Local News

For some, the decreasing hours of sunlight are an invitation to a long winter's nap.

To Pennsylvania's Great Horn Owl, it's a hoot.

This original night owl doesn't become active until sunset, and in winter, from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., it's party time since the hooters are a'courting.

"What we are noticing now is an increased vocalization in the birds," said Franklin Klock, a naturalist at the Carbon County Environmental Education Center. "They are largely nocturnal, so we hear these sounds at night. The Great Horned Owl is the classic hoot owl that people hear.

The Carbon County commissioners approved the following personnel actions in the county during the month of December:

Hire

Derek Thomas, Lehighton, part-time collection drive trainee, Solid Waste Department, effective Dec. 11.

Resignations

Ernest M. Smith III, Coaldale, part-time corrections officer, Corrections, effective Dec. 12.

Alice D. Kane, Summit Hill, part-time automation clerk, Prothonotary, effective Dec. 21.

Court Appointments

Colleen C. Lee, Jim Thorpe, certified court reporter, retroactive to Dec. 1.

The Carbon County Commissioners today accepted the recommendation of William Marsden, Nesquehoning, custodian of the tower clock on the Court House, directing that the giant time piece which was installed in 1894 to be temporarily stopped as a safety measure. Inspections, which the commissioners made by climbing to the tower, indicate the mechanism is dangerous because of heavy weights, the cables of which are reportedly defective. The clock will be stopped until the aged mechanism can be replaced with an electrification system.

The Carbon County commissioners approved the following personnel action at the Carbon County Nursing and Rehabilitation Center at Weatherwood, during the month of December:

Retirements

Margaret D. Bray, Tamaqua, housekeeping/laundry utility worker, effective Dec. 8.

Cecelia P. Hartranft, McAdoo, LPN, effective Jan. 6, 2010.

Bonnie L. Hinton, Hazle Township, charge nurse, effective Dec. 31.

Resignation

Lorraine Miller, Weatherly, part-time restorative aide, effective Dec. 28.

Change of Status