Attorneys Plan Lawsuit Vs. FNCB
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C M Y K Getting saucy Things to do in NEPA in Denver ... Our region loves hot Broncos and Peyton Manning and spicy buffalo wings make it official 55 VOUCHER 77 $$ $ 99 FOR ONLY 55 TASTE, 1C SPORTS, 1B 44 2200 10 77 The Times Leader WWIILLKKEESS--BBAARRRREE,,PPAA timesleader.com WWEEDDNNEESSDDAAYY,,MM AARRCCHH22 11,,22 001122 5500¢¢ L A C KAWA N N A C O U N T Y County to DAFFODIL DAYS HOPE postpone SPRINGS Attorneys its audit IN AREA of Stevens plan lawsuit Attorney Angela Stevens has come under scrutiny after vs. FNCB probe reveals double billing. BByy TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER [email protected] Bank once controlled WWIILKES-BARRE -- Hopinngg to save money, Luzerne County by Louis DeNaples officials have decided to post- pone performing a forensic au- BByy TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER mmiilllliioonnlloossssttoo aa dit of attorney Angela Stevens’’ [email protected] $$4444..33 mmiilllliioonn bills until they review a sepa- SCRANTON – A Scranton law lloossss.. rate independent audit Stevens firm has announced it intends to It wwaas alalssoo commissionedd ooff her work. ffiilleeaa lawsuititaaggaaiinstFirstNational foforcrceedd ttoo rere-- Contrroolllleerr WWaalltteer Griffiitthh CommunityBank ininDunmore,al- state earninnggss ssaaiidd hhee mmeett lleeggiinnggaa lloossss ofmorethan$50 mmiill-- ffrroomm tthhee ffiirrstst wwiitthh sseevveerarall lliioonn inin sshhaarerehhoolldervalueover tthhee DeNaples two quarters of ccoouunnttyy ofoffifi-- ppaasstt ffoouurr yyeeaarsrs.. 2200110,which tthhee cials TTuueesday JJoosseepphh Solfanelli, an aattttoorney bank initially said showed a $$22 and they con- wwiitth OO’’MMaalllleeyy && LaLannggaann, ssaaiidd million profit. In reality it lost $6 ccuurrrreed tthhee TTuueessddaayy thelawsuitwill bbee bbaasseedd mmiilllliioonn,, Solfaneelllliissaaiidd.. county should oonn aalllleeggations the bank, which NNeeiittherDeNaplesnor bankoffi- wwaiait ttoo sseeee wasonce ccoonnttrroolllleedd bbyy llooccalal bbuussi-i- cials could be reached for com- Stevens what Stevens’ nessmagnateLouisDeNapless,,eenn-- ment Tuesday.y. aauudidit sshhoowwss ggaaggeedd iinn uunnssoouunnd aanndd uunnssaaffee SSoollffaanneelllli ssaaiid tthhee llaawwssuuiit,t, before deciding to spend tens banking practices that led to sig- wwhhiicchhwwiillll befiledin Lackaawwaannnnaa ofthoussaannddssooff ddoollllaarrss oonnaa sseec-c- nniiffiiccaanntt lloosssesin 22000099 and2010.. CCoouunntyCourt,t, isbasedd inin ppaartrt oonn ond audit. According to Solfanelli, federal iinnffoorrmmaattiioonn oobbttaaiinneedd ffrroomm aa Stevens, a partner in the Py- rreegguullaattoorrss ffoorrcceedd FNCBtoto rreessttaattee rah/Stevens law firm in King- itsearningsgs inin 22000099 ffrroomm aann $$111.1.33 SeeBANK, PPaaggee 1100AA ston, has come under scrutiny based on a Times Leader inves- ttiiggaation last month that re- vveeaaled she hhaadd doubllee bbiilllleedd the county for work she per- Romney rips Santorum formed in representing parents whosechildrenn arein thecusto- dy of Children and Youth Ser- vices. in GOP Illinois primary Her bills totaled more than $$114444,,000000 iinn 22001111.. A TTiimmeess It was the third straight win LLeeaaddeer aannaallyyssiiss ooff tthhee bibillllss in a big state for Romney. found many instances of appar- ent excessive billing, including Santorum not deterred. for more than 24 hours of work on at least two days. SStteevveennss hhaass admittteedd sshhee BByy DDAAVIDESPO made billing errors, but con- aanndd SSTTEEVVEE PEOPLEESS tends the mistakes wweerre aann Associated Press oovvererssiigghhtt.. SShhee nnoottiiffiieedd tthhee SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — MMiitttt ccoouunnttyy iinn FFeebbrruuaarryy sshhee hhaadd Romney took a major stride to- hired Forensic Resolutions Inc. wardthe Republiiccaann presidential of Haddonfield, N.J., to audit nomination Tuesday night, rout- her bills and promised to pro- iinnggRickSantorumm inin tthheeIllIlliinnooiiss vviide a ccooppy of the rereppoorrt toto primary for hhiiss AP PHOTO county officials. third-consecu- MMiitttt Romneeyy speakkss aatt hhiiss Griffithsaid hespokewith aann ttiivveebig-statewin eelleecctionnight rraalllyly inin official at Forensic Resolutions 2012 and padding his Schaumbuurrgg,, IIllll..,, TTuuesday.. ELECTION on Tuesday, who advised him already-formida- the audit would be complete in CLARK VAN ORDEN/THE TIMES LEADER ble lead in the RReettuurrnnss ffrroomm 61percentnt ofof IIllllii-- a week to 10 days. merican Cancer Society volunteer Melanie Smith of Mountain Top works on race for conven-- nois’ precincts showed Romney Griffith said he is conducting A Tuesday on filling an order of daffodils for the organization’s 39th annual Daffo- ttiioonndelegaatteess.. ggaaiinniinng 4488 pperercent of the vote an in-house review of Stevens’ dil Days. The fundraiser began this week. Flowers will be available throughout the ““WWhhatat aa nniigghhtt,,””RRoommnneeyy eexxuulltt-- comparedto34percentforSanto- bills. Once he gets the Forensic week at the Wyoming Valley Mall, Wyoming Valley Health Care locations, St. John eedd toto cchheeeeringsupporttererss inin ssuubb-- rum,9 pperercentforRon PaPauull and8 Resolutions audit, he will com- the Evangelist Church in Pittston, Redner’s Warehouse Market in Pittston, Citizens urban Chicago. Looking beyond percent for a fading Newt Gin- pare its findings to information Bank locations in Wilkes-Barre, Dallas, Forty Fort and Kingston, the Cross Valley Fed- his GOP rivals, he said he had a grich. hhee has.The ddeecciisionto pprrooceed eral Credit Union, Pierce Street Deli in Kingston and others. A bunch can be pur- ssiimmplemessagee forPresiddeenntt BBaa-- Thatwasafarmoresubstantial with a separate audit paid for rack Obama, the man Republi- sshhoowwining fofor RRoommnneey ththaann chased with a $10 donation or a vase and bunch for a donation of $15. For more in- cans hope to ddeeffeeaatt nneexxt ffaallll:: SeeAUDIT,Page10A formation, call the East Central Division American Cancer Society at 570-562-9749. “Enough.h.WWe’vehad enough.”” SeeROMNEY,, PPaaggee 1100AA WEATHER Redner’s still looking for site John McGuiree Gators OK, monkeys not, pet worker says Mostlyy sunny,, warm. HHiigghh 7733.. LLooww 5522.. BBiillll Pambianncoco near former Mark Plaza store Details, Page 8B Animals with claws and teeth, JJrr.. ofThe PPeett except for dogs and cats, Grocer has yet to find just fit for its target demographics. ZZoonnee inin PPiittttssttoonn require special state permit. sshhoowsone ofthe the right fit in the area near Located in the Mark Plaza shopping center off Route 11,1, ttwwoo alligatoorrss spot flooded in September. tthhee Edwardsvillestore hhaass been kkeeppttiinn tthhee closed since last September’s BByy EEDDWWAARRDD LLEEWWIISS store’ss reptile ffllooooddiinngg bbeeccauseof sseevveredam- [email protected] zzoooo && educaattiioonn BByy BILLO’BOYLE age, inventory loss, the risk of Exceptfor ddooggs,catsand cceerrttaaiinn center. [email protected] future flooding and the cost of livestock breeds, any animal that EDWARDSVILLE – Redner’s flood insurance. has claws and teeth will likely re- WWaarreehouse MMaarrkkeett hhaass nnoott In early February, White said quire a permit to own as a pet, a found a new site to relocate its the company eennddeedd its lease Pennsylvania Game Commissiioonn Mark Plaza store, but the com- withplaza ownerAcadia Realty.. spokeessmmaann saidTuesddaayy,, aa ddaayyaaff-- PETE G. WILCOX/THE TIMES LEADER panyis aaccttiivveellyy llooookingfor oonnee.. “It’s been our stance since it tteerraa JJaavvaa Macaquemonkeyled aauu-- K PPAAGGEE22 AA WWEEDDNNEESSDDAAYY,MM AARRCCHH22 11,22 001122 ➛➛ timesleader.com TTHHEETT IIMMEESSLL EEAADDEERR wwwwww..ttiimmeesslleeaaddeerr..ccoomm lice he was just advised on POLICE BLOTTER Monday that someone stole DETAILS copper wiring from the base- PLAINS TWP.. – Police ar- ment of 11114 Regent St. about a rested Cory Loftus of Plains month ago. Council tweaks hiring LOTTERY Township on charges he • Donald Montigney told stabbed his brother with a police on Sunday that someone MIDDAYY DRAWING does not define which relatives another work session to discuss pocket knife Tuesday evening. stole a Milwaukee saw and a County panel agrees to DAILY NUMBER 7-3-5 Police said they responded are included. the code. cordless drill from his vehicle expand hiring ban to relatives BIG FOUR TThhe cchhaarrtteer aallsso sasayyss tthhee IInn otothheer bbuusisinneessss, CCoouunntty y 3-0-6-9 to 41 Rose Ave. at 6:39 p.m. for while it was parked at 33 New of judges, district judges. spouse or child of an immediate Manager Robert Lawton said he QUINTO 4-2-7-0-3 a report of a male who was Hill St. ffaammiilyly memberis iinncclluuddeedd inin tthhee wwiillllprovidee hhiissrecommendationn TREASURE HUNT stabbed and found Kyle Loftus • Fred Klein reported Tues- of 55 Rose Ave. on the front nepotism clause. on potential county involvement 04-06-12-23-28 day golf clubs were stolen from BByy JENNIFERLEARN-ANDDEESS porch and bleeding from his Council members said further in the Hotel Sterling project in his vehicle on Hillside Street. [email protected] discussionis neededto defineim- upper leg. He told police he two weeks. NIGHTLYY DRAWING • Donna Wysocki reported LuzerneCounty Councilmem- mediate family. and his brother Cory began Lawtoonn wwiillll pprreesseenntt aa rreepportat DAILY NUMBER 8-4-7 Monday an unknown person bbeerrsdiscussseeddaa banon thehiring g The personnel code also will arguing inside his residence at the April 10 council meeting.g. BIG FOUR placed a burnt cigarette near of family members