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Several Luzerne County tax breaks expiring this year

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Little League requiring criminal background checks

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Settlement talks are expected to begin between Luzerne County Children and Youth Services and the parents that sued the agency after they intervened in the custody of their 21-month-old son, who later died after he was placed in a relative&#8217;s home.</p><p>Court documents filed Wednesday by Nichole Puscavage and Anthony Cook&#8217;s attorney, Jonathan Comitz, state &#8220;the parties have agreed to enter mediation in an effort to try and reach a settlement&#8221; in the city parents&#8217; federal lawsuit against the county agency.</p><p>The suit, filed in January 2016, alleged Children and Youth failed to properly vet the toddler&#8217;s maternal grandmother, Brenda Wilkes, and her husband, Kenneth, before the toddler and his brother were placed in their home.</p><p>Anthony Puscavage died in January 2015 of a head injury two months after the siblings were placed under the Wilkes&#8217; custody by way of a court order. The toddler&#8217;s death was ruled accidental and no charges have been filed, but the matter led to the downgrading of Children and Youth&#8217;s license last fall to provisional status.</p><p>Agency officials argued they&#8217;d dealt with the toddler&#8217;s parents for years, stemming from complaints that ranged from neglect to overcrowding and excess partying at their home.</p><p>Multiple motions were pending before the court, but Comitz requested any outstanding matters be placed in abeyance as long as the mediation remains ongoing. The document doesn&#8217;t indicate when the talks would begin.</p><p>&#8220;Obviously, if the mediation is unsuccessful, we would notify the court immediately and ask that all matters be resumed,&#8221; Comitz wrote.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Joe Dolinsky</p><p>jdolinsky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Joe Dolinsky at 570-991-6110 or on Twitter @JoeDolinskyTL</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Court documents: Dead toddler’s parents, county Children and Youth move to settlement talks