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Increased Wyoming Valley Levee fee bills mailed last week

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Lottery numbers from Sunday, June 4, 2017.

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A long-fought battle by the Wilkes-Barre branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is finally over.</p><p>As previously reported late last month, the city negotiated with the Laborers&#8217; International Union of North America Local 1310 about instituting Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid holiday. The union agreed to swap the Good Friday holiday for MLK Jr. Day, allowing city hall to be closed on Jan. 15, 2018.</p><p>According to a press release from the Wilkes-Barre National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Branch No. 2306, members of the NAACP held closed-door meetings with Mayor Tony George on March 21 and April 5, largely concerning the NAACP&#8217;s push for the city to be closed on the national holiday.</p><p>The NAACP states in the press release that George had been in negotiations with the city&#8217;s unions, which prevented the information in the meetings from being divulged. Since the second meeting, though, the NAACP was made aware of the city&#8217;s closure on the holiday next year.</p><p>The NAACP&#8217;s fight for the closure of the city on the holiday has been going on for about two years, with the NAACP refusing to attend Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s official Martin Luther King Jr. Day programs until city hall was closed on the holiday.</p><p>Guerline L. Laurore, president of the local NAACP chapter, said she is excited that the city and the NAACP have arrived at a consensus, saying George was instrumental in the change.</p><p>&#8220;The mayor was always interested in reaching an agreement,&#8221; Laurore said. &#8220;Even when he was a councilman, he was the most sympathetic to our cause.&#8221;</p><p>George did not immediately return a call seeking comment.</p><p>Laurore called the decision a &#8220;win-win.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a win for the minorities of the city, but it&#8217;s a win for the city at large,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It will show minorities that the city is committed to them.&#8221;</p><p>At the end of the press release, the NAACP says a major celebration is in the works for next year&#8217;s MLK Jr. Day holiday. Laurore said that it&#8217;s too early to say anything specific regarding the plans, but she did reiterate that it&#8217;s going to be &#8220;huge.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Representatives from both the NAACP and Wilkes-Barre met on April 5 to discuss the closure of city hall on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. From left: Ted Wampole, city adminstrator; Ronald Felton, first vice president of NAACP; David G. Barber Sr., treasurer of NAACP; Guerline Laurore, president of NAACP, Mayor Tony George; Peggy Felton, executive committee member of NAACP; Erika Petrole, secretary of NAACP. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_NAACP.jpg</photo0><caption0>Representatives from both the NAACP and Wilkes-Barre met on April 5 to discuss the closure of city hall on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. From left: Ted Wampole, city adminstrator; Ronald Felton, first vice president of NAACP; David G. Barber Sr., treasurer of NAACP; Guerline Laurore, president of NAACP, Mayor Tony George; Peggy Felton, executive committee member of NAACP; Erika Petrole, secretary of NAACP. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>City employees to work on Good Friday instead</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Patrick Kernan</p><p>pkernan@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Patrick Kernan at 570-991-6119 or on Twitter @PatKernan.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

NAACP learns Wilkes-Barre agrees to close city hall on MLK Jr. Day in 2018