CMYK PAGE 12A
➛
FRIDAY, JULY 20, 2012
SELENSKI Continued from Page 1A
licly discussing the case due to a long-standing court-imposed gag order. They walked out of the courtroom smiling. Selenski did not seem to share Centini’s concerns. “I’ll be ready,” Selenski said as
he was escorted by sheriff deputies from the courthouse. “She’s (Centini) OK. She’s not happy about it. She is more ready than all the other attorneys I’ve had put together. She’s ready to go.” Selenski has been represented by eight different attorneys since the bodies of Michael Kerkowski and Tammy Fassett were uncovered in a shallow grave outside a Kingston Township house where Selenski lived on June 5, 2003. Selenski has often quarreled
N
E
with his former court-appointed attorneys. More than 8 ½ years will have passed since the bodies were found to the trial date of Sept. 10. Selenski was charged in the killings of Kerkowski and Fassett on May 16, 2006, which equates to 2,309 days from when he was charged to when the trial will begin. “What cannot be ignored, judge, is the fact that this case has been pending for six years,”
W
S
Ferentino said. “Mr. Selenski has been afforded eight different competent lawyers and at one point he represented himself.” Ferentino said prosecutors had “serious concerns regarding the age of the case,” noting several witnesses have died, another witness, Paul Weakley, was attacked several times in federal prison, and most recently, investigators discovered a murder plot by a former Selenski cellmate to kill Weakley.
BUYOUT
AIRPORT Continued from Page 1A
is up 1.3 percent. But more telling is the number of vehicles bearing out-ofstate tags, often indicative of gas drilling company workers. In May, 19.1 percent of vehicles parking overnight at the airport had an out-of-state plate. In June, the percentage was 15.9.
‘GHOST’ Continued from Page 3A
drivers were ever encouraged to pad passenger counts. “That was never a conversation anywhere,” Strelish told The Times Leader on Tuesday. Strelish said on Thursday that he has spoken with state officials on the allegations, but he couldn’t comment on any investigation. He did stress that padding se-
Property owners tore down Protection Authority Executive four more, and another seven Director Jim Brozena. buyouts are expected to be finalFunding for buyouts ized this fall. The lots are scattered, and Brozena expects funding for at least 163 residential properties few, if any, provide enough space in eight municipalities that are for large-scale public recreationreceiving technical assistance al use, Conrad said. “Right now, we’re just thankful from the authority, including Plains and Jenkins townships. we’re getting more of our folks More second-round buyouts may out of harm’s way and into an arfollow if funding is left, he said. ea that doesn’t flood,” Conrad Plymouth Township is pock- said. At least 26 buyouts are expectmarked with 17 empty lots from prior buyouts and seven more ed in Conyngham Township – all pending from buyouts in the in the Mocanaqua section. Township officials have inforworks before the September flood, said township Supervisor mally discussed the possibility of a seasonal campground, though Gale Conrad.
the remaining Mocanaqua residents may come up with other ideas, said township Supervisor Ed Whitebread. “We don’t need any more playgrounds. Whatever is decided, we’ll have to maintain it,” Whitebread said. Garden in Shickshinny? Shickshinny residents and officials have tossed around many possible uses for at least 25 lots slated for buyout, including a community garden, camping area and athletic fields, said borough Secretary/Treasurer Melissa Weber. Borough officials also plan to
“I think we’re seeing a direct correlation with the Marcellus Shale decreases,” said Lackawanna County Commissioner and Airport Board Chairman Corey D. O’Brien. “Our numbers have tracked with their trends.” Centini said that even with the recent declining parking numbers, he believes the expansion was prudent because if flights are added or drilling increases, the airport is ready. He said that for many months park-
ing was close to capacity. “Now,” with 1,112 parking spaces, Centini said, “we’re positioned for the future.” The airport shared the cost of the expansion equally with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Flights to Charlotte and Atlanta were added thanks to the drilling industry and Centini said they continue. Centini said he hopes new Orlando flights operated by Alle-
giant Airlines that began last month would help offset the loss from the drilling industry. The airport board raised parking rates last month, though O’Brien did not believe the new rates were to blame for the parking decline. The board raised rates in the garage from $7.50 per day to $9 per day. Rates in the surface lot went from $6.50 per day to $7. The board also agreed to sign a three-year contract with a new
firm to provide armed and unarmed security at the airport. The agreement, with King of Prussia-based Allied Barton Security Services, will cost $699,312 over the length of the contract, an average of about $233,104 per year. The current security provider, Century Security Services, charged $260,894.60 over the past year. It offered to provide services for another three years for $718,899.
nior citizen ridership numbers would have little impact on funding because those numbers account for only 10 percent of a complex formula used to factor funding. He said other ridership numbers account for 25 percent, the number of hours logged by bus drivers account for 35 percent and miles driven account for the remaining 30 percent. “There would be no reason for management to encourage padding the numbers,” Strelish said. Even losing senior ridership would not harm authority fund-
ing because of a “hold harmless” clause in the state funding law, which states that transit system funding will not decrease from the prior year. “It would have to be an enormous increase either way,” Strelish said. Waters confirmed the formula percentages and said it would take “a fairly sizable fluctuation” in ridership numbers to have an impact on funding. Even if the authority received a 2 percent increase in annual funding, “only10 percent of that 2 percent increase would have anything to do with
senior ridership,” she said. The authority’s state funding allocation in fiscal year 2010-2011 was $4,633,447. A 2 percent increase would equate to an additional $92,669; senior citizen ridership could only account for $9,267 of the total funding increase. Conway also brought up the groping incident. Strelish said he couldn’t comment because it was a personnel issue and referred comment to authority solicitor Joseph Blazosek. Blazosek did not immediately
return a message left at his law office Thursday evening, or a message left with a woman who answered the phone at his home, who said she doubted he would provide any information “because it really isn’t any of your business.” Conway disagrees about the incident being a personnel issue. “They should have called the cops. What’s so difficult? (Strelish) wants to keep everything inhouse,” Conway said, likening the situation to the Jerry Sandusky/Penn State scandal.
PETE G. WILCOX/THE TIMES LEADER
Joe and Marion Cernera recently remodeled the living room in their Jenkins Township home that has been accepted into the flood buyout program.
Service members can march in uniform in gay pride parade By JULIE WATSON Associated Press
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — The Defense Department on Thursday announced it is allowing service members to march in uniform in a gay pride parade for the first time in U.S. history. In a memorandum sent to all its branches, the department said it was making the allowance for San Diego’s gay pride parade on Saturday even though its policy generally bars troops from marching in uniform in parades. The Defense Department said it did so because organizers had encouraged military personnel to march in their uniform and the event was getting national attention. The move came only weeks after the Pentagon joined the rest of the U.S. government for the first time in marking June as gay pride month and made an official salute to gay and lesbian service
Kerkowski’s father, Michael Kerkowski, died in September 2006, and Brett Fry, a former Selenski cellmate, passed away several years ago. Two other witnesses, Ernest Culp and Rodney Samson, are in poor health, prosecutors said. “A further delay in this case will be a great risk to our witnesses. We’re playing Russian roulette,” Ferentino said. Centini said there is an enormous volume of evidence that approach Northwest Area School District officials so see if they are interested in leasing space for sports teams to practice and play, Weber said. Someone may be interested in using some of the land for horseback lessons and/or riding, she said. “Right now, the major concern is how we’re going to maintain the additional land with existing staff and resources,” Weber said. Community need and the configuration of the plots will drive options for future use, she said. “It’s like a little puzzle,” she said. Despite the maintenance challenges for their municipalities, Weber, Conrad and other municipal representatives encourage property owners to take advantage of the upcoming buyout offers. Property owners will be offered an appraised value. “I hope they remember what they went through during a flood and locate in a better situated place where they’re literally high and dry,” Conrad said. Cernera said he won’t look back, because he’s been trying to get a buyout for years. He’s scheduled to meet with Brozena today to discuss some of the details of his buyout. His property had 9 feet of water on the first floor in September, compared to 4 feet in the prior record 1972 flood. He and his wife, Marion, used $38,000 in flood insurance money to gut and renovate the structure and replace appliances, but they can’t relax. “It will come again,” he said. “My wife is still a nervous wreck.”
Continued from Page 1A
Ideas for Plainsville Plains Township Fire Capt. Charles Krommes said ideas are surfacing for space from an expected 25 buyouts in the township, most in the Plainsville section. Recreational fields, trails, a campground and boat launch are among the most popular suggestions, he said. The township also may carve out an area along the Susquehanna that can be rented for events to help recoup some of the township’s costs to maintain the added property, Krommes said. The land may be used for car shows, music festivals and farmers markets featuring produce from nearby fields, he said. One plot of township land secured from buyouts in the late ’80s or early ’90s is used for soccer, he said. The soccer organization’s portable toilet and soccer nets are removed before flooding. Temporary stages would be permitted on buyout property, he said. Krommes plans more discussion on the vacant land at future meetings of Valley United, a group focusing on long-term flood recovery that includes representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and several impacted communities. “I think they’re all going to put their heads together and generate ideas and figure out which options work best in their communities,” said county Flood
THE TIMES LEADER
members. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta vowed in a video message to remove as many barriers as possible to making the military a model of equal opportunity and said gays and lesbians can be proud in uniform with the repeal last year of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law. Last year, San Diego’s gay pride parade had the nation’s largest contingency of active-duty troops participate before the military lifted its ban on openly gay service members. About 200 service members last year wore T-shirts with their branch’s name. Former sailor Sean Sala, who organized the military’s participation in the parade, said he wanted service members to wear their official uniform this year to show there is no longer anything to hide.
BEING SOCIAL AT SOCIAL CLUB PICNIC
M
CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/FOR THE TIMES LEADER
ichael Policare, Shirley Cardoni, Rose Marie Corsaletti, Gene Cardoni and Evelyn Lewandowski all found some scrumptious desserts at the St. Joseph Pittston Senior Social Club picnic Thursday afternoon in Shavertown. The picnic was held at the Checkerboard Inn.
www.timesleader.com
needs to be reviewed, experts need to be hired to review physical evidence and with the resignation of Lampman the tasks fall upon herself and Rymsza. “I can’t be competent, I can’t be effective if the trial is not moved,” Centini said. “I’ve been working non-stop on this case, our entire team has. I cannot work any harder on this case.” Edward Lewis, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7196.
HACKER Continued from Page 1A
policy, contract information, employee reports and personnel information. Authorities also say she entered the district’s email system by using the passwords of the superintendent and nine other district employees. The investigation began on Feb. 24, 2012, when Assistant Superintendent Jennifer Holman reported that a former employee allegedly accessed the district’s computer system using the superintendent’s sign-in and password information, authorities said. District officials had earlier suspected something was wrong when a high school principal called to report that some teachers were concerned that the superintendent was accessing the grading system to look at their grades. Northwestern Lehigh Superintendent Mary Ann Wright said she was sick to her stomach when that call came in asking if she had been viewing student grades. In fact, Wright never logged into students’ grades. The February call, Wright said, triggered an immediate shutdown of the computer system. That month, district officials tightened security and log-in procedures, but didn’t detail the new measures that were put in place. “At the time, I didn’t quite have a grasp of the scope of what happened, but I was immediately concerned for protected information,” Wright said. “We shut down the system within three hours of learning there was a potential problem.” Venusto had been a secretary in the administration building, where her duties included creating the sign-on and password information for Wright and other school employees. After she left her job in April 2011, she continued using the superintendent’s password, authorities said. “When she resigned, we took her out of the system,” Wright said. “Unfortunately she found her way around security protocol through unauthorized access to my information.” On Feb. 3, Venusto used the superintendent’s information to enter the district’s grade system and change her son’s grade from a 98 percent to a 99 percent, according to court records. She did the same more than a year earlier, on June 16, 2010, when she allegedly changed her daughter’s grade from an F to an M, or a medical leave, according to court records. “We’ve been assured that those were the only two grades that were changed,” Wright said. The investigation included the use of court orders to obtain Internet-provider information of the person hacking into the computer system. State police found that the school district had not changed any of its employee passwords since Venusto left her job. Those court orders determined that Venusto used three different computers to gain access to the district’s computer system - her home computer, one belonging to the East Penn School District and one associated with QVC, police said. After leaving the Northwestern Lehigh School District, Venusto had jobs with East Penn School District and QVC, a televised and online shopping network, police said. The investigation showed that Venusto entered the district’s grading system 110 times using the superintendent’s password. It also showed she entered the district’s computer system thousands of times, police said. Venusto told police she never thought what she was doing was illegal. Unethical, she said, but not illegal.