OCTOBER 24 - OCTOBER 30, 1998
OCTOBER 30, 1998
Trying to do the right thing
It is 30 degrees in Marshburg at 5:02 AM.
"Are you endorsing Bill Belitskus?" I was asked via e-mail yesterday.
"No," I wrote back. "Neither am I endorsing John Peterson," I
continued. "It seems that when I endorse someone, that gives them the kiss of death.
I am staying out of that business. However," I pointed out. "The Bradford
Era has not endorsed him, either. That puts me in elite company along with the CENTER
DAILY TIMES."
There are many things about Bill Belitskus that I like. There are other things that I
adamantly oppose. Today I received his views on logging. I do not agree with them. I do
not believe that what he is saying is based on any scientific evidence, thus making his
opinion no better than mine if I didn't have history on my side. However, I do.
While the clear cutting of the forest that took place at the turn of the century might
have been an ecological disaster at the time, history has proven that out of the
devastation and ashes, nature has the ability to not only fix itself, but fix itself
better than it was. Nature doesn't need our help, either. As long as we don't allow a
clear cut to ever happen again, there is no sound evidence to not believe that the forest,
under a select cut and proper management, will continue as it has for the past seventy
years.
That means our logging jobs will continue. There is nothing wrong with that, either.
Logging is a fine and manly profession. Logging gives us so much of what we depend on
every day. The zero cut philosophy really leaves me wondering what these people use in
their thought processes. If logging has gone on continuously this entire century and we
have the growing and thriving forest that exists, what makes these people believe that
they have come up with some new and startling discovery.
I don't give a good damn about a bat - Indiana or otherwise! I don't care about
orchids or mussels, either. I think the whole thing is stupidity.
One local writer doubts my sincerity.
What's to doubt? I think you always know where I stand on issues. I don't sneak around
with some secret agenda. I am right out in the open making myself a target for whatever
rumor or lie he might want to spread about me. What's not sincere about that?
Attorney, and former Judge, Harold Fink called me yesterday. While Judge Fink and I
have never been formally introduced, we have spoken on the phone several times. I have
always found him to be intelligent and interesting.
It seems that I misquoted him when I wrote that he took Judge Cleland to task saying
that "he wasn't buying the story about not having a second Judge because he had
visiting senior judges 20 days a week." I pointed out that I had received the
information from a person I considered reliable. I also pointed out that I might have
misunderstood him, too. I apologized and now set the record straight. Sorry about that
Judge! Even though you didn't say it, you probably should have. It is a shame that Civil
Trials are ignored as badly as they are. Judge Cleland recently completed one case that
was nearly 11 years old.
Speaking of Judge Cleland, he has increased fees paid to lawyers in cases where he has
to appoint a lawyer to represent a defendant from $40 an hour to $70 an hour. The Bar
Association had been lobbying for the increase. The County Commissioners opposed the
increase and pointed to surrounding counties that look upon these cases as Pro Bono work
and pay anywhere from $25 per hour to $60 per hour.
Cleland failed to appoint anyone for some time and allowed a back log to be created in
these cases so a crisis situation appeared to exist. That set the stage for the lawyers to
make a pitch for $75 per hour. We were prepared to go to $55 per hour, but the
Judge, ruling in his own wisdom, has now given the lawyers $70. Now where does he think we
are going to get the money to increase this one place in the budget by 75%? Unfortunately,
when an increase is made in one area, unless you are prepared to raise county taxes, a
decrease must be made in another.
In light of what I have heard and considering the hardship the School Boards
(particularly the Bradford Area School District Board) have imposed on the taxpayers, I
could never justify any increase in County Taxes just to pay lawyers and expand Cleland's
empire. Something has to give and the time is now at hand.
Comment on this article editor@www.mlrmag.com.
OCTOBER 29. 1998
Slocum's sludge, Peterson's pain, and O'Mara's money
It is 39 degrees and clear in Marshburg at 5:15 AM.
Today is the anniversary of the famous stock market crash in 1929. It was known
as Black Tuesday. The recent collapse was four times greater than the famous 1929 crash
and has since regenerated itself into profits and a stable market.
Is Senator Bill Slocum worthy of being called an "environmental
criminal" instead of just plain old Sludge King? The Mountain Laurel
Review, alone in its coverage of allegations of passing raw solid human waste, known
as sludge, through the Youngsville water treatment facility directly into the Brokenstraw
Creek, now is shown to be on the cutting edge of the news. It now appears that in order to
allay Federal charges, Youngsville has agreed to pay a $75,000 state civil fine for its
pattern of disregard for the law and the environment. We can only guess what will happen
with the federal investigation.
We have made special note to point out that our own Senator Slocum was at the heart of
this flagrant and continuing pattern of disregard for the law dating back to 1992. This
was not a singular incident. This was purposeful and continuing. Slocum and Youngsville
passed solid waste directly into the tributary of the Allegheny River in order to save
money by not hauling away the human waste - sludge. Slocum was the borough's licensed
treatment plant operator and may be still liable his personal part in the offenses. The
size of the fine bears that out.
Congressman John Peterson has spoken out against an editorial that appeared in
the CENTRE DAILY TIMES.
After the newspaper failed to give him an expected endorsement over opponent Bill
Belitskus, Peterson claimed that his record can bear public scrutiny. He was critical of
the paper for not have been allowed to meet with the entire editorial board. He felt he
should have met with three or four writers, instead of just one. John felt sighted! Maybe
he should be in my shoes with Jim Buck reporting what he believes happens at meetings
instead of what really happens.
I can appreciate what the Congressman is saying in his three page denunciation of the CENTRE
DAILY TIMES, but after reading the editorial, I am inclined to agree with it. It is
unfortunate that our Congressman feels that just because he is voting the party line, he
is representing us. It isn't like that. The party is a big animal and has a bunch of
special interests to please. Those special interests are not always in our best interest.
That is obviously evidenced by the neglect of Federal Programs and Funds our part of the
state has historically experienced.
Clinger pointed to public housing for the elderly as his main accomplishment. Peterson
is hanging his hat on Medicare payments for the elderly in rural areas. Wonderful, except
when you consider that Pennsylvania has the largest rural population of the 50 states and
is second only to Florida in a senior population that is like taking credit for air. My
question is:
What have you done for us apart from what is expected?
No, John, it isn't supposed to work like that. If the CENTRE DAILY TIMES failed
to endorse you, go look in the mirror and ask yourself why. Don't whine because they may
lean to a Green Party Candidate. He didn't do that and they didn't do that. You
did! Only one thing matters, John. It's your record. Look on the bright side. At least
they aren't asking to see your military records. By the way, do you have any?
And Cheri O'Mara's ears must be burning every day.
As we continue with assessment hearings on the fair market value of property in McKean
County, the complaint is the same. Everyone who is in the Bradford Area School District
complains about high taxes. City and County Taxes have remained level or have dropped in
over 93% of cases (something never reported on by the other media sources). It is the
School taxes that have climbed 34% on the average since 1995 (something else never
reported on by the other media sources). Absent from the hearing to date is the
media - all of the media - except for me, and I am there in an official capacity setting
the values. Still, I am your eyes and ears and I will continue to tell you what the other
people like yourselves are really saying.
For some reason everyone blames the school board and no one wants to blame Cheri. In a
recent personal letter to me, Cheri pointed out that she was never a kindergarten teacher.
I officially and editorially note that exception at this time. However, perhaps she
should have been a kindergarten teacher and just maybe it isn't too late. If she had been
a kindergarten teacher she might have been for fiscally responsible and not so quick to
spend money and drive our taxes out of sight.
While we all want the best for our children, it is totally unnecessary to renovate and
add on to schools with appointments that rival new Federal Court Houses. We are not the
Federal Government with unlimited funds! We are a rural school district where the average
family salary hovers below $20,000 a year - well below state and federal averages. That
being true, why then must our teachers be paid in the upper 5% of the state? How are we
supposed to afford it?
There are few complaints about the actual value of property. The bulk of complaints are
about the high taxes. We point out that we have no control over that. We say that Cheri is
to blame and that she is.
Comment on this article at editor@www.mlrmag.com.
OCTOBER 28, 1998
Tourism, Museums, and loads of lies
Good Morning! It is now 49 degrees with fog in Marshburg at 5:18 AM.
As an aside, Ralph Nader endorsed the candidacy of William M. Belitskus - Bill,
to most of us. He cites Bill as "a former Vietnam veteran, an
environmentalist, consumer protection advocate and believer in building democracy for all
people." Nader states that Bill "...is the candidate to support and work with
throughout the Fifth District for a better America, a better Pennsylvania."
At the same time, the CENTRE DAILY TIMES REFUSED TO ENDORSE
INCUMBENT JOHN PETERSON.
The Centre County newspaper stated that "Peterson was no Bill Clinger." They
pointed out that Peterson had a long way to go to prove himself as truly representing the
people of the Fifth District. They said that he was too easily influenced by the Party
Line and more often than not just went along with what the bosses wanted.
Didn't we say something like that?
Also, with regard to the Lantz Corners chipping mill, we receive numerous
e-mail communications yesterday, probably from neighbors, all saying; "It's still
damn loud!"
As for the matter at hand, I am at it again.
The Bradford Era headline yesterday was: Beck alleges takeover of
tourism promotions. Yep! That's me. I not only allege it; I insist that "...the game
is already afoot, Watson!"
At the weekly County Commissioners' public meeting, responding to a question from Olean
Times Herald reporter, Kate Sager, I said: "You've got a group of people
attempting to seize control and center the tourism association in Bradford." I read a
letter from Richard Bly, the President of Holgate Toy Company who also was concerned about
the "takeover of the association." I told the people present at the
meeting there was a scheduled meeting with the tourism people at 11 AM and invited them
all to attend because we would be discussing the disposition of public funds ($20,000
budgeted for tourism) and that fell in the direct view of public scrutiny. Unfortunately,
only Kate Sager attended.
Senator Slocum recently described to me a plan to regionalize tourism with it
headquartered in Warren, PA. He later confirmed that plan to Bob Hand, news director at
radio station WESB-AM 1490. In direct opposition to that, Rick Esch, the tourism
association president, publicly denied that any such plan was being discussed. I wanted to
know why we were receiving opposite signs from two people so much involved in tourism.
Also, I wanted to know why Charlie Dach was not being renewed as tourism director for
McKean County.
From the onset of the meeting Esch and I were at odds. As I began to state my position
and ask questions, Esch was more interested in telling the commissioners what a wonderful
person he was and what a great job the Seneca Highlands Tourism Association was doing. I
wanted to know why he and Senator Slocum were sending mixed signals. Esch, while not using
the word, called Slocum a liar claiming that there were no discussions on going, as Slocum
had stated, to combine Warren and McKean under the head of a Warren County Director.
With Charlie Dach present, Esch spoke highly of his accomplishments as a part time
Director but could not and would not explain why he was not being offered the full time
Directorship. As I pressed for an explanation, he once more interrupted and insisted he be
allowed to continue to expound on his and the association's accomplishments. At that point
Larry Stratton angrily jumped into the conversation.
"We have limited time here today," he said. "We don't have time for you
to pat yourself on the back. We want to know why people are removed from the board for not
dressing well enough and why Mr. Dach is being fired."
Esch looked us directly in the eyes, never blinked, and lied through his teeth. He had
come to us in an attempt to sing us a lullaby and put us to sleep so he and his cohorts
could take control, just as Dick Bly and I have said. He had planned for the meeting. He
had a prepared agenda to present to us. It didn't work. We didn't buy what he was selling
and the association should think long and hard about keeping Mr. Esch as their president.
Going back to the Commissioners' meeting, I pointed out that Senator Slocum may
have made a grievous error in giving $20,000 to help the Oil Museum rebuild. While
supporting the oil museum and it's excellent presentation, I said that the oil museum is
located on private property owned by Mr. Bryner and that "...it was not proper for a
state senator to give public funds to a private entity."
While Jim Bryner insisted that the Penn-Brad Oil Museum is a Pennsylvania non-profit
corporation" with 120 members and a non-profit corporate charter, he did not explain
the ownership of the land where the museum is located. As of a half an hour before the
meeting there was no record in the Tax Assessment Office that showed the Penn-Brad Oil
Museum owned the property that it is on. As of that time, Jim Bryner still owned the land.
Is it proper to take state funds and rebuild permanent structures on privately
owned land?
Tourism Promotion Agencies (TPA's) are designated by the County Commissioners. It would
take no effort, just typing up a letter and sending it off to Harrisburg, to designate
someone else other than the Seneca Highlands Tourism Association as McKean County's TPA.
Evidently, according to the report filed by Jim Buck of The Era, Mr. Esch didn't
listen as close as he should have at our meeting. In reference to Charlie Dach as director
he said:
"We want to make sure we get the most qualified candidate for the job. You have to
advertise the position to see what's out there. That says we are operating in a
professional manner."
He said that even though Mr. Stratton specifically referred to what they were doing as
"...trying to re-invent the wheel." He said that even though Mr. Stratton, Mr.
Weaver, and myself all gave Charlie Dach the highest vote of confidence and pointed out
that only Mr. Dach has kept us abreast of what was going on in tourism. We
emphatically told Esch that they had failed miserably in their obligation to keep the
Commissioners informed.
That's where it stands. Will we decertify Seneca Highlands Tourism Association? If we
do, it will be the direct result of Rick Esch and his attempt to smooze us. Comment on
this article at: editor@www.mlrmag.com.
OCTOBER 27, 1998
Small town survival
It is 43 degrees at 5:12 AM.
Staying up to watch Monday Night Football I kept the video recorder on just in case I
fell asleep, as I am known to do. Even though the Steelers barely resemble the exciting
teams of past years, they managed to win in Kansas City. As I stayed awake I used the
Pause button and attempted to not record the advertisements between plays.
The game began at 8 PM and finally ended at 11:16PM. In a three hour and
sixteen minute presentation, only 2 hours and 2 minutes consisted of football plays and
the announcers talking about the game. The remaining one hour and fourteen minutes were
ads. At one hundred thousand dollars plus for a 30 second spot, no wonder they can afford
to pay the players as much as they do.
The people of Kane, PA staged a peaceful demonstration in support of the
logging industry yesterday when Lieutenant Governor Mark Schweiker came to town on a
campaign stop. More than one thousand people turned out and log trucks lined the main
street in town. That was in response to the demonstration at the Willamette Industries
Chipping Mill last week when two demonstrators were arrested for blocking access to the
facility.
The Mountain Laurel Review and some of its staff have been sympathetic to the
complaints of local residents who complained about the noise of the plant. Initially,
there was noise and it was damn loud. The Mountain Laurel Review also took
exception to the way the Planning Office and the former County Commissioners rammed the
project through without considering the potential for the disruption of otherwise peaceful
lives of the residents. However, The Mountain Laurel Review can and will not
endorse or support activity the likes of what took place last week.
A woman chained herself by the neck to the gate at the entrance while a man sat
suspended from a thirty foot tripod over the driveway leading to the facility. Meanwhile,
a fellow accomplice was stationed in the woods nearby with a video camera waiting for a
logger being denied the ability to earn a living to feed his family to react violently.
Their thesis was a protest over the destruction of our forests.
The Mountain Laurel Review and I love our forest. We like clean
air and pure water. We do not trust our governments in Washington or Harrisburg. We
believe that they need to be watched and watched closely. Also, we have little, if any,
use for the bureaucrats of the Allegheny National Forest. That having been said, we
support the continued timbering in the Allegheny National Forest. We
support the continued harvesting of mature hardwoods and the management of that harvest in
much the same way it has been in recent years.
Any idiot who know the least bit about the history of this area could take you to
photographs of the hills that now comprise the Allegheny National Forest from the 1930's.
What you would see would astound you if you were not prepared. Not one tree was left
standing on a single hill. They were all gone, stripped bare.
A giant hemlock forest used to cover this area. The forest was three to four hundred
years old. When the white men finally made peace with the Seneca Indian Nation and Chief
Cornplanter allowed the first loggers to enter this area, only the areas accessible to the
Allegheny River were logged. The huge trees could be taken down and rolled to the river
and floated down to Pittsburgh. There they were cut and initially built the city at the
surrounding area. As time went on more timber went the same route to build Wheeling,
Columbus, Cincinnati, and St. Louis.
When Chicago was devastated by fire, it was the forest here that produced the timber to
rebuild. The hemlocks gave us the expansion that the nation needed throughout the
nineteenth century. The forest was taken down and by 1900 the City of Bradford, PA was
surrounded by barren and treeless hills. Oil derricks took the place of trees and this
area gave the nation the oil it needed to go into the twentieth century. Meanwhile, nature
was taking care of itself.
Hardwood seedlings were growing up around a thriving oil industry. The remaining
hemlock still kept the timber industry alive and along with raw lumber, the remaining
forests produced charcoal for the steel mills of Pittsburgh and Buffalo, wood alcohol for
paint, and even the bark was used in tanning. By the time the Allegheny National Forest
became an entity in 1928, the existing hardwood forest was taking the place of the ancient
hemlocks.
Oil and timber would thrive side by side. Our oil would take the nation through the
depression and supply our needs during World War II. The young trees were cut and fired in
giant kilns and turned into the charcoal needed to produce the steel that built our ships
and planes to help win the war. Even at that, with our nation gobbling up everything we
could cut and produce, the forests continued to grow.
Today, we have a mature forest that is able to supply us with valuable black cheery for
furniture. We have other trees that are used at the chipping mill that produce our paper
and paper related products. One person suggested that while they were sitting in our
County Jail overnight, perhaps we should deny the protesters the paper they just might
need while in attendance as our guests. Where do they imagine that comes from? Do they
think it just grows there next to the toilets in the jail?
I am not in favor of anything like that. However, I am in favor of the punishment
fitting the crime. I am in favor of the victims of their misdeeds being made whole. I am
in favor of the Judge dealing harshly with these people. He knows what protesting is all
about. He did it himself back in the sixties and the seventies.
I believe that the Judge should order these two people to be ordered to pay
restitution to the mill that they closed for the day. The workers who lost pay should be
reimbursed by the protesters. The mill should be reimbursed. Furthermore, the loggers who
were denied the ability to unload and go back to the woods for more loads of wood should
also be paid for their lost time and production.
There has to be a consequence for the actions of these people. While I, as much
as anyone, will support their right to disagree and voice their opinions; I also deplore
their tactics. It is time for this type of behavior to be dealt with legally and severely.
Regardless of what they say, they certainly are not students of history. The
unrestricted destruction of the forest only produced a greater and more valuable asset.
What makes them think for one minute that they know more than anyone else? What makes them
believe that their opinion is the correct one? History proves them wrong and we are not
engaging in the unrestricted cutting of the forest anyway. We are managing our cutting
practices and cutting only mature or dying parts of the forest. That is proper and correct
forestry. That produces jobs and products and helps the overall national economy. What is
bad about that?
Small town life is necessary so they can enjoy the right to spout off and try to save
the deer tick or whatever else is their cause at the time. Without the timber industry
there is no Kane, PA. Without Kane, PA there is no wood for furniture and no furniture
stores and no jobs in the city. Without jobs in the city their mommies and daddies can't
afford to send them to school to become so much more smarter than the rest of us. Then
what would they do? Would they move to the woods and cut down a tree for firewood to keep
warm?
Comment on this article editor@mlrmag.com.
OCTOBER 26, 1998
A little of everything
It is 41 degrees at 5:08 AM. The effects of changing time - remember -
fall back, are still telling on all of us.
Even though we sleep for an extra hour (I didn't!) we still went to bed one hour later.
Generally, most of us would wake up at the normal time which is an hour earlier, which
means we in effect did lose an hour of sleep even though we supposedly got the extra hour
to sleep. Does that make sense to you? All I know is that I am tired.
It was another beautiful weekend. All too soon I will be sitting here talking about how
we were snowbound for the entire weekend. I will be talking about shoveling off the front
walk. It won't be shoveling an inch or two, either. It will be shoveling feet of snow.
Remember? This is an area that measures snow by the foot when we get those Lake (Erie)
effect storms.
For those of you who don't know what a lake effect storm is, colder air flows across
the warmer Lake Erie water, usually not yet frozen, and that produces squalls that dump
feet of snow on us. It all depends if the wind comes directly from the west or from the
northwest as to where it dumps. A few miles makes all the difference between getting
flurries or two feet of snow. That, I am sorry to say, may be only weeks away.
For those of you who are interested, our e-mail feedback on Friday's article
using only locals who knew the parties mentioned, was 37 in favor and 12 against.
Using replies that were from out of the area that identified with similar situations it
evened out a bit. It was 26 in favor of the article, 20 against it.
The twenty against:
-felt that I was against Law and Order.
-They could not understand why I would not support a strong court.
-They felt that whatever money spent on courts was good money spent.
-Thought maybe that I was on the side of the criminal.
-Did not understand the correlation between taxes and what we spent on the courts.
-Did not understand why I would pick on a District Attorney.
-Believed that I was anti-woman because the District Attorney was a woman.
-Could not understand why the voters would elect a District Attorney who would try cases
she could not win.
-Believed that I was not telling all of the story.
-Felt we should raise taxes to support better law enforcement.
-Could not understand how we had so much crime with a population of only 48,000.
Those were typical reactions to the article that keyed in on runaway spending
from people who do not live in in this area.
Locally, however, it was a different story.
The majority of replies supported placing restraints on the spending abilities of the
Judge and the District Attorney. They recognized how the irresponsible spending and the
arbitrary use of public funds did convert to higher taxes on the County level. The
majority of favorable replies were angry.
Those against the article on a local level felt that Judge Cleland and Michele Alfieri
were doing good jobs. One person said that if they were not doing good jobs The
Bradford Era would have told us. I classified that as an against reply, but had
reservations, believing that it might have been sarcastic.
This is your last chance to join in. Tell us what you think. E-mail us before 4 AM
tomorrow at editor@mlrmag.com. Thank you
for your interest and your feedback.
OCTOBER 24-25, 1998
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