Wilkes-Barre

Pennsylvania's major rivers are above 80% frozen, according to the National Weather Service, but officials warn that water continues to flow beneath the cold crust. The state's Fish and Boat Commission has a simple message: 'Stay off of that ice.'

Warming centers and emergency shelter will be available this weekend as extreme cold and wind-chill blow through the region.

On the frigid first morning of February, Jessup’s forecasting ferret drew a crowd of hundreds for a morning of tomfoolery, marking a new tradition in the Lackawanna County borough. But Jessup Giuseppe and Punxsutawney Phil ended up at odds about the forecast.

Tenor Health Foundation and Community Health Systems, operating locally as Commonwealth Health, closed a deal for Wilkes-Barre General and Scranton’s Regional and Moses Taylor Hospitals on Sunday, the companies announced Monday morning. A CHS release valued the deal at $33 million cash plus a $15 million promissory note from Tenor, with additional payments possible from patient account collections.

Years of uncertainty about the future of Commonwealth Health-owned Wilkes-Barre General, Moses Taylor Hospital and Regional Hospital of Scranton have taken their toll on anxious employees, but a pending sale to Tenor Health Foundation has staff and community leaders cautiously optimistic about the next steps.

Tenor Health Foundation’s CEO said the company is ready to own and operate the Commonwealth Health Systems hospitals in NEPA, but that the transaction still awaits approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Award-winning musician John Legend will return to Northeast Pennsylvania this spring to perform in downtown Wilkes-Barre.

More than 200 volunteers, from youth groups to the state’s first Black lieutenant governor, crafted fringe blankets and donated food for Blankets & Broth on Martin Luther King Jr. Day at the Friedman Jewish Community Center in Luzerne County.

This is Pennsylvania Farm Show week in Harrisburg, and thousands of spectators of all ages filled the event's sprawling 24-acre complex in Harrisburg Thursday, perusing exhibits, admiring the livestock, and delighting in an array of freshly cooked foods and treats.

Looking for a way to give back on MLK Day this year? Service projects across Northeast and Central Pennsylvania need volunteers to make blankets and collect clothes to support those who have fallen on hard times.