Category: Luzerne County

Scott Ritter, Whatever Happened To?

Remember Scott Ritter? He was the former chief UN weapons inspector in Iraq between 1991 and 1998. Circa 2003 you could find him on just about any cable news show describing how evil America was for invading Iraq and how Bush was a liar etc. So in these Obama years what has he been up to?

He has been in the Poconos; in a Monroe County courtroom to be exact, trying to get charges dropped that he set up a rendezvous for improper relations with a 15-year-girl he met on the internet. The “girl”, of course, turned out to be a Barret Township police officer.

In 2001, he was nailed in a similar sting. He has said that had been an attempt by The Man to silence his expose of Bush and Evil America.

Update: Ritter was convicted on six counts and sentenced to 18-66 months in state prison.

 

Scott Ritter, Whatever Happened To?

 Scott Ritter, Whatever Happened To?

Chinese Cause Comeback For King Coal

Chinese demand is causing a mini-boom in Luzerne County, Pa. anthracite coal. The Chinese have imported 920,010 tons of metallurgical coal — or coal used in metal refining rather than for fuel — in the first quarter which is a 42 percent increase over a year earlier.

The most valuable metallurgical coal is anthracite. Pennsylvania, especially Northeast Pennsylvania,  is by far the leading source of it.

The Chinese need the coal for steelmaking and have turned to Pennsylvania.  Vietnam, their traditional source of anthracite, is cutting them off to use it to produce electricity for itself.

For the unemployed thinking about finding a job loading 16 tons like in the song, most of the coal today is acquired via steam shovels and surface mining. It employs about 500 people today compared to 100,000 in the 1940s.

Hat tip to Dorothy Hayer.

Judge Told To Unseal Orie Info

The state Supreme Court, yesterday, ordered the trial judge to unseal documents relating to the cases of state Sen. Jane Clare Orie (R-40)  and her sister, Janine Orie.


The Ories have been charged in Allegheny County  with theft of service and other crimes relating to the allegation that they improperly assigned state employees to work on the successful election campaign of their sister Joan Orie Melvin to the state Supreme Court last fall.

The 40th District includes part of Allegheny County.

The District Attorney is Stephen Zappala, a Democrat and a political enemy of the Ories. Among the documents the Supreme Court ordered Common Pleas Court Judge John A. Zottola to release was a motion filed by then Orie attorney Jerry McDevitt asking that the District Attorney’s Office be prohibited from investigating Orie because of conflicts of interest.


Zottola sealed the records claiming he was following the directions of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court said Zottola misinterpreted them.

The petition to unseal the records was filed April 16 — nine days after the charges were levied —  by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and WPXI-TV.

Zappala has an interesting connection to the Luzerne County cash-for-kids scandal. His brother Gregory was co-owner of the PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care incarceration facilities where the youths were sent in return for kickbacks to Luzerne County judges.

Gregory Zappala has not been connected to the kickbacks although his partner Robert Powell pleaded guilty in 2009 to failing to report a felony,

Gregory’s and Stephen’s father is former Supreme Court Judge Stephen Zappala Sr. The business address for Western PA Child Care was actually the home of Zappala Sr.

Greg Skrepenak and His Luzerne County Crucifixion

Greg Skrepenak and His Luzerne County Crucifixion
Greg Skrepenak was warmly greeted when he appeared Sunday, two days after his sentencing, at the Festival and Flea Market at St. Mary’s Byzantine Catholic Church in Wilkes Barre. Parishioners offered him sympathy and support, and many expressed disgust at some of the things being said about him. With him is parish priest Father James Hayer.

The holy and sainted Democrats who run Pennsylvania’s Luzerne County drafted local sports legend and political neophyte Greg Skrepenak to run for county commissioner in 2003. He easily won as expected and was promptly named chairman of the board.

Skrepenak, known in the area as Skrep, won All-American honors in football and basketball at Wilkes Barre’s G.A.R. Memorial Junior Senior High School in the 1980s and was an MVP in baseball. Skrep went on to the University of Michigan were he became an All-American offensive lineman and was the Gator Bowl MVP in 1991. He went on to a respectable pro career with the Los Angeles and Oakland Raiders and the Carolina Panthers.

Skrep’s life was not a bed of roses, however. Personal issues led to his retirement from football. His wife had become addicted to drugs and he was raising by himself his daughter and two sons.

Skrep as commissioner did as he was told and in return was given rein to indulge his dreams of expanding services to those with drug problems and youth at risk.  He ran for re-election in 2007 and again easily won.

Maybe the most damning thing Skrep  did in his tenure as Democrat Party puppet was vote to use private detention centers for juveniles. These centers were paid on a per prisoner basis. This resulted in horrifying abuse. Kids who committed rather minor offenses were ordered incarcerated by judges who received kickbacks. Anyway, the sin was not the vote, as dumb as it may have been in hindsight, but the kickbacks and Skrep has not been connected to them in the slightest.

What Skrep was connected to was taking a $5,000 discount from the fellow who was building his condo, a fellow who then at Skrep’s behest received some sweet tax breaks from the county. Skrep initially denied seeing anything wrong in this. He thought the discount was due to friendship and said he would have pushed for a tax break for the fellow anyway because, well, he was his friend. Those who know him believe him. Skrep could safely be described as the dream commissioner for a Luzerne County party boss.

Anyway, a hungry federal prosecutor couldn’t resist such an easy chance to put a new head on the wall and Skrep was charged with bribery, a charge to which he would eventually plead guilty.

With the big man safely down, the local media jumped on him with both feet. Every word he uttered in his defense was questioned. His children were ridiculed. The references to his religion he made during his apology at his sentencing were mercilessly mocked.

U.S. District Judge Richard P. Conaboy gave him 24 months and those who leech pleasure from others’ pain gave themselves pats on the back.

Oh, if only Skrep had been a billionaire pedophile like Jeff Epstein for whom our courageous men and women in federal law enforcement managed to also get a two-year sentence. Then Skrep could have daily furloughs to his office for his first year and serve his second year under house arrest.

But the feds have their priorities, one guesses.

 

The Crucifixion Of Greg Skrepenak

 

Greg Skrepenak and His Luzerne County Crucifixion

 

The Crucifixion Of Greg Skrepenak

 

Greg Skrepenak and His Luzerne County Crucifixion

Hazleton, Pa., Bedbug Capital Of USA

The bedbug problem in Hazleton, Pa. that  bubbled up three years ago has erupted in coal country like Mount Saint Helens. School officials last November went into a tizzy when a elementary school student was found with a bedbug bite. It’s only gotten worse. Health Officer Mark Thompson now describes the situation as a nightmare.

Bedbugs are teeny — about a 1/50-inch long — reddish-brown insects that feed on the blood of warm-blooded mammals like humans. They crawl to their meal attracted by  warmth and carbon dioxide which is what one exhales. They like to feed about once a week but can survive for a year without a bite.

Bedbugs were largely eradicated from the U.S. in the 1940s so why the resurgence in Hazleton and, to be fair, in other American municipalities?

Like most of this nation’s troubles this can be traced to mis-educated and over-schooled types who without  experiencing much reality have acquired political power, and the fools who follow them in an attempt to appear smart.

Hazleton has become a magnet for those who, to put it politely, have taken up residence in America without participating in the expected formalities. And with DDT being banned for even limited and responsible use it has become much harder to eliminate some of that teeny baggage they brought with them.

So thank you Democrat voters and other followers of mis-educated and over-schooled types who have acquired political power. Our lives so much more, well, different than what it was in the past because of your choices.

Orie Prosecutions And The Dirty Reputation Of Pa.’s Courts

Joan Orie Melvin Orie Prosecutions And The Dirty Reputation Of Pa.'s Courts
Joan Orie Melvin

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice Ron Castille is expressing concern that the prosecutions of the sisters of Pennsylvania Supreme Court Judge Joan Orie Melvin might further tarnish the reputation of Pennsylvania’s judicial system. It’s sort of  like saying the buzzing of another fly is going to somehow make less pleasant the stink of a rotting skunk.

The irony is that the only hope of bringing some kind of respect to that corrupt institution lies with people like Justice Melvin, who was elected to the bench last November against the wishes to the powers-that-be of places like Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Luzerne County,

The Orie sisters–  state Sen. Jane (R-40) and Janine, who was an aide to Justice Melvin until she was suspended when the charges were filed — are accused of doing things like using Sen. Orie’s office copier for Justice Melvin’s election campaign.

The man filing the charges against Jane and Janine is Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala. Zappala is the son of former Supreme Court Chief  Justice Stephen A. Zappala Sr. who became an employee of  the Pennsylvania Casino Association after he left the bench.

Sen. Orie — ironically? — is a big critic of casino gambling.

Justice Castille in his concern about the Pennsylvania judicial system’s reputation cited the Luzerne County youth court scandal in which hundreds of youngsters were sent to Western PA Child Care, which is a juvenile detention facility, for often minor offenses such as fighting on the school bus. In return, county judges allegedly received kickbacks from the center’s operators.

In another bit of irony, Western PA  Child Care is owned by Greg Zappala who is D.A. Zappala’s brother. The business address for Western PA Child Care was the home of former Chief Justice Zappala.

 Orie Prosecutions And The Dirty Reputation Of Pa.’s Courts

Carney Challenges Sarah To Visit Pa10

Congressman Chris Carney, who represents Pennsylvania’s 10th District, made his first visit to the district since his vote to socialize our health care system, throwing pieces of silver at favored organizations in a way he hoped might redeem himself in the eyes of his constituents.

In the end, though, the “pro life” Democrat is likely to hang himself on the vote.

He made a rather whiny challenge to Sarah Palin and the Tea Party groups to visit Northeast Pennsylvania after they swarmed Searchlight, Nev., the hometown of socialist Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and she announced on Facebook that Carney’s seat was in her crosshairs.

That apparently frightened Carney who did not, strangely, express any concern regarding  President Obama’s direction that “if they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun” given in Philadelphia on June 13, 2008 while a candidate as was pointed out by David Madeira who is among those seeking the GOP nomination for Pa10. 

Carney ought to be putting his effort into keeping Nancy Pelosi out of  the 10th District, someone who is hopefully going to be brought up on a consistent basis by either Madeira, Malcolm Derk or Tom Marino this summer and fall.

Hat tip to GrassrootsPa.Com

Pa Treasures Rot While Pols Get Fat

Pa Treasures Rot While Pols Get Fat

Pa Treasures Rot While Pols Get Fat
An historic miner’s house at Eckley Miners Village circa August 2009

The USS Olympia, a national treasure berthed in Philadelphia, is in need of up to $30 million to keep her afloat and its owner, Independence Seaport Museum, has gone on record as being unable to do that.

The ship, docked at Penn’s Landing across the Delaware River from the USS New Jersey, was Commodore George Dewey’s flagship at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War and from whose bridge he uttered the words “You may fire when ready, Gridley”. It is one of the very few vessels from that era still in existence.

A few miles south opposite an IKEA store on Columbus Boulevard, the faded hull of the SS United States, once the fastest and among the most famous ships in the world, rusts away at Pier 82.

In Northeast Pennsylvania, the historic homes of Eckley Miners Village collapse under the not-so-watchful eye of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Reportedly, the Commission has refused volunteer help in maintaining the homes.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration and his fellow Democrats sit on billions of dollars allocated to provide stimulus to the economy. What could be a better way of providing jobs than spending some of that on restoring some of these bits of history using local labor? Heritage maintenance is actually an legitimate role of government. FDR practiced it in our last depression.

Of course, Obama doesn’t seem all that concerned about our heritage and this kind of spending doesn’t provide that much opportunity for bonuses for connected Democratic fat cats at Goldman Sachs and GMAC.

Meanwhile, retiring state legislators such as Senator Robert Mellow (D-22) are finding that their pensions are going to be almost three times that of the $110,000 salaries they collect while working.

Meanwhile, gym teachers are making $87,000 for 195 days of work.

People, it’s time to start getting mad.

Pa Treasures Rot While Pols Get Fat

Ex-NFL Lineman Faces Prison Time For Taking Bribe In Luzerne County

Greg Skrepenak, the former NFL lineman who became a Luzerne County Commissioner, has pleaded guilty to accepting payoff from a developer who got a government-subsidized loan through the county.

Skrepenak, a Democrat, got $5,000 for his yes vote for the $1.1 million loan. Skrepenak faces
a maximum 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, but will likely spend
33 to 41 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines.

Skrepenak played for the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders and the Carolina Panthers.

In other Luzerne County news, former county Sheriff Michael Savokinas is being investigated for improperly selling firearms belonging to the county including an antique Thompson submachine gun for $20,000.

Luzerne County Commissioner Enters GOP Lt. Gov Race

One steps out, one steps in.

Nine days after former Erie County Executive Rick Schenker announced that the was quitting the crowded race for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor, Luzerne County Commissioner Stephen Anthony Urban took his seat at the table.

Urban, 57, made his announcement Saturday. He is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who served in Vietnam and the Persian Gulf War.

Also in the race for the GOP nomination are:

Carol Aichele (Chester County Commissioner)
Bruce L. Castor Jr. (ex-Montco D.A.)
James F. Cawley (Bucks County Commissioner)
Russ Diamond (founder of  PACleanSweep)
Dominic D. “Nick” DiFrancesco II (Dauphin County Commissioner)
John H. Eichelberger, Jr. (state senator representing the 30th District)
James R. Matthews (Montco Commissioner, last GOP Lt. Gov candidate, Chris Matthews’ brother)
Frank L. Rizzo Jr. (Philly councilman, son of legendary mayor)
Mike Turzai (state representative for the 28th District)
Joseph P. Watkins (pastor of Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church, the oldest African American Lutheran Church in Philadelphia)

Seeking the Democratic nod are:

Michael F. “Mike” Gerber (state representative for the 148th District)
Valerie McDonald Roberts (Allegheny County recorder of deeds)
Jonathan A. Saidel (former Philadelphia city controller)
Josh Shapiro (state representative for the 153rd District)
Doris Smith-Ribner (former Commonwealth Court judge)

The primary election is May 18.