Cartwight opens Wilkes-Barre office

A literately overflow crowd was on hand for the opening of Matt Cartwright's W-B office in W-B tonight. So many people showed up that there wasn't enough room in the building to hear him speak and those who couldn't get in spilled out onto the sidewalk.  I was a afraid the fire marshal would arrive but Mayor Tony George was there so that didn't happen.

Matt Cartwright (D-Moosic) started off by asking a moment of silence for John McCain. He then assured us that there are members on both sides of the aisle who want to do the right thing for our country and tries to work with them everyday. He's proud that many of the bills he has introduced have Republican co-sponsors.

He gave a full throttled defense of Social Security and Medicare and trashed the latest trickle down tax cut bill. He reminded the crowd that the full name of Obamacare is The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The protection part is making sure that people with pre-existing conditions can get coverage. A big chunk of the population has some sort of medical condition that used to allow insurers to deny them coverage.  He decried the provisions of the last tax bill that gave away the store to corporations and the very rich with few benefits for the rest of us. Part of it was repealing the the individual mandate that cuts funding for the program and reduces the risk pool so premiums will soar. . 

Mark's Pub has been sold

Mark's Pub on N. Washington St. in Wilkes-Barre has been the venue of choice of the Saturday OT Committee and Operatic Society  and Gort42 fans for many gathering over the years. We were all heartbroken when the owner and good friend Mark Rogers passed away at an early age.

Now it looks like Marks' family has found a buyer. The Liquor License application was hard to read but it's either Guri, LLC or Gurl, LLC. I need to check out the property transfers.

The Committee and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Nescopeck Pass wish the new owners every success and look forward to having a cocktail there soon.

Immigration

This comment was on a FB friend's wall. She may want to do some research, outside of Paris many people spoke to me in broken English and I answered in ridiculous French

Patricia Collins O'Reilly Please don't tell me that President Obama didn't have an ego. He was Mr. Slick. If you go back in American history, people that immigrated in the late 1800's or early 1900's had to pass a lot more than what President Trump is asking for. If people want to immigrate here, then follow the rules. Why do people that have lived here for 20 years still speak only Spanish - because we accept it - we have special education for people with English as a Second Language. When you live in a country, you should conform to their ways. Go to Germany or France and see how they refuse to speak English to visitors - they know it but won't. All we ask is that people are not wards of the state. That was the phrase that was on my mother and father's immigration permission letter in 1925 when they came to this country.


 This caught my eye and reminded me of my childhood growing up in the North End of Wilkes-Barre.


 Why do people that have lived here for 20 years still speak only Spanish 

From an earlier post:




 I grew up the north end of Wilkes-Barre. In the 1960's people spoke language's I didn't understand. There were stores I had had a hard time buying things because I didn't know Russian or Slovak. I miss that. Yes Grandma didn't speak English but her kids did. And their kids were fluent in the English language but couldn't speak the the native tongue. What a loss. My father encouraged me to learn a different language and after 4 years of taking French I went to France. I wish I had paid attention because I had no idea what they were talking about.

My point is that the immigrants of today will assimilate just like our grandparents did. Even if the first generation doesn't grasp the language the next will.
 

Yard signs

Mrs. G has been bugging me to get some Hillary yard signs to display because some of our neighbors have Trump signs but we haven't seen any Clinton/Kaine signs . So being a dutiful husband I dropped by the Hillary HQ in Wilkes-Barre today to pick up a few. I explained that we are being outnumbered in Plains and and a young person helpfully explained that yard signs don't vote. Gee, I didn't know that. So they asked me if I would be willing to help out and I said OK. Then I was asked to do some canvassing every weekend until the election but I couldn't commit to that. I was told if  I would commit to a couple of shifts they would allow me to have 2 signs. When I objected to that they told me to go on the website to get a sign. Needless  to say I walked out without a sign.

I have worked for a lot of campaigns and have never subjected a potential volunteer to such a hard sell. The condescending attitude of the person I dealt with was off putting. Without asking anything about my background  I was informed of the definition of  GOTV and how voter contact can make a difference. Gee, I didn't know that either.

Maybe I'm just getting cranky but if this is what they have going on in a key county of PA. God help us.

Anyway, We have a sign in the yard for a candidate we enthusiastically support. 

Brewsterhout Party

This is one of my favorite events of the summer. What a great idea to have a party on the top floor of a parking garage with a birds eye view of downtown Wilkes-Barre. As a student I spent many hours at The Osterhout Free Library so I'm happy to give back in a small way.

It was better organized this year with more restaurant samplings set up in the middle with the other attractions off to the side with plenty of room for the crowd to flow.

We ran into some good friends

      

And this young lady got me to buy way more raffle tickets than I should have.

And there were a few political types roaming around. I spotted Judge Hughes accompanied by some guy that was dressed like a lawyer and/or an undertaker. I know it's hard to tell the difference.

W-B city council guy Tony Brooks and recently deposed Luzerne County GOP Chair Bill Urbanski made gagging sounds when I asked them what they think of their party's Presidential candidate. Brooks said he will vote for the Libertarian.

 I had a brief conversation with Councilman Bill Barrett who didn't seem to enthused with the new Mayor.


Speaking of the Mayor,  why didn't he and the other council members and the WB-Area school board members make an appearance to support one of the city's greatest assets?


More photos on my Facebook page.

2014 Lt Guv race

Bradford County Commissioner Mark Smith and Harrisburg City Councilor Brad Koplinski came to the Spring Blogfest and impressed me and many others. Brad sent me a bunch of campaign buttons including a "I Like Ike"  (collectors item)  after I told him that I collect them. Mark has been to other Luzerne County events including the Yuddy get together at the PAV and the county Dem Picnic in Ashley and he  brought along his best campaign asset,  W-B native Jane Clements Smith. One of the jobs of the Lt. Guv is to deal with local government issues and these guys know what challenges cities and counties face.

Former Congressman Mark Critz (PA-12) has also jumped into the race  and has got off to a  mixed start. He snagged the endorsement of the Steelworkers Union. but  his positions on social issues are a problem for some Democrats.He also offended many people with a rape joke. Rape is not something you joke about.

Former U.S. Rep. Mark Critz runs afoul of some Democrats over rape remark and marriage equality

 

 “The joke, and the main setup of the joke, was a home invasion and a rape scene, and in the end the perpetrator is gay,” said Missa Eaton, a Mercer County Democrat who attended the meeting....Lancaster County state committee woman Sue Stoltzfus was receiving a “Woman of the Year” award at the meeting.

“It had been a great day, and that ruined it,” Stoltzfus said. 

He got booed at the state committee meeting


Critz is presently running for Lieutenant Governor. This morning when he took the podium at the South Central Caucus meeting, past PFDW president Michelle Lellito was in the audience. She called him out again for the joke, saying he was unrepresentative of the Democratic Party. According to several people who were in the room, Critz fumbled through an apology and left the room without completing his speech.

Eddie Day in 2014

Eddie Day

State Representative Eddie Day Pashinski (D) wants to go back to Harrisburg for another term and over 100 of his friends gathered at Genetti's in Wilkes-Barre to support him on Sunday for brunch.

Tom Wolf

Exeter Mayor Cassandra Coleman-Corcoran organized the event and PA Governor hopeful Tom Wolf greeted people at the door.

W-B council member Maureen Lavelle showed her support and West Wyoming's Eileen Cipriani represented Phyllis Mundy who is plunging in the rankings. Only two  2013 candidates were in the crowd.  County Council Democratic  nominee Eileen Sorokas and Republican Controller replacement candidate Carolee Medico- Olenginski.

Carmen Ambrosino and Mrs. A

A real treat for me was I had breakfast with my committeeman and Young Dem Prez Thom Shubilla and local legend Carmen Ambrosino who has spent his career helping people with abuse
problems. Luzerne County Democratic chair Bob Boyer was late to the party.


Eddie Day gave what can only be described as a populist speech. He ripped into Governor Tom Corbett for his attempts to privatize all sorts of government function including education, liquor stores and the lottery. He described the voter ID law as cheating as it would disenfranchise 700,000 people.He reminded the audience that all elections are big elections as the school director and city councilor affect you life as much as a President. He reminded us that the common man can stand up to the billionaires just by casting a vote.

Eddie Day and family

So far I haven't heard of anyone planning to run against him. I hope a Republican candidate emerges soon. We should always have a choice in an election.

More photos at this link.

Centax

Somewhere down the line the Don Wilkenson Agency got renamed Centax after the passage of Act 32 in 2009 which mandated that each county hire a single tax collector for it’s numerous municipalities by 2012. That seemed sensible enough until millions of dollars came up missing and Centax-Wilkenson went belly up. This was a top down mandate from Harrisburg with little input from the local municipalities and wasn't even tested in a few counties to see how it would work before imposing it on the whole state.

Many local governments in Luzerne County and across Pennsylvania are now short of cash because they have not received the taxes owed to them that were collected by Centax but have disappeared into to some sort of legal limbo black hole. Wilkes-Barre is owed $1.9 million and the locals are howling because cuts to services and a big tax increase to make up for the shortfall. Small towns like Butler Twp. are owed $50,000 and even that low tax haven of Wilkes-Barre Township had to pass a tax increase because they were burned for $500,000.

They tell us that Berkheimer has taken over from Wilkenson and will make everybody whole somehow, someway, someday.


I've never understood why there there is this Balkanized tax collection system for local governments and the point of Act 32 was to consolidate some of it. Real Estate taxes are collected by local Tax Collectors which is an anachronism and private companies are hired to performed what is a government function. In  this day of technology  it couldn't be that hard for the taxing bodies to send out a bill with a return envelope or an option to pay online. Most jurisdictions could absorb the workload or hire a clerk or two to handle it without paying an outside company.

The big question is where did the money go?  In a story by Elizabeth Skrapkis in the CV the lawyer representing Wilkenson wants the records destroyed because there is no money to pay for storage. To paraphrase the Bard "Something is rotten in the state of Pennsylvania."

At least $9 million is missing in Luzerne County and much more across the state, where the hell is the Attorney General and/or the Auditor General in this?

I'm not one to make unfounded accusations unlike the commenter's  on the TL & CV websites but this sounds like an attempt to destroy evidence. 

Mr. Cordaro please convince me that I'm wrong.

Bill Clinton in Scranton tonight

Monday, November 5th

Doors open at 7:30 p.m.

Scranton High School
63 Mike Munchak Way
Scranton, PA 18508

Click here for your ticket

NEPA is finally getting some surrogate love. 

Rudy Guiliani, former Senator Norm Coleman (MN)  and former Governor Bob Ehrlich (MD) were at the W-B Victory Center this morning supporting Governor Romney. Senate hopeful Tom Smith and AG candidate David Freed also attended . Senator Pat Toomey was there and Actor Jon Voight was the celeb attraction. 

11th CD Forum tonight

The Times-Leader is sponsoring a forum with Congressman Lou Barletta (R) and challenger Gene Stilp (D) tonight at Wilkes University in Room 101 of the Stark Learning Center, 150-180 S. River St., Wilkes-Barre. Starting at 7PM

The TL will also be hosting a forum for  17CD hopefuls Laureen Cummings (R) and Matt Cartwright (D) on Wednesday at the same location at 7PM.

Both meeting will be televised live on WYLN. If you don't get WYLN on your cable you can watch it online.

Stilp and Barletta are also set to square off on WVIA on November 1st. Channel 44 will also be hosting the candidates in the 10th and 17th Congressional Districts.

A debate between the 17th District candidates, Republican Laureen Cummings and Democrat Matthew Cartwright, will be broadcast at 8 p.m. Oct. 17. The Morning Call, PBS39 and partners will air the debate.. 

 

 

On October 23rd we will see a couple of meetups between state house candidates.

 

 In the 120th HD the League of Women's voters will host a forum with incumbent Phyllis Mundy (D) and her challenger Aaron Kaufer (R) at 7 p.m. Oct. 23 at Wyoming Seminary's Buckingham Performing Arts Center.

 

 

 The League of Women Voters of Susquehanna County has announced that they will hold a "Candidates Forum" on October 23th at 7-9 pm at the Montrose Theatre, 18 Public Ave, Montrose. 111th candidates Jeffrey Dahlander (D)  and incumbent Sandra Major (R) will attend.

 

 

 

Busy Weekend

Start off with drinks with Tom on Friday then breakfast with Phyllis on Saturday, lunch with Matt and dinner with the Fearsome Foursome. Unfortunately I won't be able to make any of these great events because of other obligations. 



Fellow blogger Tom Borthwick of NEPArtisan is celebrating his 30th birthday & his run for Scranton School Board next Spring.The Party will be at Joyce's Cafe in Minooka from 5:30 PM - 8 PM on Friday, September 28th. You can RSVP on the Facebook page.

Come help Tom celebrate his "Borthday!" BTW, What's this about a wedding?


After you sleep off the effects of the Jager Bombs that Tom is not promising to buy for everyone you can join my 2nd favorite state legislator for a Bloody Mary and some scrambled eggs. Sorry Phyllis but Daryl Metcalfe has moved into the lead for all the wrong reasons or maybe I'm just being lazy.


SRPM: The Third Annual Breakfast Fundraiser for State Representative Phyllis Mundy will be held on Saturday September 29, 2012 from 9-11am at Genetti’s Conference Center Wilkes-Barre. Matt Cartwright, 17th Congressional District Democratic Candidate will be the featured speaker.

Spill out of Genetti's then head north on I-81 to Scranton but first see if you can get a deal on some Televisions. 

The Matt Cartwright for Congress campaign is hosting its first annual Fall Festival this weekend at Nay Aug Park in Scranton.  The event will take place on Saturday, September 29^th from 1 – 3.30 PM. 

The family friendly event will feature live entertainment from the Jeanne Zano Band, a BBQ dinner featuring whole roast pork, as well as a moon bounce and pumpkin decoration for children.

Details on Facebook.  Hope it doesn't rain.

NEPA Blogcon 2012 will start at 8AM on Saturday

Join us for a day long conference and networking event covering blog and social media centric topics including: All things Google, SEO, HTML, branding, content strategy, monetizing your blog and more. If that sounds too boring, we promise there will be videos of cats and geek bellydancers.

On Facebook

The after party  will be at Rodono's on Public Square in Wilkes-Barre starting at 5PM. If you're hungry get the pizza with the walnut topping. 

A night with the Republicans

Alex put together a great event last night to watch Mitt Romney accept the Republican Party nomination to be President. About 60 people came and went before Romney took the stage but only 20 or so actually hung around for his acceptance speech.

Before we joined the fun at Mulligans Irish Bar I popped into Boscov's to buy a new blazer for Blogfest. It was great to see all the businesses open  in downtown Wilkes-Barre. A few years ago Public Square was a ghost town after 5PM.

The first person I ran into was my 2nd favorite back cracker, recovering politician turned radio talk show host Dr. David Madeira. You can catch his act weekdays 6-9AM on 94.3FM. Luzerne County Controller Walter Griffth told me he loves his job despite being shorthanded because of budget cuts and spoke highly of county manager Bob Lawton. He said he will definitely be running for reelection next year. It was good to see past candidates Gina Nevenglosky and Joyce Gebhardt. Kingston Mayor Jim Haggerty said he suggested one of the names for the AAA baseball team, the Blast. It was great to meet the Right Wing Fringey guy.

I asked some people in crowd what they liked about Romney. Lynette Villano said he has the business experience that will help turn the economy around. She is planning a big luzerne/Lackawanna County GOP dinner and is looking for a headliner. I suggested Rick Santorum. Lori Vandermark also cited Romney's business experience and added that he managed a successful Olympics. Luzerne County GOP chair Bill Urbansky said he was an American success story. Walter Griffith said "I have to hold my nose to vote for either of them" but he likes Paul Ryan. Host Alex Milanes critiqed his party on several issues saying "I think the Republican's are on the wrong side of history on gay rights." He thinks if the party loses this election it needs to reinvent itself and he won't jump ship but will try to build bridges.

Bill Wellock covered the event for the CV and Steve Mocarsky quoted me in his write up for the TL. I was expecting to see Andrew Seder but Bill told me he works bankers hours.

County GOP viewing party lures undecideds

Pick of Romney buoys local GOP

Greens oppose W-B parking deal

Green Party Joins Other Citizen Groups in Opposing Privatization of Wilkes-Barre’s Parking Resources.

 

The Luzerne County Green Party is now on record as opposing Mayor Leighton’s plan to sell city parking resources, and revenues, that are needed to assure long-term management of the city.  “The sale will provide a quick infusion of cash at first, but that will only assure Mayor Leighton completes his term without huge tax hikes.  However, it leaves the city in a mess, and lacking the revenue stream city lots and meters provide, forcing even more burden on Wilkes-Barre property owners and businesses,” explained Dr. Richard Aston, Green Party Parliamentarian.

          The Greens further cite that destabilizing parking issues, in the hands of a corporate entity with no obligation to deal with public concerns, will negatively impact on the delicate, but regenerating downtown business community.  “In addition to our hope for the success of the new, locally owned businesses downtown; one cannot diminish the obligation the city owes its cornerstone, longtime businesses.  Boscov’s, Marquis Art and Frame, Outlet Army Navy, Bartikowsky’s, and Circles on the Square are good examples of quality businesses that persevered during some dark days in Wilkes-Barre. The city must be responsible to those who have taken great risk and sacrifice in the belief that the city will once again thrive.  There has been much positive in the direction of business in Wilkes-Barre, but so much more needs to be done,” stated Carl Romanelli, Party Co-chair.

          Along with support for local business, the Greens want to thank the many civic and community groups that have already come out against the leasing of city parking resources.  “We have been opposed to the Mayor/JJ parking plan for a while now, but we have also been encouraged and inspired by the diverse voices in agreement.  Representatives from other third parties, Crime Watch, taxpayers groups, Downtown Business Association, and Downtown Residents association have all made articulate cases for the City Council to NOT approve this expensive scheme.  We join them, and demand that Council not ignore the need of Wilkes-Barre, just to further enrich the already comfortable,” Romanelli advised.  “It’s like Hawkeye all over again.”

          The Luzerne County Green Party has existed since May of 2000, organized around Ralph Nader’s Green Party candidacy for President of the US, and has met monthly since.  All of its meetings have been in Downtown Wilkes-Barre.  The local presidential caucus (Green Party had a contested primary for president) was scheduled at Boscov’s Restaurant in the Sophia Room last month.  The party emphasized that the event was held there in order to reinforce the party’s commitment to supporting local and regional businesses.

The Greens were successful, in coalition with other groups, in passing the now infamous Wilkes-Barre Council Districts Charter Amendment.  It also was at the forefront of defending Denise Carey when convicted, ex-judge Michael Conahan attempted to impose fees on Ms. Carey for attempting to petition to amend the city’s charter; in the wake of the closing of the Northampton Street firehouse in 2005.

Kathy Kane out as Luzerne County Dem Chair

The Valley Scanner reports that Wilkes-Barre Controller and former city council member then chair Kathy Kane calls it quits:

In a letter dated April 25, Kathy Kane resigned as chairman of the Luzerne County Democratic Committee effective May 25, 2012.

According to the letter, Kane is stepping down to "run for an office" in June. What office? Your guess is as good as ours. With Kane's recent track record of supporting losing candidates, her supporters will be staying away in droves.

In 2013 the county offices that are up is 5 seats on the county council and Controller. Look out Walter.

 The county Democratic party has had rough time of it the last few years with all the Democratic office holders going to jail. In 2007 under the leadership of Mark Buffalino the Dem's made a clean sweep of the county row offices but in 2009 they lost 2 out of 3 after he left to run for Judge and lost . In 2011 they only won 6 of the 11 Luzerne County Council despite an overwhelming registration edge and Republican Stephanie Salavantis knocked off Jackie Mo in the DA's race.

In this past election Kane presided over a meeting of the county executive committee that turned into a farce when Tim Holden was endorsed for Congress over Matt Cartwright in the 17th CD race.The headline out of the meeting was that Holden  was that the Luzerne  County Democratic Committee unanimously endorsed Tim Holden but that was not was not the case. A parliamentary maneuver changed the result as 2nd District Chair Casey Evans explained. In the primary election Cartwright won Luzerne County by almost 3 to 1.

In the run up to the election there was some controversy when there was a dispute about what event was scheduled first. 120th State Rep Phyllis Mundy (my 3rd favorite) hosted an event for Matt Cartwright in West Pittston on the same night that Kane had a rally for Luzerne County Dem's at the Ramada in Wilkes-Barre. Phyllis assured me that she didn't know about the county committee meet up or she would have had it on another day. 

PoliticsPA had a recap of the 17th CD race and  I would add that Cartwright had a better ground game. In Luzerne County Cartwright had an office in Wilkes-Barre that was buzzing with people working the phones and the Holden "HQ" was an empty store front with some signs in the windows. Before the election I was called by 2 volunteers from Cartwright but only  a robo call for Holden paid for by the AFL-CIO. On election day I got a remember to vote call from the Cartwright camp because they identified me as a supporter. Great job Shane!

PA 11th CD Democratic primary

Longtime activist Gene Stilp and W-B asst. city attorney Bill Vinsko are vieing for the Democratic nomination to take on frosh GOP Congressman Lou Barletta in the 11th Congressional District of Pennsylvania. This is the first election since Pennsylvania became a state that Wilkes-Barre won't be in the 11th District thanks to the latest Harrisburg gerrymander. The salon's in HB drew the lines to put Vinsko's house outside the district after he already declared that he was running. So if he wins the primary the Barletta camp can call him a carpetbagger although the US Constitution requires that he/she be "an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen".. A Wall Street Journal story highlighted the stratergy (paywall).

"[Republicans] began to focus on bolstering endangered incumbents...To help Mr. Barletta, GOP leaders shifted two Democratic-leaning cities, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre , out of his district…GOP leaders took one wedge out of Mr. Barletta's 11th congressional district that Democrats say looks drawn specifically to exclude the home of Mr. Barletta's leading challenger, Bill Vinsko."

"State Senate Republican Leader Dominic Pileggi makes no apologies for using redistricting to bolster GOP incumbents in [Pennsylvania]...He added that redistricting doesn't guarantee a winner in the fall. 'A lot depends on the quality of the candidates.’

Vinsko's response: “Republican State Senator Pileggi and I are in complete agreement,” said Bill Vinsko, “Redistricting doesn’t guarantee a win because the quality and character of a candidate matters more to the people and I firmly believe that in this election the integrity of our campaign and the strength of our message will win the day with the people of Northeast and Central Pennsylvania.”

Vinsko and Stilp had a faceoff at Wyoming Seminary in Kingston last Thursday that they agreed to keep it clean and agreed on most issues.

Vinsko, Stilp engage in congenial debate

You can catch them on PCN tonight.

Tuesday LIVE at 7pm: PCN 11th Congressional Town Hall at Bloomsburg University

Both Democrats have struggled raising money. After a great start Vinko slowed down gathering only $28K in the first quarter of 2012 with $31,000 cash on hand. Stilp's report isn't on the FEC website yet. Barleta's fundraising numbers are not that great for sitting member of Congress but has an advantage. In the 1st Q he gathered $124K with cash on hand of $239K. It sucks that we have to discuss money in an election just like it stinks that we have to discuss the contracts of baseball players. After the recent Supreme Court decisions saying money is speech some people have louder voices than the rest of us.

With all that said will people get past Bill Vinsko being the front man for every controversy in Wilkes-Barre such as the million dollar fire truck or decide that Gene Stilp is about more than a big pink pig?

Luzerne County Dems make Congressional endorsements

Luzerne Dems Back Holden, Vinsko


No surprise that Bill Vinsko got the nod over Gene Stilp in their contest to take on Freshman Republican Lou Barletta in the 11th CD. Vinsko is the Assistant City Attorney for Wilkes-Barre and has many friends in the county although being the front man trying to explain the million dollar fire truck gift and other recent controversies doesn't help him. My advice to Bill is to leave the employ of the city. He also needs to do better in fundraising.

The news out of the meeting is some contoversy over the vote of the exectutive committee in the 17th CD race. The original headline was the Luzerne County Democrats unanimously endorse Tim Holden but that was not was not the case. The whole county committee didn't vote on this issue just the executive committee. 2nd District Chairman Casey Evans sets the record straight

"It was not a unanimous endorsement. As a voting member of the Luzerne County Democratic Executive Committee, I and many others voted for Matt Cartwright. However, the vote was merely recorded as unanimous because another Committee member and Holden supporter made a motion that it be recorded as such, citing some “past precedent” that no Cartwright supporter seemed to recall ever being used before."

I would have liked to attend this meeting but I was informed after the fact.

We had a Luzerne County Democratic Committee Meeting tonight. Gort, sorry I wasn't able to get in touch with you about it sooner, but when I talked to Kathy Kane last night she seemed apprehensive about letting bloggers cover the meeting.

Spring Training

Forget the groundhog or the equinox, the first sign of Spring is Baseball! Today there was the first game between the Phillies and Yankees and the hope is to see these two teams play again in October.

I've been a bit of a slacker on blogging lately but I hope to return to normal this week.

So what's happening.

Mitt Romney won Michigan, on to Super Tuesday

There is a new Luzerne County manager who is looking for good pizza

Rush said something outrageous again but this time it may cost him

Phil Scollo looks like a real contender in the 10th CD

Only in Wilkes-Barre could a gift of a million dollars blow up into a controversy

Libertarians in Wilkes-Barre

This will be the biggest political event in Wilkes-Barre since the Green Party gathering in 2006.

From the inbox

Wilkes-Barre, PA—During its November state meeting in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania selected Wilkes-Barre to host the 2012 State Libertarian Convention. According to current LPPA state chair, Lou Jasikoff, convention dates have now been confirmed and will run from Friday April 20th through Sunday April 22nd.

The convention will be held at the Kirby Center for Performing Arts and the Best Western Genetti Hotel and Convention Center. A kick-off “Meet and Greet” for Gary Johnson, former two-term Governor of New Mexico, and other guests begins a festive Friday evening at the Kirby Center, ending with a rocking “Friday Night at the Oldies” disco party open to the general public. Michael Badnarik’s highly renowned Constitution Class will also be offered starting Friday night. Jasikoff added that in 2004 Mr. Badnarik was the Libertarian candidate for President.

Good times.

PA State House redistricting

Late this afternoon the new boundaries for the Pennsylvania State House and Senate were revealed. As usual Borys is on top of what it means for Lackawanna and Luzerne counties with a list of what towns will be switching districts. It's hard to visualize without a map to actually look at but I'm sure our local papers will have them tomorrow.

I don't cover Lackawanna County much so I will leave it to my friends at NEPartisan to analyze what this means to citizens north of the border with the move of the 115th to Monroe County and 117th and 118th that have been mostly in Luzerne County getting chunks of Lackawanna.

The 120th represented by Phyllis Mundy appears to have the least change picking up Edwardsville from the 117th which makes it a bit more Democratic as far a registration goes.

Mike Carroll's 118th seat has Monroe County towns taken out and is moving both north and south. According to this Plains Township will now be in the 118th despite being in the 121st for a long time and will now snake up to include some Lackawanna towns such as Moscow. I know both towns and they have different concerns. I live in Plains and we have more in common with W-B than Moscow or Pittston.

The 121st (Eddie Day Pashinski) will still be centered on Wilkes-Barre and W-B Township but will move south to include a part of Mountaintop, more of Hanover and throw in Laurel Run, Sugar Notch and Warrior Run. Ashley moves to the 119th ( I'm not sure how they pulled that one off) and the district makes into the Hazleton Area that has freshman Rep. Gerry Mullery objecting.

I only looked at 3 of the traditional 6 House Districts in Luzerne County and have yet to look at the Senate bounderies but is apparent that the people drawing the lines ignored geography, the common interests of the people invovled and common sense.

It may take 10 years but it would be good idea to take the redistricting process out of the hands of the politicians. Much as I advocate Judge's on Merit. Sometimes we need less politics deciding the ground rules.

Tom Leighton wins in Wilkes-Barre

Tom Leighton (DEM) . . . . . . . 3,852 55.20 %

Lisa Cope (REP) . . . . . . . . 2,365 33.89 %

Betsy Summers (LIB) . . . . . . . 737 10.56 %

Them Dem's made a clean sweep wining all the council seats and the Controller's office.