The LuLac Edition #391, Jan. 10th, 2008

PHOTO INDEX: SENATORS OBAMA AND KERRY, SUE HENRY FROM WILK RADIO INTRODUCING TIM GRIER AT 2007 LULAC COUNCIL FORUM.

GRIER'S CHALLENGE

Well you have to give the guy this, he isn't giving up. And he's a lot more media savvy than some of the representatives at the Courthouse or for that matter from the State of Pennsylvania. Like a football analyst breaking down a play on the NFL network, Tim Grier gives us a step by step look into his court challenge via this video. Informative, wildly entertaining and factual, it almost makes me wish the TV writers never came back from their strike. As my dear friend Shadoe Steele is fond of saying, "you can't make this stuff up". Here's the video link: http://roxburynews.com/ or

http://blip.tv/file/589744

JOHN WHO?

Okay, okay, I'm kidding. I wore a Kerry hat in 2004, did my best to get him elected, most likely more than his damn running mate (but as many a six foot redhead always told me, you can never count on those pretty boys!) and even repeatedly put Kerry signs in the front yard which were destroyed by neo con college students with a lot of beer but not much brains. All that said, John Kerry, the senator who ran against George Bush in 2004, today endorsed Barack Obama in a slap in the face to Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, who was his vice-presidential running mate in 2004.
"Martin Luther King Jr. said the time is always right to do what is right," Kerry told a rally in South Carolina. "This is the right time to share with you ... that Barack Obama can be, will be and should be the next president of the United States." Now invoking Dr. King on this, I don't know, is Senator Kerry tring to tell us he knows that we know that he knows that Mr. Obama is an African American? Kerry's Veep, John Edwards said
in a statement that he respected Kerry's decision.
While Kerry was close to Bill Clinton, he fell out with Hillary last year when she criticised him over a gaffe in which he told students to study hard or they might end up in Iraq. The remark forced him to abandon his bid to seek the Democratic nomination this time round too.
The Democratic race also narrowed when Bill Richardson, who had hoped to become the first Hispanic president, shelving his campaign after coming fourth in the Iowa and New Hampshire contests. Look for Richardson, a good, solid qualified man with a stellar governmental and political resume and John Edwards to grovel, compete and beg for the Vice Presidential nod from either Senators Clinton or Obama.

THE LAWMAN SUED

Sheriff Mike Savokinas, as if he didn't have his hands full now has a lawsuit fileed against him. Ryan Foy of West Pittston filed suit in federal court in Scranton on Tuesday – the day after he was terminated – claiming Savokinas, who took office Monday, fired him so he could give the job to Carl Zawatski, a political ally of Savokinas.
Foy, who was deputy chief under former Sheriff Barry Stankus, was notified in advance by Savokinas that he would be fired. That allowed for the fast turn-around in filing the suit, said Foy’s attorney, Peter Winebrake of Dresher.
The suit, which also names Luzerne County as a defendant, claims Foy, a Republican, performed his job competently, and that Savokinas, a Democrat, fired him solely because Foy had supported Stankus, a Republican, in his failed bid for re-election.
Foy claims Zawatski, a Democrat, played a prominent role in Savokinas’ political campaign, regularly appearing with Savokinas at campaign events.

It should be noted that the courts take political affiliations into greater consideration than in the old days. In 1980, the Crossin-Brominski administration swept into office and fired many of the cronies and allies of defeated Commissioner Ed Wideman. Atty. Michael Cefalo, then a county solicitor filed a lawsuit on behalf of the 18 employees (one being longtime Congressional aide Paul Maher) and won. So barristers beware!