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First Posted: 1/20/2013
State police were searching Saturday for an inmate who escaped from the MinSec detention center in downtown Hazleton.
Tyrone Echols, 37, was last seen at 3:15 p.m. Friday, when he left the facility to go to work in Berwick, state police said. He did not return to the facility at 141 W. Broad St. at 6:30 a.m. Saturday as scheduled, police said.
Echols is described as a black male, 6 feet tall, 270 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. He previously lived in Scranton and Newark, N.J. and has relatives in both cities, police said.
He was incarcerated at the facility for possession of drug paraphernalia and simple assault, state police said. A warrant for his arrest on escape charges was issued at 8:30 a.m. Saturday.
Anyone with information about Echols’ whereabouts should contact the state police Hazleton barracks at 459-3890 or call 911. Caller information will be kept confidential.
The Wilkes-Barre Area League of Women Voters is holding its annual legislative breakfast from 8:30 to 11 a.m. Jan. 26 at King’s College in the Sheehy-Farmer Campus Center (Snyder room, third floor).
All state senators and representatives from the area have been invited. The cost is $15 for league members and $20 for the public. Reservations are required.
Call the League at 675-3429 for information and reservations.
The Blue Ribbon Foundation of Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania is accepting proposals for its first grant cycle of 2013.
The foundation invests in initiatives that improve health and help manage long-term health costs for residents of Northeastern and North Central Pennsylvania.
Nonprofit organizations in the foundation’s 13-county service area can submit proposals for health and wellness funding. Applications must be received electronically by 5 p.m. March 8.
For more information on eligibility requirements and funding priorities and to download the electronic application, visit www.bcnepa.com/Community/BlueRibbon.aspx.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced that all driver license and photo centers, including its full-service center in Harrisburg, will be closed through Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Customers may still obtain a variety of driver and vehicle products and services online through PennDOT’s Driver and Vehicle Services website, www.dmv.state.pa.us. There are no additional fees for using online services.
A complete list of PennDOT driver and photo license center closings in 2013 is available on the website under News, Stats and Facts.
The Victims Resource Center received $2,500 from the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape from money that was raised at Penn State University.
VRC was one of the coalition’s 50 rape crisis centers that received the allocations to be used to provide additional sexual abuse prevention programs to children in Luzerne, Wyoming and Carbon counties.
Penn State graduate students Laura March and Stuart Shapiro designed a T-shirt, had it officially licensed through Penn State and worked with local vendors to sell more than 7,000 Blue Out T-shirts.