Hazleton Council OKs $9.28M Spending Plan

Property taxes will not increase in Hazleton in 2015, according to a tentative $9.28 million spending plan that city council approved Wednesday.

But it will cost more to sell a property.

Council approved on second reading a balanced, $9.28 million budget that eliminates a tax increase that the mayor wanted to implement for awarding raises to a handful of nonunion employees. The budget also scraps a controversial maintenance fee for the stormwater system.

The spending plan approved Wednesday makes up for that lost tax and stormwater revenue by infusing $400,000 from a defunct sewage transmission fee account into other parts of the general fund budget. The city’s share of the real estate transfer tax was also increased by 0.5 percent — to 1 percent — and boosts revenue projections by $150,000.

Read more: http://standardspeaker.com/news/hazleton-council-oks-9-28m-spending-plan-1.1804580

Crime Spree Starts In Hazleton, Ends In New York City

Downtown Hazleton, PA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

HAZLETON, PA — A 125-mile crime spree Friday morning that started in Hazleton and ended in New York City involved the kidnapping of one woman, the attempted kidnapping of another and a dramatic ending when a stolen Cadillac Escalade crashed on the George Washington Bridge, police said.

Authorities said a 33-year-old man from New York allegedly kidnapped a woman by force from her residence on North Church Street Friday morning and was captured hours later after the bridge crash.

At a news conference, Hazleton Police Chief Frank DeAndrea identified the suspect as Luis Figueroa. Court records list Figueroa’s address as Walter Avenue, Bronx, New York.

According to DeAndrea, Hazleton police responded to 149 N. Church St. at about 8:30 a.m. after a man armed with a shotgun attempted to abduct a pregnant woman. One of the women in the house had a protection-from-abuse order against Figueroa, the chief said.

Read more: http://timesleader.com/news/local-news-news/1448833/Crime-spree-starts-in-Hazleton-ends-in-New-York-City

Hazleton Community Center To Open With ‘Major League’ Backing

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

HAZLETON, PA — Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon will be among the ribbon cutters Monday at the grand opening of a building he believes will help unify the community — the Hazleton One Community Center.

The community center, housed in the former Most Precious Blood Elementary School, at 225 E. 4th St., between Seybert and Hayes streets, is an initiative of Maddon’s Hazleton Integration Project, which he spearheaded to counteract a sense of divisiveness he detected in his hometown during a 2010 visit over the Christmas holiday.

Tension between ethnic groups seemingly had increased as the city’s Latino population rapidly grew over the last decade. The illegal immigration debate heated up around Hazleton’s Illegal Immigration Relief Act ordinance, which would prohibit landlords and employers from renting to and hiring illegal immigrants.  The law was struck down, but the ruling is being reconsidered.

Read more:  http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news/600911/Community-center-to-open-with-major-league-backing

Children Found Unsupervised In Hazleton Home

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  At least in some municipalities in Pennsylvania (unlike Pottstown) buildings are condemned for unsanitary living conditions.  In Pottstown, they look the other way….716 Adams Street, for example.  Maybe the Hazleton Codes Department does field trips???

Hazleton police checking on the welfare of children Tuesday afternoon found five unsupervised children living in an apartment with cockroaches and no smoke alarms, city and law enforcement officials said.

Police said they were dispatched to 197 S. Wyoming St. about 1:30 p.m. to assist Hazleton Area School District with the welfare check.  Inside the apartment, police found five children younger than 10 alone.  Police said Tuesday it was unclear why and how long the children were home alone. Those issues would be investigated by Luzerne County Children and Youth Services.

Their father, Freddy Colon, later arrived at the home, police wrote.

City code and health officials were called to investigate the conditions, ultimately condemning the apartment.

Read more:  http://standardspeaker.com/news/children-found-unsupervised-in-hazleton-home-1.1485832

Hazleton Area School District Proposing Uniforms

An example of another school district moving toward student uniforms.  Hazleton Area SD has 10,474 students and nine schools.

It is being implemented many places and in much larger districts.

Just sayin…