Sad Sack

My nephew at...ahem, work.

From WNEP.com (the lead story at 6 PM, no less):

Another burglary at a high school in Wilkes-Barre. That makes four breakins at three high schools this week alone.

Police caught the man they said is responsible for the latest one.

Wilkes-Barre police said a man broke in to G.A.R. high school early Saturday morning and smashed several glass doors.

It is the second time this week the school was hit. This time, police caught a man running from the scene. Investigators said it is possible he could also be responsible for other school burglaries.

For the second time this week boards covered smashed glass doors at G.A.R. high school on South Grant Street in Wilkes-Barre. School personnel said five glass doors were broken.

Wilkes-Barre police responded around 2 a.m. to the burglary at the high school.

Investigators believe 24-year-old Brandon Sack of Wilkes-Barre is responsible for the latest incident. He is charged with burglary and trespassing.

Some students said they cannot believe their school was broken into again."Terrible that a grown man has to break in to a high school for fun. They should just do something else than break in to a school. It's inappropriate," said Ayanna Warren."That's not good. What if something else happened, like if somebody was in the school," added Majeedah Nealy.

Wilkes-Barre police said they saw Sack leaving G.A.R. high school and after a short chase, caught up to him. Police believe Sack may be involved in other breakins earlier this week at G.A.R. and other area high schools.

Surveillance video from G.A.R. on Sunday shows someone trying to break into a soda machine. Police said the thief also broke into other vending machines and made off with hundreds of dollars.

On Wednesday, someone also hit the soda machines at Holy Redeemer high school.

And on Thursday, police said a burglar took a computer from E.L. Meyers high school.

As for the latest burglary at G.A.R. one parent said she is glad police were able to make an arrest.

"It's a concern, because what else will they do next? Will they go in there when the kids are in there?," said Faith Powell. "They caught someone and hopefully it will stop other people from trying to do it."

Wilkes-Barre police said it does not appear anything was taken during the Saturday morning burglary.

Brandon Sack is locked up in the Luzerne County jail. Right now he is only charged with the most recent breakin at G.A.R.



There was a time many, many moons ago, when I had full legal custody of this kid. We did what we thought "family" should do and we intervened. Things certainly did not play out as we had hoped they would, and we eventually relinquished that custody. But to those who said I was too hard on him...it's time to rethink that illogical line of thought.

He can't blame this one on any rogue judges overseeing the juvenile justice system. Nah, he's a big boy now. He done made the big time, and he's paying a visit to the big house.

It'd be enough to make me heartsick, except for the fact that I know I tried. I did what I could. Not enough, obviously.

G, nite

Luzerne County judge found guilty of DUI

Since former Luzerne County president judge, now Senior judge Chester Muroski has been tried and convicted of drunk driving and other assorted crimes against humanity by Talk Radio Circuit Judge Steve “Drinkin’ & Packin’” Corbett, I’m wondering whether Muroski will appeal his conviction to a higher court at WILK radio, or will he report directly to the local hoosegow.

His 3-day trial offered up a legal precedent in that Judge Corbett rendered his guilty verdict on the first day of the trial.

My question is, is there anyone on the face of god’s great blue and green earth that Judge Corbett doesn’t want fired, forced to resign or to be repeatedly sodomized for “crimes” that barely approach the crime that is consuming mass quantities of alcohol while in possession of a loaded firearm?

Just curious.

From the Times Leader:

A Luzerne County resident who previously was involved in a multi-county campaign plans to seek the Republican nomination in the 10th Congressional District.

David Madeira, 42, of Lehman Township, hasn’t made a public announcement, but on Friday he confirmed to The Times Leader that he will run. He said he will officially declare later this month.

The chiropractor-turned-entrepreneur ran unsuccessfully in 2006 for the state Senate seat that was vacated when Charles Lemmond retired. He finished a distant second to eventual winner Lisa Baker in a five-person race for the GOP nod.

But that experience he gained campaigning and getting his name out to four of the 14 counties in the 10th District could prove important, said Terry Casey, the executive director of the Luzerne County Republican Party.

“Dave’s been around the block and he knows the deal,” Casey said.

FULL STORY

I don’t know a helluva lot about this guy, but this part of the Times Leader story made me mumble “damn straight!”

He said he’s tired of seeing the national debt skyrocket and congressmen, including Carney, handing out checks for hundreds of thousands of dollars like it’s their money. He said free spending and borrowing needs to be reined in.

“I have six children. I don’t like the idea of passing that burden on to them,” Madeira said.

He said his conservative viewpoint on the economy is something voters will get behind.

Madeira said he believes 2010 will see “a huge wave of support for ordinary people like myself” who run for office to change the country’s direction.

Damn straight.

And what does Chris Carney’s voting record say to me?

Uh, spend, spend and spend some more.

I’ll be watching this one.

Kayak Dude sent this link along.

While I’ve seen one, two, perhaps three videos about the riverfront enhancements, I had yet to see this one. This one is very well done, and includes interviews of some of the central players as the riverfront project went from idea to drawing board to bricks and mortar.

Wilkes-Barre Waterfront Revitalization (5:00)

The link: Green Life Pennsylvania
　


If you watch real, real close, you can see Kayak Dude and I paddle into the video aboard the U.S.S. Dude right around the 4:38 mark.

For you military buffs, the U.S.S. Dude is a decommissioned Iowa-class dreadnaught that displaced 46,000 tons before it’s massive 16-inch gun turrets were removed. And, no, this is not the ship the Japanese surrendered on. That was on the Missouri, one of the three sister ships to the Dude.

From the e-mail inbox:

Mark:

Thanks. Fished it many years ago. When they release water from Lake Wallenpaupack...you had better not be standing in midstream too long.

WTF is going on with the River Common? Nothing one website about upcoming events. Spring ain't really that far away. Can you send out some inquiries and find out what is being planned?

Skateboarding convention?

Thanks.

DXX

A skateboarding convention? Dude, you caused me to choke almost uncontrollably on a smallish piece of spice cake. Jeez, please be more careful in the future.

Although, you are correct. With Spring but weeks away (hopefully), the 'upcoming events' listings are kind of threadbare.

Mayor Tom? Care to fill us in?

One final thought…

Hope, change, anti-capitalist rhetoric, the constant banging of the Big (insert industry) sucks drum, a more than passing romance with Marxist principles, government-driven health care upheavals, increased taxes, increased energy costs, an insistence on creating “green” jobs only and massively skyrocketing debt equals uncertainty. And uncertainty will not drive a sickened economy out of a deep, deep recession.

You leftists may not be ready to admit it to yourselves just yet, but your team stinks and a rebuilding year is almost upon you. Use your draft picks wisely, because you folks need some talented new blood.

For what it’s worth.

Later

2009 General Election redux: Morgan will cruise to victory

I love reading defunct blogs. That is, I love reading defunct political blogs of a decidedly local nature.

And while defunct political blogs of a decidedly local nature may or may not be indigenous to Northeastern Pennsylvania, we sure seem to have a copious amount of said depositories of half-baked, nonsensical punditry.

Anyway, I was making my way through a handfull of mothballed political blogs when I ran across this bit of election year prognosticaing at One Vote Counts, one of those blogs that appeared before an election cycle, and then went dormant immediately after that very same election cycle.

Check this hilariously inept snippet:

The controller's race is a different story. Bob Morgan faced no opposition in the primary and appears to be a strong candidate. Walter Griffith, on the other hand, is a poor candidate whose only appeal is his misleading pledge to be a "full time" controller, and the fact that he has read the county code from cover to cover. We hate to break this to him, but there's a big difference between reading and understanding. Where we have no doubt that Griffith read the code from cover to cover, his actions throughout the past few years have shown, also with no doubt that he does not comprehend or understand what he read.

Morgan will outspend Griifth by a considerable margin. He has the ability to raise a lot of money, whereas Griffith does not. Griffith is thought of as something of a parlor joke within the GOP money circle in Luzerne County, so don't expect the big checks to flow into the Griifth war chest.

Griffith won the primary on name recognition alone. His name has been on the ballot and in the news for the past few years. The name reconition factor is obvious by the fact that former Democratic county commissioner Edd Brominski finished a strong second on the GOP side. Voters knew the name.

Voters focused primarily and almost exclusively on the judicial races, and we'd be willing to wager the UNIVAC 3000 on the fact that most voters didn't even realize there was a race for controller or prothonotary on the ballot until the screen appeared on the ES&S iVotronic touch screen voting system. In these types of races, name recognition always triumphs.

Griffith will be outmatched by organization and money come November, and Bob Morgan will cruise to victory. The GOP missed an opportunity here to take over the controller seat, which in all likelihood will remain an elected position when the county final turns to home rule.

Posted by Norton The Blogger

Just in case you've been on an extended vacation in the Carribean, enjoying substances that are still illegal in these parts, and far too stoned to comprehend a printed or electronic page, Walter Griffith is currently the elected controller here in Luzerne County. So I guess there's an obvious reason why some blog authors run screaming from their political blogs just about as soon as the electorate speaks.

As a seasoned veteran of these here blog wars, I can give you a hint as to which political blogs will be short-lived. Ready?

The political blogs written by anonymous authors are the ones that typically go belly-up faster than a democrat can author a bill creating a new entitlement. The anonymous find it easy to run away from their words, the exact reason they so often have to...because they don't have the required cognitive processes, the political wherewithal, or the proper motivation in the first place.

More often than not, these are the people who couldn't organize a circle-jerk if they were an undercover member of NAMBLA taking in a Boy Scout jamboree.

Good call, Norton...Griffith hadn't a prayer.

Buh-bye

Toole, David and my smart-ass grandson

Another one bites the coal dust.

From the Citizens’ Voice:

Toole resigns from bench

Luzerne County Judge Michael T. Toole has submitted his resignation, the governor's office said.
Toole, who pleaded guilty last week to a corruption charge, sent a one-sentence resignation letter stating: "I resign effective today."

Toole was required to formally resign within 10 days of the guilty plea. His pay and benefits had already been suspended by the state Supreme Court.

"I resign effective today."

Short but sweet. Much like his judicial career, sans the unforeseen ending. Whatever.

Greed did in yet another Luzerne County scoundrel.

This one came as a surprise. As he said, belated.

From the Lu Lac Political Letter:

THANKS MARKIE

This is a belated thank you to my fellow blogger Mark Cour. In early 2008 Mark helped me with the intricacies of posting YOU TUBE videos. We worked on one of my first video productions on the closing of my boyhood church St. John the Baptist in Pittston. Well not only have they closed the thing, they tore it down. With Mr. Cour’s help I was able to make some sort of historical record to what it meant to members of that community. His help and patience gave me the guidance to have a record for history. A belated thank you.

Dave, being that the church meant so much to you, and being that it has recently met the wrecking ball, I’m glad I could help to preserve what memories we could.

I wish more people would consider archiving history as you chose to do. As we all know, once it’s gone--it’s gone. And once it’s gone, we’re reduced to the recollection of history through the fading memories of the people who were once involved.

Unlike yourself, I couldn’t wait to escape the control of my parents--my mother and my grandmother--because I knew that once I had made my escape, my participation with the church would come to a screeching halt. And it did.

But when I read that the diocese was going to close St. Johns on North Main Street here in Wilkes-Barre, I couldn’t help but to be saddened. The baptisms. The weddings. The funerals. The Boy Scouts. The acoustic guitar-dominated folk masses. My two incarcerations in the church’s elementary school. The lengthy dissection of Jesus Christ Superstar during CDC classes. The church-sponsored field trips.

What I realized was that so, so many noteworthy events in my family’s history were held in that church, or in the church basement. I couldn’t wait to get the hell out of there. But once it was gone, I couldn’t believe it. Weird, huh?

Anywho, glad I could help. As for future projects and any technological speed bumps you may encounter, as always, give me a buzz.

I recently pointed out to my grandson Zach that he is a big fraidy cat only because he needs the upstairs hall light on at night so as to visit the bathroom. And I cited as the reason his unnatural obsession with horror and science fiction movies. Or as a kid might say…monster movies.

Defiantly, almost cockily, he assured me that monster movies do not scare him in the least. The Alien series, the Predator and Predator vs. Alien series, the Terminator movies, the JUrassic trilogy, John Carpenter’s The Thing, you name it and he laughed at it. He dismissed them all.

Oh, really? A 6-year-old tough guy, heh?

Well, Zach and his two littler brothers are sleeping over tonight, and Zach has absolutely no clue that an unopened copy of Stephen King’s Cujuo awaits him.

So it’s already dark outside. And after a later than normal supper, we’ll just see if man’s best friend gone totally apesh*t puts him off his supper. I’m betting it will. I’m betting he never even considered that a complete afterthought such as his own loyal 80-pound puppy could be such an instrument of terror. Whether he admits to being scared or not is a whole other issue.

But I’ll bet if you drive by this modest adobe later tonight, you’ll probably notice that the upstairs hall light is on. I’ll betcha.

Later

Corey O'Brien's 'Main Street Program' press release

From the e-mail inbox via Cory O‘Brien For Congress:
　
PROJECT MAIN STREET

Providing a Foundation for Economic Prosperity

Traditionally, Main Streets were the social and economic epicenter of our communities. Since the decline of coal, however, our Main Streets have been neglected, jobs have been lost and our hopes have been dashed. It is time that we find a new sense of hope and optimism for our communities.

That is why I am proud to announce my plan for a new revitalization and job creation program: “Project Main Street.” As a member of Congress, I will lead the way to launch Project Main Street. Project Main Street will revitalize our Main Streets, utilizing existing money and programs such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation to improve infrastructure and encourage job growth in the hearts of our communities.

Read more at Obrien’s campaign Web site: Project Main Street

Sounds kind of familiar to me.

That comment will probably result in my abrupt removal from the candidate’s e-mail list. Bummer. It’s not as if I’ve ever come across as one of the zealously faithful democrat party myrmidons, right? Thing is, I don’t even know how my name ended up on that list.

But the truth is, this imitative is not very much unlike what the Leighton administration is attempting in this town. And I’ve heard other local level and state level politicos go on and on about the Main Street program possibilities. It all seems kind of familiar to me.

Although, I guess there’s no sense in busting on Cory O’Brien’s stones for jumping on the Main Street bandwagon. If researched, funded and implemented correctly, I think it can only help to revitalize our municipalities and suspend the decades-long tide of reverse-gentrification. It certainly can’t hurt.

And it sure as heck beats Paul Kanjorski’s ill-fated tomfoolery: federal funding to his family to develop water-jet technologies that now play about as big a part of this area’s historically flat economy as does King Coal.

And as a paddler, I would be remiss if I failed to mention his environmentally short-sided and aesthetically-challenged plan to stretch a $14 million rubber condom of a dam across the Susquehanna River at Wilkes-Barre.

A dam that would have been mounted right where the river is at it’s most environmentally challenged…at the Wyoming Valley. A dam that would have had us recreating on, perhaps in raw, untreated sewage spills, algae blooms and all sorts of marauding, floating, inanimate objects too numerous to mention here. Yup, the Main Street initiative sure beats all of that ill-conceived malarkey.

So even though it sounds awfully familiar, perhaps Cory O’Brien is on to something here, something that isn’t a laughable pipedream a la Paul Kanjorski.

Throw a fresh coat of paint, a couple of reworked signs and some new concrete Main Street‘s way?

Why the hell not?

Later

In NEPA, guilty pleas are like ass...

Wowie Zowie!

They’re dropping like DEET-weakened Fiord Flies around here today!

In Northeastern Pennsylvania, guilty pleas are like assholes because seemingly everybody’s got one.

From the Times Leader:

A Jan. 26 court date has been set for former Luzerne County Commissioner Greg Skrepenak to enter his guilty plea as part of the federal corruption probe.Skrepenak is scheduled to plead guilty at 10 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Richard P. Conaboy in federal court in Scranton.

Skrepenak was charged with accepting at least $5,000 for supporting a tax incentive program that benefited a local real estate developer. He is accused of using his position to help ensure a project the developer was building in Jenkins Township was approved for the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) program, according to the criminal complaint.

From the Citizens’ Voice:

Fired Luzerne County human resources director Doug Richards has pleaded guilty in federal court to accepting a bribe of more than $1,000 from a county contractor.Federal prosecutors said Richards accepted the cash bribe for supporting the unnamed contractor’s efforts to secure county business sometime between Jan. 1, 2006, and May 1, 2008.

Richards has recently been tied to two mysterious New York companies whose 2006-2008 contracts with the county are under federal investigation.He was fired by the county commissioners last month shortly after he announced his resignation.

One!…More!…Time!…from the Voice:

Former Luzerne County Deputy Chief Clerk William G. Brace pleaded guilty in federal court today to accepting a $1,500 tailor-made suit as a reward from a county contractor.Brace, 64, went to a New York City tailor to be fitted for the monogrammed suit between June 1, 2007, and May 1, 2008, according to federal prosecutors. The suit was allegedly a reward for Brace’s support for the contractor’s efforts to secure county contracts.

As far as the TIF and KOZ freebies are concerned, I still maintain that if the Feds ever got around to investigating every single one in this county--plenty of heads would roll.

Consider why the state legislature created these programs in the first place…to attract industry to and create well-paying jobs for the constituents of this state.

But in this county, the TIFs and KOZs attracted no industry, created no jobs to speak of, but plenty of well-connected people as well as their enabling politicians benefited from them one way or another (wink, wink).

In other words, what was first presented to us as wonderful and well-meaning things were grossly perverted by the very people who were entrusted with creating and implementing them.


And now, a not-so-private message for Kayak Dude:

Dude, I already mapped out one of the frickin’ fracking sites out Harveys Lake way. So you can expect glossies just as soon as I can get out there and trespass on some private property.

This concludes our not-so-private message.

And to our Mothers Against Drunk Drivers 'Readers Comments' commenter:

As a founding member of Drunks Against Mad Mothers (DAMM), I offer a hearty and heartfelt “no comment.”

Although, I believe you to be correct.

Later

Luzerne County update: Black ice done got the guy in the black robe

What is it with the judges in this county already?

They had the big transfer of power at the courthouse yesterday with a new president judge having been sworn in. In addition, a couple of newly elected judges were sworn in to replace two of the three county judges who were disgraced this past year.

So everything’s on the up-and-up, right?

Nope. I got home from work today, turned on WILK radio and there was Steve Corbett going on and on about how outgoing President Judge Chester B. Muroski wrecked his car last night after the ceremonies, dinner and drinks. And to quote what Muroski said to Corbett earlier today…he had ”one drink.”

Yet, according to the Citizens’ Voice afternoon update:

Muroski said he had one or two drinks at a Kingston bar/restaurant but was not drunk.

“I will tell you I was sober. I was not drunk,” Muroski said in a phone interview today. Muroski said his cell phone was damaged by water Monday and was not operable at the time of the crash.

So he told Steve Corbett he had one drink, yet he told Dave Janoski of the Voice that he had “one or two drinks.” Rutro! Let the speculation begin!

So, you wreck your car, you leave the scene of the accident, and then the fact that you were drinking beforehand is established--by you--and then you call the state police from home before heading off to the emergency room. So much for proper procedure and protocol.

And the only way he could have covered his ass was by requesting that a blood test be done by the hospital staff to determine his Blood Alcohol Level (BAC). Do we think he did as much?

I can tell you this, having a Commercial Drivers License, it is mandatory that I undergo BAC screening even if I’m in a minor traffic accident, even if I did not cause said accident, and even if I remain at the scene as the law stipulates that I do. But I’m not a judge.

As to whether he was polluted or not…you sure got me on all of that. But with everything the judiciary has caused this past year, with the scandalous nonsense supposedly behind us, and at Judge Muroski’s advanced age and experience level, I would have expected better judgment from him.

The beat goes on in Luzerne County. The Times Leader's 'Man of The Year' had a few drinks, wrecked his wheels and left the scene of the accident. Now it’s ‘the black ice done got the guy in the black robe.’

At this point, perhaps it’s a curse upon the judiciary.

Whatever.

Bye

Luzerne County's Banana Republic status may be in jeopardy

According to the latest updates at both the Times Leader and the Citizens’ Voice Web sites, there was quite a bit of swearing going on at the Luzerne County courthouse today. Er, swearing-in, that is.

William Amesbury and Tina Polachek Gartley were sworn in as judges, filling a couple of big vacancies in a county now known for corrupt judges.

Judge Thomas Burke was elected president judge by his remaining judicial peers.

Carolee Medico Olenginski, this county’s preeminent political bridge-burner, was sworn in as the new prothonotary. And since she’s never been reluctant to make waves over even the most mundane of things, I’m sure she’ll be calling it as she sees it for the press for the foreseeable future. Hee, hee.

By the way, this office is about to be audited after allegations of missing funds were made. Big surprise there.

Probably most important to a taxpaying public crying for relief from the decade long bevy of property tax increases, under-the-radar piece-meal contracts, embezzlement and corruption run amok, Walter Griffith, the tireless activist and taxpayer advocate, was sworn in as the new controller.

Now that’s it’s become patently obvious that there has been very little accountability or financial wherewithal at the courthouse, this guy figures to have his hands full for some time.


But, having spent the past year in constant contact with him as the primary and general election battles played out, I happen to know he’s dead serious about proving we were right to entrust in him the responsibility, trust and faith that we did.

So, after it’s conclusion, while 2010 may not necessarily be looked upon as a good year for Luzerne County, here’s hoping it’s the beginning of a big, big comeback of sorts. And let’s hope we are repaid with some transparency, some accountability and some financial responsibility.

With that said, the persistent rumors are still swirling about pending arrests, plea agreements and the like as the ongoing corruption scandal is said to have no end in sight.

Expect some tumult and no shortage of vitriol to emanate from that courthouse as the entrenched holdovers from the fast-passing era of corruption resist change, resist accountability and resist fiscal sanity.

Strap yourselves in, kiddies. Despite the rumblings we may be hearing in the coming weeks, Luzerne County's Banana Republic status may be in jeopardy.

We can only hope.

Later

NEPA Blogs revisited

I just updated my links and the vehicle by which to deliver them so as to more accurately reflect what is going on in the Northeastern Pennsylvania blogging community.

We’re only a few weeks away from the official beginning of the 2010 midterm election season, and I think reading every link on this list as we march on towards the primaries would give an unfamiliar outsider a fairly good sampling of the many diverse and disparate opinions on the same candidates and races.

After a bit of introspection, I don’t think linking to a few sites that interest me on most days and then linking to all of the rest by way of NEPA Blogs really cuts it anymore. Good or bad, the local blogging community has changed, with many eager newcomers on board. And the NEPA Blogs link is more of a look back at what this local internet scrum used to be. I’m not being critical, just realistic. Getting with the times, I suppose.

I would like to apologize to a local blogger--one Stephen Albert--for publicly ripping into one of his most recent posts. I had no qualms with him, not really. And my intent was not to demean his body of work. My reaction to his comments was merely a gross overreaction to this oft-repeated claptrap that we, as the electorate, must be somehow less than up to snuff simply because our local elected and appointed officials are being led off to the hoosegow in record numbers.

No matter who suggests it, I wholeheartedly reject this faulty premise. No matter what influences one encounters, and no matter their environment, people choose to be scofflaws all on their own. I did not cause any of this rampant corruption, and neither did any of you.

There are literally tens of thousands of voting districts that are dominated by one party, but only one voting district, Luzerne County, is home to a veritable Who’s Who of inept political scumbags. One! This one.

Anyway, Steve...it wasn’t personal.

I’ve been following this textual fistfight on Gort’s site, the reader’s comments that have been going toe-to-toe on the subject of Lou Barletta’s candidacy and his acid-tongued primary challenger. And it occurred to me that the one undeniable thing Lou Barletta did for Hazleton was to put it on the map. And I’m not referring to Lou Dobbs or any of this illegal immigration back-and-forth.

What I mean is, when the subject of politics in Luzerne County came up in the past, the points of interest were always Wilkes-Barre, Pittston and occasionally Nanticoke only because it is home to a long-time congressman despite fast resembling a hell hole. Now, thanks to Lou Barletta’s very high profile, people are actually arguing about Hazleton politics and the issues that matter most to the Hazleton area. If nothing else, give him credit for that new push-pin on the local political map.

And I have to tell you, I spend two work days in the Hazleton area almost every week. And I’m here to tell you that Barletta’s stance on all things immigration has not cased an exodus out of Hazleton, nor has it caused any businesses to be boarded up.

The people repeating that nonsensical gibberish are obviously ill-informed, or simply repeating the latest well-worn talking points because it fits in with their destructive partisan agenda, or both.

Speaking of local blogs, boy, did this one make me want to lash out in anger, something Mike McNarney rightfully taught me never to do.

From Lu Lac:

Q: You sound mad at the Commissioners do you feel they are primarily at fault?

A: Hell no, not these people. They’re trying to fix what their predecessors screwed up.

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa there!!!

Um, with no due respect to our mystery guest, didn’t the Petrilla campaign spend, like, a quarter of a million dollars to unseat former controller Steve Flood, who, it turns out, was at one time hot on the heels of the easily corruptible jackasses under the rotunda dome?

Please, do not feed me too much hollow jive about Maryanne Petrilla being an incident bystander in all of this. Her mission was to unseat the watchdog, the then whistleblower. And after succeeding him, it’s obvious she played the “see no evil” game as embezzlement, theft of services, fraud and wrongful imprisonment went on right under her nose.

As for Steve Urban, I know he’s not exactly in the loop when the Sunshine Laws are being violated with willful intent and malice of forethought, but his usual act, professing to knowing absolutely nothing until the bad news breaks on Page 1 above the fold is really, really, really getting old.

Q: You sound mad at the Commissioners do you feel they are primarily at fault?

I’ll answer that question with a question of my own…

The buck stops where?

In the past week I’ve read that I’m somehow culpable, and now I’m reading a suggestion that the county commissioners were not culpable? Boy oh boy, that’s a record-setting stretch of the imagination.

Oh, and since we’re stuck on bloggers and their contributions, I was remiss the other day in not mentioning Another Monkey and Things at Kings, two local blogs that have been around for quite some time now.

And I do recall seeing a blog before I knew what blogging was even called…Watermelon Punch. For those of you that go back quite a ways, remember that one? The girl who had Wilkes-Barre Online deleted by the host company right after the tragic events of 9-11?

Right after 3,000 innocent people were slaughtered, I wrote that if they--the Muslims--hated us that much, well, okay, then let’s hate ‘em right back, a clear call for some military payback. And then while I was at work, the plug was pulled on my site. So much for freedom of speech. So much for being tolerant of dissenting opinions.

And if you remember correctly, Wilkes-Barre Online had a new Web address inside of 45 minutes. Up and running again despite the liberal penchant for removing from the dialogue what does not fit their narrowly-defined template.

Ah, enough of all of this. I’m done here.

Time for some NFL football, i.e., sticking that overdue fork in the New York Football Giants.

Argh!!!

Bye

PS--Here's a look backward at the local blogosphere as it was captured by your hated author on November 23, 2006.

Happy New Year! (Shut up & pay your taxes)

Happy New Year!

Right. Like any of us are going to be truly happy anytime soon. Well, that is, I suppose we could be happy, perhaps as contented as ever if we’d just stop paying attention. No news. No radio. No internet. We could just sit in a circle, hold hands, smoke an awful lot of pot and think pure, happy thoughts. And with that, our conversion to the left side of the political divide would be almost complete.

As the ball was set to drop on 2009, our county commissioners approved a budget for 2010 that includes…

Let’s do that again.

As the ball was set to drop on 2009, our county commissioners approved an outline, a rough sketch, a kind of, sort of a budget framework that includes a 10 percent tax increase. For now. And it includes proposed cuts, proposed furloughs and other cost-cutting initiatives that are certain never to happen. So it’s a 10 percent tax increase until next they gather and raise it some more to more accurately reflect the true nature of their incompetence.

In a nutshell, with the drunken lawlessness that accompanies the yearly calendar switch about to explode, they passed this whatever-the-hell-it-was quasi budget so as to not have to shut down the county. Most importantly, it guarantees that the county can obtain a Tax Anticipation Note. Or, in common parlance, it guarantees that the county can waste some more money. Money you’ll never miss until next year’s tax increase.

From the Times Leader:

Employees were left in the dark because the $124.8 million spending plan also calls for $5.7 million in additional staff cuts and furloughs, with the salary portion of most department budgets reduced by 6.7 percent.

County Budget/Finance Chief Tom Pribula wouldn’t take ownership of the budget because there are no specifics on achieving the cuts, leading him to conclude that the spending plan “has a high probability of failure.”

Ah, yes, the definition of insanity is as follows: Doing the same red ink-stained budget over and over and expecting a different result.

This excerpt made me want to leap up and urinate on my keyboard:

Cooney criticized the county’s reliance on borrowing, saying the $466 million in outstanding debt will force taxpayers to shell out $60,000 per day next year in debt repayment. He said he is “open to suggestions” on ways to carry out the $5.7 million in budgeted cuts and possibly avoid a tax increase.

“Taxpayers and county employees must step forward and must come together,” Cooney said. “No one should walk away. No one should say ‘not me’ or ‘not us.’ ”

Oh, him. Thomas Cooney, our newly appointed county commissioner. Yeah, appointed in secret after a three-minute interview process. That Thomas Cooney.

Is he effing serious? Open to suggestions?

What kind of hog swill is that? Sorry, but after you’re put in charge, you don’t go and install a suggestion box. You don’t gravitate to the top, and then look down upon the beleaguered hoi polloi you leapfrogged for the answers.

I swear, there’s something in the water at these golf clubs we’ll never be invited to unless we‘re hired as caddies. Something that causes a swift and noticeable retrenchment from cognitive thought processes.

He did get one thing right. No one should say ‘not me’ or ‘not us,’ because everybody will now pay for the continuing incompetence and corruption from the invite-only play land of the related, the connected and those offering paper bags full of bribes--the courthouse.

So, in summation, they passed something or other because they either don’t know what to do, or they do not possess the political courage to do what’s right. Oh, and because they want to borrow some more money.

Suggestions, anyone?

Happy New Year! (Shut up & pay your taxes)

The new year sure did come in with a bang…literally.

As is tradition in this modest adobe, we load up on foodstuffs and fermented weeds and then settle in close proximity to the police scanner for a night of good fun and great cheer at other people’s expense. And with the snow falling and falling fast an hour or so before zero hour, we knew this was going to be good. Well, good for us, but maybe not so good for our first responders.


We had us no shortage of domestic battery and the like. A couple that included the brandishing of knives. We had a foot chase in the Heights. A drunk girl who took a flying leap in front of a moving city vehicle. A drunk underage kid wearing no shoes or socks, despite being on probation. Can you say PA Child Care?

Some drunk guy on Public Square too drunk to, well, too drunk to function. Car accidents here, there and darn near everywhere. There had to be a dozen hit-and-run accidents within a two-hour period. And then the big one, the one that causes every scanner owner to reach for the volume knob…”shots fired!”

This one was hard to follow, due to the mass confusion that was both the Hardware Bar’s and Luna bar’s patrons spilling out into the street to see what all the fuss was about. The fire engines and the medic unit found it difficult to wade through the mass of drunken humanity.

It originally came in as “Shots fired at the Hardware Bar,” but quickly became a flurry of seemingly disconnected radio blurbs. “All available units…” “Black guy, white vest.” “Gunshot victims.” “Come in through the parking lot by the YMCA.” Stuff like that.

The disjointed kind of stuff you’d expect when police officers have to wade through a crowd of hundreds, into an unsecured scene with gunplay afoot. In my mind, not the place you’d want to be standing around whooping it up, if and when another gunshot rings out.

Then again, at 1:50 AM on this particular night, I doubt that most of the people in that crowd would have even known it had they been shot. Whatever. They wanted a party and they found one. And some of them even caught a bullet. Ah, a New Years Eve to remember.

If memory serves, that’s the second shooting associated with that first block of South Main Street since those two watering holes opened their doors. Hey, no “nuisance bar” issues going on there, heyna?

I mean to say, most of the patrons are white, so there’s no way the City of Wilkes-Barre or the Liquor Control Board are gonna come down on any of that. As we all know full well, at least in these “I’m not a racist, but…“ parts, to qualify as a full-blown nuisance bar, the great majority of your gun-toting clientele needs to be black or Latino.

When whites shoot up the neighborhood, those are isolated incidents. But when blacks shoot up the neighborhood, those are god damn nuisances that need to be dealt with. The initial police response aside, the full extent of the law is applicable only when minorities are involved. So, the Hardware Bar has got nothing to worry about.

Jiggle on, girlies.

Keep your mammalian protuberances up and your heads down.

Here’s one WILK’s Sue Henry threw out there a few days ago.

If you could have anything at all for Christmas, what would it be? Anything. You name it. What would it be?

Interesting. I’m sure you could chew on that one for quite some time, but this process took me all of 30 seconds. If I could have anything for Christmas, I’d choose to meet my father.

But, I might as well have asked for a time machine and a potent, synergist-laden aphrodisiac that Deborah Harry would have no defense against circa 1980.

From the e-mail inbox:

Markie---
Not sure if you saw this mention of your site at Yonki’s Lu Lac.

THE DECADE'S TOP 10
The top ten news stories of the decade were:1. 9/11.
2. The Election of President Obama.
3. The war in Iraq.
4. The War in Afghanistan.
5. The confused 2000 election.
6. Death of John Paul II; selection of Pope Benedict.
7. Hurricane Katrina.
8. Mapping of the human genome.
9. The rise of Google and new media including Gort 42, LuLac and Wilkes Barre On Line.
10. The ascension of China.

TXX SXXXX

Yeah, I did see that list. I’m not sure I agree with all of them, but I certainly didn’t put any time into compiling a list of my own. Hmmm, the genome. Doesn’t he work at Travelosity?

I’ve mentioned this before, but I started Wilkes-Barre Online on December 2, 2000. The interesting thing was, I once ran across and read a story about blogs--Web logs--only because I was totally unfamiliar with the word “blog.”

Anyway, as I was a ways into that piece, it occurred to me that what they were describing was what I had been doing for some time. I blogged. I was a blogger. Good, bad or obscene...that’s what I was doing.

I later read that the earliest blogs date back to 1998, but I don’t know that I had ever seen one. All I knew was that I was totally unhappy with the condition of this city way back then, I wanted to write about it, post pictures of it and get to the bottom of why it had to be that way. And what a wild and informative ride it was.

During it’s heyday, in it’s varying forms and hosts, Wilkes-Barre Online generated upwards of 1,000,000 hits. And that was with no promotion and no blog rolls. The fun part was, since no one in this area had ever written about such localized, such up close and personal subjects as I had, it produced far more people who despised it than liked it. Or should I say, people who despised me.

But once some enterprising internet outfits made it possible to blog without knowing HTML coding and the like, the Wilkes-Barre area suddenly had no shortage of people giving it a go. Most of those ill-fated sites lasted about as long as a smoke bomb typically does, with the notable exeptions being Gort's Gort 42 site and David Yonki's Lu Lac oasis.

And new political blogs of the local variety usually appear during the run-up to every election cycle. And then after those elections play out, most of those decidedly partisan blogs are quickly abandoned or deleted. Like grass sprouting in the Spring, blogs appear when we've got an election to decide.

As for the oft-repeated term “new media,” I’m not sure that I would call anything dominated by the anonymous as media, but that’s for the folks much smarter than I to decide upon.

With that in mind, just a few days ago, I think I invented a new word destined to be enshrined in a dictionary one day. Rather than type “anonymous asshole” in response to some wildly off base anonymous asshole, I typed anon-hole. And for the most part, the internet is the ambient domain of the ever-circling anon-holes.

Sez me.

Later