Wilkes-Barre is a city in and the county seat of Luzerne County,Pennsylvania,United States. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania,it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the second-largest city,after Scranton,in the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre–Hazleton,PA Metropolitan Statistical Area,which had a population of 567,559 as of the 2020 census,making it the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Pennsylvania after the Delaware Valley,Greater Pittsburgh,the Lehigh Valley,and Greater Harrisburg.
Luzerne County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. According to the United States Census Bureau,the county has a total area of 906 square miles (2,350 km2),of which 890 square miles (2,300 km2) is land and 16 square miles (41 km2) is water. It is Northeastern Pennsylvania's second-largest county by total area. As of the 2020 census,the population was 325,594,making it the most populous county in the northeastern part of the state. The county seat and largest city is Wilkes-Barre. Other populous communities include Hazleton,Kingston,Nanticoke,and Pittston. Luzerne County is included in the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre–Hazleton Metropolitan Statistical Area,which has a total population of 555,426 as of 2017.
Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County,Pennsylvania,United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census,Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the Wyoming Valley metropolitan area,which has a population of 562,037 as of 2020. It is the sixth-largest city in Pennsylvania.
Patrick Joseph Leahy,is an American politician and attorney who represented Vermont in the United States Senate from 1975 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party,he also was the president pro tempore of the United States Senate from 2012 to 2015 and from 2021 to 2023. During his tenure he chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee,the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Agriculture Committee. At 48 years,Leahy is the third-longest-serving U.S. senator in history,and is the longest-serving member of the United States Congress to serve solely as a senator.
Wilkes University is a private university in Wilkes-Barre,Pennsylvania. It has over 2,200 undergraduates and over 2,200 graduate students. Wilkes was founded in 1933 as a satellite campus of Bucknell University,and became an independent institution in 1947,naming itself Wilkes College,after English radical politician John Wilkes after whom Wilkes-Barre is named. The school was granted university status in January 1990. It is classified among "Doctoral/Professional Universities" and accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
WBRE-TV is a television station licensed to Wilkes-Barre,Pennsylvania,United States,serving Northeastern Pennsylvania as an affiliate of NBC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group,which provides certain services to Scranton-licensed CBS affiliate WYOU under a shared services agreement (SSA) with Mission Broadcasting. The two stations share studios on South Franklin Street in downtown Wilkes-Barre,with a news bureau and sales office next to WYOU's former studios on Lackawanna Avenue in downtown Scranton. WBRE-TV's transmitter is located at the Penobscot Knob antenna farm near Mountain Top.
Paul Edmund Kanjorski is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 11th congressional district from 1985 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza is an 8,050-seat multi-purpose arena located in Wilkes-Barre Township,Pennsylvania just northeast of Wilkes-Barre.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport is mostly in Pittston Township,Pennsylvania,and spans the border between Luzerne County and Lackawanna County. It is owned and operated by the two counties;it is about 7 miles from Scranton and 8 miles from Wilkes-Barre. It is the fifth-largest airport in Pennsylvania by passenger count and calls itself "your gateway to Northeastern Pennsylvania and the Pocono Mountains".
Patrick Joseph Murphy is an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd United States Under Secretary of the Army. He was the first veteran of the Iraq War to be elected to the United States House of Representatives,representing Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district from 2007 to 2011. Murphy is a former anchor of Taking the Hill on MSNBC. Murphy is currently on the faculty of Wharton Business School and the Distinguished Chair of Innovation at the United States Military Academy.
The Diocese of Scranton is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction,or diocese,of the Catholic Church in northeastern Pennsylvania in the United States. It is a suffragan see of Archdiocese of Philadelphia,established on March 3,1868.
Daniel John Flood was an American attorney and politician,a flamboyant and long-serving Democratic United States Representative from Pennsylvania. First elected to the US House in 1944,he served continuously from 1955 to 1980. Flood was credited with leading the effort to help the Wilkes-Barre area recover after the 1972 effects of the Agnes Flood.
Scott R. Pilarz was an American Jesuit priest and academic. He served two stints as president of the University of Scranton,first from 2003 to 2011 and again from 2018 until 2021. Pilarz was announced as the successor of Kevin Quinn on March 21,2017,serving until his death in 2021. Prior to returning to Scranton,Pilarz served as the president of Marquette University and Georgetown Prep.
James Clifford Timlin was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Scranton in Pennsylvania from 1984 to 2003. Timlin was accused in a 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report of covering up sexual abuse crimes by priests in his diocese during his tenure as bishop.
Carmel Sirianni was an American politician who was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1974.
Matthew Alton Cartwright is an American politician and lawyer serving as the U.S. representative from Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district since 2013. The district,numbered as the 17th district from 2013 through 2019,includes a large swath of northeastern Pennsylvania,anchored by Scranton,Wilkes-Barre,and the Poconos. A member of the Democratic Party,Cartwright defeated 10-term incumbent Tim Holden,the dean of Pennsylvania's congressional delegation,in the Democratic primary on April 24,2012,57%–43%. He then defeated Republican nominee Laureen Cummings in the general election on November 6,2012,61%–39%. As an attorney,Cartwright previously worked at the law firm of Munley,Munley,and Cartwright.
William R. Evanina is an American national security official who served as director of the United States National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) until his January 2021 resignation. As director of the NCSC he was the head of national counterintelligence for the U.S. Government. Evanina previously served as director of the Office of the national counterintelligence executive (ONCIX) before it transitioned into the NCSC. Prior to his service as national counterintelligence executive,he was the chief of the Counterespionage Group for the Central Intelligence Agency. He gained his initial law enforcement experience as a special agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Grey J. Dimenna,served as the ninth president of Monmouth University in West Long Branch,New Jersey,assuming office on February 28,2017. He was preceded by Paul R. Brown. Dimenna's initial term of office was extended by the university's governing board in June,2017 with an announced end date of June 30,2019. The end of his tenure was extended to July 31,2019 with the appointment of Patrick F. Leahy as the tenth president of Monmouth University with a term beginning on August 1,2019.
Edward Francis Blewitt was an American civil engineer,businessman,and politician who served as a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 22nd district from 1907 to 1910. He was a maternal great-grandfather of Joe Biden,the 46th and current president of the United States.
