The LuLac Edition #2846, March 2nd, 2015

“THE STATESMAN”

Lackawanna County Commissioner Patrick O'Malley. (Photo: Lackawanna County website). 

A few people who read my piece on the party for Mayor McNulty wondered why I was referring to former Democratic, Republican and now newly minted Democrat Patrick O’Malley as a “statesman”. O’Malley said it himself in response to a question from a TV reporter. Maybe we’ll see a visit from Jon Meacham who wrote a definitive biographies of Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson to sit down with Mr. O’Malley and measure him for a manuscript.

THE POLL FOR D.A.

There is a telephone poll being conducted in Luzerne County regarding the upcoming District Attorney’s race. The questions focus on the trial experience of current District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis and Luzerne County Attorney Vito DeLucca.
Then there was a question about the death penalty, the cost of it and whether it should be reformed.
So as they say in the Horse Racing establishment, “Their off!”. Or as the old PA announcer at Pocono Downs used to say, “Thereeeeeeeeee they gooooooooo”.

WOLF’S BUDGET

 Tom Wolf. (Photo: Wolf for Governor.)

So far there has been an embargo of news on Tom Wolf’s Budget Presentation tomorrow but look for what he talked about on the campaign trail. There is word he will be talking about a significant reform in the tax structure. Look for a few surprises as well as a willingness to trade off on a few things. Wolf will be pragmatic, not dogmatic.
Coverage begins at 11:00 a.m. on PCN as studio guests Steve Crawford, former Chief of Staff to Gov. Ed Rendell, and David La Torre, former Press Secretary to Gov. Mark Schweiker discuss what goes into preparing the annual budget plan from the governor's office.

CARTWRIGHT STATEMENT ON FURTHER EXPANSION OF BUREAU OF PRISON’S PEPPER SPRAY PILOT PROGRAM

Congressman Matt Cartwright (Photo: LuLac archives)

U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright released the following statement after the U.S. Bureau of Prisons Director Charles Samuels announced the expansion of the Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) Spray Pilot Program to include all staff at all high security and medium prisons, medical centers, detention centers, and jail units. The expansion means that only minimum and low security prisons are the only two facilities where pepper spray is not available to all staff:
“I applaud the Bureau of Prisons for expanding the OC Spray Pilot Program to protect the men and women that work in our nation’s prisons.
“In order to ensure greater safety in future years and in future administrations, I introduced the Eric Williams Correctional Officer Protection Act of 2015 in January, a bill that would codify the pepper spray program.
“Overcrowding and understaffing continue to plague our federal prisons, so it is essential that we adequately fund the Bureau of Prisons to ensure that it can perform its mission to rehabilitate inmates without compromising the safety of the many officers who put their lives at risk in achieving this goal.”

MEDIA MATTERS

WNEP TV’s Sofia Ojeda is heading to Houston. It will be interesting to see who will replace er on the big one one. (Scott Shaffer and Kurt Aaron speak for 11PM. (Photo: WNEP.com.).