Attendees of the April 23 Scranton City Council meeting heard from residents Ron Helm, Joan Hodowanitz, Marie Schumacher, Dave Dobson, Les Spindler, Gerard Hetman (from the Lackawanna County Community Relations Department), among others. The topics for discussion at the meeting were land banks, Ice Box complex, Scranton Local Services, tax tripling, garbage fees, the Scranton City audit, and the city’s 150th festivities.
Governor Tom Wolf, the newly elected champion of the Left, has essentially been hailed as a return to the good ol’ days kind of liberal Democrat. He preached taxes . . . taxes on natural gas, the re-bloating of school budgets, spending, not being Tom Corbett, and doing mostly anything the opposite of Tom Corbett. This writer dubbed him “Tom Wolf-In-Sheep’s clothing” for The Inquisitr, as he generally spoke in vague platitudes. Like most things in life, you just had to read between the lines to find the truth.
Infrastructure issues, including the razing of historic Scranton buildings, among topics discussed at the April 16 Scranton City Council meeting.
Scranton City Council passed an ordinance that they claim is meant to combat blight in Scranton. Problems arise once you extend the list of offenses beyond the violations that have been reported thus far. We are correctly told that penalties range from $50 to $1,000. Obviously, that does not sound like a small chunk of change. So, what is covered under this “quality of life” ordinance and inevitable ticketing?
Scranton City Council heard several opinions regarding the city’s interest in forming a “Land bank” to deal with blight, overall economic climate, city financial consultant Henry Amoroso, non-profits, and taxes. Citizens Lee Morgan, Ozzie Quinn (president of Hill Neighborhood Association), Ron Helm, Joan Hodowanitz, and Marie Schumacher expressed their views to council.
Over-the-top searches, people exiled from their homes, roadblocks, mail stoppage, tank-like vehicles, paramilitary, schools closed, people being kept from their medication, and police cruisers colliding at high speeds into civilians.The constitutions (of the US and Pennsylvania) used as toilet paper. The response from authorities? He’s not all that dangerous. Well, gee . . . hmm . . . if you’re scratching your head or sitting there dumbfounded, do not worry, so am I. Did I mention Frein nearly made it to No. 1 on the FBI’s “Most Wanted” list?
First of all, until I met a “zoning officer,” I didn’t even know what one was. To be frank, despite the fact that I am Dave, I am still unaware if I met one. Thus my personal story begins. It was 8:00 in the morning and I had just returned home from my third-ish shift job. I heard a knock at the door. Confused, I answered the door. I wouldn’t typically answer the door, as it is my parent’s house and it would be a rarity for anyone to come there for me, but, alas, I answered anyway. I opened the door to a short-haired (nearly bald) man with a blank T-shirt and jeans who immediately started barking in my face. He didn’t actually bark, to be honest, but he might as well have.
There were many interested in participating in the commission, 38 to be exact, but only seven were chosen. The problem that was encountered was that those seven were all Volpe-designated candidates. So, if Mr. Volpe is your villain, then these are his henchman. Once the irresponsible, county commissioners’-mouthpiece press latched onto this, the smear and misinformation campaign began. In 1976, the county formed a study commission and our current home rule charter was the result. Unlike the positive outcome that year, despite the resistance of a “Vote No” group, the most recent attempt of 2013/2014 crashed and burned. The changes in 1976 were minimal, so perhaps that’s why the opposition wasn’t strong. The first study commission report of 1974 had similar intentions, but most of its recommendations were rejected and never rejuvenated by the 1976 commission. Secretary Paul Hart lamented in his minority report.
On May 15, 2013, opponents and proponents had the opportunity to make their cases concerning the Common Core Standards in a second legislative hearing in Harrisburg.
What is Common Core? The Common Core State Standards is a national school curriculum initiative—a set of content guidelines—that was introduced in 2009 by the National Governors Association and an organization called Achieve (www.achieve.org). It was originally tailored to mathematics and literature.