The LuLac Edition #1518, March 24th, 2011

PHOTO INDEX: FORMER SENATOR JOHN WARNER AND THE LATE ELIZABETH TAYLOR, OUR 1972 LOGO, LUZERNE COUNTY COUNCIL DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES ATTORNEY JIM BOBECK AND EILEEN SOROKAS.


BOBECK IN

Democrat Jim Bobeck, 31, Kingston, has officially announced his candidacy for Luzerne County Council.
A magna cum laude graduate of Villanova University and Boston College Law School, Bobeck is an Administrative Law Judge for the Department of Public Welfare and also an attorney for Saunders & Rooney, P.C. in Plymouth. He has worked as a pro bono attorney providing legal representation for indigent clients in Luzerne County and has previously worked in the legal department of the financial and media company Bloomberg, LP in Princeton, New Jersey.
Bobeck currently serves as the Chairman of the Luzerne County Home Rule Transition Committee, which is charged with the drafting of the new administrative, ethics, and personnel codes for the new Home Rule Government, as well as initiating the recruitment process for the new County Manager. Bobeck said, “As a member of the transition committee along with ten other individuals, we have made the choice to volunteer an exorbitant amount our time to ensure the prosperity and readiness of the new government”.
“As the current Chair and member of the Home Rule Transition Committee, I’ll have an excellent grasp of the in-depth issues facing the new County Council as well as the need for cooperation among council members. If elected, Bobeck will concentrate his efforts on 1) the short-term goals facing the new Council such as selection of the County Manager and implementing the new county codes that will provide the structure for the new government, and 2) focusing on long-term goals beneficial to county such as aggressive debt reduction and creating an effective and efficient work environment.
“After living out of the area for several years, my family and I moved back to Luzerne County because we wanted to get involved in shaping the county’s future. However, acting as the county’s ‘eyes and ears’ to thwart corruption is not enough, but only a prerequisite for any public official. I’ll strive to represent the county’s sensibilities and best decision-making abilities.”
Bobeck and his wife, Megan, have two children: three year old Natalie Rose and 2 month old James Joseph. He urges voters to visit his website at bobeckforcountycouncil.com. or at facebook.com.
Though Bobeck is number 31 in the ballot pecking order, he is urging people to “Get Things Done with Ballot #31: Vote Jim Bobeck!"

SORAKAS GOING TOO

Democrat Eileen Sorokas, of Wilkes-Barre, has announced her candidacy for Luzerne County Council. Sorokas graduated from St. Joseph’s Parochial School, the Wilkes-Barre Township High School and Luzerne County Community College. She also completed the United Way Union Counseling Program and attended night classes at King’s College.
She was employed by Pittston Fashions and the Lord & Taylor Distribution Center. She is also a retiree of UNITE, formerly the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU).
Sorokas has been involved in governmental functions on the local, state and federal levels, serving on the Democratic State Committee from 1982 to 1994. She has also volunteered to work in various charitable organizations.
Sorokas and her husband are rebuilding a farm in Hunlock Township, where they raise poultry and plant seasonal crops.
“Having a home in Wilkes-Barre and a farm in Hunlock Township, Eileen knows and understands the problems in cities and rural areas,” the release said.
She said she will push for an “honest, responsive and dependable” county government that serves the public’s needs, including holding the line on taxes.
“To sum it up, we should serve the needy, not the greedy,” Sorokas said. That is a great thought and an even better campaign slogan. Could you imagine if we had a fraction of the money on a federal level that was given to big corporations and wealthy people who got tax breaks? Could you imagine if we had a fraction of the money that was used in dunderhead projects in this area the last 15 years? Could you imagine if we had a fraction of the money that was used for corruption purposes in this county in the last 10 years?

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT




GO WALTER GO!!!!

Kudos to Luzerne County Controller Walter Griffith for calling out CityVest and demanding an audit on the Hotel Sterling fiasco. The developer of no resort spent millions of dollars on this project and we need to know where it went, who got it, how were they connected to the members of CityVest and how or if these things were bid out. When an architect like Carl Handman has questions, so do I. (Mr. Handman and I worked on a renovation project in the 80s and he is one of the best professionals in the state). Commissioner Mary Anne Petrilla said in a TV interview that the audit was a good thing but that she didn’t think there would be anything bad uncovered. We’ll see.

ATTACK ON SOCIAL SECURITY

Robert J. Samuelson. Remember this creep’s name. Samuelson wrote in Newsweek not once but twice that he considered Social Security Middle Class welfare. How do you get welfare in any way shape or form out of a program that you payed into by working? If there is to be shared sacrifice for all Americans, why not let those who benefited from the Bush tax cuts and virtually paid nothing to sacrifice? How about the oil companies the government subsidizes? Where is their sacrifice? To call Social Security a middle class welfare entitlement is insulting to all working Americans who have supported the rich and those on welfare alike. See, no matter what, it is those in the middle that always get screwed. The rich will always find conniving ways to not pay their fair share and the poor will always be poor (with those exceptions that clawed their way to the middle class. They should have stayed where they were, on the dole because to faux intellectuals like Samuelson, they still are on welfare even though they paid into the fund. Welcome to the middle class my friends, you’re still on welfare as far as this idiot is concerned.

CHALLENGE TOSSED

Lackawanna County judges threw out an attempt to get a candidate for magisterial district judge removed from the ballot.
Robert Timlin, may remain on the Republican ballot in the hotly contested race in district 45-1-06, which covers the Green Ridge section, part of North Scranton and Dunmore. Timlin's Republican nominating papers were challenged last week by Attorney Paul J. Ware, another candidate for the seat. Ware said the petitions lacked the mandatory 100 valid voter signatures. Ware said Timlin's 119 signatures included about 30 invalid ones. The Judges ruled in favor of Timlin because they said Ware, a registered Democrat could not challenge GOP petitions.

SHARKEY NOT RUNNING

Thomas Sharkey, a Magistrate is the Hazleton Area for over 15 years has decided not to run. Sharkey made the announcement the other day. It was widely expected that Sharkey would have no problems winning re-election even though a few other potential candidates jumped into the race. The seat in District Court 11-3-04. Remaining candidates are former West Hazleton Mayor Mark Rockovich, West Hazleton; former Freeland police officer David P. Bogansky, Hazle Township; Hazleton police detective James Dixon, Hazle Township, and attorney Frank J. Skokoski, West Hazleton. This decree earlier in the week opens up this race big time.

WHERE THERE’S SMOKE?

I should have known this but do you realize that Wilkes Barre/Scranton is ranked number two in a survey of the smokiest cities in the country? According to Newsweek, WB/Scranton and most likely Hazelton ranked right up there in the number of people who want to light up. Tulsa is number 1. I never smoked. Too much work involved as well as the expense of it. But the majority of women I’ve dated, the vast majority of people I’ve worked with through the years and the number of perfect strangers I have encountered in this area living here light up. Too bad we couldn’t get a tobacco company to relocate here but that would mean the local Chambers in Wilkes Barre and Scranton would have to get off their asses and work. Or worse yet….think.

FERLIN HUSKEY

Ferlin Husky, a pioneering country music entertainer in the 1950s and early '60s known for hits like "Wings of a Dove" and "Gone," died last week. He was 85.
The 2010 Country Music Hall of Fame inductee died at his home. He was one of the first country musicians to bring the genre to television and helped spread its popularity in booming post-World War II California, an important step in country's quest for a national audience.
He said in a 2010 interview with The Associated Press that he was buoyed by his Hall of Fame induction because he worried he'd been forgotten as his health failed over the years. In 1957, he had a No. 1 hit on the country chart with "Gone," a re-recording of a song he had done several years earlier. It also broke the top five on the pop charts. "Wings of a Dove," a gospel song, became another No. 1 country hit in 1960 and was one of his signature songs.


LIZ IN D.C.

It is difficult to keep track of the late Elizabeth Taylor's marriages. But for a short time she was married to a United States Senator. When Elizabeth Taylor married Senator John Warner, she brought some Hollywood glamour and attention to Washington. That was 1976, the same year she divorced Richard Burton for the second time.
Warner says he and she began courting at a Bicentennial dinner at the British Embassy. He says he mentioned his 2,400 acre farm in Loudoun County and Taylor asked for a visit.He says they fell in love, and she fell in love with Virginia and his Atoka Farm. Senator Warner says the farm reminded Taylor of her British heritage. They married six months later at the Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Middleburg, Virginia on December 4, 1976. The couple also had a home on S Street in Georgetown. Senator Warner says Taylor helped him get elected to the senate seat that he would keep for 30 years until he retired. Senator Warner says Taylor was his partner and life-long friend and will always be grateful to her. "I will remember her as a woman whose heart and soul were as beautiful as her classic face and her majestic eyes," said Warner.

MEDIA MATTERS

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE

This week Craig Fuller founding member of "Pure Prairie League." Is Shadoe Steelle’s guest on “Saturday Night Live At the Oldies”. Pure Prairie League was one of those groups in the mid 70s that made the successful bridge from folk/country to pop. Pure Prairie League segment starts at 8PM, the show airs on WILK AM and FM from 7PM to midnight with ABC News at the top of the hour.

SUNDAY MAGAZINE

This Week on Sunday Magazine: Brian Hughes interviews Allan Glass from Pa Paper and Supply Company about his experiences in Japan during the recent earthquake and tsunami, plus how you can help out in the relief efforts.
And Brian speaks with his Scranton Central High School classmate, actress Melanie Smith, about her roles on "As The World Turns" and "Seinfeld", and what she is doing today. Sunday Magazine. Sunday morning at 5:30am on JR 93.7 & 97BHT, 6am on 97.9X, 6:30am on Magic 93, and 9:30am on WARM 590 AM.

ECTV

TV This coming week's guest on ECTV Live. host, Judge Tom Munley, will welcome Mike Hanley of United Neighborhood Centers to the program which runs each day at Noon and Midnight.While co-host David DeCosmo is on vacation Judge Munley will be joined by former WYOU anchor and News Director Frank Andrews!

107 BIRTHDAY BASH

Rock 107's 31st Birthday Bash
Thursday, April 21 at 7:00pm
Location: Woodlands Grand Ballroom.

1972

The Presidential campaign continues to heat up as the Democrats descend on Wisconsin. Hubert Humphrey is favored in the state because of the close proximity to Minnesota. HHH has been known for years as the state’s third Senator. But the McGovern for President effort is yielding big results with thousands of young people volunteering and papering the state with literature. Decision day is April third……Statewide, Governor Milton Shapp continues to push for the Edmund Muskie for President effort. Shapp encourages all statewide Democrats to fall into line for the Maine Senator…in Plains Township, two men Raymond Slabinski and William Spring announce they are co chairs of the third party movement. The name of the group will be called the Independent Voters League of Luzerne County. A mass meeting is set to be held at the Plains Polish American Veteran’s Association. Slabinski said thousands of indignant taxpayers are calling for a third party alternative while Spring said, “No longer can the Democratic party lay claim to the title “The Friend of the working man” as they continue to soak the taxpayers at every turn. Both men served on the Plains Party Democratic committee and 39 years ago this week in America and Lulac land the number 1 song in America was “A Horse With No Name” by America.