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SUNDAY EDITION
WILLIAMSPORT SUN-GAZETTE
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May 18, 2014
213th Year, No. 138
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Democratic race Tuesday
for governor nomination
‘Historic
treasure’
registry
is sought
By MARK MARONEY
[email protected]
ASSOCIATED PRESS
U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz, a candidate for the
Democratic gubernatorial nomination in Pennsylvania,
center, visits with a lunch-goer at Primanti's in Market
Square in downtown Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Democrat candidate Katie McGinty, left, a former Clinton
White House environmental adviser, talks to exhibitors at
a Harrisburg Area Community College job fair
Wednesday while campaigning.
A movement is underway to
place Carl E. Stotz Field on West
Fourth Street — the birthplace of
Little League Baseball and the
Little League Baseball World
Series — on the National
Register of Historic Places.
“It’s a historic local treasure,”
William Kelly, deputy director of
the
Lycoming
County
Department of Planning and
Community Development, told
City Council Thursday night. “It
needs to be recognized at the
(See HISTORIC, Page A-3)
Soap Box
Derby racers
start journey
By CHERYL R. CLARKE
[email protected]
SAMANTHA WALLACE/Sun-Gazette
Democratic candidate for governor Tom Wolf speaks with
Ernie Shreck, left, of Curwensville, and Charla Empfield,
of Williamsport, at the Hepburn Diner in the Hepburn
Plaza on Wednesday. Wolf made a campaign stop in town
ahead of Tuesdayʼs primary, in which he hopes to secure
the Democratic nomination.
(Area races on B-1)
KAREN VIBERT-KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
Democratic governor candidate Rob McCord, center,
talks with, from left, Gini Gonzalez, Jessie Bloom and
Kay and Allen Ertel during a stop at Panera Bread in
Williamsport on Wednesday. His stop here happened on
the second day of a 900-mile bus trip around
Pennsylvania.
Where McCord, McGinty, Schwartz and Wolf stand
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A look at where the four Democratic
gubernatorial candidates — state
Treasurer Rob McCord, former Clinton
White House environmental adviser Katie
McGinty, U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz and
businessman Tom Wolf — stand on some
key issues:
ABORTION RIGHTS
All four candidates support abortion
rights. McGinty says she would oppose
any effort to further restrict abortion
rights.
HEALTH CARE
All four candidates would scrap Gov.
Tom Corbett’s “Healthy PA” plan that
subsidizes private insurance coverage and
instead expand Medicaid coverage under
the 2010 federal health care law. They
would also set up a Pennsylvania-run
insurance exchange rather than the federally run insurance exchange Corbett
chose.
EDUCATION
All four candidates would seek to
restore money that Corbett cut from higher education and public schools to balance
the budget. They also all oppose vouchers
for private schools.
McCord: Would
seek to expand funding
for prekindergarten
programs by $220 million to approximately
$300 million a year.
Would seek to reduce payments to charter
and cyber-charter schools. Would seek to
provide incentives to state-subsidized universities to slow the rate of tuition increases. Would seek to target higher education
tuition assistance and loan forgiveness
programs to graduates of degree programs
that teach skills that are in high demand.
HAYES
EVERETT
By SAMANTHA WALLACE
[email protected]
So what do state House candidates think about public notice
requirements?
In the 83rd Legislative District, incumbent Rick Mirabito will seek
the Democratic nomination on Tuesday, with county Commissioner
Jeff Wheeland seeking the Republican nomination. The 84th
Legislative District will see incumbent Garth Everett seeking the
Republican nomination, while Kristen Marie Hayes, of Jersey Shore,
is seeking the Democratic nomination.
Pajama Design Lab
offers classes for
aspiring designers
At the Pajama Factory in
Studio 17, among the
sewing machines, stacks of
fashion magazines, handdrawn design mock-ups
and limbless mannequins
bearing unfinished designs,
is the Pajama Design Lab.
E
Lifestyle
(See HOUSE, Page A-7)
IN REGION
(See SOAP BOX, Page A-7)
Moves made
to address
VA firestorm
By MATTHEW DALY
Associated Press
(See WHERE, Page A-7)
House candidates weigh in on public notice requirements
84TH DISTRICT
Unlike their predecessors,
today’s Soap Box Derby racers
are a lot more than an old crate,
four wheels and a rope attached
to a couple 2 by 4s to steer with,
and no brakes.
Children planning to race
down Market Street June 14 in
the fifth annual Williamsport
Soap Box Derby got the chance to
find out Saturday during a construction clinic at the Masonry
Construction
Building
at
Pennsylvania
College
of
Technology.
After signing in, the racers,
mostly 8- to 12-year-olds, and
their guardians, including parents, step-parents and grandparents, listened to a brief orientation from Dr. Jim Campbell, who
83RD DISTRICT
MIRABITO
Students study stream habitat
WHEELAND
WASHINGTON — The
Obama administration and
Congress are moving quickly to
respond to a growing political
firestorm over allegations of
treatment delays and falsified
records at veterans’ hospitals
nationwide.
The top official for veterans’
health care resigned Friday, and
House Republicans scheduled a
vote for Wednesday on legislation that would give Veterans
Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki
greater authority to fire or
(See MOVES, Page A-3)
Deaths
Re bec ca Jo ‘Bec ky’
Brown
Frank E. Hall
S. Jean Little
Samuel H. Moo re
Good morning, Steven Woolever
Thank you for subscribing to the Sun-Gazette!
Visit our Web site at www.sungazette.com
... B-7
INSIDE
Anniversaries .....................E-4
Crossword ..........................F-6
Editorial.............................A4/5
Engagements.....................E-4
Stocks...............................D4/5
Television............................D-6
Weather..............................A-8
Weddings ...........................E-5
From Page A-1
Williamsport Sun-Gazette, Sunday, May 18, 2014
A-7
Soap Box Derby
(From Page A-1)
explained what they would do
during the clinic; then volunteers Wes McCracken and Tim
Fink demonstrated how to
check the chassis alignment,
and further assemble the cars.
Participants also received a
helmet and a T-shirt and got to
take the cars home with them
to “practice, practice, practice.”
A set of steel practice wheels
from the ‘70s and ‘80s was put
on each car, because, as
Campbell explained, they are
much more durable than the
wheels that will be on the car
come race day.
“When you take the car
home to practice, there is no
need to put some special decals
on it, just leave the car alone,”
Campbell said, but also, “don’t
be afraid to drive it.”
On June 7, participants
must bring their cars back to
the masonry building where
they will be “teched” and the
racer and their helmet will be
weighed in to make sure each
car weighs the same, around
200 pounds.
The cars also will be
checked to see if they have
been driven during the three
weeks the youngsters have
them.
“The worst thing is if you
come back here June 7 and we
check those brake pads and
there’s no wear on them; we
know you haven’t practiced,”
Campbell added.
The surface the cars are
driven on is just as important,
he said.
“Don’t run the cars on a
gravel road, it is very hard on
the equipment.”
A complete soap box car kit
costs about $600 each, he
added.
“It’s intended to be a
rewarding, meaningful and
positive experience,” Campbell
said. “I know there are a couple
of NASCAR stars here,” he
added.
Since this is the fifth year
the derby has been held, paid
for by corporate sponsors,
including the Sun-Gazette, a
special video will be shot by
Elephant Trunk Films.
For some of the participants
it was their first time; for others, it was another chance to
win an all-expense paid trip to
Akron, Ohio, for the national
championship race.
One first-timer, Zach Miller,
8, was there with his grandfather, Don Metzger. Miller said
he saw a video on YouTube and
that is what got him interested
in participating.
Payton Hammaker, 12, also
there with his grandfather,
Jerry Hammaker, said he
heard about it from last year’s
winner, who attends his school.
“Then he came to me and
expressed an interest in it,”
Jerry Hammaker said.
Hammaker said back in his
day, kids made their own derby
cars out of old crates, wheels
and a rope to steer.
“We used our feet for
brakes,” he said.
Blake Danley, 11, was there
with his dad, Robert.
“We heard about it on the
radio last year and when I
asked him if he was interested,
he said yes,” Robert said.
Campbell said having something for the kids that they
don’t have to pay to participate
in is important.
“It’s not about us as volunteers, it’s about the kids and
their families,” he said.
CHERYL R. CLARKE/
Sun-Gazette
Clockwise from top,
volunteer race
Director Mike Barclay
signs up first-time
racers at the Soap
Box Derby
Construction Clinic
Saturday at the
Masonry Construction
building at
Pennsylvania College
of Technology. Shown
from left are Robert
Danley and his son,
Blake, 11; Zach Miller,
8, and his grandfather
Don Metzger; and
Payton Hammaker, 12,
who was there with
his grandfather Jerry
Hammaker. Paul
Schwarzer and his
son, Austin, 8, of
Williamsport, work on
measuring the
chassis of their Soap
Box Derby car.
Malcolm Ayers, 9, and
his dad, Geoff, work
on Malcolmʼs car.
Where McCord, McGinty, Schwartz and Wolf stand
(From Page A-1)
McGinty: Would propose
rewarding state-subsidized
universities with additional
state aid for keeping an annual tuition increase to below the
inflation rate. Would seek to
reduce payments to charter
schools and fund them based
on “auditable costs.” Would
refuse aid to any charter
school that is operated by a
for-profit company. Would
seek to create a grant program
to help 35,000 middle-income
families of college-bound children
and
create
the
“Pennsylvania
Dream
Scholarship Program” to provide merit-based grants of up
to $4,000 for 10,000 highachieving, low-income students.
Schwartz: Would offer
universal access to prekindergarten for 4-year-olds and provide funding for districts to
offer full-day kindergarten.
Would seek to reduce payments to charter schools and
end state support for cyber
charters. Would seek a twoyear tuition freeze at statesubsidized universities in
return for more state aid to the
institutions. Would seek to
create a new $40 million higher-education grant program
with a family income eligibility
ceiling of $110,000 and maximum grants of $5,000.
Wolf: Would seek to
increase the state’s share of
public school spending to 50
percent of the overall cost.
Would convene a commission
to develop funding formulas
for charter schools and cyber
charters. Would develop a fiveyear funding plan for statesubsidized universities.
MINIMUM WAGE
McCord: Supports increasing Pennsylvania’s minimum
wage to $10.70 per hour and
provide annual increases of 10
cents per year through 2024
before indexing it to inflation.
McGinty:
Supports
increasing
Pennsylvania’s
minimum wage to $10.10 per
hour by 2016, including tipped
workers like waiters and waitresses, and indexing it to inflation.
Schwartz:
Supports
increasing
Pennsylvania’s
minimum wage to $10.10 per
hour and indexing it to inflation.
Wolf: Supports increasing
Pennsylvania’s
minimum
wage to $10.10 over a two-year
period and indexing it to inflation.
PUBLIC PENSIONS
All four candidates would
maintain a defined benefit
pension program for public
employees and would oppose
switching the system to a
401(k)-style plan and further
delaying the state’s annual
pension obligation payments.
McCord,
McGinty
and
Schwartz oppose further
reductions in the pension benefits of public employees, while
Wolf would not say whether he
would support or oppose such
reductions. None put forward
a specific plan to fully fund the
state’s pension funds. McCord
also would support a taxpayerbacked bond to borrow money
at a lower rate to pay down the
pension systems’ unfunded liability.
NATURAL GAS POLICY
All four candidates would
oppose a broad moratorium on
natural gas drilling, support a
moratorium on drilling in
state parks and state forests
and in the Delaware River
Basin, and oppose reducing
local governments’ zoning
authority over drilling activity.
They also would seek to
require exploration companies
to publicly disclose chemicals
used in fracking.
In addition, McCord would
seek a ban on the use of open
wastewater pits and the
waterway discharge of drilling
wastewater that is not treated
to federal safety standards. He
also would seek to rescind the
power of eminent domain by a
company developing a natural
gas storage facility. Schwartz
would seek to repeal a state
law that allows forced pooling.
GAY RIGHTS
All four candidates would
sign legislation to recognize
same-sex
marriage
in
Pennsylvania and ban discrimination based on sexual
orientation or gender identity
in matters of housing, employment and public accommodation.
GUN RIGHTS
All four candidates would
sign legislation to enact universal background checks, ban
sales of assault weapons,
require that gun owners report
lost or stolen guns and grant
municipalities the ability to
enact gun control ordinances.
McCord and Schwartz
would sign legislation to limit
the number of handguns that
one person could buy in an
effort to deter straw purchases. McGinty would not sign
legislation to limit handgun
purchases. Wolf wouldn’t say
whether he would sign that
legislation.
TAXES
All four candidates would
seek to impose a severance tax
on natural gas extraction —
though the amounts they
would choose differ — and
expand the reach of the corporate net income tax by requiring combined reporting.
McCord: Would seek to
repeal the 2-year-old impact
fee on natural gas drilling and
impose a 10 percent severance
tax on natural gas extraction,
with deductions for certain
production-related expenses.
Would impose an excise tax on
the sale of cigars and smokeless tobacco and end the practice of allowing retailers to
keep 1 percent of the sales tax
they collect.
McGinty: Would seek to
impose a “reasonable” severance tax on natural gas extraction. Would seek to increase
Pennsylvania’s income-tax
exemption to allow as many as
200,000 additional households
to qualify for refunds or reductions, which are based on
income and family size. Would
seek to impose an excise tax on
the sale of cigars and smokeless tobacco.
Schwartz: Would seek to
impose a 5 percent severance
tax on natural gas extraction.
Wolf: Would seek to impose
a 5 percent severance tax on
natural gas extraction. Would
seek to change Pennsylvania’s
personal income tax law by
excluding taxation on income
below a certain amount and
increasing the rate to shift the
burden to higher earners.
Would seek to lower the corporate net income tax rate.
MARIJUANA
All four candidates would
sign legislation to legalize
marijuana for medicinal purposes. They also broadly agree
there should be changes in
arrests for marijuana possession. Specifically, McGinty
says she supports decriminalizing the recreational use of
marijuana. Schwartz would
support legislation “to reduce
the criminalization” of simple
marijuana possession. Wolf
supports decriminalizing possession of under an ounce of
marijuana.
McGinty and Schwartz say
they oppose the legalization of
marijuana sales. McCord and
Wolf say before deciding
whether to support legalizing
marijuana sales, they want to
study the experience of states
where it’s legal.
DEATH PENALTY
All four candidates support
either a moratorium on or an
end to the death penalty.
McCord, McGinty and Wolf
agree a moratorium on the
death penalty is in order while
studying its value. Schwartz
would sign legislation to end
the
death
penalty
in
Pennsylvania.
House candidates weigh in on
public notice requirements
(From Page A-1)
Even though the primary election will be all but formality for
those candidates, the Sun-Gazette wanted to give readers an
opportunity to see what the candidates are thinking well before
the fall campaigns begin.
Q: Do you support the printing of public notices in
newspapers as a means to inform the public and make a
public record of government actions and proposed
actions?
MIRABITO: “I support the newspapers, but it has to be looked
at both ways: not everyone uses the Internet, especially seniors on
fixed incomes. Pennsylvania has the third largest group of seniors
in the country, so we have to be realistic about providing physical
notices as well. As time goes on and the percent of people using the
Internet increases, then things might change, but in order to serve
all people, we need to continue it for the time being.”
WHEELAND: “I do, especially because we’re geographically so
large and our topography is such that there are a substantial
number of people who don’t have access to the Internet. It would
be one thing if 100 percent of people had access, but they don’t.
Permanent records should continue to be made — I believe that
there’s nothing better than the newspaper to get that kind of public information out there.”
HAYES: “Absolutely, a lot of people read the newspaper,
including seniors who don’t have access to the Internet. It should
also be available online, in a digital as well as paper copy. We have
the right to know what our government is discussing and planning. This is a major issue for me, because as it stands now, I don’t
believe we have enough transparency or accountability in our government.”
EVERETT: “Absolutely, but it depends on which
Pennsylvania you’re from, meaning that not everyone has the
access to Internet. An affluent county where everyone has
Internet access might think it’s ridiculous to put things in a newspaper, especially when it’s available online, but there are two
sides to it. We do keep permanent record of actions and proposed
actions already, but I agree with physical copies and notices.”
Q: When public notice is required, do you believe governments should be allowed to disseminate and archive
their own information, or is there accountability value to
third-party publication and archiving?
MIRABITO: “I don’t think the government should be the only
archiver of information, especially their own, because that’s
always been, historically, the role of the free press — even at the
local level. I believe strongly that needs to be vibrant, for many
reasons, but of course because we don’t want the government
archiving and then doctoring things.”
WHEELAND: “You need both, again, for those who have
access to websites and those who don’t. With the advent of social
media, getting information out to news outlets and such — TV stations, newspapers, etc. — is quick and easy, but there need to be
physical copies available as well.”
EVERETT: “I suppose there is some value to the third-party
aspect of it, but we change governors and parties and there’s no
vast conspiracy to misrepresent or incorrectly record what we’ve
done or proposed. Governments storing their own information is
still an accurate picture. I don’t see it necessary to pay someone or
an entity to archive other’s information.”
HAYES: “There’s definitely accountability in third-party
archiving. When a politician speaks, you’re hearing information
based on them appealing to their base, but the third-party record
can show something different and be unbiased. Our press is there
to inform us from a nonbiased standpoint, and it should be online
as well as in print. I can’t stress enough that if we believe in transparency and accountability, silencing people and keeping them in
the dark isn’t the direction in which we should be heading.”