Legislator in arrears on state loan for restaurant

SCRANTON - A Northeastern Pennsylvania restaurant co-owned by a state legislator has made just one partial payment in the last three years on a decade-old state loan.

State Rep. Ken Smith (D., Lackawanna) is the co-owner of Smith's Restaurant in Scranton. Records show that the business has not a made a full monthly payment on the loan since July 2006, two months after Smith won the Democratic nomination in the 112th District. Smith said the restaurant is a victim of the economic downturn.

The $125,000 loan at 5 percent interest was made in 1998. The last partial payment was $1,000 last December.

Jeffrey Box, president of Northeastern Pennsylvania Alliance, which controls the loan, said the agency was exploring its legal options. - AP