Free Republic

Scranton has dropped out of the gubernatorial race, making Lynn Swann a virtual lock for the endorsement, without a primary. No link just yet, it was breaking news on the TV broadcast.

For the second weekend in a row, Republican gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann yesterday won a lopsided caucus victory over his main challenger, former Lt. Gov William Scranton. At a meeting in Clarion of the Northwest Caucus of the Republican State Committee, Mr. Swann received 22 votes to seven for Mr. Scranton. The caucus represents 10 counties in the northwestern part of the state. Mr. Swann's victory comes on the heels of a 77-32 win Jan. 7 by the GOP Central Caucus, which represents 28 counties.

The St Thomas More Society AU group in Scranton will be received into the Catholic Church on October31 at 7PM at St Clare's Church in Scranton, Pa.

This is the last of a three-part series that examines the rapidly growing Hispanic population in Northeastern Pennsylvania. A 3-year-old girl with a small pink baseball hat reaches for a 7-month-old boy’s hand. She gives him a ring of toys, slowly so she doesn’t startle him. She smiles as his tiny hands fumble with the plastic toys. The girl is Mexican; the boy is white. She arrived from Yucatan, Mexico, just months ago and speaks only Spanish; he can’t yet speak. Their differences don’t matter. Kids will play. In the backyard of Grace Fellowship, a small evangelical church on Old...

This is the second in a three-part series that examines the rapidly growing Hispanic population in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Two teams race up and down the park’s outfield, wearing jerseys of different shades of blue. A group of young men stands along the fence, most clad in royal blue and white. They hold a flag with five blue stars. Their team, Honduras, plays against Uruguay. In Scranton. It’s just another Sunday of Scranton’s Hispanic International Soccer League, known to thousands of local Hispanics as el fútbol, the soccer game. Twelve teams, about 150 men, were in the league that ended July...

The Democrat's name appears on billboard and bus ads for the merged Scranton Times-Tribune. It might just have faded like any other promotional campaign. The newly merged Scranton Times-Tribune wanted to call attention to itself with advertisements that appear this summer on TV, billboards and buses. The ads featured a mock newspaper with a banner headline: "Casey to run for Senate." But at issue now - unfolding against the backdrop of a high-profile U.S. Senate race between Republican incumbent Rick Santorum and Democrat Bob Casey Jr. - is whether the ads are a harmless promotion for a business or a...

You can see it in Hazleton. There are new grocery stores on Wyoming Street. On their doors, signs thank you, Gracias por su compra. Well into the summer, a faded banner wishes you Feliz Navidad, Merry Christmas. Below it, a U.S. flag declares with bold, blue English words: Proud to be an American. You can’t miss it in South Scranton, either. On Pittston Avenue, the sign outside a sky blue house announces Casa Latina, and offers a travel agency, money transfers, translations. The things one needs when living thousands of miles from home. “Styles by Connie” is painted in red...

A Pennsylvania priest who lived at a Catholic church in West Orange in December and January was charged yesterday with possession of child pornography in Monroe County, Pa. The Rev. Virgil Bradley Tetherow, 40, of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton, Pa., allegedly downloaded images of child pornography onto a computer used by a secretary at the St. Ann's Catholic Church rectory in Tobyhanna, Pa., while visiting there in January, authorities said. Tetherow, who lived at St. Ann's for most of 2004, admitted to the allegation, according to detective Kenneth Lanning of the Pocono Mountain Regional Police in an affidavit...

A former Habitat for Humanity family that came under scrutiny two years ago when the city condemned their home has been forced out again. City inspectors condemned the home of Charles and Barbara Smith, 2517 N. Main Ave., on Friday because the double-block home didn't have heat. Mr. and Mrs. Smith and most of their 18 children moved into the home in 2000 after Habitat for Humanity of Lackawanna County helped renovate the building. The family lost that home in July 2003 when it was condemned. Habitat and the family worked on the house, and the Smiths returned six months...

SCRANTON, Pa. - Joe Dougherty knows better than to predict the outcome of the presidential election in this hardscrabble city at the base of the Poconos, where coal left in the 1950s and people have been fleeing ever since. "The town," says Dougherty as he flipped burgers in the back of his tidy diner off the town's faded main strip, "is always a question mark." Scranton is a mostly conservative place, "where there are as many churches as there are taverns," joked Dougherty, 68, a father of 12 who has seen the town dwindle from 140,000 to 70,000 in his...

For Helen Gohsler, the equation is simple and unequivocal: Catholic pro-life. That's why, in Gohsler's mind, Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's support of abortion rights doesn't square with his contention that he's a practicing Catholic. And that's why she and about 100 other sign-waving abortion opponents greeted Kerry's bus as it eased through Mulberry Street and North Washington Avenue en route to Friday's rally at Lackawanna County Courthouse Square. A smaller group met the bus on Spruce Street near the Radisson at Lackawanna Station hotel. "He's said he's a practicing Catholic, but a practicing Catholic doesn't support the use of...

A GrassrootsPA Exclusive from Sue Cirba of Pennsylvanians for Human Life in Scranton and The Pro-Life Reporter: As John Kerry and John Edwards rounded the corner of Mulberry and North Washington Ave , Scranton, in two separate buses, they were greeted by about one hundred pro-life protesters. On all four corners of the interscetion, pro-lifers were carrying signs like: “Kerry-Edwards the RAW DEAL for unborn kids”, “STOP ABORTION NOW”, and “You can’t be both Catholic and pro-abortion”. Many protesters carried signs which identified Kerry’s politics: “Kerry is 100% Pro-Abortion”, “Kerry supports tax dollars for abortion”, “Kerry supports partial-birth abortion.” Others...

Moms, dads are fighting back after schools are closedBy BONNIE ADAMSbadams@leader.net PITTSTON - Parochial school parent Joseph Rogo has found it easier to e-mail the Vatican than the Diocese of Scranton regarding local school closures. The Vatican responded this week to Rogo's e-mail and included the mailing address for Pope John Paul II's personal secretary. But Rogo and other parents accuse the Diocese of Scranton of blocking their e-mails to Bishop Joseph Martino. Rogo had e-mailed the Vatican to complain that Martino closed two schools without warning and lied about the process. The response from the Vatican Information Service advised...

Luzerne County Controller Steve Flood said on Wednesday he is planning to subpoena financial records from Northeast Baseball Inc., the non-profit corporation that is supposed to operate the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons. Flood wants to issue subpoenas within the next few days, unless Northeast Baseball, which he said has not had a board of directors meeting in "at least five years," submits the financial information he is requesting. Items like annual reports, balance sheets and possible profit margins are all on the controller's wish list. "We're frustrated," he said. "We don't even know who to contact. So we're going to subpoena...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrats begin running a television ad Monday criticizing the Bush administration for leaking the identity of an undercover CIA officer whose husband criticized the president's Iraq policy. "It keeps getting worse ... scandals in the Bush White House," the ad says. "Now they illegally leaked the identity of an American CIA agent ... all to hide Bush administration deceptions about the war in Iraq." The Democratic National Committee chose the Scranton-Wilkes Barre market in Pennsylvania to debut the 30-second spot. The initial ad buy is about $20,000 and it will run about a week. Democrats also sent...

A Scranton man overdosed on heroin at the Lackawanna County Work Release Center in June, prompting an investigation that has uncovered major lapses in security at the facility, county law enforcement officials said Tuesday. Charles Motley Sr., 35, was found dead by a fellow work release inmate June 7, District Attorney Andy Jarbola said. Mr. Motley was curled up in his bed, four plastic bags of heroin stashed in the chest of drawers next to him. Investigators found the drugs, and three empty bags, in the top drawer. "He was obviously pretty comfortable and confident that the drugs wouldn't be...

A convicted murderer drives a prison official's car. A prison guard has inmates maintain his vintage Ford Thunderbird. An inmate repairs the roof of a city official's garage. As the Times-Tribune newspapers' investigation of abuses and possible criminal activity at the Lackawanna County Prison continues, the scope of the scandal is expanding. Official explanations about questionable activity at the prison have been proven false while several prison guards -- and at least one city official -- have joined the growing list of those found to have benefited from free inmate labor. The investigation to date has found two guards at...

A North Scranton family with 18 children is determined to keep their Habitat for Humanity home, which was declared unfit for human habitation last month. The city condemned the 2517 N. Main Ave. home of Charles and Barbara Smith on July 29 for debris outside and inside the house, and because the Scranton Sewer Authority shut off the water on July 24, said Bill Fiorini, director of permits, inspections and licensing. Mr. Smith, who said the city should have let his family stay in the house while they correct the violations, said they have until October to fix the problems...

Scranton Bishop James Timlin will not attend commencement ceremonies at The University of Scranton because of the alleged views on abortion of television talk show host Chris Matthews, who is scheduled to receive an honorary degree from the Jesuit school, officials said Wednesday. Matthews' appearance drew protests from the orthodox Cardinal Newman Society, which said he has expressed support for abortion rights. Timlin was invited to attend Sunday's ceremony but backed out after being told of the controversy, the society and university said. For similar reasons, auxiliary bishop John Dougherty skipped last weekend's graduation at the College Misericordia, where journalists...

Get ready to gather with some true American patriots in Downtown Scranton to show support for our United States military troops and to stand behind America and our Leaders. Bring your flags, don your red, white and blue, bring your supportive signs and gather with the rest of us to show our troops, our country and the world your support. The directions to the rally on our site we have many great speakers. For more info email me at info@scrantonrally.com