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Police: Man smoked crack cocaine with teen

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Wilkes-Barre native, veteran actor dies at 94

<p>The race for the 9th Congressional District heated up Wednesday when Democrat Denny Wolff said Republican Dan Meuser &#8220;told me to go to hell&#8221; at the start of a debate in Berks County last week.</p><p>When reached after Wolff spoke to the Times Leader editorial board, Meuser campaign spokesman Mike Barley called the allegation &#8220;completely made up&#8221; and &#8220;just insane.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s desperate and he&#8217;s down in the polls,&#8221; Barley said of Wolff, a dairy farmer from Columbia County.</p><p>Later, Meuser himself called the Times Leader and acknowledged making the comment but said he was angry about a recent ad his opponent aired.</p><p>Wolff also said Meuser pushed his hand away when Wolff offered to shake hands at the start of the forum.</p><p>Meuser strongly denied that. His campaign sent a link to a video of the entire debate in question, and a close review showed no physical contact by either man.</p><p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t touch his hand,&#8221; said Meuser. &#8220;I don&#8217;t believe a word he has to say.&#8221;</p><p>The video from a candidates&#8217; night sponsored by the Berks County Patriots shows Wolff taking the stage and extending a hand to Meuser. But Meuser is seen keeping his hand at his side, pulling it back slightly as he quickly walks by Wolff.</p><p>As for the &#8220;go to hell&#8221; comment, Meuser said Wolff had just aired an ad that took multiple shots at Pride Mobility Products Corp. in Exeter. Meuser was a longtime executive there and his brother Scott is the chairman and CEO.</p><p>&#8220;He called Pride Mobility &#8216;sleazy,&#8221; said the GOP hopeful.</p><p>Meuser said employees there took that as a personal insult.</p><p>He also said when the debate started, Wolff &#8220;came up to me with a real smart look on his face.&#8221;</p><p>At the end of the debate, the men were again in close proximity to each other but Wolff didn&#8217;t extend a hand that time. Again, no contact was made.</p><p>Wolff mentioned Meuser&#8217;s comment to him when talking about a general lack of civility in politics today. He said the No. 1 complaint he hears from citizens is &#8220;what a circus&#8221; Washington has become.</p><p>Wolff said he has worked with Republicans all his life and would try to do that in Congress.</p><p>He argued that Meuser&#8217;s comment to him at the debate is not indicative of someone who would be willing to cooperate with people on the other side of the aisle.</p><p>Meuser, meanwhile, said he wants to run a campaign he can be proud of.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going to stick to the issues,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I&#8217;m trying to make people realize what&#8217;s at stake here.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_Denny-Wolfcmyk-1-.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wolff </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_Denny-Wolfcmyk-1-.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wolff </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_Dan-Meuser-2CMYK.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Meuser </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_Dan-Meuser-2CMYK.jpg</photo1><caption1>Meuser </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Michael Reich</p><p>mreich@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Meuser told opponent Wolff ‘to go to hell’