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Wilkes-Barre firefighters union to appeal demotion of ex-assistant chief

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Stop! Look! Listen! Wilkes students run model trains the hard way as part of final exam

WRIGHT TWP. &#8212; Bill Jones began his third term as president of the Crestwood School Board by refusing to elaborate Thursday on an ongoing probe that came on the heels of a transportation controversy.The district had to cancel two days of school this fall and start a third day on a two-hour delay after an audit discovered not all bus drivers had mandated clearances.In the wake of the busing issue, Crestwood Superintendent Joseph Gorham and Chief of District Operations Chris Gegaris were put on paid leave.&#8220;I can&#8217;t comment about the investigation,&#8221; said Jones. &#8220;I can only say it is ongoing.&#8221;The probe is being handled by lawyers associated with district solicitor Jack Dean.Jones did acknowledge that agents of the state Auditor General&#8217;s office have been at the school checking records.He also noted that Gorham and Gegaris, after a 30-day period, can request that a hearing be conducted before the school board. Jones expects that request will be forthcoming.Reorganizing, field houseDuring a reorganizational session which preceded the regular board meeting, Jones was unanimously nominated and elected as president and Joseph Kaminski was selected as vice president.The only other business involving reorganization was the passage of a resolution sustaining Jones&#8217; role on the joint operating committee of the Wilkes-Barre Area Career &amp; Technical Center. Jones&#8217; term runs through December 2021.Under questioning from the public, Jones responded that initial bids for the field house, proposed for construction at the high school stadium, came in &#8220;too high.&#8221; He said some were $8 million. He added that he has been working with Quad 3 Group of Wilkes-Barre to get the price to about $3.9 million.So far, Jones said $1.3 million has been spent in site preparation and architectural work.More on busingSince the contract with Rinehimer Bus Lines, of Wapwallopen, will be terminated Feb. 1, the board said negotiations with other carriers, including Rinehimer, are continuing. It is expected that a decision will be made in January.Meanwhile, three new drivers &#8212; with clearances on file &#8212; have been added to the Rinehimer roster. They include Joseph Panunzio Jr., Jolanta Lupo and Charles Moore.In addition, the district has entered into a contract with Transfinder of San Diego, Calif., for bus-routing software that will enable officials to better track students.Customized training by Transfinder personnel will cost $6,500.During public comment, Jones announced that an &#8220;advisory committee&#8221; is being formed to address district issues. He said the plan is to have the panel consist of board members, administrators, teachers and at least five residents.Jones said people willing to serve should send a letter of interest to the school board.Bills, coachesIn other business this week, the board:&#8226; Approved a payment of $282,679 to Temco/Weatherproofing Technologies for roof restoration at the secondary campus building.&#8226; Approved a $36,958 lease with IntegraONE for 105 Hewlett-Packard laptops.&#8226; Approved the transfer of $4,572,254 from the FNB capital projects account to the Pennsylvania Local Government Investment Trust fund.&#8226; Approved a contract with Siemens Industries for the installation of a new MBC controller at a cost of $14,775.&#8226; Besides approving Ryan Arcangeli as head football coach, succeeding Greg Myers, the board selected other varsity coaches: Brian Zabroski, boys lacrosse; Russ Kyle, girls lacrosse; Kim Petroski (assistant coach), girls softball; and Mark Foley (assistant coach), boys baseball.<style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_Crestwood_Gorham-cmyk.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Gorham </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_Crestwood_Gorham-cmyk.jpg</photo0><caption0>Gorham </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Tom HuntingtonFor Times Leader</bylineMeta></div>

Crestwood directors remain mum on ongoing probe after busing issues canceled class