Wasteful government spending

PITTSTON TWP. – For the first time, an armed sheriff’s deputy will be posted at the screener checkpoint at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport on a routine basis starting Oct. 1...The deputies will be from both Luzerne and Lackawanna counties and are being paid through a federal grant.

So the Federal government is going to pay the airport for a short period of time to put armed guards in a facility that to the best of my memory has never had a serious criminal incident.
The federal government will reimburse the airport $170,800 through Sept. 30, 2012. I have no knowledge of any threat to the place and I seriously doubt that there are any. I'm not sure what law or when it was passed authorizes this waste of money.

Maybe some airports may require this level of security but I don't think our's does. You can't defend against every imagined target but since 09/11/01 the reflex has been to try to. A one size fits all approach to security leads to waste with money going to Avoca instead of JFK or Dulles where it would be better spent.

Some people think the place is a good place to sleep.

I nominate the Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton Airport at Avoca, Pennsylvania, for your BEST list. It's clean, modern, well- guarded, and always empty (Nobody goes there)"

This reminds me of a few years ago when I tried to see the liberty bell. We are less free than 10 years ago. Not because of the terrorist but the because of the government's reaction to them.


The terrorist have won.

Oh great, more guns

Air travel

We had uneventful trip to and from San Diego connecting in Chicago. I haven't flown in a long time and was expecting all sorts of hassles going through security but it wasn't bad if sometimes silly. Taking off my shoes and the 3 oz. liquid thing reminded me of the old saying "The Generals are always fighting the last war."



We flew Ameican Airlines there and back and all flights were either on time or landed early. We departed Avoca on a Braziilian made Embraer ERJ 145 that is a bit of a rough ride that had Mrs G's palms sweating. There was a 3 hour layover so we had a great lunch at Romano's Macaroni Grill. It was the best airport restaurant meal I have ever had and not expensive.



The 2nd leg was on a Boeing 737 which was more to our liking, the bigger the airplane the better the ride. My favs are the old Lockhead L1011, the 747 and the C-5 military plane. The C-5 is a comfortable if noisy ride.



The rental car company shuttle bus picked us up and we got a Suzuki SUV that had confusing controls and a GPS that had brain damage but we found our hotel. Returning the car the GPS was out of whack so I made about 14 wrong turns but eventually found the lot. I don't own a GPS or many of the other latest gadgets but I liked this thing although it is a threat to my ability to bore people with tales of my map reading skills. It was also in love with highways that for the most part I prefer to avoid.



On the way back we had curbside check-in with a gentleman that obviously enjoyed his job, he had a joke for every situation much like me. The trip back to the east coast took much less time because of the tail wind. We had a shorter time window in O'Hare this time and had to find the gate then grab some food. Mrs. G and her Mom were smart and went to McDonalds while I tried Burito Beach at the food court near the H gates. That was a mistake. It was an assembly line operation like Subway and the end product was uneatable and after a few bites I threw it in the trash. To complete the experience the people who built my burrito were very rude and it cost me almost 10 bucks for all this fun.



We left Chicago on another puddle jumper with jet engines that had a smooth ride in to Avoca.





(Photo by Gort) No copyright bullshit. Steal it you want just link back. More pics from the window at this link.

Hazleton Cargo Airport

“We haven’t had any direct contact with those companies (FedEx and UPS) as such. But the attitude that we’ve had from everyone … the sense that we have is … build it and they will come.”-Luzerne County Commissioner Greg Skrepnak



Is this faith based economics or has Skrep watched too many sports movies?


Expert: Plan flies too high Some more marketing research needs to be done.

The money and connections are detailed in this story by Steve Morcarsky in the TL and ties back some of the people involved to the PA Child Care sweethart deal.


Other things are in play as the developer has a dispute with some of the owners of the land where the airport is to be built.

UPDATE: Truth in our House has the real reason this airport might be built near Hazleton:

One e-mail I rcvd from a frequent blog reader told me he knows the real
reason behind the airport proposal. He thinks that Mayor Lou Barletta is really
behind the proposal but is staying quiet for now. The real proposal he
says:

Planes will land with river dredge and fly ash from across the globe to be
used in area mine reclamation. Planes will then take off full of area illegal
aliens for immediate deportation to their country of origin.

And Barletta is in the process of negotiating contracts to make a huge amount of money from both
the incoming/outgoing flights for revitalization efforts.

Cargo airport near Hazleton

This idea has been kicked around for a few years but now it looks like it may happen. There are a lot of promises but the devil is in the details. Anyone who lives near the proposed site is sure to scream bloody murder and I can't blame them. The press roundup:

Airport would bring new jobs, identity

Key players anticipate big return on project

$1.6B cargo airport eyed

Officials: Airport would spur growth unseen since coal era