Blogfest Fall 2017

The Bloggers and the Blogcon Squirrels

Another great Blogfest was held at the River Grille in Plains. In addition to the political types NEPA Blogcon joined us for their after party. There is always a prize for the person who traveled the farthest and this time it goes to PA Lt. Governor candidate Aryanna Berringer who came all the way from Pittsburgh. Aryanna is no stranger to our area, she lived in W-B a few years ago.


Two 11th Congressional District candidates also traveled a bit. Democrat Alan Howe from Carlisle made another appearance in the area and Republican Andrew Shecktor left the wilds of Berwick to
join us.




 Many Luzerne County hopefuls were there. Both Controller candidates, incumbent Michelle Bednar (D) and former Controller Walter Griffith (R), worked the crowd. County Council Democratic nominees Wendy Cominsky, Matt Vough mixed it up with Republicans Marc Dixon and Greg Wolovich. Municipal candidates included Luzerne Mayor candidate John Cordara (D?), incumbent Dallas Twp. Supervisor Liz Martin (D) and Plains Twp. Commissioner nominee Barry Kresge (R).
Plus W-B City Councilman Tony Brooks (R) and State Rep Jerry Mullery.

The NEPA Blogcon group were a lot of fun and added energy to the gathering.

Local TV coverage

Bloggers meet political candidates in person

Pennsylvania exit poll

We were the 186th and 187th voters in our local polling place out of  about 1000. What a terrible turnout. On the way in there was only 2 poll workers and Plains Twp.plus  incumbent Commissioners Robert Sax and Jerry Yozwiak. I have long said that the only poll workers that matter in a local race is the candidates themselves.

 But in this case they were not going to persuade me. They both voted to kick back $3 million of slots money back to the Mohegan Sun to pave the parking lot over the last few years. Then they asked for $1 Million  of slots money to finance an upgrade to the Woodlands. I voted for Barry Kresge.

Being the contrarian that I am I usually vote no on retaining a Judge but in this case I actually voted Yes for State Supreme Court Justices Ron Castille and Max Baer and No on the other 2. What persuaded me was the Tea Party groups and Sue Henry said they opposed them because they blocked the Voter ID law. It should be trashed as it's a solution in search of a problem that will keep people from voting. For all the jokes we make about dead people voting in Pittston it just doesn't happen. Absentee ballots are another matter. All my life I have heard the lament that enough people don't vote (like today) so they want to make it harder. Elections are a bad way to pick appellate judges see Choose Judges on Meirt

Kathy Bozinski reported "that for the first time ever our reporters were told it's illegal to take generic, non-invasive shots inside polling places, and were turned away, or told to shoot through a window. I can't count how many live shots I've done inside the polling place... Is this something new?... We've learned its a regulation that is decided by the County Solicitor, and for apparently the first time, he decided to invoke it for this election."  I saw Pete from the TL at our polling place tonight taking photos and I snapped a few.

The Luzerne  County Website has  a link for election results that looks pretty good. You can tailor the races you are interest in. The thing is they had to go to a vendor to do something that was done in house and worked flawlessly until last spring.  Another waste of money. I like Walter Griffith but the pissing contest that he got into with Lenny Piazza that the county manager Bob Lawton  overreacted to  is costing us money and aggravation

And another ballot screw up

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One less Democrat on W-B Twp. council ballot

Barry Kresge for Plains Twp Commissioner

Plains is a great place to live. For the most part crime is low with most of it being a domestic dispute, the Turkey Hill getting robbed or some nonsense at the Moghegan Sun or The Woodlands. Our streets are being paved and the price of trash bags was reduced because of the windfall from the Casino. That being said not everything is perfect and we can always use some improvement.

Barry Kresge is the GOP nominee for Supervisor:

My name is Barry Kresge, Jr. My ambition is to become one of the five commissioners this coming November. Like you, I care about where I live and I would like to play an integral part in helping our community grow stronger and brighter for all residents of today and tomorrow. Below, I would like to address a few issues that I would fiercely attempt to accomplish with the support of the township residents.

FIRST: I propose we put aside a percentage of the income we receive from the casino to start a "Rainy Day Fund." The current board of commissioners bought new DPW equipment, trucks, police cars and other items that the township needed. But in turn, cost the township a significant amount of dollars. We as a township receive a formidable amount of dollars each year from the casino. I would like to put those dollars toward projects that may prove to be beneficial to residents. The township made ends meet before the casino. The extra cash flow should be used to improve our community, make it safer and a more desirable place to live.

Second: I propose we revise and potentially change out recycling program. Right now, Plains offers curb side pickup only once a month. Or, we can drop off recycling at the DPW, yet this is inconvenient for many of us. As such, even Saturday hours are difficult to make when we lead such hectic lives. Many households try to recycle as much as possible. But we find some months we don't have enough space to store all of the recyclables. I would like to convert to two recycling pickups a month (every other week), and switch to single stream recycling. This would allow residents to put everything in one container and have it picked all at the same time. This plan has the potential to save the Township money relative to manpower hours and fule making our recycling greener simultaneously.

Third: I want to spruce up our neighborhoods throughout the Township, by giving our roads more attention and potentially adding sidewalks where that improvement is needed. Along with other measures, the "Rainy Day Fund" would play a key roll in financing these and other long and short term projects.

I would like to thank you very much for your time. I thank you in advance for your support in this upcoming election day. Without your vote I can't proceed to make proposals related to making changes for the better.

Help make these ideas a reality and help take back the Township from one party rule!!! 

 

 

The other guys