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No tax hike at Greater Nanticoke Area; new superintendent gets new contract

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WVC rosters set for Sunday’s Field of Dreams baseball doubleheader

<p>Luzerne County&#8217;s real estate assessment database was not restored during business hours Thursday as planned, causing the 13th day of disruption for those involved in pending real estate transactions.</p><p>The database shutdown, prompted by a Memorial Day weekend cyber attack, has stalled property closings and mortgage-related actions, officials say.</p><p>Real estate sales and transfers and mortgage transactions can&#8217;t be processed and officially recorded in the county deeds office until they have certified property identification number, or PINs. The county assessor&#8217;s office cannot generate PINS without the database, officials said.</p><p>Deactivation of the database to prevent the virus from spreading also has prevented the assessor&#8217;s office from performing other daily functions, including updating property descriptions, assessed values and ownership changes, officials said. The site also is needed to assist customers with appeals or questions about their properties.</p><p>County Administrative Services Division Head David Parsnik said Thursday the database reactivation was delayed because information technology workers had to review numerous stored versions to make sure they load the most recent one possible to avoid any data loss.</p><p>Parsnik was optimistic the database would be accessible to workers on Friday.</p><p>The recovery team also &#8220;made some headway&#8221; preparing programs for activation in Children and Youth and other human service branches, he said.</p><p>A forensic analysis of the attack will be performed by New York City-based Arete Advisors and a lawyer retained under the county&#8217;s cyber risk insurance policy, Parsnik has said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Parsnik </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_Parsnik-4.jpeg</photo0><caption0>Parsnik </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></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>

Luzerne County assessment database still down Thursday