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Nurses strike for patients; WB Gen owner locks them out until Tuesday

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EMS Provider of Year honor goes to Greater Pittston Ambulance staffers

<p>Two prison inmates own a combined 11 properties listed in Luzerne County&#8217;s June 28 back-tax auction, according to records and tax-claim operator Northeast Revenue Service LLC.</p><p>Also in the sale are seven parcels owned by former county controller Stephen Flood, who died in 2011.</p><p>George L. Strickland and Joseph S. Hyduk are the inmate property owners.</p><p>Strickland owes real estate taxes on four properties in Harveys Lake, while Hyduk owns seven Hazle Township properties with delinquencies.</p><p>Required notices of the upcoming sales were sent to both men in prison, according to Northeast Revenue.</p><p>Strickland, 47, was sentenced to eight to 20 years in state prison in September 2016 on 32 child pornography charges. He is serving his term at the State Correctional Institution at Fayette.</p><p>Investigators discovered 74 sexually explicit videos and images depicting young children on devices during a raid at Strickland&#8217;s Hunlock Township residence.</p><p>Hyduk, 58, a former investment broker, is serving a five-year federal prison sentence at the U.S. Penitentiary in Lewisburg on charges he bilked nearly $1 million from his clients. He is scheduled for release in 2020, records show.</p><p>Prosecutors accused Hyduk of using the stolen money for numerous personal expenses, including vehicles, college tuition, his mortgage, season tickets for Penn State football games, cell phones and a family vacation to Jamaica. Hyduk apologized to about a dozen victims who attended his 2015 sentencing.</p><p>The four Harveys Lake properties owned by Strickland are all linked to a 5,364-square-foot apartment building on 0.23 acres at 388 Old Lake Road. Strickland purchased the properties for $115,000 in November 2006, property records show.</p><p>Assessed at a combined $350,800, the properties carry a total $38,168 in unpaid taxes dating to 2014.</p><p>Starting bids on the four parcels range from $1,975 to $2,354. The sale is a free-and-clear auction, which means properties go to the highest bidder with no liens or back taxes attached.</p><p>The seven properties owned by Hyduk are all vacant lots under 1 acre on Hollywood Boulevard assessed at $1,000 each. The back taxes date to 2012.</p><p>Bids start under $1,900 each.</p><p>Another 11 undeveloped parcels owned by Hyduk &#8212; all on Hollywood Boulevard and ranging from 0.04 acre to 2.78 acres &#8212; did not attract buyers in an October 2017 free-and-clear auction. The unsold properties went in the repository, a pool of limbo auction leftovers available for purchase at any time.</p><p><strong>Former controller</strong></p><p>Flood, an outspoken elected official credited by some for battling corruption, left behind a complicated estate with numerous holdings that sustained a blow after he suffered a stroke in 2007. The delinquent taxes date to 2014.</p><p>Six of Flood&#8217;s properties listed for auction are on Route 11 in Hunlock Township, ranging from a 0.57-acre lot assessed at $22,500 to a 1.16-acre parcel valued at $36,000.</p><p>The final property, a 0.51-acre lot assessed at $18,400, is on South Main Street in Hanover Township.</p><p>Bids start under $1,750.</p><p>Information on all properties available for purchase and the bidding process has been posted at <a href="http://www.luzernecountytaxclaim.com/judicialsale.html" target="_blank">www.luzernecountytaxclaim.com</a>.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/web1_strickland-george-TonedBlackWhite.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Strickland </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/web1_strickland-george-TonedBlackWhite.jpg</photo0><caption0>Strickland </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/web1_Joseph-Hyduk.-7-30-15.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hyduk </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/web1_Joseph-Hyduk.-7-30-15.jpg</photo1><caption1>Hyduk </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Two inmates may lose 11 properties in Luzerne County back-tax auction