Author

Patrick Abdalla
Correspondent Patrick Abdalla covers northeastern Pennsylvania for the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. Follow him on Twitter @PaddyAbs.
‘Resources are going to be spread thin’: NE Pennsylvania rallies after weekend storms
By: Patrick Abdalla - September 11, 2023
SCRANTON – The sun was shining when Susan Berkoski, her mother, and son left her house on Saturday. By the time they came home, flood waters from heavy rains had washed away the Ransom Township couple’s driveway and opened up a sinkhole in their yard. Before the night was over, she watched as a fire […]
Funding the 500: ‘We’ve been overlooked for years.’ NEPA districts wait for level playing field
By: Patrick Abdalla - June 21, 2023
In Hazleton and Old Forge, officials each are waiting for a funding boost.
How Scranton’s Hispanic community is driving the rebirth of the city’s South Side
By: Patrick Abdalla - April 18, 2023
'When you drive through the streets it seems nice, everyone smiles,” merchant Michelle Lloyd said.
Study: Passenger trains could return to Scranton by 2028
By: Patrick Abdalla - March 23, 2023
Trains traveling between Scranton to New York City would transport an estimated 470,000 people a year beginning in 2028, according to a two-year study released Wednesday by Amtrak and the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority. The region’s railroad advocates have been trying to bring back passenger rail since the 1970s, and they say the study […]
Efforts to bring passenger rail back to NEPA keep chugging along
By: Patrick Abdalla - January 26, 2023
'Hopefully, 2023 is the year this went from an idea to implementation,' rail backer Tyler Kusma told the Capital-Star
Who’s tougher on crime? A familiar 2022 fight comes to a high-stakes NEPA congressional race
By: Patrick Abdalla - October 23, 2022
Democratic incumbent Matt Cartwright and Republican Jim Bognet are trading jabs in their 8th District rematch.
Biden touts public safety policy in visit to Wilkes-Barre
By: Patrick Abdalla - August 30, 2022
The president also knocked Republicans who have defended the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Biden tests positive for COVID, cancels Pa. trip
By: Patrick Abdalla, Jennifer Shutt and Ariana Figueroa - July 21, 2022
The Democratic president had been set to visit Philadelphia and Wilkes-Barre. Those visits were canceled.
At home in Scranton, facing a fight in D.C., Biden pitches his sprawling domestic agenda
By: Patrick Abdalla - October 20, 2021
'This has been declared dead on arrival from the moment I introduced it,' Biden said. 'But I think we’re going to surprise them because I think people are beginning to figure out what’s at stake.'
In Luzerne Co., feds investigate issues with mail-in ballots
By: Patrick Abdalla - September 23, 2020
Federal officials are investigating a “small number of mail-in” ballots that were sent into Luzerne County’s Bureau of Elections on Sept. 17, according to the local District Attorney’s office.
In Scranton, despite pandemic, annual Fringe Festival lets art find a way
By: Patrick Abdalla - September 21, 2020
Fringe Under Glass, the replacement for the COVID-19 preempted Fringe Festival, runs from Sept. 25-27. Expect some changes.
On home turf for CNN town hall, Biden pitches White House race as fight ‘between Scranton and Park Ave’
By: Patrick Abdalla - September 17, 2020
During a "drive-in" town hall appearance hosted by CNN’s Anderson Cooper at PNC Field, Biden tried to stake out a populist message while tackling an array of topics.