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Northeastern Pennsylvania could see first major snowfall this weekend

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Police: Armed robbery reported hours after it happened

WILKES-BARRE &#8212;Tests for asbestos in ceiling plaster at Meyers High came back negative, school board Solicitor Raymond Wendolowski said, and the auditorium was made available for Saturday&#8217;s Martin Luther King Open Speech and Debate Team Contest.&#8220;Areas where a little bit of plaster came down were roped off,&#8221; Wendolowski said.The auditorium was abruptly <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/502330/attorney-borland-mlk-event-will-remain-at-meyers-despite-auditorium-closing" target="_blank">closed </a>Jan. 8 after the discovery that plaster had fallen from the ceiling onto seats in the balcony. Several officials inspected the problem, including Superintendent Bernard Prevuznak, Construction Manager Gary Salijko of Apollo Group, Inc. and an engineer. They agreed the auditorium should be closed.The district had a company test the plaster for asbestos. Wendolowski said none was found and the auditorium was re-opened.The closure had prompted Meyers Principal Michael Elias to suggest the annual Martin Luther King Debate Contest, which draws about 400 people, be moved to another building, but Attorney Kimberly Borland, who helps run the school&#8217;s debate team, opted to keep the event at Meyers.Borland had expected to hold the opening and closing ceremonies in the school gymnasium, but said Monday they were staged in the auditorium as originally planned.Wendolowski als0 confirmed the district has received requests for school &#8220;Asbestos Management Plans,&#8221; or AMPs, in the wake of asbestos concerns at the auditorium. Several members of the group Save Our Schools, formed in large part to fight a high school consolidation proposal, have asked for the AMPs.Federal regulations set up in the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act, or AHERA, require all public and non-profit schools to inspect schools every three years and develop and update an AMP for each school. AMPS must be kept at each school and made available to the public.Wendolowski said some requests for AMPS were not readily fulfilled because the district changed the company it hires to conduct inspections and prepare the AMPS. But he said all schools have the plans and they will be available within the five days required by law.&#8220;My understanding is that the reports we have follow AHERA regulations,&#8221; Wendolowski said.While asbestos can cause serious lung problems, it is generally considered safe as long as it is encapsulated, or &#8220;non-friable,&#8221; meaning it can&#8217;t be crushed into powder with hand pressure.Asbestos has been a recurring problem for the district, most recently during the renovation of the former Mackin school. Old blackboards had to be removed because there was asbestos behind them, and that work led to $50,948 in additional contracting costs to repair the walls. Removing asbestos found in the Mackin <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/9316/wilkes-barre-area-board-approves-change-order-additional-contract-for-work-at-mackin-building" target="_blank">auditorium ceiling </a>plaster cost an additional $16,000That was on top of a separate asbestos abatement contract that cost $466,300.<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Mark Guydishmguydish@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</shirttailMeta></div>

Asbestos tests negative, Meyers auditorium re-opened