Author: jeff

The Nanticoke Conservation Club hosted their 28th annual ice fishing derby Saturday morning.

The return of the event after two years of cancellations, cold weather allowed for the ice to freeze eight to nine inches thick, creating perfect fishing conditions.

“Ice fishing is not for everybody but when you fall in love with ice fishing, it may become your favorite place to be,” said Philip Dale, a member of the Nanticoke Conservation Club.

The derby at Francis Slocum State Park invited fishermen of all skill levels to brave the cold and reel in the biggest catch.

“We sometimes used smaller poles as you can see, so you can sit alongside holes drilled through the ice. You have a short pole so you can get up close to it. This is jigging, using a small jigging pole and you can bob that up and down a bit and hopefully it will attract a fish to come over and grab your bait,” explained Dale.

Using sleds to bring equipment on the lake, holes are dug throughout the ice with special tools to find the perfect spot.

“Drilling holes all over the ice and going from spot to spot until you find where those fish are. Typically, they’ll be around different structures like a stump or a rock,” said Dale.

Different species of fish can be found in different lakes, but for the derby, six were being targeted.

“Bass, pickerel, perch, crappie, trout, bluegill and we have a youth prize for the biggest fish overall that they catch,” said Gary Gronkowski, president of the Nanticoke Conservation Club.

Metal crampon spikes attached to shoes allowed those on the ice to enjoy a safe day on the lake.

“It does not affect how structurally sound it is for people to be out there. It can be frightening. You can be…

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Luzerne County’s outside engineer recently briefed the council on bridges as part of a broader plan to catalog and prioritize work on all 300-plus county-owned spans.

Tom Reilly, president of Reilly Associates in Pittston — the county’s outside engineer — told council during last week’s work session the first phase now completed was categorizing them by length.

Only four crossings exceed 100 feet. These bridges and status updates he provided:

• Nanticoke/West Nanticoke Bridge over the Susquehanna River (2,072 feet)

The county is in the process of selecting an engineer who must come up with three options to address the bridge, which was reduced to a 5-ton weight limit prohibiting access by fire trucks and emergency rescue vehicles.

In addition to $10 million in federal funding allocated through the state for this project, the county has access to a $55 million casino gambling fund established for county infrastructure.

Until a solution is selected and designed, the span must be inspected every six months, Reilly said.

• Water Street (Firefighters’ Memorial Bridge) linking Pittston and West Pittston (1,500 feet)

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation had agreed to assume responsibility for replacing the closed Water Street Bridge because it is part of a bridge bundling that also will replace the nearby state-owned Spc. Dale J. Kridlo Bridge (Fort Jenkins) Bridge.

Reilly said the Water Street project is expected to be bid out in late 2026, so work can commence at the end of that year. This is a hard deadline due to $18 million in federal grant funding earmarked for the project, he said.

• Stephenson Street Bridge, Duryea (268 feet)

This bridge is gated to block public usage because it had been primarily intended to access a private quarry and swampland on the north side of the Lackawanna…

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Misericordia University

Misericordia University announced the following local students were named to the fall dean’s list with averages of 3.55 or higher:

A: Siwar Abdo, Dallas; Matthew Albrect, Wyoming; Lauren Amend, Mountain Top; Megan Armitage, Avoca; Matthew Ash, Sweet Valley; Aleia Atherton, Wilkes-Barre; Bradley Augenstein, Duryea; Bianka Avila, Plains Twp.

B: Lexi Baggett, Shavertown; Erynn Barancho, Plains Twp.; Mason Baranski, Wyoming; Michael Battin, Shavertown; Samuel Bellanca, Forty Fort; Lynn Benkowski, Kingston; Owen Blake, Shavertown; William Brady, Mountain Top; Madison Brdaric, Shavertown; Allyson Brodie, Hanover Twp.; Michael Brown, West Wyoming; Arianna Bugno, Pittston; Elizabeth Burney, Pittston; Ella Burns, Dallas; Ashleigh Button, Mountain Top.

C: Ava Carey, Courtdale; Isabella Cassano, Shavertown; Litzy Castro, Wilkes-Barre; Noah Ceklosky, Wapwallopen; Arianna Champi, Dupont; Alexi Chervenitski, Shavertown; MarinaCiavarella, Hanover Twp.; Quinn Crispell, Swoyersville; Claire Cunningham, Wilkes-Barre.

D: Charlene Daisey, Wapwallopen; Madelyn Dalley, Kingston; Isabella Dalmas, Nanticoke; Taylor Dalmas, Nanticoke; Parker DalSanto, Dallas;  Ainsley Daubert; Noxen; Ashlyn Davis, Shickshinny; Kara Domzalski, Shavertown; Janelle Dudek, Pittston Twp.; David Durko, Ashley.

E: Alyssa Evans, Nanticoke.

F: Rebecca Fick, Dallas; Molly Fielding, Dallas; Lindsey Franchella, Shickshinny; Paige Frank, Shavertown; Grayson Frasier, Swoyersville.

G: Caelan Gallagher, Dallas; Jerzey Gallagher, Ashley; Carmen Garcia, Wilkes-Barre; Melissa Giomboni, Plains Twp.; Anthony Giovinazzo, Edwardsville; Brooklyn Giovinazzo, Edwardsville; Andrew Gorto, Pittston; Alex Goy, Shavertown; Jacob Greenfield, Harding; Tessily Gregory, Dallas; Diane Grohowski, Nanticoke.

H: Hailey Halagarda, Avoca; Reagan Halbach, Shavertown; Brian Hannah, Tunkhannock; Catherine Havrilla, Mountain Top; Deven Hazlak, White Haven; Lauren Hearst, West Pittston; Kaci Hockenberry, Dallas; Lyndsey Hornlein, Dallas; Hannah Hosey, Noxen; Emily Howells, Pittston; Mercedes Hughes, Shavertown; Chad Hutchins, Dallas.

J: Morgan Janeski, Exeter; Maura Jenceleski, Nanticoke; Allison Jones, Harveys Lake; Halle Jones, Dallas.

K: Joshua Kane, Dallas; Carmella Karcutskie, Harding; Misha Kazmierski, Dallas; Gia Keefe, Dallas; Cassie Kern, Dallas; Olivia Kiwak, Harding; Hayden Klopp, Shavertown; Layla Kolodzieski, Avoca; Dylan Kostik, Wyoming; Kurtis Kowalski,…

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