submitted photo

COAL TOWNSHIP - A man accused of taking a truck from B&L Chevrolet-Buick on Route 61 around 5 p.m. Friday was apprehended by police in Pottsville around 10 p.m.

A black 2011 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 crew cab was removed from the dealership by a person who said he wanted to take it for a test drive. The driver of the vehicle did not return it to the dealership and empolyees there called police.

The black vehicle has a gray interior and a dealer tag with license plate number J02732J. The truck is valued at $45,000.

The suspect was identified on the scanner as Harold John McGurl Jr., of Ashland, but Coal Township police could not confirm the name because charges have not yet been filed. Scanner reports also said McGurl is wanted on a bench warrant and is considered dangerous.

A bench warrant was issued Sept. 29 after McGurl failed to appear in court in Schuylkill County on charges of theft by deception, bad checks, theft by unlawful taking and criminal mischief, according to court documents. He was released Feb. 27 on $5,000 unsecured bail.

McGurl was also charged by police with violating a protection from abuse order for an incident Aug. 25, the documents stated.

Eleventh-grade student Sofia Pearson, right, and eighth-grade student Gavin Clattenburg have been selected as Students of the Month for October at Shamokin Area Middle/High School.

Pearson is a daughter of Janet and Andreas Pearson, of Coal Township. She is a distinguished honor roll student, and is a member of orchestra, Bible club, track and field and volleyball. Her hobbies include reading, playing the piano, baking, drawing and exercising.

Clattenburg is a son of Phil and Kristie Clattenburg, of Shamokin. He is an honor roll student and the recipient of the Little Eddie Griffiths Award for football. He is a member of orchestra, and his hobbies include writing, reading and playing games.

Student of the Month is sponsored by the Shamokin Area PTSA. Presenting the awards is Crystal Mrowka, PTSA.

First in an occasional series

Approximately 50 years ago, establishment of the school district boundary lines that remain in effect today transformed public education in eastern Northumberland County.

Today's school systems, as constructed a half-century ago, quickly became an accepted, and valued, part of daily life in the communities they serve. However, the steps leading to their formation were arduous, time-consuming and not stress-free. The goal was equality of opportunities for students and more efficient and cost-effective operation of the educational program. But because politicians and the general public realized the inevitable result would be the closing of neighborhood schools, an underlying concern was that the mergers would mean the loss of community identity. So, there was a natural level of public resistance that had to be overcome.

It wasn't just local municipalities that were affected. The consolidations were part of a comprehensive and massive state-mandated school reorganization plan that touched every municipality in Pennsylvania. The number of school districts statewide was reduced from more than 2,000 to about 500.

In the era prior to school reorganizations, each municipality had its own school district and its own elected school board. At one time, there were 38 separate school districts in Northumberland County. If a small school district could not afford to build and maintain facilities of its own, it paid tuition to send its pupils to schools in neighboring municipalities.

Law set dates

The statewide mergers were mandated by Act 299, signed Aug. 7, 1963. The law required county boards of education to submit final school reorganization plans by July 1, 1964 for approval by the state. The goal was to create school districts that, whenever possible, had at least 4,000 students.

The law required reorganized school districts to be functioning by July 1, 1966.

Mount Carmel Area School District, which includes Mount Carmel Borough, Mount Carmel Township, Kulpmont, Marion Heights and Centralia, was formed July 1, 1964.

Shamokin Area School District, comprised of Coal Township, Shamokin City, East Cameron Township and Shamokin Township, was born July 1, 1965.

Line Mountain School District, consisting of Zerbe, West Cameron, Little Mahanoy, Lower Augusta, Upper Mahanoy, Jackson, Jordan, Washington and Lower Mahanoy townships and Herndon Borough, came into being July 1, 1966.

Southern Columbia Area School District actually came into existence about a decade earlier. Local school boards from Catawissa Borough and Catawissa, Franklin, Cleveland, Locust, Roaring Creek and Ralpho townships signed articles of agreement for a joint school system in November 1956, and the joint operation of schools in these municipalities took effect July 1, 1958. The Southern jointure, although strongly encouraged by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Instruction (PDI), was strictly voluntary.

State pushed issue

The school mergers of the mid-1960s were the inevitable result of decades of encouragement, arm twisting and dangling of incentives by PDI, which didn't believe small rural schools had sufficient resources to effectively educate students to a level where they could function in the rapidly changing 20th century economy.

County school boards played a prominent role over three decades in efforts to consolidate smaller districts for their mutual economic and educational benefit. County boards recommended merger plans and did much to facilitate negotiations, structure discussions and bring reluctant administrators and local school directors to the table. Ultimately, however, approval for school jointures and, later, the comprehensive school plans of the 1950s and 1960s, rested with the state. (County school boards were abolished in 1971 and replaced by Pennsylvania's 29 intermediate units. IUs fill the role of regional education service agencies in providing cost-effective services to school districts.)

As early as 1937, state legislation gave county boards the authority to push for small rural districts with few or no salaried teachers to merge with neighboring districts. In an effort to hasten the eventual elimination of one-room schools, the law set specific standards for the number of teachers required per a designated number of pupils for elementary, senior high, junior high and combination junior-senior high schools.

In January 1948, PDI sent one of its division chiefs to make a pitch at a countywide meeting of school directors in Sunbury for individual districts to explore amicable agreements in creating jointures. Legislation passed in 1947 provided for two merger options. Districts could consolidate to become one in a format requiring a voter referendum or form joint boards to supervise school operations, a process requiring only a majority vote by each of the participating local boards.

The PDI official reported at that meeting that of the 2,548 then existing school districts in Pennsylvania, about 1,400 had no control over students' educational program after eighth grade, a situation due to strengthening of state curriculum requirements.

In a development that demonstrated forced local compliance with tougher state educational law, the Shamokin News-Dispatch reported in 1949 that Northumberland County no longer had any active one-room school houses. These schools previously educated successive generations of students in first through eighth grades.

Early 'jointures'

By the late 1940s and early 1950s, some local districts, largely for economic reasons, entered into agreements, permitted and encouraged under a new state law, to form school jointures. Local examples of such jointures were Centralia-Conyngham Township (Con-Cen) in 1948, the Mahanoy Joint consolidation of Dalmatia-Herndon area communities in 1948, Mount Carmel Joint (Mount Carmel Borough-Mount Carmel Township) in 1951, Kulpmont Joint (Kulpmont-Marion Heights) and Northumberland Area (Northumberland and Point Township) in 1952 and Sunbury Area (Sunbury, Snydertown and Upper Augusta and Rockefeller townships) in 1955.

Under the "joint" school system setups, individual municipal school districts retained their separate identities, with their own elected boards continuing to function. Under the terms of the jointure agreements, partner districts formed joint boards, composed of representatives from individual districts that supervised the operation of the joint schools.

Although mandated school mergers didn't happen until the mid-1960s, a Northumberland County school reorganization plan was drafted in 1953 that, with just a few exceptions, contained the basic framework for what became the new school districts of the future.

Under the 1953 plan:

Administive Unit 1 (Watsontown-Turbotville) consisted of Watsontown, Turbotville, McEwensville and Delaware and Lewis townships in Northumberland County and Anthony and Limestone townships in Montour County. These municipalities, plus Gregg Township in Union County, eventually became the Warrior Run School District.

Unit 2 (Milton Area) - Milton Borough and Turbot, East Chillisquaque and West Chillisquaque in Northumberland County and White Deer Township in Union County.

Unit 3 (Northumberland Area) - Northumberland and Point Township.

Unit 4: (Sunbury Area) - Sunbury, Snydertown and Upper Augusta and Rockefeller townships.

Unit 5: (Mahanoy Joint) - Herndon and Lower Augusta, Jackson, Jordan, Lower Mahanoy, Upper Mahanoy and Washington townships. This was then the makeup of the existing Mahanoy Joint system.

Unit 6: Shamokin City and Ralpho, Shamokin, Coal and East Cameron townships.

Unit 7: Kulpmont, Mount Carmel Borough, Mount Carmel Township and Marion Heights.

Unit 8: Zerbe, Little Mahanoy and West Cameron townships. Because of its limited size, the state Department of Public Instruction never approved Unit 8 as a viable option for a school district.

Through what became a decade-long process preparing for the eventual school mergers, the Northumberland County School Board was sensitive to local preferences. That is why Riverside and Rush Township never figured in Northumberland County's plan and those two municipalities were instead transferred to an administrative unit in Montour County. Also, it was always a given that the two townships in upper Montour County properly belonged with the upper Northumberland County (Warrior Run) configuration.

Ralpho Township became part of the new Southern Area jointure and, after 1956, no longer figured in Northumberland County School Board deliberations. After the Con-Cen breakup, Centralia, though situated in Columbia County, became part of the Northumberland County plan and one more component of the Mount Carmel Area jointure.

Study furthers trend

The move toward mergers gained momentum in July 1960 when the Governor's Committee on Education issued a study that strongly supported school consolidation. The most interesting feature of a revised Northumberland County school plan later that year was a proposed Coal Township-Shamokin-Zerbe Township merger, which would have also included East Cameron, West Cameron, Little Mahanoy and Shamokin townships.

A 1962 plan split Northumberland County into just three districts, with the southernmost district stretching from Little Mahanoy Township to Centralia and encompassing all the municipalities in between. In that set-up, Mahanoy Joint was included for a time in a broader Schuylkill County plan. The 1962 plan was prepared in compliance with Act 561, a school reorganizaion law that Act 299 of 1963 amended. The gargantuan-sized district would have encompassed 13 municipalities and had a total school population approaching 15,000 pupils. Not surprisingly, it was greeted with various objections and was the subject of numerous appeals.

Passage of Act 299 in 1963 was the state's last - and best - word on school consolidations. With Act 299, school mergers were no longer a question of "if" or "when," but "what year?"

NEXT: The Southern Columbia school merger.

MOUNT CARMEL - The Mount Carmel Area Elks Students of the Month for September have been announced. Senior student of the month is Caitlyn Curran, who resides in Mount Carmel with her grandparents, Bonnie and Robert Smith. She is president of both student council and developmental studies, and vice president of Future Nurses of America and the tech ed club. She holds the office of sergeant-at-arms for the Interact club, and participates in Latin club and Odyssey of the Mind. Caitlyn has been a past Merit Award winner, Elks Junior Student of the Month and Junior High Pride winner. She is a distinguished honor student, and is a member of the National Honor Society. In her free time she likes to spend time with her friends and family and enjoys reading, painting, and photography. She plans to pursue a doctorate degree in pharmacy.

The junior student of the month is sophomore Maura Fiamoncini, a daughter of Jim and Justine Fiamoncini, of Mount Carmel. She plays basketball and track, is on the distinguished honor roll, is a previous Junior High Pride Award winner, Merit Award winner and Elks Teen of the Month. She is the vice president of the sophomore class and a member of the Junior National Honor Society. She enjoys playing sports, hanging out with friends and attends church at Saints Peter and Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church. She plans to go to college and become a physical therapist.

The Elks Teen of the Month is ninth-grade student Kourtney Honicker, a daughter of Michael and Jennifer Honicker, of Locust Gap. She is on the distinguished honor roll and the honor society. Her activities include playing for the Our Lady of Lourdes volleyball team, the varsity swim team, pep club, art club and yearbook staff and she also plays the piano. Kourtney enjoys swimming, shopping, music and being with friends. After high school, Kourtney hopes to become a nurse practitioner.

The Elks Junior Teen of the Month is seventh-grade student Makenzie Pyle, a daughter of Bruce Pyle, of Mount Carmel, and Lori Pyle, of Strong. She is on the distinguished honor roll, participated in the chorus fest in fifth and sixth grades, and was a past Merit Award winner. She enjoys making bracelets, horseback riding, camping, music, and art. Makenzie hopes to one day become a teacher.

EXETER TOWNSHIP - Al Boscov pulled his white Acura RDX into the parking lot at the employee entrance of the Reading Mall at 6:25 a.m., strode to the entrance of a chartered bus and scaled a couple steps.

"Did we load all the pretzels?" asked the 85-year-old chairman of the department store chain bearing his name.

Excusing himself, he hurried into the rear of the unopened Boscov's store at the Berks County mall before returning minutes later with a bag of muffins, cookies, bananas and yogurt. A maintenance worker followed, pushing a cart loaded with hot coffee, breakfast items and soft drinks.

Nobody went hungry on this 13-hour round trip to New York, which included about three dozen Boscov's executives and buyers. Boscov made eight visits during his seven-hour mission in Manhattan, displaying his legendary stamina, hammy wit and instincts for a bargain.

Boscov brought a small media contingent along Nov. 5 for one of his regular Wednesday business excursions to New York with the chain's apparel buyers. The outing tied in to promotions related to the 100th anniversary of the founding of Boscov's by his father, Solomon.

"We have a lot of people calling with cancellations of orders," Boscov said as the bus rolled east through Lehigh County at sun-up. "The industry has changed. Manufacturers used to overproduce. So, we'll be checking to see what's around."

Major retailers had to scale back holiday season orders by Oct. 25, Boscov said, and some bargains could be had for more than 40 Boscov's stores.

"These manufacturers don't want to have this stuff after Christmas," he said. "They would lose money on it."

During the three-hour bus ride to New York, Boscov marked up newspaper advertising proofs with a red felt-tip pen. He pulled a leather-bound, pocket-sized address book out of his suit coat near Union, N.J., and phoned ahead to set up appointments. He wrote the stops out by hand in felt-tip pen on sheets of paper he had used to check the ad proofs.

Nearby, company president Sam Flamholz hauled breakfast food up and down the bus's center aisle.

"This is not doing wonders for my ego," Flamholz teased Boscov.

After his catering duties, Flamholz said the New York trips establish relationships with vendors and Boscov sets the tone.

"I don't think you would see too many other people bringing candy and chocolate-covered pretzels to their vendors," Flamholz said. "His personal attention and relationships in the market make a big difference for us. He truly is one of a kind in many ways."

Boscov's first New York stop was in a skyscraper off Seventh Avenue near West 35th Street at the Doneger Group, a fashion intelligence firm that provides consulting to retailers. Boscov handed a receptionist a box of chocolate-covered pretzels with Boscov's logo on the wrapping.

"You spoil me. God bless you," she said to the retail magnate.

About 80 percent of the nation's fashion industry has representatives within 10 blocks of Seventh Avenue and 35th Street, said Lee Mandelbaum, an executive vice president at the Doneger Group, and Boscov knows apparel better than any retail executive in the industry.

"This is the way business was done 30 years ago. He is a consummate merchant," Mandelbaum said. "I have been doing this for 35 years and I've never met anyone like him."

At Kensie, a women's apparel manufacturer in the same building as the Doneger Group, Boscov bargained for prices on misses and juniors casual wear. Kensie is a division of fashion giant GIII Apparel Group, whose licenses include Kenneth Cole, Jones New York, Tommy Hilfiger and Dockers lines and vendors tried to interest Boscov in some discount items.

"We want you to be a $9.99 store," an executive told Boscov.

"We'll trade up to it," Boscov retorted.

At Rabbit, Rabbit Rabbit Designs, a dressmaker with an office along Broadway near 30th Street, Boscov helped a buyer negotiate orders for shifts, silhouettes and crochet dresses the chain bought for about $20 each and will sell for about $29.

Company founder Diane Randall, who manages sales for Rabbit, Rabbit Rabbit, has known Boscov for decades. Most retail chains have isolated management and quick executive turnover, Randall said.

"How often do you know the name of the chairman of the board?" she asked, glancing at Boscov. "This doesn't happen anymore."

Following his handwritten itinerary, Boscov walked next to Lee Jeans, which is owned by VF Corp., an apparel titan whose licenses include Nautica, Timberland and North Face brands.

Nibbling on a lunch of chicken and rice during a presentation on Lee's products, Boscov reminded company representatives that VF Corp. traces its history to the Reading Glove and Mitten Manufacturing Co. in his hometown.

Lee officials agreed to supply Boscov's with discounted jeans for a special holiday retail price of $14.99.

Leading a small contingent on foot to My Michelle, a division of the Kellwood Co. at Broadway and 39th Street, Boscov helped negotiate purchases on discontinued juniors and misses products.

Inspecting a rack of young women's clothing, he pulled a red spaghetti-strap dress and mock modeled it over his gray suit. To laughs and good-natured compliments, he returned it and quipped, "This one is a little old for me."

After boarding the charter bus outside Madison Square Garden for the return, the buyers and Boscov compared experiences as they dined on food from the Stage Door deli during the return trip.

One buyer of men's apparel told Boscov she had spent more than $300,000 on orders.

As Boscov caught a quick nap on the return ride, Flamholz said the seven hours spent in New York provided a glimpse of the edge Boscov provides for the company.

"He leads by example," Flamholz said. "You see him and say to yourself, 'How could I do less?'"

The chain plans to invest heavily in a 2015 upgrade to the downtown Wilkes-Barre store, Boscov said. Negotiations continue on ownership of the Mall at Steamtown, he said, with a bank-affiliated company that acquired it through foreclosure in July from a group including Boscov.

When he came out of retirement to save the chain from liquidation in a $100 million deal in bankruptcy court in 2008, Boscov's had 39 stores and did about $850 million annually in revenue. The chain has 43 stores now and will top $1 billion in sales this year, Boscov said.

Six years after Boscov retook control and stabilized the chain, questions inevitably arise about the octogenarian's return to retirement.

"I plan to cut back this coming year," Boscov said as he adjusted an overhead reading light to check more advertising proofs during the return bus trip to Reading. "We will see how it goes."

Railroad club open houses

SHAMOKIN - Scheduled open houses have been announced for the Lower Anthracite Model Railroad Club, which is located on the second floor of the Legion Building, 210 E. Independence St.

Open houses will be held:

Fridays, Dec. 19 and 26, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Saturdays, Dec. 6 and 13, 6 to 9 p.m.; Dec. 20, 3 to 9 p.m., and Dec. 27, 3 to 7 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 14, 1 to 5 p.m.

The open house has been a holiday tradition for three generations. Admission is free, but donations are accepted.

The model railroad showcases the routes of the Pennsylvania, Reading and Lehigh Valley railroads as they traveled between Northumberland and beyond Mount Carmel in the 1950s. The 3,000-square foot model railroad features more than 100 handmade models of local landmark buildings.

Municipal office closure

KULPMONT - The Kulpmont-Marion Heights Joint Municipal Authority's office will be closed Thursday and Friday in observance of Thanksgiving.

ACT presents 'Afternoon of Carols'

MOUNT CARMEL - Anthracite Citizens' Theatre will present "An Afternoon of Carols" at 2 p.m. Nov. 30 in the auditorium of the Mount Carmel Area Junior-Senior High School. Tickets are $5 at the door. Call 570-276-6603 or visit www.actheatre.com for more information.

Holiday bazaar set for Dec. 7

MOUNT CARMEL - SS Peter and Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church, 131 N. Beech St., will host a holiday bazaar in its church hall from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 7.

The event features crafts, catalog and home party consultants, local vendors, theme basket auction and door prizes. Homemade ethnic food and sweets will be sold; eat in or take out.

For more information, call Melissa at 610-842-7348, email hollybazaar2014@gmail.com or visit SS Peter and Paul's Holiday Bazaar 2014 on Facebook.

John Krisa's hobby began when a buddy gave him several Civil War bayonets to pay off a poker debt.

In the intervening five decades, the Scott Township, Lackawanna County, attorney has been busy accumulating a massive collection of military memorabilia, the majority of it World War II-related, both American and German.

About a decade ago, Krisa went about turning the basement of his home into a full-blown museum, with display cases and wall space devoted to local veterans, including Congressional Medal of Honor winners Gino Merli and Joseph Sarnoski. Next door, in the space surrounding his bar, sits a collection of rare and valuable artifacts from Hitler's Third Reich, purchased from private owners stateside and in Europe.

"John lost his mind," Krisa, 69, joked as he surveyed the space on a recent day.

"When I started this, I didn't know what I was getting into."

Jokes aside, the items serve as an extension of Krisa's lifelong interest in military history, complementing and lending additional insight to the information he's gleaned from the books he's read and the travels he's taken.

War souvenirs

Krisa was born in 1945, the same year World War II ended. He was named for his Uncle John, who was killed during the Battle of the Bulge.

Several other uncles served in the military, and when they'd come back home to Mayfield, they brought with them foot lockers stocked with memorabilia, not just American but also stuff taken from the enemy.

It was here that Krisa's interest took root. Throughout his early school years, he and his buddies spent a lot of time trading war artifacts.

"I was also in the Boy Scouts, and we had all the Army surplus stuff at camp. And all the guys that were Scout leaders were veterans," Krisa said.

By the time Krisa was in high school, he had acquired enough daggers, flags, arm bands and medals that he had to store them in an old barn on his grandmother's property. One night, his cousin snuck in the barn with a girl, accidentally knocked over a candle, and started a fire that decimated Krisa's collection.

And that put an end to things, until Krisa's sophomore year at Mansfield University.

"A guy owed me 10 bucks after a poker game. He didn't have it, so he gave me five or six Civil War bayonets," Krisa said.

After graduating from law school at West Virginia University, Krisa really got into collecting. And his interest in military history continued to develop, thanks to friends who had served in Vietnam, his sister, an Air Force veteran, and the Holocaust survivors he befriended while working as a waiter in the Catskills during law school.

His collection grew in random ways. An attorney in Philadelphia gave him "money" from a Czechoslovakian concentration camp that the Nazis passed off as a "model camp" meant to avert attention from their genocidal goals.

"When the Red Cross would come, they'd spiffy it all up. They'd have stores, put goods in there," Krisa said. "As soon as the Red Cross left, the next train that came in, the people would be gone. It was a horrible place. Just horrible."

The concentration camp money sits in a glass case on the wall of Krisa's office at his law practice in Blakely. Nearby sits other rare artifacts, from SS daggers and swords to medals earned in Ukraine and their corresponding documents to tiny figurines of well-known Nazis.

"They're made out of clay, sawdust and paraffin," Krisa said. "And they're all hand painted."

Nazi collection

There's even more Nazi stuff at his home, including artillery pieces; SS belt buckles, hand cuffs and tuxedo tails; signatures belonging to Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, Rudolf Hess and Ernst Rohm; an eagle that sat atop a Nazi banner; a tunic and hat that belonged to the adjutant of an infantry general; and Nazi war bonds that "weren't redeemable anyplace, ever," Krisa said.

In the room next door is Krisa's celebration of the American war heroes who helped vanquish the Nazis and their evil ideology.

The vast majority of displays are dedicated to local vets, among them Merli, former Scranton Times photographer Eugene "Ike" Refice and federal judge Edwin Kosik.

An entire wing is reserved for the huge Sarnoski clan of White's Crossing. Letters written by Joseph Sarnoski and his sister meant for the other are marked "returned, killed in action," having never reached their destinations before the soldier was killed during a bombing mission in the Pacific that resulted in his posthumous Medal of Honor.

Another section devoted to Honesdale native Gen. Lyman Lemnitzer includes his letterman's jacket from West Point, Dwight Eisenhower's signature and a letter from Gen. Omar Bradley signed "Brad."

Krisa befriended the country's last living World War I veteran, Frank Buckles, and has Buckles' ambulance corps patch on display.

Other highlights of the space include a section devoted to Krisa's uncles; a torn American flag that was on a troop carrier ship during the Battle of Okinawa; a Civil War Union artillery soldier's sword ("What was it mostly used for? Cutting brush," Krisa said); and, of course, those Civil War bayonets Krisa got all those years ago.

"I probably have more fun doing it. I always have buyer's remorse afterwards," Krisa said with a chuckle of his quest to acquire more items.

Of course, he often has vets over to see the collection. They always enjoy the experience, and it's then that he realizes that these objects have deep meaning beyond being mere collector's items.

Win $50 for Boscov's

In recognition of Boscov's 100th anniversary, Times-Shamrock Newspapers are presenting the "100 Years of Holiday Memories Photo Contest." Submit a favorite holiday photo for a chance to win a $50 Boscov's gift certificate. Enter the contest or view submissions at http://newsitem.com/contests. Learn more in the advertisement on Page A11 of today's edition.

Divorces

Nicole L. Fillmore from Avery Fillmore, both of 517 Mountain St., Trevorton. Married May 30, 2008.

John Dunkelberger from Lisa Dunkelberger, both of 171 Parkview Road, Elysburg. Married Oct. 20, 1996.

Andrea Shade, 411 Oak St., Trevorton, from Troy Adam Shade, SCI-Retreat, Hunlock Creek. Married Dec. 21, 2001.

Marriage licenses

Kasey Dean Poeth to Walter Truman Byers, both of 215 Main St., Ranshaw. Issued Nov. 21.

James A. Schiavoni to Felicia Ann Wetzel, both of 143 S. Shamokin St., Shamokin. Issued Nov. 22.

Jarrod Phillip Nell, 62 Short Cut Road, Abbottstown, to Tania A. Kerstetter, 5304 Upper Road, Shamokin. To be issued Nov. 24.

Property transfers

Larry P. Welfer, Nancy R. Welfer, to Eric D. Holtzapple, Ashley M. Holtzapple, property in Sunbury, $1.

Justine G. Fendt (estate), Brandy L. Updegraff (executrix), to Rodney L. Murphy II, Emily A. Dettmer, property in Sunbury, $71,050.

Britcor Properties LLC to Michael A. Habowski, property in Mount Carmel, $12,000.

Wesley A. Hack to Michael J. Fullmer, Stephanie A. Fullmer, property in Riverside, $4,000.

Huanne Archbald to Cheryl A. Sweeney (trustee), Scott A. Groce (trustee), Huanne Archbald Irrevocable Grantor Trust (by trustee), Brian Snyder, property in Sunbury, $1.

Mervin L. Stoltzfoos, Rachel Stoltzfoos, to Isaac Z. Glick, Martha S. Glick, property in Jordan Township, $850,000.

Francis M. Anonia Jr., Cheryl A. Anonia, to Chad Wolfgang, Jessica Wolfgang, property in Shamokin Township, $85,000.

FNB Bank NA to Sara A. Longenberger, property in Mount Carmel Township, $25,000.

Edward L. Ross, Susan E. Ross, to Walter A. Celsky Jr., Melinda S. Celsky, property in Lower Augusta Township, $1.

Keith R. Tressler to Lindi S. Snyder, William E. Fuller Jr., property in Herndon, $1.

Martin L. Raker (trustee), Mollie P. Raker (trustee), Raker Family Trust (by trustee), to Martin L. Raker, Mollie P. Raker, property in Lower Augusta Township, $1.

Alan Swank Jr. to Katie Lynn Shingara, property in Coal Township, $1.

Northumberland County Sheriff, Dennis Barker, to J. Pacific Ventures LLC, property in Mount Carmel, $1,451.39.

Murray K. Strausser to Murray K. Strausser, Debra L. Strausser, property in Sunbury, $1.

Holly A. Foulke to George Foulke, property in Mount Carmel, $29,000.

Janet F. Polastre to Gregory Polastre, property in Ralpho Township, $51,907.

James R. Kessler to Melody A. Latsha, property in Sunbury, $1.

Nathan D. Snyder, Kaitlin M. Snyder, to Jonathan P. Williams, Kaitlyn E. Williams, property in Ralpho Township, $139,900.

Bobby P. Faulkner, Dorothy R. Faulkner, to Gail E. Carper, property in Riverside, $1.

Gail E. Carper to Bobby P. Faulkner, Dorothy R. Faulkner, property in Riverside, $1.

Vincent Paczkoskie, Bernadette B. Paczkoskie, to John H. Grazier, property in Shamokin, $1.

Dennis J. Dombroski, Jean L. Dombroski, to Robert W. Mark, Alexandria J. Mark, property in East Cameron Township, $200,000.

Eileen J. Carter (by agent), Shirley M. McNevich (agent), to Alexander Ostrovyak, Angela Satteson, property in Upper Augusta Township, $100,000.

Roger P. Grattan to Abdul Awan, property in Jordan Township, $15,000.

James E. Stank, Gloria T. Stank, to David J. Fisher, property in Shamokin, $18,000.

Timothy D. Snyder, Carol L. Snyder, to Jamie D. Reed, Kim L. Reed, property in Shamokin, $7,200.

Northumberland County Tax Claim Bureau, Slade A. Shreck, to Kenneth Adams, Debbi Adams, property in Sunbury, $4,165.39.

Northumberland County Tax Claim Bureau, Connie L. Ness, Mark S. Snyder, Paul Gilbert-Snyder, to Arlen K. Snyder, property in Upper Mahanoy Township, $5,000.

Northumberland County Tax Claim Bureau, Dale A. Martin, Kevin E. Raker, Mary R. Raker, property in Lower Augusta Township, $4,100.

Northumberland County Tax Claim Bureau, Julius Muhlberg, Florence Muhlberg, to Kelly M. Wilson, Shawn F. Hartman, property in Shamokin, $6,160.35.

Northumberland County Tax Claim Bureau, Melvin R. Snyder, Gloria F. Snyder, to Kristy M. Heim, property in Sunbury, $5,300.

Northumberland County Tax Claim Bureau, Michael A. Filipczak, Judith A. Filipczak, to Judith H. Brandt, property in Marion Heights, $1,967.99.

Northumberland County Tax Claim Bureau, Robert E. McDonald, Adrienne L. McDonald, to Pennymac Corp., property in Ralpho Township, $1,046.51.

Michael Joseph Ziegler earned the rank of captain in the U.S. Army May 1. Ziegler, who is stationed at Fort Eustis, Va., is a veteran of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

Ziegler is the husband of Christina (Bainbridge) Ziegler, and is the father of Marissa and Christopher Ziegler.

He is a son of Michael and Rosalie Ziegler, of Kulpmont, and a grandson of the late Walter and Bertha Ziegler and the late Joseph and Euphemia Yancheski.

Ziegler is a brother of Steven and Damian Ziegler, Mary Rosalie Gushen and the late Aaron Ziegler.

Second in an occasional series

Ralpho Township's participation in the Southern Columbia Area School Jointure was not a foregone conclusion.

A reorganization plan prepared by the Northumberland County School Board and approved by the state Department of Public Instruction in 1953 placed Ralpho in a hypothetical future school district, "Administrative Unit 6," with Shamokin City, Shamokin Township, Coal Township and East Cameron Township.

Three years earlier, according to a report in the Shamokin News-Dispatch, Ralpho Township School Board was involved in consolidation talks with Cleveland, Mayberry and Rush townships. Such an alliance, though it would have crossed county lines, would have made sense because all three townships are contiguous with Ralpho. But nothing ever came of the idea. In that year - 1950 - Ralpho Township School District had a total enrollment of more than 350 students and operated two schools, the Elysburg building for kindergarten through 12th grade and the Mount Union School in Overlook, which had an enrollment of 74. Total Ralpho school enrollment was more than 350.

In 1956, when municipalities in southern Columbia County formed a school jointure and invited Ralpho Township to participate, the Ralpho school board readily accepted.

According to a 1962 booklet, "History of the High School in Roaring Creek Valley," written by Willard R. Rhoads, of Numidia, Ralpho wanted to join the consolidation of "south side" school districts because its rural makeup was similar to that of nearby Roaring Creek Township and the tax structure in all the townships was similar to Ralpho's and, most importantly, lower than Shamokin's.

The Southern Area jointure had to be approved by the state. The Northumberland County School Board had no problem with signing off on the plan, even though a small part of the township (Overlook) is in close proximity to the Shamokin area. The Northumberland County board agreed that, overall, placement of Ralpho in a district with contiguous Columbia County townships made more sense. So Ralpho Township was released to the jurisdiction of the Columbia County School Board and never again figured in planning for reconfiguration of Northumberland County school districts.

Voters give OK

The southern Columbia County school jointure itself had its roots in a successful 1947 effort to consolidate schools in Cleveland, Roaring Creek and Locust townships. Rhoads' booklet, a comprehensive account of the history of public education in the area of Columbia County known as the Roaring Creek Valley, thoroughly recounts efforts to establish a joint elementary school in those townships so that individual grade schools or one-room school houses could be abandoned. There was considerable interest in the plan by individual school directors, and critical support was provided by Ray Cole, then the Columbia County superintendent of schools. According to Rhoads, there was no pressure whatsoever applied by the state.

The proposal to establish a joint elementary school, put to a referendum in the three townships, was approved by a wide margin, according to Rhoads. A new building, constructed on a site about one-half mile south of Numidia on Route 42, was completed in early 1953. High school students from the three high schools attended the existing high school in Numidia, which became the consolidated Roaring Creek Valley High School.

Around the same time, the Columbia County superintendent, as directed by the state, prepared a plan for school reorganization. According to Rhoads, the Columbia County plan placed the area south of the Susquehanna River - Catawissa Borough and Catawissa, Cleveland, Franklin, Locust and Roaring Creek townships - into Unit 4. Because the proposed district would not have the recommended student enrollment of 1,600, efforts were made to include one or more additional communities. Rhoads cites meetings that were held to which representatives of Ralpho, Shamokin, Mayberry and Rush townships were invited.

An agreement for the proposed new district by representatives of the six original Columbia County districts plus Ralpho was signed Nov. 13, 1956. The jointure was approved by the state Nov. 20.

The name "Southern Area Joint School" was selected in October 1956, Rhoads reported, and general agreement was given for a site for the future junior-senior high school. The school, located on Route 487, in Franklin Township, was opened in 1962. Until the new school was completed, existing high schools in Elysburg, Catawissa and Numidia continued to function.

The new jointure suffered a brief setback when Catawissa Borough withdrew as a participant in 1957. According to Rhoads, Catawissa's departure prompted school officials to delay the implementation of the jointure until July 1, 1958, but Catawissa subsquently returned to the jointure in 1959.

Some residents of the Overlook-Sunnyside area of Ralpho Township decided in January 1958 that they wanted to secede from Ralpho and unite with Shamokin Township. According to Rhoads, this effort was prompted by a desire to send Overlook and Sunnyside children to school in Shamokin, which is closer. At the end of 1958, however, the residents' petition for annexation was denied in Northumberland County Court.

Agreements that formed school jointures provided for joint boards, composed of representatives of member districts, to supervise joint school operations. As a result of the statewide school reorganization program, the original Southern Area Joint System was dissolved June 30, 1965, and the Southern Columbia Area School District was created, with a single board and administration. That final step was seamless because the consolidation had then been operating effectively for almost 10 years.

NEXT: The Mount Carmel Area school merger.

The following landlord/tenant claims or judgments were filed in magisterial district court:

Hugh A. Jones, Mount Carmel

Ronald Moser, of Mount Carmel, against Tricia Wyman, of Mount Carmel, for $1,205, filed Nov. 17. A hearing is scheduled for Nov. 25.

Vince Guarna, of Mount Carmel, and remitter Fox Coal Company Inc., of Mount Carmel, awarded $1,919.80 Nov. 20 from Dawn Dormer, of Mount Carmel, for rent in arrears and filing fees.

John Gembic III, Shamokin

Michael Currid, of Danville, awarded $1,107.10 Nov. 18 from Irene Wolfe and William Register, both of Shamokin, for rent in arrears and filing fees.

Zoe Russell, of Shamokin, awarded $936.60 Nov. 21 from Jenifer Broscious, of Shamokin, for rent in arrears and filing fees.

Masser holding farmer's breakfast

ELYSBURG - State Rep. Kurt Masser (R-107) will host his annual farmers breakfast from 9 to 11 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 4, at Ponduce Farms, 270 White Church Road.

Dr. Dennis Calvin, director of Penn State Cooperative Extension, will be the guest speaker at the event. As director, Calvin administers program planning, budget, facilities, and human resources management as well as government, industry and constituent relationships for Penn State Cooperative Extension.

"This is an informative event for the hard-working men and women in our state's number one industry," Masser said in a press release. It's a great way to discuss the issues that are most important to them.

Due to space limitations, Masser is requesting residents wishing to attend to RSVP by calling the full-time district office in Elysburg at 570-648-8017, or the part-time district office in Danville at 570-275-3700.

Shamokin school board to reorganize

COAL TOWNSHIP - The annual reorganization meeting of the Shamokin Area school board will be held at 6 p.m. Dec. 3 in the library of the Northumberland County Career and Technical Center.

Benefit for Hodgkin's victim

RANSHAW - A $20 night will be held Saturday at Brady Fire Company to benefit 14-year-old Meghan Erdman, of Sykesville, Md., who suffers from Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Meghan is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Terry Erdman, Sykesville, Md., and granddaughter of Marie Erdman, Coal Township. Terry is a 1978 graduate of Shamokin Area High School.

The benefit sponsored by family members and friends will feature music by Double Talk from 7 to 10 p.m. and include food and beverages. Doors open at 6 p.m.

At the age of 12, Meghan was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in early December 2012. She recently received a bone marrow transplant with her 12-year-old brother, Tim, serving as a perfect match donor.

She suffered a relapse this past spring.

For ticket information, call Dan Noll at 570-850-1964, Sue Burns at 570-259-5916, or Rick Burns at 570-259-5917.

COAL TOWNSHIP - A Shamokin man, who initially fled on foot before driving his car from the scene after stealing a video game from Walmart Supercenter Sunday afternoon, was taken into custody about 90 minutes later by Coal Township and Shamokin police at the jughandle along Route 61 across from the former Ames Plaza.

Matthew Furr, 35, of 102 S. Vine St., was committed to Northumberland County Prison on a probation detainer and faces a charge of retail theft relating to Sunday's incidents.

After allegedly stealing a video game valued at $40, police said Furr fled from security personnel at 3:18 p.m. and ran into a wooded area near Walmart. An asset protection employee from Walmart and Coal Township Patrolmen Edward Purcell and Dave Sage searched the wooded area for about 20 minutes, but were unable to locate Furr.

Through a store video camera, police were able to find Furr's 2002 Subaru Outback in Walmart's parking lot and kept the vehicle under surveillance until Furr returned to it a short time later.

Furr then drove the car north on Route 61 toward Shamokin before being taken into custody without incident by Purcell, Sage, Shamokin Cpl. Jarrod Scandle and Patrolman Raymond Siko II at about 4:50 p.m. at the jughandle across from the former Ames Plaza.

The car was impounded by police and removed from scene by Anthracite Towing.

During the search for Furr, police in Mount Carmel, Mount Carmel Township and Ralpho Township were notified to be on the lookout for the suspect in their respective municipalities. Since the car was registered to Furr under his former address in Sunbury, police in Sunbury were contacted to look for the suspect at his former residence.

POTTSVILLE - The vice president of a now-defunct Millersburg bus company admitted Wednesday in U.S. District Court he and his company defrauded two Dauphin County school districts, including Upper Dauphin Area, of more than $1.4 million.

Todd M. Harris, 49, of Dalmatia, and Harris Transportation Corp. each pleaded guilty to mail fraud.

Senior U.S. District Judge Sylvia H. Rambo accepted the pleas but deferred sentencing pending preparation of presentence reports.

However, the company's lawyer paid $188,000 in restitution on its behalf Wednesday when it entered the plea and was set to pay an additional $237,000 Friday. Under the terms of Harris' and the company's plea agreements, further restitution payments will be made by the defendants as the court directs.

Harris faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Federal prosecutors alleged in a six-page information filed Nov. 5 Harris routinely submitted false mileage claims to Halifax Area and Upper Dauphin Area between September 2008 and June 2011.

As a result, Upper Dauphin Area overpaid Harris Transportation by $898,057, while Halifax Area overpaid it by $566,556, prosecutors said. During those school years, according to prosecutors, Upper Dauphin Area paid Harris about $3.6 million, while Halifax Area paid it about $1.3 million.

Prosecutors also said the state Department of Education was a victim because it reimbursed the districts for more than 80 percent of their transportation costs.

Upper Dauphin Area officials discovered the fraud after conducting an audit in summer 2011, prosecutors said.

In a prepared statement, Upper Dauphin officials said they authorized Transfinder Corp. in the spring of 2011 to conduct a transportation study of bus and van routes. That study revealed the mileage discrepancies on 20 of the district's 21 bus routes, according to the statement.

District officials said that when confronted with the study, Harris Transportation agreed to repay $337,175.77 to Upper Dauphin, which was done before Wednesday's and Friday's repayments.

Halifax Area and the state auditor general's office then conducted audits, revealing that Harris routinely inflated the mileage statements by 10 to 30 percent, according to prosecutors. State auditors spent hundreds of hours reviewing the transportation billing issues and turned over their results to federal prosecutors.

Upper Dauphin Area and Halifax Area terminated their contracts with Harris Transportation early in 2012, and the company went out of business shortly after, prosecutors said.

In their statement, Upper Dauphin officials said they now use a software program to verify independently the actual mileages of the bus and van routes.

"When Harris Transportation's conduct was uncovered by the district, it took immediate steps to report the wrongdoing to local, state and federal authorities and substantial steps to recover improper overpayments which were made," according to the statement.

The U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General, the Dauphin County Criminal Investigation Division and the Office of General Counsel of the state auditor general's office investigated the case, which is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Douglas Daniel.

SUNBURY - A double home was destroyed and five other houses damaged in a three-alarm fire Monday morning.

Crews were called to the rental property at 1102-1104 Miller St. at 8:50 a.m. and found the structure fully involved, said Sunbury Third Assistant Fire Chief Paul Brown.

After determining no one was inside, firefighters went into a defensive mode.

"We wanted to keep the blaze from spreading to other structures," Brown said.

The firefighters had their work cut out for them because of the wind, but were able to save nearby homes.

"Most of the damage that we had on the other homes was melted siding and broken windows, but they are all livable," said city Fire Chief Ken Kipple Sr.

Firefighters had the blaze under control at approximately 9:50 a.m. and the scene was cleared at 12:48 p.m.

"We had a good water supply and everyone worked very hard," Kipple said. "We did have a bit of a manpower issue, because of the timing of the fire. That is why we went to the three alarms."

No cause; not suspicious

State Police Fire Marshal Kirk Renn was on scene Monday for an investigation. He said the fire started in the front of the home at 1102 Miller St., but there was too much damage in the structure to determine a cause.

Renn and Kipple said the fire is not considered to be suspicious.

The double home, located near the Sun-Re Cheese plant and Geiser Guns, was a complete loss. The second floor collapsed onto the first and the roof caved in. No firefighters or residents were injured.

Names unavailable

According to the Sunbury City Code Enforcement office, the home is owned by David and Emma Wengerd, of Lewisburg. The office could not provide the names of occupants because the occupancy record for the property was last updated Sept. 13.

Kipple said Monday afternoon a list of occupants living in each side of the double home was not available.

"We spoke with the landlord's wife, and there were a number of people living at the two residences," he said.

According to a press release from the American Red Cross, five adults and three children were being assisted by the organization with food, clothing and shelter.

"A demolition crew came on scene to assess the situation and the structure will be coming down in the next couple of days because of the amount of damage," Kipple said.

Assisting Sunbury Fire departments were crews from Coal Township, Shamokin, Shamokin Dam, Upper and Lower Augusta and Northumberland, and fire police and Sunbury City Police officers.

CATAWISSA - A 55-year-old Roaring Creek Township woman charged with stabbing her live-in boyfriend in the neck and wrist earlier this month had her case sent to Columbia County Court after forfeiting her right to a preliminary hearing Monday before Magisterial District Judge Craig Long.

Deborah A. Shoemaker, of 119 Independent St., decided to waive the case to county court after conferring in the courtroom for about 20 minutes with her attorney Elizabeth Wood of the county public defender's office.

Assistant district attorney Brenda Hess was prepared to present several witnesses at the hearing, including the victim, David A. Retallack, 62, but their testimony wasn't needed.

Retallack talked with Hess, Locust Township Police Chief Allen Breach and Patrolman Paul Hilliard, the arresting officer in the case, outside the office for several minutes before being informed the hearing would be waived to county court.

Retallack, who was hospitalized for two days after allegedly being stabbed by Shoemaker on Nov. 12 at their residence near Slabtown, was given a ride home by a Locust Township officer.

Shoemaker was transported by Hilliard back to Columbia County Prison, where she's been incarcerated since the stabbing.

No date has been set for Shoemaker's next court appearance.

The defendant and victim both declined comment as did both attorneys in the case.

After the stabbing, Shoemaker initially told police she didn't mean to kill the victim, but later claimed she hoped he died.

Retallack suffered a one-inch cut to his inner left wrist that severed an artery, two neck wounds and a laceration on the back of his right hand. He was flown by Life Flight helicopter to Geisinger Medical Center, Danville.

A preliminary breath test administered by police on Shoemaker registered a blood-alcohol content of .268 percent.

During an interview with police, Shoemaker said she was in the midst of making dinner when Retallack kept asking her for a bottle of vodka, which she had hid from him. Shoemaker said her boyfriend became angry when she refused to give him the vodka and slapped her across the face twice.

Shoemaker said she then told Retallack that she had knives and warned him, "Don't ever touch me again."

The defendant told police she had knives in her hand when Retallack came at her and slapped her in the face again. At that point, Shoemaker said, "Don't put your hands on me or I will cut you."

Shoemaker admitted cutting Retallack with a kitchen knife in the left wrist and throat area in the kitchen and dining room area, but didn't realize the cuts were so deep.

After being stabbed, Retallack stumbled backward and fell to the floor, Shoemaker said. Shoemaker said she attempted to stop the profuse bleeding by using a dog leash as a make-shift tourniquet before calling 911.

In addition to a felony of criminal attempt to commit homicide, Shoemaker is charged with a felony of aggravated assault and misdemeanors of simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.

SHAMOKIN - Monday's record-high temperatures are expected to plummet early today when a low pressure system moves through the area, bringing an expected six inches of snow Wednesday.

"I'd say it was quite an eventful week," said Aaron Tyburski, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in State College.

At 69 degrees, Monday afternoon had record-high temperatures for Nov. 24, Tyburski said. The previous record was set in 1931 at 66 degrees.

But the heat won't be sticking around for long due to the low pressure system.

"How warm we get (in front of the low pressure system) is how cold we can get behind it," said Tyburski. "25 degrees above normal to 15 below normal."

He said the temperature will drop to the 30 degree range today.

Around sunrise Wednesday, snow will begin in the western part of the state. Accumulation will start in our area by mid-morning, he predicted.

For area schoolchildren who are off for the Thanksgiving holiday, the snow will be fun.

"At the beginning of the storm, it will be the packing type snow for snowmen, snowballs," said Tyburski.

But holiday motorists can expect headaches caused by slick streets. Tyburski said the precipitation might arrive before the freezing temperatures.

"It looks like temperatures will start off probably around 35 (degrees and) we might even see a few rain showers as it starts," he said. "The temperatures will drop rather quickly."

Drive carefully

The wintery mix will cause the roads to become slick rapidly, PennDOT warned in a statement released Monday.

"Motorists should be aware that if this storm begins with rain or freezing rain, we generally won't pretreat roads because the rain will wash salt brine away," PennDOT Secretary Barry J. Schoch said in the statement. "This is why it's so critical that we have real-time conditions and that drivers closely watch forecasts to decide whether they should travel."

PennDOT warned motorists to stick to the most traveled roadways because they will be plowed first. Travelers can also check conditions on a color-coded map at www.511pa.com or by calling 511.

Kevin Richardson, public works foreman in Shamokin, said he has plenty of rock salt on hand for the coming storm, but anticipated a shortage of trucks.

"We're not quite ready," Richardson said Monday. "We have some equipment still set up for leaf collection. We're going to be a little short-handed."

Tyburski said the snow is expected to taper off around midnight Wednesday. Temperatures will remain in the 20s for Thanksgiving Day, and no precipitation is predicted for that day, he said.