WVIA News

The greater Scranton community is continuing to raise money for a police officer who was shot almost a month ago. At 3 Jacks Burger Bar in Dunmore, Vihaan Bansal used his musical talents to help contribute to Scranton Detective Kyle Gilmartin’s recovery.

Local communities in Northeast Pennsylvania are asking President Biden to overturn a decision denying federal disaster funding. On Sept. 9, a fast and deadly storm caused widespread damage in Lackawanna, Luzerne and Wyoming counties.

Half of the recent federal funding allocated by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to clean up mine waste will be spent in Northeastern and Central PA.

Inside the region’s largest high school, students choose to include. The Special Olympics recognized Hazleton as a 2023 National Banner Unified Champion School on Tuesday. Only four schools in Pennsylvania and only 146 across the United States received the honor this year.

The Pike County Veterans Affairs Office has relocated. The office is now fully operational in the Shohola Business Center, 835 Route 6, Unit 3, Shohola. Office hours are Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Two accredited Veterans Service Officers, Jesiah Schrader, director, and Karen Olson, deputy director, are available to assist the nearly 4,000 Pike County Veterans with navigating veteran benefits processes. Services provided include: county, state and federal Benefits, including Real Estate Tax Exemption Programs, Pike County Veterans Discount Card, Cemetery Flags, Filing of Claims such as Disability, Service-Connected Deaths, Dependent and Indemnification, Pensions, VTA Grants and assistance with Homelessness. Walk-ins are welcome, but appointments are preferred so each client receives individualized attention.

The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources released a new report on the state’s outdoor recreation industry. Nathan Reigner, Pennsylvania’s Director of Outdoor Recreation, discusses the findings.

Heavy machinery cleaned and broke down coal into smaller pieces. Since the 80s, pieces of that equipment used by the Moffat Coal Company have sat in Taylor. Now, the artifacts are moving to a new home outside the Lackawanna County Coal Mine Tour.

The University of Scranton will construct a new building to educate not only its students but the greater Scranton community. It will be a centerpiece for collaborations and improve outreach.

Sixty-five years ago, the earth beneath a swollen Susquehanna River gave way. Weeks before, coal miners on company orders dug for anthracite coal too close to the riverbed. On Jan. 22, 1959, 69 men escaped the flooded mines and 12 were killed. The incident became known as the Knox Mine disaster, which ended the already-fraught anthracite coal mining industry in the northern field. Now, each January, Anthracite History Month is celebrated.

National Heritage Areas preserve landscapes and industries and honor the people, both past and present, who call the areas home. They are places where the first airplanes were made or where coal was king. The Endless Mountains is hoping for that federal designation.