CMYK TODAY’S $120$ Y@ Royal wedding day DEAL FOR 60 ONL Major network news coverage begins DAILY STONE at 4a.m., with the ceremonyat6a.m. PA Liveupdates on timesleader.com DEAL! MEADOWS NE Sign up now at nepadailydeals.com The Times Leader280519 WILKES-BARRE, PA timesleader.com FRIDAY,APRIL 29,2011 50¢ SEVERE WEATHER CONTRACTIMPASSE General Newflooding fearsgrip the region nurses to River on strikeon rise from heavy rain Sunday By EDWARD LEWIS Union membershave been [email protected] working under expired Heavy rain threatened al- ready swollen streams and contract fortwo years. creeks on Thursdayasthe Sus- quehanna River is expected to crest just over28feet this By MATT HUGHES morning in [email protected] Wilkes- WILKES-BARRE –Citing frus- First reported at Barre, tration with the hospital oper- 6:08 prompting ator’s refusal to negotiate in good a.m. fearsof faith, nurses at General Hospital timesleader.com flooding in will walk out Sundaymorning. some areas. The Wyoming Valley Nursing Bright Association, the union forthe sunshine brokethrough the hospital’snursing staff, and the clouds late Thursdaymorning Pennsylvania Association of Staff after severaldaysofsevere and Nurses and Allied Professionals torrential thunderstorms top- (PASNAP) areplanning a24- pled trees, interrupted power hour strikestarting at 7a.m. Sun- and left some roads flooded. day. Nurses at the hospital have Twotofiveinches of rain had S. JOHN WILKIN /THE TIMESLEADER been working fallen across Apasser-by checksout the rising Susquehanna River under the Market Street Bridge along the River Common after heavyrain under an ex- General Hos- WEEKEND Luzerne movedthrough the area and across the upper Susquehanna River basin Thursday morning. pired contract pital spokes- FORECAST County since forapproxi- Tuesday, ac- mately two man JamesP. Forecast from cording to years. McGuiresaid the National Rain washes out storm reports The nurses’ Weather Ser- the hospital is vice: to the Nation- union, repre- prepared to Today,57, al Weather senting more Service in Cherry Blossom than 400 nurses bring in re- scattered showers. Binghamton, at the hospital, placement Saturday,67, N.Y. Some streetsare flooded in INSIDE: Forrelated story, see accused the op- workersif sunny. Similar Page 3ofThe Guide. erator,Commu- Sunday,72, the outbreak of wet weather. nurses strike, partly sunny. rainfall totals nity Health Sys- fell in the up- Pumping stations working. Drew McLaughlin, assistant tems, based in adding that per Susque- to MayorTom Leighton, said Tennessee, of doctorsand hanna River the recent rains have soaked the bad faith bar- other medical basin, resulting in higher than By BILL O’BOYLE gaining tactics. city and caused large areas of staff arenot expected river levels in Wilkes- [email protected] pooling in Kirby Park,site of the “Their poli- Barre. WILKES-BARRE –Heavy festival. cies and their involved in According to the Middle At- rain has caused the postpone- “The ground conditions in bad faith bar- the strike. lantic River Forecast Center in ment of the city’s annual Cherry Kirby Park arenot optimal for CLARK VANORDEN/THE TIMESLEADER gaining is ac- Blossom Festival that had been Rich Krzywicki, chaperoning children at KirbyPark Thursday tually driving SeeFLOODING, Page 7A scheduled this weekend. SeeRAIN, Page 7A afternoon, found the pond overflowing itsbanks. staff out of the area; that has adi- rect impact on our quality of care,” said union President Fran Prusinski, acritical careunit nurse at the hospital. “Our pa- tients come first,and we need to South’s whirlwind of death recruit and retain the nurses that we have.Everyone should be con- cerned if they’redriving nurses Hundreds of lives arereportedlost hit areas surveyed obliterated homes and out of the area.” in the massiveoutbreak of storms. debris-strewnstreets. Some told of dead- The union has clashed with ly winds whipping through within sec- Community Health Systems over Alabama is hardest hit. onds of weather alerts broadcast during contracts, bargaining practices the storms Wednesdayafternoon and eve- and company policies since the ning. provider purchased the hospital By GREG BLUESTEIN and JAYREEVES “It happened so fast it wasunbelieva- and other assets of the Wyoming Associated Press ble,” said Jerry Stewart,a63-year-old re- Valley Health CareSystem in PLEASANT GROVE, Ala. —Massive 2009. tired firefighter who waspicking through tornadoes toreatown-flattening streak The strikewill coincide with the remains of his son’s wrecked home in across the South, killing at least 281peo- the two-year anniversary of the ple in six states and forcing rescuersto Pleasant Grove,asuburbofBirmingham. company’s takeoverofGeneral carry some survivorsout on makeshift “They said the storm wasinTuscaloosa Hospital; it will also markthe sec- stretchersofsplintered debris. Twoof and it would be herein15minutes. And ond nurses’ strikesince CHS as- Alabama’smajor cities were among the beforeIknewit, it washere.” sumed control. AP PHOTO places devastated by the deadliest twister He and his wife, along with their daugh- Nurses threatened to walk out JoyceHartsfield hugs LauraGibbsinCalhoun County,Ala. on Thursday.President outbreak in nearly 40 years. Barack Obama said he would visit Alabama todaytoviewdamage. As daybroke Thursday, people in hard- SeeSTORMS, Page 6A SeeSTRIKE, Page 14A WEATHER INSIDE Jillian Graham ANEWS: Local3A Union titan Biancoremembered forlifetime of service Partly sunny, ashower. Nation &World 5A High 57.Low 46. Obituaries2A, 8A Details,Page 10B Birthdays 12A Theregional labor leader,who Union and long-time leader of Wilkes-Barre Editorials 13A died in 2010,headed ILGWU the Greater Wilkes-BarreLa- MayorThomas bor Council. Leightonreads a BSPORTS: Scoreboard2B and W-BLabor Council. proclamation Baseball 3B “Bianco wasthe labor coun- cil,” said Edward Harry,the honoring the late Business 8B SamBiancoat Stocks9B council’scurrent president. By STEVEN FONDO “Fromthe time Samwas elect- the GenettiHotel CCLASSIFIED: Comics16C Times Leader Correspondent ed to head the organization in &Conference THE GUIDE: WILKES-BARRE –Area 1978 until the dayhedied, he Center in Wilkes- BarreonThurs- Crossword/Horoscope leadersturned out at the Ge- wastireless. He wasinvolved day. Biancowas Television netti Hotel&Conference Cen- in every aspect of the area’sla- Movies known forhead- ter on Thursdaynight fora bor movement. ing the Greater memorial to honor local union “This tribute wasoriginally Wilkes-Barre official SamBianco. planned forlast October,” con- Labor Council. Bianco, who passed away in tinued Harry.“But unfortu- 2010,was the former presi- nately,Sam passed away 6 0981510011 dent of the local International Ladies Garment Workers SeeBIANCO, Page 14A DON CAREY/ THE TIMESLEADER K PAGE 2A FRIDAY,APRIL 29,2011T➛ timesleader.com HE TIMESLEADER www.timesleader.com Corbett says colleges could drill forcash DETAILS LOTTERY MIDDAY DRAWING Six of the 14 state campuses ameeting of the proposed budget forthe fiscal drilled in the past three yearsand als likebarium and strontium, DAILY NUMBER 6-1-3 in Pennsylvania arelocated on Pennsylvania As- year that starts in July would cut many thousands moreplanned. trace radioactivity and small sociation of Coun- $2 billion from education and re- Drilling forgas in deep shale amounts of toxic chemicals in- BIG FOUR 2-7-9-9 Marcellus Shale formation. cils of Trustees at duce aid to colleges and universi- deposits is emerging as amajor jected by the drilling companies. QUINTO 0-5-8-1-4 EdinboroUniversi- ties by 50 percent.The newspa- newsource of energy that sup- Most big gasstates require TREASURE HUNT ty. per said Corbettemphasized the porterssay is homegrown, cheap drillerstodump their wastewa- 08-13-18-25-27 The Associated Press Corbettsaid six cuts areonly proposals and that and friendlier environmentally ter into deep shafts drilled into EDINBORO—Some Pennsyl- of the 14 campuses in the Penn- funding foreducation could than coal or oil. the earth to prevent it from con- NIGHTLYDRAWING vania universities should consid- sylvania State System of Higher changeashenegotiates the bud- But shale drilling requires in- taminating surface water.Al- DAILY NUMBER 0-8-5 er drilling fornatural gasbelow Education arelocated on the getwith state lawmakers. jecting hugevolumes of water though it has movedtolimit it, BIG FOUR 3-8-0-4 campus to help solvetheir finan- Marcellus Shale formation, part The Marcellus Shale forma- underground to help shatter the Pennsylvania still allows hun- cial problems, Gov. TomCorbett of avast region of underground tion lies primarily beneath Penn- rock —aprocess called hydrau- dreds of millions of gallons of the QUINTO 0-1-7-5-9 said Thursday. natural gasdeposits that arecur- sylvania, NewYork, West Virgin- lic fracturing. Some of that water partially treated drilling waste- CASH FIVE The Erie Times-News report- rently being explored and ex- ia and Ohio; Pennsylvania, how- returns to the surface, in addi- water to be dischargedinto riv- 04-13-24-29-32 ed that Corbettmade the sug- tracted. ever, is the center of activity, tion to the gas, in the form of ul- ersfromwhich communities MATCH SIX gestion during an appearance at The Republican governor’s with morethan 2,000 wells tra-salty brine tainted with met- draw drinking water. 06-21-22-29-34-36 HARRISBURG–Noplayer matched all five winning Votes fordrill fee, budget cuts linked numbersdrawn in Thurs- Twoworkerssue drilling firm day’s“Pennsylvania Cash 5” The Associated Press wells. game so the jackpotwill