Automaker Daimler rebounds after lockdowns, raises outlook

125871866_web1_cursive-1

The write stuff: Lake-Lehman student nabs national cursive championship

PITTSTON TWP. &mdash; Carl Beardsley, executive director at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, Thursday said &ldquo;things are moving in a positive direction, but slowly.&rdquo;
				Beardsley offered the report during Thursday&rsquo;s virtual meeting of the Bi-County Airport Board.
				And for the third consecutive month, the board did not hire a new public safety director.
				Beardsley said the week to week numbers for passenger activity ending in the middle of October are up 6.3%.
				Beardsley said passenger enplanements for the month of September 2020 decreased 68.7% to 7,600 from 24,306 in the month of September 2019. When compared directly with the month of September 2019, the decrease is mainly attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.
				Beardsley said enplanements for September 2020 compared to enplanements for September 2018 decreased by 15,387, or 66.9%. When compared directly with the month of September 2019, the decrease is attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.
				In September 2020, Beardsley said 324 departing flights were cancelled &mdash; all for the COVID-19 pandemic. This accounts for 17,963 (58.8%) out of a total 30,575 departure seats. Also, 324 arriving flights were cancelled: all for the pandemic, Beardsley reported.
				&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been quite a struggle for us and many airports across the country,&rdquo; Beardsley said. &ldquo;But we are starting to see things moving in a positive direction &mdash; slowly. But this is the highest it&rsquo;s been since the panemic began.&rdquo;
				Beardsley said then month of September is traditionally slow with students returning to school and summer vacations over. He said October is usually a busy month.
				&rdquo;November will be an interesting month,&rdquo; Beardsley said, citing the Thanksgiving holiday as a busty travel time.
				Regarding the hiring of a new public safety director, the board again did not entertain a motion to hire a person.
				Following two series of interviews, the board has been enable to agree on a candidate, leaving interim director George Bieber still on the job he retired from in January.
				The public safety director appointment was not listed on the agenda.
				Last month, the board was expected to appoint a new public safety director at its virtual meeting, but the matter never came up for discussion.
				Until a decision can be reached, George Bieber has continued in his role as part-time interim public safety director, which he held full-time for years before retiring earlier this year.
				In July, the Bi-County Airport quietly accepted the resignation of the recently appointed safety director Gary Vogue and brought back his predecessor, Bieber, on an interim basis.
				Vogue was hired on Feb. 11, and began working at the airport in April, at a salary of $70,000. His state police salary was reported as $146,883. Vogue decided to remain with the state police.
				In other business, the board:
				&#8226; Approved a marketing services agreement with Condron/media, Clarks Green, PA., effective Nov. 1, 2020, subject to solicitor&rsquo;s concurrence. The term of this agreement is Nov. 1, 2020 through and including Oct. 31, 2022.
				&#8226; The airport agreed to pay the company an amount not to exceed $200,000 per year for the services, including the purchase of advertising media time and space.
				&#8226; Approved a communications/public relations services agreement with Schoen Comm, Scranton, effective Nov. 1, 2020, subject to solicitor&rsquo;s concurrence. The term of this agreement is Nov. 1, 2020 through and including Oct. 31, 2022. The airport agrees to pay the company an amount not to exceed $36,000.00 per year for the services.
				&#8226; Honored Rosie Yanchulis, a 10-year housekeeper in airport operations,

Airport starting to see better days, as numbers increase slightly