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Local businesses help Kingston cancer patient

KUBOSKI

<p><strong>Diamonds</strong> to class act Teddy Richards. The Wilkes-Barre native remembered his roots, bringing professional ice hockey&#8217;s coveted Stanley Cup to his hometown so that area residents could ogle it up close and share in the Pittsburgh Penguins&#8217; ongoing celebration. Richards served as assistant equipment manager for the Penguins during the team&#8217;s 2015-16 championship season. By tradition, each player and staff member of the victorious club gets to spend a day with the famous chalice. Like the traveling trophy itself, however, Richards couldn&#8217;t stay in town for long; he&#8217;s off to start the head equipment manager job with the NHL&#8217;s Florida Panthers.</p><p><strong>Coal</strong> to corrupt prison guard John Stachokus. The Plains Township resident, 41, last week pleaded guilty to extortion and another charge related to the abuse of his authority while working as a Luzerne County corrections officer. Stachokus took money from an inmate whom prosecutors described as &#8220;in severe financial peril.&#8221; He also used the inmate to obtain alcohol and cocaine. In exchange, the guard, who reportedly earned more than $50,000 a year, granted the inmate unauthorized time outside the county&#8217;s lockup. The seemingly shameless Stachokus then pressured the inmate to lie about the arrangement after federal agents became aware of the alleged crime. Stachokus awaits a sentencing date, at which time he will learn what it&#8217;s like to live on the powerless side of prison bars.</p><p><strong>Diamonds</strong> to the newly formed Luzerne County prison task force. Participants, including Correctional Services Division Head Mark Rockovich and other county officials, will focus on strategies for reducing overcrowding at the facility on Water Street, Wilkes-Barre, where the inmate population typically hovers at or slightly above the intended maximum capacity of 505 people. Timely updates from this task force could go a long way toward alleviating the public&#8217;s concerns.</p><p><strong>Coal</strong> to crooked cocktail waitress Rochelle Poszeluznyj. While working at Mohegan Sun Pocono casino, she helped to defraud her employer out of more than $420,000. The Kingston resident, 38, pleaded guilty this week to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Prosecutors say she took advantage of certain casino patrons, stealing their Players&#8217; Club card PINS and providing those numbers to a couple of conspirators, one of whom then won money using fraudulent free-play credits. Poszeluznyj could be imprisoned for up to 20 years. That&#8217;s the gamble one takes when abandoning morals in pursuit of money.</p><p><strong>Diamonds</strong> to Hanover Township&#8217;s firefighting squads. They conducted a groundbreaking ceremony this week for the planned construction of a central fire station. The $2.6 million project on the Sans Souci Parkway will compel a handful of stations to close, while still allowing speedy emergency response to neighborhoods. The new station is expected to open next September.</p><style>
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Our Opinion: Stanley Cup’s ‘victory lap’ through Wilkes-Barre was much appreciated