The LuLac Edition #209, April 30th, 2007

PHOTO INDEX:
LACKAWANNA COUNTY
COMMISSIONER ROBERT
CORDARO WHO FINDS
HIMSELF A "WRITE IN"
CANDIDATE LESS THAN
THREE WEEKS BEFORE
PRIMARY DAY.




BREAKING NEWS

CORDARO OFF BALLOT


In a stunning development worthy of a political neophyte, 2 term incumbent GOP Commissioner Robert Cordaro of Lackawanna County finds himself off the primary election ballot. Here's the story from the Scranton Times:


Commissioner Robert C. Cordaro has been knocked off the ballot for the May 15 primary and plans to run as a write-in candidate. "Our strategy is to continue to focus on our accomplishments," said Mr. Cordaro, after he learned of Monday's state Supreme Court decision striking him from the ballot for not revealing financial ties toLandmark Community Bank on his election paperwork."We're obviously very surprised by it," he said, adding that much grass-roots campaigning lies ahead to reinforce the message and ensure supporters understand what is necessary to get Mr. Cordaro re-elected.The ruling represented a rare court victory for Scranton political activist Joseph Pilchesky, who has filedabout 25 lawsuits against local officials in the past three years - and who hasn't tasted victory until now. Mr. Pilchesky represented himself in the case against Mr. Cordaro."It was pure elation," Mr. Pilchesky said of Monday's ruling, which overturns two lower court losses he suffered in his bid to get Mr. Cordaro bumped for not disclosing the bank tie.He plans to pursue the matter further, to determine whether the ruling could also prevent Mr. Cordaro from running as a write-in candidate. Mr. Cordaro resigned from the bank position several weeks ago. "It was too much unfair baggage to the bank," he said.He maintains that the directorship was listed in previous years, but he didn't list it in 2006 because he did not expect to receive stock options, and the "few hundred dollars" he received for his post were below a $1,300 state reporting threshhold. Last month, Commonwealth Court upheld lower court rulings that found the director post was not financially substantial enough to trigger a $1,300 threshold for reporting financial interest. Thus, Mr. Cordaro was notrequired to list it on his disclosure forms. The Supreme Court disagreed, finding that the lower courts were wrong to cite a case in which ties to non-profit entities do not need to be reported. Landmark is, the high court noted, a for-profit entity.




BREAKING NEWS 2



As reported in Blog Edition # 182 on March 22nd, Shamrock Communications has bought the Hazleton Standard Speaker.
Times-Shamrock Communications has reached an agreement to purchase assets of the Hazleton Standard-Speaker, company officials announced today. The purchase keeps the Standard-Speaker, which has served the greater Hazleton area since 1866, under family ownership. The Lynett and Haggerty families of Scranton, who own Times-Shamrock, plan to invest and grow the seven-day daily serving southern Luzerne County and parts of Schuylkill and Carbon counties.