the stolen property on June 24, 2018, in the city.

Contact the writer: pbortner@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6014

SAINT CLAIR — Girls from Schuylkill County took to the catwalk at the Fairlane Village mall on Saturday as part of the annual Snowdrop Fashion Show.

The show, held in the former Write-Craft Store, kicked off the 52nd annual Greater Pottsville Winter Carnival on what is called “Princess Saturday.” The day began with the Snowflake Princess and Queen of the Snows contestants visiting the mall in the morning to promote the winter carnival events to be held during the next three weeks. This year’s theme is “Surfin’ 2019 Style.”

After about an hour at the mall, the candidates traveled to downtown Pottsville for the first-ever Winterfest event.

The Snowdrop Pageant is open to all second- and third-grade girls living in or attending school in Schuylkill County. The Snowdrop Pageant is in its 39th year. Greater Pottsville Winter Carnival Association President Deirdre A. “Dee” Boris said the Queen of the Snows goes back to the first year of the carnival, and the Snowflake Princess began one year later.

The fashion fun continues today with the Snowflake Fashion Show, held at 7 p.m. in The Lodge at Sharp Mountain.

Carole Lee, the fashion show coordinator for the Snowdrop Princess contestants, said before the show that the show time was changed to 5 p.m. and is in a new location.

“Boscov’s is responsible for doing all the decorating and setting up the stage. They did a great job,” Lee said. “The reason we’re starting later is became of the Winterfest being held in Pottsville during the day. We have 34 adorable little second- and third-graders who are participating. They’re all very excited about it.”

There was a preliminary judging event on Friday evening where the girls were interviewed by the judges where the fashion show was held.

“Last Saturday they had a get-acquainted party, which this year was a pajama party at the Billie Payne Community Center,” Lee said. “They got to play games and make various crafts. They had a good time and had a lot of fun. They got to know one another, which makes them a whole lot more relaxed when they go to the judging events and are friends by then.”

Winning is not the most important part of the pageant for the girls, Lee said, but it is about making friends, having fun at the many winter carnival activities, and just being themselves.

There was much excitement before the show from the contestants and the crowd. The master of ceremonies was 2013 Queen of the Snows Corene Parrish.

“First and foremost, I’d like to thank the Fairlane Village mall for providing this storefront this evening,” Parrish said. “And I would like to thank Boscov’s for all these wonderful decorations. Winter-carnival season here in Schuylkill County is truly the most magical time of the year.”

Parrish asked each girl different questions about her interests, pets, favorite sport, song, singer, book, etc. The questions varied depending on the girl’s biography and interests, and the answers at times had many people laughing.

The fashion show began with each girl coming to the stage as her name was announced by 2018 Snowdrop Princess Kali Grochowski, followed by 2018 Snowflake Princess Mikaela Tobash reading information about each contestant, including her interests and a description of her attire.

There was plenty of confidence exhibited as the girls came to the stage and strutted their way up and down the runway several times to the delight of the audience. They used different hand and arm gestures to go with the descriptions of themselves as read by Tobash. There were many unique outfits, some with coordinated props, and many were accessorized with bows, bangles, baubles and beads, and there was even a Cindy Lou Who in the lineup sans The Grinch.

Assisting Lee in coordinating the pageant were Becky Klimas, Regina Fanelli, Kendra Boris, Kathy Guzick, Dee Boris and Louise Wachter.

Dee Boris expressed her appreciation to the many sponsors who support the winter carnival year after year.

“We couldn’t do this without them,” Boris said. “It’s their generosity that allows this to take place.

The events after this weekend are as follows:

• Costume Fashion Show, 6 p.m. Thursday, at the Fairlane Village mall.

• The Royal Tea with the Queen, 11 a.m. Saturday, at the Walk In Art Center, 220 Parkway, Schuylkill Haven.

• Queen Fashion Show, 7 p.m. Jan. 20, at The Lodge at Sharp Mountain.

• Yuengling Night, 7 p.m. Jan. 25 at St. Nicholas Hall, Primrose, featuring The Boys Upstairs. ID is required. The sponsor is Red, White and Blue Autos Inc.

•  Snowdrop & Snowflake Coronation Pageant, 7 p.m. Jan. 26, at Pottsville Area High School.

• Snowdrop & Snowflake Ball, 9 p.m. Jan. 26, at St. Nicholas Hall.

• Queen’s Pageant, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 2, at Pottsville Area High School.

• Queen’s Ball, 9 p.m. Feb. 2, at St. Nicholas Hall, Primrose.

Contact the writer; jusalis@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6023

Kline Township Supervisor Dale Wesner was re-elected chairman of the board of supervisors at their annual reorganization meeting Monday.

Supervisor Carmen Cara was re-elected vice chairman. The third supervisor is Matthew Corra, who was also appointed to a new, five-year term on the township municipal authority board.

All three supervisors will serve as roadmasters, and will do work and hire workers as needed for the township in 2019. The trio was also appointed as MS4 compliance officers, and Wesner was appointed as technology information officer for the township.

The township’s monthly meetings will continue to be held on the second Monday of the month at 4 p.m. at the Kelayres Town Hall, Fifth Street.

The supervisors also set the hourly rate of pay for part-time street department employees: laborers, $9.60 per hour, with the exception of Tony Vigna, a special operator, at $11.30 per hour, with a minimum of four hours per occurrence.

The supervisors also reappointed for 2019:

• Carla Alucci as the township secretary/treasurer, chief finance officer for the police pension fund, and garbage fee collection agent for the township.

• Mark Semanchick as township solicitor, as well as solicitor for the township planning commission.

• Joseph Baranko, solicitor for the zoning hearing board.

• Gary Perna Sr. as a full-time employee, street foreman and emergency management director, and Gary Perna Jr. as assistant emergency management director.

• Anthony Vigna as zoning officer, code enforcement officer and permit collection officer.

• Lehigh Engineering as the township’s engineering and Uniform Construction Code firm.

• Denise Anilosky to a new, three-year term on the planning commission and Russell Postupack to a new, three-year term on the zoning hearing board.

• Berkheimer Associates for the collection of earned income and local services taxes.

•Part-time police officers MaryBeth Elias, James Patterson, Justin Farley, Stephen Demko, Joseph David, Paul Bowman, Cameron Ivanina and Sgt. Kevin Ruby.

• Arlene Burgess, remaining three-year term, and Joseph Magda, remaining five-year term, on the Kline Banks McAdoo Regional Authority board.

• William Brior, township sewage enforcement officer.

• Joseph Notaro, chairman of the vacancy board.

• First National Bank, township depository.

• PennWood Financial Group, investment and advisory firm to the police pension plan.

• Beyer Barber Co., township actuary.