The LuLac Edition #1504, March 10th, 2011

PHOTO INDEX: THE LATE HUBERT HUMPHREY, JUDGE'S ROBES AND OUR 1972 LOGO.

SNIP SNIP

Everything you need to know about the Republican party is in Tom Corbett’s budget. If it's a program to fund a subsidy to give someone a leg up, it’s gone. If it’s a bill or program to enrich the business world, or give them a loophole so they don’t pay their fair share, it’s kept and nurtured like a little bunny on Easter Sunday. If you are being abused, have a drug and alcohol problem, or have mental health issues, you’re screwed. But never fear, Corbett is adding more police so they can see how badly your partner beat you, all you alcoholics out there won’t have the hassle of dealing with those overly nosy State Store clerks who might not serve you while you're loaded and for all of your mental health patients out there, you won’t get a counseling session out of this budget but the new Guv will make sure you can carry a gun to get your frustrations out that way. In Lackawanna County alone, more than $350,000 is going out of the Human Services Fund. That money was earmarked for the most useless of our citizens, the elderly and the disabled. Oh and you can forget about Meals on Wheels programs for the shut ins and elderly. Let them eat cat food and drink frack water.
Hubert Humphrey once said, "The moral test of government is how it treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the aged; and those in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped." The Corbett administration is flunking the moral test so far with this budget.

THE UPPER JUDICIARY

There are 17 candidates who are running for Luzerne County judge on both the Republican and Democratic primary election. If you are a numbers guru, well it breaks down this way. There are 13 Democrats and only four Republicans running. However all the candidates can cross file so there is a good possibility a decent GOP candidate might garner a Democratic nomination. Or vice versa.
The are Republicans - Jim Haggerty, Joseph F. Saporito Jr., Richard Hughes and Jim McMonagle. Haggerty and Hughes have name recognition. Haggerty for his long tenure as Mayor of Kingston, and a failed bid against current 20th Districy State Senator Lisa Baker. Plus Haggerty was one of the driving forces behind the Home Rule Yes effort of the last election. He is charismatic and might just get enough Democratic votes for a dual nomination. Another well know guy is Richard Hughes. Hughes ran in the 2009 election and ran a very hard campaign in the General. He came in third to Bill Amesbury (who had a double nomination) and Democratic nominee Tina Polachek Gartley. He polled in the low thirties and garnered about 29% of the vote. There will be 6 Democratic and Republican nominations up for grabs. Look for three of them to be dual winners. But either way, the top 6 vote getters in the fall will be A Luzerne County Judge come 2012. Judge Joseph Van Jura filed but said over the weekend that he will not make the race. Van Jura was appointed by Governor Rendell on an interim basis. The Citizen’s Voice’s broke down the geography of the candidates.
The Back Mountain: John Aciukewicz, Mark W. Bufalino, Vito DeLuca, Jim McMonagle and Jennifer Rogers. However Rogers and Bufalino have roots in the Greater Pittston Area.
Hazleton: Paula Radick is the only candidate from the Hazleton area, and that should county for something. If she can get some votes from the Barletta-Toohill wing of the GOP and maintain some Democratic votes, look for her to be a strong contender. Fairview Township: Mike Blazick, Hughes, Joe Sklarosky Jr. and Tony Ross.
The Pittston area: Magisterial District Judge Fred A. Pierantoni, Mike Vough, Lesa Gelb and Saporito.
The West Side: Haggerty, Van Jura and Molly Hanlon Mirabito.
Thirteen of the candidates are men. Four are women.
Blazick, Hughes, Hanlon Mirabito, Rogers and Sklarosky are coming back for more. 4 of the 5 finished in the middle of the pack while Hughes garnered a nomination in 2009. So with Van Jura sticking to his promise not to run, there are 16 candidates on the ballot so far for 6 vacancies. I’m very surprised because I would have thought there might be more candidates running for Judge. In fact, there are 11 new faces vying for those 6 seats. It will be interesting to see if the name recognition from the 2009 race will translate into success for the repeaters.

LOWER JUDICIARY

There is a modicum of action in Magisterial seats in the county. Surprisingly some incumbents are getting opposition.
Wilkes Barre City: This seat has been vacant since Bill Amesbury assumed the bench in 2010. Governor Rendell never bothered to fill it. 7 Wilkes Barre politicos are going for it:
Luzerne County Commissioner Stephen A. Urban bail bondsman Mike Smith, Public Defender Chris O’Donnell, First term Wilkes Barre Councilman Rick Cronauer who was the first to announce, Tim Henry, Wilkes Barre’s city’s chief attorney,
Don Winder, who ran against Amesbury as he (Amesbury) tried for a second term) and Jeff Thomas, who is employed by the Wilkes Barre Area School District and who is the brother of Tony Thomas the outgoing Wilkes Barere Council member.
Thomas Sharkey has opposition in Hazle Township., Mark Rockovich, of West Hazleton. David Bogansky, James Dixon,.and Frank Skokoski, all want Sharkey’s job.
In Nanticoke where politics is a blood sport, District Judge Donald Whittaker, has his fair share of opponents. They are Lawrence Karnes, Michael Buckley, both of Nanticoke and Matthew Zlotek, from Plymouth.
Running unopposed are: Paul Roberts, Kingston. David Barilla, Swoyersville Joseph Halesey, Hanover Township. John Hasay, Shickshinny, Daniel O’Donnell, Sugarloaf Township, Ronald Swank, Mountain Top. and James Tupper, Trucksville.

POP CULTURE ANNIVERSARIES

This past week two major pop culture anniversaries were celebrated. On March 6th, it was the 30th Anniversary of Walter Cronkite stepping down from the anchor chair at CBS.

Also on March 8th, it was the 40th anniversary of the first Ali-Frazier fight. I remember being in high school when that fight was held and you were either an Ali guy or a Frazier guy. I was an Ali guy and thought it was the most captivating sports event I was ever alive for up until that fight.


MEDIA MATTERS

ECTV

ECTV Live will welcome Paige Balitski as its guest the week of March 14th. Paige has long been involved with attracting movie producers to consider making their films in and around Greater Scranton, She'll be discussing those efforts as well as some area connections to the recent Academy Awards presentations. ECTV Live is hosted by Judge Tom Munley and co-hosted by David DeCosmo.

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE

This week Shadoe Steele’s guest on “Saturday Night Live At the Oldies” is the delightful George Millar of the "Irish Rovers' the exclusive St. Patty's Day weekend guest. That segment begins at 8pm, Saturday Night Live At the Oldies is heard from 7PM to midnight on WILK AM & FM.


SUNDAY MAGAZINE

Brian Hughes of WARM Radio hosts Sunday Magazine. This Weekend on Sunday Magazine Brian Hughes speaks with political activist Kevin Haggerty about his experiences with Pennsylvania's juvenile detention centers, and what can be done to improve them.
And Brian speaks with author and financial expert Rick Ferri, who discusses how passive investing may be your best strategy in a down market.
Sunday Magazine, Sunday morning at 5:30am on JR 93.7, 6am on 97BHT & 97.9X, 6:30am on Magic 93, and 9:30am on WARM 590 AM.



PCN TO AIR HEARINGS

The Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN) will provide LIVE and taped coverage of the PA House and Senate Appropriations Committee budget hearings starting Monday, March 14.
The statewide public affairs network will also provide coverage of other House and Senate Appropriations Committee hearings on the “PCN Plus” streaming page at pcntv.com. A complete list of these additional hearings that will be made available on this “PCN Plus” stream located below the LIVE signal streaming option. Please note the programming/hearing airtimes are subject to change. Throughout the process, viewers are urged to check the daily schedule at www.pcntv.com for replay times.

PCN SITE GOES DOWN

During the Governor’s Budget address, there was so much access to the live stream that for a time the PCN website was down.

WYLN AND ST. PATRICK’S

WYLN TV 35 out of Hazleton will broadcast the St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Sunday from downtown Wilkes Barre. WYLN is seen on Service Electric Channel 7 in Wiles arre and surrounding areas. Tune in Sunday at 2PM as the parade steps off.

LEIGHTON’S FOES

Wilkes Barre Mayor Tom Leighton who lost every district in the city when he ran against John Yudichak for the 14th Senatorial District nomination will face off Charlotte Raup, coordinator of the city’s Crime Watch Coalition, and Nick Punko.
On the GOP ledger, Karen Ceppa, Lisa Cope, who is the the wife of a city police officer, and Frank Sorick will vie for the nomination of the most registration starved GOP district in the County. If Leighton wins the primary, he’ll breeze into a third term. None of his immediate predecessors were able to do that.

LACKAWANNA CANDIDATES

It’s going to be a crowded Commissioners race. Those running are; Former state Rep. Jim Wansacz, former Abington Heights School Director Tom McHugh, Commissioner Corey O'Brien, Blakely Mayor Jeanette Mariani, Scranton School Director Brian Jeffers and former county Chief of Staff Elizabeth Randol.
On the Republican side, Mike Stuchlak of Olyphant, announced he would run, as another former Abington Heights director, Scranton School Director Patrick O'Malley; Jermyn Mayor Bruce Smallacombe; and Bill Jones Jr., a Penn State student and South Abington Twp. auditor.
Tom Parry, a hoagie shop magnate and Scranton Zoning Board of Appeals member Jim Williams said they will not. Both were thinking about running as a team.

FUNDERS IN THE LAC

Lackawanna County Treasurer Ed Karpovich will host a breakfast brunch fundraiser for his re-election campaign Sunday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Fiorelli Family Catering, 1501 Main St., Peckville.
The Friends of Christopher Phillips will hold a campaign kickoff event for the Scranton school director and school board re-election candidate Sunday from 4 to 6 p.m. at the American Legion, 2928 Birney Ave. Admission is a $10 donation. Kids are free. Families are welcome.
Scranton School Director Nathan Barrett will host his election campaign kickoff party Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Polish Club in North Scranton. Admission is a $10 donation.
Scranton School Board aspirant Tom Borthwick will have his first campaign rally Friday, March 11, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Kilcoyne's on Main Avenue. Admission is a $10 donation.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT


1972

In Presidential politics, Alabama Governor George Wallace stuns the nation and the Democratic party by winning the Florida primary. Wallace pulled 42% of the vote. His next closest rival was former Vice President Hubert Humphrey. Senators Henry Jackson and Edmund Muskie followed behind. New York Mayor John Lindsay got 7% of the vote while George McGovern polled a 6% total. The interesting thing about Wallace;s vote totals in Florida was the fact that he carried liberal and centrist areas as well as Conservatives…..in Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo begins an initative to concentrate on crime fighting in the poorer sections of the city…..in Moosic and in Edwardsville, the Swedish movie “I Am Curious Yellow” makes its X rated premiere in Northeastern Pennsylvania…..and 39 years ago this week the number 1 song in LuLac land was the instrumental hit “Joy” by Apollo 100.