Luzerne County Commissioner

“While an appointment to the interim post would be an honor, I strongly believe that it must be those same Luzerne County residents who should elect me as their commissioner.”-Controller Maryanne Petrilla

Her commitment to the democratic process is very touching. But outgoing Commissioner Todd Vonderheid sort of put a dent in that process by quiting before his term was over. Now President Judge Mark Ciavarella and the county’s eight other judges get to pick a replacement. I find it curious that the Governor nominates replacements for row officers, which in many ways are functionaries of the courts, but the Judges get to fill the most political office in the county.


The TL is reporting that Clerk of Courts Bob Reilly and Prison Board Chairman Wister Yuhas are applying for the job and former state representative Tom Tigue that he is seriously considering submitting his resume. Some other names being tossed around include 3 former commissioners– Frank Trinisewski, Rose Tucker and Tom Pizano. The most interesting name on the list is Bob Reilly. If he was appointed to the post wouldn't he have to resign as Clerk of Courts while at the same time running for reelection to the office?

But the politicians want a say. After first saying he would stay out of it, Petrilla's running mate Commissioner Greg Skrepenak said Tuesday he expects the “courtesy of a conversation...The individual chosen will have some very difficult decisions to make that will have some long-term impact on the county,” Skrepenak said. “I would think you would need someone who has experience and can take office and hit the ground running. There is not going to be a learning curve.” And Luzerne County Democratic Party Chairman Mark Bufalino said the party should be part of the process.

I don't get it

The news that Fred Thompson will run for President has some of my Republican friends all-a-flutter. What's so special about him? He helped bring down Nixon as counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee then became a big time lobbyist before serving one uneventful term in the Senate. He voted for the campaign finance reform bill that they all hate McCain for. He's best known for his roll in the Law and Order TV series which I've never seen. The only movie I do remember him in was The Hunt for Red October. Not exactly as stirring a performance as Ronald Reagan in Hellcats of the Navy. But after watching the performance of the present field I can understand them wanting something else. Sorry guys, nothing short of digging up Saint Ronny and nominating him is going to save the White House for you in 2008.

Who's running aganst Carney?

Another one one of these stories by Boris. Yeah the the Republicans think they can win this seat back because they lost it because of the Tunkhannock Strangler. We'll see. If there are troops in Iraq in 2008, and there will be, the Dems are going to win big in Congress and take back the White House. The Republicans are trying to tie Chris to Nancy Pelosi like anybody pays attention to that sort of inside baseball. Weak. They even have a website that calls him a liberal!

He's not a liberal. In fact he's been pissing off liberals like me. He voted against the McGovern admendment that mandated an immediate withdrawl from Iraq. He voted for the Iraq funding bill without timelines that Mr. Bush wanted.

The netroots raised a bunch of money for this guy and now some of them feel betrayed. Howie feels betrayed and I can't blame him.

What's the alternative? Another Republican mouthpiece. I have my differences with Chris but do we really want to give this seat back because he is not pure enough?

Rocket launch in Moosic

I may never get a ticket to PNC Field. I was hoping to go Monday but forget it now.

CV: Roger Clemens will pitch for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees on Monday against the Toldeo Mud Hens. Clemens, who will be making his third minor-league start on his way to joining the New York Yankees, will take the mound at 5 p.m. at PNC Field.

I'm actually amused by this whole Roger is going to save us nonsense being mouthed by the Bomber fans. After tonight the Yanks are 4 games under .500 and 10 1/2 games behind the Red Sox. He might get 20 starts when he is back and NY could hope to win half of them. $18 million for 10 wins, what a bargain.

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Phillies update: Philadelphia actually won a game comfortably tonight by 8-3. Jamie Moyer won his 5th game with his first win over the Braves in 20 years. Ryan Howard made a nice return with a 2 RBI hit in the 8th and a circus play at first that got an out. And Mike Zagurski made his Major League debut pitching a perfect inning. But the Mets won.

Smoking bans

Allegheny County's smoking ban got shot down in Commonwealth Court so Scranton has decided to stop enforcing it's ordinance. So far the only business that has been cited is Chick's Diner and the owners are suing the city. Either cigarettes are legal or not. But the government collects huge amounts of taxes on a product that everyone agrees is a health hazard so they won't outlaw them. The same with booze and the neo-prohibitionist drunk driving zealots. Many restaurants and bars have already instituted a smoke free policy and that is their choice. If you smoke and can't take an hour off from your habit go somewhere else. Steve Corbett's new show debuted on WILK today and what little I caught of it he was was on his high horse about banning smoking. As I was listening to him I was behind a dump truck that was spewing diesel fumes that wasn't pleasant and there was a bus ahead of it. Auto emissions, pesticides, coal fired power plants, etc are all fouling the air. Alex and the gang also weigh in on the Nanny State aspects of these laws over at PAWatercooler.com.

And we had a discussion previously on this with Russ Diamond framing it as a question of property rights.

The Simpsons explain Fox News

Countdown to 10,000

I heard a few months ago that the Philadelphia Phillies were headed to losing their 10,000th game this year. Since 1883 the Phils have amassed 9,979 loses and have only won the World Series once in five appearances.

They came close to losing the 9,980th game tonight and may have lost closer Bret Myers for a while. He had a bad inning, giving up 4 runs in the 9th and left the game holding his shoulder. I hope he will be OK but I get suspicious when a player has a bad outing then claims an injury. I really don't think there is anything wrong with Ryan Howard's leg.

Back to history. How many disasters have the Phillies endured? Everything from the 1964 meltdown when they had to win one of the ten games left and lost them all to a road trip to Cincinnati in the early 1900's when a player fell out of the train and drowned in the Ohio River. The near misses of the last few seasons to Joe Carter's Home Run off Mitchy Poo in the 1993 World Series.

But there is way to celebrate all this futility. An Inky story today profiles the creator of a website that is documenting this moment in history. And when the big day happens the author, Charley DeBow, is planning a parade.

DeBow said the "celebration march" will be held after the next home game.
"It's not meant to make fun of the Phillies' losing 10,000 games," he said, "but it's also something that can't be overlooked."

Hazleton Cargo Airport

I got a curious piece of mail today. It was from State Represenative Todd Eachus. It's not unusual to get a piece of propaganda from an elected official but they usually come in an election year. But the really strange thing about it is that it came from someone from another district. I hope this not a trend and it's another reason to ban this abuse of taxpayer money. But that's another story.

The letter itself touts the promise of building a cargo airport near Hazleton. Claiming 100,000 jobs could be created and raise the medium income and cites the miracle of Memphis as a reason to build yet another airport in the area. I have my doubts about this project knowing full well how real-estate deals are done around here. Mr. John Doe used eminent domain to get rid of Paragon Adventure Park. More will come. Since there is no "anchor tenant" how far will this fantasy proceed?

Methadone clinic

"All I can tell you is we’re not happy with it,” -Yatesville Mayor Joseph Chiumento

It seems to be the wave of the future. More drug treatment centers as oppossed to locking people up. Jackie-Mo and Dave Lupas want to lock up all the druggies like that has worked over the last 40 years. The people who have to live next to a treatment facility understandably yell NIMBY. But this proposal is for a for a facility is in a location that was carefully selected as it is away from residential areas, schools and child care facilities.

It's a sad thing that there is such a demand for this but the people who are proposing it have done their homework. The last time this came up was over the clinic in Plains Twp. and then Mayor of W-B Tom McGroarty led the charge against it. But low and behold. There has not been one police call to that clinic since it opened.

People make stupid decisions in their lives. Does that mean you just turn your back on them when they want to make it right? I'd rather have someone hooked on methadone than heroin living on my street. And believe me, they live on YOUR street.

Hillary wants my advice

I got this email.

Dear gort,

Hillary needs your help. We've been working on an important issue -- the kind that can make or break a campaign. And your input is absolutely critical to ensuring that we make the right decision. That's right -- we're picking our campaign song.

I can vote for my choice here. None of the choices appeal to me but you can write-in your favorite. Wonkette is suggesting "Bitch” by the Stones or every body's favorite War Pigs by Black Sabbath. Stand by your Man also come to mind.


War Pigs is more of a Republican song and DownWithTyranny has new video mix of it.

Whoever invented the pitch count should be shot

I'm watching the Braves and Red Sox and the rookie Kason Gabbard is throwing a shutout into the sixth inning then gives up 2 hits. Francona pulls him because he's up to 100 pitches. Of course the next guy comes in and the Braves score a run. Earlier today Adam Eaton threw 6+ innings of shutout ball and had a 5-0 lead but he had 109 pitches and was replaced by Geoff Geary who made a blowout into an interesting game by giving up 3 home runs.

I'm just old fashioned. I don't care what the pitch count is, if a guy is throwing a shutout let him out there until he gives up a run or his arm falls off.

$3 gas

Why I refuse to buy oil stocks, I'll never know. We can expect another record round of quarterly profits from Exxon and the rest to be announced in July. By industrial world standards it's still pretty cheap in the US. Most of Europe is paying $5 to $6 a gallon. The sudden rise in prices is sure to impact the rest of the economy as just about everything is impacted by the price of gasoline. The Bonddad Blog asks some good questions.

1.) We are at the beginning of the summer driving season. Will prices continue to increase throughout the summer?

2.) What will be the impact on consumer spending? We saw a terrible retail month in April. Wal-Mart posted their worst decline in 28 years. I have to think high gas prices were partially responsible. If prices continue to increase, will we continue to see a drop in consumer spending?

h/t to Crooks and Liars

Law and Order: Special Victims Unit

The victims in this particular case are the people of Luzerne County. A long time employee of the Recorder of Deeds office was sentenced to house arrest and restitution for stealing more than $51,000 from a cash register over a number of years. That was sentence for Robert Pritchard by Luzerne County President Judge Mark Ciavarella. The standard sentencing range on the charge called for a minimum sentence of six to 14 months of incarceration. Must be nice to have friends in high places. His attorney is Peter Moses, son the well connected John Moses. The Assistant District Attorney William Finnegan had no problem with Ciavarella’s sentence. Luzerne County detective Dan Beky said Pritchard’s cooperation and extreme remorse also made the house arrest acceptable.

Yeah, he's sorry he got caught.

In other news a Nanticoke man was sentenced to one to two years in the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for stealing lobster tails. And three chumps were jailed because they fell behind on child support payments.

But the saga of the Recorder of Deeds embezzlement is not over. Carl Salitis has been charged with stealing almost $400,000 over seven years. Investigators say Salitis shortchanged Wilkes-Barre City and the Wilkes-Barre Area School District on transfer taxes and pocketed the money. Salitis is free on $50,000 bail while he awaits a court date. He'll probably get 40 lashes with a wet noodle.

Monty Python explains how the Luzerne County justice system works. Maybe we'll hear a speech like this from Hugo.

Write-in, right on-but can they spell?

Lou Barletta made an effort to have Democrats in Hazleton cast a write-in ballot for him and it paid off winning both nominations. Bob Cordaro got bounced from the Lakawanna County Commissioners race but won the nomination with a write-in campaign. And there are 1,403 write-in votes for county coroner and 1,261 votes for district attorney in Tuesday’s primary election on the Republican side according to the CV. So one of the losers of Tuesday's races may appear on the ballot in the fall. But the catch is that the candidate's name must be spelled right for the ballot to count and any variations may end up in court as pointed out in the TL.

Does this open up all sorts of possibilities. In future elections a candidate could skip the whole petition process and just urge his/her supporters to type their name in. A write-in campaign will still be a long shot but will be easier than it was in the past when you had to actually write the name on a little strip of paper on the mechanical machine or use a sticker. If some write-in candidates start winning elections I'm sure that you will hear an outcry from powers that be to either raise the threshold for nomination from the present 250 votes or get rid of the electronic machines altogether.

Lokuta out?

A Big Fat Slob has some speculation from the Luzerne County Ding Dome grapevine.

The judge's trial on the charges is said to be set for later this month (something I am trying to confirm). Through the gapacious Luzerne County Ding Dome grapevine, we hear that a deal is about to be cut which would permit the Judge to retain her pension interests and open up another space on the bench for yet another white male ass.

We hear that the Judge will be bidding the Courthouse a not so fond adieu sometime this summer, perhaps as early as June 1.

Some potentially competative races

In the Luzerne County Sheriffs race incumbent Republican Barry Stankus will face Michael Savokinas. Stankus was the surprise winner in 1999 after then Sheriff Carl Zawatski's car was wrecked because he said he was swerving to avoid hitting a dog a few blocks from a local watering hole that his daughter was seen that night having a grand ole time. The accusation was the she was actually driving the car and Carl took the wrap to cover up for her. Nothing was ever proved. Stankus has done a good job a should win reelection but the Dems are looking for a sweep of the row offices.

The Recorder of Deeds race will be interesting. Incumbent Republican Mary K. Dysleski has seen 2 long time employees confess to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the office. Dysleski is not being accused of anything but the thefts happened on her watch. Former Avoca Mayor and bar owner James Red O’Brien was unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Looking to the fall, the easy ones

Well we know that Dave Lupas will be the new Luzerne County Judge having won both nominations and Jackie-Mo will take his place as District Attorney since no Republican bothered to run. And John Corcoran will take over from Dr. Jack as Coroner. Skrep and Petrilla will be the next majority commissioners as Steve Urban and Bill Jones will spend their time bashing each other instead of the Democrats. Bob Reilly is looking good for a sixth term as Clerk of Courts facing surprise Republican winner Butler Township tax collector Sue Rossi. My favorite guy in the courthouse Treasurer Mike Morreale will face token opposition from Republican Gina Nevenglosky. Lou Barletta won both nominations for Mayor of Hazleton and will avoid any backlash when the federal court rules that the immigration ordinance is unconstitutional.

Local blogger reaction to the results is easy as only me, Mark and David are the only ones writing about it. In the past year I have seen about 20 blogs about local politics come and quickly go. The key seems to be as soon as list them on NEPA Blogs they stop posting. Just call me the kiss of death. Sorry DB.

Some results

Lupas won both nominations for Judge. Jackie-Mo will be the next DA. Skrep and Petrilla are the Democratic nominees for commissioner. Urban and Jones will be the Republican opponents. Savokinas beat Nipper in the Sheriffs race. The Coroners race is to close to call. The biggest surprise of the night is Sue Rossi beating Randy Tomasacci for the Republican nomination for Clerk of Courts.

WNEP has the totals.

Act 1 seems to have gone down all over the place. John Corcoran won the primary for coroner.

W-B council race totals are here :

CITY COUNCIL WILKES BARRE CITY COUNCIL DIST A
TIM GRIER . . . . . . . . . . 76
RICK CRONAUER . . . . . . . . .824
JOHN R. MADAY . . . . . . 60
SHIRLEY MORIO VITANOVEC. 521


DISTRICT B
RAY ARELLANO . . . . . . . . . 102 BRUCE J. REILLY . . . . . . . . 396 TONY THOMAS JR. . . . . . . . . 460


DISTRICT C
JUSTIN MCCARTHY . . . . . . . . 259
SAM TROY. . . . . . . . . . . 123
KATHY KANE . . . . . . . . . . 400


DISTRICT D
JOE DANIEL . . . . . . . . . . 323
TIMOTHY ANDERSON . . . . . . 98
BILL BARRETT . . . . . . . . . 439 SARAH MCCAFFREY . . . . . . . 60
MICHAEL J. MCGINLEY . . . . . 213
BRUCE SZCZECINSKI. . . . . . 175


DISTRICT E
VIRGIL ARGENTA. . . . . . . . . 104
FRANK MATELLO SR.. . . . . . . 92
MIKE MERRITT . . . . . . . . . 332
CHARLOTTE RAUP. . . . . . . . .166
RON SILKOSKY . . . . . . . . . 165

So many choices

There is a so called debate of the Republican Presidential candidates on the FOX Noise channel. The Phillies are playing the Brewers on Comcast and WILK's election coverage with Sue Henry and Steve Corbett starts at 8. And Jerry Falwell death will be all over the other cable news channels. WNEP's website will have the results all night.

Update: Ruiz hit a walk off Home Run in the bottom of the 9th. I called into WILK and Sue was familiar with the blog. As I'm listenening to WILK the Yonk is giving the results in the W-B council races. Kane and Thomas won. Rick Cronauer beat Shirley and Mike Merritt won the north end.

I voted

Like LVDem I love to vote. Twice a year we get a say on who is going to make decisions on our behalf. The scene at my polling place was something. Probably 50 yard signs and 20 poll workers, unlike the last election . Local elections in Luzerne County always have a committed following. Many peoples jobs depend on them.

One candidate for Plains Township Commissioner (Robert Sax) was at St. Joe's and I asked him what he wanted to do with the slots money from Mohegan Sun. He said he wanted to use it to reduce property taxes. I suggested to him if he was successful that the town fathers should squirrel some of it away to deal with future emergencies such as the November floods or the Valentines Day snowstorm. He agreed. The present board has already budgeted the $2 million windfall. So I voted for Mr. Sax. The 3 incumbents will probably win. In the School Board race I voted for Frank Sorick and only him. My reasoning was he wasn't an incumbent or endorsed by the local Democratic machine and he's not Frank Pizzella.

There are some other bloggers covering today's events real time. Those Happy Bearded Schmoes John Micek and John Morgan will be with us all night. Chris has an open thread at GrassrootsPA and the Yonk had a voting adventure. Early bird Jane and PSoTD are asking about turnout. Bernie is too.

Below is some of the paraphernalia that was handed to me as I entered my voting place today. Ron Filippini's chit looked like something I could cash in at the local Pub for a drink and Frank Pizzella gave us a nail file. I'm touched that Frank is concerned about my hygiene.