MARCH 4 - MARCH 10, 2000
MARCH 10, 2K
I met the real Jesse James
Good morning. It is 37.4 degrees at 2:29 A.M. The furnace is running so that
must be a sign that winter is coming back. Four letter words (snow) are being thrown
around. All it does is make me wish I was back at Harry's Beach Bar where they have great
sunsets and good people.
One of those was none other than Jesse James himself.
Jesse did time in Warren, PA. He told Sharyn and I that he was once a member of the
Conewango Club and threw out the names of Warren County's better known bars and clubs from
when he was around.
Jesse lives in St. Pete Beach and in his capacity as a big time Corporate Consultant,
he arranges business finanacing, runs sales seminars, and hires out as a professional
speaker. With St. Pete Beach as a major stop on the winter Corporate Meeting circuit, he
stays pretty busy.
In his spare time Jesse is a fellow on-line publisher. He does a monthly newsletter and
you can find it along with information about him and his accomplishments at www.wantedjessejames.com.
Then there is the great Darrell Dodge. I miss sitting at the bar listening to him
forget the words to his own songs. I miss sitting at the bar having a drink and talking to
him, too.
Then there is my buddy Sam Stone. I really miss him.
Always laughing. Always joking. Sam is one of those people you just enjoy being around.
Seeing and visiting with Bonnie and Sam were some of the major highlights of "just
being there."
Then there were other people Sharyn and I met. There was Tom Halleran from Chicago.
We met him at Durango's (one of the many restaurants and bars on the complex that The
Trade Winds has to offer.
And there was Eric, the bartender at Durango's. (They have great Fajitias - more than
you can eat even when you are really hungry.
The two for one drink and appetizer special in Happy Hour makes this place a welcome
surprise on the beach.
Then there were the people I met two years ago. The people who were still around. The
people that were part of why I returned.
Debbie from Monroeville (a long long time ago) shown here with Sam. (Debbie is another
great bartender at the Flying Bridge.
And Jo who is living it up on the beach in her new Corvette.
And the good music and the people of spring who enjoy it and more. (That's Darrell back
there somewhere playing and singing. But who is looking at him?)
As the wind blows and the temperature (now 33.1 degrees) continues to drop, I miss the
people an the place. I miss it a whole lot and it doesn't seem like just a week ago I was
on the beach with a beautiful woman picking up sea shells for the kids to do arts and
crafts.
No. It doesn't seem possible.
Now there are only memories of good people, a great place, and of course, my skin is
peeling. Until next time................
Your comments are welcome at rdhedbud@penn.com.
P.S. You can order ONE MAN CREW by the great Sam Stone by sending $14.95 with
$3.00 for shipping and handling to: Sam Stone ONE MAAN CREW; 111 63rd Avenue
S.; St Petersburg, Florida 33705.
This CD is great!!!!!!!!!!!
MARCH 9, 2K
More mail
Good morning. It is 59.5 degrees at 4:46 A.M. This is Florida weather! That's
what it was at St. Pete Beach last week.
Amy should be happy. Her governor won. That means that Christie is unhappy
because her senator lost. Oh well. Politics!
Do I miss them? Absolutely not! I wouldn't trade place with the three stooges
for all the money in the world. This taxpayer thing does not seem like it is going away in
the near future. And we have more mail on the subject.
The paper states: "In January, when a visitor, himself in the senior citizen
range, has said the centers were unnecessary and the funding should be cut or eliminated
to help balance the county budget." Was the citizen within his rights? Was it right
for him to pay 43% more in taxes? Was it right the elected officials gave themselves 20%
to 30% raise in wages and fringe benefits? Do they not work part
time? When the budget was pass who was put on priority list? Was it themselves? was it the
senior citizens? Was it really for everybody? Why the senior citizens have to wait for
their funds? Where the money go? Did the officials wait for their pay? Is this a good
management? Should a person be put on soup kitchen? Should everybody burden the
society? Do we all have to swallow our pride and reputation? How low is too low? Is this
morally right? Is it ethically right? Who is pulling shade over whose eyes? Should they
answer these questions? Is this not a sufficient reasons to resign? Why not? Am I
awake? Yes. Are you?
And;
I never know when you are kidding us or telling the truth. Is there
a Mutant Beach Fest 2000 planned and what is it? It has an interesting ring to it and I
think has possibilities. If you are serious and want to make this a well planned event,
please e-mail me. I would like to work on the committee. I could help with local
entertainment. Thanks for your time.
And;
I was losing my faith in you. It looked like all you were going to
do is write about bars and cry over the loss of your dog. It's good to see you are back
and it is good to see that one article on a Friday can stir up so much on the following
Monday. Keep it up. We've missed the real you.
And;
I believed that Larry Stratton was a kind person. I believed that he
cared about the people. I was asked to attend the commissioners meeting by another senior.
What I saw was shocking. You called Larry Stratton a bully. That is what I saw. Really I
saw more than that. I saw a nazi who told people to take off their hats and I saw someone
who wanted to time us for how long we spoke. Isn't Larry Stratton being paid by our
taxes? Isn't he working for us? If he is he should be there to listen to everything we
have to say, not just three minutes worth. Maybe in Larry Stratton was ever in the army he
would have respect for someone else besides himself. He was out of control and owes all
the people of this county an apology.
And;
You called it when you said Larry Stratton likes to bully people.
What I saw on Monday was not someone who has the best interests of the people in mind. I
saw a puffed up little dictator. Ignoring his actions, the real question is when will the
Senior Centers be given the money they were promised in the budget? No one answered that
question.
And;
A bully is a coward. A coward hides behind the imagined power that
he believes he has. Whether you raise taxes 45% or throw people out of meetings, you are
what you are. Larry Stratton should be ashamed and moreover the Bradford Era should be
ashamed for the way they soft pedaled the whole story. What gives? You are right. Had it
been you they would have printed each and every word with highlights on where they thought
or wanted us to think you were wrong.
And finally;
The article about the Monday, McKean County Commissioners' meeting, by Bradford Era
reporter Petrisek did not report all the facts. The article failed to report that
Commissioner Stratton was out of control, screaming at citizens, and hammering on the
table with his gavel. His rage was certainly evident on the WESB radio broadcasts of the
meeting. There is simply no excuse for that kind of behavior from an adult, let alone a
county commissioner at a public meeting. Elected officials lead by example and the
commissioners certainly failed to lead on Monday.
I can understand Mr. Stratton's embarrassment at having to admit to the senior taxpayers
present that the commissioners have not paid the County's Senior Centers their money to
operate for year 2000. The reason the commissioners have not paid the Senior Centers the
needed funds is that they have to pay last year's bills first. They must also reimburse
the Capital Reserve Fund Mr. Stratton and Mr. Weaver borrowed from to cover past due
county bills and salaries last year. Mr. Stratton and Mr. Weaver failed to tell county
voters that during their re-election campaign. They also failed to tell the voters they
would be raising taxes 35%.
It is truly a sad day for our democracy when Mr. Stratton abuses his power and stops
public participation by ordering a deputy sheriff to remove a citizen from a public
meeting for asking if the commissioners have allocated this year's money for the operation
of our Senior Centers.
In addition, Mr. Stratton broke two of his campaign promises at Monday's meeting:
First, he broke the promise he made at the candidates' forum at UPB on October 27, 1999,
to hold night meetings. He made that same promise four years earlier and failed to keep
it. At Monday's meeting, he shouted there would be no night meetings.
Second, Mr. Stratton ran for re-election in the fall of 1999, promising
government that is "Open – County business is Your Business! No secrecy!
–Open to your questions and ideas."
Well so much for being "Open to your questions and ideas."
Bill Belitskus
RD#1 Box 172 B
Kane, PA 16735 778-5173
Editor's Commentary: There were more letters that got personal with Mr.
Stratton and Mr. Weaver. I will not print them. In fact, don't send them.
Do I believe Larry Stratton was threatened?
No. If anyone was going to be threatened it would have been me and in four
years that never happened.
Why would he say that then?
Meetings in the evening draw more people. They draw people who have the ability
to ask questions that Larry is not prepared to answer (or able if the truth was known).
There is too much opportunity to be put on the spot. The threat was a good excuse in his
mind, not acceptable to anyone with half a brain.
Your comments are welcome at rdhedbud@penn.com.
MARCH 8, 2K
Mutant Beach Fest 2000 in jeopardy
Good morning. I slept late so many of you are wondering already if I have blown
the day off. No I have not. It was that I was up late listening to Jerry Clark complain
about my columns last week and more important, possibly messing up the funding for Mutant
Beach Fest 2000.
"Why did you have to write that column?" Jerry wanted to know at 11 last
night. "In fact," he went on. "Why did you have to write any of those
columns last week? Mike Royko would go on vacation and print old columns. You better than
Mike Royko?"
Jerry was upset because word got back that I had reported seeing him with a blonde of
unusual proportions and his wife, the lovely Joanne, was mad.
"She's mad at you, too," Jerry said. "You had no business doing that,
even if it was a joke."
"It wasn't a joke," I insisted. "I thought it was you. Right now I'm not
sure it wasn't. You have sun on your face. Where did you get it if you weren't in
Florida?"
Jerry abruptly changed the subject.
"You've jeopardized our funding for Mutant Beach 2000. We'll never get any name
acts to come and perform and pack the people in this year. Last year was a bust because we
didn't have any concerts and groups that people recognize. If we are going to have any
success this year, we need the funding to afford the groups. Now that you have the Seniors
up in arms against the Commissioners and your buddy Belitskus acting as resident trouble
maker, they won't even open our request."
Jerry continued.
"And as for the City of Bradford, we might as well forget about having the
Historical District blocked off for the Saturday fun and games. City Council hates you now
that you've embarrassed them with this Club Bradford business. You've made them look
bad," he insisted. "This is all your fault."
Jerry had a point. As usual, I alienated the very people I would have to depend upon
for a project that I wanted to see completed. I guess that's why I'm not in politics
anymore.
"Maybe I should resign from the committee," I suggested.
"No! No!" his brother Tom cried out. "If you go, I go."
Jerry considered that possibility long and hard. Getting rid of both of us was
very attractive to him at that moment.
"I don't want you to go. I don't want you to resign. I just want you to stop
antagonizing everyone in the entire universe. Can you do that?"
I had to think about that. I knew I couldn't promise anything like that, so instead I
said I would try harder. And with that, I will have no comments on any of the following
e-mails I received concerning Monday's Commissioners' Meeting.
March 7,2000 To the editor, I went to Mckean county commissioners
meting yesterday March 6,2000. I was unable to get in the room because it was full nor
able to hear anything. Then I heard a big "BANG" and a person was told to live
the room for asking questions. When I got home the first thing I tried to find the news
paper and read the obituary, to see if I was alive. Should an official be allowed to
destroy public property by hitting it as hard as he can? Does an elected official should
behave as a tyrant? Does a citizen has a right to speak and ask questions? Is this not an
abuse of power? Don't you thing that this property represents the historic heritage of our
past, present as well as our future? Is this not a reason to submit his resignation? How
low should our expectation be?
And;
I am having my granddaughter write this for me. I don't have a
computer and don't know how to use one. Bill Belitskus told me how to reach you when I saw
him after the commissioners meeting. I was appalled at what I witnessed. I voted for Larry
Stratton and James Weaver and now I am sorry that I did. They are poor excuses for elected
officials. Bill was right when he said the lawyer didn't have the right to speak for the
commissioners. Shouldn't the commissioners speak for themselves? I want you to know that
we lost when we lost you.
And;
All I can say is disgraceful at what I witnessed on Monday. Larry
Stratton is a bully and now I am beginning to believe some of the things that were said
about him.
And;
If Larry Stratton is afraid to face the people, maybe he should
resign. Night meetings are our right. He does not have the right to take them away.
Probably Weaver can't stay sober that long and it is a conflict with Pingie's other job.
Maybe they all should resign and we should have a new election.
And finally;
It didn't take long for them to try and stifle the people. They lied
to us about the taxes and now they want to put people out who have legitimate questions to
ask. What next?
Your comments are welcome at rdhedbud@penn.com.
I have to get to work on Mutant Beach Fest 2000.
MARCH 7, 2K
Two sides to every story, and Free Speech, too.
Good morning. It is 36.5 degrees at 4:12 A.M.
I first heard about it when I was driving north on I-79 just outside of Clarksburg,
West Virginia. My cell phone rang.
"It's all over the radio. Stratton sounds like a fool. I think he's lost it,"
the first caller said to me.
Then the person told me that Bill Belitskus was ejected from the County Commissioners'
meeting.
"He was screaming at Belitskus and pounding his gavel on the table and looked like
he was going to explode."
I had to laugh. I couldn't help myself.
"Why?" I asked.
"All the seniors from the centers showed up. It had something to do with the
article you wrote on Friday."
I had to laugh again. As of that day, anyway, the centers hadn't been paid. It wasn't
an election year. I took the opportunity to point out the events that surrounded the
delivering of the checks last year. It must have gotten one or two people stirred up. I
thanked my caller, hung up, and began telling Sharyn what was going on when the phone rang
again. This time it was the infamous Tom Riel.
Tom was laughing and began to give me a similar account of the meeting.
"Stratton is on the radio yelling at Belitskus," he said.
"It must have been worth the price of admission," I laughed.
"Doug Shaw (of WESB-AM) has made it a big story. I wonder what the paper
will do with it?" Tom said to me.
And that was a valid question. What would the paper do with it? How would the ERROR
deal with such a thing? In four years as a Commissioner I never witnessed any actions by
any citizen that called for someone to have to be ejected from a meeting. I wondered what
was the reason and even more, I wondered how it would be reported?
Well, here is my answer.
Tuesday, March 7, 2000 Seniors support commissioners By GEORGE
PETRISEK/Era Correspondent
The issue may have been brought to a head by a recent publication on a local
website charging that commissioners had not paid the centers' money due them and have
little interest in doing so.
Coalition leader Belitskus brought up the issue of the payments, but became embroiled in a
procedural dispute with Stratton and county solicitor Jay Kahle and was ejected from the
meeting.
Those two paragraphs are buried in the middle of an account of Senior Citizens from
Senior Centers talking up the value of the program. No one disputed that except for one
lone person at one of the taxpayer meetings back in December, not January, as was reported
in the article. However, rumors were circulating that the Taxpayer Coalition was asking
the Commissioners to cut funding to the centers. Those rumors started in the Court House
in the commissioners' offices in an effort to cut the effect of the criticism of the
coalition.
Then there is the other side.
McKean County, Smethport, PA – March 6, 2000 – When bullying tactics,
screaming and hammering on the table did not work, Commissioner Stratton called for a
deputy sheriff to remove a citizen to stop public input and participation at a public
meeting.
The citizen had asked the Commissioners if they had sent the County Senior Centers the
money normally allocated in January for their operation. Commissioner Stratton was
embarrassed by having to answer "no" in a meeting room full of senior citizens
attending the meeting to ask the County Commissioners for continued support of their
Centers. Not only had the
Commissioners not paid the Senior Centers their yearly allocation of funding but also they
could not identify when the Senior Centers would get their 2000 funding.
Commissioner Stratton enraged by citizen questions at a packed County Commissioners
meeting steamrolled over citizens and broke two campaign promises in one meeting.
Commissioner Stratton ran for reelection in the fall of 1999, promising government that
is:
"Open – County business is YOUR business! No secrecy! – Open to your
questions and ideas."
So much for "Open to your questions and ideas."
Earlier in the meeting Commissioner Stratton attempted to intimidate citizens asking the
Commissioners to schedule night meetings by shouting at citizens attending that there
would be no night meetings.
Commissioner Stratton broke a four year promise he renewed again in his 1999 fall
reelection campaign to hold night meetings so working people could attend and participate
in County government.
At the October 27, 1999, University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, candidates forum, Mr.
Stratton was reminded by citizen Jay Todd "of a pledge he made four years ago to hold
some of the commissioners meetings at night so working people could attend. Stratton
admitted that this had never happened…But the suggestion drew enthusiastic applause,
leading Stratton to
again pledge that some commissioners' meetings would be held at night"
Mr. Stratton's broken campaign promises on open government in McKean County, night
meetings and recent discoveries of massive county deficit spending covered up during his
reelection campaign are a slap in the face to citizens listening to Commissioner Pingie's
recent plea to citizens to "trust us."
- 30 -
That was the text of a press release issued by Bill Belitskus today. It carried the
headline of:
McKEAN COUNTY COMMISSIONER STRATTON CALLS FOR DEPUTY SHERIFF TO REMOVE A
CITIZEN TO STOP PUBLIC INPUT AND PARTICIPATION
CONTACT: Bill Belitskus, (814) 778-5173
Two different accounts of the same event. Mr. Beltiskus' account sounds more in line
with the account I heard given in the daily news summary on the radio last evening. Mr.
Petrisek's accounting sounds more like a glossed over cover-up for Mr. Stratton's bad
manners and bullying of Mr. Belitskus. Why is that?
Lest we forget, it was George that defended Larry in his editorial A man and
his magazine. George, holding Larry up as some saint off to help the poor ignorant
natives of Central America with his church, took the opportunity to take me to task for
writing about what was really going on in the Court House. Little issues like Larry
supporting a low level nuclear waste dump in the county.
That little editorial gave this web site, the web site that he alludes to in the two
paragraphs, a shot in the arm in daily readership that has done nothing but increase since
that day. Thanks George!
George's editorial then is just as laughable as his coverage of what happened
yesterday. It is laughable to the point that anyone who values free speech should be sick
to their stomachs. What is it George? You and Larry old frat brothers? Opps! That can't be
true. You and I are both CSC Alumni.
So what gives? Why didn't you tell the people what really happened?
Had it been me and this was last year you would have printed each and every word. Why
didn't you do it this time with Larry? You don't have to call Larry a disciple of Satan,
but you at least could report what happened. Don't the readers deserve to know? Don't you
think just a little bit?
What seems very obvious to me is that Mr. Stratton is having a problem with legal
dissent.
If you recall George, it was last October when I just got out of the hospital that
Larry called me on the carpet for things that were written on this page when I was out of
commission.
"Then shut it down!" he roared at me about this column and the Mountain
Laurel Review. He was referring to me insinuating that he, Larry Stratton, was
considering raising the taxes on the good people of McKean County by as much as 50%. I
guess because I was off by 7% that constiuted inaccurate reporting.
I don't know about you, but that day I got the impression George, Larry didn't
value an open and free publication like the MLR as is guaranteed in the Constitution. From
his ejection of Belitskus from the meeting, an ejection that you did not comment on
whether or not you felt was justified, Larry doesn't value constituent imput either.
Is that the First Amendment. George? Do they call that Free Speech? If this was Iran,
Larry would have had him put in jail. Reform there still doesn't include speaking out and
questioning the government. Apparently it doesn't here either.
As much as I dislike the rag you write for, I have never advocated shutting it down.
Where would I get my material without you and some of those other hacks who write for it?
Tisk, tisk, George. Would you call yesterday's article Pulitzer material? I wouldn't.
Too bad, too.
Your comments, even yours, George, are welcome at rdhedbud@penn.com.
Have a nice day.
MARCH 5 & 6, 2K
There are no new articles
MARCH 4, 2K
Drifting Off Into Cyberspace BY TOM CLARK
The "search" key is a wonderful thing. Think of any topic, type it in and,
presto, hundreds of web sites relating to what you were looking for. Sometimes, of course,
web sites that have absolutely nothing to do
with what you are looking for will be thrown into the results.
Yesterday I was searching for softball equipment and a site for "Teenage Cyber
Sluts" was tossed into the mix. It's not my bag but I guess it could be a pleasant
little diversion for some guy who is
>looking for a new mitt.
In the October 30, 1999, on-line edition of the MLR, I wrote a column with clickable
links to some of my favorite web sites. I offered my readers a chance to visit with the
Duct Tape Guys, a web site where you
can find a famous person's grave, a taxicam ride through the streets of New York City,
plus a host of other bizarre, zany and interesting web sites.
Since I have no clue of what to write about this week, I thought that I might open up
the "Favorites" files once again and share some of my often-visited spots with
you.
I'm sure that not every one will appeal to your tastes but, to be sure, they all carry
some degree of interest. So, without further ado and my sincere apologies to John Morris,
I present another edition of my favorites:
If you are a closet wise ass or blatantly funny, try your luck at Heckler's Online, a
daily updated site that lets you be the funnyman. My brother Jerry, our friend Scott and I
have all been winners on this site that gives you a recent news story and you have to
submit a punchline. There is also a daily Top Ten list where the reader can submit his own
entry. They receive over 200,000 entries per day, so you have to be exceptionally funny
and/or lucky (EDITOR'S NOTE: OR SICK!) to win. You may find this excellent
diversion at www.hecklers.com.
Would you like to see Hugh Grant's picture when they hauled him into the police
station? Check out www.mugshots.org. for all
of your favorite celebrity criminals on the Famous Mugshots web page. This site is fairly
new but they are adding to it daily.
The Wacky Patent of the Month celebrates the ingenuity of the not-so-practical
inventors. From a combination cigarette lighter and pefume dispenser (call 911!) to eye
protectors for chickens, www.colitz.com/site/wacky.htm.
provides a new patent each month. Beware, though, the site is maintained by
lawyers.
Bored with the daily newspaper horoscope? Try the Toilet Tea Leaves website, described
in the intro as Fecal Fortune Telling. I won't get more descriptive than that, I think you
can figure out what is going on
at www.home.golden.net/~treleavn/toilet2.html.
If you are looking for the perfect song to lampoon a celebrity, try the Ultimate Parody
Site. No one is safe from musical ridicule, including John Rocker and, of course, Bill and
Hillary. One of my favorites is a tribute to Princess Di entitled "Tunnel In A
Benz". You can find this site at www.users.cloud9.net/~chammett.
Click on www.howstuffworks.com. to see the
daily question on the How Stuff Works page. A recent question was, "why does a deck
of cards have
jokers?". I'm not telling the answer, you'll have to go to the site to find out for
yourself.
Do you dread the thought of your precious pet passing on to Doggy or Cat Heaven? For
$500 up front and $10 per month you can have the Genetic Savings & Clone store DNA
from your pet and, when the technology becomes available, get the little guy cloned. www.savingsandclone.com. also advertises this
service for livestock and wildlife.
We've all done it...sing along with a song and not have a clue of what the real words
are. The Archive of Misheard Lyrics can be found at www.kissthisguy.com.
which derived its name for the ultimate Jimi Hendrix song, Purple Haze. You know, the part
where he says " 'scuse, me, while I kiss this guy".
If you are watching an old movie and wondering whether the lead actor is still kicking,
check out www.neosoft.com/~davo/livedead.
for the Who's
Alive and Who's Dead archive.
I get a littled bored sometime trying to sit through a whole movie. At Movie-A-Minute,
the creators have condensed many of the classics into two or three lines. For example,
"The Godfather" was shortened to the following:
Marlin Brando - "Those who cross the family must be punished" (he almost dies,
then dies).
Al Pacino - "I'll run the family business straight now, after I kill all these
people".
The End
You may find Movie-A-Minute at www.rinkworks.com/movieamiute.
If any of these links do not work, e-mail me at tcclark@2-cool.com.
and I will forward them to you. A great source for new and unusual websites
is the Yahoo! Picks of the Day and Week. I'm on their mailing list, which you can sign up
for at www.yahoo.com. Til next week...
And from brother Jerry.............
I know what I look like. Let's see pictures of the blond.
If you wrote this way of Mutant Beach, Jimmy Buffett would love to play alongside the
Tunagauant. "Uni-Mart Burrito In Paradise".
Your Friend in Tourism, Jerry
There is only one problem, Jerry.
Last night I watched the sun, once more a fiery orange red ball slowly sink into the Gulf
from Harry's Beachfront Bar at 6:39 P.M. Harry's bar clock time. The hills are in
the way and the sky is always cloudy. How do you market that?
But then again, we could have tours to Peggy
Comilla's Clock Tower on Old City Hall to watch the sunset. What do you think?
Do you believe the Bradford River Walk has
possibilities? Talk to "his Lordship" and " the sludge king" to see if
we can't get dollars from Harrisburg for it.
Comments are welcome at rdhedbud@penn.com.
If you have a comment on this article please click here.
[ Top ] [ Home ]
[_private/toc_for_second_level_pages.html]
