web1_TTL121616united.glr_.jpg

United Way of Wyoming Valley joins Campaign for Grade-Level Reading

web1_TTL121616fncb.family.jpg

FNCB donates to Family to Family Thanksgiving Dinner Program

<p><strong>Diamonds</strong> to Hazleton native Joe Maddon, manager of the World Series champion Chicago Cubs, for remembering his roots. Maddon may be known by most as the man who broke the &#8220;Curse of the Billy Goat,&#8221; but he is also a native son who, through the Hazleton Integration Project, is helping his hometown break the curse that comes with high rates of children in low-income families. This weekend he is participating in events marking a groundbreaking for a <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/615720/groundbreaking-kicks-off-four-days-of-events-featuring-hazletons-joe-maddon" target="_blank">new playground</a>. He is role model both by professional success and personal convictions.</p><p><strong>Coal</strong> to all those who annually forget what it takes to drive in snow and ice, or who simply refuse to accept that a speed and style safe on dry sunny roads can be fatal when the white stuff falls. It&#8217;s as important as it is clich&#233;d: Slow down, give yourself extra time, drive defensively and avoid the roads entirely whenever possible when winter weather hits.</p><p><strong>Diamonds</strong> to the Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children for<a href="https://www.timesleader.com/top-stories/615799/report-no-publicly-funded-pre-school-for-70-percent-of-eligible-students" target="_blank"> creating an online map</a> that shows the state&#8217;s lack of adequate high-quality, publicly-funded pre-kindergarten programs. Available at <a href="http://www.papartnerships.org/prekinpa" target="_blank">papartnerships.org/prekinpa</a>, the map lets anyone with internet access look at data at different levels, and pinpoint pre-k centers. Admittedly, the goal of publicly-funded pre-k for all those at or below 300 percent of federal poverty level is a heavy lift, but the map helps put real numbers of children shortchanged, in real locations, front and center as the issue is debated.</p><p><strong>Coal</strong> to local, state and federal officials present and past for letting Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/615250/sen-bob-casey-no-quick-fix-for-collapsed-solomon-creek-wall" target="_blank">Solomon Creek flood wall</a> reach the point of collapsing. It didn&#8217;t take a structural engineer to see the Depression-era stone work was leaning and ready to crumble even before part of it collapsed. Now south Wilkes-Barre is one nasty storm from a preventable flood. There is irony in the fact that bridges crossing the creek boast new floodgates, because the water need never reach those gates to spill over the broken part of the wall upstream.</p><p><strong>Diamonds</strong> to the donors whose generosity helped restore the lobby of the F.M. Kirby Center &#8212; and to all the donors before them who helped preserve the downtown icon for decades. The center unveiled a <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/local/615808/kirby-center-25th-anniversary-plaque-recognizes-theaters-benefactors" target="_blank">new plaque</a> with names of those who made the latest capitol campaign a success, assuring that the center, celebrating its 30th anniversary, will be around to celebrate many more.</p><p><strong>Coal</strong> to Hazle Township for managing to amass the <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/local/614916/hazle-township-tops-wilkes-barre-in-assessed-property-value-at-1-46-billion" target="_blank">highest tax base</a> among Luzerne County&#8217;s 76 municipalities while refusing to fund its own police force. The township has long been expert at attracting high-ticket businesses to its open spaces, and this year finally tallied more taxable property than the county seat, Wilkes-Barre. Yet the township repeatedly refuses to use any of that property tax income to create a police force, relying on Pennsylvania State Police, and taking advantage of an antiquated state law that lets some municipalities forgo local police departments while requiring it of others.</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_TTL121616Maddon2-4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon talks to the media during an event at the Hazleton One Community Center in Hazleton on Thursday, December 15. 12/5/16. Sean McKeag | Times Leader </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_TTL121616Maddon2-4.jpg</photo0><caption0>Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon talks to the media during an event at the Hazleton One Community Center in Hazleton on Thursday, December 15. 12/5/16. Sean McKeag | Times Leader </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>

Our view: Cubs’ Maddon is a champion on and off field