Lane Restrictions on Interstate 84 Eastbound in Lackawanna County There will be lane restrictions on Interstate 84 EB today, January 6 in order to make bridge deck repairs from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Motorists can check conditions on major 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 1,000 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. Subscribe to PennDOT news and traffic alerts in Lackawanna, Luzerne, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties at www.penndot.gov/District4. Information about infrastructure in District 4, including completed work and significant projects, is available at www.penndot.gov/D4Results. Follow local PennDOT news on Twitter and like the department on Facebook and Instagram.
Area Women Complete SBDC Startup Program Local women completed The University of Scranton Women’s Entrepreneurship Center StartUP Fall program. The Women’s Entrepreneurship Center is a program of The University of Scranton Small Business Development Center (SBDC). Pictured, from top left: Peggy Doolittle, Women’s Entrepreneurship Center administrative assistant; Katelyn McManamon, Special Projects Coordinator, SBDC; Niamh Boyle, Women’s Entrepreneurship Center student intern; Jennifer Dice, Katharine Lewis; Donna Simpson, consultant manager, SBDC; Amourelle Donnay, Siobhan McKenna, Monica Brooks and Suzanne Jarecki. Monica Brooks, Avoca; Jennifer Davis, Scranton; Jennifer Dice, Dalton; Amourelle Donnay, Dunmore; Suzanne Jarecki, Kunkletown; Katharine Lewis, Scranton; Siobhan McKenna, Clarks Green; and Erin Moskel, Peckville, and two others completed The University of Scranton Women’s Entrepreneurship Center StartUP Fall Program. Facilitated by experienced business consultants from The University of Scranton Small Business Development Center (SBDC), this six-week certificate series is designed to provide women with the skills and knowledge needed to start their own businesses, with a focus on serving women in transition or those trying to make a better life for themselves and their families. This program offers participants education, support and guidance in determining if entrepreneurship is an option for them while teaching business startup basics, legal and insurance considerations, marketing and social media essentials, business plan development, accounting and budget skills, financing options and goal setting. Housed in the Kania School of Management, The University of Scranton Women’s Entrepreneurship Center (WEC) is a program of the SBDC. WEC student interns and SBDC staff offer business start-up information, guidance, and encouragement. For more information, visit www.scrantonsbdc.com.
NET Credit Union Donates $30K to 2021 Charity Recipient NET Credit Union recently donated $30,000 to their 2021 charity recipient, Peggy’s Pathway For Women’s Cancer Care. All funds raised from The NET-A-PALOOZA Family Carnival & Cornhole Tournament hosted with NEPA Cornhole at The Hilton in Downtown Scranton and The NEToberfest Golf Tournament at Pine Hills Country Club benefited Peggy’s Pathway. Family and friends of the late Peggy Pettinato, who passed away for endometrial cancer, started Peggy’s Pathway for Women’s Cancer Care in Peggy’s honor. Their mission is to raise funds for research into innovative treatments and early detection for endometrial cancer. This donation will help with their efforts. Front Row Pictured L to R: Marco and Isbella Paoli. Second Row Pictured L to R: Janelle Kaczmarek, NET CFO; Diane Scandale, Peggy’s Pathway; Clarence Baltrusaitis, NET CEO; April Beky, Peggy’s Pathway; Natalie O’Hara, Peggy’s Pathway; Lisa Davis, Peggy’s Pathway; Kristin Paoli, Peggy’s Pathway and Robert Pettinato Sr., Peggy’s Pathway. Third Row Pictured L to R: Mary Lynn Gaetano, NET Credit Union, Frank Paoli, Peggy’s Pathway; Betty Chiorazzi, Peggy’s Pathway and Karen Clifford, NET Board of Director.
Lackawanna College Awarded Grant to Support Diversity Initiatives A $2,500 grant from the Scranton Area Community Foundation’s Center for Community Leadership and Nonprofit Excellence will help Lackawanna College build a multi-stage diversity and inclusion improvement plan. The grant will provide funds for the College to hire a consultant service to assist in creating and administering a comprehensive institutional equity audit. The audit will focus on the student experience, examining organizational practices and policies related to diversity and inclusion. “There’s a need to identify the College’s strengths and weaknesses, so we can create a more vibrant college community, improving the experience for all students, particularly those who have been traditionally marginalized and underrepresented,” said Joya Whittington, project director. “I’m grateful that we were approved for this grant so we can begin to implement institutional and social change.” Faculty and staff members on the College’s Diversity, Equity, Justice and Inclusion (DEJI) committee will lead the project. Branching off from the audit, the committee will establish a multi-phase Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) improvement action plan and initiate short and long-term educational activities.
Department of Defense Military Packaging Design Training Now Available at Tobyhanna Army Depot PSCC’s Wade Myrthel assists a PACK 2 student during capstone testing. The Army’s premier training for military packaging has a new home. The Army Sustainment Command Packaging, Storage, and Containerization Center (PSCC), located on-post at Tobyhanna Army Depot, has fully implemented a new version of the critical PACK 2 Military Packaging Design Course. The course educates Department of Defense (DoD) personnel on techniques to properly design packaging that protects high dollar mission critical items from the rigors of military storage and the defense distribution system’s complex network of air, sea, and land transport – a challenge that requires simultaneously controlling costs, conserving resources, and minimizing unit pack size and weight. Thanks to the efforts of PSCC personnel, the DoD now has a comprehensive design course to address all of these concerns and provide DoD packaging designers with the skills they need to successfully support mission requirements. Since 2008, the closure of the School of Military Packaging Technology (SMPT) and the effects of attrition have resulted in a significant gap in the DoD packaging subject matter expertise. In response to this need, PSCC developed a redesigned PACK 2 that leverages the packaging expertise of in-house personnel and the resources available in PSCC’s Packaging Applications Testing Facility. The eight-day course consists of classroom lectures, as well as hands-on instruction in PSCC’s world-class packaging testing facility, which includes water intrusion, random vibration, and simulated handling testing apparatuses. A variety of packaging-related topics are covered in the training, to include design requirements, design methodology, shock and vibration, fragility, suspension systems, cushioning properties, cushioning design procedures, special packaging instructions, and validation testing. The culmination of the course is a capstone, requiring students to build and test a package that can meet military packaging standards – and withstand durability testing. Beginning in the first lesson, the capstone is integrated. By immediately following up each lesson with a relevant exercise, students get to reinforce what they have just learned and obtain a clearer picture of how it applies to real world design. According to David Gomes, re-launching the course was an arduous effort. “Our team spent the past year developing the PACK 2 course and ensuring it met the rigorous standards of the Defense Packaging Policy Group (DPPG),” adding that PSCC was chosen for the mission due to the subject matter expertise of its employees, as well as their modern testing facilities. Gomes is a senior packaging specialist in PSCC. A pilot of the course was held in late FY21 and included representatives from the DPPG, the Defense Contract Management Agency; the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Armament Center; the U.S. Marine Corps; and the U.S. Navy. Gomes noted that the course benefitted attendees as well as PSCC personnel. “Having personnel from various DoD Components in one room allowed for dynamic cross-collaboration and discussion.” The pilot – and PSCC’s instructors – earned rave reviews from attendees as well as DPPG representatives, who gave the green light to fully offer the course to the DoD community. General Engineer Brian Rawhouser says the entire DoD – especially Tobyhanna Army Depot (TYAD) – will benefit from having the PACK 2 training on-post. “The packaging fundamentals taught in this course ensure military assets are protected from environmental impacts, transportation and handling, and remain in a ready-for-issue status throughout the supply chain. That has a direct impact on TYAD’s mission; for example, proper packaging can reduce warranty claims, increase safety, and, most importantly, ensure materiel readiness.” The PACK 2 course is scheduled to run again in late January, April and July 2022. Those interested in learning more about the course or about PSCC’s unmatched facilities and team, please call 570-615-7257 or visit PSCC’s website at https://www.pscc.army.mil/. Tobyhanna Army Depot is a recognized leader in providing world-class logistics support for C5ISR systems across the Department of Defense. Tobyhanna’s Corporate Philosophy, dedicated work force and electronics expertise ensure the depot is the Joint C5ISR provider of choice for all branches of the Armed Forces and industry partners. Tobyhanna’s unparalleled capabilities include full-spectrum logistics support for sustainment, overhaul and repair, fabrication and manufacturing, engineering design and development, systems integration, post production software support, technology insertion, modification, foreign military sales and global field support to our joint warfighters. About 3,700 personnel are employed at Tobyhanna, which is located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. Tobyhanna Army Depot is part of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command. Headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, the command’s mission is to empower the Soldier with winning C5ISR capabilities. *please note: These photos were taken at various times during the year, during which the Department of Defense guidance on masking/COVID-19 precautions changed in step with the guidance from the Center for Disease Control.
Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education Scholars Present Cardiovascular Research at International Conference Dr. Muhammad PirDr. Najam Saqib Dr. Hamza HanifDr. Muhammad Affan A team of cardiovascular disease fellows and internal medicine residents at the Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education recently presented their scholarly research, “Comparison of Radial vs. Femoral Arterial Access for Complex Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” at an international conference in Orlando, Florida. The Cardiovascular Research Foundation’s Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics Conference, an annual scientific symposium, is the world’s foremost educational forum that specializes in interventional cardiovascular medicine. It features major medical research breakthroughs and leading researchers and clinicians from around the world presenting and discussing the latest evidence-based research. Drs. Muhammad Pir and Najam Saqib, cardiovascular fellows, and Drs. Hamza Hanif and Muhammad Affan, internal medicine residents, co-authored the research presentation. It involved the review of 14 studies and 12,272 patients to assess existing literature on radial versus femoral arterial access for complex percutaneous coronary intervention. Radial access was associated with a significantly lower rate of major bleeding, but the work discovered that overall procedural success was superior when utilizing the femoral artery. The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education features three fellowships: Cardiovascular disease, gastroenterology and geriatrics. Over three years, the cardiovascular disease fellowship trains fellows in community-based settings with globally and nationally recognized, board-certified cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons. Fellows also hone the knowledge and skills needed to provide state-of-the-art cardiac care, while advancing the specialty field through their own scholarly research and practice. Overall, The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education has had 75 scholarly abstracts, written on a wide array of topics in medicine, accepted for presentation at professional conferences since the beginning of the 2021-22 academic year. For more information about The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education, go to thewrightcenter.org or call 570-343-2383.
The Robert and Rose Cavanaugh Fund to Feed the Hungry Poor Grants $14,680 in 2021 to Fight Hunger In 2021, The Robert and Rose Cavanaugh Fund to Feed the Hungry Poor granted $14,680 to programs in Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Wayne Counties. The Fund, which was established in November 2018 at the Scranton Area Community Foundation through a planned gift from the late Robert and Rose Cavanaugh, supports entities and programs such as pantries, meal services, and food kitchens that are dedicated to serving the hungry poor. The 2021 grant recipients and the purposes for the grants are: ● Catherine McAuley Center – “Food Pantry For Women and Families in Need” ● CEO Weinberg Regional Food Bank – “Food Delivery and/or Food Supplies” ● Here For A Reason – “Food Packaging and Distribution” ● Holy Trinity Lutheran Church Food Pantry – “Food for Food Pantry” ● Meals on Wheels of Greater Pittston – “Food Preparation and Delivery” ● Meals on Wheels of NEPA, Inc. – “Food preparation and delivery” ● NativityMiguel School of Scranton – “Hunger Relief for Families of NativityMiguel School” ● NEPA Youth Shelter – “NEPA Youth Shelter Grocery Fund” ● The Greenhouse Project – “Plants, Food, and Skills for Sustenance” ● ThinkBIG Pediatric Cancer Fund – “ThinkBIG Holiday Gift Card Program” ● United Neighborhood Centers of NEPA – “Angel’s Attic Food Pantry” ● Wayne County Community Foundation – “Wayne County Emergency Food Relief Fund” Recipients were selected through a rigorous application process. Applicants were invited to submit grant requests for up to $5,000 using the Scranton Area Community Foundation’s online grant portal. Ryanne Jennings from the Wayne County Community Foundation explained how the grant supported their efforts to provide fresh food to their local emergency pantries, “Wayne County Emergency Food Relief Fund purchased $3747 in local produce, eggs and dairy for the in Wayne County. Our pantries have very limited storage for items that require refrigeration, so the Emergency Food Relief Fund helps to provide the funds needed to purchase directly from the farmers directly before the pantries distribute their food to our community members in need of support.” For more information about grant opportunities at the Scranton Area Community Foundation, please contact Cathy Fitzpatrick, Scranton Area Community Foundation Grants and Scholarship Manager, at 570-347-6203, extension 301, or grants@safdn.org.
Johnson College Fall 2021 President’s List Dr. Katie Leonard, President & CEO of Johnson College, has announced the President’s List of students who were enrolled in 12 credits or more and completed the 2021 Fall Semester with a grade point average of 3.90 or higher. David Neiman, Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning Technology, Shavertown, PA Bennett Sisto, Computer Information Technology, Scranton, PA Jonathon Kaville, Electrical and Construction Technology, Old Forge, PA Julia Price, Heavy Equipment Technology, Scranton, PA Alexander Mros, Radiologic Technology, Wilkes-Barre, PA Johnathan Gilson, Heavy Equipment Technology, Honesdale, PA Jon Dellia, Physical Therapist Assistant, Olyphant, PA Benjamin Terry, Biomedical Equipment Technology, Richmondale, PA John McDonald, Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning Technology, Pittston, PA Brittany Bethel, Veterinary Nursing, Dallas, PA Antonia Latorre, Computer Information Technology, Taylor, PA Silas Beck, Computer Information Technology, Covington Township, PA Philip Davitt, Electrical and Construction Technology, Dickson City, PA Jonathan Petrasko, Computer Information Technology, Peckville, PA Richard Christianson, Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning Technology, Susquehanna, PA Natalie Lamoreaux, Physical Therapist Assistant, Pennsdale, PA Evan Wilcox, Architectural Drafting & Design Technology, Milanville, PA Cody Mackin, Architectural Drafting & Design Technology, Taylor, PA Jason Chilko, Automotive Technology, Bartonsville, PA Alexander Nallin, Veterinary Nursing, Scranton, PA Michael Salansky, Computer Information Technology, Harford, PA Joseph Ingraham, Diesel Truck Technology, Binghamton, NY Richard Mikloiche, Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Vandling, PA Virginia Murray, Automotive Technology, Jessup, PA Brandon Grandinetti, Computer Information Technology, Olyphant, PA Colton Esslinger, Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Susquehanna, PA Jacob Banta, Automotive Technology, Trucksville, PA Donald Smith, Architectural Drafting & Design Technology, Tunkhannock, PA
Winter Blues Guitarmageddon Blues Festival Returns, Blues Legend Joe Louis Walker Set to Headline on February 25 The Scranton Cultural Center at the Masonic Temple is pleased to announce that its 6th Annual Winter Blues Guitarmageddon will return on February 25 and continue as a one-night Blues festival featuring an eclectic mix of local, regional, national, and international touring artists. Grammy-nominated, six-time Blues Music Award Winner and Blues Hall of Fame Inductee, Joe Louis Walker is confirmed to headline. “We are beyond excited to be back this year as a one-night mini-fest, with plans of expanding to a weekend event in 2023,” says organizer Maria Santomauro. “The last two years were challenging, but we are grateful to be back presenting live music to the greater Northeastern Pennsylvania regions again!” Boasting a career that spans over 50 years, Headliner Joe Louis Walker is regarded by NPR as a “legendary boundary pushing icon of modern blues” and is a true guitar powerhouse with distinctive vocals. He has toured the world’s most renowned music festivals sharing the stage with Muddy Waters, Thelonious Monk, Ronnie Woods, John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon, Charlie Musselwhite and John Mayall, to name a few. In addition to his own twenty-five albums, Walker has played on Grammy-winning records by B.B. King and James Cotton and collaborated with a diverse group of first-rate artists including Branford Marsalis, Tower of Power, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal, and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown. His latest album “Electric Electric,” features a diverse mix of blues-stomping and horn-powered originals as well as a few out of the ordinary covers, like “Werewolves of London” (Warren Zevon) and “Hotel California” (The Eagles). Adding to the lineup is King Solomon Hicks, who returns by popular demand after his debut in Scranton at Winter Blues Guitarmageddon: Next Generation in February 2020. At that time, he was just releasing his latest work “Harlem”, which was awarded Best Emerging Artist Album at the Blues Music Awards. The album was produced by three-time Grammy Winner Kirk Yano, who has worked with Miles Davis, Public Enemy, Mariah Carey and more. Rounding out the lineup are local blues rock power trio Dustin Douglas & The Electric Gentlemen and the soulful, Philadelphia-based Deb Callahan Duo featuring Allen James. The concert will take place in the Scranton Cultural Center’s Grand Ballroom at 7:00 p.m. with the doors opening at 6:30 p.m. Seating is reserved and tickets range from $40-50 in advance and $45-55 day of show. They can be purchased at the Fidelity Bank Box Office at the SCC in person or by calling (570) 344-1111, or via Ticketmaster. The 6th Annual Winter Blues Guitarmageddon is sponsored by UGI Utilities, Inc. and LT Verrastro. It is supported by Lackawanna County and the PA Council on the Arts. PLEASE NOTE: Masks are required for all patrons, regardless of vaccination status. They can be removed for eating or drinking in the designated area, which will be located on the Lower Level. For additional information about the SCC’s current COVID-19 Mitigation Policies, visit SCCMT.org/COVID. For additional information and a full schedule of events, visit SCCMT.org.
