The city of Wilkes-Barre announced an addition Thursday to their community policing initiative. Mayor George Brown and Wilkes-Barre Police chief Joseph Coffay said six new bicycles will complement their crime reduction patrols. WBPD started bike patrols in targeted areas in recent years, according to the city. The bikes were funded in part by The Luzerne Foundation and The Diamond City Partnership.

Rylind Construction, started work on a $700,000 resurface and ADA reconstruction project along Route 1005 on April 2. The project consists of rehabilitation work, milling and resurfacing in Plunketts Creek Township, pavement markings and other miscellaneous work.

Homeowners and businesses impacted by flooding last fall now have extra time to apply for loans to help rebuild.The Shapiro Administration got an extension from the U.S. Small Business Administration for survivors of flooding on September 9 in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The deadline for physical damage disaster loan applications is now Wednesday, April 24. Economic injury disaster loan applications are still due on October 25 of this year.The Disaster Loan program offers low-interest loans for homeowners, renters, private non-profits and businesses in disaster-declared counties who sustained damages from flooding. This declaration applies to Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties.Homeowners can get up to $500,000 to replace or repair a primary residence and renters can receive up to $100,000 to repair personal property. Businesses and most private non-profits can apply for up to $2 million to cover disaster losses.

Save Carbon County, a grassroots environmental organization, sued a cryptocurrency power plant and Governor Josh Shapiro on March 26.Panther Creek Electric Generating Facility wants to burn tires to generate electricity for its cryptocurrency mining operations. Their permit to use tire-derived fuel (TDF) to supplement 15 percent of its monthly electricity use by weight is in review by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).The lawsuit names Shapiro, the DEP, Interim DEP Secretary Jessica Shirley, the PA Public Utility Commission, the Commonwealth as defendants, alongside the power plant and its parent company, Stronghold Digital Mining.Save Carbon and its lawyers at Freiwald Law argue Stronghold already pollutes Carbon County. They cite Stronghold’s current emissions at Panther Creek, which are four times the amount of emissions at Panther Creek pre-2020, before Stronghold acquired the property. Their data comes from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).They also claim the Commonwealth, DEP, PUC incentivised Stronghold to mine cryptocurrency by giving them tax breaks for using alternative fuels. Stronghold received over $29 million in renewable energy credits from the state over the last two years.Save Carbon and Freiwald Law will hold a Community Meeting on the lawsuit at the Nesquehoning Recreation Center at 335 W. Railroad Ave. on Tues. March 26 at 7PM.

Breeze Airways will begin flights this fall to another Florida city from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport.The airline announced Tuesday new flights to Fort Myers, Florida, will begin twice weekly on Oct. 3. Fares start at $89 if you buy tickets by April 1.Breeze's first flights anywhere were in May 2021. The airline started flying jets out of the local airport to Orlando, Florida, twice a week in January. The airline plans to expand to four weekly Orlando flights in May.

They died from blunt force trauma in crash along Washington Boulevard

Schuylkill residents can visit the mental health center starting this fall, according to St. Luke’s.The clinic’s part of St. Luke’s new Rural Psychiatry Residency Program, which started in 2022. Two residents will work at the Tamaqua location under the guidance of an attending physician. They will provide medication and therapeutic services, according to James A. James. He is the Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, and Addiction and Recovery at St. Luke’s.

Pennsylvania American Water (PAW) responded to a notice of violation from the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The DEP said the utility company violated Pennsylvania's Clean Streams Law during dam upgrades in Dunmore. The agency is currently reviewing the response, according to DEP spokesperson Colleen Connelly. PAW's response is not yet available to the public. In early February, a heavy load of sediment was released into Roaring Brook during construction of the dam. The sediment flowed from Roaring Brook into the Lackawanna River. The DEP said the water company failed to notify the state agency about the pollution and And that the discharge was not permitted. The utility company was notified of the violation on March 7. They had 15 days to give DEP the cause of the discharge and answer why they did not notify the agency immediately.

A former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins forward passed away unexpectedly Monday at the age of 42. Konstantin Koltsov played parts of three seasons in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton between 2002 and 2006. He later went on to play 144 games in the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The team says Koltsov is remembered for “one of the most famous moments in team history.” He scored an overtime goal in first round of the 2004 Calder Cup Playoffs against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Koltsov was a native of Minsk, Belarus, and played in the Winter Olympics for the Belarusian national team in 2002 and 2010. The Miami-Dade Police called Koltsov’s death “an apparent suicide," according to the Associated Press.

Broadway in Scranton is looking for stories from those who were either stranded in Gander, Newfoundland, on 9/11 or helped those who found themselves grounded in Canada. That’s ahead of a weekend of performances of “Come From Away.” The Tony Award-winning hit musical is based on the true story of 7,000 stranded passengers and the small town in Newfoundland that welcomed them. Four performances will be shown at the Scranton Cultural Center from April 5 to 7. To share your story email Ali Basalyga at ali@nacentertainment.com.