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Court Briefs

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Ferry pulls out of race for WB mayor after issues with petition

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; At a work session Tuesday, council members heard from local volunteers with a nonprofit who asked for help with controlling the city&#8217;s feral cat population.</p><p>&#8220;I truly believe we can solve this problem in the next two years,&#8221; said Martha Kahan, director of No Nonsense Neutering, of Allentown. &#8220;In order for this to work, you (city council) need to make sure you have the proper ordinances that everyone will understand.&#8221;</p><p>No council member was aware of any cat ordinance on the books.</p><p>Mayor Tony George noted the city has a $25,000 budget set aside for stray and feral cats and dogs. When they are caught, they are taken to the SPCA of Luzerne County.</p><p>When the mayor made the remark, approximately 10 women in the crowd immediately shook their heads in disbelief and stated why they believe the city should take on some &#8212; if not all &#8212; of the financial burden to trap, spay or neuter, and then return the cats to the wild.</p><p>In Kahan&#8217;s proposed contract, she said the city would pay only $15 per animal for the first year before raising the price to $35 the second year.</p><p>&#8220;The city doesn&#8217;t have to pay for a person to bring the cats in,&#8221; Kahan said. &#8220;There are dedicated volunteers who are willing to do it for free. They would like the city to pay for the $35 fee (to spay or neuter).&#8221;</p><p>Kahan said Jenkins, Plains and Hanover townships have been participating for a few years. A No Nonsense Neutering same-day clinic is opening in Plains Township on May 8.</p><p>The group lists several clinics on its website, including one in Schuylkill County.</p><p>No Nonsense&#8217;s mission statement says it wants: &#8220;To end over-population of cats and dogs by providing quality and affordable spay-neuter services.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Festival, Rockin&#8217; the River</strong></p><p>Aside from Kahan&#8217;s presentation, City Administrator Rich Gazenski read off two proposed items from the mayor&#8217;s agenda, including the temporary suspension of rules pertaining to open consumption of alcohol from April 27-28 for the Cherry Blossom Festival and on July 12, 19 and 26 for Rockin&#8217; the River.</p><p>&#8220;We want people to have the opportunity to have a beer if they want to,&#8221; said Ted Wampole, executive director of the Luzerne County Convention and Visitors Bureau.</p><p>Wampole did say organizers are still planning security and other details for Rockin&#8217; the River.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">George </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL101618Budget1.cmyk_.jpg</photo0><caption0>George </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Dan Stokes</p><p>dstokes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Dan Stokes at 570-991-6389 or on Twitter @ByDanStokes</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Nonprofit wants to tackle WB’s feral cat population