Scranton Times-Tribune Archives - Scranton Citizen
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City Confidential / 01.03.2019

The Scranton Times-Tribune has been on a hot streak since we last wrote.  Borys Krawczeniuk conducted an exhaustive examination of the campaign finance reports of Democratic Mayor Bill Courtright and picked through years of Republican State Representative candidate Frank Scavo's Facebook posts to unearth racist and bigoted posts against Muslims. Lackawanna County politics as a pay to play culture - where contractors and professionals contribute campaign money in exchange for government work - comes as no surprise to seasoned observers.  Where Krawczeniuk scored big is laying out the breadth and depth of a corrosive system that benefits both Democrats and Republicans.  Courtright raised $114,048...

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City Confidential / 15.02.2019

Lackawanna County Commissioner Pat O'Malley knows how to throw a party.  The place was packed Wednesday as he debuted his new running mate Debra "Debbi" Domenick.  Domenick is an attractive candidate.  She is smart, young, and comes with a personal story that women voters may be drawn to.  What appeared to be a Democratic Civil War may end up as a minor, if memorable, skirmish.  In the last few weeks, O'Malley launched his re-election with a professional campaign video, tapped a capable running mate, and most importantly, is sitting on a war chest somewhere in the ballpark of $250,000. That's not...

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City Confidential / 09.02.2019

Does money buy love or votes?  This week, Democratic County Commissioner Jerry Notarianni officially kicked off his campaign for re-election.  He's bringing former Lackawanna County Director of Economic Development George Kelly along for the ride.  The two will face Notarianni's nemesis Patrick O'Malley and an as of yet unnamed running mate in this May's primary election.  There are more than a few Democratic up and comers angry at O'Malley's decision to switch sides and play ball with Republican Laureen Cummings. Some speculate that this will be an epic fight to the political death.  We disagree.  O'Malley saw this coming and has...

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City Confidential / 25.01.2019

It has been weeks since the FBI raided City Hall and the West Mountain residence of Mayor Bill Courtright.  On the surface, there doesn't seem to be much doing.  A recap of what we know: FBI agents executed search warrants and conducted a raid of City Hall and the Mayor’s West Mountain home on Wednesday, January 9th The agents removed documents and computer devices The Mayor has engaged attorney Paul Walker to represent him both legally and, apparently, to the public Walker’s fees will be paid by the Mayor and not city taxpayers Walker issued a press release denying any wrongdoing on the part...

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City Confidential / 19.01.2019

Political insiders were abuzz this week as calculations were made and some bets taken on the future viability of Mayor William L. Courtright.  There were frantic phone calls last weekend that the Old Man was going to throw in the towel. "He'll do the honorable thing," said one Lackawanna County Democrat.  Courtright was going to resign. By Sunday night, the Mayor made clear through the press and his intermediaries: he is innocent and he is not going anywhere. Here is what we know: FBI agents executed search warrants and conducted a raid of City Hall and the Mayor's West Mountain home on Wednesday,...

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City Confidential / 19.10.2018

Will the Scranton School District ever get its act together?  Last week saw the leak of superintendent Alexis Kirijan's June letter alleging harassment and discrimination at the hands of an unnamed School Board member.  The dust is still settling, but Kirijan is rightly angry at whomever leaked it.  Observers are also wondering what procedure - if any - was followed by the district's leaders.  Paige Gebhart Cognetti wants to know whether school directors violated the Sunshine Law when they retained the services of attorney Jarrett Ferentino to investigate the allegations.  Also, this week's Lack of Self-Awareness Award goes to our friend...

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City Confidential / 12.10.2018

Scranton School District Superintendent Alexis Kirijan made the news this week and she was not happy.  The Scranton Times-Tribune reports that in June Kirijan's attorney notified the School Board that his client had been sexually harassed by an unnamed school director.  The superintendent is not happy about this public disclosure and wants to know who leaked the information.  We usually take a tongue in cheek approach to the foibles of our friends at SSD, but in the age of #MeToo, there's no place for the kind of behavior Kirijan alleges.  Our hope is someone gets to the bottom of it. Was President Donald...

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