Rated one of Pennsylvania's top blog/sites, the LuLac Political Letter delves into issues of politics on all levels (with special concentration on Luzerne and Lackawanna Counties: thus the name LULAC) and pop culture.
The LuLac Political Letter was also named Best Political Blog of the Year for 2014 by NEPA BLOGCON and most recently David Yonki was named Best Blogger of the year 2015 by the publication Diamond City.
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
The LuLac Edition #4,063, April 30th, 2019
NOT HOLDING MY BREATH
Pelosi and Schumer (Photo: aol)
U.S. President Donald Trump agreed with Democratic leaders on Tuesday to spend $2 trillion on roads, bridges, water, broadband and power grids, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday after a White House meeting. Trump and Democratic leaders are slated to meet again in three weeks to discuss how the "big and bold" plan - which would need the approval of Congress - would be paid for, Schumer told reporters outside the White House. (AOL News) The three weeks is what bothers me. Trump hasn’t even stayed on point with his own party and he’s going to not change his mind when push comes to shove?
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had an 87 minute call the other day with members of her party n Congress. The message she gave was that investigations would take the Democrats where they needed to be. But she was in no rush to tart impeachment proceedings and history bears her out. The Watergate investigation started in May of ’73. Impeachment began in June of ’74. Congress did its due diligence in about 11 months and made sure there was bi partisan support. In contrast, the Starr investigation, Whitewater lasted 5 years or more and impeachment came only when Bill Clinton was found to be lying about an extra marital affair. The smart play is to have the House investigate and have Diaper Don cry and whine like a little baby. 57% of Americans think he is horrible. The more comes out to reinforce that, (the Southern District will be the smoking gun) the more that number will increase. Let Impeachment start after the election. Then let the law take its course.
BIDEN IN…BUT FOR HOW LONG?
I like Joe Biden. Might even vote for Joe Biden. But front runners in the Democratic party have a way of disappearing. With so many candidates running, maybe he can distinguish himself But he just might find himself the grandpa at the hip hop concert. Well regarded, respected and loved for his service but not in sync with the people running things. We’ll see. Here's Biden's video where he takes on Donald Trump. It is worth noting that Trump lost the popular vote and won the Electoral College with a swing of less than 80,000 votes.
TRUMP MAD OVER LOSING TWITTER FOLLOWERS, WHITE HOUSE CONFIRMS
The White House has confirmed reports that President Trump spent much of his Tuesday meeting with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey complaining about losing social media followers. “They had a very productive conversation about keeping the media platforms open for 2020,” said adviser Kellyanne Con
way Wednesday morning. “The president is very concerned about what he sees as losing followers or people being blocked for certain actions. That’s obvious.” Conway’s comments confirm reporting from the Washington Post about the meeting. “A significant portion of the meeting focused on Trump’s concerns that Twitter quietly, and deliberately, has limited or removed some of his followers, according to a person with direct knowledge of the conversation who requested anonymity because it was private,” read the Post report. Per the Post, Dorsey explained to the president that the number of followers fluctuates due to the company’s attempts to delete spam accounts and bots. Trump, who has nearly 60 million followers on the service, complained about losing followers back in October after Twitter purged a number of suspended accounts, resulting in a decline of followers across the political spectrum, with Trump losing 200,000 and former President Barack Obama losing 2 million. Obama has 106 million followers as of today. Twitter has consistently denied that it pares accounts for political or ideological reasons. Trump appears to view his Twitter following as a measure of his popularity, whether or not it constitutes actual people. Trump has previously floated the idea of investigations into big tech companies including Facebook, Amazon and Google. Republicans have accused Twitter of having a bias against conservatives, including at a congressional hearing attended by Dorsey last year.
CARTWRIGHT ANNOUNCES OVER $1.5 MILLION IN HHS FUNDS TO SCRANTON PRIMARY HEALTH CARE CENTER INC.
Congressman Matt Cartwright (Photo: LuLac archives)
U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright announced that Scranton Primary Health Care Center Inc. received $1,586,006 in federal funds from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Health Center Cluster grant program. Established in 1978, Scranton Primary Health Care Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center, offers quality primary medical and dental care at a reasonable cost to all persons in the community, including those who are underinsured and uninsured. “I continue to be a strong advocate for federal funding that ensures underserved residents and their families have access to quality, affordable health care services from providers like the Clinics at Scranton Primary Health Care Center,” said Rep. Cartwright, a member of the Appropriations Committee. “Local health centers are a vital part of ensuring we have healthy and sustainable communities in Northeastern Pennsylvania.” "On behalf of Scranton Primary Health Care, we are extremely grateful to Congressman Matt Cartwright for his assistance and support in helping us obtain our continued funding,” said CEO Joseph H. Hollander, Scranton Primary Health Care Center. “This will enable us to continue to fulfill our mission to provide access to affordable, quality primary health care services for the community and all vulnerable populations regardless of their ability to pay. This is wonderful news as we celebrate forty years of providing these services in our community.” The Health Center Cluster grant is awarded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for improving health care to people who are geographically isolated or economically or medically vulnerable. Their mission is to improve health outcomes and address health disparities through access to quality services, a skilled health workforce, and innovative, high-value programs.
MEDIA MATTERS
WALN TV
BOLD GOLD COMMUNITY FORUM
This week's guests are Henry Radulski, Director of the Wilkes-Barre Department of Health and Jim Decker, City Lead Risk Assessor. They'll discuss a new program to correct lead problems in city homes. Tune in Sunday morning at 6 on 94.3 The Talker; 6:30 on The Game, NEPA's Fox Sports Radio 1340/1400 am, 100.7 and 106.7 fm; and at 7:30 on The River 105 and 103.5
ECTV LIVE
ECTV Live welcomes Armand Olivetti to the program during the week of April 29th to discuss plans for the brand new Lackawanna County Fair! Rusty Fender handles the hosting duties while David DeCosmo and his wife are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. Electric City Television is in the process of installing a new server which feeds its programming to Comcast Cable channel 19. As soon as that work is complete the station will be back on the air. Meanwhile the station's ECTV Live program can be viewed on the electric city television YouTube page which is also being used to feed Scranton's weekly City Council meetings. ECTV Live is seen three times daily on Comcast channel 19 (61 in some areas) and can be viewed on your personal device on the electric city television YouTube page.
BUDDY RUMCHEK
Want to hear some great parodies on the news? Tune in to WILK Radio at 6:40 and 8:40 AM on Mondays. As Ralph Cramden used to say, “It’s a laugh riot!”
BOBBY V’S DOO WOP SOCK HOP
SUNDAY NIGHTS!
1969
Our 1969 logo
The Montreal Expos edged the visiting St. Louis Cardinals in the first regular season Major League Baseball game to be played outside the United States, playing before a standing room only crowd of 29,184 fans at Jarry Park Stadium. After 36 seasons in Montreal, the Expos would relocate in 2005 to become the Washington Nationals……. The 24-game championship series of the World Chess Championship began in Moscow, with champion Tigran Petrosian defending his title against challenger Boris Spassky.......The White House hosted its largest number of visitors since March 4, 1829, when new U.S. President Andrew Jackson invited the general public to come inside the presidential mansion, with 26,000 people arriving in what would become known as the "Inaugural Brawl". First Lady Pat Nixon welcomed 4,702 members of the Daughters of the American Revolution for a reception...
Americans who owned color televisions were cautioned by the U.S. government to stay at least 6 feet (1.8 m) away from their sets when watching TV, "and to stay away from the sides and the back of the set" because of unsafe levels of radiation. The United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare issued the warning after a report that 1,000 of 5,000 color TV sets in Suffolk County, New York "were emitting more than the accepted level of radiation" of 0.5 millionairess of x-ray and gamma ray radiation per hour.
Alexander Dubcek, whose 1968 liberal reforms had been countered by an invasion of his nation by the Soviet Union and other Communist nations, was dismissed as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) after 13 months. Dubcek had continued to serve after the August invasion, albeit with restricted powers. The KSČ's 190-member Central Committee voted to dismiss him and to install Gustav Husak of Slovakia's regional party as the new Party leader. Husak had been sentenced to life imprisonment in 1954 during the administration of Dubcek's predecessor, Antonin Novotny, on charges of having participated in a "Trotskyite-Titoite-Zionist conspiracy" against the KSČ, but had been released in 1959 and politically rehabilitated…Sirhan Bishara Sirhan was convicted of the first-degree murder of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, ten months after the fatal shooting of Kennedy on June 5, 1968. After a trial that had lasted 14 weeks, a Los Angeles County Superior Court jury of seven men and five women deliberated (and asked Judge Herbert V. Walker for instructions relevant to second-degree murder) before returning the conviction, which carried with it a sentence of either life imprisonment or the death penalty. After almost 17 hours of deliberation (spread out over four days), the jury returned its verdict at 10:47 in the morning. Jurors also convicted Sirhan of five counts of assault with intent to kill for five bystanders who had been wounded in the shooting......The television pilot for Medical Center, a popular CBS medical drama that would run for seven seasons, was shown as U.M.C., a made-for-TV movie starring film tough-guy Edward G. Robinson as Dr. Lee Forestman, James Daly as Dr. Paul Lochner and Richard Bradford as Dr. Joe Gannon. The show would be picked up as a regular series on September 24, without Robinson, with Daly as the star and with Chad Everett taking over Bradford's role.
In Pennsylvania the State police is expanded and recruiting new members…..in Scranton Eugene Peters steps up his effort to win the GOP nomination for Mayor of Scranton and fifty years ago this week the number one song in LuLac land and America was “25 Miles” by - Edwin Starr.
This week we hear a positive message from a very positive guy that I’ve known for over thirty years. Unlike the many naysayers who tell us how bad things are, Bill Jones stakes out an argument that things are moving ahead here.
OUR COMMUNITY IS MOVING FORWARD
On multiple occasions over the years, I have heard Dr. Pat Leahy, the outgoing president of Wilkes University, say with great conviction that our community’s best days are still ahead of us. I believe him and share his optimism. Critics could argue that the area will never rebound from the bustling days of when coal was king. To be sure, our society and the economy are different from what they once were. Yet, as Teddy Roosevelt told us, “it is not the critic who counts” and there are a number of things currently happening that should give all of us encouragement that Dr. Leahy’s words are more than hollow hype and Pollyannaish thinking. Nearly five years ago, I wrote an editorial that welcomed Wico Van Genderen as the new president of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce. In that column, I emphasized that our community needed a strong chamber. At that time, however, the chamber was carrying more than $13 million in debt on real estate investments and those obligations were impeding the chamber’s ability to truly serve its members and execute on a vision for our community’s future. With strong volunteer leadership from people like Frank Joanlanne, Troy Standish, Bill Sordoni, Tara Mugford Wilson, Liz Graham, Steve Clemente and many others, the chamber has been completely transformed. Today, the organization is one pending transaction away from being free from all that debt. More importantly, the chamber team, led by Wico, Joe Boylan and Lindsay Griffin, is moving forward and aggressively focused on supporting the community and improving our local business climate. In those five years, more than 5,000 new jobs have been created and our local unemployment rate has dropped from 11 percent to around 5 percent today. The chamber has developed a dozen new programs and initiatives to promote business startups, innovation, growth, and expansion. Today, the chamber is stronger and the best is yet to come. In March, a ribbon was cut on another transformational change that was a decade in the making. The Jewish Community Alliance celebrated the opening of the Sidney and Pauline Friedman Jewish Community Center. The new JCC isn’t just about a brand new $12 million building. It is an investment in the long-term future of the local Jewish community. Kudos to Rob Friedman, Chuck Cohen, Paul Lantz, David Schwager and others for their visionary leadership and thinking about future generations. For those generations, the best is yet to come. There are many more examples of considerable progress being pursued. For example, Wilkes University and King’s College are making very significant investments in the downtown. Misericordia University, my alma mater, is having a genuine impact on how state government is addressing long-term human service needs and Luzerne County Community College continues to play a critical role in workforce development opportunities. Also, the decision by Berkshire-Hathaway Guard Insurance to stay in Wilkes-Barre and keep hundreds of local residents employed was a huge win for the area and the purchase of the former Guard Insurance buildings by Kris Jones for the purpose of accelerating hi-tech business startups holds promising potential. Additionally, Rob Mericle is creating “Discover NEPA,” a social media platform to better market Northeastern Pennsylvania and attract even more investment here. Among all the many good things that are happening and will impact our future, perhaps the biggest game-changer will be our community’s young professionals. A couple of weeks ago, the United Way and the Chamber of Commerce co-hosted a full day conference for young professionals. It was a sold-out event and the talent, energy, leadership ability and commitment to the community that was on display that day was very inspiring. As the conference ended, I certainly believed that the best is yet to come. I am certainly not suggesting everything is perfect and there aren’t more hurdles to cross, but I do have a sense that our community is truly moving forward. Henry Ford once said, “If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.” Our community clearly has some momentum. I am remaining hopeful that we can keep moving forward together and, as Dr. Leahy said, “our best days are still ahead of us.” BILL JONES is president and CEO at United Way of Wyoming Valle.
TRUMP'S IRAN POLICY COULD COST AMERICANS BILLIONS AT THE GAS PUMP
(Photo: www.autoguide.com)
Well everyone seems to be headed in their own separate camps regarding the Mueller Report. The whiners on Facebook and Talk Radio bring up the Holy Trinity of Republican arguments, Hillary, Benghazi and Obama. You never hear them conceded that the report did proclaim Russian interference and that it might happen again. You’ll also hear the same people yell about that Iran deal and how President Obama and John Kerry gave the store away. But that deal will have ramifications at the gas pump. President Donald Trump's goal of bringing Iran to its knees threatens to exact a heavy toll on American drivers this summer, fuel analysts warn. The White House surprised the oil market on Monday, announcing new measures aimed at driving Iran's crude exports to zero in just over a week. The sudden policy shift comes on the heels of nine straight weeks of rising U.S. gasoline prices and at the outset of the annual uptick in gasoline demand. The national average for regular gasoline has finally paused at $2.84 a gallon, following the roughly two-month rally, according to fuel price technology firm GasBuddy. While prices continued to bubble higher in most states last week, the pace of has finally slowed. But the Trump administration's shock decision to end all sanctions waivers for Iran's oil buyers may cause another round of gas price increases, creating a "more painful summer at the pump," said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. The Trump administration is relying on Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other OPEC members to hike output and prevent a price spike. But analysts say the producers are fearful of sparking a repeat of last year's oil price crash, and will likely proceed with caution rather than open the taps. "With such a policy move, if OPEC fails to increase output to offset the likely drop from an end to Iran waivers, expect oil prices to continue to surge. This will cost Americans billions if the Administration enforces the end to waivers," DeHaan said. Oil prices, which account for more than half of the cost of gasoline, have already surged more than 3% to nearly six-month highs since Trump announced the decision. The move now threatens to push prices at the pump past key psychological levels and ding drivers in the pocketbook. "U.S. consumers could be staring down a $3 per gallon national average now, at least for a time as we get into the start of the summer driving season. That's going to hit consumer confidence," John Kilduff, partner at energy hedge fund Again Capital told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Monday. Consumers may not feel that pinch immediately because wages are rising, said Savita Subramanian, head of U.S. equity and quantitative strategy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. But with California's gas prices hovering above $4 a gallon, "we're getting to a point where this could turn ugly." Ahead of a contentious 2020 presidential election, the pain at the pump is starting to spread beyond blue states, according to Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at Oil Price Information Service. "There's probably a half dozen states that the president needs to carry in the next election which are going to go above $3 a gallon in this driving season," he told CNBC's "Closing Bell" on Monday. Kloza said the timing of the Iran policy shift was "very inelegant to say the least." Gas prices are already lofty because of refinery outages, and refineries will soon hike crude oil processing by 1 million-1.5 million barrels per day to meet summer gas demand. On top of that, U.S. oil production is still being held back by a shortage of pipelines in the Permian Basin, the epicenter of the U.S. drilling renaissance. Those bottlenecks won't clear until the second half of the year. "All of this is happening with near chaos in Libya, trouble in Nigeria and total chaos in Venezuela," Kloza said. "We had some time. Probably if this happened five months from now we'd be in a lot better shape because the U.S. will be producing another million barrels a day of crude." When or if this happens, those Trump voters will most likely blame someone else, I mean that the default of the ignorant. But when those prices go sky high, we’ll see how fast they blame Diaper Don. Naw, they’ll blame Pelosi. (LuLac, CNBC)
VACANCY: JOB: ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES
Current occupant has chosen to represent his client, the President and NOT his country.
DIAPER DON’S HARD ON FOR HILLARY CONTINUES
In anticipation of the Mueller report, little Donnie Trump is again placing the blame on Hillary. Check this out. The madman deadbeat sex pig isn't waiting. As Washington counts down the final hours until publication of the redacted special counsel report — now expected Thursday — Donald Trump stepped up his attacks Monday in an effort to undermine potential disclosures on Russia, his 2016 campaign and the aftermath. He unleashed a series of tweets focusing on the previously released summary of special counsel Robert Mueller's conclusions — including a crucial one on obstruction of justice that Trump again misrepresented — produced by Attorney General William Barr. "Mueller, and the A.G. based on Mueller findings (and great intelligence), have already ruled No Collusion, No Obstruction," Trump tweeted. "These were crimes committed by Crooked Hillary, the DNC, Dirty Cops and others! INVESTIGATE THE INVESTIGATORS" Investigate with what? An acting staff?
DIAPER DON 2 DONALD TRUMP THINKS EVEN FOX NEWS IS BIASED AGAINST HIM
THE PRESIDENT IS APPARENTLY UNHAPPY WITH THE WAY FOX NEWS HOSTED A TOWN HALL WITH SEN. BERNIE SANDERS THIS WEEK
President Donald Trump is apparently unhappy with the way Fox News hosted a town hall with Sen. Bernie Sanders this week. One moment that went viral, and seemed to surprise the hosts of the town hall, happened when the audience was asked whether they would like to give up their employer-sponsored health insurance in favor of a government-backed plan, like Medicare for All. The crowd cheered in favor of the idea. Seeming to indicate that somehow Fox News — his favorite network, often mocked as a former of “state TV” — was somehow biased in favor of Sanders, Trump complained in a tweet Tuesday night that his supporters were kept out of the town hall:FOX News host Brett Baer said the crowd was ideologically mixed. Still Diapewr ranted. He ‘s like the kid who wants the entire gallon of ice cream.
AN UPDATE TO THE FAIR SHARE TAX PLAN TO SUPPORT PUBLIC INVESTMENT IN PENNSYLVANIA
The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center today released an update to a revenue proposal that would raise $2.2 billion annually, while cutting taxes or leaving them level for 82% of Pennsylvanians. The proposal, called the Fair Share Tax Plan, will be introduced in the state House this session. The prime co-sponsors of the bill, Rep. Chris Rabb (D-Philadelphia), Rep. Sara Innamorato (D-Lawrenceville), and Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler (D-Philadelphia) will be circulating a co-sponsorship memo this week. “The Fair Share Tax would take a major step toward fixing Pennsylvania’s broken tax system and raise needed revenues to invest in public goods that are critical in the effort to create thriving communities and individual opportunity in our state — things like education, protection for our air and water, and human services,” says Marc Stier, Director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center and author of the report. The Fair Share Tax Plan: Cuts the tax rate on wages and interest (which almost all taxpayers have), but raises the rate on other forms of income (like dividends, capital gains, and business profits) that mostly go to the rich. Would raise $2.2 billion annually, while lowering taxes for 47% of families, with no increase for 35% of families. Brings in needed revenue, 80% of which comes from the richest fifth of Pennsylvania taxpayers and 16% of which mes from out-of-state taxpayers. This means that only a tiny 4% of the additional revenue comes from the bottom four-fifth of Pennsylvania taxpayers. “One argument we hear often is how Pennsylvania is overtaxed. That is far from true. For example, even after implementation of the Fair Share Tax, the effective rate on the top 1% of Pennsylvania taxpayers will be only 3.9%, less than that of any neighboring state and only about half of the rate found in New York and New Jersey,” said Stier. https://www.pennbpc.org/fair-share-tax-plan-pennsylvania-—-2019-update?link_id=9&can_id=14d54a67e813747261f74c18ad475b56&source=email-release-the-fair-share-tax-for-pennsylvania-updated&email_referrer=email_529155&email_subject=release-the-fair-share-tax-for-pennsylvania-updated .
CARTWRIGHT ANNOUNCES OVER $12.8 MILLION IN HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT FUNDS
Congressman Matt Cartwright (Photo: LuLac archives)
U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has granted Capital Fund Awards totaling $12,820,565 to housing agencies across Northeastern Pennsylvania. The Public Housing Capital Fund Award is granted annually by HUD to Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) for the development, financing, and modernization of public housing developments and for management improvements. The following is a list of Capital Fund Award recipients and the amount provided: •The Housing Authority of the City of Carbondale - $719,521 •Scranton Housing Authority - $2,794,777 •Lackawanna County Housing Authority – $2,310,310 •ousing Authority of the County of Luzerne - $2,546,240 •Housing Authority of the City of Pittston - $716,428 •The Housing Authority of the City of Hazleton - $549,402 •Wilkes-Barre Housing Authority - $1,701,047 •The Housing Authority of the City of Nanticoke - $825,698 •The Housing Authority of Monroe County - $657,142 “These federal grants are welcome news; they help rebuild, repair, and renovate public housing in our communities,” said Rep. Cartwright, a member of the House Appropriations Committee. “The funds will make our neighborhoods stronger and ensure that our communities have quality, affordable housing including many people who are elderly or have disabilities. I will continue to support grants that will provide an investment in our communities throughout the district.” U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was established through the U.S. Housing Act of 1937. HUD’s purpose is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. The funds awarded to the housing authority agencies through HUD gives them the ability to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers, meet the need for quality affordable rental homes, utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life, and build inclusive and sustainable communities free from all discrimination.
MEDIA MATTERS
WALN TV
BOLD GOLD COMMUNITY FORUM
Tune in Sunday morning at 6 on 94.3 The Talker; 6:30 on 1400-The Game, NEPA's Fox .Sports Radio and 106.7 fm; and at 7:30 on 105 The River.
ECTV LIVE
ECTV Live is seen three times daily on Comcast channel 19 (61 in some areas) and can be viewed on your personal device on the electric city television YouTube page.
BUDDY RUMCHEK
Want to hear some great parodies on the news? Tune in to WILK Radio at 6:40 and 8:40 AM on Mondays. As Ralph Cramden used to say, “It’s a laugh riot!”
BOBBY V’S DOO WOP SOCK HOP
SUNDAY NIGHTS!
1969
Our 1969 logo
NASA announced its choice for the crew of Apollo 12, the second manned mission to the Moon,
with Charles Conrad and Alan L. Bean to walk the lunar surface while Richard F. Gordon remained in the lunar orbiter......Harvard University's Administration Building was seized by close to 300 students, mostly members of the Students for a Democratic Society. Shortly after midnight, the Harvard administrators called the Cambridge police and the Massachusetts State Police, and law enforcement officers charged in with billy clubs and pepper spray, arresting 184 people and injuring 45. Among those arrested was future Fox News journalist Chris Wallace, who "used his one phone call to contact the campus radio station", which recorded a first-hand account filed from behind bars. Less than 24 hours before the scheduled shutdown of the United States railway system by a nationwide walkout of workers was scheduled to begin, the nation's major railroad companies reached an agreement with the 10,000 member Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen. The pact came after a 28-hour bargaining session overseen by the National Mediation Board, averting a strike that was to have started at 6:01 Monday morning. West Germany's Communist Party, Charles de Gaulle announced in a live interview that he would resign as President of France if voters did not approve his referendum proposal for reducing the power of the French Senate and decentralizing the national government. "There cannot be the slightest doubt. On the reply the country makes to what I have asked it, will depend the continuation of my mandate or my immediate departure
Harley Earl, 75, American automobile designer for General Motors known for creating the Corvette and for introducing the "tailfin" to the automobile industry popular between 1948 and 1964….The first test of using a designated hitter in baseball— a person who takes the place of the team's pitcher in the batting lineup— happened in a game in the minor Texas League, which was testing a rule allowing what it called a "wild card pinch hitter" (who could replace any player rather than just the pitcher). According to baseball researcher Kevin Saldana, the first person wild card pinch hitter was Paul Flesner of the Dallas–Fort Worth Spurs.[38] Flesner had four at-bats in the Spurs' 8-5 loss to the visiting Amarillo Giants….in Pennsylvania Governor Raymond Shafer says he has not been contacted about any slot in the Nixon administration…..in Pittston, land for an Industrial Park is bought…..and fifty years ago this week the number one song in LuLac land and America was “Hair” by The Cowsill s.
This week's "Write On Wednesday" is local editorial reaction to CNN host Michael Smerconish's recent appearance in our area. This comes from The Times Leader.
COUNTRY COULD BENEFIT FROM HEEDING SMERCONISH'S MESSAGE
Michael Smerconish came to Kingston with a sensible message we hear too little these days. It’s time we started listening. Anyone who has followed the son of parents who once lived in Hazleton knows this TV, radio and newspaper commentator hovers close to, but not on, the political middle. He hit that topic clearly in his presentation at the (new) Jewish Community Center a week ago today. As Roger DuPuis reported in a Monday story, Smerconish pointed out he has taken stances unfavorable to each side through his years, opposing the Cuba embargo, supporting capital punishment, endorsing profiling techniques following the September 11 terrorist attacks and championing the legalization of marijuana. “They’re hard to classify, don’t you think?” he suggested. Actually, they aren’t, or at least they shouldn’t be. They are classified as “centrist,” a once coveted position where real work got done. People on the hard right or hard left used to temper their demands enough to win over centrists because, frankly, they made up the majority and real work could not happen without them. And in truth — as Smerconish proposed — it’s a safe bet that a full, accurate accounting of where Americans stand on most “divisive” issues would show the majority fairly close to him, somewhere left or right of center. Often left of it on some issues and right of it on others, but rarely very far from it. Smerconish cited the “Hidden Tribes” study by More in Common USA that found the loudest complaints in this country come from 8 percent of those on the far left and 6 percent on the far right. “They are tearing us apart,” he said, “but somewhere in between are two thirds of the rest of us for whom compromise is not a dirty word, and we’d like to see some things get done.” We have been muddling through one “crisis” after another in recent years not because the majority of Americans can’t come to a consensus on how to resolve or avoid problems, but because the system has been hijacked by people who refuse to comprise, who put politics into an eschatological frame, insisting failure to follow their narrow view — left or right — will result in nothing short of the demise of life as we know it. Smerconish has become an outlier in a field where he should be the norm: Professional pundits have increasingly gone to the extremes because, bluntly, they get more attention that way. Extremism has not been working. We have a situation in Washington where immigration reform remains unattainable, where both parties take take turns running up record deficits, where critical issues like funding for Medicare and Social Security remain unaddressed regardless of who’s in charge, and where desperately needed investment in infrastructure remains a talking point rather than a resolved issue. Hidebound hardliners offer solutions that fail precisely because they reject the concept of compromise. Smerconish is not selling something new, he’s pitching a fundamental fact: We do not build a great country by battling each other from the edges; we build it on common ground.
We continue our feature of taking a look at famous people who were born a century ago. Today we look at Nat King Cole. Known professionally as Nat King Cole, this man was an American jazz pianist and vocalist. He recorded over one hundred songs that became hits on the pop charts. His trio was the model for small jazz ensembles that followed. Cole also acted in films and on television and performed on Broadway. He was the first African American man to host an American television series. When he was fifteen, Cole dropped out of high school to pursue a music career. After his brother Eddie, a bassist, came home from touring with Noble Sissle, they formed a sextet and recorded two singles for Decca in 1936 as Eddie Cole's Swingsters. They performed in a revival of the musical Shuffle Along. Nat Cole went on tour with the musical. In 1937, he married Nadine Robinson, who was a member of the cast. After the show ended in Los Angeles, Cole and Nadine settled there while he looked for work. He led a big band, then found work playing piano in nightclubs. When a club owner asked him to form a band, he hired bassist Wesley Prince and guitarist Oscar Moore. They called themselves the King Cole Swingsters after the nursery rhyme in which "Old King Cole was a merry old soul." They changed their name to the King Cole Trio before making radio transcriptions and recording for small labels. Cole recorded "Sweet Lorraine" in 1940, and it became his first hit.[ According to legend, his career as a vocalist started when a drunken bar patron demanded that he sing the song. Cole said that this fabricated story sounded good, so he didn't argue with it. In fact there was a customer one night who demanded that he sing, but because it was a song Cole didn't know, he sang "Sweet Lorraine" instead. As people heard Cole's vocal talent, they requested more vocal songs, and he obliged. In 1941 the trio recorded "That Ain't Right" for Decca, followed the next year by "All for You" for Excelsior.They also recorded "I'm Lost", a song written by Otis René, the owner of Excelsior. In 1946 the trio broadcast King Cole Trio Time, a fifteen-minute radio program. This was the first radio program to be sponsored by a black musician. Cole began recording and performing pop-oriented material in which he was often accompanied by a string orchestra. His stature as a popular star was cemented during this period by hits such as "All for You" (1943), "The Christmas Song" (1947), "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66", "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons" (1946), "There! I've Said It Again" (1947), "Nature Boy" (1948), "Frosty The Snowman", "Mona Lisa" (No. 1 song of 1950), "Orange Colored Sky" (1950), "Too Young" (No. 1 song of 1951), On November 5, 1956, The Nat 'King' Cole Show debuted on NBC. The variety program was one of the first hosted by an African American, The program started at a length of fifteen-minutes but was increased to a half-hour in July 1957. Rheingold Beer was a regional sponsor, but a national sponsor was never found.
The show was in trouble financially despite efforts by NBC, Harry Belafonte, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Eartha Kitt, Frankie Laine, Peggy Lee, and Mel Tormé. Cole decided to end the program. The last episode aired on December 17, 1957. Commenting on the lack of sponsorship, Cole said shortly after its demise, "Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark. Throughout the 1950s, Cole continued to record hits that sold millions throughout the world, such as "Smile", "Pretend", "A Blossom Fell", and "If I May". His pop hits were collaborations with Nelson Riddle, Gordon Jenkins, and Ralph Carmichael. Riddle arranged several of Cole's 1950s albums, including Nat King Cole Sings for Two in Love (1953), his first 10-inch LP. In 1955, "Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup" reached number 7 on the Billboard chart. Love Is the Thing went to number one in April 1957 remained his only number one album. In 1959 he received a Grammy Award for Best Performance By a "Top 40" Artist for "Midnight Flyer". Capitol Records Building, known as "The House That Nat Built was indeed in debt to Nat. In 1958 Cole went to Havana, Cuba, to record Cole Español, an album sung entirely in Spanish. It was so popular in Latin America and the U.S. that it was followed by two more Spanish-language albums: A Mis Amigos (1959) and More Cole Español (1962). After the change in musical tastes, Cole's ballads appealed little to young listeners, despite a successful attempt at rock and roll with "Send for Me",which peaked at number 6 on the pop chart. Like Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Tony Bennett, he found that the pop chart had been taken over by youth-oriented acts. In 1960, Cole's longtime collaborator Nelson Riddle left Capitol to join Reprise Records, which was started by Frank Sinatra. Riddle and Cole recorded one final hit album, Wild Is Love, with lyrics by Ray Rasch and Dotty Wayne. Cole later retooled the concept album into an Off-Broadway show, I'm with You.
Nevertheless, Cole recorded some hit singles during the 1960s, including "Let There Be Love" with George Shearing in 1961, the country-flavored hit "Ramblin' Rose" in August 1962, "Dear Lonely Hearts", "That Sunday, That Summer"
and "Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer" (his final top-ten hit, reaching number 6 on the Pop chart). He performed in many short films, sitcoms, and television shows and played W. C. Handy in the film St. Louis Blues (1958). He also appeared in The Nat King Cole Story, China Gate, and The Blue Gardenia (1953). In January 1964, Cole made one of his final television appearances, on The Jack Benny Program. He was introduced as "the best friend a song ever had" and sang "When I Fall in Love". Cat Ballou (1965), his final film, was released several months after his death. Earlier on, Cole's shift to traditional pop led some jazz critics and fans to accuse him of selling out, but he never abandoned his jazz roots; as late as 1956 he recorded an all-jazz album, After Midnight, and many of his albums after this are fundamentally jazz-based, being scored for big band without strings, although the arrangements focus primarily on the vocal rather than instrumental leads. Cole had one of his last major hits in 1963, two years before his death, with "Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer", which reached number 6 on the Pop chart. "Unforgettable" was made famous again in 1991 by Cole's daughter Natalie when modern recording technology was used to reunite father and daughter in a duet. The duet version rose to the top of the pop charts, almost forty years after its original popularity. Cole sang at the 1956 Republican National Convention in the Cow Palace, Daly City, California, to show support for President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He sang "That's All There Is to That" and was "greeted with applause." He was also present at the Democratic National Convention in 1960 to support Senator John F. Kennedy. He was among the dozens of entertainers recruited by Frank Sinatra to perform at the Kennedy Inaugural gala in 1961. Cole consulted with President Kennedy and his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, on civil rights. In September 1964, Cole began to lose weight and he experienced back pain. Cole collapsed with pain after performing at the Sands in Las Vegas. In December, he was working in San Francisco when he was finally persuaded by friends to seek medical help. A malignant tumor in an advanced state of growth on his left lung was observed on a chest X-ray. Cole, who had been a heavy cigarette smoker, had lung cancer and was expected to have only months to live. On January 25, Cole's entire left lung was surgically removed. His father died of heart problems on February 1. Throughout Cole's illness his publicists promoted the idea that he would soon be well and working, despite the private knowledge of his terminal condition. Billboard magazine reported that "Nat King Cole has successfully come through a serious operation and ... the future looks bright for 'the master' to resume his career again." On Valentine's Day, Cole and his wife briefly left for St. John's to drive by the sea. He died at the hospital early in the morning of February 15, 1965, aged 45.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Overloaded this month, had to cut off on April 5th. Look for those questions next month.
1. Do you think the recent dust up on the Meuller Report will change anyone’s mind?
Nope. This is already baked in. What the Dems need to do is essentially what Trump did in 2016 when Comey re-opened his investigation into the e mails of Hillary Clinton. He stepped out of the way and let her twist in the wind. Pelosi and the Dems should do the same thing. Step back and let him do his thing. Most people are sick and tired of him. You can’t take anything he says seriously.
2. What song do you hear that basically wants you to take a shot gun to the radio, TV or device playing?
“Music Box Dancer” by Mills. Cannot stand it.Give me “Telstar” any day for a great instrumental. Hell, give me any instrumental song but that one!
3. Do you think Jazz; the American Art form can be ponderous?
I like classic big band jazz like Ellington, Basey and the simplicity of Dave Brubeck and Herbie Hancock. I get the riffs but check out after 2 minutes. Okay man, we know you can play, just don’t give us the same stuff for another 15 minutes.
4. When you saw Michael Smerconish did you introduce yourself as the esteemed political blogger that you are?
I did not. I had a jam packed week at work, a wake and a Myasthenia Gravis meeting to chair the day before, so I was taking the day off. Or as much as I can take a day off. But Mrs. LuLac asked a question about why he left law to pursue broadcasting and he went on for about 15 minutes. Bottom line answer was, “Ego”.
5. How about those Fightin’ Phils?
I’m happy for them and hope they get to the 7th game of the World Series. They do need pitching though.
6. What are your thoughts on Attorney General Robert Barr’s actions regarding the Meuller Report?
He is trying to straddle both sides of history. But in reality Barr is a toady for President Trump. He is certainly no Profile in Courage! Who would ever think that Jeff Sessions would have more integrity than this protégé of Bush 41?
7. That CNN show “Tricky Deck” really hammers Nixon. What dya think?
First off it’s “Tricky Dick”. Tricky Deck was the walkway to Wil Toole’s boat launch up at Paupak. Just busing there. Seriously, I lived through the Nixon era, cut my teeth in radio when Watergate was going on. I believe Nixon’s demons came from an inferiority complex as well as paranoia,. Nixon, like LBJ got caught up in the quagmire that was Vietnam. As a matter of fact I always believed that Watergate happened because of Nixon’s inability to take the loss in Vietnam like Ike did in 1953 with Korea. Eisenhower was in poor health when Nixon took office and had he been healthier, he might have advised Nixon on that. Whether he would have taken that advice is another thing all together.
8. Tricuits or Ritz crackers?
Tricuits. The illusion of healthy is in the crunch.
9. Who impresses you in the crowded field for President among the Democrats?
Some of the second tier guys like Congressman Tim Ryan from Ohio who challenged Nancy Pelosi. This guy laid it right out there saying Trump has no interest in Government and is unwilling to learn. He gave a barn burner of an indictment against Trump’s leadership. The Mayor of South Bend Indiana, Pete Buttigieg, is one that can score a knockout punch too.
10. Congratulations on your election as first Vice President of the local chapter of the NAACP. What does that role entail and why did you get involved?
The First Vice President takes over meetings for the President and serves as an adviser to the President as well as The Executive Committee. I was always interested in the organization in my younger years and tried to join a few times but distractions and job commitments prevented it. Now the time is right for me as well as theirs to go the extra mile because of the direction this country is going in.
11. What do you say to people who knock Alexandra Ocassio-Cortez and dismiss her?
They are underestimating her as an individual and leader. I especially love the right wing women who attack her as a former waitress on Facebook. I ask, “So since when were you elected to Congress?’
12. Have you heard anything about women’s groups banning a Chubby Checker song?
I can’t imagine what it would be. The closest song I could even think of might be “Lazy Elsie Mollie.” But I don’t know where the complaint would be because she was miner who worked her ass off and then got married. After she got married, according to the song she didn’t have to work. So no, I’m not aware of that, puzzled by it and what I wrote are my thoughts and not based on anything I’ve seen or heard in the media. It did cross my mind that you might be pranking me too. But even if that were the case, hey it’s a great song. 13. It’s getting to be Easter. How about that Slovak cheese recipe?
My sister makes this. Spelled Cirak, syrek or hrudka, for me this is when spring really begins. Here’s a demonstration.
ASSANGE LEAVES HIS HOLE-GETS ARRESTED, LET'S SEE HOW BARR TELLS US HE CAN'T GET EXTRADITED HERE!
Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange has been arrested at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Assange took refuge in the embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over a sexual assault case that has since been dropped. At Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday he was found guilty of failing to surrender to the court. He now faces US federal conspiracy charges related to one of the largest ever leaks of government secrets. The UK will decide whether to extradite Assange, in response to allegations by the Department for Justice that he conspired with former US intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to download classified databases. He faces up to five years in US prison if convicted on the charges of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion. Let’s see what Barr does about this.
TRUMP SAYS IMMIGRANTS
WANT TO GO TO DISNEY LAND!!!!
President Donald Trump ramped up his rhetoric on immigration Tuesday, saying migrants are coming to the U.S. like it’s “Disneyland,” as he escalated a trade fight with Europe. There are reported signs the administration is mulling a return of Trump’s decision to separate migrant children from their parents, the president said he wasn’t looking to reinstate it, then implied it was an effective way to stem border crossings. “Once you don’t have it, that’s why you have many more people coming,” Trump said in the Oval Office alongside visiting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi. “They are coming like it’s a picnic, like ‘let’s go to Disneyland,” Trump said. Trump also claimed it was the Obama administration that began the practice of separating migrant children from adults at the southern border, but fact checks have found that not to be the case. Both presidents have housed “unaccompanied” minors in temporary facilities, but in the Obama era, most arrived in the U.S. without parents or guardians. Immigrant families WANT to WORK. After being oppressed, the west part of hell would even be like Disneyland to them. Trump says the country is full. Well old Diaper Don knows a lot about things being “full”.
TRUMP
SAYS HE HAS BEEN TREATED VERY UNFAIRLY
BY PEOPLE WHO WROTE CONSTITUTION
(Photo: U.S. Constitution Center)
You have to read this to believe it. The President showed just how little he knew about The Constitution when he slammed the writers, all by the way long deceased about how unfair they were to him. Hinting darkly that "there's something going on," Donald J. Trump complained on Friday that he has been treated "very unfairly" by the people who wrote the United States Constitution. "If the Constitution prevented me from doing one or two things, I'd chalk that up to bad luck," he said. "But when literally everything I want to do is magically a violation of the Constitution, that's very unfair and bad treatment." Lashing out at the document's authors, Trump said that "America is a great country, but we have maybe the worst constitution writers in the world." "Russia has much better constitution writers than we do," he said. "I talked to Putin, and he said their constitution never gives him problems." "The situation is very unfair!" he added. In an ominous warning, Trump said that, as of Friday, he was putting the writers of the U.S. Constitution "on notice." "I don't have their names yet, but that's something I'm looking into," he said. "These jokers are not going to get away with this."
REP. CARTWRIGHT INTRODUCES BIPARTISAN BILL TO INVEST IN COAL COUNTRY
RECLAIM ACT WOULD BOOST ECONOMIC INVESTMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL RECOVERY IN COAL COMMUNITIES
Congressman Matt Cartwright (Photo: LuLac archives)
Representatives Matt Cartwright along with Hal Rogers (KY-05), Glenn Thompson (PA-15), and Don Beyer (VA-08) introduced bipartisan legislation on Tuesday to revitalize coal country by giving communities the funds they need to clean up abandoned mine lands. The Revitalizing the Economy of Coal Communities by Leveraging Local Activities and Investing More Act (RECLAIM) Act will accelerate the investment of $1 billion in unappropriated funds over the next five years, bringing roughly $300 million to Pennsylvania alone, giving states the tools they need to invest in communities that are dealing with the legacy of abandoned mines. These old mine sites create problems such as polluted streams, hazardous erosion and land subsidence, underground mine fires, and piles of coal waste. The funding is intended to help resource-strapped states and tribes clean up over 20,000 high priority sites that remain unaddressed. “This bill brings much-needed funding to struggling coal communities, while also helping them eliminate blight and pollution,” said Congressman Cartwright. “It’s a common-sense piece of legislation that will help Pennsylvanians reclaim these lands and create jobs that can transform entire communities. I applaud Congressman Rogers for his years of leadership on this critical issue.” RECLAIM funds may be used to restore land and water resources polluted by mine waste; to seal and fill abandoned deep mine entries and voids; to plant land and prevent erosion and sedimentation; and to treat water pollution created by coal mine drainage; among other purposes. These reclamation efforts will help streams recover, increase property values, and make land available for new economic uses that The RECLAIM act provides a transformative opportunity for coal-producing states to fast-track available funding to restore our land and revive our economy in the coalfields,” said Congressman Rogers, a Republican from Kentucky. “I thank my Appalachian colleague from across the aisle, Congressman Matt Cartwright, for his leadership in this new Congress and I look forward to working together to bring relief to our struggling coal communities across the country.” “As Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, I spent nine years touring Virginia’s coal counties, where I witnessed the harsh effects of an economic downturn as well as the degradation of the land,” said Congressman Beyer, a Democrat from Virginia. “By reinvesting this money in these communities, we will provide access to much needed jobs and help to restore unused and abandoned mines.”
all.”
MEDIA MATTERS
Five staff members of WRKC (88.5FM), the College's radio station, received two first place and three finalist trophies at the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System Awards held recently in New York City. The station and its staff members competed with schools across the country for the accolades. The station won a finalist award for Best College Radio Station for colleges and universities with fewer than 10,000 students. First place winners were Samantha Bucher for Best Logo (WRKC 50th anniversary) and Dan Stokes, class of 2018, for Best Sports Update. Additional finalist trophies were earned by Scarlett Spager, news director, for Best Spot News; Katie Pugh, former station manager, for Best Community News Coverage; and Lauren Gallagher, station manager, for Best News Interview. WRKC is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2019 and is the oldest non-commercial radio station in Wyoming Valley. The station is home to the oldest over the air radio reading service in the country, "The Radio Home Visitor," serving the blind, visually impaired and home bound every day. The service began in 1974.
Pictured, from left, is Pugh; Sue Henry, station manager; and Gallagher, Bucher, and Spager.
WALN TV
BOLD GOLD COMMUNITY FORUM
Tune in Sunday morning at 6 on 94.3 The Talker; 6:30 on 1400-The Game, NEPA's Fox .Sports Radio and 106.7 fm; and at 7:30 on 105 The River.
ECTV LIVE
ECTV Live is seen three times daily on Comcast channel 19 (61 in some areas) and can be viewed on your personal device on the electric city television YouTube page.
BUDDY RUMCHEK
Want to hear some great parodies on the news? Tune in to WILK Radio at 6:40 and 8:40 AM on Mondays. As Ralph Cramden used to say, “It’s a laugh riot!”
BOBBY V’S DOO WOP SOCK HOP
SUNDAY NIGHTS!
1969
Our 1969 logo
Popular and controversial, singer Jim Morrison of The Doors appeared with his attorney before the Los Angeles office of the FBI to answer federal charges of "interstate flight to avoid prosecution" in relation to his indecent exposure at his March 1 concert in Miami. By arrangement, Morrison was arrested and immediately released upon posting of a $5,000 bond. By then, The Doors' 1969 concert dates had been canceled and the group was blacklisted by the Concert Hall Managers' Association.
UCLA graduate student and computer scientist Steve Crocker wrote and ciruclated the very first Request for Comments (RFC) publication to be circulated among the Network Working Group (Crocker, Jeff Rulifson and Bill Duvall of Stanford Research Institute, and Steve Carr of Utah) that was developing the communication protocols for the upcoming ARPANET, the forerunner of the internet.[ The very first RFC summarized the tentative agreements that the group had settled on for the Interface Message Processor (IMP) routers in the network sites, with initial messages being limited to 8,080 bits. The United States Supreme Court ruled in Stanley v. Georgia that the possession of obscene material was protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Writing for the majority, Justice Thurgood Marshall commented that "A state has no business telling a man, sitting alone in his house, what books he may read or what films he may watch," adding that individual state governments remained free to restrict public distribution of those materials. The Montreal Expos defeated the New York Mets, 11 to 10, in what sportswriter Dick Young described as the first international major league baseball game in history" The Expos, one of four new major league teams and MLB's first team from outside the United States, played the Mets at New York's Shea Stadium, and Montreal mayor Jean Drapeau tossed out the ceremonial first pitch; ten-year MLB veteran Maury Wills batted first for the Expos, who almost blew an 11-6 lead in the final inning.
The result was not a sign of things to come; the Mets would win the 1969 World Series, while the Expos and the other new National League team, the San Diego Padres, would tie for MLB's worst win-loss record (52-110) in 1969.....All four of baseball's newest teams won their openers. The San Diego Padres debuted at home and beat the Houston Astros, 3 to 1, taking the field first in a half-filled stadium in front of an opening-day crowd of just 23,370. Dick Selma threw the first pitch and allowed only five hits, and Rafael Robles was the first to bat. The Kansas City Royals, bringing major league ball back to Kansas City after the Kansas City Athletics had moved to Oakland for 1968, beat the visiting Minnesota Twins, 4 to 3, before just 17,688 fans in a half-filled Municipal Stadium; the win came in the 12th inning as Joe Keough hit a single with the bases loaded; Lou Piniella was the first to bat for the Royals. Finally, the new Seattle Pilots (who would go bankrupt and become the Milwaukee Brewers the following year) won 4-3 at Anaheim to beat the California Angels; Tommy Harper batted first for the Pilots….
In Philadelphia Manager Bob Skinner said he’d welcome facing off against the new expansion teams….in Wilkes_Barre the City Manager Form of Government takes slow steps in its infancy and fifty years ago this week the number one song in LuLac land and America was “”You Made Me So Very Happy” by Blood, Sweat and Tears”.
Location: Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, United States
Political analyst for WBRE TV's Pa. Live program and post election commentator for WBRE TV's Eyewitness News Daybreak show. Author of the book "A Radio Story/We Wish You Well In Your Future Endeavors" and "Leges Vitae" "26 Rules of Life" and the new novel, "Weather Or Knot". The blog editor also writes various news articles and columns as well as upcoming literary projects. The blog editor was a frequent guest on WYOU TV'S INTERACTIVE NEWSCASTS when political issues were discussed on the national, state and local level. Yonki was a weekly panelist on WYLN TV 35's Friday Topic A program. He also appeared on the Hazleton, PA. station on Election Night doing coverage and did special projects and stories for WYLN TV 35's 10PM Newscast "Late Edition".
