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Lake Fest promises fun on and around Harveys Lake

Tree cutter charged with abandoning job after branch falls on Harveys Lake house

PITTSTON TWP. &#8212; The first flight of a potential new brand for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport hit some turbulence from the people with the final word on what the campaign would say.The airport, owned and operated jointly by Lackawanna and Luzerne counties, tasked its marketing consultants, MLB Advertising of Wilkes-Barre, with creating a modern and energetic image of the facility and its services.John Bartorillo of MLB Advertising made a short presentation to the bi-county board during its monthly meeting Thursday and unveiled a new design with bold color bands to replace the existing jet image and added a tag line &#8220;Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, Rising Above.&#8221;&#8220;And it could be rising above so many different things,&#8221; Bartorillo said, such as the competition or the airport&#8217;s past.&#8220;Branding is so important because as we go forward with our messaging we want people to understand who we are, to instantly telegraph what we&#8217;re all about to people so that we get a strong enough impact from everything that we do,&#8221; he said.But the presentation left Lackawanna County Commissioner Jim Wansacz wanting more.&#8220;I like most of it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Do you have any other options?&#8221;The advertising firm kept its presentation short because of time constraints and showed what its team chose as its favorite. The alternatives that were not presented could be discussed at a separate meeting to keep the campaign on track for a fall roll out.Lackawanna County Commissioner Pat O&#8217;Malley also liked what he saw and suggested having further discussions.&#8220;Each county has a perception of the way they might want to be perceived,&#8221; O&#8217;Malley said. &#8220;One of your alternatives might be the one that all of us would be agreeable on.&#8221;The board agreed upon a number of agenda items. Among them:&#8226; Beginning negotiations on a final contract with Prestige Security to provide security services to replace AlliedBarton whose contract ends next month.&#8226; Solicitation of proposals for a natural gas procurement consultant&#8226; Solicitation to bid for an airport insurance broker&#8226; Approval to pay $47,088 to Desman Associates for design and bidding services for the repair and rehabilitation of the airport parking garage.Carl Beardsley, executive director of the airport, presented June&#8217;s passenger numbers. There were 18,647 people boarding planes last month, a 2.6 percent decrease from the 18,962 in June 2014. There was a &#8220;pronounced dip&#8221; from May&#8217;s 20,317 enplanements, Beardsley said. July&#8217;s numbers should show an increase with an additional day compared to June and a full month for people to take vacations, he said.The airport&#8217;s fixed base operator Aviation Technologies did well in fuel sales from last month&#8217;s NASCAR race at Pocono International Raceway. Jim Gallagher, president of Aviation Technologies, said it sold 8,000 gallons of the 11,000 gallons in retail sales were due to the race. Aircraft parking also exceeded expectations and almost space.&#8220;We actually didn&#8217;t have one spot left on our ramp to fit another plane,&#8221; he said for the aircraft that flew in for the race.Following the meeting, a ribbon cutting was held for the Military Appreciation Room located on the main level behind the escalators. Service men and women departing for duty and returning home can visit with family privately in the room with amenities. It was made possible with donations from local businesses.<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Jerry Lynottjlynott@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLNews</shirttailMeta></div>

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton airport looks at new brand with slogan, ‘Rising Above’