Never go grocery shopping when you are hungry

I ran to the store for a few things to prepare tonight's dinner. I somehow got carried away to the tune of $180. As I explained to Mrs. G we don't have to buy chips n' dip for months.

Renee Butts for State Represenative

At a campaign event for GOP Controller candidate Bob Sypniewski a few weeks ago Renee Butts announced that she will be seeking the Republican nomination for the 118th State Rep District seat held by Democrat Mike Carroll.


Renee is a resident of Laflin and graduated from Coughlin High School in Wilkes-Barre. She got a BA in English from Kings College and her Masters from Wilkes University. Her hot issues are reducing property taxes, cutting wasteful spending in Harrisburg and opposes tolls on I-80. She wants to crack down on puppy mills and has a Husky named Reagan. Butts made a short speech emphasizing that she wasn't going to run away from the area like so many people who have aspirations to be a teacher but don't have the political connections to get hired. She said she will stand and fight.


She should have a website up soon. I asked her for a statement on her candidacy:

My name is Renee Butts and I am running for State Representative for the 118th Legislative District. I will cut wasteful government spending and thus lower taxes. I shall encourage more businesses offering more desirable jobs to come to our area to help combat the brain drain. I will make some changes in our state that will benefit the taxpayers.
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I have been an active member of Voice of the People USA since 2007. We have spoken out for legal immigration, spoken out against drugs and crime in our communities, spoken out for free speech, and spoken out vehemently against wasteful government spending. Pennsylvania ranks 44th in the country for personal income growth. I'm hoping to better this deplorable statistic.
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I have also worked for Luzerne County Commissioner Steve Urban. He has been a mentor and role model to me.
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I have also volunteered at His Resting Place Maternity Home to tutor a woman residing there as well as teaching a free creative writing class. I have been closely involved with the my father, Bob Butts, in his Kindness Grant program. Among the Kindness Grants we have distributed, we have given to Wyoming Seminary Lower School to promote empathy among students and also we gave a Kindness Grant to an animal shelter to save a Siberian Husky with heart worms.
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I have taken education courses at Wilkes University and completed my student teaching at Pittston Area. I am well-aware of the wasteful spending of school districts, the rife nepotism, the problems within our educational system, and also the struggles of working parents to be there for their children. I possess a BA from King's College in English/Writing and an MA in Creative Writing from Wilkes University. Cee Kay Auto is our family business. I am in touch with the struggles facing business owners and their employees.
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I will, if the people choose me, hold monthly town hall meetings - each in a different area of the 118th - to address the concerns of the taxpayers and to keep them informed of what is taking place in the PA House. I am hoping that we can work together to revitalize Pennsylvania.


She has experience speaking to a crowd like this address to the anti-immigrant group Voice of the People in May 2008.

Looking to the fall

Luzerne County Judge

I think it's safe to say that Bill Amesbury will be the top vote getter for 1 of the 2 seats up for grabs by virtue of his nomination on both sides of the ballot. So the race is between Republican nominee Dick Hughes and Democrat Tina Gartley. Hughes has rock solid support on the GOP side and has broad appeal throughout the county. Even a trendy lefty like Carl Romanelli backs him. It still will be hard for him to overcome Gartley's advantages such as snagging the Democratic nomination in a county that has almost a 2 to 1 edge in Democratic registration and the feeling that there should be a woman on the Court of Common Pleas. About the only thing that can sink her is if she or a member of her family is tied to the Juvie Brothers.


Register of Wills


Two woman are vieing for this row office in the year of the woman. Dottie Stankovic has always been independent of the the local Democratic Party but the disgust with the local Dems just might make this a close race. The Republican nominee is Gina Nevenglosky

Prothonotary

This is another match up of 2 female candidates. Former GOP Prothonotary Carolee Medico-Olenginski romped to victory in the primary and will probably cruise to an easy win over first time candidate Democrat Nancy Bellas. Carolee back in the Courthouse, this will be fun.

Controller

Long time pain in the ass Walter Griffith won the Repubublican nomination and will face off with Bob Morgan in the fall. I think that Walter has been a "pain" in a good way like Steve Flood was when he was Controller. Let's just hope that he ignores nasty blog posts about him and stays out of the fray.

Wilkes-Barre Area School Director

Christine Katsock was the top vote getter on both sides of the ballot and should finally get elected to something. I haven't checked but people tell me she changed her registration to "D". Either way I'm voting for her. The only incumbent to hold on was Lynn Evans which is not surprising in this enviroment of investigations and indictments. Harry Haas won a spot on the GOP side and it looks like he will competing with former W-B Councilman Phil Latinski.

My view


Vote Repubublican in Luzerne County

Enough is enough. Throw the rascals out.

Contracts at the cube

FBI seeking documents from LCCC

LCCC has received criticism in the last year for the way the board of trustees handled the awarding of contracts when Ross Scarantino was chairman of LCCC’s Board of Trustees.

Scarantino, Pittston Area School District’s superintendent, agreed to plead guilty to federal charges May 20 for receiving money for supporting a contractor seeking work with the school district.

No bid contracts are nice when you can get them.

Former Pittston Area School Director Tony Rostock got a mere pitanance of $30,000 to do some landscapping at LCCC.
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Precept Associates received a nice premium to oversee the construction of a building and Intellacom got $130K+ to install spy cameras before they were fired because they didn't fulfill the terms of the contract. The Pittston Area School District also paid Intellacom $300,00o for a survallience system and the Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Tech School hired them when Brian Dunn and Jim Height were on the board. Dunn and Height are also facing charges of accepting bribes. I'm certainly not accusing Intellecom or any other outfit of wrongdoing but I do find it interesting that they are mention in just about every story about local school officials taking bribes.

In more LCCC news former Dean Peter Moses is collecting unemployment compensation while awaiting trial on theft and receiving stolen property charges.

Carney's cookout

Congressman Carney will be manning the grill again this year!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

12:00 PM to 4:00 PM

ElkLake American Legion in SusquehannaCounty on Elk Lake Road in South Montrose.

I hope you and your family can join us as we honor our nation's fallen heroes and thank our veterans and their families.

For more information, or to let us know you plan to attend, please contact my Clarks Summit District office at (570) 585-9988.

Now he thinks he is Boss Tweed

I have to like John Cordora because he is a Blogger's dream. Cordora is like our own local version of Rick Santorum or Michele Bachmann.
If you want someone to say something that is bat shit crazy he is your guy.

In 2006 he won the Republican nomination for State Rep in the 120th District. He ran a stealth campaign and came out ahead of 2 very attractive candidates. In the general election against Phyllis Mundy he got blown out and then blamed his loss on Lynette Villano and the Luzerne County GOP. His top issue was gay marriage.

In a news release, Cordora also attacked Mundy for supporting "abortion on demand, higher taxes, gay marriage and all the other liberal garbage."

In the recent primary election he was a Republican candidate for Mayor of Kingston saying he had a secret plan to prevent crime. It had something to do with putting a large spotlight on top of the new fire station on Wyoming Ave. that projects the image of a winged mammal that calls a Caped Crusader into action. He claimed to have visited thousands of homes in Kingston and found agreement that Jim Haggerty was a lousy Mayor. On election day he got a whopping 254 votes.


Now he is backing the Democrats.

TL: “I’m going to make sure I deliver at least 500 votes to (mayoral candidate Stephen) Radzinski and (council candidates) Barry Adams and Curt Piazza,” said Cordora.

Let's do the math. He gets 254 votes in a town that is still leading in Republican registration and then promises 500 votes for the Dems after he gets clobbered in the primary.

Everytime I hear someone say our problems in Luzerne County are a result of voting in Democrats all the time I think of him. I agree that one party dominance is not healthy but our local R's have to recruit some serious candidates



More John Cordora fun is in my archives.

I just like this picture

From Charlie Parker

I'll take my ball and go home

Pittston Mayor Joe Keating quit after he lost the primary election to newcomer Jason Klush. Keating claimed his surprise resignation was not about " sour grapes"

but said "I can not be effective in that short time period … However, the voters have seen they do not like the direction in which Pittston City has taken.”

He was hired to a job until January 2010 and instead of throwing a shit fit because he lost the election Keating should do it.


PittstonPolitics.com has the lowdown


A Northwest Area School Board member did something similar.

Kanjo said the CIA lied to him

Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently said about the CIA "They mislead us all the time'' in regards to being briefed on the torture techniques like waterboarding that were being used on prisoners in US custody. The usual Republican suspects were shocked and appalled that that she would accuse an intelligence agency that uses disinformation and has a long track record of lying to Congress and the American people of being less than truthful. Does anyone remember the Church Commission? John Boehner and Newt Gingrich are leading the charge demanding an investigation. Bring it on.

Senator Arlen Specter pointed out that "The CIA has a very bad record when it comes to honesty."
... Specter spoke of the CIA's role in the Iran-Contra affair, "Director Casey appeared and gave perjurious testimony to the Committee." He added that the CIA's deputy director had prepared Casey's testimony and that he, "Came within a hair's breadth of being prosecuted by an independent counsel."


And there is this Walter Brasch article from September 2007 via FDL's Emptywheel


"a god-damned lie"

In a town hall meeting in Bloomsburg, Pa. this week [leading up to September 3, 2007], Rep. Paul Kanjorski, a 12-term congressman, said that shortly before Congress was scheduled to vote on authorizing military force against Iraq, top officials of the CIA showed select members of Congress three photographs it alleged were Iraqi Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), better known as drones. Kanjorski said he was told that the drones were capable of carrying nuclear, biological, or chemical agents, and could strike 1,000 miles inland of east coast or west coast cities.

Kanjorski said he and four or five other congressmen in the room were told UAVs could be on freighters headed to the U.S. Both secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and President Bush wandered into and out of the briefing room, Kanjorski said.

Kanjorski said it was the second time he was called to the White House for a briefing. He had opposed giving the President the powers to go to war, and said that he hadn't changed his mind after a first meeting. Until he saw the pictures, Kanjorski said, "I hadn't thought that Iraq was a threat." That second meeting changed everything. After he left that meeting, said Kanjorski, he was willing to give the President the authorization he wanted since the drones "represented an imminent danger."

[snip]

Several years later, Kanjorski said he learned that the pictures were "a god-damned lie," apparently taken by CIA photographers in the desert in the southwest of the U.S.


Down With Tyranny has more about the CIA

Christine finally wins one

Christine Katsock was the top vote getter on both sides of the ballot for Wilkes-Barre Area School Director. I first met her a few years ago when she was running for school board when she knocked on my door and gave us a sponge with her name on it. We still have it. I guess some people don't read the newspaper because Jim Height got 731 votes.

The results (vote for 4)

Dems

Christine Katsock 4,319

Robert M. Corcoran 3,639

Phillip B. Latinski 3,431

Lynn Evans 2,866

Harry Haas 2,415

Thomas F. Malloy 2,109

Michael Desiderio 1,971

Jim Height 550

Write-In 650


GOP

Christine Katsock 1,599

Harry Haas 1,064

Robert M. Corcoran 1,010

Lynn Evans 924

Phillip B. Latinski 765

Michael Desiderio 631

Thomas F. Malloy 536

Jim Height 181

Write-In 202

Prothonotary

As predicted Carolee ran away with the Republican nomination for Luzerne County Prothonotary.


Carolee Medico-Olenginski (R) 10,901 58%

Walter Mitchell (R) 7,957 42%


On the Democratic side:


Nancy Bellas (D) 14,802 49%

Gerald Mullery (D) 8,532 28%

Alfred Akulonis Jr. (D) 6,864 23%

Sugar Notch

My pal Mario Fiorucci snagged the Democratic nomination for Mayor and will face off in the fall against Republican William A. Davis. He may also have won one of the nominations for town council. Did I miss the State of the World get together this year?

This may take a day or two to figure out. (vote for 4)

Yvonne M. Pelchar 110

Dominick Panetta 110

Mario Fiorucci 109

Herman G. Balas 99

Patrick J. Evans Jr. 99

Dolores Gegaris 81

Write-in 3

Luzerne County Controller

Walter Griffith Jr. (R) 5,327 29%

Edward Brominski (R) 3,992 22%

Alice Coffman (R) 3,490 19%

Nanda Palissery (R) 2,989 16%

Robert Sypniewski (R) 2,526 14%

This result somewhat surprised me. I thought Brominski would finish last. It looks like people have noticed that Walter has been involved in local government for a long time and has been looking out for the interest of the taxpayers. Democrat Bob Morgan was unopposed.

Amesbury hits a double

Wilkes-Barre Magistrate Bill Amesbury was the top vote getter on the Democratic ballot for Luzerne County Judge and came in 2nd on the GOP side virtually assuring he will be hanging out on the 3rd floor of the Courthouse next January. To the surprise of many (not me)Tina Gartley grabbed the other Democratic nomination. To the surprise of no one Dick Hughes was the top vote getter on the Republican side.

The race was remarkably free of rancor and most of the candidates stayed positive. The only exception was Dan Zola's robocalls and sensational direct mail pieces.


Complete Luzerne County returns are on the county website. Once again Leonard and his staff have done a great job.

I'm way behind

The CPU failure screwed up my coverage of the primary. I wanted to put more polls up but this is the election that has my interest.


Vote on the Sidebar

Predictions

I'm not sure what is going to happen tomorrow. With 17 candidates in the race for 2 spots on the Court of Common Pleas who knows what the result will be. I still haven't decided who I'm voting for.

I can predict that Bob Morgan will be the Democtratic nominee for Controller. On the Republican side I have no idea who will win. Bob Sypniewski, Alice Coffman, Nanda Palissery, Edd Brominski and Walter Griffith have run great campaigns.


What the hell is a Prothonotary?

I think that Carolee wins this race on the GOP side. President for Life of the breakaway Republic of Bear Creek Village Walter Michell has run a sprited campaign but Carolee has the name recognition.


On the Dem's side Al Akulonis has a few bucks and has been on TV but Nancy Bellas is a woman in the year of the woman. My vote goes to Jerry Mullery.

The year of the woman

I don't know how many people have told me that they are tired of the old boys network and will be voting for female candidates this election just because they are women. That bodes well for Judge candidates Tina Gartley, Jennifer Rogers and Molly Hannon. In the Prothonotary race Carolee Medico-O will be looking at a good night. She might face off against Democrat Nancy Bellas in the fall. Alice Coffman just may benefit from this sentiment in the GOP Controller's contest and surprise everybody.


Helen Reddy I Am Woman






Melinda Doolittle - I'm A Woman

SmoJoe's Cafe - I'm a Woman key

Height hits a low

CV: Jim Height, the former Wilkes-Barre Area School Board president who resigned abruptly last week, has been charged with allegedly accepting $2,000 in cash for supporting a contractor's attempt to obtain business from the Wilkes-Barre Area School District.

Like we didn't see this coming after he quit the race last week. The 2 grand charge is the one that the US Attorney can prove at this time. My sources tell me that there are a lot more revelations to come about Height and others.

The indictment

The plea

You pick em

From the email:


How about a friendly wager on the Luz Cty Judge race. You pick the top three finishers on each side and the bottom three. I do the same. We value place finishes 1 to 17. Lowest total score on top finishers wins. Highest total score on bottom finishers wins. Ties are broken by vote totals.

Do it people

Another problem

I just loaded IE8 and it doesn't work. Error messages all over the place. I hate computers. Over to Firefox.