The LuLac Edition #3971, December 30th, 2018

TOP STORIES IN LULAC LAND

1. Tornado Strikes Wilkes Barre. It was a night of fear to remember. A tornado landed in a shopping plaza in Wilkes Barre Township leveling the place. The blessing was that the event hit after 830pm when most of the stores like Panera Bread, Tovon, Game Stop and Holiday Hair were empty of most workers. Rebuilding efforts are progressing as we write this.
2. Mid Term Elections were top of mind here. Lou Barletta won Luzerne County but lost the rest of the state. Governor Tom Wolf was elected easily to another term. Particular focus was on Luzerne County in ’18 because of the big Trump win in ’16. Scott Wagner and 8th District candidate John Chrin nearly camped out here. But a revitalized Democratic party in the county beat back challenges. Democratic State Representatives Eddie Day Pashinski in the 121st and Gerry Mullery in the 119th faced stiff challenges against former R\radio talk show host Sue Henry and Justin Behrens respectively but they did win new terms.
3.New map, same old same old. It turns out that the Congressional redistricting carries little weight in Congressional races. The State GOP whined liked babies without a rattler when the State Supreme Court took over the Congressional redistricting plan they couldn’t handle. The districts were carved up but nothing in Lulac land changed. We started with 2 Republican Congressmen and one Democrat one and ended that way. Tom Marino won in the new 12th,. Dan Meuser in the new 9th and Democrat Matt Cartwright in the new 8th. After all the noise went on, “Obladi, oblada, life went on” just the sane.
4. Grand Jury report on Catholic Church hits home. The Grand Jury report on the Catholic Church hit us here between the eyes. Many well known clerics were called out and church collections as well as attendance declined a bit. There was no aggressive Bishop’s Appeal. The year ended with a report that of the 59 Scranton Diocese priests identified among 301 child-abusing clergy across Pennsylvania by a state grand jury report released last week, records show Bishop Emeritus James Timlin had knowledge of more than two dozen cases before and during his nearly 20-year tenure.
5. 1960s Consolidation had nothing on this! The Wilkes Barre Area School Board moved ahead to get that new school built. The plan is to borrow up to $137.3 million to fund the construction of a new high school between Maffett and North Main streets in Plains Twp. It is a 78-acre site that Pagnotti Enterprises owned.
The school district also merged the three schools of Coughlin, Meyers and GAR. There will be football and the team name will be Wolfpack.
6. Dallas teachers, board end stalemate. The Dallas a\Area School district finally came to an agreement with the teachers after a multi year strike. The new contract extends to 2023 and that is a relief to school district parents and students who were essentially the victims in this game of ping pong.
7. Property Tax Forums held. Multiple Property Tax Forums were held in both Luzerne and Lackawanna County this year. Large crowds came out to support the elimination of Property taxes through House Bill 76. Even though there was support among those attending these numerous events, the candidates who supported it 100% did not prevail at the ballot box.
8. Not cleared for take off, the Crestwood School District ran into an issue with drivers of their buses not having clearances on file. The Districty had teachers ride the buses a few days and an investigation and change of bus lines ensued.
9. New Veep, Old Veep come a calllin'. Vice President Mike Pence showed up in Forty Fort in October touring the candidacy of John Chrin who was trying to make a dent in Luzerne County. Chrin running against Cartwright ultimately lost but my GOP friends tell me that Pence was quite charismatic at this event. 
The Sunday before the election, former Vice President Joe Biden rocked the vote at The Pittston Area High School. Biden, his voice hoarse but enthusiastic  rallied the troops with some wondering if he will make a run for the top job in 2020.
10. DeeJay Mo gets justice. Posthumously. Two men accused in the death of a popular local DJ have both been convicted of first-degree murder. Roberto Battle and David Nealy are the two men charged with killing Michael Onley in 2013.Onley was a community activist and DJ known as DJ Mo.