MLK

Here's what I think of on Martin Luther King Day.
The least bigoted and most bigoted people I've ever known were all family members.
The most bigoted; I'm not going to say.
The least bigoted is probably the wrong way to put it. No prejudice whatsoever; my Mom and Dad.
Growing up as Navy brats we just didn't see color. In fact, two of my parents closest friends were a couple of mixed race.
I remember Beeville, Texas (c. 1967) as my brother and I walked to school, two fellow students who were black crossed the street...away from us. They weren't allowed  to walk on the same side of the street as us.
I remember my brother and I racing ahead of the rest of our family and holding the door of the local five-and-dime store for my mother and two sisters and the next group, a black woman and her children.
They said, "thank you."
We said, "you're welcome,"  never giving it a second thought.
I remember two men, true Texans wearing boots and cowboy hats making a remark.
Yes it was "that" word.
It might have been mumbled under their breath.
It was loud enough for my Old Man to hear.
He told us to go inside.
We did.
The Old Man lit them up.
I remember watching the new bulletins in 1968 announcing Martin Luther King's death and the expression on the Old Man's face.
Forty four years ago.
So much has changed.
We have so far to go.

Say It Ain't So, Joe.

 Say it ain't so Joe.
 Please tell me and your legion of fans that you thought you had no obligation to a 10-year old child who was raped beyond telling your boss.
 Say it ain't so Joe.
 Truth be told, at most colleges the Athletic Director would be your boss.
 Everyone knows that at Penn State you are his boss.
 Tell us that you didn't just wash your hands of the matter.
 Say it ain't so Joe.
 The 23-page presentment by a grand jury is vile and chilling. I won't quote it here. I know you've read it.
 For years we all looked to you as a paragon of virtue, an example of what collegiate sports was supposed to be.
 "With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more."
 Really Coach?
 This isn't about you.
 Say it ain't so.
 I have a couple of questions.
 Did you tell your assistant coaches, including your son Jay, about what you knew?
 When was the last time you spoke to child rape suspect Jerry Sandusky?
 Was it within the last few weeks when he visited the weight room?
 After all Coach, you knew you had appeared before a grand jury and testified against him.
 He knew it.
 You knew it.
 And yet no one, NO ONE, stopped him from visiting campus.
 Say it ain't so.
 Your farewell home game will be this Saturday against Nebraska. There will be a few more games and maybe even a Bowl Game before you "retire."
 When the thunder of applause rains down on you Coach, will you cry tears for you or tears for the perhaps dozens of boys, young boys, victimized by your decision not to "do more?"
 We all so want to believe that your actions were those of an 84 year old man from another generation who was so consumed with a vaunted football program that you just didn't realize you were turning your back on the most heinous of crimes.
 I want to believe you. We want to believe you.
 Say it ain't so Joe.

Flood Czar

I wrote last year about the need for President Obama to appoint a "czar" to oversee the recovery after the Gulf Coast oil spill.

 The President has a penchant for appointing czars to oversee many of his initiatives.

 Well, here I go again.

 Mr. President please appoint a czar to be your point man as Northeastern Pennsylvania recovers from the flood caused by Tropical Storm Lee.

 It only makes sense. 

 In 1972, President Richard Nixon appointed Wyoming Valley native Frank Carlucci to this job after the Agnes Flood. He is given high marks for the work he did.

 And Mr. President may I be so bold as to suggest the right man for this job; Paul E. Kanjorski.

 It was Mr. Kanjorski who shepherded the Wyoming Valley Levee raising through Congress. Without the levee raising, I shudder to think what this region would look like today. Whether you like Kanjorski or not, he got the job done. His public service began during the aftermath of the 1972 Agnes flood. He served thirteen terms in Congress. 

 This is the man for this job. 

 This is a role he was born to play.

 I don't want to hear that he is a former Congressman. I don't want to hear that he may be a candidate again.

 There is a monumental task ahead of us. The amount of water dumped on the region can only be dwarfed by the mountain of red tape that comes with recovery.

 Kanjorski can get this done.

 Mr. Kanjorski, I beg you; take this job when it's offered.

 Wyoming Valley and Northeastern Pennsylvania need you, AGAIN!

George Herbert Walker Bush

I'm often asked about the "important" people you get a chance to meet as a reporter.
I was blessed to have a 25 year career as a broadcast journalist and was very fortunate to meet some of those "important" people.
Who was the nicest? This one's easy.
But I'll start at the bottom of the list.
As mentioned in this blog previously, I interviewed Senator Edward M. Kennedy in Wilkes-Barre in 1980 when he challenged President Jimmy Carter. Kennedy didn't like my questions. Toughest interview I ever did.
And I'll throw in another candidate for President; Rick Santorum. I interviewed him when he challenged Senator Harris Wofford. Santorum loves to answer the question he thinks you should be asking. Another tough interview.
By far the nicest presidential candidate I ever interviewed was George Herbert Walker Bush, our 41st President.
I interviewed Mr. Bush (please note the respect) at the Sheraton Hotel on Meadow Avenue in Scranton in 1980 when he was running for President.
He was being trailed by a group of Japanese journalists who spoke little English.
It was a one-on-one interview and Mr. Bush could not have been nicer.
I'd like to think that I have pretty good radar on these things.
Mr. Bush greeted me warmly, gave me more time than I thought he would and went out of his way to make me feel comfortable.
I left knowing that this was not just a candidate angling for some good publicity. This was a man who was genuinely, well a gentleman, in every sense of the word.
It is my favorite interview...ever, and not influenced by the fact that Mr. Bush went on to serve as Vice-President and President of the United States.
The former President turned 87 this past Sunday.
Happy Birthday Mr. President.
You are the best!

A Great Reporter

Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows I'm a huge Andy Palumbo fan.
In fact, you can find a link to his blog on the right.
Please read today's post by Andy.
It deals with the huge fire that wrecked a house on Sullivan Street in Wilkes-Barre.
Read it now.
I'll wait.

OK.
If you read his post, you aren't the least bit surprised that the bodies of two men were found in the rubble.
The discovery was made a day after the fire.
Andy practically told you something like this was going to happen.
And it did.
Andy had photos of a fire next door...FOUR YEARS AGO!

A reporter reports.
A good reporter remembers.
A great reporter pulls it all together.

My post today is going to generate an email that will start something like, "I wish you hadn't..."
Sorry APal.
I had to.
Great job!

Primary Post Mortem

Voter turnout in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties hovered around 33% in Tuesday's Primary.
That's woeful.
Remember only Democrats and Republicans could vote.
If my proposed runoff primary was used in the Court of Common Pleas race in Luzerne County, these would be the results when you combine the total vote:
Pierantoni-23,943
Vough-22,354
Sklarosky-21,350
Hughes-20,905
Gelb-20,200
Rogers-19,352
Mirabito-17,924
Saporito-17,380
Aciukewicz-15,549
Bufalino-15482
Haggerty-14,440
Radick-13,866
Blazick, DeLuca, Ross and McMonagle would have been eliminated.
Those top twelve candidates would run again in November. No double nominations.
But, of course if the runoff primary was used, all voters could have voted not just Democrats and Republicans. That would have pushed turnout up.
Only one Republican scored his party's nomination in the judicial race. That was Dick Hughes. The county GOP still has a lot of work to do.
In the Lackawanna County Commissioners' race, Democrats nominated two guys, Jim Wansacz and incumbent Corey O'Brien who couldn't carry their own running mates to victory. Trouble in November? We'll see. The contest did see the best television commercials of the campaign.
With such a crowded field, it's difficult to analyze the contests for the Luzerne County Council. If there was a trend here, I don't see it yet.
I think a change to the charter is already in order. Split the council into two election cycles with six and five seats to be filled every two years.
And the U.S Attorney's announcement of a prostitution bust on Primary Day? That was a separate story.

With the primary less than a week away, It's time to re-float an idea I proposed two years ago.

Democrats and Republicans will pick their nominees for state, county, school board and municipal offices on Tuesday.

In judicial and school board races, candidates can cross file; that is seek the nomination of both the Republican and Democratic parties. The system was designed to take the politics out of the process. But it's not NON-PARTISAN. It's BI-PARTISAN. That's a huge difference. 

Thousands of voters who don't belong to either of the major parties cannot vote in the primary. 

To make the process truly non-partisan I propose the following; a  non-partisan runoff primary in which all registered voters can participate.

Here's how it would work in the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas race.

All sixteen (16) candidates would appear on a single ballot. Each candidate would be listed along with their party of registration. For example; John Aciukewicz (D) Richard Hughes (R). 

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 the top twelve (12) candidates since there are six (6) vacancies. Voters could cast their ballots for up to six (6) candidates.

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. The big difference in a runoff primary, ALL voters, not just Democrats and Republicans could vote.

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. In November, the candidates would again appear on one ballot listed in their order of finish in the primary runoff.

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's election. Sure that possibility exists, but in all likelihood the process would open up for the 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. That takes the partisan politics out of the race.

If we truly want to encourage participation in primaries and elections, give voters a reason to go the polls in May and November.