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Mark also writes a regular blog for timesleader.com.
Tomorrow, the Inquisition comes to town.
All is not write in the world.
Wyoming Valley West School District voters in region 6 (Kingston) face a conundrum today, the result of a state law that lets school board candidates run on both party tickets. It is an object lesson on how the election system can defeat itself with a little help from voter apathy and inertia.
On Wednesday, Plunder Dome seemed to go into reruns, as our two scariest characters of the Halloween season, disgraced judges Mark “Shameless” Ciavarella and Michael “Cocky” Conahan, again insisted that they are immune from civil lawsuits no matter how heinous their actions on the bench were.
Our Tuesday editorial suggested a string of moves local school boards could make to restore trust amid the expanding corruption probe, and to avoid problems in the future (even if your board is untouched by allegations). All the ideas involved greater public access to district dealings, with emphasis on the power of the Internet: Post information – lots of it – on the district Web site for public scrutiny.
Six months later and we’ve got a Dunn Deal. In the words of Ned Flanders of “The Simpsons,” it’s Dunn diddly done. As Edward G. Robinson might put it in one of his old gangster flicks, Dunn’s done for, see.
Now that Hanover Area’s Anthony Spinozza has admitted taking a bribe, there are six Luzerne County school board members charged with corruption.
On North Wyoming Street in Hazleton, near the hub of town, sits the now-infamous La Cantina Bar. It gained notoriety this month after a Wild West-style shootout, with reports of multiple guns drawn, sounding like a saloon scene in a Sergio Leone “spaghetti western.”
News that Father Bob Timchak turned himself in on child pornography charges in Pike County hit me like a punch in the gut. Why now? Why for this? Why him?
Last week Plunder Dome became more sci-fi than soap opera as federal charges flew at warp speed and Harrisburg fired up its time-machine in hopes of learning what happened and why.
WILKES-BARRE – For what may be the first time in nearly two centuries, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church will visit St. Stephen’s Pro-Cathedral Wednesday, spending time at outreach ministries in the afternoon and giving a sermon at an evening service followed by a brief reception and a question-and-answer session.
SCRANTON – The Diocese of Scranton has expanded programs and improved background checks in an ongoing effort to protect children from sexual misconduct, the Diocesan newspaper reported Thursday. The details were included in a Catholic Light article announcing that an annual audit by an outside agency found the diocese “in compliance” with national guidelines for protecting children.
Paula Longo told the first-graders they could run to the bird blind but had to be “super quiet.”
KINGSTON – Wyoming Valley West School Board accepted the resignation of President Allen Bellas during a 5 p.m. meeting Wednesday.
With at least five districts touched by the widespread federal corruption probe and six board members in three districts charged (one for actions not related to board activity), the 2009 races for 45 open seats on Luzerne County’s 11 school boards were unlike any in recent memory.
PLYMOUTH – A morning fire in a basement lavatory at Main Street Elementary school in Plymouth prompted Wyoming Valley West School district to move all students to the high school gymnasium Monday.
If you’ve got an eighth-grader in your house, give her (or him) a gold star and a pat on the head.
KINGSTON – Luzerne Intermediate Unit Executive Director Michael Ostrowski alternated between cracking his trademark corny jokes and choking back tears during a farewell at the board meeting Wednesday.
WILKES-BARRE – Cardinal Justin Rigali may have fallen a few minutes short when it came to punctuality Saturday – the 5 p.m. Mass at St. Nicholas Church started about six minutes late – but service went full tilt once it began, with Knights of Columbus Honor Guard in full regalia, an organ and choir accompanied by brass, cymbals and timpani, and 13 priests concelebrating.
The federal corruption probe looms large in the November election for Luzerne County school boards.
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