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This 2008 photo captures the emotion stemming from Luzerne County’s property reassessment, the first countywide revaluation since 1965. Activist Michelle Boice comforts fellow Harveys Lake property owner Linda Barber during a commissioners meeting.

TIMES LEADER FILE PHOTO

Greg Skrepenak loses his patience with fellow Luzerne County Commissioner Stephen A. Urban in 2004. Skrepenak resigned from the commissioner seat at the end of 2009 and is serving time in prison on a corruption charge.

TIMES LEADER FILE PHOTO

Stephen Flood made plenty of waves during his term as Luzerne County Controller in the early 2000s and was credited for opposing a juvenile detention center lease later linked to the federal corruption probe.

TIMES LEADER FILE PHOTO

A synopsis of some of the most unusual and memorable moments in Luzerne County government over the last decade:

August 2000: County Commissioner Tom Makowski announces that he will no longer deal with Prothonotary Carolee Medico’s memos and bans her from the commissioners’ office, saying her communication fills a file thicker than the Manhattan phone directory.

March 2001: County Register of Wills Dorothy Stankovic hires her own sister, Maryann Wegrzynowicz, as a clerk in her office, saying the other applicants were “just out of high school” and appeared to have political ties. Stankovic later revoked the hiring on the advice of her solicitor.

March 2002: Makowski storms into Controller Steve Flood’s courthouse office, ordering him to cancel plans to lay carpet because the office would be moving to the county Penn Place building. The two elected officials clashed often.

Makowski put both hands in front of him, raised his left hand and said, “Me.” Then he lowered his right hand about 6 inches and told Flood, “You,” the controller said.

April 2002: Valley Crest Nursing Home residents and staff are forced to use paper plates and plastic utensils for meals one day after it was discovered someone defecated on part of the dishwasher unit. Administrators were confident a resident wasn’t responsible because the general access doors to the kitchen area are locked at night, though they never identified a suspect.

May 2002: County minority Commissioner Stephen A. Urban and Flood aren’t pleased with the condition of county-owned Moon Lake Park during their surprise inspection. When Urban trudged through the shin-deep grass and touched a picnic table, a piece of wood immediately broke off into his hand. “Steve, watch out. There’s a wasp nest under that table,” Flood wailed as two wasps buzzed around Urban’s head.

March 2003: A county tax claim clerk is reprimanded for inserting campaign material plugging commissioner candidate Frank Trinisewski in tax receipts mailed to county taxpayers. The worker said she came up with the idea on her own and didn’t know it was wrong to insert political material in official county correspondence mailed on the public dime.

November 2003: It is publicly disclosed that county Voter Services Director Kevin Jordan overlooked laws separating church and state, rounding up employees to pray before they were dismissed each day. He would chant: “Oh Lord. Your sea is so great. My boat is so small.” In unison, the workers replied “Amen.”

January 2004: County Court of Common Pleas Judge Mark Ciavarella orders that Flood be lodged in the county jail for failing to appear in court on a matter involving the county pension fund. Flood said he was already in Florida on vacation when the subpoena was delivered to his office and didn’t have to respond. Flood ultimately avoided jail time.

April 2004: County Human Resources Director Kim Weiland starts sneaking her teacup poodle to work because she didn’t realize her landlord didn’t allow dogs. Unaware that she was the culprit, Commissioner Greg Skrepenak sends her a memo asking her to investigate rumors of dog sightings in the building, saying pets are strictly prohibited. Weiland fesses up and promises to keep the pooch out of the building.

June 2004: County worker Lisa Drozdowski is arrested for riding naked on the back of a motorcycle during Music Fest in Nanticoke. She was found guilty of simple assault and lewdness.

March 2005: An internal investigation clears county Commissioner Todd Vonderheid of allegations that he harassed and discriminated against county Community Development Director Sandra Russell. Russell sought the investigation, saying Vonderheid threw a stress ball at a wall near her head and forcefully lifted up part of his desk, causing items to fall toward her. Vonderheid apologized for losing his temper.

November 2007: County Prison Warden Sam Hyder admits he lied when he denied using a county debit card at a strip club in Las Vegas. Hyder was among six prison officials who attended a December 2006 prison management conference in Las Vegas.

April 2009: Skrepenak was on the phone in his courthouse office, with the door shut, urging a reporter to investigate his complaints about Luzerne County Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla when Petrilla burst into his office, shouting that he was spreading lies. She said she was retrieving a document outside his office and heard him talking about her.

September 2010: Petrilla writes an e-mail to the county solicitor making fun of Controller Walter Griffith and accidentally sends it to Griffith. She calls Griffith a “hump” and said she wishes “he would just go change someone’s oil and leave me alone.” Petrilla apologized to Griffith.