Times Leader 03-28-2012

C M Y K WILKES-BARRE, PA WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28, 2012 50¢ timesleader.com The Times Leader 7 4 6 9 7 3 $ 3 0 VOUCHER FOR ONLY $ 15 U.S. soccer team misses out on Olympics once again SPORTS,1B Summertime blues Beans great alternative to fish for meatless entrees T ASTE, 1C Legumes great for Lent The state Attor ney General’ s Office will leave it to Luzerne County authorities to inves tigate a Kingst on lawye r who admitte dly double-b illed the county for legal services. Bill s sub mit ted by attorney Ang ela Ste ven s have come under scrutiny since a Times Leader inves tigatio n reve aled she routin ely charg ed the county travel time for each pet- ition she delivered to the county courthou se, even when multiple petitions appeared to have been del ive red in a sin gle trip, and some times cla ime d to ha ve worked more than 24 hours in a day. Stevens, a partner in the Py- rah /St evens law firm, has admitted she made billing errors but contends they were oversights. In a let ter rec eiv ed Tu esd ay by Dis tric t At- torney Stefanie Salavantis and Controller Walter Grif fith , Depu ty Att orney Gen era l Rich ard A. Shee tz Jr . said the inv est iga tion into whe the r Stevens violated state law falls under the author- ity of the district attorney. “I have spoke n to District Atto rney Salavantis and she advise d me that her office is investigati ng LAWYER’S BILLI NG State will let county deal with Stevens The Kingston attorney admitted she made mistakes in billing for legal services. By MAT T HUGHES [email protected] See STEVENS, Page14A Stevens NANTICOKE -- Firs t-yea r students at Luzerne County Community College are being urg ed to sig n a non -bin ding agreement to transfer to Tem- ple Univer sity afterthey’ve put in two years at the Nanticoke school. If they wind up meeting re- quire ments,theywouldnot only be guaranteed admission to the Philade lphia univer sity , butthosewith str ong er gra des als o coul d be given scholar- ships worth up to $ 2,0 0 0 a year. The dual admission agreement entere d into bet wee n the two colleg- es l as t ye ar too k effe ct this semest er . On Thursday, rep- resentatives fro m T emp le will be on the LCCC campus to explain the pro gra m and requirements. The agr ee- ment provides LCCC gra du- ates automatic acceptanceintoTempleaslong as the studen t’sgrade-pointav- era ge is 2.3 or hig her . The agreement also allows LCCC graduates to qualify for $1,000 per year, up to three years, if theirgrade-pointaverageis 3.3 to 3.64. If their GPA is 3.65 or higher, the scholarship money is $2,000 per year up to three years. In order to take part in the progr am, student s must notify T empl e of thei r intentto tra ns- fer befor e theyhave complete d 30credit s atLCCC. Dr.GaryMrozinski,thedean for business and technologies atLCCC,said the school isen- couragi ng student s to enrol l because once they hit 30 cred- itsand the y chan getheir min d about wanting to participate, it’ s toolate.But if theysignthe agree ment and change their mind,there’ s no penalty . He said too often students enroll ing in two-yea r schools don’tthink aboutwhere they’ll LCCC in deal with Temple U. Pact would ensure students’ acceptance into Temple after two years at LCCC. By ANDREW M.SEDER [email protected] Thursday’s information session is 5:30-7:30 p.m. in Room 130 of the Educational Conference Center. To register, go to www.luzerne.edu/ temple/ If you can’t attend, a Temple ad- missions representa- tive will be on the Campus Center’s third floor from11 a.m. to 2 p.m. LEARN MORE SHENANDOAH — A fire des tro yedfiverow homesin this Schuylkill County community early Tuesday, killing a woman and three children in one house while a fourth child managed to es- capeout a sec ond- floo r win - dowas theflamesclosedin, fireofficials said. The blaze spread quickly, and the buildings were fully eng ulfe d whe n crews ar- rived within minutes of the 6:30a.m.call.Firefightersat- tempted a rescue, but they madeitonlyashortdistance inside the front door of the victims’home beforehaving to retre at. “Thefirewastoointense,” said Shenandoah Fire Chief Richar d Mensick . The Schu ylk ill Cou nty Coron er’s Office identifi ed the victims as Tiffany San- che z,28, her10- yea r-old son Christia n,and hertwo neph- ews,10-ye ar-oldDamien Lo- pez and 7-month-old Aziah Hernand ez. An autopsywas plannedfor Tue sdaynight. Anothe r son of Sanchez’ s, identifi edas DiegoSanchez, AP PHOTOS Firefighters battle a heavy fire at a home on East Coal Street in Shenandoah on Tuesday. The fire destroyed five row homes. Woman, 3 kids die in fire A person plac- es balloons on the railing of 11 7 E. Coal St. in Shenandoah on Tuesday after fire consumed the home early Tuesday morning, killing four people. Three of the victims of the early- morning fire were children. A fourth child escapes blaze that engulfed row homes in Shenandoah. By MICHAEL RUBINKAM Associated Press See FIRE, Page14A EXETER -- In a district that is con temp lati ng clos ing an ele - mentary school, it was the costs of repairs to another elementary school that raised the most questions Tuesd ay at the Wyomin g Area School Board meeting. Par ents did rai se que stio ns raised more questions about the appr ova l of pur suin g a loanforup to $3 million for repairs to the Montgomery Ave nue Elemen - tary School in West Pittston. The board narrowly approved the Department of Agricultu re loan in an amount not to exceed $3 millio n by a 5-4 vot e, with board President Frank Casarella casting the deciding vote. Busi- ness Manager Tom Melone said the district had been unable to find a le nderwho cou ldmeetthe 3.75 percent interest rate offered by theDepartmentof Agricultu re 40-year term. But board and audience mem- bers alike took exception to the 40-y earloan,notingthat thevery chil dre n who are goi ng to the school will be saddled with the debt until they are in their 50s. Some taxpayers also raised con- cern s abo utthe amou ntof mon ey to be borrowed, and questioned theboard ’sinsis ten cethat it doe s No school restructuring decision by Wyoming Area Board to pursue $3M loan to make repairs at Montgomery Avenue Elementary School. By JANINE UNGV ARSKY Times Leader Correspondent The next scheduled meeting is a work session on April 17 . WHAT’S NEXT

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Times Leader 03-28-2012