In the News

Cities in our area are expecting to receive millions of dollars next month from the American Rescue Plan.

Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton and Williamsport all set to receive more than $17 million each in recovery funds.

"It still doesn't feel real," Scranton mayor Paige Cognetti said Tuesday. "We're tremendously excited for this opportunity. It really is a game changer in our ability to recover from COVID."

We're now seeing how much money our metro cities will be receiving out of the $45 billion allocated to cities. Scranton set to receive more than $68 million. Wilkes-Barre, roughly $37 million. Williamsport, roughly $25 million. Hazleton, roughly $17 million dollars.

Cognetti says that kind of money will be a huge help to our area.

"There's a lot of provisions in there where you can work on low-income housing, you can work on support for small businesses. We're very excited about those things," she said. "We're very excited to again work on storm water, flood mitigation, those types of issues."

Cognetti says she expects the city to receive the money in June.

Congressman Matt Cartwright Tuesday announced more than $58 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan for colleges, universities and students in the area.

"The relief is here to help keep students on track to achieve their goals and position these important institutions for success after a difficult year," Cartwright said in a statement.