The LuLac Edition #4,183, December 12th, 2019

WOLF SAYS NO TO BEING NAMED DEM VEEP

Governor Tom Wolf (Photo: Philly.com)
Governor Tom Wolf, in an interview with WITF FM stated he would not run for Vice President on in 2020. He said the possibility of him being asked was very remote. Still Democratic leaders on the national stage were impressed by his 17 point victory against Scott Wagner in 2018.
No Pennsylvania Governor has ever gotten serious consideration as Vice President since the days of John Fine. The late Bill Scranton ran for President in 1964 but lost to Barry Goldwater. Tim Ridge, who was a former Governor and at the time in 2008 was Homeland Security Director was considered by the McCain campaign. But they chose Sarah Palin from Alaska. .

REP. CARTWRIGHT, SEN. CASEY INTRODUCE BILL TO CLOSE PAY GAP AT TOBYHANNA ARMY DEPOT

Senator Bob Casey and Congressman Matt Cartwright (Photo: Times-Tribune)
U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright (PA-08) and U.S. Senator Bob Casey (PA) introduced the Locality Pay Equity Act in both the U.S. House and Senate.
Under the current system, the locality boundaries for salaried workers are based on metropolitan markets, while the boundaries for hourly workers are still based on 1950s era military installation placements. This has led to a significant pay gap at the Tobyhanna Army Depot.
Hourly employees at Tobyhanna are included in the Scranton wage area, which is part of a locality pay area called “Rest of U.S.” (RUS). Salaried employees at Tobyhanna, however, have been placed in the New York City region. As a result, salaried employees earn 25 percent more than their wage-earning counterparts.
The Locality Pay Equity Act would close this gap by applying the pay boundaries for salaried employees to hourly workers. This would only raise the wages of hourly employees; it would not affect the salaried employees in any way.
“There’s no reason we should be using two different sets of pay boundaries, especially when it results in such an unfair wage gap,” said Rep. Cartwright. “Senator Casey and I agree that it’s time to fix this outdated system. This is a simple solution that ensures all Tobyhanna employees are paid fairly for their work, regardless of whether they are paid a salary or by the hour.”
“All employees, regardless of pay schedule, should be treated equally,” said Senator Casey. “It’s long past time that we address this ongoing issue at Tobyhanna and Letterkenny. Workers at these army depots are serving our Nation and deserve fair treatment from the federal government. This legislation would put an end to these pay disparities and create a more equitable compensation system.”
This legislation is endorsed by the American Federation of Government Employees.
Republican Rep. Tom Cole (OK-04) is also a co-sponsor of this bill in the U.S. House.

MEDIA MATTERS

WALN TV

BOLD GOLD COMMUNITY FORUM

This week's guests will be representatives from FEMA, discussing new flood plain maps drawn for Lackawanna County.
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

Bernie McGurl of the Lackawanna River Conservation Association joins host David DeCosmo on ECTV the week of December 16th to discuss the group's fund raising drive and it's upcoming "Shiverfest" event in January. ECTV Live during the week of August 19th. ECTV Live is seen on Comcast channel 19 (61 in some locations( and 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 first widely-publicized warning of climate change, caused by pollution, was delivered by physical scientist Joseph O. Fletcher of the Rand Corporation. Fletcher told the assembled scientists that "Very substantial changes have taken place during our lifetime" in the increase in temperature in the first part of the 20th century, resulting in the melting of the ice caps of the Earth; that carbon dioxide had been responsible for up to one half of the warming; and that although mankind's influence on the warning had been small compared to natural causes, "within another generation, man will become important, the carbon dioxide pollution apparently being the most important" and that the world had "only a few decades to solve the problem". Colonel Fletcher's speech to a meeting of the American Geophysical Union, in San Francisco, was covered by reporter Duston Harvey and then disseminated by United Press International.....In a record for an American late-night television show, at least 30 million people tuned in to watch the wedding of falsetto-voiced singer Herbert Buckingham Khaury, better known by his stage name, Tiny Tim, on The Tonight Show, hosted by Johnny Carson.Tiny Tim's 17-year old bride, Victoria Mae Budinger, was quickly nicknamed "Miss Vicky" by the American press. The ceremony itself had taken place before an audience of 250 people, at 7:43 in the evening, during the videotaping of the Tonight Show at its studio at the NBC television network's headquarters in New York Tiny Tim, famous for his bestselling recording of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips", walked to the altar through 10,000 tulips imported from the Netherlands for the occasion.

Project Blue Book, the United States government's official investigation of sightings of unidentified flying objects, more commonly referred to as "UFOs" or "flying saucers", was ordered closed after 21 years by U.S. Secretary of the Air Force Robert Seamans. In the years after the prorgram wsas established in 1948, the U.S. Air force investigated 12,618 sightings and found explanations for all but 701 of them Seamans said in a statement that ""Continuation of the Project cannot be justified either on the ground of national security or in the interest of science." The closure took effect on January 30, 1970...........and the number one song in America and LuLac land was John Denver’s “Leaving On a Jet Plane”by Peter, Paul & Mary.