Tag: Nanticoke

Robert L. Nichols of Seaford, passed away on Jan. 3, 2026 at his home in Seaford, surrounded by his loving family. Robert was born on Sept. 18, 1951 in Wilmington to the late Nelson Warren Nichols and Oterita Shaw Nichols. 

He proudly served his country in the United States Army. Robert was a Journeyman mechanic working for Nanticoke Homes, E.I. DuPont, Maryland Plastics, Townsends, and retiring from Playtex. He was a member of the Jaycee’s where he served as Past President and board member, life member of the American Legion Post #19. In his younger years, he enjoyed coaching his son in the Nanticoke Little League. He will be known for his favorite phrases: “Story of my life”, and “Don’t get me lying”; and will be remembered as the “Man with many keys.” 

Robert is survived by his wife, Constance Bazzrea Nichols; daughter, Katherine Wier (Jan); sons, Sean Taylor and Robert Lee Nichols; sisters, Maggie and Sissy; six grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren as well as several nieces and nephews also survive him. In addition to his parents, he is preceded in death by his siblings; Lester, Warren, Roger, Virginia, and Alma. 

A celebration of life luncheon will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 24 at the American Legion Post #19, 12168 Laurel Road in Laurel. Private interment will be held on Friday, Jan. 23 at the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Millsboro.

In lieu of flowers, the family request that contributions be made in Robert Nichols’ name to Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 758516, Topeka, Kansas 66675-8516 or Disabled American Veterans, help.dav.org. Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.hsdfuneralhome.com. Arrangements are in the care of the Hannigan, Short, Disharoon Funeral Home in Laurel.

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NANTICOKE — The way Joe Shimko sees it, he’s not taking over as Nanticoke Area’s football coach with his eyes toward the future.

In his mind, the future starts now.

Actually, it may have begun back in December when he was selected as the new head football coach.

Shimko’s hiring was not made official until the school board met Thursday night. But since early December, Shimko has been running two weight room sessions. The first is for student-athletes just getting out of school, and the second is later in the day for those who participate in a winter sport.

“I’m the fourth coach in three years,” Shimko said. “There has been a lot of mix there. It’s just about caring for the future of the district and the kids here.”

Longtime Nanticoke Area coach Ron Bruza retired after the 2023 season. The school board then turned to Scott Dennis to take over. Dennis died the week of the team’s first game in 2024. After two weeks, Bruza came back to take over the program for the remainder of the season.

Following the 2024 season, Bruza returned to retirement and the board hired Damon Saxon. The program finished last season 0-10 and the position was then opened up.

Shimko, a 2014 graduate of Nanticoke Area who played football under Bruza and eventually coached in the program, has a solid understanding of the current players.

“I have had most of them since they were in seventh grade,” Shimko said. “We have good talent and we need a good offseason. We need a good weight room — that is where it all starts. We have many young kids showing up every day. It’s something to build toward the future. I would like to come in and turn it around on the first day.”

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Jan. 15—Nanticoke Area filled another head football coaching void Thursday night, although it was more of a formality.

Joe Shimko, a former assistant, was selected to run the program by the school board. The agenda had the appointment backdated to Dec. 3, 2025.

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Shimko was one of about a half dozen applicants, according the athletic director Ken Bartuska. He has been with the football program since last month. He replaces Damon Saxon, who held the position for one year but wasn’t on Saxon’s staff.

Shimko is a 2014 graduate of Nanticoke Area where he was a lineman on the football team. He is not a member of the faculty but does some substitute teaching.

Shimko served as an assistant coach under Ron Bruza, who was the head coach from 2010-2023. He is also an assistant coach for the school’s boys and girls volleyball teams.

Nanticoke Area finished 0-10 this past season and was last in points scored with 70 and points allowed with 497 in the 12-team Wyoming Valley Conference.

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Improving the on-field product will be just one task ahead. The program is in need of stability after two tumultuous years.

Bruza stepped down after the 2023 season and the school appointed Scott Dennis as coach. Dennis, a Nanticoke Area graduate, brought head coaching experience from Holy Redeemer and Central Columbia.

But three days before the 2024 opener, Dennis died unexpectedly. The coach staff ran the team before Bruza returned on an interim basis. Saxon, a former standout at King’s College, was hired for 2025, but had his position opened shortly after the season concluded.

Shimko will be the 12th full-time head coach in a Nanticoke Area program that dates back to 1967. Tex Dargiewicz also served as head coach for one game during a teachers strike in 1982.

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Three WVC football vacancies have been filled since the end of…

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NANTICOKE — Tim Figgins clipped through a fiber optic bundle containing 12 strands, each the width of a human hair.

To attach the bundle to another cable, he has to keep the strands free of dirt and align each end before heat sealing and testing the splice.

“The machine will tell me if I did something wrong,” Figgins said while demonstrating his job as a fiber optic splicer during a workshop that Amazon Web Services and Luzerne County Community College held on Jan. 14 about jobs that the boom in data centers will create and how to train for them.

Principal of Workforce and Economic Developement at Amazon Web Services Nicholas Lee-Romagnolo talks about job opportunities surrounding data centers in Luzerne County Community College in Nanticoke Wednesday, January 14, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Nicholas Lee-Romagnolo divided the jobs into four categories: construction, fiber optics, power and water and maintenance of data centers after they’re built.

Lee-Romagnolo, who is AWS’s principal for economic and workforce development, said training workers requires cooperation not competition from high schools, community colleges, employers plus economic development and workforce development agencies. The curriculum keeps changing, and schools and companies need the latest equipment to keep training up to date.

“It’s like a flywheel we’re trying to spin and use all of you,” he said to the group gathered in the educational conference center of the college as the workshop started.

In June, Amazon announced it will invest $20 billion in Pennsylvania, creating 1,250 data center jobs but thousands more jobs for people who build…

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State Rep. Alec Ryncavage has announced he’s seeking a third term representing the 119th state House District.

The Republican from Hanover Twp. has represented the district since 2022. The 119th District includes the city of Nanticoke; the boroughs of Ashley, Edwardsville, Larksville, Plymouth, Sugar Notch, and Warrior Run; and the townships of Fairview, Hanover, Newport, Plymouth, Rice, and Wright.

“The job isn’t finished,” Ryncavage said in a news release. “There’s more work to get done, and I’m ready to keep rolling up my sleeves for the people I serve.”

The term for a state representative is two years. The annual salary for rank and file members is $113,000 per year.

“I’ve never believed this job is about titles or soundbites,” Ryncavage said in the news release. “It’s about showing up, being present, and being an ambassador for the communities I represent. Right now, more than ever, people deserve experienced champions who know how to navigate tough issues and deliver real results.”

The news release said his office “has handled more than 25,000 constituent cases, ranking among the 10th highest-volume district offices in the state, and has helped secure over $20 million in grants for local communities.”

Ryncavage “has worked on transformative projects across the district, including the regionalization of the Edwardsville and Larksville police departments, as well as the everyday efforts that matter to residents, from hosting regular shred events to launching the district’s first-ever drive-through electronic recycling event,” the news release added.

The Republican incumbent said the following on the rising cost of electricity: “Pennsylvania is producing more power than we consume, yet families and small businesses are paying the price. Electric rates are up more than 60 percent year over year, while our state is effectively subsidizing energy production for 13 other states and Washington, D.C. through the…

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Dylan Stish joined an elite club on Tuesday night.

Hazleton Area’s junior basketball standout became the just the 11th Cougars’ player to eclipse the 1,000-point mark in a career and only one of a select few to reach the mark as an 11th-grader.

Stish’s 1,000th point came on on a three-point shot from the left corner with 1:18 remaining in the third quarter of a 79-29 rout of Nanticoke at Hughie McGeehan Gymnasium. The three-year starter finished with a season-high 32 points, including 11 in both the first and second quarters that left him eight shy of the coveted mark. He sandwiched two deuces around a triple to start his third-quarter scoring, before knocking down his fourth triple of the game to set off a celebration among his teammates and coaches and those in attendance.

Stish joins his father, Frank, in the 1,000-point club at Hazleton Area, though Frank started his career at Bishop Hafey. Sal Biasi is the Cougars’ all-time leading scorer with 1,787 points followed by Chris Long (1,618), Brian Kunec (1,493), Russ Canzler (1,261), Terry Kringe (1,247), Hassan Abdullah (1,238), Mike DeMarco (1,226), Da’mir Faison (1,214), Frank Stish (1,100), Jeff Planutis (1,008) and now Dylan Stish (1,000).

As for Tuesday’s game, the Cougars (6-8, 3-2 Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1) led 25-7 after one quarter and 54-16 at halftime and easily snapped their two-game losing streak.

Sophomore Eddie Macko added 13 points; Oscaudy Vasquez had nine and Jahziel Ramirez was right behind with eight for the Cougars.

Dylan Ball and Ethan Yendrzeiwski both canned nine points for the Trojans.

Hazleton Area is back on the road at Wilkes-Barre Area on Thursday and then face York William Penn in the Geigle Classic at Reading on Saturday afternoon.

Wyoming Seminary 57, MMI Prep 31

RJ Gernhardt scored a team-high…

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Nanticoke Area raced out to a big halftime lead on its way to a 55-33 victory over Hanover Area on Monday night in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 girls basketball game.

Nanticoke Area is 6-0 in Division 2 and 11-3 overall. The Trojanettes led, 27-13, at the half.

Kate Reed scored 16 of her season-high 24 points in the first half. Of her 10 field goals, four of them came from beyond the 3-point line.

Navaeh Baran scored nine points for Nanticoke Area, while Nevaeh Tolodziewski scored a season-high eight points.

Symone Mims led Hanover Area with a season-high 17 points. Emma Schlingman scored nine and Maliyah Holt added five. Hanover Area is 3-9 overall and 1-5 in the division.

Hazleton Area 85, Berwick 39: At Berwick, Alexis Reimold scored 18 points and Kaitlyn Bindas scored 15 points to lead the Cougars over Berwick in a Division 1 game.

Kayla Lagowy scored 14 and Mariah Marolo netted 11 points for Hazleton Area (13-1, 5-0). Sophia Benyo finished with 10.

Abby Calarco led Berwick with 11 points. Grace Robbins scored nine and Addison Remley chipped in with six.

Wyoming Seminary 60, MMI Prep 12: At Wyoming Seminary, Natalina DeNaples scored a season-high 15 points and Nori Neuwirth and Dori Bartos each scored seven to lead the Blue Knights.

Stella Ruiz and Julia Williams each scored six points for Wyoming Seminary (9-3, 4-2). The Blue Knights extended their winning streak to five.

Anna Drobnock led MMI Prep with nine points.

Lake-Lehman 64, Tunkhannock 30: At Lake-Lehman, Kinley Purdy scored 18 points and Olivia Oliver added 15 to help Lake-Lehman defeat Tunkhannock in a Division 2 basketball game.

Amanda Battin added eight points for Lake-Lehman (8-6, 4-2), while Sofia Sparacio and Delcia Biscotto each scored seven.

Elizabeth Moore…

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Hagersville Hawks’ slide still going | The Haldimand Press

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By Keith Krauskopf HAGERSVILLE — On Saturday, January 3, 2026, the Hagersville Hawks hosted top place Dundas Blues. The first period was an exciting one, with both teams playing hard and fast hockey. The goalies at both ends were kept busy; in the first period, the Hawks had 20 shots and the Blues had 17. The second period started out…

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OPP West Region releases Festive RIDE campaign results | The Haldimand Press

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WEST REGION—The OPP West Region’s annual Festive RIDE (Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere) campaign has concluded, with nearly 300 drivers now facing impaired driving charges. From the start of the campaign on November 20, 2025, until its conclusion on January 1, 2026, officers conducted 3,095 Festive RIDE spot checks across 13 detachment areas. This is the highest number of Festive RIDE…

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