TimesLeader.com

August 20

Hackett to speak at convention

Chris Hackett had planned to watch the Republican National Convention on television. Now he’ll have a much better seat.

August 20

WVHCS signs letter to sell

WILKES-BARRE – After weeks declining to address rumors of a sale, the Wyoming Valley Health Care System issued a press release Tuesday saying it had signed a letter of intent to sell the system to a subsidiary of Community Health Systems Inc., headquartered in Franklin, Tenn.

August 20

110 hospitals in CHS system

Community Health Systems was founded in 1985 and today it is the largest publicly traded hospital operator in the nation.

August 20

More are no-shows at formal appeals

More Luzerne County property owners are no-shows at their formal assessment appeals, as many as 15 percent in recent days, county officials say.

August 20

Homeowners face property dilemma

HARVEYS LAKE – Residents being evicted from their homes dominated the borough meeting on Tuesday night.

August 20

$10M county deficit projected

Luzerne County is facing a projected $10 million year-end deficit because last year’s budget contained some unrealistic revenue projections, county officials said Tuesday.

August 20

Inmate facing felony charge for alleged attack on guard

WILKES-BARRE –An inmate who was awarded $35,000 in a settlement of a brutality suit against the Luzerne County prison has been charged with aggravated assault for allegedly breaking the nose of a prison guard.

August 20

Scholarship gold

WILKES-BARRE – Tregg Gillis thought he had answered the question right and stepped away from the microphone, only to learn an opposing team had filed an objection.

August 20

Church’s fate topic of forum

WILKES-BARRE – Faced with the closing of the church it was formed to save, the Sacred Heart Wilkes-Barre Foundation Inc. is inviting the public to a meeting Monday at the Ramada Inn in Wilkes-Barre to “present other options and choices,” according to a press release.

August 20

Fur better-or-worse vows

DURYEA – Oliviah Kumor and Remi McAndrew aren’t your typical couple, but that’s not going to stop them from tying the knot.

August 20

Falling bricks hurt masonry worker at Osterhout

WILKES-BARRE – A construction worker suffered minor injuries Tuesday afternoon after he was struck by falling bricks while working on the bell tower of the Osterhout Free Library.

August 20

Motion to alter Gould term nixed

WILKES-BARRE – A Luzerne County judge denied a request by Samuel Gould, convicted of endangering the welfare of children, to shorten his sentence or relocate him to county prison for his role in the 2005 death of his 4-month-old daughter, Alana.

August 20

No signs of foul play in man’s death

WILKES-BARRE – A man whose body was found Monday along Harveys Creek in Plymouth Township was identified by Luzerne County Coroner John Corcoran as James Davis, 31, of Nanticoke.

August 20

Board OKs tax plan to assist expanding mall

WEST PITTSTON – The Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority on Tuesday assisted a planned $68 million mall rehabilitation project in West Hazleton by approving a $4.7 million Tax Incremental Financing Plan.

August 20

Hanover Area hires new teacher

HANOVER TWP. -- The Hanover Area School Board held a special meeting on Monday to resolve a personnel issue just in time for the new school year.

August 20

Bear Creek Charter names CEO

BEAR CREEK TWP. – The man who oversaw the financial operations of the Bear Creek Community Charter School for its first five years will now oversee all day-to-day operations.

August 20

Cops: Assault over cigar brings arrests

WILKES-BARRE – City police said a store clerk was assaulted because she refused to sell a cigar to a man who didn’t have identification.

August 20

Groundbreaking medicine

SCRANTON – Members of the community gathered at Pine Street Tuesday, August 19, for a presentation and groundbreaking at the future site of The Commonwealth Medical College (TCMC), the new medical school in Scranton. Participants wrote personal messages on stones that will provide the foundation for the building, symbolizing the community’s role as a foundation for the school.

August 20

Some family time for Iraq-bound GIs

WILKES-BARRE – Three-year-old Maggie Omencinski clutched a sky-blue blanket and buried her face against her father’s shoulder.

August 20

Area soldier dies in Afghanistan

SCRANTON — A Pennsylvania National Guard soldier from Scranton has died in Afghanistan.

August 20

15-year-old student drowns at band camp

HONESDALE — A 15-year-old Northeastern Pennsylvania boy attending band camp has drowned in a lake in Wayne County.

August 20

Russians take prisoners

POTI, Georgia — Russian soldiers took about 20 Georgians in military uniform prisoner at a key Black Sea port in western Georgia on Tuesday, blindfolding them and holding them at gunpoint, and commandeered American Humvees awaiting shipment back to the United States.

August 20

Fla. endures rain, tornadoes

NAPLES, Fla. — Tropical Storm Fay rolled ashore in Florida Tuesday short of hurricane strength, but mysteriously gained speed as it headed over land, bringing heavy rain, high wind and tornadoes.

August 20

43 die at Algerian police academy

ALGIERS, Algeria — A suicide bomber drove a car full of explosives into a line of applicants at an Algerian police academy Tuesday, killing at least 43 people in the deadliest terror attack to jolt this energy-rich U.S. ally since the 1990s.

August 20

Taliban kill 10 French troops

SUROBI, Afghanistan — Insurgents ambushed a group of elite French soldiers as they climbed a mountain pass, killing 10 troops in a militant stronghold outside the capital. In a separate coordinated attack, a team of suicide bombers tried unsuccessfully to storm a U.S. base near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

August 20

Pawlenty to help McCain and Hackett

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will visit the Chris Hackett for Congress/John McCain for President Victory Office in Dallas on Saturday.