News

1:36 PM

US troops unlikely to resume combat duties in Iraq

WASHINGTON (AP) — It would take "a complete failure" of the Iraqi security forces for the U.S. to resume combat operations there, the top American commander in Iraq said as the final U.S. fighting forces prepared to leave the country.

1:27 PM

Morristown man wins triathlon

LEHMAN TWP -- Doug Clark, of Morristown, N.J., won the Wilkes-Barre Triathlon Sunday morning.

10:41 AM

4 US troops killed in eastern Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Four U.S. troops were killed in fighting in eastern and southern Afghanistan on Sunday, and a former guerrilla leader who battled Soviet invaders decades ago was killed by a roadside bomb in the country's north.

10:40 AM

Live Clicks: The Wilkes-Barre Triathlon

Photos of the Wilkes-Barre Triathlon currently underway.

2:30 AM

It’s a ripe season

PLAINS TWP. – This has been a fruitful year compared to 2009 for local farmers who tend fields of tomatoes.

1:29 PM

Governor candidates visit festival

PITTSTON – Gubernatorial candidates Tom Corbett and Dan Onorato are...

2:30 AM

A priest for the ages

WILKES-BARRE – As a child, he played catcher and pitcher on a baseball team with other kids in the city’s Miners Mills section. Years later, Harry J. Lewis found his true calling not on the baseball diamond but inside Sacred Heart Church in Plains Township, where he was an altar boy.

2:30 AM

Iran starts up nuclear reactor with supervision

BUSHEHR, Iran — Trucks rumbled into Iran’s first reactor Saturday to begin loading tons of uranium fuel in a long-delayed startup touted by officials as both a symbol of the country’s peaceful intentions to produce nuclear energy as well as a triumph over Western pressure to rein in its nuclear ambitions.

2:30 AM

Poll sees GOP ahead in area Congress tilts

Lou Barletta has amazing name recognition. Tom Marino does not. But a recent poll shows both Republicans ahead of incumbent Democrats in races for U.S. House seats representing Northeastern Pennsylvania.

2:30 AM

TV’s ‘Star Gazer’ dies

MIAMI — Jack Horkheimer, the creator and host of the PBS show “Star Gazer” who helped popularize naked-eye astronomy, has died. He was 72.

2:30 AM

Crestwood readies bus schedule

WRIGHT TWP. – The Crestwood School Board tied up some loose ends Thursday night before the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year.

2:20 AM

Honored newsman Dow dies

NEW YORK (AP) — Emmy-winning CBS News correspondent Harold Dow, who helped shape the documentary program “48 Hours” and covered the kidnapping of Patricia Hearst and the Sept. 11 attacks, has died. He was 62.

2:20 AM

Area blaze kills girl, injures 2

DICKSON CITY— Authorities say a 12-year-old girl died and her mother and sister were critically injured in an early morning fire in their home.

2:20 AM

Top regulator fears drill ban will cost jobs

WASHINGTON — A six-month ban on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico would directly put more than 9,000 people out of work and indirectly affect another 14,000 jobs, according to a memo from the nation’s top drilling regulator.

2:20 AM

Illinois woman drowns in manhole

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A 23-year-old woman has drowned after getting trapped in an uncovered manhole during heavy rain in Illinois.

2:20 AM

Massachusetts ACLU questions ‘patdown’

BOSTON — The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts is questioning the propriety of stepped-up security checkpoint procedures at airports in Boston and Las Vegas.

2:20 AM

Obituaries

David, Adele

2:20 AM

Donald Thompson

Fugitive Since: May 22, 2010

2:20 AM

King’s grads urged to reach out

WILKES-BARRE – It was a smaller, cozier event than the spring graduation at the Mohegan Sun Arena, but the King’s College summer commencement held Saturday at St Mary’s Church of the Immaculate Conception was perhaps stronger on theme.

2:20 AM

They’re seeing red

PITTSTON – The tomato is a remarkable fruit. So remarkable it draws throngs to downtown Pittston each year for the annual Tomato Festival. The city is celebrating its late-summer tradition for the 27th year this week with its usual fun and frivolity.

2:20 AM

They came to be Cool (again) on the Square

WILKES-BARRE – Area residents looked no farther than Public Square on Saturday to keep their cups cold with brew and ears happy with local music, as the second annual Summer’s Cool on the Square event brought many to the downtown.

2:20 AM

Singing the blues about shale at Gas Stock concert

LEHMAN TWP. – The Northeast Pennsylvania Citizens in Action Group got a little help from their friends Saturday at their first ever Gas Stock concert and rally.

2:20 AM

Ideas form in legislative lull

HARRISBURG — In the lull before the Legislature reconvenes for the final days of this election-year session, some individual lawmakers have put forth a potpourri of provocative ideas.

2:20 AM

Chamber is powerful political force

WASHINGTON — At times subtle, at times loud, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is spending record amounts on lobbying and in election battlegrounds, elbowing into the nation’s politics in unprecedented ways for the business community.

2:20 AM

Sweden withdraws WikiLeaks warrant

STOCKHOLM — Swedish authorities revoked a short-lived arrest warrant for the founder of WikiLeaks on Saturday, saying a rape accusation against him lacked substance.

2:20 AM

Floods complicate political goals in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The floods tearing through Pakistan’s breadbasket have further weakened this already unstable country, inflicting more economic pain on its people and threatening a key pillar of the U.S.-led war against Islamist militants — who stand to gain from the misery. For now attention is focused on meeting the immediate needs of the millions of people affected by the still-spreading disaster.

2:20 AM

Hip-hop star’s quest for Haiti presidency denied

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — In the span of a few weeks, hip-hop star Wyclef Jean turned the world’s attention to a little-known political race in a small, impoverished Caribbean country — with little campaigning, no TV ads and zero debates.

2:20 AM

In brief

It survived the Depression, a bomber crash and King Kong’s climb, but can the Empire State Building withstand a bedbug infestation?

2:20 AM

Iraq burden falls on U.S. diplomats

WASHINGTON — As the White House eagerly highlights the departure of U.S. combat troops from Iraq, the small army of American diplomats left behind is embarking on a long and perilous path to keeping the volatile country from slipping back to the brink of civil war.

2:20 AM

Bear who mauled caretaker is euthanized in Ohio

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A bear that mauled to death a caretaker was euthanized Saturday at the request of the family of the victim, whose father said he had told his son to leave the job.

2:20 AM

King’s graduates

MASTER OF EDUCATION

2:20 AM

Fired USDA worker Sherrod says new job to be discussed

EPES, Ala. — Former USDA official Shirley Sherrod says she is meeting with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Tuesday to discuss a new job offer.

2:00 AM

Yahoo, Bing build plan to challenge Google

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Just two years ago, Yahoo spent $79 million to rebuff a hostile takeover from Microsoft and preserve its independence. Now, a big part of Yahoo’s future prosperity depends on how well it can join arms with Microsoft on a high-risk, high-reward technical project.

2:00 AM

Worrying that bond investors may get burned PERSONAL FINANCE GAIL MARKSJARVIS

THIS WEEK’S turmoil in the Dow Jones industrial average may be reinforcing to investors who have turned away from a stock market they deeply distrust, with many seeking security in bonds.

2:00 AM

Wheat farmers watch volatility, plan next step

MINNEAPOLIS, Kan. — Steve Clanton flips through page after page of charts, pulls up electronic spreadsheets on his laptop computer and mentally thumbs through the know-how he’s piled up over 35 years of raising grain.

2:00 AM

Pa. casinos deal with lack of dealers

ALLENTOWN — Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate might be more than 9 percent, but the jobless rate among blackjack dealers in the state is probably close to zero.

2:00 AM

BUSINESS AGENDA

NETWORKING MIXER: Tuesday, 5:30-7 p.m., Beech Mountain Lakes restaurant, Route 309, Hazleton. Complimentary hors d’oeuvres, drink specials, door prize drawings. Free for Greater Hazleton Chamber members, employees and guests. Reservations required; call 455-1509 or e-mail jpacelli@hazletonchamber.org.

2:00 AM

Learning hard lessons from floods

NEW YORK — Jay Hennessey learned how hard it can be to protect a business from disaster. And to recover. Earlier this month, Hennessey reopened his Ashland City, Tenn., gym three months after it was shut by an unexpected flood.

2:00 AM

Emphasize the positive when requesting transfer

Q: I would like to take a job in my company’s training department. Training is the “big thing” in our organization this year, and I want to be a part of it. The director of training has encouraged me to transfer, but my boss, who is the head of operations, does not like the idea.

2:00 AM

CORPORATE LADDER

Two Wyoming Seminary administrators were recently promoted to senior positions at the school.