PennEast files eminent domain suits

The PennEast Pipeline Company began eminent domain proceedings Feb. 6 by filing 44 lawsuits in federal court.

It comes one day after a deadline it gave landowners to accept its last offer for a property easement.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted PennEast a certificate of public convenience and necessity last month, allowing it to begin the process of seizing land for what is legally described as “the public good.”

Of Tuesday’s eminent domain filings, 11 of the properties were in Carbon County.

In Carbon County, PennEast is seeking 9.3 acres of permanent easements, which it would keep for the continual operation of its pipeline; and 15.12 acres of temporary easements, which it would use during construction.

Tamaqua chief set to retire

Tamaqua Police Chief Rick Weaver will be stepping down at the end of February.

Appointed to the chief’s position in 2013, Weaver has been with the department since 1988.

He entered the DROP (deferred retirement option plan) five years ago, setting March 1, 2018, as his official retirement date.

Family Promise has funds cut

Family Promise of Carbon County stands to lose $38,000 this year due to a change in funding priorities by the state.

The state’s Department of Community and Economic Development set funding priorities at the start of the year, excluding emergency temporary shelters such as those provided by Family Promise. Instead, DCED will focus funding on “rapid rehousing”.

Family Promise of Carbon County provides temporary shelter to meet the basic needs of families without permanent housing in Carbon County and the surrounding communities.

Last year, the agency served 58 people with children, but had over 300 applicants.

New wind turbine application filed

Atlantic Wind filed a new application to construct 28 wind turbines on land belonging to the Bethlehem Water Authority in Penn Forest Township.

This new application is separate from the one currently before the township for 37 wind turbines.

The new application reduces the number of proposed turbines, reduces the project’s footprint, moves the turbines farther away from homes and reduces the number of adjacent properties.

A new application means a new round of hearings before the zoning hearing board. The first application was deemed approved but is still tied up in litigation.

Jim Thorpe council to move police, offices

Jim Thorpe Borough Council took the next step Thursday toward moving its police department and borough offices into Memorial Hall.

By a 4-2 vote, council passed a resolution to proceed with a plan to relocate its office staff to a portion of the hall’s top floor, reducing the capacity for weddings, banquets and other events from around 600 people to a maximum 250 people, according to a feasibility study completed by Spillman Farmer Architects.

The police department would move into the bottom of the hall, which for many years was used as a roller skating rink.

Both the borough staff and police department currently share a 10-year-old building just across the parking lot from Memorial Hall.

Krebs placed on leave pending trial

Pleasant Valley Director of Support Services Joshua Krebs was placed on administrative leave pending trial on felony wiretapping charges. The charges stem from an incident in April of 2016 when Krebs and district technology coordinator Alex Strenchock placed a video/sound recorder in a break room at Pleasant Valley Elementary School to try to catch a custodian that was thought to be taking overly long breaks.

Krebs was initially allowed to return to work after his December arrest.

He faces a formal arraignment on March 14 before Monroe County Judge Jonathan Mark.

Full-day kindergarten for Panther Valley

Starting this fall, all kindergarten students at Panther Valley Elementary will attend school for the full day. The school board voted 6-0 for the measure which is designed to benefit students through consistency, routine and more time to develop social skills.

Panther Valley was the only school district in Carbon County that didn’t offer full day kindergarten.

Bomb threat at Pleasant Valley

A bomb threat closed Pleasant Valley High School on Monday, causing a nightmare for staff, students and parents as many of the students were already en route to school at the time.

Students who were already on buses, as well as high school faculty and staff, were diverted to Pleasant Valley Middle School.

Pennsylvania State Police, assisted by four K-9 units, swept the building and declared it safe.

Groundhog dinner tradition flourishes

For real Pennsylvania Dutch, Groundhog Day doesn’t always have to fall on Feb. 2.

While the annual event in Punxsutawney has become legendary, “Grundsow Lodges” in the eastern part of the state have been celebrating on different dates in the spring for more than 50 years.

The events attract hundreds of men from around the area who celebrate the language, German music, and of course traditional Pennsylvania Dutch food.

“It’s a great thing to have all these lodges, to keep this Pennsylvania Dutch dialect going, because it’s slowly fading,” said Lenny Breiner from Palmerton.

Carbon County Lodge No. 11 “Nummer Elfa on Da Fireline,” held its dinner last week. Schuylkill County Lodge No. 8, “Nummer Ochda on Da Lizzard Grick” will hold its later this month. In all there are more than a dozen lodges.