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Delays reported on Interstate 81 in Lackawanna County due to roadwork

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Wilkes-Barre police blotter

Man says Larksville cops beat him up after he&#8217;s subdued by K-9Police used a K-9 to subdue several suspects, one of whom police say banged his head off a police car, allegedly suggesting he would claim that police were beating him.Borough police received a report that three males and one female were allegedly knocking on people&#8217;s doors and running away.The three males were detained. One, identified as Charles Weitz, 19, of Hanover Township, had a bench warrant for failure to appear on theft charges filed by Kingston police. The other were from Plymouth.K-9 Officer Josh Evans responded and found the group walking near East State Street. When confronted, one male ran toward the side of a house. Evans had the department K-9 officer, &#8220;Una,&#8221; get out of his vehicle and gave her a command to bark, which police say caused the males to put their hands in the air, and one of them to lie down on the ground.During a search, police found that Weitz was in possession of 15 packs of synthetic marijuana, two glass smoking devices and four cell phones.Weitz was transported to the Luzerne County Correctional Facility and jailed on the bench warrant. The other two males were released.Arrest warrants issued for 18 street-level drug dealers in Luzerne CountyA year-long investigation of street-level illegal drug sales resulted in the arrest warrants for 18 people.Teams of undercover drug agents with the state Office of Attorney General and Luzerne County Drug Task Force and police in Edwardsville and Kingston swept the West Side serving arrest warrants at many residences, including one in Wilkes-Barre,At least three inmates were removed from the Luzerne County Correctional Facility to be arraigned on similar charges, including Malika Elam Bell, 26, of 163 Boland Ave., Hanover Township, who has been jailed since her arrest on other drug trafficking charges by Hanover Township police in January.Bell, also known as &#8220;Meech,&#8221; may face an additional charge of institutional harassment for spitting on Times Leader photographer Aimee Dilger several times as she was led out of the Kingston Municipal Building to be taken back to the county correctional facility.Bell was charged Thursday for selling $225 worth of crack cocaine at a residence on Horton Street, Wilkes-Barre, on Jan. 15.An undercover agent said those charged sold heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, marijuana, prescription medications and &#8220;date rape drugs.&#8221; He called those arrested low to mid-level street dealers.Agents identified Durrell Rashard Pharmas, 26, of 375 Schuyler Ave., Kingston, as a main dealer involved in the investigation.Dorothy &#8216;Stella&#8217; Scrobola, whose obituary caused a stir, recalled for humor, compassionThe obituary for Hanover Township resident Dorothy A. &#8220;Stella&#8221; Scrobola, who died last week at the age of 84, announced to the world that she was survived by &#8220;a shitload&#8221; of grandchildren.In truth, son Charles C. Scrobola said the actual number of grandkids was 11.But that somewhat unorthodox word &#8212; which was debated by newspaper editors and generated national media attention for Mrs. Scrobola&#8217;s obituary in recent days &#8212; captured for her family the spirit of a loving woman who was a true original.&#8220;She was just a very special person,&#8221; Scrobola said of his mother. &#8220;Everyone who she touched remembered her.&#8221;Lucky United Way donor gets Wegmans shopping spreeRich Bonning, 44, of Slocum Township, won a shopping spree at Wegmans after his name was entered into a raffle because he donated to United Way of Wyoming Valley&#8217;s 2014-15 Community Campaign.The campaign, according to United Way CEO Bill Jones, focuses on raising money to address childhood poverty. Bonning said that he has been donating to the community campaign for the last 15 years.Bonning was surrounded by an entourage of his co-workers from InterMetro Industries, where he is the director of operations.The rules were simple. Pharmacy and gift cards were off-limits, and he had to be safe when near other customers.Bonning said he talked with his wife, Kathy, Wednesday night to get an idea for some specific things to seek. The plan was simple &#8212; Bonning was out to get some meat, cheese and seafood.&#8220;Everything thing else from there was just random,&#8221; he said.Bonning frantically rushed through the store and grabbed packs of cheese, king crab legs, sirloin steaks and packs of bacon.After the three minutes were up, Bonning had filled three carts &#8212; after a cashier rang up all of the items, the total came to $1,144.18. That shattered last year&#8217;s record of about $700.

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