The LuLac Edition #497, June 14th, 2008

PHOTO INDEX: ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST GRADE SCHOOL CLASS OF 1968 FORTY YEARS LATER, FIRST ROW, DREW WASHKO, KATHY BOLINSKY, BOB WASHKO, AND DAVID DELLARTE. SECOND ROW, ROBERT PARA, DAVID YONKI, PAUL KOMENSKY, JOSEPH WHITE, DR. JANET PLOANSKY AND EDWARD ZALEPPA. THE CLASS OF 1968 ON JUNE 15TH OF THAT FATEFUL YEAR, FIRST ROW, LOUIS PASQUERELLI, JOSEPH YUHAS, JOSEPH BUFALINO, CLASS VICE PRESIDENT PAUL KOMENSKY, DAVID BEDOSKY, DOUGLAS JONES, DANIEL CHOPYAK AND EDWARD ZALEPPA. SECOND ROW, MARY ANN RUSSICK, MARY ELLEN MASLEY, PATRICIA BOBBOUINE, CATHY BOLINSKY, JUDY STEVE, ANN ARDO, KAREN ZAVADA, NAOMI PRAMICK, AND JANET POLANSKY. THIRD ROW, ROBERT HIZNY, JOHN KANARR, JOSEPH WHITE, ROBERT PARA, DAVID DELLARTE, JOHN KOLESAR, JOHN KOSISKY AND BERNARD VODZACK. FOURTH ROW, JAMES ROMAN, KEVIN DOMMERMUTH, ROSEMARY OCHREITER, SUSAN HARMONOUS AND CLASS PRESIDENT DAVID YONKI. FIFTH ROW, FATHER ANDREW STRISH AND PASTOR JOSEPH SUPER. "MORNING JOE" HOST, JOE SCARBOROUGH, OUR 1968 LOGO AND JUDGE ANN LOKUTA.

INNIES AND OUTIES

Was watching “The Morning Joe” the other day waiting for the water guy to come and drop off our monthly supply. He had a great point about Washington insiders. He said that if any President truly wants to affect change that President should surround himself with Washington insiders who can get the change the new leadership wants through the governmental system. He brings up a great point. If a President wants to overhaul things, he needs people who are willing to go from one team to another. Bringing in new, untried rookies who have ideals and nothing else, cries for a repeat of the Carter administration. And Scarborough, a former Congressman points out that if the new President can’t stand up to the insiders and get across to them what he wants, that person has no business being the Commander In Chief of the nation.

LOKUTA CASE

WBRE TV reports that Judge Ann Lokuta’s lawyer is urging the Judicial Conduct Review Board to reopen Ann Lokuta’s case. The reason? Her lawyers says the testimony given by Judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciaverella should be looked at more closely. The testifying Judges against Lokuta are being looked at for their financial dealings. Personally I think this is a good idea since the testimony against Lokuta by the Judges is now tainted. If it’s “they said, she said”, the “they” are not the impregnable force of truth they were purported to be. Either the Review Board should reopen the case or the testimony of the Judges should be eliminated. Lokuta has always claimed she was targeted and outcast by the male members of the Judicial branch in the county. Apparently she wasn’t making that up.

A TAXING SITUATION

Still another public official feeding at the trough has finally paid taxes on his properties after being prodded by news reports. This time it’s in Lackawanna County. Lackawanna County Housing Authority solicitor Paul J. LaBelle piled up almost $42,000 in unpaid property taxes on his home. The county recently sold three properties whose owners owed far less in taxes than what Mr. LaBelle owed. The largest tax bill of the three was slightly more than $13,000. Let me ask a few questions. How do you get away with not paying your taxes for years, not lose your house and how in the world do you live with a $13,000.00 bill hanging over your head? LaBelle paid the money in full. Good for him. But did he have that money all along? Did he ever intend to pay those taxes? And how does one forget to pay their property taxes? He had two other properties too. Local homeowners are struggling to pay one mortgage and one set of taxes. Why should special people get the chance to own properties they pay no taxes on, without loss or fear of penalty while the rest of the body politic live in fear of getting their homes taken to tax sale? Revolutions have been started for far less.

PUTTING IT OFF

While Luzerne County home owners are getting the news of their reassessment, Lackawanna County residents might have a 7 year break. The completion of Lackawanna County's long-awaited reassessment could be delayed up to seven years. An official from reassessment vendor 21st Century Appraisals Inc. told the commissioners his company cannot figure new assessment values for the county's 98,000 properties until as many as 2,000 mapping issues are resolved, a task that could take until 2014. Of the 70,000 properties visited so far, there have been issues with 5,735 of them. Problems range from parcels whose exact locations could not be determined, to properties that lack ownership information, to subdivided land where the parcel numbers and ownership are unknown.

1968

James Earl Ray is arrested for the murder of Martin Luther King Jr……..Statewide, the government awarded contracts totaling $242,000 for construction at Retreat State Hospital….in Luzerne County 7400 people greeted the opening of the race season at Pocono Downs........... Graduation Day was held at St. John the Baptist Grade School in Pittston on June 15th. That same day, my parents Stephen and Mary Yonki celebrated their silver anniversary..... and in LuLac land and the nation, the number one song was a tune by novelty and country artist Ray Stevens who crossed over big time with the song “Unwind”. From You Tube: http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=tnWDZE3F6jY&feature=related