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Fired Luzerne County Human Resources Director Doug Richards has pleaded guilty to accepting a bribe of at least $1,000 from a contractor.
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JANUARY 2010: CONTRACT POLICE
Firm bribed official for access
A fledgling New York City staffing firm paid the bribe that led to a federal corruption charge last month against a former Luzerne County official, the former official's attorney said. Continental Consultants Group Inc. paid at least $1,000 in cash to former Human Resources Director Doug Richards around the same time Richards was arranging a contract for the firm to process paychecks for a county flood cleanup project in April 2007.
At prison, jobs came before background checks
At least 34 employees hired by the Luzerne County Correctional Facility within the last four years were permitted to start working before their pre-employment background checks were completed, an internal county audit has found.
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A three-part series originally published in August 2009 documenting how judges in Luzerne County, Pa. are working to regain public trust since the scandal in January that led to corruption charges against former Judges Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan.
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AUGUST 2009
Day 1: Recovery Mission | More than six months after corruption cast a dark cloud over the Luzerne County court system, President Judge Chester B. Muroski and his colleagues are still working to regain public trust and ensure transparency.
Day 2: Model Citizens | The democratic approach used to govern the Luzerne County courts in the wake of the corruption crisis could serve as a model for courts throughout the state.
Day 3: Retention Deficit | With two judges facing a retention vote, two new judges being elected, another a year from retirement and two seats in limbo, the makeup of the court could shift dramatically.
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ELECTION '08
The Battlegrounds: Pennsylvania and Ohio
November 3, 2008 - Sen. John McCain peered out from a stage built against the disparate pastiche of a quaint, covered bridge and a fresh, bold Victory in Ohio banner, and reminded supporters of the potential weight of their vote and their state. "Friends, I know my political history and its been a long time since somebody didnt win Ohio and became president of the United States, McCain said. Im going to win Ohio and become president of the United States. Full story
RELATED STORIES
March 20, 2008: Bill Clinton visits Wilkes-Barre to support the best candidate
April 2, 2008: At Kings, Clinton vows she will keep fighting for nomination
July 24, 2008: McCain, away from the lights, cameras and rigors of candidacy
September 26, 2008: In Wilkes-Barre, Biden hits McCain on financial crisis
November 1, 2008: Gov. Rendell urges voters to consider issues, not race
November 5, 2008: History here and everywhere as Obama wins presidency
COURTS/CRIME
A life sentence for ex-supervisor who killed wife, son
November 11, 2008 - Charles Oleskis voice began to weaken Monday as he neared the words Im sorry. The former Rice Township supervisor paused briefly and then, softly, reaffirmed his apology for fatally shooting his wife, Maureen, and grown son, Christian, the morning of Jan. 25.
MORE COVERAGE
August 18, 2008: Inside the fractured mind of mentally ill murderer George Banks
December 9, 2008: Co-defendant pleads in gay porn slaying, will serve life sentence
December 23, 2008: Judge: No excuse for teens anti-Semetic attack on synagogue
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'Buried In Rubble'
The Long-Islander, October 14, 2004 - A massive explosion reduced the two-story used car dealership at Habberstad Nissan in Huntington Station into a smoky heap of rubble, injuring nine people, including eight on the second floor and three who were rescued by firefighters after they became pinned between pockets of debris. (Story)
Related Story: The Heroes at Habberstad (October 28, 2004)
Nathan Bruckenthal, Son of Chief, Dies in Iraq Ambush
Northport Record, April 29, 2004 - Nathan Bruckenthal, the 24-year-old Coast Guard officer and son of Northport Village Police Chief Ric Bruckenthal, died from injuries sustained when a small boat exploded in an apparent terrorist ambush as he and six other coalition sailors attempted to board it near an oil terminal in the Persian Gulf. (Story)
Related Story: Northport Remembers a Fallen Son (May 13, 2004)
Two Die In Helicopter Horror
Northport Record, September 2, 2004 - Children frolicked on the swings and climbed on the jungle gym as a line of yellow crime scene tape blustered in the sunset breeze at Crabmeadow Beach in Northport. (Story)
Related Story: A Catch-22 For The Robinson R-22 (September 26, 2004)
Northport Mourns Its Fallen Friend
Northport Record, January 26, 2006 - Jeffrey Conner, a 17-year-old senior and co-captain of the Northport baseball team, died last Thursday at Huntington Hospital, less than an hour after an accident in which he lost control of his pickup truck and crashed while driving on Bellerose Avenue in East Northport. (Story)
The Gandolfis: Always In Competition
Northport Record, February 10, 2005 - Grace Gandolfi walked into her son Frankie's room and surveyed the damage from a supposed accidental fall, earlier in the evening. The wall suffered the brunt of the impact. It appeared to have been hit with such great force that the original explanation seemed artificial. (Story)
Related Story: [Chris] Gandolfi Gets Redemption, Fennell Falls (February 22, 2007)
Related Story: Northport's [Corrine] Gandolfi Emerges With Pride (May 17, 2007)
The Fate of a Walk-On
Northport Record, May 11, 2006 - Lauren Majewski wanted back in. Eight-and-a-half months after the last at-bat of a propitious four-year high school career at Commack High School, the C.W. Post freshman longed to play softball again. As friends and former teammates prepared for their first college seasons, Lauren braced for her first spring without the sport in seven years. (Story)
A Golden Road To Notre Dame
Northport Record, September 30, 2004 - The clovers of congratulations for Jillian Byers came in person, by telephone and in the flash of an instant message. The Northport senior, a three-sport varsity wonder in lacrosse, basketball and soccer, had made perhaps the most harrowing and taxing decision of her 17-year life. Byers had decided where she would go to college, shared it with a few close confidents and, somehow, nearly everybody knew. (Story)
Blue Devils' 1st State Title a Dream Come True
The Long-Islander, June 9, 2005 - Eric Posner's eyes turned glassy as he watched the scoreboard clock tick Huntington closer to its first-ever state championship in boys' lacrosse, Saturday afternoon at Schoellkopf Field on the campus of Cornell University. (Story)
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