Candidates for Carbon County Commissioner and county sheriff will participate in a debate on Monday, Oct. 17.

The event, sponsored by the Lehighton 9/12 Project, will be held at Jim Thorpe Memorial Hall and begins at 7 p.m. It will be broadcast live on Blue Ridge Communications TV 13.The moderator is Kim Bell, general manager of Blue Ridge Communications TV 13.The first half-hour will involve the two candidates for sheriff Dwight Nothstein and Steve Armbruster.Nothstein, the incumbent, is running on the Democratic ticket and Armbruster is a Republican candidate.The following 90 minutes will be for the commissioner candidates.Each candidate will have 90 seconds to answer questions and the other candidates will have 30 seconds for a rebuttal."The debate will also include questions from the audience," Bell said, "and we are allowing the candidates to ask their opponents one question."Democratic candidates for commissioner, both incumbents, are Charles Getz and William O'Gurek.Republican candidates are Thomas C. Gerhard and incumbent Wayne Nothstein.Sandy Dellecker, president of the Lehighton 9/12 Project, said members of the public are encouraged to attend the event at Memorial Hall.She said some of the candidates will be there and will have their campaign literature available from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m.Dellecker said audience members who want to ask questions should submit them on a 3-by-5 card. Selected questions will be asked by the moderator.