• Erin Nissley of The Times-Tribune reports in detail on the newspaper's lawsuit, with remarks from lawyers on both sides as well as Larry Beaupre
Exciting! "I've never seen such a vast and blatant example of plagiarism in my 40 years of journalism," Times-Tribune Managing Editor Larry Beaupre reports after the T-T sued the TL for cribbing Scranton obits for the TL's Scranton edition. The T-T sued the TL in Lackawanna County for unjust enrichment, fraud, etc. Good stuff.
Liar – and potential perjurer – Frank Andrews Shimkus failed to get re-elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, meaning the former WYOU news director will have to take his diploma-mill advanced degrees and find work elsewhere.
(Note: This will be the most carefully-written blog post in American history.) While it isn't labeled as such, what appears to be the official/authorized biography of Richard A. Sprague is on its way to bookstores, courtesy of our friends at the American Bar Association.
Good old Frank Andrews Shimkus, who has been a hell of a time with concussions and car crashes and judges calling him out for lying, debated the challenger for his state representative's seat the other night. Read Shari Sanger's report in The Times-Tribune.
A reporter from George Washington University's student paper accompanied some College Republicans on a trip to Wilkes-Barre. One volunteer was asked if she was legally in the country. Another found an old man in his skivvies. Yum.
The substantial number of anti-Obama Democrats in Scranton has gotten a free pass from the press, especially concerning people like Tony Rodham, Jamie Brazil and other Hillary people who have cast their lot with McCain. A Columbia University student wrote an interesting story about the phenomenon.
All of you who thought you'd never see the Times Leader try to break into the Scranton market: These are strange days indeed. After scrantonedition.com soft-launched a few weeks ago, real printed editions of the Times Leader's "Scranton edition" hit the streets today.
Click above for The Times-Tribune's report. Kudos.
"I’m not condoning the use of street names; my job as a crime reporter brings me in regular contact with multiple law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, defense attorneys, defendants, witnesses and victims," Ed Lewis writes. "That’s why I want to be called “The Ambassador."
Romenesko picked up Connor's Sunday piece, where he extols the virtues of Maverick John McCain. "I could have overruled but didn’t because I believe our process was democratic, the decision a mirror of what appears to be the sentiment of many persons, perhaps even a majority," Connor writes, "and because I respect the intellectual honesty of the members of our editorial endorsement board."
Mark Kandel, former Scranton School Board member and NEIU bigshot -- and husband of WNEP's Marisa Burke -- was sentenced to 90 days home arrest for providing alcohol to minors at his home, The Times-Tribune reports.
Josh Brodesky, formerly of The Times-Tribune of Scranton, has been named the new real estate reporter at the Arizona Daily Star in Tuscon. Brodesky gets a shout-out (click above) from his new editor for coverage of the dysfunctional department of Child Protective Services there. Kudos.
A blog in Washington state is reporting that a blog in Maine is reporting that the Portland Press Herald is reporting that Times Leader Editor/Publisher Richard Connor is part of a group trying to buy the Maine newspapers owned by the Blethen family. Connor, the Portland paper reports, was born in Maine.
Karlson worked in a number of departments at WNEP going back to 1983. Condolences.
• The Times-Tribune reports more about what reporter Dave Singleton heard and where he heard it
Fight! The Times-Tribune of Scranton reported that someone yelled "kill him" at the Sarah Palin rally in Scranton on Tuesday. The threat was national news, and was fodder for Keith Olbermann's show that night. 
Have you noticed how those Starbucks coffee shops! They're everywhere!
Those of you who miss Corbett's Times Leader ruminations about his South River Street neighborhood -- who can forget the Japanese pine tree in the front yard? -- should read his WILK column about his recent return. His verdict: "Wilkes-Barre is miserable."
Cumberland County isn't exactly Berwick, but any story where a naked dude walks into a Sheetz and eats a Slim Jim is a good one.
Everyone worried about Times-Shamrock buying the Pocono Record can relax. Rupert is keeping the Record and the other Ottaway papers after all.
Turns out it was a class project. Click the screen shot at left to read the farewell note from Toby, the proprietor.
In the old news department, Ed Christine is working as news editor at the Press & Sun-Bulletin in beautiful Binghamton, N.Y. Be sure to give him a call next time you're up there taking in a B-Mets game.
Richard Sprague associates are "in a hunt for the source of what they say were illegal leaks from a grand jury," The Morning Call reports. Sound familiar? This time, the targets are Citizens' Voice reporter Dave Janoski and others who reported aggressively about Louis DeNaples, the Rev. Joseph Sica and their alleged ties to organized crime. Interesting: No reporters from Times-Tribune of Scranton or the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader were subpoenaed.
Not really. But editor Mike Lello updates readers on the latest changes at Luzerne County's biggest entertainment weekly published by Rich Connor.
We've never heard of PV Media Group, but prnewswire says James McDonald -- who "has run two of the nation’s largest weekly newspapers in Manhattan and Philadelphia, while also overseeing the launch of a hugely successful newspaper for then-Capital Cities/ABC Publishing in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pa., market" -- is the new vice president of sales. Kudos.
A flack for the National Association of Manufacturers writes at forbes.com about The Times-Tribune and the libel case involving John Murphy, Jennifer Henn, Joe Corcoran, and Randy Castellani. The piece, headlined "Too much freedom of the press," is about how a federal shield law is a bad idea. Right.
Borys Krawczeniuk and The Times-Tribune of Scranton get a shout-out on Gawker this afternoon with the paper's story about Kanjo (allegedly, maybe) bumping the camera of some dude who got in his face. Dan Flood would have busted the guy's nose.
Lauren Weisberger, 31, lived in the Abingtons for a few years when she was a kid but is often identified in print as a Scranton native. Her new novel, Chasing Harry Winston, arrives in stores this week.
So says the T&A site bustedcoverage.com. Let the misogynistic comments begin!
Former Cincinnati Enquirer reporter Cameron McWhirter has an interesting piece in the latest CJR about shield laws and the infamous Chiquita story -- supervised by Larry Beaupre, who left the paper in the fallout and is now the editor of The Times-Tribune of Scranton. (Beaupre, like McWhirter and everyone else, was played by lead reporter Mike Gallagher, who lied to his colleagues and his lawyers.) An interesting read.
If you want to melt your brain, read the Electric City account (click above) of the wedding of the two former WYOU newspeople united in taxpayer employment and in love.
We're just happy to have a new mug. But Dave Iseman impressed his bosses at the News-Leader of Springfield, Mo. enough that they picked him over 22 other applicants to run the paper's editorial page. Click above to read editor Don Wyatt's laudatory story announcing the move. Kudos.
Somehow, this seems like 
We'd been in a bit of a funk after seeing Green Ridge's own Joe Biden do so badly in the Pennsylvania primary. Or maybe we were waiting for the right bit of news to resume our solemn NEPA Media duties. This may be it: Chris Kelly has a concealed-carry permit.
Frank Shimkus, the ex-TV newsman formerly known as Frank Andrews, had his engagement announcement run in the Times-Tribune on Sunday. He will wed former TV news subordinate Gabrielle Prutisto on May 3. For the record, the announcement says Frank lives in Throop. That man needs to get his story straight.
Former Scranton Times-Tribune reporter Josh Brodesky, now of the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson, was the co-winner of the Arizona SPJ's Sunshine Award, which recognizes important contributions to FOI issues. Kudos.
At the end of the day Wednesday, two Scranton Times-Tribune alumni had the two top stories on Jim Romenesko's Obscure Store site. Matthew Kemeny of The Patriot-News in Harrisburg had a story about all the madness at the Susquehanna Township Chuck E. Cheese, while Lauren Roth of the Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va. had a story about a schoolteacher who was running an escort service on the side. Kudos to all. (Both stories have since moved down the page a bit.)
We know we're behind the curve on this, but Times-Tribune reporter Stacy Brown wrote an interesting first-person take on the high roller-only party Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty threw last week for the Clintons. Admission: $2,300 a head. The mayor invited Brown and his wife to the party, evidently the only reporter there.
That's the obvious conclusion after Connor – who wrote about the spate of anti-Semitic vandalism in Wilkes-Barre – writes that people he knows have twice recently talked about "Jewing them down" and the like. Thing is, Connor's daughter is married to a Jewish guy. Oops! He also gets a shot in at Obama for good measure.
A tipster reports that s/he heard that Agent Andy Mehalshick is moving off the anchor desk. "Since it's better than 50-50 that Lyndall Stout won't be coming back after her baby, that means an entirely new anchor team (again!) at 28." Discuss.
Scranton Times-Tribune political writer Borys Krawczeniuk has been blogging about presidential politics for the last couple weeks, which is an excellent idea. The blog has been updated regularly (*cough*) with interesting stuff. Recommended reading.
Someone tried to burn down the building housing WNEP's new Pocono bureau. Read the Pocono Record story for all the details and a picture of WNEP workers staring at a piece of lumber.
How about this for unusual: Richard Sprague, the attorney for Louis DeNaples, had a lengthy sit-down with the Philadelphia Inquirer's editorial board to talk about the DeNaples case. It's a pretty interesting story for those following the DeNaples matter closely. Will Sprague meet with the Times-Tribune staff next?
The Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors have picked their winners for 2007. Winners from The Times-Tribune are Jessica D. Matthews, Butch Comegys, Joby Fawcett and David Falchek. Winners from the Citizens' Voice are Michael P. Buffer, James Conmy and Heidi Ruckno. Winners from The Times Leader are Aimee Dilger and Fred Adams. Kudos to all.
The Scranton Times-Tribune has been disappointingly meek in coverage of Rev. and Rep. Frank Andrews Shimkus and his elaborate deception regarding his living arrangements with a woman who is not his wife. Not so on the editorial page. Thursday's editorial page criticized Andrews for "playing cat and mouse games," while John Cole's cartoon rightly mocked Shimkus for his predicament. Good stuff.
