Hold the presses!
A source familiar with the federal investigation into the Luzerne County judiciary has told me federal prosecutors have sent target letters to two local political bloggers advising them that they are being investigated and should immediately seek legal counsel.
An e-mail sent to the Office of U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Martin Carlson, went unanswered, as well as repeated phone requests for a comment from that office.
That same source claims federal prosecutors have “physical evidence” that the bloggers in question were accepting cash payments from three high-ranking county officials to guarantee what prosecutors called, “positive press and excessive praise” for and of the policies and actions of said elected officials.
Reached at his office at Luzerne County Community College, Political Science professor, Baldo T. Denameland, said, “The press, the fourth estate’s role in a representative democracy is that of the ultimate watchdog of the three estates of government. He went on to say that “when the press colludes with any branch or member of the government, society at large loses as the last stopgap in the system of checks and balances safeguards fails.”
He also explained that cases involving cash changing hands for the delivery of positive press from members of the established media for the benefit of elected officials are few and far between, but the most pressing question is whether or not a private citizen “blogging” about politics could be considered a legitimate member of the mainstream media by the courts.
The scandals spread, kiddies.
Stay tuned.
Shotko gets shot down!
From the Citizens' Voice:
Breaking News: Judge dismisses St. Patrick's Day Parade protester's suit
A federal judge has dismissed a civil-rights suit filed against Wilkes-Barre by a Scranton man arrested while carrying a sign critical of then-President George W. Bush during the city’s 2005 St. Patrick’s Day Parade.In a ruling issued today, U.S. District Judge James Munley rejected the arguments of Kurt Shotko, 41, that the arrest violated his First Amendment rights and that police had no grounds for the arrest.
I was there. I saw the whole thing, including the arrest. He was way out of line at what was supposed to be a family event, and the Wilkes-Barre Police Department shut his dead ass down. Exactly what I would have expected them to do.
And as for his then call to WILK in which he claimed he was confronted by, arrested by and subsequently beaten by “leather-clad, jack-booted riot cops in the bowels of police headquarters,” um, those were motorcycle cops, you dummy. And smart motorcycle riders, especially the ones that might find themselves pursuing fleeing vehicles at excessively high speeds, where leather.
41-years-old, eh? 41? 40-effing-one? Time to consider finding some gainful employment already? You know, work?
I guess it takes all kinds to fill an asylum.
I’m going to be interviewing one of the hopefuls for the Wilkes-Barre Area School Board.
That is, I’m going to submit a series of questions to said individual and then publish the responses here. An electronic age, blogger interview, if you will.
Anyway, with controversy, rumor and innuendo swirling all about after the recent arrest of one of this city’s board members, feel free to send along any questions you might have. But don’t delay as I’ll probably be sending them along around this time tomorrow.
My preferred style of interviewing is to have the interviewee sit here with me at the modest adobe and consume mass quantities of fermented weeds and the like, while getting way, way, way off topic after a brief bit of professional type back and forth.
Here’s a sample question reflective of my interviewing prowess:
Markie: Why Miller Lite?
So, for the sake of this future school director’s reputation, he ought not show up here in person for the purposes of being interviewed for these pages. No sense getting a DUI after the big interview session, right?
I dunno.
I want to touch upon this recent Walter Griffith flap one final time.
Follow me here:
Fellow bloggers wouldn’t touch it. The newspapers have yet to touch it. I happen to know that Steve Corbett of WILK didn’t touch it. But one lonely blogger not only chose to go with it, he continues to press on and compound upon his original mistake. Or, to mush on with his purposeful attack.
Now, assuming this unknown, nameless and faceless blogger realizes he or she is the only one who thought or still thinks it prudent to mess with a candidate’s personal life and that of his immediate family, I’m left to assume that this entire ill-advised stunt was and still is politically motivated.
So, for me, the overriding question is, who put said blogger up to it? And furthermore, which candidate is he trying to help by working to destroy another? Even more insidious, which candidate is really behind all of this?
Interesting.
Pathetic, but interesting nonetheless.
Later
Monday, May 11, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Yet another 10-80 tale
I worked another six-day week, and I’m kind of whipped. Interestingly enough, I spent my day yesterday in a public housing project, only to awake today and find the following…
From the Times Leader:
HARRISBURG — State lawmakers are considering a bill that would bar welfare recipients from using taxpayer-backed benefit cards to buy alcohol.
The measure, which also bans use of child support payments for alcohol purchases, unanimously passed the state House last week. It now heads to the state Senate, where a spokesman for Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, says he believes it has general support.
State Rep. Dave Reed, R-Indiana, said he submitted the measure after learning on a tour of a county assistance office a few years ago that such purchases were not illegal.
“I had no idea at the time that such a loophole existed,” he said. “I don’t think most people did.”
Administration officials, however, question whether the bill is aimed at a problem that doesn’t exist, saying there is no evidence that recipients abuse their benefits. Others say it perpetuates a stereotype that people who receive government assistance are irresponsible.
First of all, whoever questioned the need for the bill needs to be convicted on charges of aggravated stupidity and buried alive. Jeez!
And remember, I spent my teen years on welfare while living in a public housing project. Been there, done that. And I’ve seen the scams some of these people run, like selling food coupons for fifty cents on the dollar.
And since most poor folks have no real expectations of their dreams actually coming true one day, very many of them vacation daily by way of a bottle of something or other. That’s just the way it is. Rather than despair all of the time, get good and drunk.
Funny thing about working in public housing projects, something I do quite often because of the way the majority of them are built making conditions for termite activity very, very conducive. The little kids are always up bright and early, and wandering around with little or no supervision. And the parents, well, they tend to be hidden away until noon or somewhere immediately afterwards.
And since the kids are curious about what I’m up to, they tend to congregate where I’m working, follow me around and ask lots of questions. And all of this I might add, while I’m applying a couple hundred gallons of termiticide. In other words, I’ve gotten tired of shooing them away over the years.
So my solution was to show up at the job site much earlier than was originally agreed upon, and get the more dangerous aspects (not so much so if you’re heavily trained and experienced to all hell) of the application done before even they crawl out of their frameless secondhand beds.
Now, you could say it’s kind of rude to fire up a hammer drill, a 5 horsepower shop vacuum or gas-powered motors very, very early in the morning, but trust me, in public housing projects, nothing gets these people out of bed before noon excepting for gunplay.
Speaking of gunplay, I was lying barely alive in front of the video advertising box at 11 PM last night, when Wifey comes downstairs saying she just heard 7 gunshots.
Huh? Okay, I got up and increased the volume on the desktop police scanner. And within mere seconds, the first mention on the gadget was “23,” meaning the first police officer was already on scene. And within a couple of minutes, our tiny street looked as if it was hosting an FOP convention.
From WNEP.com:
8:06 AM EDT, May 10, 2009
Police are investigating a late-night shooting in Wilkes-Barre.
Investigators said a man was shot twice around 11 p.m. Saturday on John Street. The victim, who has not been identified, was taken to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Township. Police expect him to survive.
"All of a sudden we heard, I thought of it as rapid fire, like four or five shots. Then there was a pause, then three more. It was like 'pa bob ba bop, then pop ba ba,'" described neighbor Mary Edwards.
Police are checking to see what led up to the shooting.
And that’s the only mention of it in the media as of this morning. I guess 11 PM is too late for the newspapers these days (being downsized and all) which didn’t used to be the case. They both used to have a “night editor,” who would respond if the scanner had something especially violent or unique to report. Whatever.
As soon as I hit the front porch with the portable scanner, just about every resident of this street was milling about out there somewhere. Wes said he was hanging out in his back yard, just a few feet from the site of the shooting, heard some serious arguing going on, and then the gunfire. Bill had called 911 because one of the 3 cars that had fled the scene in a big hurry had returned and parked in the lady’s yard up on the corner. Yes, in her yard.
And within another minute or two, three police cars had that car boxed in, the officers had two girls out of the car and a thorough, thorough search of the vehicle was underway. And I mean thorough. It took a while before the police stopped with the questioning and took the two of them into custody.
Meanwhile, Medic 5 took on out of here with the shooting victim aboard. According to the scanner chatter, the shooting happened at 15 John Street, and the platoon of onrushing officers were being directed to the rear of 465 Penn Ave by the officers already on the scene. Just for the sake of accuracy, we here on Thompson Street refer to John Street as Scum Street. Take it for what it’s worth.
If you’re new to Scanner Land, here’s your first hint that something really violent just occurred. The 911 call goes out, the officers arrive and then almost instantly request that a detective respond to the scene. And then a second big hint is when somebody on scene gets to asking about the whereabouts of the camera. You’re welcome. Anyway, it didn’t take too long last night for those requests to come over the air.
And, of course, just as soon as things seemed to be under control and all kinds of creepy-looking people were sauntering up the street to have a look, my neighbors got into the obligatory conversation, the blind speculation about “What is wrong with people?”
What’s wrong with people? The long and short of it is, they just don’t give a flying fu>k anymore. They don’t care about the sanctity of life, other than their own. To them, civility and courtesy are the ridiculous constructs of some now nearly extinct civilization once ruled by those old people. And they act as if self-restraint is best practiced by others.
As for the young among us, they’ve been taught since birth that anything goes. They’ve been pumped full of unearned self-esteem, which leads to a constant demand for respect from all that they might meet. They live in a society that fights for the “right” to kill the unborn, a society that is also clamoring for a greatly enhanced “right” to kill the older folks at the tail end of their lives.
The Golden Rule? Right! Stick a fork in that piece of road kill, it’s done.
Our pop culture is a literal cesspool, yet parents shrug their shoulders and filter none of it out. Kids listen to detestable songs like “Cop Killer,” they openly mock the villainized clergy, they idolize talent-starved dregs and they reject practically any and all authority.
They are remanded to the custody of electronic babysitters while still toddlers, killing, shooting and stabbing everything that moves, but protected from the abhorrent violence that is kickball. And worse yet, like their keep-up-with-the-Jones’ absentee parents, they pray at the alter of commercialism.
Future democrats all, promoting, embracing and ensuring the coming oblivion, whether they realize it or not!
Other than that, I don’t see a problem.
Some have suggested that by way of my incessant scribbling, that I glorify violence. Nah, incorrect. I commend being able to defend oneself, even if it means having to arm oneself. Because the fact of the matter is, you just never know when one of these misfiring byproducts of a progressive mindset and the subsequent lifestyle is going to reach out and touch you.
Teach your children well, people. And teach them not to touch me, mine or any of my stuff.
Or else.
[End rant]
Later
***10-80: Confidential Code Signal for "A person with a gun."
From the Times Leader:
HARRISBURG — State lawmakers are considering a bill that would bar welfare recipients from using taxpayer-backed benefit cards to buy alcohol.
The measure, which also bans use of child support payments for alcohol purchases, unanimously passed the state House last week. It now heads to the state Senate, where a spokesman for Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, says he believes it has general support.
State Rep. Dave Reed, R-Indiana, said he submitted the measure after learning on a tour of a county assistance office a few years ago that such purchases were not illegal.
“I had no idea at the time that such a loophole existed,” he said. “I don’t think most people did.”
Administration officials, however, question whether the bill is aimed at a problem that doesn’t exist, saying there is no evidence that recipients abuse their benefits. Others say it perpetuates a stereotype that people who receive government assistance are irresponsible.
First of all, whoever questioned the need for the bill needs to be convicted on charges of aggravated stupidity and buried alive. Jeez!
And remember, I spent my teen years on welfare while living in a public housing project. Been there, done that. And I’ve seen the scams some of these people run, like selling food coupons for fifty cents on the dollar.
And since most poor folks have no real expectations of their dreams actually coming true one day, very many of them vacation daily by way of a bottle of something or other. That’s just the way it is. Rather than despair all of the time, get good and drunk.
Funny thing about working in public housing projects, something I do quite often because of the way the majority of them are built making conditions for termite activity very, very conducive. The little kids are always up bright and early, and wandering around with little or no supervision. And the parents, well, they tend to be hidden away until noon or somewhere immediately afterwards.
And since the kids are curious about what I’m up to, they tend to congregate where I’m working, follow me around and ask lots of questions. And all of this I might add, while I’m applying a couple hundred gallons of termiticide. In other words, I’ve gotten tired of shooing them away over the years.
So my solution was to show up at the job site much earlier than was originally agreed upon, and get the more dangerous aspects (not so much so if you’re heavily trained and experienced to all hell) of the application done before even they crawl out of their frameless secondhand beds.
Now, you could say it’s kind of rude to fire up a hammer drill, a 5 horsepower shop vacuum or gas-powered motors very, very early in the morning, but trust me, in public housing projects, nothing gets these people out of bed before noon excepting for gunplay.
Speaking of gunplay, I was lying barely alive in front of the video advertising box at 11 PM last night, when Wifey comes downstairs saying she just heard 7 gunshots.
Huh? Okay, I got up and increased the volume on the desktop police scanner. And within mere seconds, the first mention on the gadget was “23,” meaning the first police officer was already on scene. And within a couple of minutes, our tiny street looked as if it was hosting an FOP convention.
From WNEP.com:
8:06 AM EDT, May 10, 2009
Police are investigating a late-night shooting in Wilkes-Barre.
Investigators said a man was shot twice around 11 p.m. Saturday on John Street. The victim, who has not been identified, was taken to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Township. Police expect him to survive.
"All of a sudden we heard, I thought of it as rapid fire, like four or five shots. Then there was a pause, then three more. It was like 'pa bob ba bop, then pop ba ba,'" described neighbor Mary Edwards.
Police are checking to see what led up to the shooting.
And that’s the only mention of it in the media as of this morning. I guess 11 PM is too late for the newspapers these days (being downsized and all) which didn’t used to be the case. They both used to have a “night editor,” who would respond if the scanner had something especially violent or unique to report. Whatever.
As soon as I hit the front porch with the portable scanner, just about every resident of this street was milling about out there somewhere. Wes said he was hanging out in his back yard, just a few feet from the site of the shooting, heard some serious arguing going on, and then the gunfire. Bill had called 911 because one of the 3 cars that had fled the scene in a big hurry had returned and parked in the lady’s yard up on the corner. Yes, in her yard.
And within another minute or two, three police cars had that car boxed in, the officers had two girls out of the car and a thorough, thorough search of the vehicle was underway. And I mean thorough. It took a while before the police stopped with the questioning and took the two of them into custody.
Meanwhile, Medic 5 took on out of here with the shooting victim aboard. According to the scanner chatter, the shooting happened at 15 John Street, and the platoon of onrushing officers were being directed to the rear of 465 Penn Ave by the officers already on the scene. Just for the sake of accuracy, we here on Thompson Street refer to John Street as Scum Street. Take it for what it’s worth.
If you’re new to Scanner Land, here’s your first hint that something really violent just occurred. The 911 call goes out, the officers arrive and then almost instantly request that a detective respond to the scene. And then a second big hint is when somebody on scene gets to asking about the whereabouts of the camera. You’re welcome. Anyway, it didn’t take too long last night for those requests to come over the air.
And, of course, just as soon as things seemed to be under control and all kinds of creepy-looking people were sauntering up the street to have a look, my neighbors got into the obligatory conversation, the blind speculation about “What is wrong with people?”
What’s wrong with people? The long and short of it is, they just don’t give a flying fu>k anymore. They don’t care about the sanctity of life, other than their own. To them, civility and courtesy are the ridiculous constructs of some now nearly extinct civilization once ruled by those old people. And they act as if self-restraint is best practiced by others.
As for the young among us, they’ve been taught since birth that anything goes. They’ve been pumped full of unearned self-esteem, which leads to a constant demand for respect from all that they might meet. They live in a society that fights for the “right” to kill the unborn, a society that is also clamoring for a greatly enhanced “right” to kill the older folks at the tail end of their lives.
The Golden Rule? Right! Stick a fork in that piece of road kill, it’s done.
Our pop culture is a literal cesspool, yet parents shrug their shoulders and filter none of it out. Kids listen to detestable songs like “Cop Killer,” they openly mock the villainized clergy, they idolize talent-starved dregs and they reject practically any and all authority.
They are remanded to the custody of electronic babysitters while still toddlers, killing, shooting and stabbing everything that moves, but protected from the abhorrent violence that is kickball. And worse yet, like their keep-up-with-the-Jones’ absentee parents, they pray at the alter of commercialism.
Future democrats all, promoting, embracing and ensuring the coming oblivion, whether they realize it or not!
Other than that, I don’t see a problem.
Some have suggested that by way of my incessant scribbling, that I glorify violence. Nah, incorrect. I commend being able to defend oneself, even if it means having to arm oneself. Because the fact of the matter is, you just never know when one of these misfiring byproducts of a progressive mindset and the subsequent lifestyle is going to reach out and touch you.
Teach your children well, people. And teach them not to touch me, mine or any of my stuff.
Or else.
[End rant]
Later
***10-80: Confidential Code Signal for "A person with a gun."
Friday, May 8, 2009
The Hawkeye witch hunt
Early this morning, WILK’s Kevin and Nancy were discussing the steroids issue, since Manny Ramirez of the Los Angeles Dodgers was banned from MLB for 50 games after testing positive for a banned substance.
And at some point, Nancy asked, if other teen phenoms were all using steroids, should one allow their own kid--their own teen phenom--to do likewise just to stay competitive.
Nope. No doping. No steroids. Just teach them how to throw a knuckleball, and then sit back and watch them enjoy an injury-free twenty-year career. Perhaps even twenty-five.
You know, this ill-advised Hawkeye dustup has gone from the surreal to the sublime.
From the Times Leader:
http://www.timesleader.com/news/W-B_mulls_citizen_rsquo_s_stop_sign_request_05-08-2009.html
In other business, the mayor addressed concerns raised about the Hawkeye Security project, noting that Hawkeye had been created in order to operate separately from the city, like a board or an authority.
It was not established as a board or authority, but as a non-profit entity, he told questioner Jim Hayward, and all steps had been taken with legal advice.
The security camera project had been done publicly, and council had been aware of the progress of the project, if not the exact form of the nonprofit operating the project, he said after the meeting. Questions Hayward raised about procedural issues – whether requests for proposals were used in place of bids, or whether the Hawkeye meetings were subject to the state’s open meeting laws – were not addressed.
From the Citizens’ Voice:
http://citizensvoice.com/articles/2009/05/08/news/wb_voice.20090508.t.pg8.cv08cddemo_s1.2505837_top8.txt
Thursday night’s council meeting also featured more discussion regarding Hawkeye Security Solutions, the nonprofit corporation created by the city to oversee the $2 million surveillance camera network, which is still in the planning stages.
Jim Hayward, the city administrator under the previous mayor, and Sam Troy, a frequent speaker at council meetings, questioned city officials on the way Hawkeye was created, and its role in the project.
“The decisions seem to have been made rather opaquely,” Troy said.
With what has become a frequent refrain at the meetings, Leighton said Hawkeye, like a city board or authority, was created to insulate the city from financial and legal liability.
“It’s a great project,” Leighton said of the camera network. “Nothing has been done illegally.”
While that’s enough stupidity for one month, we weren’t done yet. Nah, some “Jim from Wilkes-Barre,” presumably Jim Hayward, made an appearance on the Sue Henry Show today, and he did his level best to make it sound as if the Hawkeye Security initiative here in Wilkes-Barre is Luzerne County’s next breaking news type scandal. Truth is, nothing of the sort is afoot.
And I take it as a personal affront to my vast intelligence that any member of the former mayor’s administration, the administration that presided over the financial ruination of Wilkes-Barre, would dare to show his face in public and question the current administration. You know, the administration that cleaned up all of the prior administration's financial and infrastructure messes.
As critics of city government go, that is, the former City Administrator that left office with $10.5 million in unpaid, overdue debts, Jim Hayward is laughable at best. I’m thinking Coke-through-the-nostrils practically every time his gums get to flapping. Enough on that personified vapidity.
Instead of wondering what all the fuss is about, let’s get down to brass tracks.
First of all, after the Wirefree Wilkes-Barre board decided it did not want to oversee the surveillance camera project, Hawkeye Security, a non-profit board comprised of three city employees, was born.
And as a means to fund this overly ambitious project, the board sought out and was awarded grant monies from the state, monies that came from the receipts of the local gaming initiative. And these grants were to be used for only one of two things, economic development projects, or public safety projects. And as we already know, the camera network is a public safety initiative. In addition, all of this was researched by three city attorneys, and done according to the state-approved process.
Now, one of Jim Hayward’s incorrect assertions was that Hawkeye Security did not put out for public bids before awarding a contract to Texas-based TAC, the developer and operator of our soon-to-be surveillance network.
In fact, two separate RFP’s (requests for proposals) were issued before TAC was awarded the contract. The first went out when Wirefree Wilkes-Barre was formed. And the second RFP went out after the Wirefree board decided it did not want to take on an additional project, the camera network. And as a result of the second RFP, 13 separate companies from across the country submitted bids before TAC came on board. And again, according to the state-written guidelines, this was all done on the up-and-up, hence…the awarding of the grant dollars.
Another flub on Hayward’s part was his claim that the gaming monies were supposed to be earmarked for property relief. Incorrect! That’s a whole other state program that has nothing to do with the local communities bordering Plains Township, where the casino is located, receiving their applied-for windfall in the form of state-approved and state-issued gaming revenues by way of grants.
Further, Hawkeye Security’s board is comprised of Wilkes-Barre’s two IT (information technology) employees, as well as City Administrator J.J. Murphy. And it was none other than Mayor Tom Leighton that charged Murphy with the daunting task of putting the surveillance network together. Something, by the way, that Murphy worked on even while being forward-deployed to Djibouti, Africa with the United States military.
So, if there was a lapse between when some aspects of the system were near being finalized, and when City Council was made aware of them as some on council have loudly claimed, well, I guess we’ll have to blame J.J. Murphy for serving his city while simultaneously serving his country. Meanwhile, City Council accomplished what? A junior City Council? Limiting public input to 5 minutes per resident at council meetings?
Scandal? What scandal?
The undeniable fact of the matter is, the Wilkes-Barre City Council had absolutely no problem with the implementation of the camera network or Hawkeye Security, until City Administrator J.J. Murphy himself refused to sign off on a child of a sitting council member being appointed to the position of City Grant Writer. That’s when the scrutiny of Hawkeye started as a way of trying to publicly embarrass Murphy and bring controversy to a project he has been working on behind the scenes for years.
And when a council member says of a recent visit to Murphy’s office, at a City Council meeting no less, “…I felt like a military prisoner,” you don’t really have to work much math before deducing that this all sounds like a personality conflict.
As for myself, I take great umbrage with any of my elected officials making any sorts of comments that are meant to belittle or impugn the efforts of the United States military. A military prisoner? Are you serious? Are you kidding me? What, are we water-boarding council members at Wilkes-Barre City Hall?
How utterly disgraceful!
From the reader’s comments:
D.B. Echo said...
What will you be doing with the Wilkes-Barre Online archives? There's a lot of stuff there. I would hate to see it vanish into the ether.
You know, I hadn’t considered any of that. I could print all of it out in paper form, but that’d take a heck of a lot of paper as well as quite a few printer cartridges.
Make checks payable to: The Wilkes-Barre Online Archive Fund.
Nite
And at some point, Nancy asked, if other teen phenoms were all using steroids, should one allow their own kid--their own teen phenom--to do likewise just to stay competitive.
Nope. No doping. No steroids. Just teach them how to throw a knuckleball, and then sit back and watch them enjoy an injury-free twenty-year career. Perhaps even twenty-five.
You know, this ill-advised Hawkeye dustup has gone from the surreal to the sublime.
From the Times Leader:
http://www.timesleader.com/news/W-B_mulls_citizen_rsquo_s_stop_sign_request_05-08-2009.html
In other business, the mayor addressed concerns raised about the Hawkeye Security project, noting that Hawkeye had been created in order to operate separately from the city, like a board or an authority.
It was not established as a board or authority, but as a non-profit entity, he told questioner Jim Hayward, and all steps had been taken with legal advice.
The security camera project had been done publicly, and council had been aware of the progress of the project, if not the exact form of the nonprofit operating the project, he said after the meeting. Questions Hayward raised about procedural issues – whether requests for proposals were used in place of bids, or whether the Hawkeye meetings were subject to the state’s open meeting laws – were not addressed.
From the Citizens’ Voice:
http://citizensvoice.com/articles/2009/05/08/news/wb_voice.20090508.t.pg8.cv08cddemo_s1.2505837_top8.txt
Thursday night’s council meeting also featured more discussion regarding Hawkeye Security Solutions, the nonprofit corporation created by the city to oversee the $2 million surveillance camera network, which is still in the planning stages.
Jim Hayward, the city administrator under the previous mayor, and Sam Troy, a frequent speaker at council meetings, questioned city officials on the way Hawkeye was created, and its role in the project.
“The decisions seem to have been made rather opaquely,” Troy said.
With what has become a frequent refrain at the meetings, Leighton said Hawkeye, like a city board or authority, was created to insulate the city from financial and legal liability.
“It’s a great project,” Leighton said of the camera network. “Nothing has been done illegally.”
While that’s enough stupidity for one month, we weren’t done yet. Nah, some “Jim from Wilkes-Barre,” presumably Jim Hayward, made an appearance on the Sue Henry Show today, and he did his level best to make it sound as if the Hawkeye Security initiative here in Wilkes-Barre is Luzerne County’s next breaking news type scandal. Truth is, nothing of the sort is afoot.
And I take it as a personal affront to my vast intelligence that any member of the former mayor’s administration, the administration that presided over the financial ruination of Wilkes-Barre, would dare to show his face in public and question the current administration. You know, the administration that cleaned up all of the prior administration's financial and infrastructure messes.
As critics of city government go, that is, the former City Administrator that left office with $10.5 million in unpaid, overdue debts, Jim Hayward is laughable at best. I’m thinking Coke-through-the-nostrils practically every time his gums get to flapping. Enough on that personified vapidity.
Instead of wondering what all the fuss is about, let’s get down to brass tracks.
First of all, after the Wirefree Wilkes-Barre board decided it did not want to oversee the surveillance camera project, Hawkeye Security, a non-profit board comprised of three city employees, was born.
And as a means to fund this overly ambitious project, the board sought out and was awarded grant monies from the state, monies that came from the receipts of the local gaming initiative. And these grants were to be used for only one of two things, economic development projects, or public safety projects. And as we already know, the camera network is a public safety initiative. In addition, all of this was researched by three city attorneys, and done according to the state-approved process.
Now, one of Jim Hayward’s incorrect assertions was that Hawkeye Security did not put out for public bids before awarding a contract to Texas-based TAC, the developer and operator of our soon-to-be surveillance network.
In fact, two separate RFP’s (requests for proposals) were issued before TAC was awarded the contract. The first went out when Wirefree Wilkes-Barre was formed. And the second RFP went out after the Wirefree board decided it did not want to take on an additional project, the camera network. And as a result of the second RFP, 13 separate companies from across the country submitted bids before TAC came on board. And again, according to the state-written guidelines, this was all done on the up-and-up, hence…the awarding of the grant dollars.
Another flub on Hayward’s part was his claim that the gaming monies were supposed to be earmarked for property relief. Incorrect! That’s a whole other state program that has nothing to do with the local communities bordering Plains Township, where the casino is located, receiving their applied-for windfall in the form of state-approved and state-issued gaming revenues by way of grants.
Further, Hawkeye Security’s board is comprised of Wilkes-Barre’s two IT (information technology) employees, as well as City Administrator J.J. Murphy. And it was none other than Mayor Tom Leighton that charged Murphy with the daunting task of putting the surveillance network together. Something, by the way, that Murphy worked on even while being forward-deployed to Djibouti, Africa with the United States military.
So, if there was a lapse between when some aspects of the system were near being finalized, and when City Council was made aware of them as some on council have loudly claimed, well, I guess we’ll have to blame J.J. Murphy for serving his city while simultaneously serving his country. Meanwhile, City Council accomplished what? A junior City Council? Limiting public input to 5 minutes per resident at council meetings?
Scandal? What scandal?
The undeniable fact of the matter is, the Wilkes-Barre City Council had absolutely no problem with the implementation of the camera network or Hawkeye Security, until City Administrator J.J. Murphy himself refused to sign off on a child of a sitting council member being appointed to the position of City Grant Writer. That’s when the scrutiny of Hawkeye started as a way of trying to publicly embarrass Murphy and bring controversy to a project he has been working on behind the scenes for years.
And when a council member says of a recent visit to Murphy’s office, at a City Council meeting no less, “…I felt like a military prisoner,” you don’t really have to work much math before deducing that this all sounds like a personality conflict.
As for myself, I take great umbrage with any of my elected officials making any sorts of comments that are meant to belittle or impugn the efforts of the United States military. A military prisoner? Are you serious? Are you kidding me? What, are we water-boarding council members at Wilkes-Barre City Hall?
How utterly disgraceful!
From the reader’s comments:
D.B. Echo said...
What will you be doing with the Wilkes-Barre Online archives? There's a lot of stuff there. I would hate to see it vanish into the ether.
You know, I hadn’t considered any of that. I could print all of it out in paper form, but that’d take a heck of a lot of paper as well as quite a few printer cartridges.
Make checks payable to: The Wilkes-Barre Online Archive Fund.
Nite
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Blogging for Dummies...by dummies
First of all, I’d like to thank both Gort and D.B. Echo for their kind comments concerning my recent internet relocation.
Gort: Then there is that internet hooligan from the North End of Wilkes-Barre who almost gave me a heart attack when I read; And with that, my last ever post on the formerly expansive electronic pages of Wilkes-Barre Online… The Blogfather was my inspiration to start Gort42. He was only one writing about local issues a few years ago when I was (wasting) spending my time commenting on blogs that cover national issues. He didn't follow through with that threat but moved to a new platform; Circumlocution for Dummies. Years of posts about Wilkes-Barre and other stuff can be found at Wilkes-Barre Online which will always remain on my blogroll.
Hooligan? Me?
D.B. Echo: Just caught the latest missive from Mark Cour's Wilkes-Barre Online, perhaps the most interesting, most informative, best-written, and longest-running blog in this area.
Look, let’s be honest here. When first I started out, I had no idea what I was doing, or where it all might lead me to. I just did it. My intent was neither to inspire, be interesting, be informative or to write well. All I wanted was to live in a city better than Wilkes-Barre was at that time, but without having to leave Wilkes-Barre. And the fact that I still reside within the city’s confines should speak volumes about how the journey ended.
In the beginning, as word of my site spread, it was not hard to garner attention, accolades, publicity or threats. Being the only poliblogger in the entire area kind of guaranteed all of that. And as time passed and the blogging craze hit full swing, many, many local imitators appeared out of thin air. And while most of them had the life expectancy of a mosquito, some, a handful, not only hung around, but prospered and developed a following. And you two guys are card-carrying members of that exclusive club. So, kudos to you both.
As you both know, I’ve delivered many a scoop in the past. And very many of my posts showed up on the pages of the local newspapers, but without any nod to the blogger who did the leg work or the research…me. But none of that bothered me. The way I saw it, being ripped off by the newspapers only meant the fruits of my labors reached a much wider audience than my Web site could have. In other words, he shoots, he scores, a couple days pass, and he scores again without taking another shot. Whoopee!
But there’s two things you need to know. For every scoop I delivered, I could have published scores more. But I decided to abide by that ultimate death knell of almost all scoops, “This is off the record.” The thing is, if the movers ‘n shakers, or the politicos don’t trust you, they won’t talk to you. And long story short, I would have rather had them talk to me and know stuff than not talk to me and be in the dark.
And another interesting facet of being a sort of preeminent political blogger is all of the rumors, the innuendoes, the accusations and the aged press clippings people had sent me over the years.
With each “tip” I received, I had a decision to make. A very basic decision, whether or not to publish what was sent to me. And the fact that I’ve never been sued testifies to the fact that I probably made some good decisions over the years. And the other consideration for me was whether or not it was fair to publish such detestable or devastating things.
Did it matter to me that a city council hopeful had once been arrested for aggravated assault, only years and years and years before? No. Never appeared on my pages. Did it matter to me if a mayoral hopeful was accused of soliciting a prostitute in lieu of any proof? Not on your life.
Was it important to learn that a local candidate for state representative had certifiable ties to Scientology? You bet your ass, and I went with it. Was I concerned with the fact that a subcontractor employed by the City of Wilkes-Barre was a homosexual. Nope. Never made mention of it on my pages, but it did end up published on the internet by way of one of those anonymous bloggers desperate for attention.
And in my mind, if you blog and you’re simultaneously desperate for attention, there’s probably two issues at work there. 1: You must not be a very interesting or entertaining writer, and 2., that desperation just might get you in hot water one day.
And I came home from work today to learn that one of those little-known anonymous bloggers (whom I will not link to) looking to make a name for his or herself went and bit off more than they can chew. Yep, somebody went and delivered their first big scoop. The only problem is, it is not entirely factual, it does not tell the whole truth and based on what the unknown author wrote in his or her own words, it amounts to little more than slander. Nice, look at me, an October Surprise via slander.
The saddest part of this needless and libelous imbroglio is, this is not new. Or, this is not news. This supposed “scoop” has been old news for quite a while now. I can’t remember exactly, but I’d have to estimate that this “news,” this “dirt,” was delivered to me as far back as 2003. And I chose not to publish it.
The dirt was, that county Controller hopeful, Walter Griffith, in my opinion the most annoying political raconteur extraordinaire at that time, was picked up for soliciting a prostitute some ten years or so prior. Just to stand on his jewels a bit, I thought about publishing it. But the fact was, I had no idea if it was true. And I also had no clue how the adjudication of his case eventually played out.
Well, as it turned out, the charge, a misdemeanor, did not stick. He was charged with loitering, and nothing else.
And while our upstart anonymous blogger yearning for attention decided to go with his or her “scoop” while explaining it was done in the name of some sort of perverse journalistic integrity or some nonexistent journalistic responsibility, he wouldn’t know the first thing about either if they suddenly lurched forward and latched on to his or her genitalia.
Because, when you write, “One of those skeletons has emerged from the closet of Luzerne County Republican Controller candidate Walter Griffith's closet in the form of a criminal citation for patronizing a prostitute in July of 1993,” but no citation ever existed in the first place, you have just exemplified all that is wrong and reckless and unfair about blogging. This is the very worst that bloggers have to offer, and all in one single post no less. Dummy!
And since misdemeanor records are expunged after three years, the fact is that the upstart blogger in question cannot prove what he or she was so quick to accuse someone of. And likewise, unless he can unearth some unwanted paperwork probably long since misplaced or lost, Walter Griffith cannot produce any documentation proving his innocence in this matter.
The point is, it should have never been published in the first place. And not by someone who doesn’t have enough testicular fortitude to attach a name to his or her ill-advised and slanderous words.
Walter, stand tall. You’ve still got my vote.
And to us longtime bloggers busily slapping each other on the back and sharing electronic niceties with each other, isn’t it fun watching these upstart and reckless imitators eviscerating what little credibility they had in the first place with just a few keystrokes? I love it.
I really, really, really do.
And on a related note, how many innocent little girls would not have been raped and murdered and dumped in a nearby drainage ditch if prostitution was legal all along?
Answer me that.
Later
http://anothermonkey.blogspot.com/
http://gort42.blogspot.com/
Gort: Then there is that internet hooligan from the North End of Wilkes-Barre who almost gave me a heart attack when I read; And with that, my last ever post on the formerly expansive electronic pages of Wilkes-Barre Online… The Blogfather was my inspiration to start Gort42. He was only one writing about local issues a few years ago when I was (wasting) spending my time commenting on blogs that cover national issues. He didn't follow through with that threat but moved to a new platform; Circumlocution for Dummies. Years of posts about Wilkes-Barre and other stuff can be found at Wilkes-Barre Online which will always remain on my blogroll.
Hooligan? Me?
D.B. Echo: Just caught the latest missive from Mark Cour's Wilkes-Barre Online, perhaps the most interesting, most informative, best-written, and longest-running blog in this area.
Look, let’s be honest here. When first I started out, I had no idea what I was doing, or where it all might lead me to. I just did it. My intent was neither to inspire, be interesting, be informative or to write well. All I wanted was to live in a city better than Wilkes-Barre was at that time, but without having to leave Wilkes-Barre. And the fact that I still reside within the city’s confines should speak volumes about how the journey ended.
In the beginning, as word of my site spread, it was not hard to garner attention, accolades, publicity or threats. Being the only poliblogger in the entire area kind of guaranteed all of that. And as time passed and the blogging craze hit full swing, many, many local imitators appeared out of thin air. And while most of them had the life expectancy of a mosquito, some, a handful, not only hung around, but prospered and developed a following. And you two guys are card-carrying members of that exclusive club. So, kudos to you both.
As you both know, I’ve delivered many a scoop in the past. And very many of my posts showed up on the pages of the local newspapers, but without any nod to the blogger who did the leg work or the research…me. But none of that bothered me. The way I saw it, being ripped off by the newspapers only meant the fruits of my labors reached a much wider audience than my Web site could have. In other words, he shoots, he scores, a couple days pass, and he scores again without taking another shot. Whoopee!
But there’s two things you need to know. For every scoop I delivered, I could have published scores more. But I decided to abide by that ultimate death knell of almost all scoops, “This is off the record.” The thing is, if the movers ‘n shakers, or the politicos don’t trust you, they won’t talk to you. And long story short, I would have rather had them talk to me and know stuff than not talk to me and be in the dark.
And another interesting facet of being a sort of preeminent political blogger is all of the rumors, the innuendoes, the accusations and the aged press clippings people had sent me over the years.
With each “tip” I received, I had a decision to make. A very basic decision, whether or not to publish what was sent to me. And the fact that I’ve never been sued testifies to the fact that I probably made some good decisions over the years. And the other consideration for me was whether or not it was fair to publish such detestable or devastating things.
Did it matter to me that a city council hopeful had once been arrested for aggravated assault, only years and years and years before? No. Never appeared on my pages. Did it matter to me if a mayoral hopeful was accused of soliciting a prostitute in lieu of any proof? Not on your life.
Was it important to learn that a local candidate for state representative had certifiable ties to Scientology? You bet your ass, and I went with it. Was I concerned with the fact that a subcontractor employed by the City of Wilkes-Barre was a homosexual. Nope. Never made mention of it on my pages, but it did end up published on the internet by way of one of those anonymous bloggers desperate for attention.
And in my mind, if you blog and you’re simultaneously desperate for attention, there’s probably two issues at work there. 1: You must not be a very interesting or entertaining writer, and 2., that desperation just might get you in hot water one day.
And I came home from work today to learn that one of those little-known anonymous bloggers (whom I will not link to) looking to make a name for his or herself went and bit off more than they can chew. Yep, somebody went and delivered their first big scoop. The only problem is, it is not entirely factual, it does not tell the whole truth and based on what the unknown author wrote in his or her own words, it amounts to little more than slander. Nice, look at me, an October Surprise via slander.
The saddest part of this needless and libelous imbroglio is, this is not new. Or, this is not news. This supposed “scoop” has been old news for quite a while now. I can’t remember exactly, but I’d have to estimate that this “news,” this “dirt,” was delivered to me as far back as 2003. And I chose not to publish it.
The dirt was, that county Controller hopeful, Walter Griffith, in my opinion the most annoying political raconteur extraordinaire at that time, was picked up for soliciting a prostitute some ten years or so prior. Just to stand on his jewels a bit, I thought about publishing it. But the fact was, I had no idea if it was true. And I also had no clue how the adjudication of his case eventually played out.
Well, as it turned out, the charge, a misdemeanor, did not stick. He was charged with loitering, and nothing else.
And while our upstart anonymous blogger yearning for attention decided to go with his or her “scoop” while explaining it was done in the name of some sort of perverse journalistic integrity or some nonexistent journalistic responsibility, he wouldn’t know the first thing about either if they suddenly lurched forward and latched on to his or her genitalia.
Because, when you write, “One of those skeletons has emerged from the closet of Luzerne County Republican Controller candidate Walter Griffith's closet in the form of a criminal citation for patronizing a prostitute in July of 1993,” but no citation ever existed in the first place, you have just exemplified all that is wrong and reckless and unfair about blogging. This is the very worst that bloggers have to offer, and all in one single post no less. Dummy!
And since misdemeanor records are expunged after three years, the fact is that the upstart blogger in question cannot prove what he or she was so quick to accuse someone of. And likewise, unless he can unearth some unwanted paperwork probably long since misplaced or lost, Walter Griffith cannot produce any documentation proving his innocence in this matter.
The point is, it should have never been published in the first place. And not by someone who doesn’t have enough testicular fortitude to attach a name to his or her ill-advised and slanderous words.
Walter, stand tall. You’ve still got my vote.
And to us longtime bloggers busily slapping each other on the back and sharing electronic niceties with each other, isn’t it fun watching these upstart and reckless imitators eviscerating what little credibility they had in the first place with just a few keystrokes? I love it.
I really, really, really do.
And on a related note, how many innocent little girls would not have been raped and murdered and dumped in a nearby drainage ditch if prostitution was legal all along?
Answer me that.
Later
http://anothermonkey.blogspot.com/
http://gort42.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
I'm sold. Home Rule Yes!
From today’s Citizens’ Voice, a quote attributed to our Luzerne County Clerk of Courts, Bob Reilly:
“I have been here faithfully running this office for over 22 years,” Reilly said Tuesday. “Just because somebody considers something different than it is, there’s all this chatter.”
Chatter?
Yeah, well, I guess. I guess, when a talk show host catches you red-handed selling cars when you‘re supposed to be doing the mysterious Clerk of Whatever routine. And especially after you sued because the county budget cuts proposed for the judiciary supposedly left your office too understaffed and too grossly under funded to even function. Chatter? I guess.
Oh, and there is that other witness…myself. The guy who saw the Clerk of Whatever selling cars each and every time he entered the auto dealership in question.
And how completely sad is it that the president judge of the county has to sit with the double-dipping, AWOL Clerk of Whatever and then request that he make his elected county position his first priority. How sad is that? He couldn’t just order him to be there or else. No, he had to request that he show up every once in a while. In actuality, he has no boss.
But that’s what happens when the county code is this purposely crafted gray area, which allows everyone employed by the county to fly south of any semblance of accountability, and to plod along for years on end with no job description in sight. To boldly go where no questions receive answers.
Thanks to Mr. Reilly’s brazen response to getting his hand caught in the jar with all of the car keys, I’m done. I’m good. I am sold. I’m voting “Yes” when I get to the home rule study referendum question on the ballot. I may not know who exactly I’m voting for when I pick 11 commission members from the sizable list of hopefuls, but Godspeed you unknowns.
Ever since this scandal-plagued county started flailing under the intense glare of direct scrutiny, it’s become patently obvious that most of those that were previously thought to be “serving” us are nothing more than prevaricators, scoundrels and thieves.
Frighteningly enough, I truly fear that a majority of the electorate will vote much like a battered woman clings to her physical abuser. He can curse at her, and spit on her and punch her until she falls down and then kicks her, but she’ll likely not press charges and go back to him.
All of this circumlocution aside, it’s Home Rule Yes, kiddies!
And what’s up with this tomfoolery already?
From the Times Leader:
W-B officials bickering over Hawkeye
This is the second time some heated exchanges resulted over the “concerns” some Wilkes-Barre City council folk have concerning something or other about the makeup or operation of Hawkeye Security.
From that Times Leader story:
Kane said she and Murphy have had difficulty in communicating. She said a meeting about Hawkeye she had with Murphy “didn’t work out.” She said Leighton does answer her questions “but he can’t answer them all.”
Councilman Bill Barrett, who has questioned Hawkeye in the past, said, “Did I have concerns? Yes. Are there still concerns? Yes.”
Neither Barrett nor Kane would reveal their concerns. “I’ll wait until the city attorney gets back to me,” Kane said. She said she doesn’t expect any answers for at least a week.
Hawkeye is the not-for-profit company created by Leighton to oversee the creation, purchase and implementation of the surveillance system. The system will be monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week by TAC, a firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
Blah, blah, blah. Listen to me tell it: Until the “concerns” are aired, all of this back-and-forth heated nonsense amounts to needless bickering at a public meeting.
While the scandals grow by the day, Wilkes-Barre officials do their level best to add Wilkes-Barre City Hall to the list of government buildings operating under a cloud.
So here’s my attempt at a solution. This is me playing arbitrator.
Either share your “concerns” with us, or make like you’re really doing something important. You know, pretend. Create the Junior Varsity Council to serve under the Junior Council. I dunno.
I’m happy with the progress we’ve made. I’m appreciative of the fiscal responsibility. I’m thrilled with the beefed-up police presence. I can’t wait for the new high-profile projects to be completed. But can we cool it with the Mickey Mouse bullspit?
I’m just asking.
Buh-bye
“I have been here faithfully running this office for over 22 years,” Reilly said Tuesday. “Just because somebody considers something different than it is, there’s all this chatter.”
Chatter?
Yeah, well, I guess. I guess, when a talk show host catches you red-handed selling cars when you‘re supposed to be doing the mysterious Clerk of Whatever routine. And especially after you sued because the county budget cuts proposed for the judiciary supposedly left your office too understaffed and too grossly under funded to even function. Chatter? I guess.
Oh, and there is that other witness…myself. The guy who saw the Clerk of Whatever selling cars each and every time he entered the auto dealership in question.
And how completely sad is it that the president judge of the county has to sit with the double-dipping, AWOL Clerk of Whatever and then request that he make his elected county position his first priority. How sad is that? He couldn’t just order him to be there or else. No, he had to request that he show up every once in a while. In actuality, he has no boss.
But that’s what happens when the county code is this purposely crafted gray area, which allows everyone employed by the county to fly south of any semblance of accountability, and to plod along for years on end with no job description in sight. To boldly go where no questions receive answers.
Thanks to Mr. Reilly’s brazen response to getting his hand caught in the jar with all of the car keys, I’m done. I’m good. I am sold. I’m voting “Yes” when I get to the home rule study referendum question on the ballot. I may not know who exactly I’m voting for when I pick 11 commission members from the sizable list of hopefuls, but Godspeed you unknowns.
Ever since this scandal-plagued county started flailing under the intense glare of direct scrutiny, it’s become patently obvious that most of those that were previously thought to be “serving” us are nothing more than prevaricators, scoundrels and thieves.
Frighteningly enough, I truly fear that a majority of the electorate will vote much like a battered woman clings to her physical abuser. He can curse at her, and spit on her and punch her until she falls down and then kicks her, but she’ll likely not press charges and go back to him.
All of this circumlocution aside, it’s Home Rule Yes, kiddies!
And what’s up with this tomfoolery already?
From the Times Leader:
W-B officials bickering over Hawkeye
This is the second time some heated exchanges resulted over the “concerns” some Wilkes-Barre City council folk have concerning something or other about the makeup or operation of Hawkeye Security.
From that Times Leader story:
Kane said she and Murphy have had difficulty in communicating. She said a meeting about Hawkeye she had with Murphy “didn’t work out.” She said Leighton does answer her questions “but he can’t answer them all.”
Councilman Bill Barrett, who has questioned Hawkeye in the past, said, “Did I have concerns? Yes. Are there still concerns? Yes.”
Neither Barrett nor Kane would reveal their concerns. “I’ll wait until the city attorney gets back to me,” Kane said. She said she doesn’t expect any answers for at least a week.
Hawkeye is the not-for-profit company created by Leighton to oversee the creation, purchase and implementation of the surveillance system. The system will be monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week by TAC, a firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
Blah, blah, blah. Listen to me tell it: Until the “concerns” are aired, all of this back-and-forth heated nonsense amounts to needless bickering at a public meeting.
While the scandals grow by the day, Wilkes-Barre officials do their level best to add Wilkes-Barre City Hall to the list of government buildings operating under a cloud.
So here’s my attempt at a solution. This is me playing arbitrator.
Either share your “concerns” with us, or make like you’re really doing something important. You know, pretend. Create the Junior Varsity Council to serve under the Junior Council. I dunno.
I’m happy with the progress we’ve made. I’m appreciative of the fiscal responsibility. I’m thrilled with the beefed-up police presence. I can’t wait for the new high-profile projects to be completed. But can we cool it with the Mickey Mouse bullspit?
I’m just asking.
Buh-bye
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
A commission of unknowns?
I was pleasantly surprised this morning after learning from WILK’s Sue Henry that the May primary election is but two weeks away. Wow. Already?
Once I got home from work, I decided to take a trip over to the Luzerne County Web site, and take a look at the sample ballot--the one with all of the candidates names penciled in. After some initial confusion, it quickly dawned on me that I very recently switched my party affiliation. So away went the democrat ballot, and up came the PDF file listing all of the republicans.
The first few races, Justice of the Supreme Court, Judge of the Superior Court and Judge of the Commonwealth Court are all being sought by candidates from counties far, far away from here, candidates that I have never even heard of before. And since I ain’t yet heavily addicted to GrassrootsPA, or PoliticsPA, I might just have to skip those electoral frays.
Then we got the judge race, Luzerne County style…17 candidates slugging it out over two vacant judgeships, and we can only vote for two. And since I previously said I‘ll probably snub the good old boys network by voting only for chicks, for me it comes down to Jennifer Rogers, Tina Polacheck Gartley and Molly Hanlon Mirabito. I am yet to decide on which of the two I will vote for.
Ah, the County Controller…vote for one. Robert Sypnewski, Alice B. Coffman, Nanda Palissery, Edward A. Brominski and Walter L. Griffith Jr. Here’s my quick rundown.
Palissery and Coffman disqualified themselves by scoffing at working fulltime hours if elected. Sypnewski blew it when he decided to launch into his venomous anti-lawyer tirade at one of the recent debates. Brominski has himself a political pedigree, so he’s out. And last but not certainly least is Walter.
Walter’s tenaciousness as a government watchdog is matched only by his full understanding of the county code. He’s attended the meetings, he’s called the politicians on their many flubs and oversights, as well as pointed out their own lack of knowledge of the inner workings of the county government on occasion.
He has promised to be there tirelessly doing his job to the tune of fulltime hours. And to prove his seriousness and commitment to the position, he has promised to sell his business upon being elected. He’s definately got my vote.
Then we have the prothonotary race between Carolee Medico Olenginski and Walter Mitchell.
Carolee previously served as the prothonotary before being run out of the courthouse by the corrupt powers that be. And it’s undeniable that she ruffled the feathers of many entrenched democrats, and could never be accused of going along to get along.
And Mitchell, well, Mitchell is the Mayor of Bear Creek Village, the tiny hamlet that was flooded into financial chaos because it neglected to secure the necessary flood insurances and the like, despite the fact that said hamlet envelopes a large body of water.
I’m going with Carolee.
For Register of Wills, we have Gina Nerenglosky running unopposed. What am I supposed to do with a one-horse race?
And for both Jury Commissioner and Magisterial District Judge, again, we have lone candidates running unopposed in each race.
And for the first time ever, I am actually interested in the Wilkes-Barre School Director contest. We have eight contestants, four of which are currently serving on the school board, with four newcomers challenging the lot of them. Thanks to the scandal brewing within the district as a result of the ongoing FBI investigation, the four newcomers have it.
And I especially like Harry Haas, a bright young mind who lives in the city and is also an educator in the Dallas Area School District. This is a guy who convincingly comes across as wanting in only for the sakes of the kids. If he doesn’t win a seat on that board, I will be annoyed with the electorate. Seriously annoyed.
Then we have another guy, Vern Kozicki, running unopposed for Inspector of Elections. Who? What? Yawn.
And lastly, what I like to call “The big two.” We’ve got the Government Study Commission Referendum question, in which we are supposed to vote either yes or no, for or against forming yet another government study commission. Yes? No? I’m still not sure which way I’ll fall off that fence.
And then we’ve got twenty people running for the study commission, if and when the voters vote yes to the formation of another governmental reform brain trust. I believe we can vote for eleven.
I have followed the less than heavy publicized exploits of this current group, and I have followed the latest on their Web site. And I have to tell you, other than Walter Griffith, this group is comprised of 19 complete strangers. In all honesty, I know so very little about any of them, I fail to see how I could or would cast a vote for any of them. A commission of unknowns? Who best? Got me by the ball bearings.
And whatever you do, resist the sudden urge to chastise me for not attending any of their far-flung public informational events. Hey, I didn’t demand a revolution, so don’t harp on me for not attending something I never asked for in the first place.
I received more than my fill of unwanted, unneeded and unearned chastising from the radio talk show hosts on WILK after David Yonki’s Lu Lac Political Letter sponsored a judge forum and practically nobody bothered to attend it.
Yeah, I know, I know…17 lawyers want to be judges. And I fail to see how a five-minute dissertation could make any of them decisively stand out over the others. And a short question and answer period reveals next to nothing, if the person providing the answers is less than honest and forthright.
I attended two of these meet the candidates events in the past, and I can’t envision a scenario wherein I would ever bother to attend one again.
Anyway, yes or no? Yet another government study commission or not? I guess I’ll decide that one when they close that imaginary voting curtain behind me. Either which way, as always, I can’t wait to vote. And with scandals breaking out all over the place, I hope everyone who reads this is itching to vote as well.
Them’s my thoughts on all of that.
Later
Once I got home from work, I decided to take a trip over to the Luzerne County Web site, and take a look at the sample ballot--the one with all of the candidates names penciled in. After some initial confusion, it quickly dawned on me that I very recently switched my party affiliation. So away went the democrat ballot, and up came the PDF file listing all of the republicans.
The first few races, Justice of the Supreme Court, Judge of the Superior Court and Judge of the Commonwealth Court are all being sought by candidates from counties far, far away from here, candidates that I have never even heard of before. And since I ain’t yet heavily addicted to GrassrootsPA, or PoliticsPA, I might just have to skip those electoral frays.
Then we got the judge race, Luzerne County style…17 candidates slugging it out over two vacant judgeships, and we can only vote for two. And since I previously said I‘ll probably snub the good old boys network by voting only for chicks, for me it comes down to Jennifer Rogers, Tina Polacheck Gartley and Molly Hanlon Mirabito. I am yet to decide on which of the two I will vote for.
Ah, the County Controller…vote for one. Robert Sypnewski, Alice B. Coffman, Nanda Palissery, Edward A. Brominski and Walter L. Griffith Jr. Here’s my quick rundown.
Palissery and Coffman disqualified themselves by scoffing at working fulltime hours if elected. Sypnewski blew it when he decided to launch into his venomous anti-lawyer tirade at one of the recent debates. Brominski has himself a political pedigree, so he’s out. And last but not certainly least is Walter.
Walter’s tenaciousness as a government watchdog is matched only by his full understanding of the county code. He’s attended the meetings, he’s called the politicians on their many flubs and oversights, as well as pointed out their own lack of knowledge of the inner workings of the county government on occasion.
He has promised to be there tirelessly doing his job to the tune of fulltime hours. And to prove his seriousness and commitment to the position, he has promised to sell his business upon being elected. He’s definately got my vote.
Then we have the prothonotary race between Carolee Medico Olenginski and Walter Mitchell.
Carolee previously served as the prothonotary before being run out of the courthouse by the corrupt powers that be. And it’s undeniable that she ruffled the feathers of many entrenched democrats, and could never be accused of going along to get along.
And Mitchell, well, Mitchell is the Mayor of Bear Creek Village, the tiny hamlet that was flooded into financial chaos because it neglected to secure the necessary flood insurances and the like, despite the fact that said hamlet envelopes a large body of water.
I’m going with Carolee.
For Register of Wills, we have Gina Nerenglosky running unopposed. What am I supposed to do with a one-horse race?
And for both Jury Commissioner and Magisterial District Judge, again, we have lone candidates running unopposed in each race.
And for the first time ever, I am actually interested in the Wilkes-Barre School Director contest. We have eight contestants, four of which are currently serving on the school board, with four newcomers challenging the lot of them. Thanks to the scandal brewing within the district as a result of the ongoing FBI investigation, the four newcomers have it.
And I especially like Harry Haas, a bright young mind who lives in the city and is also an educator in the Dallas Area School District. This is a guy who convincingly comes across as wanting in only for the sakes of the kids. If he doesn’t win a seat on that board, I will be annoyed with the electorate. Seriously annoyed.
Then we have another guy, Vern Kozicki, running unopposed for Inspector of Elections. Who? What? Yawn.
And lastly, what I like to call “The big two.” We’ve got the Government Study Commission Referendum question, in which we are supposed to vote either yes or no, for or against forming yet another government study commission. Yes? No? I’m still not sure which way I’ll fall off that fence.
And then we’ve got twenty people running for the study commission, if and when the voters vote yes to the formation of another governmental reform brain trust. I believe we can vote for eleven.
I have followed the less than heavy publicized exploits of this current group, and I have followed the latest on their Web site. And I have to tell you, other than Walter Griffith, this group is comprised of 19 complete strangers. In all honesty, I know so very little about any of them, I fail to see how I could or would cast a vote for any of them. A commission of unknowns? Who best? Got me by the ball bearings.
And whatever you do, resist the sudden urge to chastise me for not attending any of their far-flung public informational events. Hey, I didn’t demand a revolution, so don’t harp on me for not attending something I never asked for in the first place.
I received more than my fill of unwanted, unneeded and unearned chastising from the radio talk show hosts on WILK after David Yonki’s Lu Lac Political Letter sponsored a judge forum and practically nobody bothered to attend it.
Yeah, I know, I know…17 lawyers want to be judges. And I fail to see how a five-minute dissertation could make any of them decisively stand out over the others. And a short question and answer period reveals next to nothing, if the person providing the answers is less than honest and forthright.
I attended two of these meet the candidates events in the past, and I can’t envision a scenario wherein I would ever bother to attend one again.
Anyway, yes or no? Yet another government study commission or not? I guess I’ll decide that one when they close that imaginary voting curtain behind me. Either which way, as always, I can’t wait to vote. And with scandals breaking out all over the place, I hope everyone who reads this is itching to vote as well.
Them’s my thoughts on all of that.
Later
Monday, May 4, 2009
New location, same old madness
Welcome to my new internet haunt.
If you’re reading this, you have to have already figured out that Wilkes-Barre Online has gone tits up. That it has.
I started that site on December 2, 2000, and I immediately made many new friends as well as countless hordes of new enemies. My goal was to highlight just how bad off Wilkes-Barre was in those days, and to bring attention to the fact that Wilkes-Barre needed bold, new leadership. And in both of those ill-advised but heady pursuits, I succeeded and then some.
There was a time when Wilkes-Barre Online was commonly referred to as Wilkes-Barre’s third newspaper. I can’t even recall how many times local residents told me they started each new day with a cup of coffee, the Times Leader, the Citizens’ Voice and Wilkes-Barre Online. And in many respects, that site was in fact a third take, a different, more abrasive, more acerbic take on the local goings-on. But, at least for me, it’s time has come and gone. And lately, it’s been an anchor of sorts.
For example, very recently, a city council lady took a very public shot at the City Administrator over some monies he was paid for working diligently over the years on our security camera network that is about set to come to fruition. And rather than bring controversy to a worthwhile project not even off the drawing board just yet, he returned said monies and got back to work.
And as a result, I received mocking e-mails accusing me of sidestepping that issue because, as one of the nincompoops put it, “..because J.J. is your buddy.”
Incorrect, dork. I did not write about it because in my mind it was a total non-issue. But, that’s the expectation, that Wilkes-Barre Online, Wilkes-Barre’s former third news outlet, will cover any news, political and otherwise, coming out of the city as if by rote.
So, as of today, let it be known that it is no longer my “job” to cover all things Wilkes-Barre. If something catches my eye, pisses me off or excites me to no end, I’ll be writing about it. If I enjoy some adventure of some sort, expect to hear about it here. But, for the record, my focus is no longer restricted to what may or may not come out of City Hall. Wilkes-Barre Online is no more.
Another good reason for the creation of this new internet oasis is just plain jealousy on my part. I really don’t feel like writing four and five thousand word epics anymore. I want to do what the great majority of the other bloggers do. Namely, cut and paste someone else‘s work into it, write 50 or 75 words of my own and call it a post.
Okay, while that’s not entirely accurate as to what my true intentions are, I seek some ease of use at this point. A typical post of mine of late was akin to trying to march 20 battle-readied ground divisions into a full frontal ground assault. What I want is more like what you’d expect of a smallish rapid deployment force parachuted in behind enemy lines. I want to strike, strike fast and furiously and then get the hell out. Hence, the new site, but most importantly, the new format.
If I post 4,000 words today, so be it. If I post 75 words and a picture come tomorrow, there it is. The point is, it’ll be easier for me to post, so I’m fairly certain I’ll be posting much more than the once a week as I’ve been reduced to lately. Depending on your perspective, that’s either a good thing or a bad thing, but that’s where I’m at.
As far as the reader’s comments are concerned, have at it. Go for it. I truly do not care in the least what the too-many-to-count anonymous sissies of the world have to say about much of anything. I will not be held accountable for any of it, but I will delete any slanderous malarkey that elicits a complaint from the slandered.
Anyway, this is where you can find me and my swirling vortex of a mind from here on out. I’ll leave the old Web site up for a while so as to not confuse the occasional visitors, but it’s not long for this electronic, make-believe world of ours.
So, them there’s the reasons for the abrupt (for you perhaps, but not for me) move. Had enough circumlocuting for one day, you dummies?
Later
If you’re reading this, you have to have already figured out that Wilkes-Barre Online has gone tits up. That it has.
I started that site on December 2, 2000, and I immediately made many new friends as well as countless hordes of new enemies. My goal was to highlight just how bad off Wilkes-Barre was in those days, and to bring attention to the fact that Wilkes-Barre needed bold, new leadership. And in both of those ill-advised but heady pursuits, I succeeded and then some.
There was a time when Wilkes-Barre Online was commonly referred to as Wilkes-Barre’s third newspaper. I can’t even recall how many times local residents told me they started each new day with a cup of coffee, the Times Leader, the Citizens’ Voice and Wilkes-Barre Online. And in many respects, that site was in fact a third take, a different, more abrasive, more acerbic take on the local goings-on. But, at least for me, it’s time has come and gone. And lately, it’s been an anchor of sorts.
For example, very recently, a city council lady took a very public shot at the City Administrator over some monies he was paid for working diligently over the years on our security camera network that is about set to come to fruition. And rather than bring controversy to a worthwhile project not even off the drawing board just yet, he returned said monies and got back to work.
And as a result, I received mocking e-mails accusing me of sidestepping that issue because, as one of the nincompoops put it, “..because J.J. is your buddy.”
Incorrect, dork. I did not write about it because in my mind it was a total non-issue. But, that’s the expectation, that Wilkes-Barre Online, Wilkes-Barre’s former third news outlet, will cover any news, political and otherwise, coming out of the city as if by rote.
So, as of today, let it be known that it is no longer my “job” to cover all things Wilkes-Barre. If something catches my eye, pisses me off or excites me to no end, I’ll be writing about it. If I enjoy some adventure of some sort, expect to hear about it here. But, for the record, my focus is no longer restricted to what may or may not come out of City Hall. Wilkes-Barre Online is no more.
Another good reason for the creation of this new internet oasis is just plain jealousy on my part. I really don’t feel like writing four and five thousand word epics anymore. I want to do what the great majority of the other bloggers do. Namely, cut and paste someone else‘s work into it, write 50 or 75 words of my own and call it a post.
Okay, while that’s not entirely accurate as to what my true intentions are, I seek some ease of use at this point. A typical post of mine of late was akin to trying to march 20 battle-readied ground divisions into a full frontal ground assault. What I want is more like what you’d expect of a smallish rapid deployment force parachuted in behind enemy lines. I want to strike, strike fast and furiously and then get the hell out. Hence, the new site, but most importantly, the new format.
If I post 4,000 words today, so be it. If I post 75 words and a picture come tomorrow, there it is. The point is, it’ll be easier for me to post, so I’m fairly certain I’ll be posting much more than the once a week as I’ve been reduced to lately. Depending on your perspective, that’s either a good thing or a bad thing, but that’s where I’m at.
As far as the reader’s comments are concerned, have at it. Go for it. I truly do not care in the least what the too-many-to-count anonymous sissies of the world have to say about much of anything. I will not be held accountable for any of it, but I will delete any slanderous malarkey that elicits a complaint from the slandered.
Anyway, this is where you can find me and my swirling vortex of a mind from here on out. I’ll leave the old Web site up for a while so as to not confuse the occasional visitors, but it’s not long for this electronic, make-believe world of ours.
So, them there’s the reasons for the abrupt (for you perhaps, but not for me) move. Had enough circumlocuting for one day, you dummies?
Later
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