The LuLac Edition #2447, June 16th, 2013

Our “Maybe I’m Amazed” logo. 

MAYBE I’M AMAZED 

MAYBE I’M AMAZED……..that every time I drive down to Nanticoke to stop off at the Sanitary or to LCCC to attempt to see my old Coding Teacher (she’s always busy) I travel down South Prospect Street where the old WNAK building used to be. It was a big reconverted funeral home but now the thing is leveled and a parking lot. The once storied frequency too has been diminished somewhat with a simulcast of that great Oldies Station, GEM out of Tunkhannock. Times change I guess. 
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……….that when we were coming home from church last night passing through Parsons, I saw that a house had their garbage out. Then as Mrs. LuLac drove on, the whole neighborhood had their blue bags out. Is it possible the entire neighborhood put their garbage out early? En masse? Then we both realized Friday was Flag Day and a holiday for Public Sector workers. Damn, you have to love those unions! 
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……..that because of the weakness of the Republican Party in Scranton, a party that elected Gene Peters twice, David Wenzel once and Jimmy Connors three times can’t field a decent candidate. Bill Courtright will then waltz into the Mayor’s office. How does a party collapse like that in just a short time? 
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…….that the Judicial situation begs the same question in Luzerne and Lackawanna County. In the current Judge race in the Lac, Jim Gibbons won a double nomination and in Luzerne County, despite some decent candidates running on the GOP, the only candidate who succeeded was Dick Hughes. And I believe that was more his community service and personal energy than anything the party did for him. 
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……..in Germany, the “sshhhh” sound means “hurry up”. 
MAYBE I’M AMAZED………that there are people around who continue to underestimate Correale Stevens of Hazleton. He has had the most consistent, unblemished, unquestioned climb of any local political figure of this generation. Seven years as State Representative, Luzerne County DA, a few years on the Luzerne County bench as well as time on the State’s Higher Courts. Now Stevens is poised to become a Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The last time Luzerne County had representation was when the late Ben Jones was named to the Court in 1957. In Lackawanna County, Michael Eagen was named in 1960. 
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…….that a Supreme Court Justice who visited this area on more than one occasion, Seamus P. McCaffery is reportedly under fire for some questionable arrangements with his wife Lise Rapaport. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, he is now reportedly being investigated by the F.B.I. for payment Rapaport received in her side business referring clients to lawyers. Not only did she work for her husband as a judicial aide while she was doing so, but McCaffery ended up ruling on many of those very cases for which she was making referrals. Didn’t Mark Ciavarella refer to that as “a finder’s fee?” This will be something to watch. 
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that the Miami Heat just seem able to turn it on when they need a big win. The Series with the Spurs is tied at 2-2 and the only explanation I have is that the Heat has been a team the last three years that played in the finals. Those extra games and pressure take their toll. If they win this year, will they have anything left in the tank for next season? 
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that that we humans take 23,800 breaths in a day. That’s 161,000 a week, which translates in a year to almost under 2 million. 
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…….that political ripples are starting to develop in Lackawanna County now that the Government Study Commission, which was endorsed in the primary takes their seats. Look for organizer Chuck Volpe to be in the catbird seat and the current trio of County Commissioners (career politicians who have no place else to go) to start digging in their heels. 
MAYBE I’M AMAZED….that most local community newspapers are now done out of town in a template format. Then they are sent back to a skeleton staff for approval. This is a far cry from the old Wyoming Valley Observer, the Pittston Dispatch, and the Dallas Post/Abington Journal. The latter two were owned and operated by William Scranton III who in my estimation would have made a great Governor of Pennsylvania. 
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that one of the true hidden treasures in the area as terms of a decent, home cooked meal is The Wagon Wheel in Shickshinny. Battling back after the most recent flood, the service is great, and the Friday Fish Fry is one of the best.