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State troopers, witness testify in Jerone Moore throat-slashing trial

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Financial support available for Luzerne County residents caring for elderly loved ones

<p>Thursday in Northeastern Pennsylvania felt more like a day in late may than a day in late February.</p><p>Still as the temperatures climbed, area residents took to the outdoors to exercise, soak up some sun or just have a little fun.</p><p>According to the National Weather Service in Binghamton, the Wyoming Valley broke a record Thursday with a high of 70. The previous record was 69 set in 1985.</p><p>An unusual February warm spell began Wednesday with high temperatures reaching almost 20 degrees above average for this time of the year in the Wyoming Valley.</p><p>&#8220;Near-record warmth now thru Saturday in #NEPA &#8230; things change abruptly with strong cold front Saturday afternoon-evening,&#8221; the NWS said in a press release.</p><p>People didn&#8217;t hesitate to get outside and take in the sun and mild weather.</p><p>In Kingston Township, Samantha Cicierski&#8217;s grandparents thought it would be a perfect day to take her to visit the animals at The Lands at Hillside Farm.</p><p>The family fed ducks and sheep, then ventured into a barn where Samantha scampered over to three calves and passed them some hay through the bars of their pen.</p><p>&#8220;You wanna know which one&#8217;s my favorite? That one,&#8221; she said, pointing to yet another calf, that appeared to be asleep.</p><p>Calf feeding was fun until Samantha&#8217;s grandfather, Bill Siskovich, of Plains Township, mentioned ice cream.</p><p>&#8220;C&#8217;mon! Follow me!&#8221; Samantha said, starting out for the nearby dairy store.</p><p>She wanted &#8220;raspberry, if they have it.&#8221;</p><p>The Lands at Hillside Farm dairy store sales were brisk all day, clerk Brittany Budman.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve been busy since 9 a.m.,&#8221; she said mid-afternoon, noting that chocolate chip mint and cookie dough flavors seemed to be especially popular. Alas for Samantha, raspberry was not a featured flavor that day.</p><p>Outside the Luzerne County Courthouse around 5 p.m., Hailee Castile, of Wilkes-Barre, was jogging to Kirby Park. Dressed in gym shorts and a hoodie, Castile, 23, was using the warm weather to &#8220;avoid the gym&#8221; and get her exercise outside.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll take it for late February,&#8221; she said. &#8220;But I&#8217;m afraid of that dreaded April snowfall.&#8221;</p><p>Castile won&#8217;t have to wait for April for precipitation. It&#8217;s in the weekend forecast, the NWS predicts.</p><p>Friday morning will see isolated showers, with temperatures around 69. Friday night will bring scattered showers and a low of 59. Those cloudy skies will carry over into Saturday with a slight chance of showers after 2 a.m. The low will be around 56.</p><p>A chance of showers is possible before 1 p.m. Saturday, followed by showers and a possible thunderstorm. Some storms could produce gusty winds. The high will be near 62.</p><p>The chance for rain will follow into Saturday night, followed by a slight chance of rain and snow showers into Sunday morning. The low will be around 31.</p><p>Mostly sunny skies will wrap up the weekend on Sunday, with a high near 40.</p><p><em>Times Leader staff reporters Mary Therese Biebel and Travis Kellar contributed to this report. </em></p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Krissy Bentkowski and Devon Bizarre both seniors at King&#8217;s College relax in the sunshine on North Main Street in Wilkes-Barre on Thursday. 2/23/2017 Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_TTL02417feature1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Krissy Bentkowski and Devon Bizarre both seniors at King&#8217;s College relax in the sunshine on North Main Street in Wilkes-Barre on Thursday. 2/23/2017 Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Weather-022417.pdf">
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<div class="neCaption">3-year-old Samantha Cicierski of Laflin enjoyed feeding the calves at The Lands at Hillside Farm on Thursday&#8217;s warm, sunny afternoon &#8212; until her grandfather mentioned ice cream. Then she wanted to visit the farm&#8217;s dairy store. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_girlwithcows.jpg</photo2><caption2>3-year-old Samantha Cicierski of Laflin enjoyed feeding the calves at The Lands at Hillside Farm on Thursday&#8217;s warm, sunny afternoon &#8212; until her grandfather mentioned ice cream. Then she wanted to visit the farm&#8217;s dairy store. </caption2><photoCredit2>Mary Therese Biebel | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Melanie Mizenko at 570-991-6116 or on Twitter @TL_MMizenko</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Wyoming Valley hits record high temps Thursday