CMYK Bake me a Arafat bubbly buckle poisoned? This cake may not win a beauty French question exactly contest but it sure is tasty what killed Arab leader TASTE, 1C NATION/WORLD, 5A The Times Leader772326 WILKES-BARRE, PA timesleader.com WEDNESDAY,AUGUST29, 2012 50¢ SPORTS SHOWCASE ‘Terrifying’ fiscal facts revealed Financial adviser, manager cial adviser told county council to the county for several years. budget or sur- •Improve financial account- Lawton detail county “mess” Tuesday. The refinancing of two bond plus. ing required by audits. The figure includes $293 mil- packages from 1997 and 1998 •Adopt a “re- The county is on the hook for and what could be done. lion in principal and $143 million alone would save $1.5 million, alistic and sus- $26.5 million this year for debt re- in interest and fees. he said. tainable” budget payment. Payments will increase The county could reduce pay- The rating also could allow re- for 2013. from $27.6 million to $27.9 mil- By JENNIFER LEARN-ANDES ments on “multiple” past bond lease of some or all of a $6 mil- •Show pro- lion annually through 2026, [email protected] packages by obtaining an invest- lion reserve fund required by in- Lawton gress imple- wrapping up with a $22.3 million Luzerne County government ment grade credit rating, said surers for a 2008 bond. menting home payment in 2027, Shearer said. owes about $436 million in out- Scott Shearer, of Harrisburg- Shearer advised county offi- rule reforms. County Manager Robert Law- standing debt through 2027 and based Public Financial Manage- cials to take the following steps •Prepare a multiyear plan ton said the administration is un- can’t do anything to refinance ment, or PFM, which has provid- to obtain a rating: proving the county will stay with- without a credit rating, a finan- ed financial recovery assistance •End the year with a balanced in budget. SeeCOUNCIL, Page 10A AMERICAN LEAGUE YANKEES 2 BLUE JAYS 1 Mitt is it, ORIOLES 6 WHITE SOX 0 NATIONAL LEAGUE captures METS 9 PHILLIES 5 PIRATES 9 GOP nod CARDINALS 0 Ann Romney star speaker as she sings PSU PREPS FOR husband’s praises from podium. UNIQUE DAY, GAME Add emotional gymnas- tics to the list of things By DAVID ESPO Penn State will have to AP Special Correspondent deal with this weekend. TAMPA, Fla. — Former Massachusetts Preparing Gov. Mitt Romney swept to the Republican for his first presidential nomination Tuesday night, praised lovingly by his wife from the stage as game as a AP PHOTOS the “man American needs” and cheered by a head coach, hall packed with convention delegates eager Bill O’Brien Acrowd gathers Tuesday on the end of the boardwalk on Okaloosa Island in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., to watch rough surf generated by Hurricane Isaac as it moves through the Gulf of Mexico. to propel him into the fall campaign against emphasized that Sat- President Barack Obama. urday will be mainly The hall erupted in cheers when Romney about a football game strolled onto the stage and shared a kiss with when the Nittany Lions his wife of more than 40 years. open against Ohio at Isaac runs into La. “This man will not fail. This man will not noon at Beaver Stadium. let us down,” Mrs. Romney said in a prime- Easier said than done. time speech that sounded at times like a Eyes across the country heart-to-heart talk among women and at will be looking to see how Hurricane takes aim at city of New Orleans times like a testimonial to her husband. “It’s the moms who always have to work Penn State responds to harder, to make everything right,” she said, an offseason as tumultu- BY MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and STACEY PLAISANCE Associated Press and she vouched firmly for her husband: “You ous as any in college can trust Mitt. He loves America.” football history. Page 1B EW ORLEANS — Hurricane Isaac spun into the “I read somewhere that Mitt and I have a southern Louisiana coast late Tuesday, sending ‘storybook marriage.’ Well, in the storybooks Iread, there were never long, long, rainy win- floodwaters surging and unleashing fierce winds ter afternoons in a house with five boys Nas residents hunkered down behind boarded-up screaming at once,” she said in a prime time INSIDE windows. New Orleans calmly waited out another storm turn at the podium. ANEWS: Local 3A “A storybook marriage? No, not at all. Nation & World 5A on the eve of Hurricane Katrina’s seventh anniversary, Brandon Ellis rides his ATV up to Obitaries 6A the waves coming over the seawall SeeMITT, Page 10A Editorials 9A hoping the city’s strengthened levees will hold. alongside Beach Boulevard in Waveland, Miss. BSPORTS: 1B Business 7B Isaac, a massive storm span- hurricane that devastated that Stocks 7B ning nearly 200 miles from its city, while the first major Weather 8B center, made landfall at about speeches of the Republican Na- CTASTE : 1C 6:45 p.m. near the mouth of the tional Convention went on in Locals get Birthdays 4C Mississippi River. But it was ze- Tampa, Fla., already delayed and Television 6C roing in on New Orleans, about tempered by the storm Crossword/Horoscope 7C 75 miles to the northwest, turn- While many residents stayed DCLASSIFIED: 1D ing streets famous for all-hours put, evacuations were ordered in celebrations into ghost boule- low-lying areas of Louisiana and revved up vards. Mississippi, where officials WEATHER The storm drew intense scru- closed 12 shorefront casinos. By Senior hurricane specialist Stacy tiny because of its timing — just Stewart tracks Isaac at the Na- Lydia Mellner. before the anniversary of the SeeISAAC,Page 7A tional Hurricane Center in Miami. Delegates, officials impressed by Ann Clear. Low humidity. High 75 Low 55 Romney, Christie and Boehner. Details, Page 8B By STEVE MOCARSKY [email protected] C3i a local high-tech hub TAMPA, Fla.. – Local residents at the Repub- licanNationalConventionthisweek were excit- ed to witness Mitt Romney’s nomination to the Company does more than just pack zations and health industry software Republican ticket for president on Tuesday and and ship from Jenkins Twp. location. vendors. hear some notable speakers. Besides warehouse and shipping “The mood is very positive. Everybody’s very workers, the depot’s 75 full-time employ- excited. Today they officially nominated Mitt By MATT HUGHES ees include software engineers, hard- Romney and Paul Ryan (as the presidential and [email protected] ware repair technicians and managers, vice presidential Republican candidates), and JENKINS TWP. – In spite of its name, who receive, repair and distribute com- it’s very exciting to see that in person,” Scott the hardware services depot recently puters from the depot at the CenterPoint Henry, executive director of the Luzerne Coun- opened by technology company C3i is East Commerce & Trade Park. Between ty Republican Party, said in a phone interview more than a warehouse. 10 and 40 contract employees also work Tuesday night. You might call it a high-tech hub. at the depot as needed for specific pro- “Speakers were talking about the Republican Morristown N.J.-based C3i engineers, jects, C3i co-founder and CEO Joel PETE G. WILCOX/THE TIMES LEADER Party and how Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are services and repairs computers and ap- Morse said at a ribbon cutting Tuesday. C3i Co-founder and CEO Joel Morse going to lead us back to prosperity,” Henry said, plications used by companies in the life The opening of the depot completes welcomes guests and local officials to adding that he looked forward to hearing Rom- 6 0981510011 sciences industry, including pharmaceu- his company’s ribbon-cutting ceremo- tical companies, clinical research organi- SeeC3I, Page 10A ny Tuesday at CenterPoint East. SeeLOCALS, Page 10A K PAGE 2A WEDNESDAY, AUGUST29, 2012 ➛ timesleader.com THE TIMES LEADER www.timesleader.com COURT BRIEFS Police Department for their diligent efforts in pursuing this DETAILS case. SCRANTON -- A former New York City resident has been WILKES-BARRE – A city LOTTERY sentenced to life in prison for man was sentenced Mondayto robbing the M&T Bank in Ha- 15 to 30 months in state prison MIDDAY DRAWING nover Township in 2010. on three unrelated charges. DAILY NUMBER – 2-3-4 Kareem Shabazz, 54, was one Robert Gribble, 43, with a BIG 4 – 6-1-9-0 of five people charged for their last-known address of Davis QUINTO – 1-8-3-0-6 roles in the Oct. 30, 2010 rob- Place, was sentenced by Judge bery of the bank at 722 San TREASURE HUNT David Lupas on charges of crim- 04-05-12-24-28 Souci Parkway. inal trespassing, burglary and On May 4, after deliberating NIGHTLY DRAWING retail theft stemming from three less than one hour, a federal jury incidents in 2011. DAILY NUMBER – 7-3-9 returned the guilty verdict on all Gribble, who was represented BIG 4 – 6-5-8-7 counts. Senior U.S. District by attorney Christopher O’Don- QUINTO – 8-0-3-1-8 Court Judge James M. Munley nell, pleaded guilty to the charg- CASH 5 – 11-14-19-37-41 handed down the sentence es in April. Assistant District MEGA MILLIONS Monday. Attorney Molly Hanlon Mirabito Federal prosecutors said Sha- 04-09-40-45-50 prosecuted the case. bazz and two other people en- MEGA BALL 39 According to court papers, on tered the M&T Bank brandish- HARRISBURG – Four players ing weapons, including pistols June 18, 2011, police said Grib- matched all five winning and a sawed-off shotgun. The ble entered a city home and numbers drawn in Tuesday’s robbers vaulted the teller coun- tried to steal copper piping.