JUNE 1 - 7, 1998
JUNE 7, 1998
The Loss of a Child
It was a wonderful wedding. You can't imagine how proud I was walking
Kimberly down the aisle. It was the natural thing to do, to give her to her husband. It
was all the hopes and all the dreams of two families coming together at once. She was a
stunning bride and Jeremy was a handsome groom. It was a happy day.
Marriage and a family is as much a part of life as is death. We had
five generations from our family represented at the wedding. Aunt Rose, 93 years young,
toasted the bride and groom with champagne after fourteen month old Lexi talked through
Pastor Robert Moore's message of good will. Sharyn's parents made the trip to see their
grand daughter married and her brothers stood by, as proud as anyone. We were lucky that
we had everyone there.
Tornadoes tore through McKean County on June 2. Only an hour and a
half before the weather reached us, a mother was driving her son home. They were happy.
They were talking to one another. He was telling his mom about his day. She was listening
to him as she came to their driveway. It was very natural, mother and son together. It was
very much what life is about, listening to the ones we love.
In the wink of an eye all that changed. Turning into the driveway the
young woman did not see the oncoming truck. Driving down the road, the driver of the truck
could not stop. Instants later, a seven year old boy died. From that moment on, many lives
would be forever changed.
You never get over the loss of a child. While we all expect our
parents to die and when they do, we eventually are able to place that loss in the proper
slot of our lives. That is not true with a child.
A child is a part of you. When they die, it is like an arm or a leg
was ripped from your body. It is a wound that will never heal. It is a pain that will
continue for all of your life. It doesn't get better. It only dulls with time.
It was a heart breaking visit we made; speaking to the grandparents,
attempting to console the mother and father. One cannot imagine the pain they must all
feel. One cannot imagine the blame she must be placing on herself. There is nothing anyone
can do. She must find the strength to forgive herself. That will not be an easy task. She
will need the love and the strength of her family. It is not something for friends. The
family must share their loss together.If they do that, they will find a way to overcome
what is ahead.
Unfortunately, all the cliches in the world, mean absolutely nothing.
Until it has happened to you, you have no way on earth of understanding how those people
feel. There is absolutely nothing that anyone can say, and maybe that is why I am doing
such a rotten job of expressing what I am trying to say. It stinks! It's unfair! Why? Why?
Why?
Generations on generations of people have lived and died. What
happened was not unique. I am not trying to say that it is. I am saying that it was
important. I am saying that his death mattered. I am saying that the long range effects
can be devastating. A seven year old died in an automobile accident! It was given page
three treatment in the newspaper. The headline was the story of the tornado. The oil
museum was destroyed!
What is wrong with us? Have we lost our souls? How is it that the
destruction of a few trees and a broken down building are more important to the newspaper
than the life of a child? That does say something about who and what we truly are.
We have all been taught....a time to be born, a time to die; a time to
reap, a time to sow....and so on and so on. That is fine. As I watched our daughter
exhange her wedding vows with a very fine and moral young man, I could not help but cry
the tears of joy. I also cannot help but shed tears of sorrow for the parents and the
grandparents and the family that is affected by the death of Shane.
JUNE 6, 1998
There is no editorial today because our daughter, Kimberly Louise
Snyder is marrying Jeremy Holt of Kane, PA. Our best wishes go with the couple and
Sharyn and I look forward to a healthy and happy family and many grandchildren.
JUNE 5, 1998
A Conversation on Main Street
I had occasion to run into Woody Woodruff on Main Street in
Bradford yesterday. Woody was collecting for the Shriner's Hospital and after I gave him a
donation, he told me of the good works that they did for children. I agreed. Woody and I
both have a soft spot in our hearts for children.
We spoke of the Bradford Regional Airport. That is another subject on
which Woody and I agree. We both recognize that the airport is key to the future of this
County. It is imperative that if we are to continue to grow and not become stagnant, as
other counties around us have become, the airport must be expanded in the true economic
sense. If there is any area where we have been failed by the area OECD and the County
Redevelopment Authority, it is right there at the Airport. Where is the industry that is
commonly associated with an airport?
The Airport Authority has over 100 prime acres available for
development. John Piper came to town last year and made a pitch to use some of that
acreage. I was in favor of doing what we could to attract him and even took it upon myself
to make first contact with the Governor's Action Committee to attract industry. When it
was turned over to Penny Eddy, it fell flat on its face. The last I heard, the grandson of
the famous aircraft manufacturer was going to build in Bowling Green, Ohio.
Then we discussed the Solid Waste Authority. I pointed out to Woody
that the County, Township, and the School District could really benefit from the taxes
($300,000 a year) a private company would pay if we sold the landfill. I also pointed out
the best and most complete offer would take the county out of 15.66 million in debt and
leave with a 2.4 million dollar profit. That, I pointed out, and a $1.00 per ton royalty
on every ton placed in the landfill for its life. (Based on the authority's own
projections, that would be 2.5 million over the next 20 years.)
Woody pointed out that people had a problem with losing control. What
he did not realize was that we have no control right now! I explained to him that the
members of the Solid Waste Authority answer to no one. They are not legally responsible to
the voters and the taxpayers. If they mismanage the land fill, as I believe that that they
are, they have no individual or collective liability. Once the commissioners appoint them,
that is it. That is why Jim Weaver and I would not go along and appoint Dick Kallenborn.
We cannot sue them as stockholders in a private corporation might sue the
management team for decisions that cost profits and otherwise wreck the company. No, the
members of the Solid Waste Authority can waste 5 million dollars studying and re-studying
a lechate treatment plant, as they have done, and then build one that is too small, still
truck lechate to Port Allegany, and never be forced to answer to anyone. That is the law.
"Where is the control?" I asked. Once we appoint
them, that is it. Woody said that he didn't realize that. He also said that the
majority of the people of the county didn't realize that either. That was when I pointed
to the front of The Bradford Era, only feet away, and said that it was his
responsibility to educate the people about the whole subject. Woody agreed.
I anxiously await that story in The Era. I anxiously a. wait some
genuine research into nightmares that other counties have had with similar authorities and
situations that would wake up a sleeping populace. Really, while Woody may have the best
of intentions, not everyone shares his feelings.
When I pointed out that certain members of The Era mis-stated stories,
either inadvertently or on purpose, Woody disagreed. At that juncture, we agreed to
disagree, but the point was made that the people were uninformed on the issue of the
landfill.
I told Woody that we would have more control with a private corporation than
with the Authority. I explained that a private corporation would have to keep the
community on their side. The Authority can tell us all to go to hell. They in essence are
doing that by charging us more than anyone else to use our own landfill.
The conversation ended with Woody and I shaking hands. That was how it
began. Woody is a fine fellow. At least we agree on children and the airport.
JUNE 4, 1998-HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY BROTHER BOB!
The Truth About Garbage
The Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling, and Waste Reduction Act, Act
101, P.L. 528, was approved by the General Assembly of Pennsylvania on July 28, 1988.
Along with the many requirements and mandates that were placed on the counties in the
Commonwealth, it also gave counties the right to establish a monopolistic situation in
which all municipal waste could be directed to one landfill. McKean County, on
August 12, 1991, enacted the Municipal Waste Flow Control Ordinance.
Under the Ordinance, all Municipal Waste must go to the landfill operated by the
McKean County Solid Waste Authority. Because it is under a madate and the authority of the
Pennsylvania Legislature, no one has ever thought to question its legality. That is, until
now.
The Constitution of the United States of America forbids states from
passing any law that conflicts with Federal Law. That was affirmed long ago. President
Andrew Jackson threatened to place the State of South Carolina under martial law and send
in Federal troops unless it repealed its law stating that all Federal Laws must first be
approved by the State Legislature before being law in that state. The Pennsylvania
Legislature can not pass any law that conflicts with Federal Law, and if that situation
should inadvertently happen, Federal Law is supreme.
Interstate Commerce is regulated by Federal Law. It is forbidden under the
Interstate Commerce Act, and was affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States in the
very formative years of our nation that "no state may interfere with commerce between
states." McKean County appears to be in conflict with Federal Law.
While it does not regulate or interfere with commerce between states,
The McKean County Solid Waste Authority does participate in Interstate Commerce. It
receives solid waste from New York and receives payment to take that solid waste. The
operation of the McKean County Solid Waste Authority, therefore, should be regulated under
the law of Interstate Commerce. If that is true, then the ordinance enacted on August 12,
1991, is invalid. It is in the respect that the monopoly established directing all
Municipal Waste from McKean County to the McKean County Solid Waste Authority is illegal
under Federal Law as it restricts free trade.
It is also illegal because the residents of McKean County are victims of
discrimination. That is true in the sense that we are not afforded the opportunity to
participate in a free market system and obtain for ourselves the lowest price possible.
The residents of McKean County are forced to support the bureaucrats of the Solid Waste
Authority by paying more than the fair market price for waste disposal.
What is a fair market price for waste disposal? Is it $42.00 a ton, the price we
pay to the Solid Waste Authority? Is it that, or is it lower? I took the time and I found
out.
Sixty miles to the south in Kersey is the Greentree Landfill.
Greentree was once a bureaucratic nightmare for Elk County just as our landfill is to us.
Greentree was once in debt just as ours is currently 15.66 million dollars in debt.
Greentree was once out of compliance with state regulations just as the very earliest cell
in our landfill is as of this date. Then it was privatized.
Greentree is currently owned by Superior Services, Inc. of Milwaukee,
Wisconsin. The residents of Elk County pay $30.00 per ton for waste disposal. Superior
Services, Inc. have offered McKean County companies engaged in waste disposal a fair
market rate of $38.50 per ton if they choose to bring McKean County waste to the Greentree
Landfill.
Some might call that a low price designed to attract business. I would
say this to those people. Superior has offered McKean County residents a tipping rate of
$38.00 a ton if they purchase our landfill. They have also offered to guarantee that rate
for a number of years and then increase it only by the amount that the consumer price
index increases each year.
They have also not only offered us a substantial profit after our debt is erased
(2.4 million dollars), they have also guaranteed us a one dollar per ton royalty on all
waste place in the landfill for the life of the facility. In addition to that, they will
also pay nearly $300,000 a year in taxes to the county, township, and the school district.
Please explain to me how we gain by holding on the the McKean County Solid Waste
Authority? How does any government ever gain by supporting non-productive bureaucrats who
drain dollars from the tax payers?
We are paying too much for garbage! It has to stop. Sell the landfill
and get us out of debt! If you don't want to do that, then we need to revisit the illegal
flow control ordinance and live up to Federal Law. We should be allowed to get lower
prices when they are available. They are available today.
JUNE 3, 1998
TORNADOES, TOMATOES, ANGELS, AND WITCHES
Shortly after 5 yesterday evening, my phone began ringing. The
National Weather Service had issued an immediate Tornado Warning for Marshburg, PA. I live
in Marshburg.
A cold front that originated in Canada was moving through the area in
a southeasterly direction. I was in the yard planting one of the amazing tomato plants I
wrote about yesterday. My friend, Bob Cummins, had dropped it off earlier in the day and
noted to me that the conditions were optimum. It was in advance of the full moon and just
before an arriving cold front. As I finished I could heard the distant rumbling of thunder
to the northwest and Sharyn noted how dark the sky was getting.
This area has a history of tornadic activity. In 1986 we had the
monster tornado that killed several people in Kane and litterally destroyed thousands of
acres of timber land and many structures and homes before leaving the area. Then it turned
northwest and went on to Chautauqua County, NY and then Canada to continue its
destruction. Also, in 1881, the town of Eden was destroyed by a tornado. When it was
rebuilt, it was renamed Marshburg.
First, Jeremy (my future son-in-law this Saturday) called to warn us
of the imminent danger. That sent Sharyn scurrying with two dogs and two cats to the
basement. Myself, with my planting done and my first Canadian Club and Soda in my hand,
went out on the front porch to take a look. Almost immediately, my niece, Andrea, called
with a similar warning.
It was black to the north and black to the south. A strange reddish
yellow color was to the west and the winds were changing from the north to the south to
the west to the east. It was difficult to determine in which direction the clouds were
travelling. Sharyn was calling from the basement for me to join her.
I have a healthy respect for the phenomena known as tornado.
As a weather observer instructor at the Air Force Weather School in 1971, I once took my
class out on a rooftop of the school to observe a passing group of funnel clouds that
never touched down. That bit of on the job training for my class earned me a near Article
15 and loss of a stripe. I realized then and there that tornadoes were nothing with which
to fool.
Then came the rains. We had hail and the wind for a brief few minutes.
As my wife continued to call, I began to sing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."
Thunder exploded above and around my home. It seemed to travel in a circle that started to
the north and ended to the southwest. Then there was blue sky.
The storm divided over Marshburg. Could it have been the influence of
the angels that had come to help me with the planting? One cannot say for sure. I would
like to believe so, but it would be presumptious, and disrespectful, for me to even
continue with that thought. Then the phone began to ring once more. Reports of a tornado
setting down to the northeast of Marshburg in Custer City (The headquarters of The
Mountain Laurel Review) and DeGolia were given to us. Our daughter, Kim, rode out the
storm in a basement of the school in which she works in Custer City.
The Oil Museum is gone! Evidently, the hundred year old oil well and
the accompanying museum was lifted up and taken away. Perhaps the residents of Oz
now have an Oil Museum. One can only hope that it landed on a deserving witch. I certainly
have one in mind that is very deserving and can only hope. It is a serious loss to our
area and a valuable gain for Oz. Hours, thousands of them, from interested volunteers,
went into its creation and maintenance. Valuable artifacts, all donated by area residents,
are gone, lost forever. It is a tragic loss.
John Gates, reporter at large, checked in and reported the roads that
were blocked by downed trees and lines. U.S. 219 was a mess as were all entrances to Lewis
Run. Rew Hill was closed and the fire companies were out giving assistance. Lewis Run to
Bradford, Custer City to Rew, trees were uprooted, lines taken down, and structures were
destroyed.
The storm moved on to Western New York and continued to do its damage. We were
lucky. In the wink of an eye, lives could be lost. We were safe. Marshburg was spared and
with luck my tomato plant was blessed by angels. With danger so close to my family, I feel
that I was, also.
JUNE 2, 1998
Angels & Tomato Plants
"You're trying to tell me it is angels!" DeLeon
exclaimed. "You're saying angels make plants and animals on earth! Who taught you
biology? Dr. Seuss?"
"Listen," Rotheraine said. "When you look at the stars
and planets in the heavens you are looking at the work of the angels. Their energy is
absorbed by Earth and thus life is created." It was then that DeLeon seemed to begin
to understand.
"This would explain why ancient cultures throughout the world had
what appeared to be a superior sense of architecture and knowledge of astronomy."
"That's right," Rotheraine said.
"They must have been taught by the angels. Am I right in
assuming what they called gods are what we call angels?" Rotheraine could not believe
the sudden enlightenment. DeLeon continued. "I've wondered, like thousands of others,
probably millions, how the pyramids were built. Places like Stonehenge had a wisdom behind
it that exceeds what historians are able to tell us about them."
"That's right, Clark,"Rotheraine said. "Now,
if you build one organic tomato hill according to Evergreen Elm's instructions and study
how the cherry tomato plant grows, then you'll begin to learn how angels create life on
earth. You'll see a microcosm of how mountains and valleys are broken down into substances
for us to eat. You'll learn the rhythms of the stars and planets as you pass trhrough
nature and come to the creators of nature, the angels."
Rotheraine continued. "If there is such a thing as a 121 Selke Biodynamic Cherry Tomato and stellar
enhanced seeds, it changes our science and history. It leads us, the himan race, to our
true origin, true science, and true history. We will have to throw the book away."
DeLeon astutely observed, "The big corporations and the
agriculture and science universities won't be pleased. This is real trouble for The
Philadelphia Inquirer and The Mountain Laurel Review if plants like you
claim really exist in McKean County.
Rotheraine disagreed. "It's bigger trouble if the realities of
science and history are not immediately give to the world. The angels must be studied and
their energies used creatively. If we do this, peace and health can exist world
wide."
Listening to that conversation, even then in late 1993, made
me wonder about angels. It was the fourth month I had reported on those
amazing tomato plants. I saw one up colse and personal. I tasted the tomatoes. I saw and
believed that a twelve foot high plant could actually yield 2,000 or more tomatoes. Even
at that, listening to them, it appeared that I was expected to believe in the angels, too.
Ironically, only days after the issue of The Mountain Laurel Review this story
originally appeared in was distributed, Time, on December 27, 1993 ran the cover
story, "The New Age of Angels." On the magazine cover they reported that
69% of Americans believed that they exist and even asked, "What in the heaven is
going on?" Indeed! What in the heaven is going on? Twelve foot high tomato plants
that produce 2,000 tomatoes. Either there is some super duper super grow formula acting on
a single seed, or, 179 million Americans are not wrong!
Time reported that the idea of angels is universal. It is not
limited to the faith of the Jews, Christians and Muslims. Angels are found in Buddhism,
Hinduism, and Zoroastrianism. There are winged figures in ancient Sumerian carvings.
Egyptian tombs, and Assyrian reliefs. Angels are reported in more than half the books of
the Bible and Moslems believe angels are present in mosques to record the prayers of the
faithful. Even modern day Billy Graham wrote a book in 1975, Angels:God's Secret
Agents. One of our favorite angels was old Clarence in "It's a Wonderful
Life."
One hundred forty-two million Americans (55%) believe that Angels are
higher spiritual beings created by God with special powers to act as agents on earth.
Thirty-two percent (73 million Americans) have personally felt an angelic presence in
their lives. Forty-nine percent (138 million Americans) believe in the existence of
fallen angels, or devils. If good angels give up the Selke Biodynamic Tomato Seeds, then
fallen angels must certainly give us poison ivy and crab grass and ticks.
L.A. Rotheraine tells us that "...those
humans who would keep the science of biodynamics for themselves to keep the people
ignorant, only have to do it for a few more years. Soon it will be too late to reverse
their hold on us." Mr. Rotheraine appeared on Public Television last night. He
appeared and continued to tell the same story he told me and Mr. Gates in 1993. He has
since continued to take the greatest number of awards annually for vegetables grown at the
McKean County Fair and his knowlege as a Master Gardener is acclaimed statewide and in
various national circles, also.
The handicapped people of McKean County directly benefit from the sale
of seeds. At the same time they are carrying your freedom and the lost history of the
human race on their shoulders. This may sound ludicrous, but look around you and see the
conditions of the world in which we live. While we have plenty in America, look at the
nations that are starving.
I have grown one of these wondrous plants, as have many of my friends.The fruit
has a taste of its own. It is sweet and it gives you peace. Seeds (12 of them) may be
obtained by sending $6.00 to Evergreen Elm's Horticulture Therapy Program, Room 804,
Hooker Fulton Building, Bradford, PA 16701. Make checks payable to Evergreen Elm H.T.P.
Larry Rotheraine may be contacted after 8 P.M. by phoning 814-362-5394.
This article in its form first appeared in The Mountain Laurel Review in
1993. All rights are reserved. Clark DeLeon is a noted columnist for The
Philadelphia Inquirer and an area television personality, as well as a member of the
prestigious Pen and Pencil Club.
JUNE 1, 1998
Who do they really represent?
Each day I watch the progress on Routes 59 and 770. The
funds for the improved roadways were made possible when the new gasoline tax was passed by
the Republican controlled legislature in Harrisburg. The funds being earmarked for McKean
County were part of the gravy because our local representatives, Ken Jadlowiec and Jim
Lynch gave not only their support to the measure, but helped convince other
representatives to give their support also.
The improvements became a reality following The Mountain Laurel
Review running a series of articles about how dangerous Route 770 was and made an
issue of the speeding trucks and the poor condition of the road. When a speeding west
bound tanker carrying highly flammable materials overturned, it was then that I sponsored
a ten ton weight limit on the road which would ban big truck traffic. Eventually, the west
bound up the hill lane was limited to less than ten ton vehicles.
The improvements on Route 59 were for the trucks. The idea being that a better
road would eliminate the resentment. It has worked. Route 59 has been widened and repaved.
Route 770 is also receiving the repairs that have been long overdue. Even the eastbound
truck traffic has begun using Route 59 with more regularity. Good job, Ken and Jim.
With that in mind, what on earth were they thinking or exactly who did
they believe that they were representing when they both supported the new tax shifting law
for school districts? Do they believe that we are really that naive or ignorant to
understand that they did not live up to their promises when they both asked us to support
the Homestead Act? They promised us tax reform. The new law is anything but that.
This bill originated in the Senate. It appears to me that the Senate
must be filled with alot of Republicans who once were Democrats like our own Bill Slocum.
This was not a reform. It is a new tax! Slocum can change his affiliation, but can never
change his colors. Just another tax and spend Democrat!
When I talked to Mr. Slocum the day before this travesty was passed, he told me
that he supported it even though it was not in the spirit of what the Homestead Act was
all about. It was the best they had to offer and they evidently felt that they had to do
something. It would have been better if they had adopted the old adage, "The
government that governs least, governs best."
I lobbied Mr. Jadlowiec and Mr. Lynch to no avail. They both held the party line
and gave the bosses what they wanted. No one had the courage to stand up and say that this
bill stunk and did not give the taxpayers and voters what they asked for with the
Homestead Act.
What they did is not tax reform. It is tax shifting. It will place a
tax on wages and in all probability never reduce property taxes. It is a new tax given to
us by our three representatives. Why? What possibly could have been in their minds when
they supported such a measure? Who were they representing? Certainly they were not
representing us when they went along to get along. They failed us on this one and we need
to tell them so.
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