With decades of experience in the industry, Disaster Blaster is excited to announce franchise opportunities now available.

Minor League Baseball™ (MiLB™) unveiled the schedule of games and the 85 on-field Hispanic identities for this season’s Copa de la Diversión® (Fun Cup™) event series. Continuing its annual expansion into more communities, eight new teams joined Copa de la Diversión (“Copa”) this season, with five teams returning with rebranded personas.

The 387-game event series will kick off April 9 in Hillsboro, Oregon, with Nationwide returning as the Official Insurance Partner of the Copa initiative.

The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders are pleased to once again be a part of this tremendous outreach program. The Vejigantes return to the field four times during the 2022 season.

The eight MILB teams joining Copa for the first time include the Fort Wayne TinCaps, Frisco RoughRiders, Great Lakes Loons, Quad Cities River Bandits, Somerset Patriots, St. Paul Saints, Syracuse Mets and Wichita Wind Surge. Two teams – the Corpus Christi Hooks and Winston-Salem Dash – return with all-new identities, while the Fresno Grizzlies, Lehigh Valley IronPigs and South Bend Cubs are back with updated looks.

Copa de la Diversión is the centerpiece of MiLB’s “Es Divertido Ser Un Fan™” (“It’s Fun to be A Fan™”) Hispanic fan engagement initiative, which was created in 2017. Through the success of the Copa program, now in its fifth season, MiLB has solidified its commitment to the long-term growth of its U.S. Latino communities and its diversity and inclusion efforts across the country.

“It is important to our organization and all of Minor League Baseball that we continue to embrace everyone in and around our communities through the Copa initiative,” said Frisco RoughRiders President Victor Rojas. “We are excited to honor our rich and diverse Latino culture in hopes of creating a deeper connection to our community on a year-round basis.”

During the first four seasons of the initiative, Copa-designated games had a nearly 20% higher average attendance than non-Copa games, and participating teams saw significant increases in merchandise sales, partnerships, and concessions revenues. Extending their reach into local communities, teams partnered with more than 200 local Latino organizations on various events and charitable endeavors.

“The continued growth of the Copa de la Diversión initiative reinforces the importance of connecting with our Latino fans and the Latino community nationwide,” said Kurt Hunzeker, MLB’s Vice President of Minor League Business Operations. “Our teams continue to authentically connect with the Latino population in their communities, leading to a deeper and more meaningful fan experience.”

At the end of the season, MiLB’s Latino Leadership and Community Growth Council, comprised of industry experts and civic leaders, will recognize the top-performing teams in several categories, including ballpark experience, community engagement, and philanthropic impact, and one team will be named the overall Copa de la Diversión champion. Previous winners include the Mariachis de Nuevo México (2018 and 2019) and the Wepas de Worcester (2021).

For more information on Minor League Baseball’s Copa de la Diversión initiative, visit MiLB.com/copa. To purchase tickets and official merchandise, visit MiLB.com/fans/copa/teams.

The following is a list of University of Scranton events planned in the month of April 2022. 

Apr. 9-10
2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. sessions on Saturday and Sunday. Pysanka workshops to teach the art of decorating Ukrainian Easter eggs with traditional folk designs using a wax-resist method. Smurfit Arts Center. $25 fee will be donated to humanitarian aid in Ukraine via World Central Kitchen. Registration required at surveymonkey.com/r/PysankaApril2022. Call 570-941-4419 or email community@scranton.edu.  

Apr. 20
6 p.m. Earth Day “Evening of Environmental Science” with University student-run interactive science experiments and exhibit of University of Scranton Earth Day Essay Contest submissions. Essay contest awards will be announced at the event. Loyola Science Center. Free. Call 570-941-6267 or email info@scranton.edu.  

Apr. 21
7:30 p.m. Lecture by renowned American climatologist and geophysicist Michael Mann, Ph.D., author of “The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet.” McIlhenny Ballroom, DeNaples Center. Free. Call 570-941-6267 or email mark.murphy@scranton.edu.  

Apr. 25
5:30 p.m. Art show address by environmental artist Laura Kern. Loyola Science Center. Free. Call 570-941-6267 or email mark.murphy@scranton.edu.  

Apr. 28
5 p.m. Take Back the Night. Event includes a pre-rally with information booths and the Clothesline Project display from 5 to 7 p.m.; followed by a march at 7 p.m. and a speak out at 7:15 p.m. Dionne Campus Green. Free. Call 570-941-7902 or email maria.marinucci@scranton.edu.

Note: Access to the campus is currently limited to members of the University community, invited guests and others as listed in the Royals Back Together plan. Campus access and other health and safety information will be updated throughout the semester and can be seen on the Royals Back Together webpage. 

Lackawanna College has been awarded a $15,000 grant from BHE GT&S, a Berkshire Hathaway Energy company, to finance technology upgrades at the College’s satellite center in Towanda, Pa.

The funds will be used to replace outdated TeamBoards (interactive whiteboards) and projectors with state-of-the-art, wall-mounted televisions in three classrooms and a computer lab.

“The BHE GT&S grant will improve classroom instruction and support our priorities of aligning our teaching methods with today’s technical capabilities,” said Brad Reid, Center Director of Lackawanna College—Towanda. “With the support of the Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company, we can enhance faculty-student interactions and help students make an impact in their chosen field.” Lackawanna College—Towanda offers affordable, career-focused online, in-person and hybrid courses. With 16 bachelor’s and associate degree programs and four certificate programs in health sciences, the satellite center currently serves over 100 students in Bradford county

To promote the well-being of its employees, The Wright Center announces it will participate in an initiative that seeks to shatter stigma in the workplace surrounding mental health issues and encourages the timely treatment of conditions such as depression and anxiety.

Dr. Linda Thomas-Hemak, president and CEO of The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education, has joined the CEOs Against Stigma campaign – a project of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)’s state organization to prioritize mental health in the workplace.

The Wright Center’s executive team will follow the campaign’s guidance, using a six-step toolkit to closely examine and address factors commonly associated with employee depression, anxiety and burnout.

This new collaboration with NAMI Keystone Pennsylvania – the official state organization of the NAMI – is part of The Wright Center’s ongoing effort to become an optimal employer as well as to respond to the increased mental health challenges resulting from the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

“This partnership will help us more effectively understand and address the whole-person health needs of our employees and also the patients, families and communities we are privileged to serve,” Thomas-Hemak said.

Owen Dougherty, The Wright Center for Community Health’s recovery supports manager and behavioral health community liaison, will help to implement the campaign across the organization’s multiple sites and departments. Dougherty has served as president of NAMI’s Northeast Region Pennsylvania chapter.

“We are confident that our engagement in this initiative will empower our executive team, providers, staff, residents and fellows to be better equipped and proactive in optimizing their personal well-being, interpersonal and cross-departmental relationships, and the care we provide to patients and families,” Thomas-Hemak said.

Depression is a leading cause of disability, costing the U.S. economy an estimated $210.5 billion per year in medical costs, absenteeism and lost productivity, according to NAMI. During any given year, one in five workers will experience some form of mental illness, such as depression or anxiety. Many of those people won’t seek treatment because of stigma. Others simply won’t know where to turn.

The CEOs Against Stigma campaign seeks to correct those system failures so that workers and their families don’t suffer in silence. The Wright Center’s participation in the campaign is one of a number of steps the health center is taking across its primary care practices and training sites to strengthen employee resiliency and job satisfaction.