One issue politics

I hate to point it out to the zealots on both sides of the abortion issue but you take attention away from the things you can can make a difference. It's a dead end argument, no one changes any minds. When the President of NARAL floats a trial balloon about running for the Senate she just looks stupid.

Senate race could get more crowded

Kate Michelman, a prominent abortion-rights advocate, said yesterday that she was giving "some thought" to running as an independent in the race for a Pennsylvania seat in the U.S. Senate. A possible candidacy by Michelman, 63, appears to have much to do with channeling frustration that some reproductive-rights activists have over the National Democratic Party's choice of Bob Casey Jr., an abortion-rights opponent, to challenge Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, who also opposes abortion rights.

If abortion is your issue you have plenty of candidates to vote for.

John Featherman is running in the Republican primary as a socially liberal and fiscally conservative candidate.

Chuck Pennacchio is pro-choice but that is not what he is all about. Getting out of Iraq and leveling the playing field for the rest of us is his emphasis.

Alan Sandals supports a woman's right to choose and wants peace. Who doesn't?

I think abortion is tragic but it didn't start in 1971. The ways to end a pregnancy are as old as mankind. Are people so naive to think that passing a law will end it? Passing a law will not stop it. Only make it more dangerous. Let's assume it is outlawed, what will be the penalties? How long will a woman go to jail for having an abortion? How many doctors will you lock up? One of the few times I ever agreed with Rush Limbaugh was when I heard him say you will not stop abortion with a law but by changing people's hearts.

A few more links

Built like Delaware speculates on Dick Cheney going away and some popular culture stuff

PA-Lefty Blogs lists what is going on in the PA blogosphere

KATastrophe is thinking about the Oscars

Carl Romanelli for Senate

The Pennsylvania Green Party held it's convention here in Luzerne County and almost nobody noticed. I was unable to attend the festivities because of a death in the family and have to rely on the press coverage. The press coverage was underwhelming and the party website doesn't tell us much more.

The party did nominate Marakay Rogers for Governor, Chrisitna Valente for Lt. Gov. and Wilkes-Barre native and activist Carl Romanelli for U.S. Senator. They also nominated a handful of people for Congress and the State legislature who's names I can't find.

But this post is about Carl. From the CV:

"People in the United States are dissatisfied. They're ready for a change,' Romanelli said during his acceptance speech. He thinks voters are fed up with the current system, and that people are ready for a candidate who has the interests of the voters at heart, not corporations. "We have the responsibility to do better. All we lack is the will to do so," Romanelli said. He is opposed to the Iraq war because he does not want his tax dollars funding a conflict he believes is bankrupting this country and compromising national security.

The PA Green Party website:

Romanelli, a Wilkes-Barre resident and rail industry consultant, will face incumbent Republican Rick Santorum and his Democratic challenger, presumably Bob Casey, Jr., in the November elections. Unlike his opponents, Romanelli favors universal health care, immediate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, reproductive freedom, and the right to same-sex marriage. Romanelli considers himself "the only candidate with a different platform" and the one alternative to two opponents with almost identical platforms.

My question for the Greens or any other small party is why put so much effort in statewide efforts when you stand a better chance of winning a local race? In Luzerne County we have 3 open seats for the state house and 1 in the state senate. As far as I know there is no Green Party candidate in any of these races. In the last election there was only one candidate for a local office, Mario Fiorucci, who ran for the Mayor of Sugar Notch and lost to a crook. The only Green before that I remember running for a local office was Jim Spak who ran for a seat on the Ashley Council. At least I didn't have to hear his poetry this weekend, I've heard him sing.

Sherwood has his marching orders; Carney says stop it

Ports divide Sherwood, Carney:

As U.S. Rep. Don Sherwood, R-Tunkhannock, called for patience and review in approving a deal that would allow an Arab-owned company to manage six American seaports, his Democratic opponent, Chris Carney, said it would take the United Arab Emirates years to build up enough trust for such a contract.


Sherwood thinks it's a good idea because the White House told him it is. Carney thinks it's a bad idea because common sense tells you it's not.

CARNEY: SHERWOOD HAS "PRE-9/11 MENTALITY" ON PORTS

"This is an example of a pre-9/11 mentality towards national security," said Chris Carney, who is running against Sherwood for U.S. Congress. "This is not a deal that needs to be 'tweaked.' It's a deal that needs to be stopped," said Carney. "The UAE has been the crossroads of international terrorists and the state-sponsors of terrorism for 20 years. Two of the 9/11 hijackers came from the UAE; the UAE made it hard to go after terrorist money after 9/11; and the UAE was one of three nations that recognized the Taliban in Afghanistan."

Not to mention it was a trans-shipment point for nuclear technology coming out of Pakistan, doesn't recognize Israel and almost never votes with us in the UN.

"We also have to remember that this is not just a corporate merger, the UAE owns and operates the company that is slated to take over our ports," said Carney. "What’s next? Handing over JFK Airport in New York to Iran? Handing over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport to North Korea? After 9/11 we cannot afford to play nice with terrorists."

I have never been to Wisconsin

But I can't explain the hangover.


WEST BEND, Wis. (AP)- Authorities are hoping to break up what must be quite the party after beer thieves made off with almost $26,000 worth of suds from a delivery truck.
A semi trailer loaded with cans and bottles of Miller beer was stolen from a trucking company in Richfield, according to a Washington County Sheriff's Department report. The trailer was found four days later - sans beer - at an Oak Creek trucking firm.

The missing product, valued at $25,788, included:

- 384 24-packs of Miller Genuine Draft cans

- 560 18-packs of MGD 12-ounce bottles

- 980 18-packs of MGD 12-ounce cans

- 40 24-packs of Miller Light 16-ounce plastic bottles

Somebody get me some pants

WILKES-BARRE – The sluggish process of picking a jury for Hugo Selenski's trial got even more bogged down Thursday morning because Selenski did not have any pants to wear. An apparent clothing mix-up led to Selenski having only inmate pants to don when he left prison for court Thursday morning. But the jury can't see him in any prison garb. So Thursday's start of court was delayed until his attorney could run to his car and grab another pair of Selenski's slacks.

Hugo's wardrobe malfunction was the highlight of the week. Nine jurors have been chosen and hopefully the rest will be picked before the end of next week. The thing that strikes me in the press coverage is how much detail they are publishing about these people. They haven't published their names but list occupations, marital status and how many kids they have. I don't remember any case where this many details about the jury are known before the trial.

Buy Rick a coffeemaker

How Santorum paid for his Va. house...and his Starbucks coffee

Santorum and his wife received a $500,000, five-year mortgage for their Leesburg, Va., home from a small Philadelphia private bank run by a major campaign donor's even though its stated policy is to make loans only to its "affluent" investors, which the senator is not.

A political action committee chaired by Santorum, America's Foundation, spends less money on direct aid to GOP candidates, its stated purpose and more on expenditures than similar PACs. And its expenditure reports are littered with scores of unorthodox expenses for a political committee, with charges at coffee and ice cream shops and fast-food joints as well as supermarkets and a home-hardware store.

For example, America's Foundation made some 66 charges at Starbucks Coffee, almost all in the senator's hometown of Leesburg, and 94 charges at another D.C.-area vendor, HMS Host.

Young Philly Politics has a solution to the dilemma:

So, in order to help Rick, we at YPP have two choices: Buy Rick a starbucks card, to make sure he can have a couple of ethics-worry-free lattes, or we can go ahead and buy him a coffee maker. And, maybe, if we really want to help Rick out, we can throw in a travel mug, as well. I even volunteer to show Rick how to use the coffee maker correctly!
Do you accept the challenge? Will you contribute to a coffee maker for our caffeine deprived junior Senator?

Merging Fire Departments

The Forty Fort and Kingston Fire Departments work together on virtually every call

Officials from both municipalities are exploring merging their fire departments, and a committee will be formed to study the matter. Council members and residents from each town and members of both departments will serve on the committee, Forty Fort Council President Joe Chacke said. "We have limited resources and we're trying to find the best way to utilize them," Chacke said. Kingston’s Fire Department consists of 22 paid firefighters plus Fire Chief Bob Cannon, according to the municipality’s general fund budget. Kingston also opened a brand new fire station in February 2005, which cost approximately $3 million. Forty Fort, on the other hand, is a volunteer staff with only four full-time and eight part-time employees, all of them paid drivers.

Sounds like a good idea. Maybe they should include Edwardsville in these discussions. I know people will object to giving up local control but the economies of scale come into play. All these small towns can't afford to continue to offer independent services such as fire and police. What is a town anyway? It's just lines drawn on a map.

Thanks Steve Flood

Pension fund rises by $50M-The Luzerne County pension fund is worth $192.8 million – a more than $50 million increase since it was overhauled and put under the management of Merrill Lynch in October 2002, the county Retirement Board learned Tuesday.

WILKES-BARRE — Luzerne County retirees’ pension checks could soon increase

If the pension fund can afford the increase, the adjustment will be either 85 percent or 100 percent of the federal government’s 4.1 increase for 2006. County retirees’ pension checks will increase 3.2 percent or 4.1 percent as a result.

An increase of $50 million in less than 6 years or to put it another way a 35% boost. The pension fund is doing better than my investments. Pensions are a big issue right now as many large companies are trying (getting) out of their pension obligations.

Great, now the Feds are suing us

The Justice Dept. said counties must comply with a federal law on voting systems by the May primary.

The U.S. Department of Justice has waded into Pennsylvania's growing crisis over voting systems, threatening to sue the state if its counties fail to be in compliance with federal law by the May primary election.

In addition to the potential lawsuit, Wan J. Kim, assistant U.S. attorney general for civil rights, also warned in a letter to Pennsylvania Attorney General Thomas Corbett dated Feb. 21 that $23 million in federal funds might be at risk. He said he plans to file a complaint in federal court within 10 days. Triggering the threatening missive from the federal agency is the Help America Vote Act, passed by Congress in 2002 in the wake of the 2000 election debacle in Florida. The law, which standardized voting procedures, mandates that all jurisdictions upgrade to electronic machines in time for the 2006 federal primaries. Levers and punch cards do not meet that standard. The law also mandates that each precinct in the country have at least one voting machine that can be used by handicapped voters.

What a clusterfuck this is turning into. We are now looking at 2 ways of voting in the May primary. What's the rush? Isn't it better to get it right than quick?

Maybe they take football too seriously

KINGSTON -The Wyoming Valley West School Board voted 6-2 Thursday night at the Middle School in Kingston to name Curry as its ninth football coach, affording the Larksville native the opportunity, in a sense, to come back home. Curry replaces Ed Michaels who spent the last eight seasons as the head coach at his alma mater and guided the Spartans to an overall record of 56-29. Curry is the state’s all-time winningest high school coach with a career record of 387-83-5. He led Berwick to six Class AAA state titles and three mythical national championships as well as 13 Wyoming Valley Conference championships. His career record against AAAA schools is 93-35.

Adults, not players, act like children following meeting Supporters of Curry, Michaels square off after board’s decision -The other half of the crowd — mainly parents and students — collectively gasped, then booed. After the vote, Pat Cervenak, Curry’s sister, beamed as she showed off a blue and gold Super Bowl-style ring. She has high hopes for the upcoming football season, she said.“You just wait,” she said. “No more playing these little teams.”One minute later Cervenak stopped smiling.“Hey! That’s Curry’s sister,” an angry woman shouted as Cervenak entered a crush of people in the hallway. After a brief screaming match with a mother, a second woman snatched the camouflage hat off Cervenak’s head. Cervenak quickly grabbed the hat back.The women briefly flailed their arms at each other before a police officer intervened. A group of shocked-looking students and boys in football jackets watched the adults in silence.“I feel bad for the players,” said A.J. Nobile, a Wyoming Valley West senior who will play football at the University of Pennsylvania this fall. “They liked the coach they had.”

Blogroll is back, sort of

I wiped out my blogroll a few weeks ago when I tried to move it to the sidebar. Well I got it back but it's still on the bottom. I don't know what I'm doing wrong as I tried inserting the code all over the template but was only successful in putting it on the end. Oh well, it's better than none at all.

I have listed the sites that are kind enough to link back to me and will add more in the future. Thanks blog buddies!

As usual I will continue to highlight interesting posts from these and other sites.




My Take is covering the voting records of various candidates.

The American Check-Up has some things to say about the Supreme Court and is speculating about 2008.

Another Monkey is dealing with many personal challenges and still finds time to comment on the news of the day.

Politics: Lehigh Valley Style has a great interview with Justin Behrens who is challenging Charlie Dent in the 15th Congressional District.

GrassrootsPA is covering just about everything.

Wilkes-Barre Online has some differences with Cindy Sheehan, Kevin Lynn and Walter Griffith as well as covering the 121st District race.

NEPA Blogs is building a list of local websites.

Keystone Politics is the place to go to read about Senator Rick Santorum's (R-VA) ethical problems and all of today's headlines. They don't link to me yet but LVDem is one of the contributors.

Simply Left Behind doesn't trust Bush. Who does? A special shout out ot Carl, he is the only Blog outside of PA that links here.

One-Man Think Tank is all over the slots thing and watches too much PCN.

Penn Patriot Online has great coverage of the 30th District State Senate race.

PoliticsPA lists Bob Mellow as a Harrisburg wimp.

Ricky in hot water

keystone Politics is covering all of Sen. Rick Santorum's problems.

Santorum's mortgage raises interest

SEN. RICK SANTORUM and his wife received a $500,000, five-year mortgage for their Leesburg, Va., home from a small, private Philadelphia bank run by a major campaign donor - even though its stated policy is to make loans only to its "affluent" investors, which the senator is not.
Good-government experts said the mortgage from The Philadelphia Trust Co. raises serious questions about Santorum's conduct at a time when he is the Senate GOP's point man on ethics reform. They said it would be a violation of the Senate's ethics rules if Santorum received something a regular citizen could not get.

He also has some charity that doesn't play by the rules. They collect money but use most of it to cover overhead. From an Allen Sandals press release:

1) Operation Good Neighbor violated Pennsylvania law because it failed to register with the Commonwealth, despite having raised more than $25,000.

2) Although normal charities typically use 75% of charitable funds raised for program-related grants, Operation Good Neighbor Foundation only used 35.9% for that purpose. A surprising 56.5% of funds raised for charitable purposes were used instead to subsidize salaries, fundraising, travel, conference costs, and rent.

3) The Executive Director of the Foundation, Robert G. Bickhart, was paid $50,000 during 2002-03. Bickhart also serves as the Santorum election campaign's finance director.

4) Bickhart's business, Capitol Resource Group a lobbying firm which is self-described as a "government affairs consortium" occupies the same office suite as the Operation Good Neighbor Foundation AND Rick Santorum's campaign office. The address for all three organizations is One Tower Bridge, Suite 1440, West Conshohocken.

Fund Raisers

I get a weekly update on fundraisers for political candidates and couple caught my eye.


28-Feb-06Phyllis Mundy for State Rep. Comm.

- Breakfast at McGrath's, 202 Locust St., HBG 8-9:30AM

-$350


07-Mar-06Citizens for Yudichak

- BreakfastMcGrath's Pub, 202 Locust St., HBG8-9:30AM

-$250

McGrath's must serve a great eggs benedict. Or maybe it's a good place for lobbyist to pass their cash to the incumbents.

Political guru

When I was first involved in politics you had to get the blessing of the local political boss if you wanted to run for office. In Luzerne County that man was State Senator Marty Murray. He demanded 2 things, loyalty and obedience. If you paid you're dues and he thought you were ready he would back you for elective office. Former Controller Steve Flood tells a funny story about the time he told Marty he was going to run for office. Murray told him not to until he gave him the OK. When Flood pressed the issue Murray told him the lamp on his desk would beat him if it had his blessing. Steve ran anyway and the breathing equivalent of the lamp won the election.

The new political guru is Ed Mitchell, he doesn't demand loyalty or obedience just money. In the last county election Luzerne County Controller Maryanne Petrilla paid his company over $100,000 to get elected. His clients are are a who's who of the local political establishment. Congressman Kanjorski, Bob Casey Jr., Prothonatary Jill Moran, DA Dave Lupas, Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty, State Reps. John Yudichak, Phyllis Mundy, Kevin Blaum, a bunch of Judges and many more.

His new project is Brian O'Donnell, a Wilkes -Barre Area School Director who is running to succeed Kevin Blaum as the 121st District Represenative in the General Assembly. Mitchell describes him as "new blood." I just think he's got the best chance to win," Mitchell said. "I like the fact that he's somewhat of an outsider." If my memory is right he is part of the establishment of office holders and his brother Brian ran against Ralph Musto a few years ago but was torpedoed when Trini entered the race splitting the anti-Musto vote in some sort of deal with the devil.

So O'Donnell won the Mitchell sweepstakes and must have the cash to pay his company what it will take to win.

In addition to O'Donnell, six Democrats have expressed interest in their party’s nomination in May. Potential candidates include Wilkes-Barre Councilman Mike McGinley, Luzerne County Clerk of Courts Bob Reilly, city Administrator J.J. Murphy, city Solicitor Tim Henry, former city Administrator Jim Hayward and Plains Township resident Jim Williamson, a junior at Princeton University. On the Republican side, only Christine Katsock, who lost to Blaum in 2004, has announced a campaign

More Hugo

The biggest murder trial in Luzerne County in a long time will not be prosecuted by the District Attorney because he does not get along with the presiding Judge. He has appointed a 5 member prosecution team to handle the case:

Lupas has assigned Assistant District Attorneys Jim McMonagle, Sam Sanguedolce and Chris O’Donnell to prosecute the case. Joining them at the prosecution table will be chief investigator, Lt. Detective Gary Capitano, of the district attorney's office, and state Trooper Gerard Sachney.

There are many questions about who the bones discovered in his back yard actually belong to:

Forensic experts faced an extraordinary task in trying to piece together the thousands of chipped bone fragments found in Hugo Selenski’s back yard. Are they from two people? Three people? More? According to prosecutors who spoke in court about the case, experts have said the bones could be from as few as three people and as many as 10. But, can't they be more specific? Can’t DNA prove identity?

This guy has a bone collection in his back yard and they can't tie him to it all?

Hugo Selenski Timeline

From the Citizens Voice:

2001

April 20: Pharmacist Michael Jason Kerkowski is charged with selling drugs without a prescription at the Medicine Shoppe on Route 29, Eaton Township, Wyoming County.

June 28: Kerkowski is charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with a customer's poisoning death. Joseph James Mekuta of Scranton died after taking an anti-depressant

Dec. 17: Kerkowski pleads guilty to two felony counts each of distributing a controlled substance and insurance fraud.

2002

Jan. 9: Kerkowski’s license is suspended by the state.

Jan. 19: He withdraws his pleas.
Jan. 21: He is arrested for practicing without a license.

Feb. 28: A Wyoming County jury takes only 35 minutes to find the pharmacist guilty of selling painkillers without a prescription.

April 25: Kerkowski pleads no contest to several felony charges involving the illegal sale of painkilling prescription drugs and insurance fraud. Charges of involuntary manslaughter in connection with Mekuta’s death are again dismissed.

May 14: Kerkowski misses his sentencing hearing and is considered a fugitive from justice. Also missing is his girlfriend, Tammy Lynn Fassett.

2003

June 5: Two bodies are found in a shallow grave on the Kingston Township, Luzerne County, property where Hugo Marcus Selenski lives. Selenski is arrested on charges of robbery, aggravated assault, making terroristic threats and recklessly endangering another person, stemming from an incident in fall 2002 during which he allegedly robbed Kerkowski’s father of $40,000.

June 8: Investigators confirm the bodies are those of Kerkowski and Fassett.

June 9: Officials unearth more human remains at the site.

July 3: Selenski is ordered to stand trial on robbery and aggravated assault charges.

July 31: Luzerne County District Attorney David Lupas officially indicates Selenski is a suspect in the murders of five people whose remains were found on the Kingston Township property.

Sept. 17: Investigators confirm the identity of two more sets of remains discovered on Selenski’s property. They are Frank James, 29, of New York City and Adeiye Ossasis Keiler, 23, of Kingston. An informant claims that Selenski killed both men, alleged drug dealers, on May 14.

Oct. 6: Selenski is charged with two counts of homicide, criminal conspiracy, robbery and the abuse of a corpse in the deaths of James and Keiler.

Oct. 10: Selenski escapes from the maximum security ward of the Luzerne County Correctional Facility at about 9:40 p.m. Using bedsheets, he climbs down seven stories and then uses a mattress to scale a razor-wire fence.

Oct. 13: Selenski surrenders to state police at 8:40 p.m. at his Kingston Township home. He is taken to the State Correctional Institution at Dallas where he is held in a restricted housing unit.

Nov. 18: District Justice James Tupper rules Selenski will stand trial on two counts each of criminal homicide, robbery and abuse of corpse, and a single count of criminal conspiracy. During the preliminary hearing, Patrick Raymond Russin testifies that Selenski brought Keiler and James to the Mount Olivet Road home in May to "feel them out" as possible robbery targets and then decided to kill them midway through the evening. He said he saw Selenski, 30, shoot both men around 1 a.m.

May 14 and Keiler inside the house several hours later. Russin said the bodies were dragged to a pit on the property and set on fire.

2004

Feb. 5: The Luzerne County district attorney’s office announces it will seek the death penalty against Selenski.

Feb. 6: Selenski's aunt, Catherine Marie Falzone, and her 17-year-old son are charged with hindering apprehension for hiding Selenski in her home the day after his escape.

Feb. 9: A heavily restrained Selenski pleads not guilty to murder charges.

March 12: The estranged wife of Kerkowski is arrested on a federal weapons charge for disposing firearms to known drug addicts or drug users. She later pleads guilty.

June 6: Selenski tells The Citizens’ Voice in an exclusive interview, "I’m not claiming I wasn't involved, but there are other people more involved."

June 9: Federal investigators charge Selenski's younger brother, Ronald Selenski Jr., with providing the accused killer with two shotguns, including the weapon used in two slayings.

2005

Dec. 22: The state Superior Court upholds Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr.'s earlier ruling that jurors will not hear an alleged incriminating statement made by Selenski that five bodies would be found on his property.

2006

Jan. 24: Christina Strom pleads guilty to helping Selenski launder thousands of dollars he allegedly got through drug dealing, robbery and murder.She agrees to cooperate with authorities in the investigation and admits in federal court that she was aware money used to purchase her Kingston Township home came from murders and other criminal activity.

Feb. 10: Olszewski rules that Selenski can be held at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility — from which he once escaped — during his trial.

Feb. 15: Olszewski rules Selenski can"t be prosecuted for his escape, stating that prosecutors waited too long to merge the separate homicide and escape charges for trial.

A jury for Hugo

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) — A telegenic ex-con who has taunted prosecutors and has gained a small but avid following said he felt good as he arrived for trial Tuesday, nearly three years after a tip led police to the remains of at least five people buried in his backyard.
"I'm just ready, that's it," Hugo Selenski said as deputies brought him to the courthouse at 7:40 a.m., wearing a dress shirt and dark tie.
Selenski's murder trial has been eagerly anticipated in northeastern Pennsylvania, where the charismatic one-time bank robber has become something of a celebrity. He escaped from jail following his 2003 arrest, gave newspaper interviews in which he heaped scorn on prosecutors and breezily denied any knowledge of the corpses found on his property. Jury selection began Tuesday morning amid extraordinary courthouse security and was expected to last through the end of the week. Twelve jurors and four alternates were to be chosen from a pool of 150 potential jurors.

Greens in Wilkes-Barre

CV: The Pennsylvania Green Party will convene in Wilkes-Barre next week to nominate candidates for governor and U.S. Senate. "I'm really excited and flattered that the Northeast was chosen, because I’m proud of my party and I'm proud of Northeastern Pennsylvania," said Wilkes-Barre political activist Carl Romanelli Jr. The Pennsylvania Green Party has grown to almost 17,000 members, 432 of them in Luzerne County alone, Romanelli said. Romanelli and Jay Sweeney, chairman of the Wyoming County Green Party, organized the convention, themed 'Peace is Patriotic: A Green Party Plan for American Security. " The event is open to the public, and the goal is to promote the Green Party and its anti-Iraq war platform.

I think this is great. I can't remember any political party having a state convention in W-B. I just might check out the Friday night cocktail party.

Schedule of Events highlights

Saturday 2/25

Main Ballroom at the Genetti's

9:30 am Opening Ceremony - Skip Mendler - Wayne County

10:00 am Ballot Access Coalition/Voter's Choice ActDiscussion will include the recent Ballot Access Lawsuit Bob Small - Delaware County, Ken Krawchuk - Libertarian Party

Ken Krawchuck provided most of the fun in the last round of governors debates.

10:45 am Democracy Rising - Kathleen Daugherty - Co-Founder Democracy Rising Pa

11:30 am Counter-Recruiting and the Selective Service Law - Victoria Ross - Susquehanna County
Theater

1:30 pm Poetry Reading - Jim Spak Poet/Activist (Host) - Luzerne County

Jim Spak reading poetry? He may outdo the Vogons:


Saturday Evening Speakers

6:00 pm Carl Romanelli - Luzerne County Green Party "Columbia and the Need for a more Enlightened Foreign Policy"

7:00 pm Malik Rahim- "Katrina Response and the Continuing Struggle Against Racism"

8:00 PM Featured Speaker - Michael Berg The father of Nicholas Berg, who was executed in Iraq. Michael Berg is running for Congress in Delaware as a Green. He will tell his story and why he is running as a Green.

Sunday February 26

9 am - Noon Green Party Business Meeting

Noon - Lunch - Speaker Kevin Zeese - An Independent Unity Run for Senate - Peace, Justice, Democracy and Prosperity

1 - 4 pm Nominations

Celebrity and politics

TT: Frank Andrews is recognizable to many as the anchor of local television newscasts for years, first at WNEP-TV, now at WYOU-TV.
His real name is Frank Shimkus and he's thinking about running for the state representative seat currently filled by Gaynor Cawley. If Mr. Andrews runs, the name he uses on the ballot could help determine his success.

If I remember right Frank left WNEP because he had one too many cocktails at night.

Another rumored candidate is Marisa Burke the present anchor of WNEP. The buzz is she will take on State Senate minority leader Bob Mellow.