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Weinberg Library to hold Annual Book Sale

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Lackawanna County enters agreement to purchase The Globe building for consolidation of government offices

<p>WILKES-BARRE TWP. &#8212; Although Michelle Ortiz wasn&#8217;t in class Friday morning, she learned a lesson from watching a video on the deadly consequences of drunken driving.</p><p>&#8220;It makes me think a lot more,&#8221; said Ortiz, 17, a driver and senior at Hanover Area High School.</p><p>She was among approximately 150 high school students from area schools participating in the &#8220;Live Once Tour&#8221; program at the McCann School of Business &amp; Technology on Highland Park Boulevard. Lori Kane, in charge of community relations for McCann&#8217;s northeast campuses, said it was the fifth year the school hosted the program designed to discourage students from making bad decisions, such as drinking and driving or texting while behind the wheel. &#8220;It hits them,&#8221; Kane said.</p><p>In a classroom, eight students watched a video shown by Joe Swortz, Luzerne County DUI coordinator. The clip began with a house party and ended with people placing roses atop a casket awaiting burial in a cemetery.</p><p>Aware that some students are going to drink, Swortz implored them to call an adult for a ride home.</p><p>&#8220;Deal with the consequences. But have a long life ahead of you,&#8221; he said of having to face a parent. The alternative could be much worse with an arrest for driving under the influence, a crash involving injury or death, Swortz said.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t believe they think far enough out,&#8221; Swortz said of the lasting effects of students&#8217; decisions.</p><p>Eileen Miller, of Scranton, used the death of her 21-year-old son, Paul, to impress upon students the dangers of distracted driving. &#8220;When you&#8217;re done with this, you&#8217;ll never touch it again,&#8221; she said, holding up her cell phone.</p><p>A tractor-trailer driver, traveling 69 mph in a construction zone posted at 45 mph and reaching for his phone crossed the median and collided head-on with her son&#8217;s car on Route 33 in the Poconos on July 5, 2010, she said.</p><p>&#8220;This was 100 percent avoidable,&#8221; Miller said.</p><p>She last saw her son the day before when he told her he was going to a party. He bid her goodbye with a &#8220;Mom, I love you,&#8221; and she replied, &#8221; Be safe and I&#8217;ll see you later,&#8221; Miller said.</p><p>Paul Miller had graduated from the Police Academy at Lackawanna College and was finishing up his studies at East Stroudsburg University to work as a probation officer, she recalled. Her son did all the right things by staying overnight at the party rather than driving home, she said. Two state troopers came to her door the day of the crash to tell her of her son&#8217;s death, she said.</p><p>She circulated photos of the wreckage of her son&#8217;s car and the tractor trailer to the students, adding her son&#8217;s body was so badly injured she could not identify him from his tattoos.</p><p>&#8220;I had to unzip the body bag to identify his clothes,&#8221; Miller said.</p><p>She spelled out &#8220;P-A-S-S&#8221; and explained what each letter meant: no Phone, no Alcohol or drugs, no Speeding and always wear a Seat belt.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Hanover Area High School junior Tyler Gavlick, right, operates a distracted driving simulator as Keri Kline, of the Northeast Highway Safety Program, looks on Friday morning at the McCann School of Business &amp; Technology in Wilkes-Barre Township that hosted the &#8216;Live Once Tour&#8217; designed to discourage students from making dangerous decisions. Hanover Area High School junior Tyler Gavlick, right, operates a distracted driving simulator as Keri Kline, of the Northeast Highway Safety Program, looks on Friday morning at the McCann School of Business &amp; Technology in Wilkes-Barre Township that hosted the &#8220;&#8217;Live Once Tour&#8217; designed to discourage students from making dangerous decisions. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_TTL043016McCann_jl_1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Hanover Area High School junior Tyler Gavlick, right, operates a distracted driving simulator as Keri Kline, of the Northeast Highway Safety Program, looks on Friday morning at the McCann School of Business &amp; Technology in Wilkes-Barre Township that hosted the &#8216;Live Once Tour&#8217; designed to discourage students from making dangerous decisions. Hanover Area High School junior Tyler Gavlick, right, operates a distracted driving simulator as Keri Kline, of the Northeast Highway Safety Program, looks on Friday morning at the McCann School of Business &amp; Technology in Wilkes-Barre Township that hosted the &#8220;&#8217;Live Once Tour&#8217; designed to discourage students from making dangerous decisions. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_TTL043016McCann_jl_2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Drug paraphernalia is on display Friday morning during a presentation to high school students by an undercover police officer at the McCann School of Business &amp; Technology in Wilkes-Barre Township that hosted the &#8216;Live Once Tour&#8217; designed to discourage students from making dangerous decisions. Drug paraphernalia is on display Friday morning during a presentation to high school students by an undercover police officer at the McCann School of Business &amp; Technology in Wilkes-Barre Township that hosted the &#8216;Live Once Tour&#8217; designed to discourage students from making dangerous decisions. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_TTL043016McCann_jl_2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Drug paraphernalia is on display Friday morning during a presentation to high school students by an undercover police officer at the McCann School of Business &amp; Technology in Wilkes-Barre Township that hosted the &#8216;Live Once Tour&#8217; designed to discourage students from making dangerous decisions. Drug paraphernalia is on display Friday morning during a presentation to high school students by an undercover police officer at the McCann School of Business &amp; Technology in Wilkes-Barre Township that hosted the &#8216;Live Once Tour&#8217; designed to discourage students from making dangerous decisions. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Students at ‘Live Once’ program at McCann School advised to think about lasting effects before making bad decisions