The LuLac Edition #4,659, December 30, 2021

 

TOP TEN LOCAL STORIES IN LULAC LAND 

1.       Joseph R. Biden, born in Scranton becomes the 46^th President of the United States when he is inaugurated on January 20^th. Typical of this region, some negative nellies said, “But he moved outta here when he was 10”. Nonetheless, Biden becomes the President and he has a Scranton birth certificate to prove it.

2.       Locals join the insurrectionists. It wouldn’t be a riot without a few locals adding to the drama and color. Former Old Forge School Board Director Frank Scavo took six buses down to the Capitol and got a jail sentence for his trouble. Scavom plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge in September. His plea agreement included a cooperation provision, and Scavo turned over videos that he filmed inside the Capitol the day of the riot. He got two months. 

Meanwhile the Lac would not be outdone by the Lu when Annie C. Howell, 31, was charged with obstructing an official proceeding of Congress, disorderly conduct on restricted property, violent entry into a Capitol building, trespassing and picketing in a Capitol building.

Federal prosecutors alleged Howell was among the mob of supporters of then-President Donald Trump who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, forcing Congress to adjourn from its task of counting the electoral votes that cinched President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.. Recording video from inside a trashed conference room, Howell could be heard chanting, “Whose house? Our House!” and “Fight for Trump!”  Yep these two who thought Trump was gold got their lives turned into dust that day.

3.       The GOP takes two Judicial races in Luzerne county. Long time District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis and State Representative Tarah Toohil became the newest Luzerne county judges. Salavantis won a double nomination in the primary but Toohil, an underdog had to battle it out with Magistrate Alexandra  Kokura  Kravitz. Both were sworn in this past Wednesday. 

In the Lac, Mary Walsh Dempsey was celebrating her victory against Republican candidate Nisha Arora to be the next county judge. She's replacing retiring judge Tom Munley.

4.       On Aug. 26, after what seemed forever in Wilkes-Barre, the district held a ribbon-cutting event for the new Wilkes-Barre Area High School, and the first day of school was Sept. 9. Around 2,100 students are enrolled in grades 9-12 at the new high school. The high school project began in April 2019 with a $121 million budget, and officials expect it will be under budget by more than $2 million. On Oct. 18, the school board approved an agreement to spend nearly $8.5 million building a new athletic field with lights and a grandstand by the new high school.

5.       After John Blake resigned his  state Senate seat to work for Matt Cartwright, State Representative Marty Flynn ran for the seat in a Special Election facing off against commissioner Chris Chermak. Flynn prevailed and is the new 22^nd District Senator. His top aide, Thom Welby was appointed to fill in the rest of Flynn's term in the 113 Legislative District. 

6.       The county election board had its challenges this year in The Lu.  2021 began with  bang when the board  appointed  county Councilman Stephen J. Urban as board chairman, even though the county charter prohibits anyone holding elective office from serving on the election board. Obviously this was a move that backfired on the GOP majority on the board. County Council got rid of them all by vacating  the seats held by Urban and the two board members who voted to appoint him chairman: Joyce Dombroski-Gebhardt and Keith Gould. 

BBob Morgan announced his resignation as county election director in late September. His last day on the job was Oct. 8, just 25 days prior to the election. Morgan moved to a federal job in Agriculture that was considered a prize plum from the Bide administration. There were some issues with voting in the primary resulting in a glitch in the county’s electronic voting system caused Democratic headers to appear on Republican ballots.

Consultants were then hired from out of townin the interim  but at the end of the year  Michael Susek was named as election director. Susek is a Plains Twp. native with 15 years of experience as an elections administrator in Colorado.

7.       Mayor Paige Cognetti wins another term in her right as Mayor of Scranton. Cognetti won a special election in ’19 filling out the term of convicted Bill Courtwright.

8.        Luzerne County saw red in the Nov. 2 municipal election. Republicans won all five contested seats on county council, as well as the county controller’s race.  The winning council candidates were incumbent Chris Perry and newcomers Brian Thornton, Kevin Lescavage, John Lombardo and Gregory Wolovich Jr., who won election on his third try.

County Councilman Walter Griffith defeated incumbent Democrat Michelle Bednar in a rematch of the 2017 race for controller. Griffith will resign his council seat before taking office as controller on Jan. 3. Griffith previously served as controller from 2010-2013, but resigned as part of a plea agreement in a wiretapping case. Republican Sam Sanguedolce ran unopposed for district attorney. The strength of the GOP was evident as outgoing Chair Justin Behrins was succeeded by P.J. Pribula who reportedly was one of the main architects of the county GOP resurgence.

9.       Ballot chicanery in the Lu and the Lac. In Forty Fort, a man voted for his mom in the 2020 election and was nailed. The suspect, Robert Richard Lynn, 68, “my dude from Forty Fort” even spawned a campaign by Lt. Governor Fetteman sold T-shirts with that phrase to raise money for his campaign.  (Senate candidate Fetterman who dubbed the name on Lynn sold the shirts) Lynn pleaded guilty to a voter fraud charge in August and was sentenced to probation. He was was accused of committing election fraud in his dead mother’s name in an effort to earn former President Donald Trump an extra vote. 

In the Lac, a man involved in dropping several alleged ballots into a dropbox on May 17th. was concerning to officials. According to the Lackawanna County District Attorney’s Office, in October the Lackawanna County Commissioner Chris Chermak uncovered ballot concerns from the May primaries, after an anonymous tip.

10.   COVID dominated the news here in 2021. Vaccine clinics were set up, starting with initial shots in January and ending with boosters in December. There were lulls in the pandemic. Unlike the summer of 2020, more venues opened up. But toward the end of the year both Luzerne and Lackawanna County had a pike in cases. This story from 2020 morphed into 2021. The same thing is happening as we end this year and head into 2022.

(Citizens’ Voice, Scranton Times, WWRR “The River” News Department, LuLac)  

 

MEDIA MATTERS 

 This week on Community Forum it's part two of 2021 in Review.  Tune in Sunday at 6 am on 94.3 The Talker; 6:30 on The Mothership 1400/1440am; and at 7:30 am on 105 The River