Love is in the air in downtown Hazleton and Mayor Joe Yannuzzi is playing Cupid. As part of the Feb. 13 schedule of events for Second Friday, the mayor has offered to perform wedding ceremonies for anyone who would like to get married or renew their vows on Valentine’s Eve.
The lobby of the Hayden Tower at the Markle Building will serve as the backdrop for the ceremonies. Decorations will be going up shortly around the fireplace and sitting area, and The Pines and other downtown restaurants will be offering special deals to anyone who says “I do.”
(read more) 
The Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce is seeking businesses to participate in the 2015 Greater Hazleton Job Fair set for Thursday, March 26.
The job fair will be held at the Best Western Genetti Inn & Suites on Route 309 in Hazleton from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
This one-day event will provide participating businesses with an informal yet confidential forum to discuss career opportunities and options with hundreds of individuals from throughout the entire greater Hazleton area. Participating employers may accept resumes, offer information about career fields and employment opportunities, conduct interviews, promote their business and also seek interns, summer employment, full- and part-time positions. Hazleton Chamber officials have reported the job fair has averaged approximately 700 to 900 job seekers for the past several years.
(read more)
Four-hundred children, on average, who enter foster care due to crisis each year in Luzerne County, arrive with nothing but the clothes they’re wearing, according to state Rep. Tarah Toohil (R-Luzerne). Brandon’s Forever Home and Benco Dental are working together to provide a more encouraging option.
Organizers from the nonprofit organization established to raise adoption and foster care awareness arrived in Pittston at Benco’s home office recently to collect the first installment of children’s toothbrushes and toothpaste the company’s Benco Family Foundation plans to donate.
(read more)
U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-Pennsylvania) pressed the Obama Administration on efforts to end the “persistent” wage disparity at Tobyhanna Army Depot. Despite promises, the Administration has failed to address why some Tobyhanna workers are included in the New York labor market and others who perform similar work are not. This different classification creates a wage disparity because those not classified in the New York labor market receive less pay. In a letter to the heads of the government’s Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Casey demanded a quick resolution to the wage disparity issue.
(read more)
Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi, announced that during the recent holiday season, its employees and contractors collected and hand-delivered truckloads of gifts, non-perishable food items, gently used clothing and supermarket gift cards to Pocono Services for Families and Children (PSFC). The 2014 “Adopt-a-Family” holiday drive marked the 20th anniversary of the tradition, which has supported hundreds of Monroe County Head Start children and families since its inception.
(read more)
The national tour of the Broadway musical Million Dollar Quartet, inspired by the electrifying true story, will make its Scranton premiere Jan. 23 - 25 at the Scranton Cultural Center as part of the PNC Bank Broadway Series, produced by Broadway Theatre League and NAC Entertainment.
The international Tony Award-Winning musical, Million Dollar Quartet is set on Dec. 4, 1956, when an auspicious twist of fate brought Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley together. Sam Phillips, the “Father of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” who was responsible for launching the careers of each icon, gathered the four legendary musicians at the Sun Records storefront studio in Memphis for the first and only time. The resulting evening became known as one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll jam sessions in history.
(read more)
The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on Jan. 15 announced the results of its TENORM Study, which analyzed the naturally occurring levels of radioactivity associated with oil and natural gas development in Pennsylvania. While the study outlines recommendations for further study, it concluded there is little potential for harm to workers or the public from radiation exposure due to oil and gas development.
(read more)
