Flea market set for March 29 at Hughestown Hose Company

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In Focus: Selenksi listens as victims’ families release 13 years of frustration

Diamonds to cops putting anti-crime technology to work in Luzerne County. With the aid of a $131,000 federal grant, the District Attorney&#8217;s Office recently acquired a new intelligence-sharing database. Advocates say the setup will allow local police departments and other agencies to more quickly exchange information about thieves, thugs and other wrong-doers. In law enforcement, as in life, knowledge is power.Coal to drips who disregard Pennsylvania&#8217;s drought watches. Residents in 27 counties &#8211; including Luzerne, Lackawanna and Wyoming &#8211; have been asked to conserve H20 until below-average groundwater levels return to normal. Forgo washing the car for a while. Be smart about running dishwashers and laundry machines. Repair household leaks quickly. Even if you don&#8217;t rely on well water, people whom you know probably do. Don&#8217;t leave them high and dry.Diamonds to the area&#8217;s newly installed Youth Aid Panel volunteers. These 17 Luzerne County residents, who were sworn in Monday, will help certain young people get back on the right path. The panels provide an important alternative to juvenile court, allowing first-time offenders who complete the program to avoid the curse of a criminal record and potentially to adopt better life habits. Program promoters say it&#8217;s cost-effective. More important, it&#8217;s a more compassionate and appropriate response than simply labeling a young person &#8220;troubled&#8221; and tossing him or her into the judicial system.Coal to shysters using tax season to fleece people. The IRS, as unfriendly as its reputation might be, doesn&#8217;t contact people by telephone, demanding they settle debts on the spot by using debit cards. Christine Young, the Times Leader&#8217;s consumer watchdog, recently highlighted this scam and cautioned people to not divulge personal or financial information to unsolicited callers. If you&#8217;re on the receiving end of one of these phone calls, hang up.Diamonds to Minor League Baseball. It&#8217;ll begin enforcing rules this season intended to quicken the pace of games, limiting breaks between innings to 2 minutes, 25 seconds. Similarly, umpires will monitor pitchers and batters to ensure they don&#8217;t dally while, for instance, constantly fiddling with their caps. One of the beauties of baseball has been its lack of time constraints. But for many younger fans of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, the addition of a pitch clock might stave off boredom.Coal to the region&#8217;s population pessimists. The U.S. Census Bureau recently released estimates indicating a modest population decline over one year for Luzerne, Lackawanna and Wyoming counties. That news triggered the usual chorus of online naysayers claiming they&#8217;ve already left, they will abandon the area as soon as they retire or President Barack Obama is somehow to blame. Good riddance, gloomy Guses.

Our Opinion: Area police get needed ‘backup’ in the form of intelligence-sharing database