MONROE UNFILTERED: THE DAILY BUZZ | August 24
A School Board Run for the Border and a Festival Bust
Monday, August 24, 2026
THE WEEK'S WEATHER
The week starts out like a perfect martini: cool and dry. Today is sunny, a high near 76°F, with a 13% chance of rain. Tuesday holds steady, also sunny with a high of 76°F. Wednesday is just a tad warmer and partly cloudy with a high of 80°F and an 8% rain chance.
Thursday is the one to watch: afternoon and evening thunderstorms with a 68% chance of rain and a high of 79°F, so keep the umbrella within reach. Confidence is a little shakier on Thursday's numbers, though, so treat it as a rough call. Friday is pretty far out, but it is looking more like summer with a high of 81°F, a 24% chance of rain, and more humidity than sunshine.
THE LEAD
School Board Member Makes a Run for the Border. Stroudsburg Area School District board member Marilyn G. DeVries, 69, of Stroudsburg, has been charged with DUI following a crash back on February 28 at the intersection of Milford Road and Sellersville Drive in Middle Smithfield Township, according to the Pocono Record. State police say DeVries' blood alcohol content measured 0.166%, more than twice the legal limit, and she also picked up citations for careless driving, an improper right turn, and disregarding a traffic lane. Vehicles from the crash were moved to a nearby Taco Bell parking lot.
DeVries waived her preliminary hearing on August 19 before Magisterial District Judge Jamie Levy, sending the case to Monroe County Court of Common Pleas, with formal arraignment set for October 9 before Judge Janet Jackson. The Pocono Record reports it reached out to DeVries for comment; she did not respond, and a phone number believed to be hers was answered by someone who denied being her.
Like our other officials picked up for DUI, she is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. We will follow this one to arraignment.
THE DAILY RUNDOWN
Gas Holds Steady. The average for East Stroudsburg is $4.06 per gallon, basically flat from $4.01 per gallon this time last week. That's below the state average of $4.16 per gallon, up from $4.07 a week ago.
Poconos Vice. Pocono Raceway's Elements Music and Arts Festival, which drew roughly 30,000 people August 6-10, ended with a multi-agency law enforcement haul: 10 arrests for possession with intent to deliver, one additional felony arrest, eight more possession arrests, two citations, and 36 warnings. Officers seized $3,733 in cash along with 80 grams of cocaine, 65 grams of ketamine, 88.5 grams of MDMA, 50 grams of marijuana, 60 grams of THC oil/wax, and 45 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, plus four vehicles. There was also one reported sexual assault and 37 noise complaints logged over the festival's run. The Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department, Monroe County Drug Task Force, Pennsylvania State Police, Stroud Area Regional Police, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, and the District Attorney's office were all part of the response.
WHAT WERE YA THINKIN'?
The Self-Checkout Special. Stroud Area Regional Police have a felony warrant out for Renato William Sullivan, 54, of East Stroudsburg, accused of scanning only a $4.98 item at self-checkout, then walking out of the Stroud Township Lowe's with a MIG welder and welder mask worth $1,232.48 loaded into a white Ford F-150. The incident happened back in November, the store didn't contact police until March, and the warrant wasn't issued until August 20. Slow burn on this one (no pun intended...well sorta intended). He is presumed innocent until proven guilty.