APRIL 15 - APRIL 21, 2000
APRIL 21, 2K
Tom talks back
Good morning. It is 52.7 degrees out there. Get your printed issue of the Mountain
Laurel Review. You can get the true story of 9Main Street and even see a copy of our
check. In the meantime, Tom Clark is talking back.
Somebody Stop Me! By Tom Clark (Fat chance! by Bud)
I managed to infuriate a slew of people with my column last week and some of my postings
on Bradford On Line. A few of them were so mad that their ire spilled over into Bud's lap
which, judging by readers comments, became a topic of its own.
I always wondered about Bud's "Vanna White" pose in the picture on the
Publisher's Page. I never saw it that way, but more resembling the statue in front of a
Big Boy restaurant, sans the burger.
I would like to address some of the criticism about last week's column before I get
into this week's mutterings. Carol wrote to Bud and said that my insensitivity towards the
Cuban kid was uncalled for and has no place in the MLR.
Carol, I will apologize (damn, I've been using that word too much lately) for the
busboy remark. And, yes, I am uninformed on the topic, since it lost my interest around
the time they were toweling off the kid. I've heard more than enough blurbs on the news to
know what's going on.
Mom drowns, kid washes up on shore. Dad wants kid back. Relatives here in the States
brainwash the kid with trips to Disney World, etc.Dad comes to USA to take kid back to
Cuba. Relatives say, "No way, Jose". Dad flips off the cameras. Janet Reno and
our court system jumps into the fray and we are saddled with the first seven minutes of
the nightly news wasted on this story.
Two things that intrigue me about this story. First, these loving, caring, damn glad to
be in the US of A relatives don't speak a word of English. How long have they been here?
Would the kid be afforded the chance to become a normal American growing up around
Spanish-speaking relatives and living in an area called Little Havana?
Second, if the roles were reversed and the father drowned trying to smuggle out his
son, how fast do you think they would have had that kid on a plane back to Cuba to be with
his mother?
Next topic to apologize for... I was ignorant for using the R word.I could have been
more politically correct and said my elation has exceeded the presumed level attained by a
dim-witted buffoon in a cubicle of rebounding rubberized orbs.
I have the greatest respect for those who are parents and family of mentally and/or
physically challenged children and for those who have devoted their life's work to the
same.
I did not, nor would I intentionally, use that phrase in a harmful or malicious manner.
I guess that, in our paranoid and sensitive society, one should be careful to never use
any words that may be conceived as demeaning to others.
Apology #3...In complete jest I referred to the police as Donut Eaters. Some of our
area's finest men and women are local police and Bradford City is fortunate to have one of
the truly greats as Chief of Police, Dick Cavallero. Yes, The Man Who Should Have Been
District Justice If Not For The Error's Election Tainting.
Yes, I did write some time ago an article that contained a piece that questioned police
tactics concerning the Uni-Mart robbery. A few of the officers told me they thought it was
funny and I'm sure some of the ones who take their job way too seriously thought it
wasn't.
With that said, let's move on;
I was driving down the proposed Marilyn Horne Boulevard today and wondered why we are
honoring this person with a street naming. Actually, it's about 100 feet of blacktop that
goes around the square, but even that is more than she deserves.
She moved out of here at the age of 11 and went on to become, so they say, an opera
star. That part is all fine and dandy, even though less than .000452% of American citizens
could tell you who she is. Hell, Bud Beck is more known than this old broad. (There
he goes again! Geez!!)
Even though her parents are buried in Mt. Alton, she hasn't been back in twenty years.
That should eliminate the family value angle. Lately, she was at St. Bonaventure, a scant
seventeen miles away, yet her busy schedule couldn't allow her to pop across the state
line and say howdy to the folks that want to name a street after her. Can you say pompous?
This person doesn't give a rat's rear end about Bradford. If our city superiors are so
Hell-bent on naming a street after someone, why not Henry Satterwhite or William R. Case?
Or anyone else who played a major part in making Bradford what it once was. This Horne
lady couldn't have licked Henry's shoes when it comes to prominent citizens.
I received quite a few letters concerning the Big Rig ban in Bradford, some applauding
my foresight and ideas on the subject and a few from truckers asking if there is anything
I can do to help. Almost all of them said I should run for City Council.
I've said it before, if I thought I could make a difference I would throw my hat into
the ring. But, as long as the good old boy and girl network is in place in Bradford and
Ray McMahon and the OECD keeps sucking money out of the city till for moronic projects, it
would be useless for me to even bother.
I was happy to see the city tearing down some of the abandoned houses on East Main
Street. Take a ride north on the 219 expressway sometime and look over at the High Street
/ East Main Street area. It looks like 75% of the houses should be eliminated. Bradford is
a very ugly town to drive past, with the junk yards, dilapidated houses and oil refinery
as our prominent scenery.
It was a busy week on the memorial circuit, with the 5th anniversary of the Oklahoma
City bombing and the first anniversary of the Columbine shootings. Oh sure, you guys are
waiting for me to make a joke about these tragic events. Like I need any more people
jumping down my throat. Hey, I'm a sensitive guy. I was in a solemn, memorial mood last
week on the 8th anniversary of Sam Kinison's death.
As always, you may send your comments to Bud, if he isn't too busy turning letters on a
popular game show or holding a hamburger skyward, or you may send them directly to me at tcclark@2-cool.com. . 'Til next week...
We will not have any articles this weekend. On Monday I will relate a
conversation I had at the Bradford Hotel with Doctor Safesex about the trials and
tribulations that have been going on in his life since the old lady left him, not being
too understanding over him knocking up a nurse.
We also heard from our friends who wrote to us last week.
Bud:
Thanks for placing the abused wife from Spain info letter on your site. It was good that
you did not mention the names. I am sure that people familiar with the abuser know who
this coward is and how he operates.
Child & Youth Services has the abused 13 year old daughter's case on file at
No. 1510 C. D. of 1995. In 1997 when the wife received notice that the court of Joco was
going to pursue her and the baby with vigor, we notified Pat Cercone at the ERA. She in
turn contacted his attorney about hearing his client's side of the story. She invited the
abuser to come to the ERA and tell his side. He never showed! She also let them know that
if the wife and the baby were forced to return that they would definitely run a story and
at that time her husband would again be given another chance to tell his side of the
story. The irony here is that Joco thought it to be alright for the wife to have to
commute back and forth to Spain to see a teenage daughter that needed her mother but its
not alright now that the abusive drunk now has that same option to see his daughter.
He has flown to Spain twice we understand to see his daughter and the wife has let
him see her under the watchful eye of her three brothers! Also ironic, is that the abuser
/ father has the money to hire an attorney to bring the wrath of the system against his
wife and daughter but he never had any money when it came to making life a little easier
so his wife and daughter could survive here while the wife got a college education.
Originally, the wife just wanted to return to Spain for the Christmas Holiday. When
the abuser learned of this he threatened her and the baby. He told his wife she would
never see Spain again and her parents would never get to see the baby. He was wrong about
that. Moreover, if this goes to court here the terroristic threats that he made to her
will be repeated under oath for the record! That we promise!!!!!!!
Thank you for standing up for the little defenseless people Bud!
Father's & Mother's For Equal Justice
With that have a nice Easter holiday. Comments are welcome as usual at editor@mlrmag.com.
APRIL 20, 2K
Supplemental article (This was sent on to us this morning for my information to
show me how other school districts handle the threat of asbestos. This is a very far cry
from what we had here in Bradford!
Asbestos found in air test at Casis
School to be closed today after fibers are discovered in 3rd-gradeclassroom
By Tara A. Trower American-Statesman Staff
Posted: April 20, 2000
After almost a month of environmental tests at a West Austin elementary school, a
third-grade classroom has tested positive for asbestos contamination, school officials
said Wednesday.
School officials have asked parents at Casis Elementary School not to bring their children
to school today, and the school district has sealed off one classroom for the rest of the
school year. More intensive tests will be
conducted during the four-day school holiday that starts Friday.
Students who show up today will be housed in the portable buildings on campus and take
part in outdoor field day activities, according to
a statement from the school district. The district will provide sack lunches.
"The district is committed to verifying safe air-quality levels in the
building," said Ed Fuentes, deputy superintendent, in a press release. Neither
Fuentes nor Casis Principal Barry Aidman could be reached Wednesday night.
One of four air-quality tests conducted on Tuesday detected airborne fibers, according to
the release. The district has been monitoring the air daily at the school for weeks.
More than 50 air-quality tests have been conducted at the campus since asbestos was
detected in ceiling tiles in mid-March. Until Wednesday's result, all test results had
indicated safe air-quality levels at Casis, the release said.
The testing began after parents complained to state authorities that they were not
properly notified that renovation work at the school might have disrupted ceiling tiles
containing asbestos. One parent took her own samples of dust and broken tiles, which
contained asbestos. Last month, district officials assured
parents that the school was safe but said they would continue monitoring the school.
Further testing last week showed some surface samples with dust containing
asbestos, but parents were told that the dust did not appear to be mobile and therefore
did not pose a health threat. Most of the contaminated dust was found above the school's
asbestos-containing ceiling tiles, 0fficials said, but fibers were also found in a
pamphlet pocket on a hallway bulletin board.
Texas Health Department guidelines allow asbestos to remain in schools as long as there is
no risk of airborne particles. Tiny asbestos fibers can cause asbestosis, which is a
chronic non-cancerous lung disease. It also can cause two types of cancer. In most
cases, medical researchers say, daily workplace exposure to high levels of airborne
asbestos fibers for many years is necessary
to cause asbestosis. Such high levels, occurring in many shipyards and the
demolition industry, are highly unlikely to occur in schools, except in sections of very
old schools to which children wouldn't have easy access.
Lung cancer caused by asbestosis is typically restricted to workers involved in the mining
and manufacturing of asbestos, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency.
California health officials reached late Wednesday said they use the national safety
standard of 0.01 fibers per cubic centimeter of air to determine if corrective action is
appropriate. Austin school officials did not release the
levels of airborne asbestos found in the classroom.
The asbestos situation at Casis comes on the heels of the closure of a Northwest Austin
elementary school in February after the discovery of potentially toxic mold.
"Thankfully, AISD is finally responding appropriately to a situation that requires
their extraordinary attention and care," said Dan
McNamara, parent of two Casis students. "However, it is outrageous that it came eight
months into construction, where asbestos was known to have existed, and only after being
prompted by the actions of one Casis parent. "
Updated information for parents will be posted on the district's Time Warner Cable
Channels 18 and 22 on Monday.
You may reach Tara Trower at ttrower@statesman.com or 445-3633. Staff
writer Kevin Carmody contributed to this report.
Rain on the way
Good morning. It is 45.1 degrees at 6:17 A.M. and there is a major rain storm
on the way. With Lake Erie down four feet it is pretty obvious that good ole Mother Nature
is going to see that it gets back to where it is supposed to be. Just imagine if this was
February and it was snow. We would be looking at 30 to 40 inches. Damn the bad luck.
The newest printed issue of the Mountain Laurel Review is out. It debuted in
Jamestown, Warren, and at the Rainbow Inn yesterday, and will be out and available in
McKean County and Bradford today. Some of the articles in it could be looked upon as a
rainstorm by some. Oh well.
It should be noted that the printed issue, while containing several
articles that appear in this column, has new material never on this site.
And, no Janet, I did not call you a harpie! However, by the tone of your e-mail you
certainly are pushing the envelope. I knew when I wrote that about a man taking care of a
small child the immediate reaction. I knew it and you did not disappoint me. Your comment
".......about time a man knew what it was like" was not only expected,
but disappointing, too.
The whole idea was centered around the children that ultimately pay for the selfishness
of both parents. Your reaction only goes all that much more to endorse my premise. And on
second thought, you must be and in all probability are a harpie of the First Class. Get
off it and forget about it. Back then I was the exception. Today it would be no big thing.
Says a whole lot about us, doesn't it.
As for the Asbestos thing that I mentioned yesterday, I don't care what you think. The
damage was done and no one owned up to it. Instead it was covered over by the School Board
and their friends at The Era. John Satterwhite and his gang held the line. They
protected their buddies and ignored what really happened. Ironically, some of the children
exposed and perhaps the very ones who will eventually develop the symptoms, are the
children of the high and the mighty here in Bradford town.
In their zeal to do damage control, they damaged the very ones who were the most
precious to them. But what do I know?
The quote that sticks in my mind, the one that we highlighted in the film, was the one
that was uttered by a School Board member.
"I don't see any problem with a kid getting a few whiffs of asbestos."
And I guess a whole lot of other people felt the same way. Too bad for them and too bad
for the kid(s) who got "a few whiffs of asbestos." You tell me. Is one
whiff dangerous, or is it five, or six, or one hundred? I don't know. I am under the
impression that it only takes one microscopic fiber imbedded in the tissue inside your
body to get things rolling. If that is the case, how many children who attended that
school have the process cooking within them as I sit here pounding away?
So James, you tell me if "I have been making a mountain out of a mole
hill" as you so aptly put it?
I still don't and never will understand the lack of outrage on the part of the parents
of the children who attended that school during the period the construction was taking
place. From what I saw and reported on, it was as if the school board and the construction
company felt that the laws that were in place did not apply to them. It was as if those
laws were for everyone else outside of this area. Was it really 1999 last year or was it
1952?
Anyway, what are you going to do for Easter? Who is cooking Easter dinner? Where will
you be?
Drop me a note and tell me. Tomorrow is Good Friday and the beginning of Passover (I
think). Late for sure and Sunday is also Edna's birthday. How old are you going to be, old
girl? Anyway, if I forget tomorrow, have a Happy Birthday. And for the rest of you don't
forget to start getting ready today. Have a nice day.
Your comments are welcome at editor@mlrmag.com.
APRIL 19, 2K
That damn Tom Clark!
Good morning. It is 43 degrees at 6:14 A.M. and those Clark Brothers have a way
of getting me into things that I didn't ask for. Look at the e-mail I got from
someone giving me credit for Tom's slams on cops.
You refer to the police as the dunut patrol, but have you looked in a mirror
latley? By looking at your picture on the MLR website it looks like you have had a few too
many donuts.
Insults of my fine physique because of the way he refers to cops. Also,
someone who wants to take me on should use spell check because I only correct spelling and
grammar for nice notes. Yours, not a nice note, will stand or fall on its own.
For your info, I didn't call the cops anything like that. However, in the past,
I have called them liars - specifically for their part in suborning perjury in the Trial
of Jay William Buckley for the Murder of Kathy Ann Wilson. In that instance they trumped
up a case to cover up their own incompetence and make themselves look good. That little
act included a large array of departments and forces including: The Jamestown Police
Department, The
Warren County Sheriff's Department, The Pennsylvania State Police, and the Federal Bureau
of Investigation. Add in the Warren County District Attorney and you have a real
conspiracy of donut eaters.
As a son of a donut eater, I respect the police and I also feel I have earned
the right to put my own belly on the cover of my own web site. If you don't like my belly,
don't read me or look at my picture. Just get it straight who wrote what before you start
chirping.
And after my apology yesterday, Carol wrote back.
Sorry that I got so angry. I, too, am sick of all of the news coverage regarding
Elian. They have gone overboard with this story, much like they have with the Columbine
story.
Unfortunately, the general population around the country has no idea what is in
store for Elian when he returns to Cuba. Yes, I believe that he and his father should be
reunited. I wish, though, that his father would defect, but that
won't happen. I took offense at what Tom Clark said about Cubans being
busboys.
The Cuban community is full of nice people, mostly middle class who own their own
homes. How many immigrants can say that? Some of them have done better, even becoming
politicians. A lot of the mayors in cities in South Florida are Cuban immigrants. They are
good people who don't sap our welfare system.
It is my belief that our government wants Elian returned for political reasons. I
disagree with his Miami family's actions, but understand their reasons for doing so. They
know what he will return to. I heard on CNN that the grandmothers are being held by Castro
on a military base. Is this why Juan Miguel refuses to defect? Have the grandmothers been
threatened? Wouldn't
surprise me.
I don't worry about the Cuban immigrants rioting. They are generally a peaceful
people, unlike other groups in the Miami area.
This is an emotional month for me. It was eight years ago on April 14th
that my husband died from exposure to asbestos. I see in today's Era that another asbestos
manufacturer has filed bankruptcy. That's just a legal way for them to get out of
accepting responsibility for their actions.
I hope Carol forgives me and is not upset that I printed the personal part of her
e-mail. She shared her experiences with us last year when we broke the story of the
Asbestos at Bradford High. She, like I, understand that the Chapter 11 of Pittsburgh
Corning is a legal way to dump the sick and dying people who were loyal and worked for
them. And, Carol, like I, also understand what is in store for those who were genuinely
exposed at the high school.
The school board is immune to any prosecution or civil claims. Pennsylvania Law
makes them so. Cheri O'Mara can claim ignorance. That can be substantiated in any court of
law by anyone who ever knew her. And the contractors and the companies that looked the
other way for a few bucks at the time will all be long gone when the symptoms begin to
show up and the young and middle aged adults wonder what really happened to them.
Who is responsible then?
The answer is very simple. The responsibility begins with The Bradford Era,
the writers and editors, and the publisher, John Satterwhite, all of whom looked the
other way when we published pictures and did a movie that gave positive proof of what when
on. My alleged phone bills and the names I hung on people were more important than the
truth.
Then there are the parents who gave up so easy. It is their fault, too. They
didn't want to fight to get to the bottom of what happened and preferred to believe what
the paper and the school board told them. That way their consciences were clean. The story
remains on this site with the pictures and it will stay as long as the site is up. It
happened and it will not go away.
Then I got even more comments about the picture on the front.
Hi there Bud....
Something just keeps bothering me everytime I check out your new look, and I finally
figured it out! Why are you posed like Vanna White? laffin I'm not a wheel of Fortune fan
but the resemblance is uncanny. Has anyone pointed this out yet or is it just me?
Terry, sweetie, it is just you. Only you would compare me of all people to
Vanna. However, when the picture was taken, I was pointing out that Chem Nuclear (remember
those wonderful people who buddied up with Larry (The Lionhearted) Stratton and Billy
Kilmer?) was still a clear and present danger to the identified dumping ground of McKean
County. The picture stays, belly and all, as a reminder that they still are out there and
our smiling Governor who just had an airport named after him could care less as long as it
is far, far, away from where he lives.
And with that, everyone, have a great day. Comments are still welcome at editor@mlrmag.com.
APRIL 18, 2K
Breaking small hearts
Good morning. It is 39.2 degrees at 6 o'clock in the morning.
As I was getting ready to leave the house yesterday to oversee the final
production of the Spring issue of the printed Mountain Laurel Review, I had a
movie on one of the HBO stations. It was about a man who was raising his small son by
himself after his wife took a hike.
Although that part of my life has long since been burried and my days of being a
working mom ended when I married Sharyn, movies and stories like that hit me square in
parts of my body and soul that still hurt, even today.
The guy, an average guy, was dealing with a little boy without his mom. He was also
dealing with being a man without his wife. I remember both senerios, the latter always had
to be put in the background because the first was so pressing and so heart wrenching. In
the movie, as in life, the man dealt with taking over the job of being bread winner and
sole emotional support of his son. (And I can hear you harpies out there right now saying
that women do it all the time and you are right. Still, it is apart from what we, at least
my generation, were raised to believe as roles.)
In typical fashion the man deals with his son, makes him as normal as a little boy
being raised by his dad can be, and even begins to put his life back in order when he
meets a beautiful and very understanding woman who actually likes him and wants to be a
part of his and his son's lives. And in typical fashion, after an extended absence,
conveniently missing cleaning up after the boy when he is sick in the middle of the night,
comforting him when he can't understand where his mommy has gone, missing work to care for
him through the chicken pox, and countless other times that were so truly wonderful and
rewarding that they cannot be put into words, the prodigal mother returns.
The mother in the movie, like the one in my life, was beautiful and repentant. She was
warm and loving, first to her son, then to her husband. Carefully, and almost with a
design, she worked her way back into her son's heart. At the same time, the father,
watching his son warm to having mom again, melts and begins to hope that everything can be
as it once was, or at least should have been. And she leads him to believe just that and
for a time returns to his bed. He turns his back on the new woman and he, like his son,
begins to hope for the best.
I turned the television off and left at that point. There was a half an hour left and I
could have told you what was going to happen. I didn't want to hear that little boy cry
when his mother left him again. I didn't want to feel what that father was going to feel
when he realized that not only was he being rejected, but his son was being rejected also.
I found myself being angry and I found myself calling someone I very seldom think about
anymore dirty and vile names. I left and I drove down the hill to Bradford. And when I got
there, all of that changed in an instant.
I picked up my grandson, Sam.
His dad, Jeremy, had a project he had to finish for school and Sammy was going to spend
the afternoon with Gramps. We were going over to Jamestown and have lunch and then tend to
the business of publishing.
As Sam slept in his carseat during the trip over, and as he laughed and teethed on a
stick of celery during lunch, I couldn't help making the obvious jump in time. I
remembered doing the same thing with my son. I remembered how much I enjoyed him and how I
really did not mind raising him alone. But Sam is lucky. He is not shipped around. He is
not passed from person to person just to have someone care for him. No. Instead, when
there is something that father and mother have to do, there are family members and people
who genuinely love him to step in. And how many children today have that?
In 1974 when I was in the situation of raising a child alone, I was an oddity. The
following year they made the movie Kramer vs Kramer and from that moment on and
until the day I die I did and will refer to Merle Streep as "that bitch."
And I hated the obvious comparison because Dustin Hoffman did it in the movies, I did it
in real life. And all the movies in the world cannot bring across how you feel when your
son cries in your arms when his mother gets on a bus or a jet and leaves, again.
No. That is a feeling that movies cannot convey. Only the two people who live through
it know and even they can't properly describe what it feels like or what it does to them.
Maybe that is why Sam is so special today. Maybe it is the hope that Sam never has to
deal with that. I don't know. But I do know that children, all children, need love and I
watch what happens when they get it. We don't have to watch when they don't. All we have
to do is read the newspapers and see the news. Too many children are treated like baggage
or non-entities with no feelings.
Too many children are in second or third place behind what their parents believe they
are entitled to. They are not held and cuddled and they are not loved. How can they be in
State run day care centers where they are just another child and not the most important
child in the whole wide world? How can they?
I don't remember the children I grew up with needing drugs to help with their
behaviors. I don't remember my friends needing to undergo treatment for anything except
polio. Were we better off with just that?
But that was a different time, I guess. I also guess I was the beginning of something
and because of that I truly do hate Merle Streep. She will always be "that bitch"
as far as I am concerned and I hope she never wins an Academy Award. I hate her.
Now, with that out of the way, one of our readers has a message for Tom Clark.
Do you have to work hard to be so ignorant? You should not comment on
things you are not familiar with. Who cares about Elian Gonzalez? Only
people who have a heart. Your statement that he will become a factory
worker in Cuba when he reaches 10 years old is inaccurate. At 11 years
old he will be put to work in the fields, planting and picking crops. You say President
Clinton is staying out of this one. Do you honestly believe that? He is the one who is
pushing for this child's return to Cuba. Yes, perhaps you should go to Miami Beach and
watch who washes up on shore. Maybe then you would grow a heart. I see that you are still
using the term "retards", even though you obviously have offended some with your
terminology. I'm ashamed of Mr. Beck for allowing you to write in his publication.
Publisher's Apology: You are one hundred percent correct, Carol. I have known
Tom for a long time. He is a tasteless and ignorant person and it does reflect on me for
allowing him to write such things. We become immune to feeling issues like
this one. The media has been killing us with it since December and when is enough, enough?
And like Tom, I become immune to genuine feeling after awhile, and unfortunately I become
as ignorant and tasteless as Tom. For that we both are sorry.
More comments are welcome at editor@mlrmag.com.
APRIL 17, 2K
Don't Get Me Started BY TOM CLARK
"I have opinions of my own -- strong opinions --but I don't always
agree with them." -George Bush
Bradford City Council went through with the Big Rig parking ban on city streets. Mayor
Corignani spoke for the entire city governing body's combined intelligence when she
responded to a particular question with, "I can't answer that".
No, you can't answer this citizen or any others when you zip through an ordinance
without researching the ramifications that will affect your citizenry.
This was a poorly conceived law that will create more problems than it will solve. Ray
McMahon said that the rigs could be parked at their OECD Mega Money Pit on Russell
Boulevard or, if their is enough demand, they could open the city-owned parcel on Hilton
Street for rig parking and charge a minimal fee for lot maintenance. Gee, I wonder where
they got that idea? No applause...please.
Enough on Bradford City Council. I hate to think that, when my keyboard finally wears
out and needs replaced, that I wasted thousands of key touches on the morons running the
city.
The U.S. government is in a tug-o'-war with Cuba over the 6 year old boy who washed up
on our shores a few months ago. Why is this story dominating our news? Who cares? If he
goes back to Cuba, he becomes a factory worker when he turns ten years old. If he stays
here, he has a bright future as a busboy in a Miami restaurant. President Clinton is
staying out of this one. The last time he told someone where to place a Cuban, he got in
trouble.
For as long as I can remember, other than the Seneca Nation, New York always had higher
gas prices than Pennsylvania. I noticed last week that the Uni-Mart in Allegany had
regular for $135.9, cheaper than most PA pumps. Did our taxes go up or did theirs go down?
As I understand it, gasoline is mostly the same price everywhere until the states add
their tax rate.
I'm happier than a retard in a room full of bouncy balls. The Sabres made the playoffs,
although they are down two games to none in their best of seven series with Filthydelphia.
They got boned again last night (Friday) on a goal that went through the side of the net.
The NHL is supposed to immediately review every playoff goal and, if they were doing their
jobs, would have said those two elusive words that Buffalo fans long to hear, "No
Goal".
Getting back to the gasoline prices. Supposedly, the price of crude shot up, therefore
the added costs are reflected at the pump. Why, then, hasn't the price of a quart of oil
gone up? Go figure.
Speed trap alert...The city must be trying to raise revenue to buy up all vacant
properties that could potentially be nude bottle clubs. Watch out for Donut Patrol running
radar from a driveway across the street from the Lutheran church on Seaward Avenue. As far
as I know the garage and driveway are city property. Probably, at some point, someone
wanted to store some porn movies in the garage so the city bought it at twice its value.
Also, obey the speed limit on South
Avenue, where the cops like to sit on Maplewood Avenue and catch speeders. Little do they
know, most drivers warn oncoming motorists with the headlight flicking signal.
Man, I wish it would snow again...just kidding.
With the onset of warm weather comes the daily migration of mutants from South Center
Street to Main Street. Can't we put these genetic mutations into some kind of day program
that will give them something meaningful to do? We could start with a beginners class on
Dignity and Self-Respect.
I reported a few weeks ago that a Million Mom March is slated for Mother's Day in D.C.
(no, not Duke Center) to protest our nation's gun laws. Recent projections are that fewer
than 200,000 are expected for the rally. I guess the moniker, "Fewer Than Two Hundred
Thousand Mom March" doesn't have the same ring to it. I caught allot of flack over
that article, especially the part where I wrote that the crowd could be dispersed by a man
with a bull horn shouting, "There's a sale at Sears". Hey, I'm a male pig, what
can I say?
That's enough idle bantering for now. I thought about finding a neighborhood kid to
clean up my yard, but I'm sure they are all too busy sitting inside on a beautiful day
playing their Nintendo's. Perhaps I should go to Miami Beach and see who washes up on
shore. Til next week...
Comments are welcome at editor@mlrmag.com.
APRIL 16, 2K
There is no column. It was a nice Sunday.
APRIL 15, 2K
The search for Marjorie West
Good morning. It is the first day of trout season here in the mountains of
Pennsylvania. It is a sunny morning at 7:24 A.M. and 46 degrees. The infamous Tom Riel
called at six this morning ( I was up - Sharyn wasn't until the call) and boy is he ever
in trouble.
As you may or may not know, we are looking for Marjorie West.
We are offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to her discovery.
Do you know this woman?
Imagine a little girl picking violets along a lonely dirt road on Mother's
Day in 1938 and suddenly and without a trace she disappears. She is the subject of a
nationwide search (as best they could have in those days without the media we have today)
that was eclipsed only by the Lindberg kidnapping several years before. Imagine that she
was never found. What happened to her?
It is my belief that Marjorie was taken by a man who had been in Bradford
working. She was taken by a man who was returning home to his wife. It is also my belief
that Marjorie was not taken to be harmed. Instead, Marjorie was taken to be loved and
cherished by a childless couple. He was on his way home somewhere in the south.
Cars were seen on the road that afternoon at about three. One was
traveling at a high rate of speed going south.
That night a report was made that a child resembling Marjorie West was seen with a man
in a car in Thomas, West Virginia. The report was made to the West Virginia State Police.
The man attempted to register for the night at a local hotel. When he was told no rooms
were available he then visited a local liquor store and drove away. A taxi driver
stationed at the hotel supplied the description of the man and the child.
Thomas, West Virginia is located on US 219 and at that time was a major route south.
Thomas was also a railroad center and a coal mining town of 3,000. If Marjorie was picked
up by a man in one of the two cars at three o'clock, six to seven hours later they would
have arrived in Thomas.
From Thomas, West Virginia, the two could have gone into the Carolinas, or to Kentucky,
or even farther south. Who is to say?
Marjorie West today may have some recollection of her home in Bradford with her mother,
dad, brother and sister. She may but she may believe it is a dream, too. Kind and loving
people could have gradually convinced her that it was a dream. Marjorie might not know
what her true age is either.
She was about to turn five in June. Perhaps she was told she was three, or would not
turn five until the following year. Maybe Marjorie, if she is alive today, just retired
believing she is 65 or 66 and does not know she should celebrate her 67th birthday this
June.
The picture is that of her older sister, Dorthea. It was taken when she was 65.
Marjorie and Dorthea looked alike in baby pictures and in all probability look alike
today. If you know this woman contact me at editor@mlrmag.com
It may be worth $10,000 to you.
Read more about this story. Go back to the Home
Page. Have a good day.
If you have a comment on this article please click here.
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