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WB_VOICE - CVDAILY - 3 - 06/03/10 WB_VOICE/PAGES [T03] 06/02/10 23:03 SUPERIMPWB

By Patrick Sweet

Staff Writer

Four moreLuzerneCountyschool districts have reportedreceiving calls from the FBIseekinginformationon theirtransportation providers.

Superintendents for theCrestwood, Wilkes-BarreArea, Wyoming Area andWyoming Valley West schooldistricts saideach hasreceiveda phone call from the FBIwithin the last month. This

comes after officials in theHazletonArea School Districtsaid a similar request wasmadetherein early May.

They wantedto knowwhoour (transportation) vendorswere, Wyoming Valley WestSuperintendent Chuck Sup-ponsaid.

Wyoming Valley West,which is currentlytakingbidsfor transportation contracts,usesT&M Transit Inc.,run byMichael and Theresa Hudak,and Myers Bus Line, ownedbyPhillipMyers.

T&Mand Myers arelocatedin Plymouth and Kingston,respectively. Attemptsto reachrepresentatives for each com-pany were unsuccessfulWednesday.

Wilkes-Barre Superinten-dentJeffrey T. Namey said hissecretary answered the phoneand provided the FBI agentwiththe information.

Simplya phone callmade,Nameysaid. Obviously, they

arelookingfor something.Namey said hehas no idea

why theFBIwould becalling.Crestwood Superintendent

Dave McLaughlin-Smith saidhe returned a phone call froman FBI agent a week or twoago. Theagentonlyasked whoprovidestransportation.

McLaughlin-Smithalso hadnoideawhythe FBIcalled.

I never try to project onthat kind of stuff, McLaugh-

lin-Smithsaid.Deets/RinehimerBusLinesInc. provides transportationfor Crestwood. Attempts toreachEd Deets, who owns theWapwallopen-basedcompany,wereunsuccessful.

Wyoming Area DistrictSuperintendent RaymondBernardi thought the callwasa joke because the caller onlyspoketo hissecretary anddidnot ask to speak with an

administrator.Ithought it wasa prank,Bernardi said. There is noreason for anyone to ask thatquestion.It wasvery unusu-al.

The caller also asked Ber-nardis secretary if the dis-trictstransportationprovider,Pittston-based Pace Transpor-tation, owned or leased itsbuses. A representative ofPace Transportation wouldnotcommenton the calls.

Special Agent J.J. Klaver,public affairsand media rela-

tions coordinator forthe FBI,said the bureau would notcommenton whetherit is con-ductingan investigation.

The agency does not typi-cally conduct investigationsover the phone, though,Klaversaid.

We would send outagentswith credentials so peoplewould know who they arespeakingto, Klaversaid.

In early May, an FBIagent

requesteda listof transporta-tionvendors for the HazletonArea School District.

HazletonAreas transporta-tion director turned theinfor-mation over to Superinten-dent Sam Marolo, who heldonto it for about two weekswhile waiting for federalagentsto pick it up.

When no onecame, Marolocalled an FBI office and wasgiven a faxnumber to which

to send the information, hesaid. Hedidso onMay 25andreceivedconfirmationthat theagency obtained the informa-tionit sought.

I had the number to con-firmthey gotit, Marolosaid.The agent called me backand thanked us for beingprompt.The only things theyasked were for names andaddresses. I havent heardfromthem (since).

Superintendentsfrom other

Luzerne County school dis-trict Greater Nanticoke

Area, Hanover Area andPittston Area said they hadnotreceived calls.

School board membersfrom Wyoming Valley Westand Wilkes-Barre Area areamong themore than 30 peo-plechargedin an ongoing fed-eralcorruption probe.

FormerWilkes-Barre AreaSchool Board presidentJames Height and formermember Brian Dunn pleaded

guilty to charges that Heightaccepted $2,000 froma districtcontractor and Dunn accept-ed a payment to support thehiringof a teacher.

FormerWilkes-Barre AreaSchoolBoard president FrankPizzella Jr. also pleaded guiltyin January to charges that hehelped solicita dealbetween aprospective teachers familyandDunnswife.

Allen Bellas resigned from

hisseat on theWyoming Val-ley West School Board. Hepleaded guilty in January tocharges that he accepted$2,000 in cash to facilitate a$1.1 million government loanthroughhis roleas directorofthe Luzerne County Redevel-opment Authority.

SAM GALSKI, staff writer, contrib-uted to this report.

psweet@citizensvoice.com

Firefighters from three companies needed two hours tostifle a fire that scorched a vacant home on High Street inPlymouth Township, Chief Bill Evans said. The cause of the

fire was undetermined, he said.The blaze started at 3:30 Wednesday morning, with

firefighters from Larksville, Plymouth and Edwardsvilleresponding. No injuries were reported.

NEWS IN BRIEF

TODAYS BEST BET

It is our policy to correct errors promptly. To report an er-ror, please call the city desk at 821-2056.

The Nanticoke Music Fest will begin tonight at Patriot Park,Green and Broad streets in Nanticoke. This years festivalwill feature rides, games, refreshments, a dunk tank and livemusic. The entertainment lineup includes Ed Center Idol onTour followed by M80 on Thursday, Tom Slick and theConverted Thunderbolt Greaseslappers and The OriginalStarfires with Eddie Day on Friday, and Flaxy Morgan andTyme Band on Saturday.

CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATIONS

Wilkes-Barre police are investigating a violent assaultand robbery that occurred during a home invasion Tuesdayafternoon at 228 Wyoming St., city police said.

Sonia Perez told police two unknown men entered herhome through an unlocked door around 4:15 p.m. andattacked her.

She said she was knocked to the ground and bound withduct tape.

She said she was choked and beaten with a hammer.Perez said the suspects then took the $900 in cash she

had in her pocket, and fled the scene.Police said the investigation is ongoing.Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call

police at 570-826-8106. Bob Kalinowski

Feds inquire about transportationvendors at five school districts

MARK MORAN / THE CITIZENS VOICE

Crestwood students cross in front of school buses at the start of the school day. Crestwood Superin-

tendent Dave McLaughlin-Smith said he returned a phone call from an FBI agent a week or two ago.The agent was seeking information about the districts transportation vender.

A 20-year-old man who was reported missing Tuesdaywas located Wednesday afternoon by family members andwas safe, state police at Shickshinny said.

Police searched all of Wednesday for Nathan Blazick,who was last seen Monday at 5:30 p.m. riding an all-terrainvehicle on Range Road.

Authorities searched the wooded area on foot andplanned to also conduct an aerial search prior to Blazickbeing located around 4:30 p.m.

Additional details about how Blazick was located werenot released.

Bob Kalinowski

An Ashland man killed following a Tuesday night policechase and crash involving a motorcycle and an SUV inMount Carmel Township has been identified.

Bernard J. Kawa Jr., 46, of 1707 Center St., Ashland,

was pronounced dead at the scene by NorthumberlandCounty Coroner James Kelley at 10:04 p.m.Kelley reported the cause of death was blunt force

trauma to the head and the manner of death wasaccidental.

The crash happened on Route 54 in Mount CarmelTownship, but the incident began just outside of Ashland,where a borough police officer clocked Kawa traveling atwhat police said was an unsafe speed.

Rob Wheary

Police: Woman beaten with hammer during robbery

Vacant home destroyed by fire in Plymouth Twp.

Family finds man reported missing in Shickshinny

Ashland man killed in crash following chase identified

THE

CITIZENSVOICE

THURSDAY,JUNE

3,2010

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