News from Nanticoke

This is pretty funny. I'm reading one of the two local papers, the Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice, and Nanticoke seems to be dominating the news.

Page 2: PennDOT misspells new Nanticoke street signs. This is funny and sad. The intersection of Kosciuszko and Main has been going through renovations for the last...well, at least six to eight months. And during that time there has been no sign letting people know where Kosciuszko Street is, or the fact that if you turn right instead of left at the traffic light, you will be on Jefkin Street instead of Kosciuszko.

The new signs are spelled "Koscliuszko" and "Jifkin".

Most people are woefully ignorant of American history and thus have no idea who Thaddaeus Kosciuszko, hero of the American Revolution, was. Still, if you're the person making the street sign, don't you think you want to double-check the spelling. It's being fixed.

But Jifkin isn't. 'Cause it turns out that's the right spelling. Apparently "Jefkin" was spelled wrong all along.

Page 12: Nanticoke plans second citywide yard sale for Saturday. But you already knew that!

Page 13: Nanticoke council urges restoration of funds. It's a big revitalization hokey-pokey here in Nanticoke, involving funding for a multi-story parkade that is planned for the downtown. Some politician keeps pulling the federal funds that have been designated for the project and reassigning them to other projects in communities outside of Nanticoke, even after they were restored to the Nanticoke project. Turns out this politician is Paul Kanjorski, a native son of Nanticoke. Why he's doing it is the subject of some speculation, but it may boil down to one word: politics.

Page 14 is a Nanticoke-fest in itself: Pamela Urbanski's Nanticoke Area Notes. Half the column is dedicated to the crowning of the Homecoming Queen, including biographies of her court. There's a Fall festival being held Saturday from 10 to 4 at Holy Child Grove in Sheatown. The City-Wide Yard Sale gets another mention. There's a Chinese Auction at St. Stan's on Sunday - doors open at 11 and auction begins at 1. And Holy Child Parish is holding its annual chicken barbecue Sunday from noon to 3.

Oooh, on Page 15 Nanticoke has two items in "Community Notes": The Women's Group of St. Jon's Lutheran Church is holding a rummage sale on Friday, October 12 from 4 to 8 and Saturday, October 13 from 9-3 with a bake sale on Saturday. And the First English Baptist Church will hold a spaghetti supper and bake sale an Saturday, October 13 from 4-7 (takeouts 4-5). (Two bake sales on the same day! Lutherans vs. Baptists! Fight! FIGHT!)

On page 18 an editorial entitled "Get LCCC's $5.6M" again covers the scuttlebut about the parkade funding, and how it may derail Luzerne County Community College's plans to build a health sciences center. (Or is it a Culinary Arts Center? Or both?)

...and that looks like that's it. But that's plenty. I've never noticed so much Nanticoke coverage before!