MONROE UNFILTERED: THE DAILY BUZZ | August 17
Missing Teen Found Safe, a Name Behind Friday's Marshals Arrest, and Stroudsburg Set to Pick a New Council Member
Monday, August 17, 2026
THE WEEK'S WEATHER: A WET START, A SOGGIER FINISH THAN WE THOUGHT
By the time you're reading this, the coldest part of the day is already behind you — lows dipped into the mid-60s around midnight. It's a warm climb from here to a high near 84°F, with clouds building through the day and showers and thunderstorms likely by afternoon and into the evening. Keep the umbrella handy during the commute home. Temperatures ease back into the upper 50s overnight before Tuesday clears out nicely: sunny, dry, and a pleasant 85°F. Wednesday holds that same clear pattern, with a high near 86°F.
Thursday cools to a high near 80°F with showers likely, especially by midday. The back half of the week looks wetter than earlier forecasts suggested: expect a high near 80°F Friday and 79°F Saturday, both with a real chance of afternoon showers, and Sunday trending toward showers likely (and possibly a thunderstorm) with a high near 79°F. Overnight lows settle into the upper 50s for most of the week.
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THE DAILY RUNDOWN
Missing Teen Found Safe. A 15-year-old Jackson Township girl reported missing on August 11 was found safe over the weekend, Pennsylvania State Police say. Troopers at the Fern Ridge station had been searching for Khristelle Sosa Cazares since her disappearance; no further details on the circumstances have been released. Glad to close this one out with good news.
⛽ Local Fuel Index: Prices Continue to Drop (if you squint). The average for East Stroudsburg is $4.01 per gallon, down 1.2% from $4.06 per gallon this time last week. That is also below the state average of $4.07 per gallon.
WHAT WERE YA THINKIN'?
A Name for Friday's Fugitive. We told you Friday that the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force had picked up a Stroudsburg-area man wanted for allegedly attacking a woman with an edged weapon at an apartment complex. Now we have the name: Israel Bracero, 43, of Stroudsburg. According to police, Bracero — who lived in the Creekview Apartments complex — attacked a woman he knew there on July 6, leaving her with lacerations to her face and shoulder that required hospital treatment. An arrest warrant went out July 8; Marshals caught up with him August 12, and he was also wanted on a parole warrant out of New York. He's facing aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment, and weapons charges; a judge denied him bail at arraignment. He is, of course, presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Wrong Move on Firearms. Also picked up by Stroud Area Regional Police last week: Malikh Christian Jamison, 36, arrested August 13 on a nearly four-year-old warrant. Police say Jamison, who was ineligible to own firearms, gave false information in an attempt to buy one from a local sports outfitter back in 2022; the warrant went out that November, and it finally caught up with him this month. He's facing charges of selling or transferring firearms and unsworn falsification to authorities. He is presumed innocent until proven guilty; we'll follow up if more details surface.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Stroudsburg Borough Council (Tuesday, Aug. 18, 7 p.m., 700 Sarah Street). The headline item: council votes on who fills the seat vacated by Joseph Shay, choosing from the field of seven candidates we told you about earlier this month. Also on the docket: two public hearings on parking-zone ordinance revisions, a $2,781.20 shed purchase for Bryant Street Park, an $88,141.50 payment on the parking garage repair project, and a $24,950 HVAC installation at the Borough Building.
East Stroudsburg Borough Council (Tuesday, Aug. 18, 7 p.m., 24 Analomink Street). The headline item: council votes on awarding the borough's 2026 paving contract to M&J Excavation, Inc. for $569,275 — the lower of two bids received, and pricier than the borough expected. Also on the docket: replacing century-old water lines on Spangenburg Avenue (in service since 1938, with multiple leaks over the past five years), roughly $246,000 in water-system equipment upgrades funded by 2026 debt financing, and a push to shrink a projected $500,000 flood-culvert repair on Oakland Avenue by working out a cheaper fix with the Army Corps of Engineers and DEP.
THE PSA: THAT SMELL IN YOUR CAR MIGHT NOT BE WHAT YOU THINK
I had the most Poconos car repair last week. I got in the car, which we usually keep in our garage, turned on the A/C, and suddenly was confronted with the pungent smell of ammonia. I picked up my partner, who got in and asked me, with all his usual tact, “Did you pee in your pants?” Since I had not, I instead brought the car to Midas on 611. They agreed: “Your car sure does stink.” As far as they could tell, something had gotten into the A/C and was then pursued by a snake (the snakeskin was still in there). I asked what it was, and they said, “We all got together around the barrel and we just couldn't tell.” When I picked up the car, I asked if this was normal out here in the Poconos. The mechanic yelled out from the back, “We did have one Camry that was that bad, but that's about it.”
A bit of advice: put any grass seed or birdseed in rodent-proof containers, set traps along the edge of your garage, seal up any holes, and keep an eye out for rodents. It's cheaper than the $500-plus bill to fix it if they get into your car.