Wows & Scowls
Scowl: The big boys in Harrisburg have demonstrated once again that they know how to take care of their own. Retiring state Sen. Joe Conti of Bucks County, a Republican, got a $150,000-a-year job overseeing the state liquor control agency, courtesy of a hiring by none other than Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell. This time the inside ball game was so secret that not even Liquor Control Board Chairman Jonathan Newman knew about it. Rendell’s spokeswoman says a nationwide search would not have turned up a better candidate than Conti. Question: How do you know that if you never advertised the position and did the search? This is yet another reason for the taxpaying public to be skeptical about Harrisburg. Wow: Welcome to Emmanuel I. Osagie, the newly named chancellor of Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus. He’s scheduled to start work Feb. 1, replacing the departed Dr. Gregory Gray, and comes here after serving in administrative positions at The College of New Jersey. He wants to move the campus to the next level and we wish him well in that effort.
Wow: The federal government finally started tackling a big problem with this week’s raids on meat packing plants in six states, which netted more than 1,200 arrests of illegal immigrants. Five percent of those rounded up also face identity theft charges, meaning they used forged identities. A nation that prides itself on the rule of law cannot ignore the prosecution of those who break the law. The U.S. might not be able to deport 11 million illegal immigrants at one time, but rounding up 1,200 at a time is a start that sends the proper message.
Wow: The former Brownsville Hospital is poised to open its doors as the Brownsville Tri-County Medical Center, re-establishing urgent care and laboratory services for the community, with the possibility of outpatient surgery being added later. Brownsville Property Corp. President Frank Ricco said the long-range plan is to pursue a full hospital license. It’s good news for an area that deserves a medical facility.
Scowl: Why would Brownsville Borough Council President Jack Lawver write to the Fayette County commissioners asking for “financial assistance” to cover the borough’s $50,000 operating deficit? When the county faced its own fiscal crisis a few years back and had to raise its real estate tax rate 60 percent to get its house in order, did it seek help from any of the county’s 42 municipalities? The long-term solution for Brownsville officials, as unpalatable as it may be, is to either cut costs or raise their own real estate tax rate.
Scowl: For the month of October, Fayette County ranked 66th among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties with an unemployment rate of 6.2 percent. Greene County’s rate of 5.7 percent gave it a ranking of 62nd. Washington County fared much better, with a 4.7 percent unemployment rate and ranking of 31. While all of those numbers are low compared to the 1980s, indicating that much progress has been made since then, we yearn for the day when Fayette and Greene at least rank in the middle of the present-day pack.
Wow: Congratulations to Terry Ronzio II, 43, of Holbrook, Greene County, who finished a 500-mile walk to show support for U.S. troops fighting the war on terror.