Hazleton Situation Report?

[Domer Dad]

Wha's the deal in Hazleton and the surrounding area?

The mayor has declared a curfew and several other tougher-than-normal actions.

Has the situation up there deteriorated or is the Mayor over-reaching or ???

Seems odd for Hazelton PA to be on the forefront of increasing unrest (vs the cities, which I expected to have erupted by now).

Any local reports?

[middlefinger]

.

Hazelton is the epicenter for Luzerne county

a high concentration of non-English speaking illegals


https://www.wnep.com/article/news/lo...4-e55b14ca73cb

[2DogsBarking]

Search and ye' shall find:
https://www.republicanherald.com/cor...d-19-1.2615121

Nightlife quieted in Hazleton and three neighboring communities that enforced curfews to slow down cases of COVID-19 so patients won’t swamp hospitals.

“I don’t think people realize we’re in a race against time. The more people stay home, the more time we give our doctors,” said James Montone, a supervisor in Hazle Township, which set a nightly curfew between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., as did Hazleton, Freeland and West Hazleton.

The Pennsylvania National Guard won’t be patrolling streets — at least not yet — but Luzerne County deputy sheriffs will deploy in Hazleton this weekend to help police, county Manager David Pedri said. Pedri asked the governor to send the National Guard on Friday and scheduled a follow-up call about his request for next week.

In Hazleton, firefighters also will join police and deputies on night duty.

“Hopefully, that makes people refrain from leaving their homes and traveling unnecessarily,” Joseph Zeller, Hazleton’s director of community development and recreation, said.

By setting curfews, local leaders hope to interrupt the spread of disease. Hazleton had two cases of COVID-19 on March 26. Seven days later, on Thursday, there were 310 cases. John Fletcher, president of Lehigh Valley Hospital-Hazleton, implored people to stay home when they can and stay 6 feet apart when they must go outside.

Only 18% of people were practicing social distancing, said Fletcher, who said improving that to 70% could keep cases manageable.

Curfews began Saturday in Hazleton and Freeland but started Friday in Hazle Township and West Hazleton, where Police Chief Brian Buglio patrolled during the wee hours.

“It’s dead, the only thing you see is tractor-trailers on the road,” Buglio said.

The curfew notices in West Hazleton, Freeland and Hazle Township allow people to be out at night if they are going to or from work at an essential business, are law officers or others providing or supporting government services or taking care of the health of a pet.

Buglio said West Hazleton received a call from a manager who asked if he should close his grocery store at 8 instead of 9 p.m.

“Grocery shopping after 8, we’re allowing it,” Buglio said. “The stuff we’re looking to curtail is people just randomly being out for no reason.”

Curfew notices for all four municipalities also prohibit more than four people from gathering on streets or other public places day or night. The rules require people to stay at least 6 feet apart and prohibit vehicles with more than four people from parking or stopping.

Hazleton’s ordinance says violators can be fined up to $300 or jailed up to 90 days.

While the proclamation signed by Mayor Jeff Cusat doesn’t list exceptions for which people can travel at night, Police Chief Jerry Speziale said officers will use discretion and explain to people why the curfew is in place.

“This is about saving lives and not spreading the virus. This is serious,” Speziale said in a text message.

Dr. Rachel Levine, Pennsylvania’s secretary of health, said in a news conference streamed on Facebook that the surge of cases will be manageable if Pennsylvanians stay home. If they don’t, then patients could overwhelm any hospital system.

When people are outside, Gov. Tom Wolf on Friday asked them to start wearing masks. Masks have been in short supply, so Wolf said to save masks stamped with N95 for health care workers, but his administration provided instructions on how to sew cloth masks.

Levine said the cloth masks reduce virus that enters the air or lands on frequently-touched surfaces from coughs and sneezes. Masks also help block spread of disease from people touching their face with contaminated hands.

Members of Christ Lutheran Church in Hazleton wore masks when handing out lunches to 25 motorists who drove through the parking lot on Saturday.

Then, the volunteers delivered 75 leftover lunch bags with ham and cheese sandwiches, chips, water and Easter candy to the hospital and a city firehouse, the Rev. Wayne Lupole said.

For Palm Sunday and again on Easter Sunday, Lupole will preach to an empty church in services that will be broadcast at 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. on WYLN-TV.

Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church will show Mass on its website. SSPTV will show Catholic Masses at 7 a.m., 9 a.m., noon and 6:30 p.m. today.

On Saturday, volunteers at the McAdoo Fire House held a drive-through flower sale for Easter while offering baskets of lilies, tulips and daffodils for $20. They will continue the sale between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. today, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 11.

Van Hoekelen Greenhouses had extra flowers after the pandemic cancelled church services and other Easter events so the firm offered to share proceeds with the fire company.

“It will help us on some of the losses we’ve taken on fundraisers we needed to cancel,” McAdoo Fire Chief Robert Leshko said.

Police chiefs said their officers are taking precautions against disease.

Speziale said Hazleton officers are wearing protective equipment, staying in cruisers when possible and keeping social distance when outside.

“Officers will take the appropriate steps to make the arrest safely and to immediately decontaminate themselves and their vehicle afterwards,” Speziale said.

Buglio said officers in West Hazleton also are cleaning the police station and disinfecting vehicles before each shift, a job that should get easier in a few weeks.

That’s when the borough expects delivery of an electrostatic disinfecting machine, which can clean an area the size of a large house before being refilled.

Buglio said borough council didn’t hesitate to buy the $1,800 cleaner.

“I tell you they’re supporting us 100%. That makes things much easier,” he said.

Contact the writer: kjackson@standardspeaker.com; 570-501-3587

[gghbi]

Wha's the deal in Hazleton and the surrounding area?

The mayor has declared a curfew and several other tougher-than-normal actions.

Has the situation up there deteriorated or is the Mayor over-reaching or ???

Seems odd for Hazelton PA to be on the forefront of increasing unrest (vs the cities, which I expected to have erupted by now).

Any local reports?

Hazelton has migrated from being an Eastern/Southern European immigrant town to a mostly Hispanic town with ties back to the NYC area, so I suspect an influx of escapees from the city has aggravated the situation there.

[Warewolf94]

I live in hazleton,and there are still transportation companies taking Van's full of workers to ny and back every day.A few companies opted to stop their Van's, but others continue.Also a friend who works at the local hospital said out of the first 300 people who had the virus,they all had 2 thing in common.Out of state ids and were hispanic.

[Democrat Gun Owner]

What do expect from a city with a hot motel and a guy running around in a mighty t-shirt???

[Roland of Gilead]

What do expect from a city with a hot motel and a guy running around in a mighty t-shirt???

Holy Luther Burbank! There's a blast from the past.

[Gunsnwater]

I propose a complete and total ban on all hubcaps in Hazelton.

[MAK762]

A majority of the people are just ignoring whats going on,there are knuckle heads out on the streets trying to give out pamphlets for what I don't know to people at red lights. Congregations in front of buildings, stores ect. Vehicles ignoring traffic signs, quads and dirt bikes disrupting traffic. I could go on and on, but that's the short of it.

[gghbi]

A majority of the people are just ignoring whats going on,there are knuckle heads out on the streets trying to give out pamphlets for what I don't know to people at red lights. Congregations in front of buildings, stores ect. Vehicles ignoring traffic signs, quads and dirt bikes disrupting traffic. I could go on and on, but that's the short of it.

In short completely normal Hazleton...