Former T-T reporter Lynne Shedlock named new Lackawanna Co. spokeswoman

Lynne Slack Shedlock, who covered Scranton City Hall until last year, is taking over as the spokeswoman for the new majority Lackawanna County commissioners. Previous press secretary Jenine Ikeler has been fired as part of the change in administrations.

Rich Connor of the TL on Luzerne County's agent of change

Times Leader Editor Richard Connor uses presidential politics to get into a column praising Maryanne Petrilla, a new county commissioner.

In the Ft. Worth Business Press, Connor writes about his close friend in New Hampshire who is a misogynist and possibly a bigot

Former TL, T-T reporters turn up on Iowa campaign trail

Former Times Leader and Times-Tribune reporters Mike McNarney and Lauren Roth ended up in The Des Moines Register after they spent their Christmas vacation trying to get their new baby's picture taken with everyone running for president during the recently-concluded Iowa caucuses.

Former WBRE reporter Kathy Bozinski fired from county job

Kathy Bozinski, the former WBRE reporter who has been working the past few years as a spokeswoman for the Luzerne County commissioners, has been fired, Jennifer Learn-Andes of the Times Leader reports. That's quite a picture the TL ran with the story.

WTF?!? Lane Filler is "Ask Mr. Smartypants"

So we were sitting here watching the Republican debate in South Carolina and we wondered, "Is Lane Filler involved in campaign coverage?" Little did we imagine how involved he was.

Open thread: Scranton firefighter, two others killed in a.m. blaze

Critique TV and print coverage of this morning's fatal Scranton fire here. Joe Pilchesky's Web site had the news at least two hours before the Times-Tribune did, though the newspaper and reporter Charles Schillinger had a thorough and complete report by late afternoon.

You, too, could be on the CV editorial board

The Citizens' Voice is looking for someone to join the newspaper's editorial board as a "community member." Contact Jim Gittens -- and not Mike McGlynn, pictured nearby -- for details.

Best story ever: CV carrier has first W-B baby of '08, was carrying papers up until the end

Denise Allabaugh has the story of Cari Hunsinger, the CV carrier who had the first Wilkes-Barre baby of 2008 and who was carrying papers the morning before the blessed event. "My mom delivers newspapers with me. My hips were starting to hurt. I get out and walk a lot," she tells the CV. "Last night, I fell on the ice. That probably helped speed this up.”

Jen Marckini resurfaces at the TL

Former Scranton Times-Tribune reporter Jen Marckini, who left the Scranton paper recently, has resurfaced in Wilkes-Barre. She had a five-paragraph story in yesterday's paper about a Kingston stabbing.

Pocono Record = " Innovative, high-performance media group"

So says an ad on journalismjobs.com, which seeks an "Internet-oriented journalist." E-mail Tom DeSchriver at tdeschriver@poconorecord.com for details.

Corbett gets it up the ass

WILK talk-show host Steve Corbett holds forth on his blog about his recent trip to the doctor and about the importance of the regular colonoscopy.

Rich Connor of the TL on immigration and on Christmas

Times Leader Editor Richard Connor writes about immigration in his Sunday Times Leader column. Immigration = good. Fear = bad.

In Fort Worth, Connor writes about the joys of parenthood

The Scranton Times-Tribune is looking for an assistant sports editor

Do you have a creative approach to the Web? Then apply to become an assistant sports editor at The Times-Tribune of Scranton!

"The cheapest man in the whole world:" Bill Lynett

So writes V. Scott Beddome, a Wisconsin radio guy quoting fellow radio guy Lee Arnold. Beddome is publishing - on his blog - the story of how a group of Milwaukee radio guys tried to trick The Who into playing in Milwaukee. Surely an item of interest to broadcast people.

Randy Shemanski named new Electric City editor

Times-Tribune assistant sports editor – and University of Scranton pitching coach and recruiting coordinator – Randy Shemanski will take over the entertainment weekly Electric City from Matt Smith, who is working on the new site the570.com.




Read Shemanski's linkedin page

Check out the Web site Electric City Editor Matt Smith has been working on

The TL's Connor writes about his little girl, Santa Claus and a kid named Buster

Times Leader editor Richard Connor tells readers about Santa, Virginia O'Hanlon and the old New York Sun. Merry Christmas.

Former WBRE weather guy contemplating run for elected office

Vince Sweeney, who used to do the weather on WBRE, is apparently making noise on his blog (click above) about following the paths of Keith Martin and Frank Andrews Shimkus to Harrisburg and/or going on to Washington. Judging by the blog – “I never saw a chestnut roasting on an open fire until I was probably in my 20s. It made for a great lyric in a marvelous song, but chestnuts roasting was never part of my reality” – he'll fit right in.

Connor: Debit card guys are innocent until proven guilty

In another rousing defense of vigorous journalism, Times Leader Editor Richard Connor writes that "the presumption of innocence in these matters would be a refreshing return to values of the past and gentler, less skeptical times." Skepticism. Who needs it?

“We pay overtime. We are very scrupulous about paying overtime."

UPDATE: Joe Strupp wrote a story published this afternoon in Editor & Publisher. Read it here. Also, Romenesko linked to the TL story.

It's go time. In Tuesday's editions, the Times Leader reports on the federal investigation of overtime practices in the newsroom of The Times-Tribune of Scranton. Editor Larry Beaupre says the newspaper is very scrupulous about paying overtime. Former reporter Sarah Molina told TL reporter Sherry Long that "Times-Tribune reporters often worked 14-hour days and 50-to-60-hour weeks without receiving overtime pay or additional days off."

Um. So. Either Beaupre (who also called the story a "rumor") (?) or Molina is lying. Kudos to Molina for being willing to go on the record, though she'll probably be crucified for her courage.

Federal probe of Scranton Times-Tribune widens

Former reporters of the Times-Tribune of Scranton have started getting phone calls from U.S. Department of Labor investigators inquiring into how the newspaper handled overtime. Letters had been arriving in mailboxes for a few weeks. The letters, from investigator Joseph Sabol in the department's Scranton office (570-961-2636), begin: "We are making an investigation of this firm to determine if it is complying with the requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act.... In doing so, it is customary to ask some of the present and former employees for certain information by direct correspondence. The fact that we are asking for this information does not imply that this firm has violated any law."

The letter asks the respondent's duties, regular hours, and place of work. It also asks how often the person worked overtime and whether the person was paid for overtime.

Click above to see scans of the letter.