The Outlaw Steve Corbett ink splotch

Scranton Lives Matter! Ch. 18

February 15, 2021

Jumping up from his table in the Polka Palace restaurant, the soft worn fringe on Casey Weatherhogg’s brown suede jacket fluttered like waves in a Ripple wine spill on a windy coastal California day. Pointing to the front window, he squawked. Look, look, he said, it’s a Polish falcon. The sparse lunch crowd looked out […]

Scranton Lives Matter! Ch. 17

February 12, 2021

You lied to me, Zerelda said. The second-in-command of the bugaboo revolutionary movement held a hockey stick. I found this in your closet, she said. I was thinking about trying out for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Earl said. I found this, too. The photograph showed Earl standing among shards of glass with his back to a […]

Scranton Lives Matter! Ch. 16

February 8, 2021

A city police officer cutting through the courthouse parking lot for a smoke found Shannon Kelly on her back buried in a snow drift with her arms and legs stiff and extended like a bug caught in an icy slate sidewalk crack. Frantic, he called in the corpse over the radio. Deceased white female, dressed […]

Scranton Lives Matter! Ch. 15

February 5, 2021

Dear President Biden, My name is Mabel Weatherhogg. I’m 95 years old and was born and raised in Scranton. Unlike you, I still live here. I’m a Marywood College graduate who worked as a public librarian for more than 40 years. I’m writing to invite you to be my date at next month’s Lackawanna County […]

The Shadow of the Gun

February 4, 2021

Serving in Congress is now a matter of life and death. That’s why congressional leaders must stop colleagues who pack loaded pistols on Capitol property and pose a threat to kill somebody. Disarmament is long overdue for federal lawmakers who prowl the Hill with itchy fingers on the triggers like gunfighters in a shoot ’em […]

The Outlaw Steve Corbett ink splotch