SCRANTON, PA – The Lackawanna County Children’s Library has announced their Sundays with Friends events for January—September of 2019. Sundays with Friends events are generously sponsored by the Friends of the Scranton Public Library, bringing educational and family-friendly events to the community, free of charge. Programs are held on Sundays at 2:00 PM. Registration is required for all events and can be made by calling the Children’s Library directly at (570) 348-3000 ext. 3015.

January 6, 2019: The Dining Car Mystery with Magic Conductor Steve Woyce
Magician Steve Woyce is back with a new interactive story time and magic show that will take guests on a railroad adventure. Audience members will search for clues to solve the mystery, all while laughing and learning. Open to children and families of all ages.

February 10, 2019: Clyde Peeling’s Reptileland Presents: Reading with Reptiles
Clyde Peeling’s Reptileland presents a special program for kids: Reading with Reptiles. Families are invited to join the library for a story time where they will get to see live reptiles from the rainforest and learn about the animals’ habitats, adaptations, and more.

March 10, 2019: Dino Dig
Children and families are invited to join field Paleontologists Mike and Roberta Straka as they “dig” to uncover dinosaur fossil bones and build a Triceratops skeleton. After the dig, guests are welcome to explore the fossil museum. The dig portion of this program is limited to the first 50 participants.

April 14, 2019: The Wonder of Butterflies
Mari Gruber, “The Butterfly Lady” from Bear Mountain Butterfly Sanctuary, will introduce children and adults to the wonders of butterflies and moths using puppets, songs, and costumes. Children will have the opportunity to observe live caterpillars and butterflies. As an extra bonus, we will be raffling off three butterfly houses. Open to children and families of all ages.

May 19, 2019: Zoomobile from Binghamton Zoo
The Zoomobile from Binghamton Zoo will be coming to the Library. Children and families will get to see 5 live animals from the Zoo and learn about their habitats, adaptations, and more. There will be two 45-minute presentations to accommodate guests. The first presentation will be at 2:00 PM and the second will be at 3:00 PM. Guests can register for one of the presentations.

June 9, 2019: Out of This World Magic Show
Get ready to blast off with Magician Steve Woyce for an Out of this World Magic Show! Audience members will help Steve make the moon disappear, meet a forgetful librarian from a distant planet, and help Saturn Sam blast into outer space. Open to children and families of all ages.

July 14, 2019: Juggler Rob Smith
Prepare to be dazzled! Juggler, Rob Smith, will flawlessly juggle five balls, clubs, fire torches, and rings, not to mention flying knives and a chainsaw – all with razor-sharp accuracy! Open to children and families of all ages.

August 11, 2019: ScienceTellers: Aliens
Join ScienceTellers for an interactive story hour that uses science to bring stories to life. Guests will have the chance to go “behind the scenes” to help recreate the “special effects” (science experiments) used during the story. Open to children and families in grades K-6.
Story Theme: During a midnight meteor shower, something mysterious falls from the sky toward Earth – but it’s not a shooting star. Two curious kids venture into the forest to investigate and find themselves mixed up with a family of visitors from outer space. Pursued by a crazy space scientist, they must risk everything to rescue the aliens and get them back to their spaceship.

September 8, 2019: Raptors Rule! Live Birds of Prey
Get up close and personal with three live raptors: a falcon, an owl, and a hawk from the Delaware Raptor Center during this fun, informative program. Guests will meet some of the local birds of prey from Northeast Pennsylvania and learn about their habitats, adaptations, niches, and food chains. Open to families.

It is 1848, and revolution is breaking out across Europe. In Britain, one woman stands between order and chaos, but Queen Victoria faces a crisis that threatens to end her reign. Victoria, Season 3, premieres January 13 at 9 p.m. on MASTERPIECE on PBS.

WVIA Public Media invites the public to a free special preview of Victoria Season 3 Sunday, January 6 at 3 p.m. at the Dietrich Theater, Tunkhannock, with free popcorn and prize giveaways.

Victoria was a runaway hit during its first two seasons on PBS, with The New York Times calling it “tremendously engaging…immediately gratifying.” As Season 3 gets underway, Victoria is pregnant with her sixth child. But she has much else on her mind, chiefly the Revolutions of 1848, when the downtrodden throughout Europe begin agitating for the overthrow of aristocratic rule.

After the Dietrich Theater event January 6, additional WVIA screenings are scheduled January 12 at the Campus Theatre in Lewisburg and January 13 at WVIA studios in Pittston. Seats are free, but limited. Reserve your seats at http://wvia.org/victoria.

During 2018, Peoples Security Bank & Trust donated over one million dollars as part of the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program. The donations are administered through Commonwealth Charitable Management and are primarily used to award scholarships and grants to numerous schools, colleges and organizations within the bank’s primary market area. During 2018, over 650 scholarships were issued to thirty (30) Pre-K and K-12 schools and career technology schools. Grants were also awarded to nearly 30 organizations and school districts in order to support Educational Improvement Projects. Additionally, Peoples Security Bank funds the program costs of the EverFi Financial Literacy Program that is currently offered to 20 local high schools.

About Peoples Security Bank and Trust Company

Peoples Security Bank and Trust Company is a community bank serving Lackawanna, Lehigh, Luzerne, Monroe, Montgomery, Northampton, Schuylkill, Susquehanna, Wayne, and Wyoming Counties in Pennsylvania and Broome County, New York through 28 offices. Each office offers a wide range of financial products and services to individuals, businesses, not-for-profits, and government entities. Learn more at www.psbt.com.

About the EITC Program

The EITC program allows businesses to support nonprofit educational organizations by reallocating
their tax dollars for donation purposes. Peoples Security Bank and Trust Company’s donations are administered through Commonwealth Charitable Management and are primarily used to award scholarships and grants to numerous schools, colleges and organizations within the bank’s primary market area.

University of Scranton students, faculty and staff donated hundreds of presents to children in need through two Christmas gift drives organized by the University’s Campus Ministries’ Center for Service and Social Justice. Community members donated gifts through the Giving Tree program which were then distributed to children by Friends of the Poor/Catholic Social Services. Gifts were also collected for the Adopt-a-Family Program with the Catherine McAuley Center.

WASHINGTON – Pennsylvania businesses and residents affected by flooding on Aug. 10 – 15, 2018, can apply for low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration, Administrator Linda McMahon announced today.

Administrator McMahon made the loans available in response to a letter from Gov. Tom Wolf on
Dec. 7, 2018, requesting a disaster declaration by the SBA.  The declaration covers Bradford, Columbia, Delaware, Northumberland, Schuylkill and Susquehanna counties and the adjacent counties of Berks, Carbon, Chester, Dauphin, Lackawanna, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Lycoming, Montgomery, Montour, Perry, Philadelphia, Snyder, Sullivan, Tioga, Union, Wayne and Wyoming in Pennsylvania; New Castle in Delaware; Gloucester in New Jersey; and Broome, Chemung and Tioga in New York.

“The SBA is strongly committed to providing the people of Pennsylvania with the most effective and customer-focused response possible to assist businesses of all sizes, homeowners and renters with federal disaster loans,” said McMahon. “Getting businesses and communities up and running after a disaster is our highest priority at SBA.”

SBA’s Customer Service Representatives will be available at the Disaster Loan Outreach Centers to answer questions about the disaster loan program and help individuals complete their applications.

The Centers are located in the following communities and are open as indicated:

“Businesses and private nonprofit organizations may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace disaster damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets,” said SBA’s Philadelphia District Director Antonio Leta.

For small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and most private nonprofit organizations, the SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans to help meet working capital needs caused by the disaster.  Economic Injury Disaster Loan assistance is available regardless of whether the business suffered any physical property damage.

“Loans up to $200,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate. Homeowners and renters are eligible for loans up to $40,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property,” said Kem Fleming, center director of SBA’s Field Operations Center East in Atlanta.

Applicants may be eligible for a loan amount increase up to 20 percent of their physical damages, as verified by the SBA for mitigation purposes.  Eligible mitigation improvements may include a safe room or storm shelter, sump pump, French drain or retaining wall to help protect property and occupants from future damage caused by a similar disaster.

Interest rates are as low as 3.675 percent for businesses, 2.5 percent for nonprofit organizations, and 2 percent for homeowners and renters with terms up to 30 years.  Loan amount and terms are set by the SBA and are based on each applicant’s financial condition.

Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via SBA’s secure website at DisasterLoan.sba.gov.

Businesses and individuals may also obtain information and loan applications by calling the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 (1-800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing), or by emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. Loan applications can also be downloaded at www.sba.gov. Completed applications should be returned to the centers or mailed to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.

The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is Feb. 11, 2019.  The deadline to return economic injury applications is Sept. 11, 2019.

SCRANTON, Pa. – Dec. 17, 2018 – Lackawanna College and Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania signed a transfer agreement that will provide a seamless program-to-program pathway for Lackawanna students to complete their Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Technical Leadership.

Under this new partnership, students in good academic standing who complete their associate degree at Lackawanna can transfer to Bloomsburg with junior (third-year) status. The bachelor’s degree in Technical Leadership aims to build on the expertise students have gained through their associate degree program to build working professionals ready to take charge of technical workgroups, project teams, and service departments.

“We are excited at the opportunity to formalize a partnership that has existed for many years between our institutions,” said Mark Volk, Lackawanna College President. “Providing quality alternatives for our students to continue their educational journeys is among the most important things we do, and Bloomsburg has always been a top-notch choice.”

“We are thrilled to be able to work with Lackawanna College to provide a program where students from Lackawanna can matriculate to Bloomsburg and pursue a bachelor’s degree in our Technical Leadership program,” said Tom Fletcher, Bloomsburg University Vice President for Enrollment Management. “BU is committed to working together with institutions to ensure students have the best path to success. This agreement is another example of a partnership in action.”