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Diamonds to the charitable group striving to supply houses to veterans. If all goes as planned, the Volunteers of America of Pennsylvania will purchase and fix up 150 houses statewide, including 25 or more in this region. The first local house might be occupied as soon as early April. The VOA’s “Homeward Bound” project relies heavily on contractors, companies and other volunteers to contribute muscle power and material goods to renovate the residences; qualifying veterans must be able to rent the places without financial assistance for one year. Afterward, a vet can purchase the property for what it cost the nonprofit VOA. For information, visit www.voapa.org. Or call 717-236-1440.
Coal to the fashion-conscious thief, or thieves, seemingly targeting a local Victoria’s Secret. The culprit(s) reportedly lifted 39 bras valued at $1,773 from the lingerie store in the Wyoming Valley Mall last week, the latest of several instances there of disappearing delicates. Only days earlier, someone reportedly got their sticky fingers on about 95 bras. Presumably police are pursuing the case of the missing intimates around every curve. Until an arrest, Valley residents should stay on the lookout for hot bras.
Diamonds to the hard-working people who repaired the region’s frozen and broken water pipes and resulting property damage. Crews notably thawed multiple lines in Freeland this week, gradually restoring service to customers eager for warm showers. Hats off to all who bundled up, braved the elements and got things flowing.
Coal to Luzerne County government. Saddled with massive debt due to the borrowing approved prior to home rule, the county can’t pay all of its bills in a timely manner at the start of each year – until tax revenues begin trickling in. The delay leaves certain nonprofit agencies, contracted by the county to provide critical social service programs, in a lurch and reliant on lines of credit. Solve these unreasonable lags.
Diamonds to Edna and David Tevet. Owners of Ollie’s Restaurant in Edwardsville, the Tevets won a 2015 Restaurant Neighbor award for their grassroots project to feed disadvantaged children. Their charitable program, begun in 2011 and called Dinner for Kids, caught the attention of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. Ollie’s will be one of four recipients of the foundation’s awards during an April gala in Washington, D.C.
Coal to the duo behind a West Side Mall bank robbery. Christopher Prince, 27, and Diana Poole, 37, pleaded guilty this week in Luzerne County Court to the June incident, during which Poole supposedly claimed to have a gun in her purse. No Bonnie and Clyde, this boyfriend-girlfriend pair pinned their troubles on heroin addiction. Let’s hope they get treatment and can turn around their lives.