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Letter to the Editor: Why pay for Pluto exploration when we have costly problems to solve on Earth?

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Ali hospitalized; report says it ‘likely won’t be long’ until he passes away

SUGAR NOTCH &#8212; The old dress factory is coming down next week.A building, which council knows as &#8220;the dress factory,&#8221; is slated to come down sometime within the next week, solicitor Sean Logdon said during the borough council meeting Wednesday night.The former factory, at 669-671 Main St., was bought by the borough from the Luzerne County repository in August 2015 for $1, county records show.Fire Chief and Councilman Joe Rutkoski confirmed there was a fire there when the upstairs of the factory was converted into apartments and the owner lived above.Police Chief Rob Maholik wants to post and cordon off the street while demolition is occurring.&#8220;I know we&#8217;re going to have to do something with parking,&#8221; Maholik said.Council also approved having council Chairman Pat Dalton buy a pickup truck and new riding mower for the &#8220;borough boys&#8221; to use for plowing.Councilman Dominick Panetta said he found a 2000 GMC four-wheel-drive, duel wheel, pickup truck with a plow in Plains Township for $3,000 and called Dalton. Panetta said he saw the low sticker price on the truck and did a U-turn just to confirm the price before calling Dalton. Borough Engineer Donald Totino recommended the borough obtain a CarFax report on the truck &#8220;to cover themselves.&#8221;Rutkoski asked if the &#8220;boys will get it in the alley (to plow snow),&#8221; to which Dalton said, yes.To confirm the truck was in good condition, Dalton said he went up a few times to look at it. If the truck, which has New Jersey inspection stickers, passes Pennsylvania inspection, Dalton was approved to buy it.Concerning a riding mower, a motion was passed for Dalton buy a new mower for the borough at a cost of up to $2,500.&#8220;It&#8217;s not necessary to tell us, just go buy one,&#8221; Panetta said before the motion was passed.The next council meeting will be 6:30 p.m. July 6 at the borough building, at the corner of Freed and Main streets.<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Melanie Mizenkommizenko@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Melanie Mizenko at 570-991-6116 or on Twitter @TL_MMizenko</shirttailMeta></div>

Sugar Notch dress factory coming down; new purchases for borough approved