The Times-Tribune from Scranton, Pennsylvania • A1

SCTIMESTRIBTIMESPAGES A01 I 062415 01:11 EDWjTA BLACK DEAL OF THE DAY $30 FOR $15 MERCURY CLEANERS it A he 3ftmt0 tribune NEWSSTAND $1.00 HOME-DELIVERED 53.3 FINAL WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2015 Culm heap to be moved Coal waste will fill in Carbondale mine behind Carbondale Area Elementary School. DEP spokeswoman Colleen Connolly said it will be some time before the work actually gets underway; a start date and total cost remain to be determined. "Carbondale is in the develop ment stages," she said. "We haven't even begun to design it on paper yet." Funding for such a project typically comes from the state's Abandoned Mine Land grant program, Please see CULM, PageA8 doned mine pit in the Pioneer City Moving the estimated 375,000 cubic yards of culm the equivalent of filling about 115 Olympic-size swimming pools would take 22,730 round trips, but would provide a remedy to what the state Department of Environmental Protection calls a dangerous coal refuse pile several hundred feet BY JON O'CONNELL STAFF WRITER CARBONDALE regulators want to haul a of coal waste to a nearby aban SEVERE WEATHER Hostage policy changing Families can pay ransom without prosecution fear FOLEY BY JULIE PACE AND ERIC TUCKER ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON Softening longstanding policy, the Obama administration will tell families of Americans held by terror groups that they can communicate with captors and even pay ransom without fear of prosecution. The shift comes as part of a broad review of U.S.

hostage guidelines that will be released today President Barack Obama ordered the review last fall after the deaths of Americans held hostage by the Islamic State. The families of some of those killed complained about their dealings with the administra- SOTLOFF KASSIG ERIC GINNARD HERALD NEWS VIA AP Cody Scerine examines the remains of his grandparents' house on Tuesday in Coal City after a tornado passed through the area Monday. The National Weather Service confirmed a twister touched down in the community of approximately 5,000 residents, about 60 miles southwest of Chicago. Severe weather that pounded the Midwest and spawned tornadoes shifted on Tuesday to the East Coast, where tornado warnings were issued in several states and rainstorms were strong enough to stop train service. Story A9 Official releasing report on double pensions Please see POLICY, Page A8 MUELLER Apps let kids book rides BY MICHAEL LIEDTKE ASSOCIATED PRESS SAN FRANCISCO Sacha Simmons used to dread taking a taxi to her high school or some- j.

place else to hang are SOjev out with her teen- than the age friends when her parents neighborhood weren't around to car pool give her a ride. Sometimes, the Nick Allen cab drivers Shuddie ceo wouldn't show up or, when they did, they were rude or hag-Please see RIDES, Page A8 PENSIONS! a for the seventh retiree remains pending. Mr. DePasquale previously said his auditors looked at that issue, as well as the circumstances surrounding the awarding of benefits to 28 double pension recipients whose pensions are not being challenged by the board. Contact the writer: tbeseckertimesshamrock.com fits to several dozen employ-ees who accepted a 2002 retirement incentive offered by then-Mayor Chris Doherty The report's release comes a few weeks after the nonuniform pension board held hearings for six of the seven retirees it contends were improperly awarded the excess benefits.

The hearing BY TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER STAFF WRITER State Auditor General Eugene DePasquale announced he will release a special report today detailing "irregularities" his office found following a five-month investigation of Scranton's nonuniform pension plan. The report will be made public at an 11:15 a.m. press conference in the governor's room at Scranton City Hall. Mr. DePasquale launched the probe in February, after a series of stories in The Times-Tribune raised questions regarding the awarding of double pension bene DEPASQUALE Said he will release report detailing "irregularities." Confederate flags, merchandise sales surging II This is happening even as retailers pull items of the divisive symbol from shelves.

BY TOM MURPHY ASSOCIATED PRESS Even as national retailers pull Confederate flags from shelves and websites after the shooting deaths of nine black church members in South Carolina, manufacturers that produce the divisive symbol say that sales are now surging. "I don't sell the Confederate flag for any specific group, I just sell the flag," said Kerry McCoy owner and president of Arkansas' FlagandBanner.com. Lawmakers overwhelmingly vote to debate Confederate flag. A6 "This is America. Everybody has a right to be represented whether you are a history buff or a nut." Ms.

McCoy said her company expects to sell about 50 of the flags over the next week. That's about half of what it typically sells in a year. Amazon, Sears, eBay and Etsy said Tuesday that they would remove Confederate flag merchandise from their websites. Sears does not sell the merchandise inside Sears or Kmart stores. A wave of merchandise bans came a day after Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

said that Please see CONFEDERATE, PageA6 Flag history During the Civil War in the 1860s, the rebel South's military flew several styles of Confederate battle flags what most Americans think of as the Confederate flag. Separately, the rebel government also flew several Confederate national flags. What became the lasting symbol of the rebel South and is now known as the "Confederate Flag" or "Rebel Rag" is the rectangular version of the Confederate Army battle flag a star-studded blue overlaying a field of red. Many Southerners have embraced it, claiming pride in their region's heritage. Parts of its design were incorporated into the state flags of South Carolina, Mississippi and Georgia against the wishes of African-American civil rights groups.

ASSOCIATED PRESS DANNY JOHNSTON ASSOCIATED PRESS Confederate flag-themed stickers are displayed at Arkansas Flag and Banner in Little Rock, on Tuesday. Major retailers are halting sales of the Confederate flag and related merchandise. Copyright 2015, The Times-Tribune Good morning Virginia still alive The Cavaliers defeated Vanderbilt, 3-0, on Tuesday night to force a winner-take-all game in the College World Series. The deciding game is tonight at 8. Sports, Bl What's your excuse? If being late to work was not a problem, no one would need to come up with an excuse.

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