Letter to the Editor: Damaging health insurance tax deserves to get deep-sixed

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Plain-clothed men fighting Exeter fire were actually volunteers from a nearby fire company

<p>We always want to know about you. In return, we&#8217;re going to tell you about us.</p><p>Our readers know our reporters, editors and photographers by name only. From their bylines &#8211; the name on stories and photos that lets readers know who wrote the story or who took the picture.</p><p>There is so much more to us than those bylines, though. We&#8217;d like you to know who we are &#8220;beyond the byline&#8221; so you can better relate to us and to the things we bring you in print and online. We want to better connect with you and we&#8217;re hoping this column will do just that.</p><p>For example, did you know reporter Bill O&#8217;Boyle volunteers his time with a group of special needs individuals called Victory Sports League? Bill shows up at the West Pittston Little League every Thursday evening during the summer to announce the league&#8217;s baseball games. Not only does he know every single player&#8217;s name, he knows their nicknames and some information about each of them. I don&#8217;t have to tell you how much the players love Bill and his antics.</p><p>Arts &amp; Entertainment Editor Sarah Haase claims she never cooked until she took this job. Now, she spearheads a feature called &#8220;Test Kitchen&#8221; where she&#8217;s always cooking or baking up something. She even admits to having burned pasta in boiling water.</p><p>During a recent conversation about license plates, Sports Editor Alicia Johnson told us how she remembers the first three letters of her license plate &#8211; EGP. She claims it stands for &#8220;Everyone Gets Potatoes.&#8221; What does that even mean? I have no idea but every time I see Alicia&#8217;s car in the company parking lot, I laugh out loud.</p><p>Did you know Arts &amp; Entertainment reporter Mary Therese Biebel and education reporter Mark Guydish are married &#8211; to each other? They&#8217;re big outdoor enthusiasts, often strapping on backpacks and hiking boots to take to the wilderness. They&#8217;re much more ambitious than I am.</p><p>Photographer Pete Wilcox spends a lot of time in the woods, too &#8211; hiking or, during those winters when we do have snow, cross country skiing.</p><p>Reporter/editor Steve Mocarsky and his mom are settling into a new routine after their West Hazleton home suffered serious damage in a fire. A neighbor and a police officer jumped into action quickly to remove Steve&#8217;s mom, who&#8217;s confined to a wheelchair, from the house. Even Mozart, Steve&#8217;s dog, made it to safety. Steve works the night shift here and, while he was out taking care of things on the home front, reporters Melanie Mizenko, Geri Gibbons and Travis Kellar didn&#8217;t hesitate to cover his shifts.</p><p>Night Editor Joe Soprano competed in the Greater Wilkes-Barre Triathlon last year, his first ever. And did well. It was a high point for Joe and his co-workers who cheered him on during his training. Joe is also a big Carolina Panthers fan. This year&#8217;s Super Bowl was a low point for him.</p><p>Sports reporter John Erzar is a die-hard Baltimore Ravens fan &#8212; so much so that he even drives a purple Jeep.</p><p>Photographer Sean McKeag came all the way from Pittsburgh for a job here at the Times Leader &#8211; and tells Multimedia Editor Clark Van Orden every day how much he loves this job.</p><p>Photographer Aimee Dilger has two adorable sons who say the darndest things. Like the time she was doing geography homework with the oldest one and asked him, &#8220;Who is our neighbor to the north?&#8221; His answer? &#8220;The vacant house next door.&#8221; Don&#8217;t you just love it?</p><p>You see, there&#8217;s so much more to us than just names on a story. We&#8217;re hoping this &#8220;Beyond the Byline&#8221; column, which will run every time one of us has something to say that goes beyond our reporting, editing or photographing duties, will help us better connect with you. Don&#8217;t hesitate to drop me a note and let me know how we&#8217;re doing.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Dotty Martin 3/2/2016 Aimee Dilger|Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_TTL030316Dotty-Martin2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Dotty Martin 3/2/2016 Aimee Dilger|Times Leader</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Dotty Martin is the managing editor of the Times Leader Media Group. Reach her at 570-704-3982 or by email at dmartin@www.timesleader.com.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Beyond the Byline: Learn more about members of the Times Leader news staff