The city will adve rtise for demoli tion bids thi s wee k, city Munic ipa l Af- fairs Manager Drew McLaugh- lin said. Depa rtm ent of Hou sin g and Urban Development that is the final piece of funding needed to cover demolition. The city on Monday re- cei ve d an offi ci al re le as e of about $400,000 from the U.S. WILKE S-BARRE - De- molition of the historic Hotel St er lin g, onc e a gr an d ci ty lan dma rk tha t has fall en into disrepair and become a danger- ous eye sor e, sho uld beg in by late June to mid- July, the city has announced. Gr ace fo llo we d Tho ma s into the store, where Thomas Gr ace said he told Thoma s he could not go into the store wear ing a ski mask. Cust ome r Cha rli e Gr ace told police he saw Thomas, wear ing a ski mask and gloves, pa cin g out sid e the sto re. When police pulled into the parking lot, they spotted a vehicle that was up against the front door, pre venting the susp ect,identifi ed as Thom as, from leaving. saying a robbery suspect was being detained by a customer inside the convenience store. Acco rdi ng to the crim inal complaint: Gh ans hy am Maj mu nda r called police just after 11 a.m.
Christ o - ph er Th om - a s, 2 5, o f W est Maple St re et, W il- kes-Barre, was ar- raign ed Mon- day by District Judge Joseph Halesey in Hanover Township on two counts of robbery and one count each of tampering with evidenc e, theft and crimi- nal mischief. WILKES-BA RRE - A cus- tomer stopped a masked man from leaving the store after a rob ber y at Quic k Fo od Mar t on No rt h Ma in St re et on Sunday, according to charges filed. “I thin k we ha ve a rig ht to ta lk to them about what they know and do not know and how they discipline employees. The county budg eted $572,000 in funding to the au- thority this year, and council ap- points authority board members as their terms expire. While coun- cil may not be privy to details about the police investiga tion and the pending litigation, she wants auth ority board memb ers to explain what they know and how they manage the staff. McClosky Houck said the in- format ion in the recent article was “dist urbi ng,” and she is also concer ned about a “signifi cant drop” in bus riders. The woman filed a civil suit, which is pendin g in feder al court, against the authority, au- thority Superviso r Robb Hen- ders on and Execu tive Director Stanle y Stre lish in Octobe r al- leging she was sexu ally hara ssed on the job. Police and the District Attor- ney’ s Offic e ar e inv esti gat ing the assault and seeking the suspect.
She said the man told her, “Y ou hav e a bigmouth,keep it shut and stop the lawsu it,” ac- cording to a search warrant af- fidavit.
A Times Leader article pub- lished Saturd ay said the Forty Fort woman who filed the suit was sexua lly assaul ted and physi cally attacked in Janua ry by a man who entered her home cla imi ng he work ed for a gas utility company investigat ing a gas leak. McClosky Houck said she is making the request largely b e c a u s e o f aut hor ity bus ri de rs hi p de- clines and new information about the case of an authority employee with a pending sexual harassment suit. Lu ze rn e Cou nt y Cou nc il - woman Linda McClosky Houck wants counci l to use its home rule subpoena and investigative powers for the first time to ex- amine county transportation au- thor ity oper a- tions.