MONROE UNFILTERED: THE DAILY BUZZ | Sept. 24
A Gang-Exit Defense and Time to Pony Up
Thursday, September 24, 2026
DAILY WEATHER
Wow, wasn’t yesterday just amazing? I met three people going for walks in my neighborhood who randomly said, “Isn’t this weather the best?” I had no argument.
Thursday stays pleasant: partly cloudy, a high near 67°F, a steady northeast breeze, and just a 5% chance of rain. Tonight's low drops into the upper 40s to around 50°F. Friday warms to about 72°F under more clouds, with no more than a stray late-day shower.
About that nor’easter on the national news: the National Weather Service in Mount Holly expects the storm to stay far enough offshore to keep heavy rain away from our area. The Jersey Shore and the Delaware and Maryland beaches take the brunt, with big surf and coastal flooding. For us, it mostly means a breezy north wind and a damp weekend.
Saturday and Sunday both bring a chance of showers, with highs in the 60s, though the forecasts disagree on just how wet it gets. If you're headed to Pickle Me Poconos in downtown East Stroudsburg on Saturday (noon to 6 p.m.), be prepared, and don’t turn sour (groan…dad joke) if it rains.
MURDER TRIAL OPENS WITH A GANG-EXIT DEFENSE
The murder trial of Matthew Morales opened Tuesday with two very different stories about what happened in the smoking area of a Middle Smithfield Township bar. No verdict had been reported as of Wednesday night.
Morales, 33, of Tobyhanna Township, is charged with criminal homicide and two felony firearms counts in the May 24, 2024, shooting death of Henry Koroma Jr. at My Place Bar & Grill on Milford Road. In his opening statement, Monroe County District Attorney Michael Mancuso told jurors the shooting was captured by several surveillance cameras in an area of the bar known as the “Chicken Coop,” according to the Pocono Record. Mancuso said a fight broke out when Koroma's girlfriend attacked a woman who was with Morales, that Morales pulled a gun, briefly left the fight, then came back and raised and lowered the gun several times before it fired. He also pointed to texts in which Morales told Koroma he was “willing to risk it all.”
Defense attorney Alex Ward told the jury a different story. He said both men belonged to the Jets, a set of the Bloods gang, and that Morales, who joined at 17 and went to federal prison in 2015, had been trying to get out. Ward said Morales feared that leaving the gang meant his own blood would have to be spilled, and that he skipped what was supposed to be his exit meeting at an East Stroudsburg bar that day. According to Ward, the group then found Morales at My Place, Koroma threw the first punch, and Morales, whose gun was not loaded at first, loaded it and fired only after he ran out of ways to get away.
Co-defendant Raymond Batiste, 40, faces two felony counts of hindering apprehension. Mancuso said Batiste picked up shell casings and drove Morales to Allentown without helping Koroma. Batiste's attorney, Chief Public Defender Jason LaBar, called his client the “third wheel in the worst position ever” and said there is no evidence he picked up any casings. Police didn't find Morales until August 2024, after he was shot eight times at a Salt Lake City nightclub and survived.
Both men are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Opening statements are not evidence; the jury will decide which version of that night holds up. We'll report the verdict.
THE DAILY RUNDOWN
Time to Pony Up? The Monroe County Transportation Authority board meets tonight (Thursday) at 5:30 p.m. at its headquarters, 134 MCTA Drive in Swiftwater, to take up fare increases for the Pocono Pony's Shared Ride service (not the regular fixed-route buses). If approved, the new fares take effect Oct. 1.
The full fare would rise 11% to 15% depending on distance: a trip under 4 miles goes from $20 to $23, and a trip over 30 miles goes from $55 to $63. Co-pays for riders with disabilities rise by the same 11% to 15%, to between $3.45 and $9.45. Seniors, whose rides are 85% subsidized by the Pennsylvania Lottery, would pay 25 to 50 cents more per trip. That sounds small until you do the math on the shortest trip, where the senior co-pay goes from $1 to $1.50, a 50% jump.
How does that compare to a rideshare? When we checked Uber prices a little before 9 p.m. Wednesday for similar distances, the Pony's full fare came in higher, even before the proposed increase. Admittedly, that's one snapshot in time, and rideshare fares rise and fall with demand. Some of that extra cost buys something Uber doesn't offer: rides are booked by phone with a real person, the buses come equipped with wheelchair lifts or ramps, and drivers help riders on and off. On the other hand, the service runs only on weekdays during limited daytime hours, trips have to be booked at least a business day ahead, and the bus picks up other riders along the way.
The bigger point is that most Shared Ride passengers never pay the full freight. Seniors and riders with disabilities pay subsidized co-pays, and somebody covers the rest: the Pennsylvania Lottery and public transit dollars. In other words, us.
CEO Rich Schlameuss said the update “is necessary to ensure we can sustain quality, dependable transportation for Monroe County.” If you ride, or even if you're just one of the taxpayers helping foot the bill, you can still weigh in: show up tonight, fill out a comment card on the bus, or call 570-839-6282.
STATE OF THE KEYSTONE: SKILL GAMES & MANDATORY SENTENCES
State lawmakers come back to the Capitol on Monday, Sept. 28, and two Pennsylvania Supreme Court rulings are waiting for them. According to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, they have six session days scheduled before the first deadline hits, with Election Day on Nov. 3.
Skill Games Are on the Clock. Back on July 16, we told you the state Supreme Court had ruled that skill games, the slot machine look-alikes in gas stations, bars, and social clubs, were illegal gambling devices, and that lawmakers had until October to write rules for them. None of that made it into the budget. The court's ruling, issued June 15, found the terminals are slot machines under the state Gaming Act. Its stay expires Oct. 13.
Pennsylvania State Police have already said what happens next: starting Oct. 14, anyone possessing, operating, or maintaining the machines outside licensed gaming facilities is subject to “criminal prosecution and immediate seizure,” and simply unplugging a machine does not count. The machines have to be physically removed. Spotlight PA estimates there are about 70,000 machines statewide. Pace-O-Matic, the company behind much of the software, says more than 10,000 small businesses and fraternal clubs run them, and warns that American Legions, VFWs, and volunteer fire companies would have to cut staff or community support without that money.
The fight is over the tax rate. According to the Capital-Star, Senate Republicans have backed 35%, casinos want something closer to their own 55%, and the industry prefers a flat $500 monthly fee per machine, an approach a Senate bill (SB 1079) projects would raise about $300 million a year. Rep. Brad Roae (R-Crawford) has floated a six-month extension instead. If nothing passes, the local clubs and fire halls that lean on that revenue are the ones who feel it first.
1,100 Life Sentences Still in Limbo. The second deadline already came and went. As we reported July 30, the Supreme Court struck down mandatory life without parole for second-degree (felony) murder in March and gave lawmakers until July 24 to replace it. The House passed HB 1042 by a 102 to 100 vote, with State Rep. Tarah Probst voting yes; the Senate had passed its own bill, SB 1400. The two chambers never reconciled them and left for the summer.
They come back with more than 1,100 prisoners serving sentences the court has ruled unconstitutional. SB 1400 sets a 35-year minimum for future convictions, with narrow exceptions, and keeps life without parole available to judges. HB 1042 would let people already serving seek parole after 30 years and leaves future sentencing standards to the state Commission on Sentencing. Retired Lancaster County Judge David Ashworth told the Capital-Star the House version “leaves too many things up in the air.”
Six session days, two deadlines, and an election five weeks later. We'll tell you which one they actually finish.
WHAT WERE YA THINKIN'?
Harley-Davidson, Hit Again. Pocono Mountain Harley-Davidson in Tannersville can't catch a break. In April, we told you the state Attorney General's office had charged members of a motorcycle-club theft ring over a distraction theft at the dealership back in June 2025. Now Pocono Township Police have charged Tyree Sharod Robinson in a different theft there: a motorcycle taken on March 19, 2026, according to the department's CrimeWatch page, which says the store's surveillance video captured it. Robinson faces theft by unlawful taking, a third-degree felony, and three additional charges, and is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Wrong Number. Pocono Township Police have charged Jose L. Gonzalez with theft by deception after a woman reported a March 26 phone call from someone claiming to work for her bank. Police say Gonzalez got $997.01 out of her. If “your bank” calls asking you to move money, hang up and call the number on the back of your card. Gonzalez is presumed innocent until proven guilty.