The Bailout!

From MSNBC...Senate Democrats defeated a Republican effort to kill a $1 billion "cash for clunkers" program that provides government incentives of $3,500 to $4,500 to car buyers who trade in old gas guzzlers for more fuel-efficient vehicles. But in passing the bill on June 18 as an add-on to funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Democrats also defeated the "green" wing of their own party, who wanted to do much more to favor the purchase of passenger cars over pickup trucks and SUVs. The bill, which President Barack Obama is expected to sign, will enable many consumers who take advantage of the program to buy trucks that are barely more fuel-efficient than their old guzzlers. If this idea sounds familiar, may I refer you to a post on this blog from November, 2008. (http://kevinjjordan.blogspot.com/2008/11/bailout.html) The program was right. The amount was wrong. If Congress needs any additional help, please use the e-mail address listed below

A Fallen Hero

On Friday, Northeastern Pennsylvania said good-bye to Pennsylvania State Trooper Josh Miller. Trooper Miller was shot and killed in the line of duty.

I was able to watch and listen to much of his funeral service. It was most impressive.

I was struck by the generosity of his family. They allowed us in. They allowed us to share their grief. Perhaps it was their way of allowing us to share the burden.

On my weekend rounds, I drove Exeter Avenue in West Pittston. There I found American flags lining the street. It was just a small part of the route Trooper Miller took to his final resting place. There were hundreds of flags. Maybe thousands. Young people from Wyoming Area High School decorated tree lawns on Thursday as a tribute to Miller.

Isn't it interesting that one symbol, the American flag, is used to illustrate our greatest pride and our deepest grief.

On this Flag Day we remember, lest we forget.

Frank Harrison 1940-2009

Above: Frank Harrison, M.C., Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill, Speaker of the House, Your blog editor.

Attorney Frank Harrison died this past week. He passed away in Galveston, Texas. Frank came out of the 1982 Primary as the Democratic nominee for Congress in Pennsylvania's 11th District and easily defeated Jim Nelligan in that year's election. Harrison was defeated in the 1984 Primary by Paul Kanjorski who serves in the congressional seat to this day. Frank became the "fair haired" boy of the Democratic Freshmen Class of '82. Because of it, he was able to bring in the "big guns" for his re-election effort. One of those guns was Tip O'Neill, Speaker of the House. The above picture was taken in the backroom of the Peking Chef Restaurant on Public Square in Wilkes-Barre during a live shot on WBRE-TV 28.

I got to know Frank while I was the News Director at WILK-AM. Each Primary and Election, Harrison would co-anchor our election coverage with the late, great Dr. Roy E. Morgan. In 1980, the Luzerne County Commissioners decided to end the long standing practice of tabulating results on Election Night. WILK Engineer Ron Balonis developed a computer program and WILK tabulated the results. Using those results and Frank's bellwether precincts, WILK was the first to declare an upset win by Republican Jim Nelligan in the 1980 11th District Congressional race. Before you go saying, "so what," remember this was 1980 and computers just didn't do then what they do now.

Harrison was always a gentleman and always brilliant. One lousy campaign in 1984 sealed his fate and I often wonder what things would have been like if Harrison had been re-elected. Would Frank Harrison have been the man standing in the middle in the picture above?

RIP, old friend.

And Justice For All...

First let's put to rest the argument that the way we elect Common Pleas Court Judges in Pennsylvania is non-partisan. It is not. It's bi-partisan. That's a big difference. The Democratic and Republican Parties chose their nominees for Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge in yesterday's Municipal Primary. Three candidates, William Amesbury, Tina Polachek Gartley and Richard Hughes will face off in November's Municipal Election. (By the way it's a Municipal Election, not a General Election.)

Only voters registered in the Democratic and Republican Parties could vote for the nominees. Voters registered in other parties could not vote for Judge of the Court of Common Pleas.

When you look at the total vote cast in the Primary, a slightly different picture emerges. Here is the order of finish combining the entire vote for each candidate.

1. Amesbury 15, 087
2. Gartley 11, 620
3. Sklarosky 10, 695
4. Musto 9, 779
5. Zola 8, 394
6. O'Connor 8, 148
7. Sperazza 8, 124
8. Hughes 7, 343

Rogers, Marsilio, Buffalino, Mirabito, Blazick, Terrana, Lumbis, Menn and Pendolphi follow in order.

Here's a suggestion on how to improve the process so that it more accurately reflects the will of the electorate. Eliminate the bi-partisan Primary. Replace it with a non-partisan runoff open to ALL voters.

In the non-partisan runoff all candidates would run on one ballot. There would not be a Democratic ballot and a Republican ballot. The number of nominations available would be twice the number of vacancies. In Luzerne County's case, the field would be narrowed to four candidates in the Judicial Primary runoff. There would not be Democratic or Republican nominees. There would be four candidates facing off in the Judicial Election runoff; the top four finishers in the Primary runoff.

The candidates would appear on the ballot with their political party registration. For example; Amesbury (D), Hughes (R). Candidates who do not belong to either of the major parties could also file nominating petitions for the Primary runoff. A candidate from the Green Party could be on the ballot providing she or he obtained the signatures of Green Party registered voters. The number of signatures would be the same for all candidates.

If this procedure was followed in this primary, four candidates would have emerged; Amesbury, Gartley. Sklarosky and Musto. With what could be three vacancies on the Luzerne County Bench in 2011, candidates Zola, O'Connor and Sperazza could make strong cases to Governor Ed Rendell for the interim appointments to the Court. The big asterisk in all of this of course is adding in the votes of those who were unable to participate yesterday because they were not registered as Democrat or Republican.

The runoff Primary could and should be used in School Board and Magisterial District Judge races as well. Double the number of vacancies to get the number of candidates who would square off in the November Election. Five School Board vacancies? Ten top finishers in the runoff move on.

The runoff could even be used in municipal races for Mayor, Council and Township Supervisor. The argument would be made that in towns where one party dominates the registration, you could see all Democrats or all Republicans squaring off in November. Sure the possibility exists, but in all likelihood the process would open up for minority party and even third party candidates.

Those seeking office would have to seek the popular vote and not just speak to the voters of their party.

Perhaps by counting all the votes, we could achieve justice for all.

Dr. George "Middle Initial E" Hudock

I've searched the web for a picture of Luzerne County's late Coroner, Dr. George E Hudock to add to this. Couldn't find one. The title of this post comes from "Doc's" testimony in any number of cases. When being sworn in, Doc would be asked to state his name. "Dr. George, "middle initial E" Hudock."

Reading a post by fellow blogger and friend Vince Sweeney triggered this memory.

The year was 1973 or 1974. I was working as the weekend newscaster at WILK-AM in downtown Wilkes-Barre. A call came over the police radio for a body found on the sidewalk outside the Hotel Sterling. I hadn't covered many stories first hand and this was an opportunity, so I grabbed my trusty cassette recorder and ran the one block down to the Sterling.

Arriving, I saw a body covered with a cloth. And there stood the Luzerne County Coroner Dr. George Hudock. It was the first time I saw him in person. Over the years, we would meet hundreds of times. I fact, a posting on YouTube of a WDAU-TV promo includes tape of me at a crime scene with Doc and Wilkes-Barre Police Chief Joe Coyne in the background. (But I digress.)

The body that was covered was that of an elderly woman who had apparently jumped to her death from a window.

I introduced myself and asked Doc for an interview. He didn't know me and asked if I was new. Of course I said yes. He smiled.

I then started my tape recorder and began asking questions.

"Doctor, can you tell me the cause of death?"

"Well, I've narrowed it down to deceleration trauma or concrete poisoning."

As my tape recorder rolled, I began writing "deceleration..."

A couple of police officers standing nearby began to laugh. I realized then I was being had.

Doc never broke.

"So," I said, "You're saying she died from the fall?"

"No." Doc said, "She died from the landing."

True story.

Harry Kalas

Who knew? There "is" crying in baseball.

HK

Forgive me, but the next couple of days are going to be all about Harry Kalas. I've cried like this two other times in my life; when my Dad died and when Terry McNulty died. Then I smiled and laughed today when my friend Andy Palumbo e-mailed the above. Thanks AP.