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Lottery Numbers for Thursday, July 14

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Misericordia University professor presents at annual Literary London Society Conference

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; By a 3-2 vote, city council on Thursday passed a resolution to switch six checking accounts to a bank linked to controversial Dunmore businessman Louis DeNaples.</p><p>Council President Bill Barrett and Councilmen Mike Belusko and Mike Merritt approved the request from the administration of Mayor Tony George to close the accounts at Citizens Bank and move them to First National Community Bank of Dunmore; Council members Tony Brooks and Beth Gilbert voted against it.</p><p>City Administrator Ted Wampole had told the council at its work session Tuesday that Director of Finance Brett Kittrick analyzed eight responses to requests for proposals from area banks, and Wampole said the &#8220;best option&#8221; was determined to be FNCB.</p><p>As it had earlier this year, FNCB in its proposal offered to handle the accounts without charging any fees while earning interest, Wampole had said. The city has been paying approximately $1,200 in monthly fees to maintain the accounts in Citizens Bank.</p><p>Brooks on Thursday stated that he was voting against the switch because there was a bank that offered a higher interest rate.</p><p>After the meeting, he said FNCB offered a 0.5 percent interest rate, while Luzerne Bank offered a 1 percent rate for one year, and 0.4 percent after the first year. &#8220;Why not take it for one year?&#8221; Brooks said.</p><p>Brooks also noted that the only fees Luzerne Bank would charge would be for bounced checks and wire transfers.</p><p>Brooks said he asked Kittrick when the last time was that the city bounced a check. &#8220;He said, &#8216;Never.&#8217; And even if we did a wire transfer, any money we make in interest would offset that,&#8221; Brooks said.</p><p>Gilbert, after the meeting, <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/local/564862/gilbert-still-opposes-giving-wilkes-barre-accounts-to-denaples-linked-bank" target="_blank">reiterated concerns about FNCB she expressed at Tuesday&#8217;s work session</a>.</p><p>&#8220;I feel like I have a moral obligation to the residents of the city to not only choose a financial institution that gives us the best monetary value, but one that is morally sound as well and isn&#8217;t shrouded in controversy,&#8221; Gilbert said. &#8220;To me, it goes further than saving money. I&#8217;m very disappointed with the vote tonight. I think tonight, corruption won.&#8221;</p><p>DeNaples, who serves as a director of FNCB and holds approximately 10 percent of its common stock, faced perjury charges in 2008 for allegedly lying about his relationship to organized crime figures when he sought a state license for Mount Airy Casino. He ultimately was not prosecuted, and went on to place the casino in a trust under his daughter&#8217;s name, giving her full ownership.</p><p>Thirty years earlier, DeNaples pleaded no contest to a federal fraud charge related to local cleanup efforts after flooding from Tropical Storm Agnes devastated the Wyoming Valley in 1972.</p><p>Gilbert on Tuesday said she recently learned FNCB was switching from a national charter to a state charter, which showed that &#8220;they&#8217;re regressing rather than progressing.&#8221;</p><p>And in February 2015, the U.S. Department of Treasury&#8217;s <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/archive/218800/news-local-news-news-152100792-2" target="_blank">Financial Crimes Enforcement Network announced a $1.5 million civil penalty against FNCB</a> after an admission that it violated the Bank Secrecy Act.</p><p>The bank admitted that it failed to file suspicious activity reports on transactions involving illicit proceeds from the &#8220;Kids for Cash&#8221; judicial corruption scheme &#8211; spanning over five years &#8211; for which former Luzerne County judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella were ultimately convicted.</p><p>The accounts in question &#8212; for Kirby Park, the Office of Community Development, the OCD Emergency Shelter, state grants, federal grants and long-term investments &#8212; will be closed at Citizens Bank and opened at FNCB.</p><p>The council unanimously approved everything else on its agenda, including:</p><p>&#8226; The first reading of an amendment to a nuisance ordinance <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/local/565106/wilkes-barre-council-to-consider-amending-nuisance-ordinance" target="_blank">proposed by Belusko</a>. To speed the process of addressing nuisance properties, a letter notifying a property owner of a code violation would be sent through first class mail rather than by registered letter, which Belusko said could take 20 days to have returned to the city if not accepted by the intended recipient. The amendment also would eliminate the opportunity for the property owner to request a hearing on the alleged violation before a citation would be issued.</p><p>Belusko said after the meeting that property owners would still have due process because they can appeal a citation before a magistrate. He said a citation would only be issued if the city did not hear back from a property owner within five days of sending out a letter and the nuisance was not corrected. He said the city would work with property owners who contacted the city and asked for a reasonable extension of time to address a problem if a legitimate reason was provided.</p><p>And while the amendment does not specifically state so, Belusko said the city would send a registered letter for violations that would necessitate any major actions by the city, such as demolishing a structure.</p><p>Final readings of the ordinance are scheduled for the council&#8217;s 6 p.m. July 28 meeting.</p><p>&#8226; The sale of a property at 125 S. Washington St. to B&#8217;nai B&#8217;rith for $90,000. The property is to be turned into a parking lot for residents of B&#8217;nai B&#8217;rith Apartments.</p><p>&#8226; The placement of signs extending from the Leo&#8217;s on Mane restaurant over the sidewalk at North Main and North streets.</p><p>&#8226; The purchase of seven computers for new police vehicles, with the $33,391.68 cost to be paid with U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency grant funds.</p><p>&#8226; The submission of an application for an $872,248 Multimodal Transportation Fund grant from the Commonwealth Financing Authority to be used for the George Avenue Streetscape Project.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wilkes-Barre Councilwoman Beth Gilbert listens to a presentation at a work session on Tuesday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_Gilbert_cropped-3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wilkes-Barre Councilwoman Beth Gilbert listens to a presentation at a work session on Tuesday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Steve Mocarsky | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_Belusko_and_Brooks-1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wilkes-Barre Councilmen Mike Belusko, left, and Tony Brooks listen to public comment at a Jan. 14 city council meeting. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_Belusko_and_Brooks-1-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Wilkes-Barre Councilmen Mike Belusko, left, and Tony Brooks listen to public comment at a Jan. 14 city council meeting. </caption1><photoCredit1>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Steve Mocarsky</p><p>smocarsky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Steve Mocarsky at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @TLSteveMocarsky.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Wilkes-Barre council majority OKs moving accounts to DeNaples-linked bank