The LuLac Edition #1975, March 8th, 2012

Nepotism cartoon.

NEPOTISM SURCHARGE

It is evident that nepotism is never going to stop. As long as there are public jobs and public officials, nepotism is going to exist. There are school boards and other government entities that 5tried to redefine it, outlaw it or kill it. None succeeded. Most likely the person that provided the bread and wine at the last supper was a relative of one of the 12 apostles. And why shouldn’t nepotism exist? A good friend of mine says it is the responsibility of every job seeker to get to know those in power. He said a job isn’t just going to fall into your lap just because you’re a fine fellow or a sharp lady. His point is that you have to work the political hinterlands and then eventually reap the fruits of your labor. He also says that like minded people will always hire who they know, or by extension their families because it makes their awesome governmental responsibilities run smoother. And if Seymour becomes a malcontent somewhere into the second term, the office holder can always call up Aunt Betty, (Seymour’s sponsor) and have her put the kid back in line. The most recent flap of nepotism came up on the Scranton Area School Board. Board member Nate Barrett’s wife was named to a big job in the district with a salary of over $60,000. That’s twice what most working alugs (if they’re lucky) make around here. Barrett abstained from voting because the full majority of Scranton school directors said “yes” to Mrs. Barrett‘s appointment. Mrs. Barrett was employed by the district since 2007 so it’;s not as if she was dropped into the school board like Frankie Pizzella’s daughter a few years back here in the WB Area School District. The Scranton Board deemed it a promotion. The board said she was the most qualified. Mrs. Barrett’s mom called Steve Corbett the other day and even told him that she was the most qualified and he should just pipe down about it lest the metropolis of Minooka shun him like An Amish father would his daughter when he found out his kid roomed with Sandra Fluke at Georgetown. Mrs. Barrett, an employee of the district got the job. Her husband, Nate Barrett abstained, Last year when Nate Barrett was running for Scranton School Board, he was all over Talk Radio and to my knowledge never mention the fact his wife was employed by the district., If he did you can be sure someone might have asked him about what he would do if the missus came up for “a promotion”. All that said, I have a solution to the nepotism issue. First off, you’ll never, ever change it. So like the old saying goes, “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em”. I think the State Legislature should pass a law called the “NSC”, or the Nepotism Surcharge. Any public governmental entity employing a relative of another employee should charge the new employee and their nearest relative a surcharge of 15% for the first five years of employment. The money would be deducted from the payroll and put back into the general fund. To make certain the government entity didn’t up the salary to make up for the surcharge, all pay scales will be set not by the district but by the State. There will always be nepotism. So let’s charge people for the practice so that the majority of people who never had a shot at the job in the first place will still complain, but know that those participating in nepotism will have to pay something for it. Now you say, will the State Legislature do something like that? After the numb skulls this year voting on “The Year of the Bible”, anything is possible.

BRYLCREEM BOYS AT WORK

The majority Democratic members of the Lackawanna County board of Commissioners are busy as beews hiring people that have contributed money to their campaigns. They also are hiring people they feel “comfortable” with. The Times Tribune Borys Krawczeniuk. The contributions came from 12 people hired or rehired in recent weeks and totaled $9,800, according to finance reports that campaigns filed covering 2011. Several contributed to multiple committees. The $9,800 amounted to 1.2 percent of the $800,071 the committees raised last year.
The contributing employees, by descending amounts of contributions, are attorney John J. Brazil Jr., Mr. O'Malley's solicitor, $3,100; tax claim bureau director Ron Koldjeski and his wife, Sandra, $2,450; attorney Lawrence J. Moran, general counsel for litigation, $2,000, $1,000 of that jointly with his wife, Kathryn; John McGurl, community relations coordinator, $1,000; Andy Kudzinowski, recreational program manager, $250; Joseph Sheehan, deputy director for GIS and assessment appeals, and his wife, Gina, $250; Wayne Hiller, trolley museum manager, and his wife, Ann, $250; Joseph D'Arienzo, communications director, and his wife, Elizabeth, $100; Jeff Mando, director for information technology, and his wife, Nadine, $100; chief of staff Maria Elkins and her husband, Shawn, $100; Maureen McGuigan, director for arts and culture, $100; and William Davis, director for parks and recreation, $100.
Mr. Brazil, Mr. McGurl, Mr. Kudzinowski and Mr. D'Arienzo are newly hired. The others served in the Democratic majority administration of Mr. O'Brien and former Commissioner Mike Washo. Some of these amounts are pretty low and most likely the cost of a ticket to a cocktail party. The three new Commissioners have a right to hire who they want but three Communications Directors after you raise taxes by 35? The boys ran this TV commercial during the 2011 campaign (O’Malley never ran any commercials, his strategy was to run away from his running mate) saying that they were going to infuse Lackawanna County with new economic activity that would make it the high tech enter of the world. They have 3 Communications Directors in place right now as a start, so presumably we’ll be hearing some news very soon. I hope.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT



SWB GONE..FOR NOW

Stop!!! Don’t throw out that old Scranton Wilkes Barre Yankee gear just yet. It might be worth cometyhing on Ebay someday. The SWB Yankees are now going to be called The Empire State Yankees. International League President Randy Mobley said the move would not have happened without the cooperation of other teams like Syracuse, Lehigh Valley and Buffalo. The IL President said there will be new Yankee wear. “I suspect Empire State Yankees hats and apparel will be quite the common sight throughout upstate New York this summer”. Not here Randy!!!!! .
We are being told the move is temporary while the Yankees stay on the road as the Stadium in Moosic is being renovated. Problem with that is I don’t see any repair work even started at the facility. With the great winter weather or lack thereodf, this would have been an ideal time to get the work started. This team will not be back until 2014 if we’re lucky.

BOLUS FOUND GUILTY

Former Scranton Mayor candidate Bob Bolus has been found guilty of insurance fraud. A jury rendered its verdict yesterday afternoon. The charges stem from an insurance claim filed by Bolus for the cost of repairs for a tow truck. Bolus ran for Mayor in 2009 and every Christmas hosts a holiday party for residents of Northeastern Pennsylvania which he pays for out of his own pocket.

CORDARO’S LICENSE SUSPENDED

Bob Cordaro’s lw license wqas suspended by the State. This prevents him from practicing law anywhere, including prison. Cordaro the former Lackawanna County Commissioner is serving an 11 year sentence for fraud and racketeering. In addition to that, Cordaro was also one of those Commissioners who hired people he was comfortable with.


John Ennis, circa 1975 at King's College.

EXCITEMENT IN ENGLISH CLASS

When I was in high school, I was blessed to have some very good English teachers. In some ways they encouraged me to write and respect the written word. But it wasn’t until l I got to King’s College that I found that an English class could be downright theatrical. One of my old college professors, John Ennis died last week. Ennis was an English Professor at King’s and his classes were a thing to behold. He was energetic, popping up and down, banging on his podium, screaming at all of us when there was an important point to be made. I had him for three classes and I’m not quite sure he really understood me. But we got a long. One time, when no one was volunteering an answer on the subject of Candide, he said, “I’m sure you can answer this question”. And I responded, “How do you know that?” And he said, “A. Because you’re so full of yourself and B. Because you can’t stand the silence any more than I can”! I answered, shall we say, adequately. Apparently Ennis had some dealing with Mrs. LuLac prior to our engagement when he did literacy programs in cooperation with the King’s Library and the Osterhout. When told she was marrying me, he said in amazement, “She is??” Professors like Ennis made going to College a worthwhile and exhilarating experience. Wherever he is, he might find this as a surprise but we were paying attention back then. Here’s his obit:
John Ennis, 81, of Philadelphia, died on February 28, 2012, surrounded by his family at home. Born October 26, 1930, in Newark, N.J., he attended Providence College and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in English from Seton Hall University. He received master's degrees from Rutgers University and the University of Notre Dame. John did doctoral study at Notre Dame and the National University of Ireland. In 1964, he became a professor of English at King's College, where he served two terms as chair of the department and taught until his retirement in 1999. He founded the Writing Center at King's, and was a founding member of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Writing Council. John loved his colleagues and he loved the students, especially those who were eager to learn. He and his wife of 39 years, Joanne, raised two sons, Eoin and Connor, in Dallas, where they were respected members of the community. John's kind nature, quiet intelligence and wry sense of humor were enjoyed by friends from the Back Mountain to Ireland. He first visited Ireland as a college student, a copy of James Joyce's "Ulysses" in his hand, and he returned to the country again and again, making new friends and introducing his wife and sons to the place he loved so much. Upon retirement, he and Joanne moved to Philadelphia, where John taught English as a Second Language on a volunteer basis. He is survived by wife; his sons; his daughter-in-law, Lauren; and his grandson, Sam; along with numerous extended family members. A Memorial Mass will be held on Saturday, March 31, at 11 a.m. at St. Malachy, 1429 N. 11th St., Philadelphia. At John's request, participants are asked to bring non-perishable food items to benefit the food program at Saint Malachy. Donations can also be made to the Friends of Saint Malachy or the King's College Faculty Scholarship program. A teacher to the end, John donated his body to medical research.

MEDIA MATTERS

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE

This week Shadoe Steele will finally feature Paul Anka as his guest. Anka was pre empted a few weeks ago by basketball and the untimely death of Monkee Davey Jones. SATURDAY Night Live at the Oldies can be heard from 7pm to midnight on WILK AM & FM.



LCCC Communications student Jill Bodek and this blog editor at the studios of WSFX-FM at Luzerne County Community Collerge.

WHAT KILLED LOCAL RADIO?

An LCCC student, Jill Bodek is working on a radio documentary as a class project. She will explore the nuances and reasons why radio giants like WARm declined. I was interviewed for the project at LCCC last Friday and understand I am in fine company with Jill also interviewing the likes of Joe Middleton and Bill Kelly. Jill’s teacher is Ron Reino and she and I go way back. I’ll keep you posted on the release date of this effort.

STORM POLITICS

This week Tiffany Cloud welcomes State Representative Eddie Day Pashinski as her guest. Pashinski represents the 121st and has no opposition this time around. “Storm Politics” can be seen on WYLN TV 35 @ Th 930p, Sat 5p, Sun 11a, Mon 830p, T 930p.

ECTV

ECTV Live will mark a milestone with its show for the week of March 12th, That will mark the 100th segment of the program which was created to promote events and organizations dedicated to improving the quality of life for the people on northeastern Pennsylvania.
Host Judge Tom Munley and co host and producer David DeCosmo will welcome reps from some of the agencies that have appeared on the show over the past two years, ECTV Live can be seen on Comcast Ch19 at Noon and midnight each day with selected showing at 6pm as well.

PCN

ATTORNEY GENERAL DEM PRIMARY

As part of its Election 2012 coverage, the Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN) will begin to feature the candidates vying for the opportunity to be placed on the ballot this fall for Pennsylvania Attorney General. Starting Tuesday, March 13, three of the Democratic candidates will appear individually on the network’s LIVE PCN Call-In program. The appearances will give viewers across the state a chance to learn more about the candidates and their platform before the state primary at the end of April. Viewers will be able to share their comments and questions during each LIVE hour-long PCN Call-In program just by dialing toll-free at 1-877-PA6-5001. All three of these interactive programs will begin at 7:00 p.m. The schedule for these PCN Call-In appearances is as follows:
Tuesday, March 13: Don Bailey, Democrat for PA Attorney General
Tuesday, March 27: Kathleen Kane, Democrat for PA Attorney General
Wednesday, April 4: Patrick Murphy, Democrat for PA Attorney General

CORBETT ON PCN

The Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN) will take their cameras to the Governor’s Residence for a special “On the Issues” program featuring Governor Tom Corbett. PCN will air the candid one-on-one conversation with the Governor and host, Brian Lockman, on Monday, March 12 at a special time of 6:00 p.m. An encore presentation has been scheduled following the conclusion of the program at 6:30 p.m. “On the Issues” is a half-hour long program that offers an informal conversation with prominent lawmakers and government officials concerning the latest issues in the State Capitol and the impact those issues may have for citizens across the state. The program airs regularly Monday through Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 7:00 p.m.

SUNDAY MAGAZINE

This Week on Sunday Magazine Magic 93's Frankie in the Morning discusses Red Cross Month with Red Cross Director of Communications Donna Morrisey.
An encore of Brian Hughes' interview with Nina Dei Tos, Director of Development for the Domestic Violence Service Center about domestic violence and their big fundraiser at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs coming up at the end of March. And Brian speaks with travel guru Chris McGuiness, who discusses the best travel deals for the Spring. Sunday Magazine, Sunday morning at 5:30am on 97BHT, 6am on 97.9X, and 6:30am on Magic 93 & WARM 590 AM.




Our 1967 logo.

1967

The body of U.S. President John F. Kennedy is moved to a permanent burial place at Arlington National Cemetery………..Nine executives of the German pharmaceutical company Grunenthal are charged for breaking German drug laws because of thalidomide………in Pennsylvania, the fruits of Governor Raymond Shafer’s labor as Lt. Governor come more clearly into focus. As, Lieutenant Governor, Shafer had chaired a bipartisan committee to explore constitutional reforms. By the beginning of Shafer's term as Governor, a constitutional convention was meeting to overhaul state government. Former State Senator and candidate for Governor Bob Casey also served on Shafer’s Constitutional commission…..in Hazleton, Vic Diehm, owner of WAZL/WVCD eschews any involvement in county politics. Diehm’s strong run for the State Senate in the 14th district made him an attractive candidate for County wide office but he declined saying he wanted to concentrate on his business opportunities and 45 years ago the number 1 song in America and LuLac land was “Happy Together” by the Turtles.




"Como Phobia" logo.

COMO PHOBIA (BE NOT AFRAID)