The Lead: The Curfew Heads to the Council
Monroe UnfilteredStroudsburg Borough Council meets tonight at 7 p.m. to take up the fallout from the Aug. 29 Main Street takeover, and the business owners who watched it happen are already on record.
Tonight's session is expected to address where things stand with Mayor Ellen Currie's state of emergency, which has kept a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. gathering ban on Main Street between Fifth and Ninth streets in place since Sunday.
Lisa Diemer, who owns Main Street Makery, told WFMZ she's glad the curfew bought some breathing room: “I'm really happy about the curfew because it's going to give the police and the businesses time to figure out a plan on how we can make this safer and not allow that to happen again.” Jere Dunkelberger, whose family has run Dunkelberger's Sports Outfitter for 54 years, struck a more measured tone, calling downtown “very vibrant” and saying he hopes the takeover was “an extremely isolated situation.”
Stroud Area Regional Police announced Tuesday it's adding standing Quality of Life patrols to the Main Street corridor, targeting areas with high complaint volume, and those patrols are set to continue after the proclamation expires Friday at 5 a.m.
Investigators also want a word with one specific driver. Police are asking the public for video of a blue Corvette Stingray sporting a fictitious New York plate reading “MAFIA,” seen doing donuts during the Aug. 29 gathering. Tips can stay anonymous.
The takeover was four days ago. Tonight's meeting is the first chance for elected officials to weigh in publicly on what happens next.
