WB_VOICE/PAGES [A01] | 04/18/17
voice
22:06 | DONLINKEVI
the citizens’
www.citizensvoice.com
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2017
REGION
tunkhannock area graduate and zoologist allysa swilley was with april the giraffe every step of the way. Page A5
SPORTS
mcgovern home again at center. NATION New american revolution museum spotlights the founding generation. Page A10
Northeast PeNNsylvaNia’s largest News team
THE aIR UP THERE
By MIKE HOUSEHOLDER anD MaRK GILLISPIE AssociAted Press
Luzerne County’s smog level at historic low
MArk MorAN / stAff PHotoGrAPHer
The view of the Wyoming Valley, from Giants Despair in Laurel Run, was beautiful Tuesday afternoon. By BILL WELLOCK stAff Writer
uzerne County residents are breathing clean air, Levels of smog from ozone in Luzerne County have improved to the best ever recorded, and the Scranton/WilkesBarre/Hazleton region continues to be among the cleanest areas in the country for having low levels of fine particle pollution, according to a new report from the American Lung Association. Luzerne County received a “B” grade from the association for its ozone pollution levels in a report that examined air quality between 2013 and 2015. Ozone at ground level is the main ingredient in smog. It can cause chest pain, coughing, throat irritation and airway inflammation; worsen bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma; and harm lungs, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The lung association’s 2017 “State of the Air” report reviewed air quality data from the EPA and other entities, looking at ozone levels as well as daily and annual levels for fine particle pollution, which is a mix of microscopic solid and liquid particles suspended in the air. The report said Luzerne County had only 0.7 “bad air days” — when ozone levels exceeded EPA standards — from smog per year from 2013 and 2015. That’s the best rate the county has ever had recorded. The association didn’t give the county a grade for daily fine particle pollution or for annual fine particle pollution because the EPA database it uses didn’t have measurements for those pollutants. However, the state Department of Environmental Protection has its own system of air quality monitoring stations and uses sites in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties to cover the region, said spokeswoman Colleen Connolly. Please see aIR, Page A6
WArreN rudA / stAff PHotoGrAPHer
Robert Hughes, executive director of the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, stands near acid mine drainage in Hanover Twp.
NEPA acid mine drainage aids research into durable concrete By DEnISE aLLaBaUGH stAff Writer
HANOVER TWP. — Acid mine drainage from Northeast Pennsylvania is being researched for another use in bendable concrete. The Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation in Ashley supplied the University of Michigan with local mine drainage to aid in the research of conducting a more durable concrete. About 180 gallons of mine impacted water were taken from Solomon Creek boreholes in Hanover Township and shipped to the University of Michigan for testing, said Robert Hughes, executive director of EPCAMR. Hughes said he hopes to create a new partner-
Newsstand 50¢
Facebook murderer kills self as police close in
EyES On THE EnVIROnMEnT
L
Page B1
ship with the University of Michigan on the important research effort that “could lead to yet another way to reuse mine drainage here in Northeastern Pennsylvania for a beneficial use.” The new concrete co-product might be found on Pennsylvania’s roads and bridges in the future, giving the infrastructure a greater life span, Hughes said. Haoliang Wu, a Ph.D. student at the University of Michigan, contacted EPCAMR with an interest in testing raw acid mine drainage samples in a laboratory with Professor Victor C. Li to be used in a mixture for bendable concrete, which can withstand four times the amount of pressure of regular concrete. Please see DRaInaGE, Page A6
ERIE — The man who randomly gunned down a Cleveland retiree and posted video of the crime on Facebook killed himself Tuesday during a police chase in Pennsylvania that began when a McDonald’s drive-thru attendant recognized him. It marked a violent end to the nearly 48-hour multistate manhunt for Steve Stephens, whose case brought another round of criticism down on Facebook over how responsibly it polices objectionable material posted by users. Acting on a tip STEPHEnS from the McDonald’s, state troopers spotted Stephens leaving the restaurant in Erie and went after him, bumping his car to try to get it to stop, GODWIn authorities said. He shot himself in the head after the car spun and came to a stop, police said. “This started with one tragedy and ended with another person taking their own life,” said Cleveland police Chief Calvin Williams. “We would have liked to have brought Steve in peacefully and really talked to him about why this happened.” Stephens, a 37-year-old job counselor who worked with young people, was wanted on murder charges in the killing of Robert Godwin Sr., 74, a former foundry worker and father of 10 who was picking up aluminum cans on Sunday when he was shot. The chilling video was on Facebook for three hours before it was taken down. It was just the latest instance of crime footage being shared on social media. At a Silicon Valley conference Tuesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg briefly addressed the Cleveland case, saying Facebook has “a lot of work to do” and “we will keep doing all we can to prevent tragedies like this.” Police would not speculate on what triggered the killing, but in the video and other footage he posted, Stephens talked about having trouble with his girlfriend and losing everything he had to gambling. He said he “just snapped.” Please see KILLER, Page A5
ERIC FREIn TRIaL: Day 10
Prosecution rests its case
Closing arguments begin today By JOSEPH KOHUT stAff Writer
MILFORD — The star witness was a mannequin wearing a state trooper’s blood-soaked uniform. Green and pink rods ran through the chest and shoulders, marking MicHAel J. MulleN / stAff PHotoGrAPHer the paths of two bullets. One would have done the job, but Forensic pathologist Dr. Gary Ross, left, the prosecution’s last witness in the Eric Frein trial, arrives at the Pike County Courthouse both killed Cpl. Bryon K. Dickson on Tuesday with Pike County District Attorney Ray Tonkin, center. II, forensic pathologist Dr. Gary
Ross testified Tuesday in Pike County Court. Deciding whether Eric Matthew Frein squeezed the trigger could be in the hands of the 12 jurors by the end of today. After 54 witnesses and nearly 540 pieces of evidence, the Pike County District Attorney’s office wrapped up its capital murder case Tuesday against the 33-year-
BREAking nEWS, viDEOS, BlOgS AnD mORE AT ciTizEnSvOicE.cOm © 2017 The Citizens’ Voice
BUSINESS
TODAY’S WEATHER ADVICE C2 CROSSWORD C2 LOTTERY A2
High 58º Low 50º Cloudy
BIRTHDAYS A2 EDITORIAL A11 OBITUARIES A12-13 BUSINESS C1 HOROSCOPE C3 WEATHER B10
B10
CLASSIFIED C4-12 LOCAL/STATE A3 WORLD/NATION A10
Subscribe to The Voice 570-821-2010
old accused shooter. Frein’s defense attor neys, Michael Weinstein and William Ruzzo, did not call any witnesses. “We’ll leave the defense strategies to themselves, but there has to be a defense strategy that’s based in fact and it doesn’t appear to me that they had any factual basis for a defense,” District Attorney Ray Tonkin told reporters after Tuesday’s proceedings.
ivanka trump mixes politics, branding. Page C1
Please see TRIaL, Page A5