I'm from Pittsburgh and I can't stand Phillies fans but this is the only time I'll applaud them. Speaking of sports by the way:Last night, the Phillies honored Jimmy Rollins for passing Mike Schmidt to become the team’s all-time hits leader. The team gave Rollins and his wife matching Gucci luggage and an all-expenses-paid trip to Italy. (No, not to play baseball there.) They also showed congratulatory messages from Nick Foles, Bernie Parent, Rickey Henderson (who talked a bit about himself), Derek Jeter (which reminded me it’s really a shame how infrequently the Phillies play the Yankees), Jill Biden, and Mayor Michael Nutter.Also, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett, who was booed by the fans. There wasn't even a reason to boo, as it was a recorded message. He wasn't there to hear the boos! - Philadelphia Magazine, 6/24/14
While the report may show that Corbett didn't have any political aspirations during the Sandusky investigation, it does show a good amount of incompetence on his end:A review of the investigation into child sex abuser Jerry Sandusky found no evidence of political interference but said missteps slowed the case.The probe, ordered by Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane, followed suggestions she made during her campaign two years ago that Gov. Tom Corbett, when he was attorney general, might have deliberately delayed the investigation into the disgraced assistant coach at the state's legendary football program.
Kane said there were "crucial missteps and inexplicable delays in bringing a serial child molester to justice."
"This was a full and fair review," she said Monday. "The facts show an inexcusable lack of urgency in charging and stopping a serial sexual predator."
The report, however, found no political influence in the 32-month state investigation. - USA Today, 6/23/14
By the way, Kane's not the only one being a thorn in Corbett's side. His own party isn't really doing him a lot of favors:The ultimate verdict of Moulton's report is that delays in the case are ultimately attributable to investigators failing to ask the right people the right questions soon enough.Decisions along the way - immediately to put the case before a grand jury, to seek other corroborating evidence rather than filing charges based on just one victim, and then holding the presentment for several more months to finish tracking down leads - all "fit within the acceptable bounds of prosecutorial discretion," according to Moulton.
The problem - to the extent one existed - was not with the decision-making, but rather with the investigating.
"Different investigative choices early in the investigation might well have generated a far stronger case against Sandusky" far earlier on, according to Moulton.
Had investigators known "that the simple step of asking local police departments for imformation about Sandusky would have led to additional victims, they presumably would have taken that step far earlier," he concludes.
One of the reasons they didn't, the report indicates, is in part they misunderstood the rules of expungement of records from the state system - that any records from the earlier 1998 investigation of Sandusky would not be in the statewide central registry because by law unfounded cases must be removed.
It was the discovery of this 1998 incident that led to four additional victims and a significant expansion of the case.
The report says: "The single most productive investigative step step did not happen until the investigation was over two years old."
It adds: "While the ultimate value of that step is only fully evident in hindsight, its potential value should have been clear from the outset."
The report also examines the late date of seeking a search warrant for Sandusky's home.
While it notes that such failures are actually common in child molestation cases around the country, it says: "the failure to search Sandusky's residence earlier in the investigation is difficult to defend."
By the time investigators considered getting a warrant, senior members of the Attorney General's office were concerned the "probable cause" could be considered "stale" by the courts and therefore encouraged further investigating to find more victims.
The report indicates prosecutors were consistently concerned that their only witness was "very fragile" and would - if charges were filed - be going up against an "icon" of the Penn State football program, and that if the prosecution failed, it would severely hinder any subsequent prosecutions even if additional victims dared step forward.
The report concludes with recommendations for the future.
One of them is that the Attorney General's office should identify cases early on that merit increased scrutiny from the executive level.
Ironically, in the end, the report concludes that Corbett's sin was not paying too close attention to the Sandusky investigation, but rather perhaps that he paid too little attention. - The Patriot-News, 6/23/14
Yep, Corbett's become Rodney Dangerfield where he gets no respect. Meanwhile, Tom Wolf (D. PA) is out on the campaign trail talking about manufacturing jobs:Republicans on the Pennsylvania House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday approved a spending blueprint that would hold the line on taxes, but would scale back increases for education and human services proposed by Gov. Tom Corbett while relying heavily on the unlikely sell-off of the state's wine and liquor operations.The next stop for the $29.1 billion budget plan for the fiscal year starting July 1 is the floor of the Republican-controlled Pennsylvania House of Representatives, even though changes loom in the Senate.
The 21-14 party-line vote culminated more than two hours of partisan debate over the proposal, which relies partly on a plan to privatize the state liquor stores whose passage is far from assured, in the final week of a tumultuous fiscal year.
"This is a solid spending plan that puts the priorities of our citizens first," said Rep. Bill Adolph, R-Delaware, the committee chairman.
Democrats said the funding increase for public schools, in particular, is inadequate.
"It is a half-a-loaf kind of budget," countered the panel's ranking Democrat, Rep. Joseph Markosek of Allegheny County. "What message does this budget send to the citizens of the commonwealth? It looks as if we have given up, that we don't care about their needs."
Overall, it would scale back Corbett's proposed $29.4 billion plan by about $300 million in an effort to help resolve a projected $1.7 billion imbalance in his plan, largely torn open by collapsing tax collections. It would increase spending by about $727 million, or almost 2.6 percent, over the current year's approved budget.
In the Senate, leaders from both parties have been meeting privately to discuss their strategy for balancing the budget, but a consensus has yet to emerge. In any case, the passage of any plan to sell hundreds of private retail or wholesale liquor licenses is essentially dead.
Corbett, a Republican who is running for re-election, has complicated the always tenuous budget negotiations this year by demanding reductions in future public employee pension benefits as a condition for his willingness to consider a tax increase to close his budget's shortfall.
Democrats are pressing for higher taxes on the booming natural gas industry and tobacco sales, but the House Republican bill would not raise taxes. - The Sentinel, 6/25/14
While this month's polling has showed Wolf with a 20 point lead over Corbett, we can't take anything for granted. Corbett has a big war chest and he will spend every penny of it to dupe voters so we need to be ready. We also have a great shot at taking the State Senate. So click here to get involved and donate to Wolf's campaign, State Senator Mike Stack's (D. PA) Lt. Governor campaign and to the Pennsylvania Democratic Party:Wolf stressed the importance of a skilled workforce able to meet the needs of advanced manufacturing, a centerpiece of his Made in Pennsylvania manufacturing plan."We have the ingredients to figure out how to create a cradle-to-grave education system that reflects the needs of a 21st century society," he said.
Wolf first took his manufacturing plan on the road last week to a Pittsburgh-area company, Chelsea Building Products, , which supplies parts for the Wolf Organization, the corporate parent of Wolf, a kitchen cabinet and building materials supplier.
Both are sixth-generation businesses that date to the 19th century, said Wolf, who toured the C.F. Martin & Co. factory in Upper Nazareth Township with his brother, a longtime fan of Martin's acoustic guitars.
During the hour-long tour, Wolf's guide, CEO Chris Martin, pointed out the products' cosmetic features and structural supports as employees sanded, cut channels and laid inlays.
Dee Frable, a 12-year employee of Martin Guitar, said she's heard "[Wolf's] good. That he does what the people want."
"I hear you're going to win," she told the York Democrat, who enjoys a sizable lead over Gov. Tom Corbett in early polls. The election is Nov. 4.
Frable installs rosettes, a "more mental" job she bid on as a change from installing braces.
"You've got to really use your brain," she said.
The Wind Gap resident said she's not sure what Wolf or his Republican rival can do to create more manufacturing jobs, but she hopes they'll support small businesses.
"I like to see small businesses flourish," she said. "I'd like to see a lot of smaller businesses get a hand up. Like Martin, they started out little, and look where they are."
Under Wolf's job-creation proposal, modeled after one in Oklahoma, manufacturing companies that generate at least $1 million in additional taxable payroll could receive a cash payment of up to 5 percent if they meet certain thresholds. The plan requires those new jobs be full time, pay at or above the county wage and come with competitive health benefits.
Employers would have to maintain the jobs for five years or return the money.
Martin chimed in as Wolf emphasized education and training that is both broad and specialized and relevant to the marketplace. Workers need to be comfortable with changing technology, Martin said, while putting in a plug for community colleges.
Wolf touted an innovation grants program that he said would connect students from Pennsylvania's colleges and universities with emerging manufacturers to move from theory to the market. - The Morning Call, 6/24/14
