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Pressure sensor can decrease need for hospitalization in heart-failure patients

Letter to the Editor: Incorporate sidewalks, biking paths into building plans across Luzerne County

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; For a year and a half, Mary Nowak has had skunks burrowing under a shed in her back yard.</p><p>The skunks often spray the building that sits just a few feet from her house. Even closer is her breezeway where she and neighbors would sit and chat on summer nights. A side porch is also nearby, with furniture for relaxing and enjoying the outdoors.</p><p>But now, the breezeway and the side porch are seldom used.</p><p>Instead of cool summer breezes, the air around this Miners Mills neighborhood, for the most part, stinks.</p><p>Just last Thursday, a neighbor put his two dogs out and they were confronted by a skunk, who promptly sprayed them.</p><p>Nowak is at the end of her rope. She has tried to rid her property of the skunks, with no success. A trap set by the city&#8217;s contracted exterminator managed to catch a cat and a bird &#8212; but no skunks.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m afraid to go in my yard,&#8221; Nowak said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t want my home or my neighborhood ruined by some goofy skunks.&#8221;</p><p>Nowak has tried everything. She has spread mothballs, a common tactic, but the skunks keep coming back.</p><p>She has filled in the holes, only to have the skunks dig them out time and again.</p><p>She has sprayed the area, but that didn&#8217;t work either.</p><p>She asked the city for help. An exterminator was sent, as a courtesy by the city, and a trap was set. The trap failed to snare a skunk, trapping the aforementioned cat and bird.</p><p>Nowak has lived in Miners Mills all her life. She has been in her current residence for 50 years. She loves the area. It&#8217;s her home.</p><p>Nowak&#8217;s husband built a large shed on the property to do wood working, or to just relax. The skunks have burrowed under the buildings at three different locations. The holes are obvious. Nowak has placed moth balls in all of them and around the building. She even hired a contractor to fortify the foundation to make it impenetrable.</p><p>Nothing has worked.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know what to do,&#8221; Nowak said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know who to call.&#8221;</p><p>Nowak can&#8217;t understand what is attracting the skunks to her property. There is no food left around. Her garbage is secured. She thinks someone down the street leaves cat food out for stray cats. Maybe, she said, that&#8217;s what attracts the skunks to the area.</p><p>Before a year and a half ago, Nowak said she had no problem with skunks. Now she sees &#8212; and smells &#8212; them all the time.</p><p>Michelle Rogan lives across the street. She said she has seen the skunks walking around the neighborhood. And it&#8217;s a nice neighborhood. All of the homes are well maintained.</p><p><strong>Leighton reaction</strong></p><p>I talked to Mayor Tom Leighton. He said he sympathizes with Nowak. He said the city has sent an exterminator there as a courtesy. But, Leighton said, the city is not responsible for removing skunks from private property.</p><p>That is true, but don&#8217;t you wonder how long these skunks would last in Barney Farms? Would the mayor allow them to hang around his neighborhood for a year and a half? Maybe the residents there would chip in and pay for removal.</p><p>Nowak is on a very fixed income.</p><p>But it&#8217;s not just about skunks. Sometimes people who are politically connected or who at the very least &#8220;know somebody&#8221; get preferential treatment. Whether it be for a job in a school district, or for appointments to certain boards and authorities. It goes around and around.</p><p>Like skunks, that sort of thing stinks too.</p><p>Mark Rutkowski, law enforcement supervisor at the Pennsylvania Game Commission in Dallas, said they have a list of reputable contractors that specialize in removal of pests like skunks. Call 570-675-1143 for more information.</p><p>Leighton said the city takes things like this seriously. He said every neighborhood has experienced problems like too many skunks.</p><p>&#8220;We will try to help (Nowak),&#8221; he said.</p><p><strong>Pest control</strong></p><p>City Administrator Greg Barrouk said he was first made aware of the issue Thursday, but that the pest control company the city contracts with had deployed all of its traps.</p><p>&#8220;When they get in, we&#8217;ll put more in there and try to catch them,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Barrouk said the city did get some traps back Monday and re-set them at Nowak&#8217;s property.</p><p>I&#8217;m told traps can be purchased for around $20. The problem is, if Nowak catches the skunk or skunks, what is she to do with it (or them)? The Game Commission won&#8217;t remove it. They say the skunks should be euthanized.</p><p>Skunks can be rabid. They can be a danger to the public. A woman in Miners Mills shouldn&#8217;t have to put up with this sort of problem.</p><p>But if her city won&#8217;t help and the state won&#8217;t help, who will?</p><p>Something really does smell.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Bill O&#8217;Boyle </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_Columnshot-1-10.jpg</photo0><caption0>Bill O&#8217;Boyle </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_skunks1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Mary Nowak of East Main Street in Miners Mills shows one of three holes dug by skunks on her property. She said the problem has persisted for a year and a half and she has tried several remedies to get rid of them with no success.</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_skunks1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Mary Nowak of East Main Street in Miners Mills shows one of three holes dug by skunks on her property. She said the problem has persisted for a year and a half and she has tried several remedies to get rid of them with no success.</caption1><photoCredit1>Bill O&#8217;Boyle | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

In Focus: Skunks stinking up Miners Mills neighborhood