WILKES-BARRE, PA — Police responded to reports of a shooting tonight at the Sherman Hills apartment complex.
The shooting was reported at 320 Empire Court in the crime-troubled complex.
Initially police could locate neither the shooter or the victim.
A Luzerne County 911 dispatcher confirmed that police, ambulance and fire officials were on site in response the report.
Read more: http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news-news/153819063/
WILKES-BARRE, PA — City police charged a homeless man with fatally stabbing a homeless activist inside an apartment at Interfaith Heights earlier this year.
Matthew Vantine, 27, was charged with criminal homicide in the death of 53-year-old Bryan “Hippie” Hogan.
Hogan’s body was found inside his apartment on Jan. 30.
Vantine said he didn’t kill Hogan, saying “He was a good man.”
Read more: http://www.timesleader.com/news/home_top/152959164/
WILKES-BARRE, PA — Is there hope for Sherman Hills?
The bigger question — Is there hope for the City of Wilkes-Barre?
The Restored Church on North Franklin Street will do its part to try to revive the city’s morale and its pride, and eliminate its fear.
The church will hold an event — “I Love My City” — on Saturday, April 25 in the Sherman Hills apartment complex parking lot. All residents of the city are welcome with their children. The church hopes the event will serve as a catalyst for similar events to be held.
Read more: http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news/152853433/
WILKES-BARRE, PA — The topic won’t fizzle out.
Another city council meeting saw yet another gauntlet of pleas from concerned citizens about Wilkes-Barre’s recent rash of violence.
Council members spent most of Thursday’s hour-long meeting assuring residents that police and city administration were doing everything within their power to squash a three-week-long crime wave that produced six shootings, two deaths and six other injuries.
Council Chairman Mike Merritt conceded things will get worse before they get better.
Read more:
http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news-news/152836901/Residents-press-council-about-crime
WILKES-BARRE, PA — City police overnight obtained an arrest warrant for Brian Keith Hayes, 23, charging him with critically injuring another man in a shooting in the Sherman Hills apartment high rise on Parkview Circle Monday night.
Hayes, last known address as 279 S. Washington St., is charged with attempt to commit criminal homicide, illegal possession of a firearm, reckless endangerment and two counts of aggravated assault.
City police believe Hayes, known as “Keefy Blood,” fired multiple rounds striking Brandon Eubanks in the neck and other parts of his body on the second floor of the high rise just after 8 p.m., according to the criminal complaint.
Read more: http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news/152526820/
Additional story: http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news-news/152522507/
Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
WILKES-BARRE, PA — Desperate for answers in the shooting death of one son, Yvonne George pleaded to be heard in order to save her other child.
Her brief statement capped the raucous and at times unruly city council meeting Thursday night filled with other members of the black community fed up with violence in the city and demanding something be done to end it.
A photo of her son David George was on the collage of black-and-white photos above the words “Stop The Violence” on posters held up in the audience. The 24-year-old man was shot and killed July 18, 2013, on South Welles Street, the seventh of the city’s 13 homicide victims that year.
“I feel that the Wilkes-Barre police every time something happens with a black person down here, the first thing they say is is it’s drug related and it’s gang related,” the deceased man’s mother said. “My son was not in no gang.”
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WILKES-BARRE, PA — Police stopped a vehicle leaving Sherman Hills apartment around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday and found crack, marijuana and a loaded short-barrel revolver.
According to police Taleek Sistrunk, 22 of 308 North Empire Street, drove the vehicle over a curb as it left the complex and had a rear brake light bulb out, prompting a traffic stop. As the officer approached, rear-seat passenger Jevaun Brown, 25 of 19 South Empire Street, was observed leaning over and shoving his hands under the driver’s seat.
Read more: http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news-news/50335432/
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WILKES-BARRE, PA — About 30 people protested the proposed housing project in the Rolling Mill section of the city, offering testimony, petitions and heartfelt concerns, but the Zoning Hearing Board unanimously approved all four changes requested by Housing Development Corporation MidAtlantic of Lancaster.
As the crowd filtered out of council chambers at City Hall Thursday evening, you could hear cries of “It’s not fair,” and “You live there,” from residents of McCarragher, Moyallen, Dana and Grove streets — all to be impacted by the 56-unit rental complex to be built by HDC.
Attorney Charles McCormick, zoning hearing board solicitor, said there is a 30-day window for appeals to be filed on the decision. Once that is exhausted, HDC will then bring a detailed land development plan to the city’s planning commission for approval.
Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Faced with a shrinking tax base and the second-highest school tax rate in Luzerne County, the Wilkes-Barre Area School District is trying something new to boost revenue.
The district has hired a consultant to identify properties with under-assessed values and manage appeals to increase property assessments. Hundreds of thousands of tax dollars are at stake.
When litigation over the assessment of the Wyoming Valley Mall concluded in 2012, the Wilkes-Barre Area School District sent the mall owner a refund check of nearly $390,000 for two years of over-taxation, according to assessment records. The Luzerne County-assessed value of the mall property is $76.1 million. It was $89.1 million when mall owner PR Wyoming Valley LP filed a court appeal in 2009.
Last week, the school district filed appeals of tax values on 32 parcels to the Luzerne County Assessment Board of Appeals. Decisions from the county board can be appealed to county Court of Common Pleas.
Read more: http://citizensvoice.com/news/w-b-area-appealing-property-values-1.1733716
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WILKES-BARRE, PA — Surveillance cameras in Sherman Hills did not record Tuesday’s shooting at the troubled apartment complex when two men were seriously injured, city police Chief Gerard Dessoye said Thursday.
Dessoye said the camera system, he believed, was “not fixed” as pledged by the complex’s former owner, Sherman Hills Realty Inc.
“(Cameras) couldn’t provide any details about the shooting,” Dessoye said, noting he has not seen any security enhancements at the apartment complex besides the installation of a chain link fence.
U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Moosic, stated in a news release that Treetop Development, which purchased the apartment complex from Sherman Hills Realty earlier this year, “repaired all cameras.”
Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
WILKES-BARRE, PA — City code inspectors took a look Monday at how the new owners of the Sherman Hills apartment complex are managing the site.
Inspectors visited the apartments as part of a complex-wide round of reviews following the site’s purchase by a New Jersey company. Inspectors must review rental units before a new tenant moves in, at least every two years or if a property changes hands, said Butch Frati, Wilkes-Barre director of operations.
Sherman Hills Realty finalized the complex’s sale on April 10 to Treetop Development, of Teaneck, N.J., which paid $15.7 million for the property.
City inspectors visited last week and Monday and plan to finish today. They review living conditions and complete a checklist on each of Sherman Hills’ 344 units.
Read more: http://citizensvoice.com/news/sherman-hills-inspected-under-new-owners-1.1696736
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The current owners of the troubled Sherman Hills Apartments in Wilkes-Barre will receive more than $16 million should a proposed sale be finalized this month, according to court documents filed Tuesday in Luzerne County Court.
Family members of a murder victim are trying to block the sale or have the sale proceeds placed in escrow, claiming the sale of the low-income housing project would make the complex “judgement proof.”
On Tuesday, lawyers for Sherman Hills filed their response, saying the sale should be allowed to proceed. The sales agreement was attached to the response and revealed Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Park Management, the complex’s owner, will be paid $16.2 million from the sale.
Survivors of murder victim Shantique Goodson, 27, fatally shot at the complex on Nov. 11, 2013, are seeking an injunction to block the sale, or place the sale proceeds in escrow, until the lawsuit plays out. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Wednesday morning in Luzerne County Court.
Read more: http://citizensvoice.com/news/court-documents-sherman-hills-sale-price-tops-16m-1.1664522
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WILKES-BARRE, PA — The proposed $100,000 worth of security improvements at the troubled Sherman Hills apartments are underway with the installation of a fence around the property.
Security consultant John Daly said work began last week.
“They’re putting up a 1-inch mesh fence like they proposed earlier and will move on to the next phase,” said of the McLane Investigative Group of New York City.
The possibility of losing the nearly $2 million in rent subsidies by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development prompted the owner Sherman Hills Realty of Brooklyn, N.Y. to promise changes at the complex that has been the scene of drug arrests, violent crimes and a fatal shooting last November.
Read more: http://timesleader.com/news/local-news-news/1289298/$100K-in-Sherman-Hills-upgrades-begin
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WILKES-BARRE, PA — The city Planning Commission on Wednesday approved a plan to install gates, one of them staffed around the clock, as part of the overall security improvements at the low-income Sherman Hills apartment complex.
Sam Goldberg, regional manager of the apartment complex owned by Brooklyn-based Sherman Hills Realty, said the owners are eager to get started and have already set aside the money for the work.
“It’s all a matter of once we get the written approval. We do have contractors lined up,” Goldberg said. “We’ll work as fast as we can.”
The plans calls for the installation of a booth and gates for incoming and outgoing vehicles and pedestrians on Empire Court. The booth will be staffed 24 hours a day and control a second set of gates on Parkview Circle leading to the high-rise apartment building on the property. A third gate will be installed at the intersection of North Empire Court and Sherman Street, but emergency responders and police will have access to a key to gain entrance.
Read more: http://timesleader.com/news/local-news/1205576/City-panel-OKs-gates-for-Sherman-Hills
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WILKES-BARRE, PA — Park Management Inc.’s detailed plans for the Sherman Hills Apartments will remain secret for a little longer.
The Brooklyn, N.Y.-based company submitted a remediation plan for the troubled complex Dec. 2 after a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development inspection in September found “possible life-threatening security issues” due to management’s neglect of the 344-unit facility.
The Citizens’ Voice, along with congressional leaders and Wilkes-Barre officials, have filed a Freedom of Information Act request for that plan.
In a letter released Friday, Shirley Bryant, Freedom of Information Act liason for HUD, says the agency is giving Park Management until Jan. 31 to object to the plan’s release based on the department’s FOIA regulations exempting “trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person [that is] privileged or confidential.”
Read more: http://citizensvoice.com/news/plans-for-sherman-hills-remain-secret-1.1618522
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After losing his appeal, the owner of the first apartment shutdown by Wilkes-Barre‘s one-strike ordinance said he’s taking the city to court.
Red Hill resident Adam Peters, whose rental unit at 216 Carlisle St. was closed by the city in September after his tenant was arrested for dealing drugs, asked for the penalty to be repealed during a hearing at city hall Tuesday. The housing appeals board unanimously upheld the first use of the city’s one-strike ordinance, which allows it to shut down rental properties for six months if they’re the location of a drug or weapons crime.
Peters said he’ll take his appeal to a judge in Luzerne County court. Peters’ attorney John Bradley said he’s also going to challenge the ordinance’s constitutionality. He hasn’t decided whether he’ll do so in county or federal court.
Read more: http://citizensvoice.com/news/w-b-landlord-loses-one-strike-appeal-1.1588473
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WILKES-BARRE, PA — Management of the Sherman Hills apartment complex has been found “unsatisfactory” by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to a news release from the federal housing agency.
A full report of HUD’s inspection of the crime-plagued complex is expected to be released in the near future, HUD’s Senior Management Analyst S. Van Williams said Wednesday.
HUD officials visited the complex on Sept. 16 and Sept. 17 to complete an on-site Management and Occupancy Review after two girls, 5 and 2 years old, suffered gunshot wounds in Building 328 on Aug. 24. No charges have been filed, however, Luzerne County Assistant District Attorney Brian Coleman said during a court proceeding on Sept. 12 that three men were being investigated.
On Monday 27-year-old Shantique Goodson, of 328 Parkview Circle in Sherman Hills and formerly of Rochester, N.Y., was fatally shot while she was sitting in a Jeep Grand Cherokee near Building 328.
Read more: http://timesleader.com/news/local-news/983008/HUD:-Sherman-Hills-management-unsatisfactory
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WILKES-BARRE, PA — Police early this morning made an arrest in the deadly shooting of a woman at Sherman Hills on Monday and are calling the death a homicide.
Police said Shantique Goodson, of 328 Parkview Circle, Sherman Hills, is the woman who suffered multiple gunshot wounds at the apartment complex at about 4:15 p.m. Monday.
Kenneth Malik Evans III, 21, of 19 S. Empire St., Wilkes-Barre, was taken into custody at approximately 1:30 this morning at police headquarters. He was arraigned by District Judge Ronald Swank in Wright Township on an open count of criminal homicide and jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility without bail.
Read more: http://timesleader.com/news/local-news/979548/Arrest-made-in-Sherman-Hills-shooting
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A staggering amount of drugs, including 2,000 bags of heroin, were recovered Friday night in Wilkes-Barre.
Police said a large amount of crack cocaine, drug paraphernalia, “proceeds from drug trafficking” and in total, more than $45,000 worth of heroin were seized at about 9:30 p.m. Friday.
Kenneth Evans, 21, of 19 S. Empire St., was arrested at his home after a search of his residence recovered the illegal substances. Police said Evans had been targeted for dealing drugs in the Sherman Hills area and from his home.
Read more: http://citizensvoice.com/news/authorities-seize-2-000-bags-of-heroin-in-w-b-1.1571823
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WILKES-BARRE, PA — Six alleged drug dealers were arrested in different sections of the city Friday, according to a press release from city hall.
In the Heights neighborhood, two men — Lance Smith, 23, no known address and Terrell Watson, 24, of Philadelphia — were caught by investigators who had posed as buyers, police said.
Smith agreed to sell MDMA, or Ecstasy, to undercover officers near the Sherman Hills apartment complex, police said. Police say they captured him as he tried to flee.
Watson was arrested near Horton and Roosevelt streets, where police say he agreed to sell heroin to undercover officers. Police allege Watson was in possession of heroin and marijuana.
Read more: http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news/851337/
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