Munsee

We might still officially be in fall but the Diamond City’s downtown is beginning to look like a winter wonderland.

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — It’s Frosty the Snowman’s time to shine in Wilkes-Barre.

“Nothing wrong with celebrating early at all, if anything, it brings more like a joy to this time of the year,” said Nebula Newhart, Nanticoke.

Students from Wilkes-Barre Career and Technical Center are behind the holiday decor seen in these planters around the downtown.

“It makes the community look nice. And around our square, around Wilkes Barre,” said Danny Ortiz, Wilkes-Barre.

“What I personally like about is how we used the greens to make it look more flush and more life-like, and using the birch twigs to like add it to the thing. I think it makes it look more natural in a way,” said Nebula.

“We do a lot of stuff like this at the school, like decorating the sign and just the center area of the school. We place trees around as well. So, it makes sense. We do a lot of crafts with the pine leaves as well,” said Lilliana Paglianite, Pittston.

While projects like this might seem like a small change, businesses in the area say it doesn’t go unnoticed.

“Absolutely, you know, it’s beautiful, just small, little things. Take pride in your city, makes it awesome. Our customers absolutely notice it. You know, we’ve talked about it before. It looks good. It’s cool. They have the kids doing it too,” said Anthony Ranella, Loyalty Barbershop Wilkes-Barre owner.

Students say they enjoy the opportunity to do something outside of the classroom and look forward to what comes next.

“I get to see people that I don’t normally see around, like this time of the year, and I get to celebrate it with…

Continue reading

WILKES-BARRE — The Luzerne County Board of Elections decided Friday it won’t count 1,301 mail-in ballots from the 119th state House District because the ballots were canceled and supposed to be segregated.

But an employee inadvertently opened the outer envelopes of those ballots, and 1,159 of those 1,301 voters in the 119th District submitted second ballots. Friday’s decision disenfranchises 142 voters from the Nov. 5 election.

“I think everyone in this room knows there is no good answer,” board Solicitor Gene Molino said. “The board is going to have to make a decision on what’s the least bad answer to this.”

If the board counted the 1,301 ballots, the board would have allowed 1,159 voters to vote twice. Election officials said they had no way to determine the identity of voters who cast them once the outer envelopes were opened.

In early October, the election bureau canceled about 6,700 mail ballots sent to voters in the 119th District because some of the ballots misspelled the name of state Rep. Alec Ryncavage as “Tyncavage.” The bureau sent a second batch of mail-in ballots to those 119th District voters with correct name spellings.

Ryncavage, a Republican seeking a second term, defeated Democrat Megan Kocher, and the unofficial vote count remains 17,382 to 9,789.

The board continued its review of provisional ballots on Friday and plans to resume its review Saturday morning. Attorneys for U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat from Scranton, and Republican Dave McCormick were present Friday.

McCormick is leading the unofficial vote count against Casey 3,392,104 to 3,370,395, and 36,000 votes are uncounted, NBC News reported at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

In Luzerne County, the Senate campaigns have contested decisions on more than 1,000 provisional ballots, and a hearing on the challenges will be held Tuesday. Voters are allowed to cast provisional ballots if they received mail-in ballots or…

Continue reading

WILKES-BARRE — The Luzerne County Board of Elections decided Friday it won’t count 1,301 mail-in ballots from the 119th state House District because the ballots were canceled and supposed to be segregated.

But an employee inadvertently opened the outer envelopes of those ballots, and 1,159 of those 1,301 voters in the 119th District submitted second ballots. Friday’s decision disenfranchises 142 voters from the Nov. 5 election.

“I think everyone in this room knows there is no good answer,” board Solicitor Gene Molino said. “The board is going to have to make a decision on what’s the least bad answer to this.”

If the board counted the 1,301 ballots, the board would have allowed 1,159 voters to vote twice. Election officials said they had no way to determine the identity of voters who cast them once the outer envelopes were opened.

In early October, the election bureau canceled about 6,700 mail ballots sent to voters in the 119th District because some of the ballots misspelled the name of state Rep. Alec Ryncavage as “Tyncavage.” The bureau sent a second batch of mail-in ballots to those 119th District voters with correct name spellings.

Ryncavage, a Republican seeking a second term, defeated Democrat Megan Kocher, and the unofficial vote count remains 17,382 to 9,789.

The board continued its review of provisional ballots on Friday and plans to resume its review Saturday morning. Attorneys for U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat from Scranton, and Republican Dave McCormick were present Friday.

McCormick is leading the unofficial vote count against Casey 3,392,104 to 3,370,395, and 36,000 votes are uncounted, NBC News reported at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

In Luzerne County, the Senate campaigns have contested decisions on more than 1,000 provisional ballots, and a hearing on the challenges will be held Tuesday. Voters are allowed to cast provisional ballots if they received mail-in ballots or…

Continue reading