MAY 9 - 17, 1998
MAY 16-17, 1998
CENTRAL AMERICAN VISITORS
Warren and McKean Counties literally have over ten million visitors
from Central America. They are the Canaus Plexippus. In every day language,
it is the Monarch Butterfly and they are here.
As spring comes to the floral jungles of Mexico and Central America
and the daily temperature increases from 71 degrees to 102 degrees, the Monarchs gather
and begin their migration. They swarm into groups of several thousand and start north.
Their trip will cover over 1,800 miles. It will take nearly three months.
The Monarch butterfly has a wing span of only four inches but it
is able to travel as much as 50 miles a day. It will use currents of wind that seasonally
change and accommodate the winged visitor. These currents of air have existed for
thousands of years. Perhaps they have existed from the earliest times of our history and
the ancestors of this butterfly have traveled them like we would use US Route 6.
During the trip north the mature Monarch butterflies will stop along
the way. They will deposit eggs and eventually die. However, the young will hatch, mature,
and then somehow continue to the same area as the mature parent had been the summer of the
previous year.
The Monarch has a bad taste to predators. Its coloration: reddish
brown wings marked by black veins and a black border with two rows of spots, warns off
hungry birds that instinctively know.
As summer comes to an end, even before we are aware of the coming
change, the Monarch butterfly begins the journey south. Catching an ancient current of
southerly air, it heads back to warmer climate and winter jungle flowers. There it will
stay until spring when once more it will travel north.
Join with me and welcome these friendly Central American visitors.
They are not here as illegal aliens. They are here as welcome guests. Take a moment or two
and enjoy the beauty of this welcome guest.
MAY 15, 1998
WHAT'S BECOME OF OUR VALUES?
India detonates five nuclear devices and Pakistan prepares to answer
with their own tests. Ho hum! Ellen Degenerate goes off the
air. Oh my!
The tests in India really don't affect us. India is a long way
away and what do underground tests really mean anyway? Our lives still go on.
However, when admitted and proudly proclaimed Prime Time lesbian, Ellen Degenerate, does
her last show (hopefully forever), there is some sense of disappointment. Why?
The body of a two year old boy is found in the trunk of a car in
nearby Chautauqua County following a week long search on the heels of the stabbing death
of his mother. The Bradford Era determines that it is not close enough to us to
be considered news. At the same time several days and many columns of ink are devoted to
Seinfeld's last show. That is news because it was probably the most popular television
program in northwestern Pennsylvania along with the entire nation. Why?
Is it because we have become hardened to death and there is not enough
comedy in the world? Do little boys die at the hands of abusers so often that it has
become just another item to bury on page three or ignore altogether? What is
becoming of us?
If I phoned my children and asked them about the news I would bet they
would consider Seinfeld's last show as news. If I mentioned the fact that
Frank Sinatra died of a heart attack last night, I seriously doubt that they would think
much of it. Old men die of heart attacks all the time. Seinfeld does his last show
only once. After that there will be no Seinfeld. Frank who?
While I never realized that Frank Sinatra ever played any part in my
life, when I first heard the news at 4 A.M. this morning, I was drawn to my
collection of records and eight track tapes. I counted seven long play albums in
Stereophonic Sound and six eight track tapes. Frank Sinatra at the Copa with him
singing My Way was always one of my favorites.
I can recall hours that I sat and just listened to his music. I can
remember the peace that it gave me as I escaped from a life that was too hectic and often
more than I wanted to face. Is that why Seinfeld is so important to so many today?
Are we lacking peace in our lives? Perhaps we are.
As close as Edinboro we see the tragic and shocking events of children
taking up fire arms and murdering people in cold blood. Around our nation we have children
taking high powered rifles and ambushing their fellow classmates. Why? Are
guns too readily available to these children? Some might say yes to that but I wonder if
it is the fault of the guns and the gun owners? I wonder if the blame or the cause might
not lay somewhere else?
Where was the peace in their lives? Where was the comedy? Why
did they have to kill? Why did they feel compelled to kill for no real or apparant reason?
Were they outraged or were they just looking for some kind of attention? Were
they angry and if they were, why? Alot of questions weeks and months after the fact
that the media will never ask and will only go on to the next killings or the next
cancellation or whatever.
Our world has become too large for us to comprehend. Too many
people feel helpless, useless, or both. Too many people have no peace. That is why they
turn to alcohol and drugs. Too many children have no peace. That is why they also
turn to alcohol and drugs and also feel compelled to take up weapons and kill so that they
can be noticed. That is why the death of a two year old in nearby Chautauqua
County is not news in McKean County. That is a shame.
Values? We believe we have them and I am sure we do. We pay them lip
service. We casually look the other way when elected officials circumvent the law.
We quietly accept bureaucrats making deals that affect each and every one of us. We ask:
"What am I to do?" Then we go on with our lives. Days and weeks slip by and it
has been more of the same old same old.
This person dies, that series ends, and so and so is a lesbian. So what?
Life goes on and someone else takes their place. India detonates five nuclear
devices and maybe McKean County is the designated place for a low level nuclear waste dump
site. What did you say?
MAY 14, 1998
ARE LIES OF OMISSION REALLY LIES? (or, government behind the scenes, business
as usual.)
City of Bradford Mayor Connie Cavallaro was the subject of the Comment
of the Day yesterday. The comment was made by me about her when I said
that...."I heard what you said on the radio and read what was reported in the
newspaper. Your nose is going to grow, Connie. You and I both know that you knew
what Ray McMahon was doing."
I was kind in the way I said it, but Connie was lying. Connie
said that she had not participated in any secret meetings in the same way that Kathy
Kelly and Cheri O'Mara said they hadn't. Put like that, it is the truth. Neither
Connie, on behalf of the City of Bradford, nor the two Mall Shoppers, on behalf of the
School District, had attended any meetings. That is 100% accurate.
What is a lie is the fact that the City and the School District had
not participated at all. What is a lie is the fact that the Mayor and the
Superintendent had no knowledge of what was taking place. If we are to believe that, or if
it is in fact true, then the Mayor and the Superintendent should both resign because they
have failed miserably in their responsibility to the taxpayers. It is their job to
know something of this magnitude.
Ray McMahon called the meeting. The last time I checked he
allegedly worked for the city. Paul Timbrook represented the School District. John
O'Connell represented American Refining Group; and solicitor Jay Paul Kahle and chief
assessor Dave Evans represented the county. They in fact did meet. ARG in fact did
ask for a deal.
The fact they met was finally confirmed by The Bradford Era.
The story Refinery seeking lower tax bill appeared in the Wednesday, May
13, 1998 edition. In the story Reporter Jim Buck confirms the Gates story and the fact
that meetings had taken place.
John Gates' story, posted on this web site in mid-April and later
published on April 29 in THE MOUNTAIN LAUREL REVIEW, was and is
100% accurate regardles of what Ray McMahon, Director of the Office of Economic and
Community Development says. McMahon's public comments about the Gates article and its
content are lies. Not lies of omission; but lies.
Gates never said that he knew the deal as McMahon alleges. Of course
Gates didn't know the name of the machine ARG wanted to buy. Gates did say and ask about
how Witco operated all of these years without this vital piece of machinery.
He also asked why the taxpayers should subsidize ARG in the form of lower taxes so
they can make the purchase. The fact that these meetings were taking place at all is
significant. It becomes so because this is the way these people conduct business.
They do busines in secret. McMahon sees himself as some kind of McKean
County answer to the Trump Empire. Afterall, like Trump, McMahon has a building
named after him. We have Arvid Nelson to thank for that. We also anxiously await McMahon's
own book, an extension of sorts, to the Trump book The Art of the Deal. What
could the title be for this collection of experiences that have led to Bradford becoming
what it is today? Perhaps Darkroom Deals or maybe even One
For You, One For Me, None for the Taxpayers. (Just kidding, of course).
When people like McMahon are left unchecked and allowed to operate on
their own as we and The Bradford Era have recently reported,
then elected officials have an obligation to do something. They have that obligation unless
they are part of these sneaky little deals that only hurt the little guy more than he is
already hurting. (Not kidding here.)
There is no doubt in my mind that Kelly, O'Mara, and even Connie knew that this
was going on and what it was all about. That was wrong and they should now come
forward and admit it. It is time to cut out the lies and admit that a problem exists. In
the light of day things are never as bad as they seem. In the light of day maybe
someone else just might have a solution that works. At that point there would be no need
for lies of omission.
MAY 13, 1998
IT ISN'T ENOUGH!
The Bradford Area School Board has failed in their responsibility to the
taxpayers. While school enrollment has remained constant, spending has
increased at an alarming rate. Holding a public meeting and giving the okay to a tentative
spending plan just doesn't sit well with many of us.
It doesn't sit well because there is no explanation as to why taxes
must increase 10%. They say that there is increased spending, but on what? Why
is it so necessary that we spend all of this extra money in the first place?
The standard threat is that they will be forced to cut programs if
they don't get the increases that they need. Making the threat to cut a program is
usually all it takes. We will have alumni from around the world who attended Bradford High
who will all make empassioned pleas and very sound arguments as to why the rifle team or
the music program should not be cut. As they make those arguments, I agree with
every one of them.
There is no reason to cut programs. What we need to cut is the
administration of the programs. How many school districts the size of the Bradford
Area School District have a $45,000 a year Public Relations Director? Why was this
position necessary? Even if it was, why couldn't it have been filled by an entry level
person who just graduated from school? Starting salary for that position should have
been in the area of $22,000. Why such an extravagant pay scale?
Why pay Cheri O'Mara $80,000 and give her a car, too?
Superintendents with the proper credentials for the same size school
districts are paid in the area of $60,000. They are persons who have achieved some
status in the education community and have distinguished themselves by completing the
proper program and have been awarded their doctorate degree. Our superintendent has not
done this.Judging the track record of runaway spending under her administration, it seems
that the woman at the helm has a shopping mall mentality when it comes to fiscal
restraint.
George Evans, at $45,000, appears to have better credentials than O'Mara.
O'Mara taught kindergarten. Evans taught at St. Bonaventure University and was a professor
of journalism and mass communications. He also worked for an architect in private industry
and would have a better understanding of business in the real world. Certainly much more
than our present Superintendent who can only spend and spend and spend.
When does it stop? When do taxes remain level? When is enough, enough?
Before long, who can afford to live in the Bradford Area School District?
They deny a deal with ARG. If they deny it and are forced to
employ the services of their Public Relations Director to speak for them, then why were
they so insistent that the county come to the meeting they called?
At the current market value of 7.2 million dollars on the refinery,
ARG receives a 32% tax decrease over what Witco paid in 1996. The School
District collected $141,000 then, and would collect about $100,000 on the 7.2 million
dollar assessment. They wanted to allow ARG to pay less than that! Why?
For every dollar they reduce ARG by, it is that much more we have to pay.
Something is wrong with this thinking.
They tell us they need more money. They tell us they have to
raise taxes 10%. They don't explain why we need the new 1.2 million dollars.
They fail to tell us how much money they lost from the state because of excessive
absenteeism. Is that the $150,000 hole in the budget? It seems to me that the
two figures just might coincide.
I have been part of a management team that overcame an enormous deficit and now
has balanced a similar budget. We did it by living within our means and
knowing where every single penny was coming from and where it would be spent. The
Superintendent, the fiscal director, and the School Board have the obligation to give the
taxpayers the same results we have given them.
The taxpayers deserve to have their dollars spent in a much more
conservative manner than what has been the past practice. It is time to put an end to the
non stop increases in our taxes. We deserve an itemized accounting of where and how the
additional 1.2 million dollars is going to be spent. If it isn't on students, then
don't spend it!
MAY 12, 1998
RIVER WALK FOR BRADFORD?
For those of us who have traveled like Jerry Clark of SIGN
DESIGN, we are sorely aware that we are lacking in the area of River Walks.
San Antonio, Texas, has a River Walk and it is one of the great
tourist attractions for the entire state. Major hotel chains have constructed 400
room hotels along the River Walk and quaint little Mexican Restaurants offer their ethnic
delights to tourists from all over the world. Peddlers offer Mexican hats,
dresses, leather wares and brass wares in stores and on corners as well as various alcoves
along the walk. The people love it!
What's more, the City of San Antonio loves it too! A one percent sales
tax has been levied for the purpose of maintaining the tourist attraction. The River Walk
costs the taxpayers nothing and the city actually comes out ahead on the deal. Local
school taxes are now non-existent because of the excess revenues derived from the walk.
Since 1976, the River Walk has produced a surplus in each and every
year. The cost of maintaining the continuous water flow, picking up papers, running
the little river taxis that carry tourists from restaurant to restaurant, bar to
bar, and back to their hotels has by far been exceeded by the tax collected on all sales
along the walk. The same could be true for Bradford!
Mr. Clark, a noted tourism advocate, envisions the River Walk
beginning at the new Pitt Campus Hyatt Regency Hotel (now currently being negotiated for
with the able help of OECD Director Ray McMahon). Mr. Clark has told The
Mountain Laurel Review that LERTA status for 100 years will be necessary to attract
this major piece in the River Walk puzzle. He has also told us that Mr. McMahon has
staked his reputation on his ability to deliver the 100 year - 100% tax free
status to the Hyatt International Corporation.
We are also told that Kathy Kelly and Cheri O'Mara are firmly behind
this plan even though they have declined comment to the MLR and have denied that any such
plan exists on WESB'S RADIO TALK SHOW, Live Line. Bradford
Mayor Cavallaro was unavailabe for comment, but we are confident that Mr. McMahon will
inform not only her, but the rest of the City Council as to their final decision after
the fact, as has been his practice in the past. Thus the River Walk will go on.
The first lock must be built near Mutant Beach. This is
necessary in order to maintain water level in times of drought. San Antonio, with a
much smaller water supply has found this to be very viable and very manageable. This is
key to the project.
The local residents and major users of Mutant Beach have already begun
the protests. Complaining that Callahan Pool is too far of a walk and citing
the fact that public transportation is unreliable, not to mention their adamant opposition
to the chlorinization of the water in the pool, they have begun circulating
petitions in opposition to the destruction of their historic site.
"Three generations of my family, all of us on welfare and
residents of the Housing Authority, have used this beach," one resident who asked to
remain nameless told us. "This is an outrage!" he insisted. "It is an
absolute outrage."
A second lock will be constructed on the spot where the famous grocery
cart rests just to the east of the Corner Bar and Restaurant. The water level will be
raised to a height just below the outdoor deck. We are told that the parking lot of the
Corner Bar and Restaurant will be eliminated by the Cummins Construction Company and be
replaced by a white sandy beach. While she was unavailable for comment, we
understand that Dianne Cummins, owner of the popular downtown spot, has applied to the
City for a permit to allow outdoor bathing on the new California style beach.
Old City Hall now becomes the keystone of the entire plan! We
have learned that City Clerk Peggy Comilla and OECD Director Ray McMahon are negotiating
with Hilton Hotels to renovate the historic building and open and exclusive Bed and
Breakfast. A year round walking tunnel will be constructed in order to allow patrons easy
access to the shops and other restaurants that will soon line the walk. A roof top
restaurant, Ray's Roost, is scheduled to open in early 2001 and
will offer and an exclusive French cuisine, complete with male wait persons and imported
Champagne.
A final lock will be constructed above the Mill Street Bridge.
There will be an overlook constructed complete with an informational kiosk so that
visitors can observe, first hand, the cleanup operations that have begun and scheduled to
be completed in the year 2347 at the ARG Refinery.
Penny Eddy, Director of the County Redevelopment Authority, has given
her stamp of approval to this plan. She has pledged County Community Development
Block Grant Funds for the next forty-one years to the project. When asked about the
funding for the Super Cupboard Program, the MLR was told by an unnamed and uncooberated
source that she said: "Let the little welfare rats starve! These funds are for
concrete, not food."
Mr. Clark has told us that the new Bradford Area Alliance of
Businesses and Businessmen is firmly behind this plan also. "With that kind of
brain power behind us, how can we fail? After all, these are the men and the leaders that
have made Bradford what it is today."
He has also told us that the noted real estate attorney, Chris Hauser,
is currently spearheading the plan to acquire the property along the famous waterway.
"It is Hauser's expertise that is key to this plan ever coming this far. He has shown
us how to set up deals. He does it so fast, no one hardly knows that the land has even
changed hands. He has made it so that we can overcome every hurdle. Chris is really
important to the River Walk. One of the taxi stops will surely be named after him."
Thank you Jerry Clark. You are The Mountain Laurel Review man of the day, today,
May 12, 1998. Good luck with the Bradford River Walk.
MAY 11, 1998
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?
Judge John M. Cleland refused to allow Kathryn Jacobus to have her
mother's body examined after death to determine whether or not she had indeed suffered
from the diagnosed illness of altzheimers disease. Keep in mind that it was also
Judge Cleland who:
1.
Refused to allow Ms. Jacobus the right to visit her mother while she was a
patient at the Lutheran Home in Kane, PA. That
decision stemmed from a 1994 Mother's Day arrest of Ms. Jacobus when the Home
refused her admission.
2. Refused Ms. Jacobus' motion in court to allow her mother to continue to be fed.
Cleland's order to allow the Lutheran Home to deny Dorothy Jacobus all forms of
nourishment led to her certain death from slow and painful starvation. Mrs. Jacobus only
suffered for a little over four days following Cleland's order.
When Kitty Jacobus petitioned for an autopsy it was John Cleland who
once more stood in the door. Having secured the services of the eminent pathologist, Cyril
Wecht, Ms. Jacobus wanted to finally know if the diagnosis of the Lutheran Home was
indeed correct. Cleland blocked that for all time when he allowed the remains
of Dorothy Jacobus to be burried without an autopsy.
We fail to see what the problem was and even question Cleland's
motives along with his alleged Judicial detatchment to the case. Cleland has had historic
ties to the Lutheran Home in Kane. We wonder aloud if he was not concerned that the
findings of such an autopsy might not have proved the long standing contention of
Kitty Jacobus that her mother was not a suffering altzheimer's patient?
Now, on May 11, 1998, the United States Government will exhume the
remains of the UNKNOWN SOLDIER of the Vietnam War. They are doing so because several
family members of one MIA have insisted that the remains are those of their brother. The
United States Government is allowing this issue to be settled and give possible closure to
the sisters of this man who has been missing for over 25 years. The United States
Government is allowing one of the most sacred sites in this nation to be opened and the
remains of a fallen hero to be disturbed. Why?
What is the difference between disturbing the remains of the UNKNOWN
SOLDIER and allowing an autopsy of Dorothy Jacobus just to put a daughter's mind at rest?
Is there a difference? We do not believe that there is.
We cannot expect John Cleland to understand the importance of the tomb
of the UNKNOWN SOLDIER. He actively protested and resisted service during the
Vietnam War. That was his right to do so. After all, this still is America!
However, we would expect him to understand the concerns of a daughter who fought to keep
her mother alive.
Is it because HIS order allowed her to be starved to death that HE refused to
allow the autopsy to be performed?
Was he that much afraid of the possible truth that he wanted the facts to be
burried once and for all?
We cannot answer those questions. We can only ask them. After
all, this still is America!
MAY 10, 1988
SCHOOL TAXES TO INCREASE AT LEAST 10%
Most school districts have superintendents whose names begin with
"Doctor." Bradford Area School District has a superintendent we call
"Cheri." Our superintendent never completed a doctorial study. She was a
kindergarten teacher. It shows.
Recently, Cheri casually announced that school taxes would have to
increase by 1.3 million dollars over last year. That is more than
what is allowed by law. In the year immediately following a reassessment
school districts are allowed a maximum increase of only 10%. 1.3
million dollars is $150,000 over what is legally allowed.
This is not the first time that Cheri has been so casual with figures
that directly affect what the taxpayers are forced to bear. This is not the first time
that the figures have seemed to just change. Remember when the plan was conceived to
close schools and renovate and expand others? We were told by Cheri and the School
Board that it would cost us 23 million dollars. We were told by Cheri and the
board, specifically her side kick the Prom Queen, that "they were borrowing the money
to make money." That was 1994.
Today is a different story. The 23 million became 35 million.
Already insiders are aware that the renovations will cost us even more if they are
to be completed as they should. It seems that there might be a few errors and
omissions in the original design. On the bright side, the construction trades in the
city are doing okay. On the other side, the taxpayers have years of steady increases
ahead of them.
While enrollment has remained steady, the school district's
budget continues to increase. The new budget does not address any possible increase
in teacher's pay with a new contract staring us right in the face. Where will that
money come from if we are forced to come up with new benefits and a 4% to 8% increase on
top?
The new tax bill is a joke. It must pass a referendum by the
voters in the school district two seperate times. Both legislative bodies in the
State , The House and the Senate alike sold out the voters who gave them the HOMESTEAD ACT
in good faith. Our own Senator Slocum must take the blame as he knew that he was
voting for a bad piece of legislation. Still, he went along with what the Party
wanted and did not have the courage to act on his principles. Why am I not surprised?
Give the voters the right to vote on the budget! That is true
tax reform. Give the voters the right to tell Cheri and Kathy to stop spending our
money like it is water. Let us approve where and how our money will be spent.
If there ever was taxation without representation, the present way the Bradford Area
School District is managed could easily be a model for it.
MAY 9, 1998
WE ARE NOW A DAILY ONLINE NEWSPAPER!
News stories will be posted daily. We will attempt to offer the news and slants on the
news where the public has been misled. For example: Cheri O'Mara and Kathy
Kelly, while appearing on WESB's live talk show, LIVE LINE,
were asked about the article in the MLR about a possible deal with American
Refining Group. Both denied that any deal was ever contemplated and both denied that
there was any truth to the article written by John Gates. Both are liars.
Not only is John Gates' article 100% accurate, but we will soon publish more of the
misleading statements made by O'Mara and Kelly on that live interview and in response to
phone in questions. Watch this place for more stories and commentaries as they
happen.
If you have a comment on this article please click here.
[ Top ] [ Home ]
[_private/toc_for_second_level_pages.html]
