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Organizers of Democratic Governor-elect Tom Wolf's inauguration said the celebration will be comparable to those of other recent Pennsylvania governors.
And like past inaugurals, the Jan. 20 events will likely take on their own character.
For example, Republican Tom Ridge celebrated his re-election in 1999 with two days of festivities, including a flyover by Pennsylvania National Guard jets, a concert by '60s recording stars and a lavish inaugural ball in Hershey.
Ridge's term was interrupted when President George W. Bush tapped him as the nation's first homeland security secretary following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Ridge's successor, Mark Schweiker, limited his inauguration to a swearing-in ceremony on the Capitol steps. Instead of an inaugural ball, he held a private dinner reception for friends and relatives.
So far, Wolf's inaugural schedule on Jan. 20 includes:
The swearing-in of Michael Stack III as lieutenant governor. The ceremony will be held in the Pennsylvania Senate Chamber at 10:30 a.m.
Wolf's swearing-in as Pennsylvania's 47th governor at the Capitol. The ceremony is set for noon, however, guests must be seated by 11:30 a.m. Gates open at 10 a.m. Tickets are required and can be obtained for free on the inaugural website.Inaugural exhibit of the Pennsylvania Arts and Children's Program at The State Museum of Pennsylvania, 300 North St., in Harrisburg. The museum will be open from 10:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.; the children's program will take place from 1 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. No tickets are required.Open house hosted by Wolf and his wife, Frances, at the Governor's Residence, 2035 N. Front St., in Harrisburg. It's set to take place from 3 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. No tickets are required. Shuttle service will be provided."Let's Get Started" inaugural celebration at The Hershey Lodge, 325 University Dr., in Hershey. The event is set to run from 8 p.m. until 11 p.m. Tickets are required. They can be purchased on the inaugural website.
"We're pleased to invite Pennsylvanians from throughout the commonwealth to help celebrate the inauguration of the 47th governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Wolf," said former Gov. Ed Rendell, honorary chairman, Wolf Inaugural Committee. "We have a number of exciting events scheduled to make inauguration day memorable for Pennsylvanians who join Governor-elect Wolf for this momentous occasion."
Wolf has capped all donations to his inaugural committee at $50,000. He said he will disclose all sources of funding over $500 on Jan. 15 and March 30.
"I am committed to openness and transparency. To reaffirm this commitment, my Inaugural Committee will reflect these important values," Wolf said.
A longtime shopping mall in Northampton County is heading to the real estate market.
The Palmer Park Mall in Palmer Township is being sold by its corporate parent, the Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust.
It's one of five shopping malls the company says it's looking to sell this year as part of a strategic restructuring.
The company did not disclose the asking price.
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The Dallas Cowboys' newest good-luck charm has been attending games on the team owner's dime.
A spokesman for Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he attended Sunday's game between his beloved Cowboys and the Detroit Lions as a guest of owner Jerry Jones.
The spokesman said Jones provided transportation and the ticket at no expense to state taxpayers. He cited the state's code of conduct, which said the governor may accept from relatives or friends gifts paid for with personal funds.
It was Christie's third game on Jones' dime.
Twitter was abuzz again over Christie's attendance at the game. Some tweets joked that Jones rejected Christie's attempt at a high-five. Others said Christie has become a good-luck charm for the Cowboys, who next travel to Green Bay.
Christie has taken considerable ribbing about his allegiance to the Cowboys, who are bitter rivals of the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants, teams favored by most New Jerseyans.
Christie has said he's been a fan since he was a kid and isn't ashamed of it.
Christie is weighing a run for president. Jones has contributed to Republican candidates in the past.
The Cowboys rallied to beat the Lions 24-10 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Christie and Jones embraced each other in a hug afterward.
The out-of-state trip Sunday is one of several Christie has planned over the next several days. He attended the visitation for former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo on Monday. He will be in Massachusetts on Thursday and in Iowa and Ohio next week for inaugurations of those state's governors.
As Bethlehem police try to piece together what led to the fatal stabbing of a man inside his own home Sunday, the victim's family say more could have been done to prevent the tragedy in the first place.
“We're devastated. We were all just laughing and having so much fun the day before. We were all looking forward to so much,” said Elizabeth Weadock, daughter of Michael Edward Weadock.
Weadock says her 58-year-old father had been living at 'The Lodge,' a transitional home for adults with mental challenges for almost two years.
“It's a leg up for the mentally ill to try and get them stabilized, and make sure they're taking their medications, make sure they're going to their doctors' appointments,” said Weadock.
On Sunday, a family member was on his way over to watch television with Weadock when their world was turned upside down.
"By the time my uncle got there, the crime scene tape was up," said Weadock.
Police say at 12:22 p.m., they got a call from Emanuel Cotto who told dispatch he had killed someone inside the apartment at 414 Fillmore Street.
Court records say when police arrived, Cotto told them "My roommate is in there, but he is not alive, I took him out."
Upon investigating, police found Michael Weadock dead on the floor, with multiple stab wounds to his torso, head and face.
"You don't ever prepare yourself for something like that--how could you know? I really didn't want my dad in that house with him," said Elizabeth who claims this wasn't the first time Cotto had pulled a knife on her dad.
“My dad had caught him eating peanut butter out of his peanut butter jar with his hands and my dad asked him if he could please stop and if he needed any to at least use a fork and eat some on bread. He hit my father and he pulled a knife on him,” she said.
Bethlehem Police Chief Mark Diluzio says they're currently looking into the prior incident as part of the investigation and adds Cotto's mental health will be up to the courts to decide.
According to Weadock, the previous altercation occurred less than a month ago and was never fully settled,
“They had taken my dad out of the residence and then placed him back there after a week or two saying that all the issues were resolved,” she said.
A spokesperson with the department of Resources for Human Development, which runs 'The Lodge,' says they're fully cooperating in the investigation but cannot make any comments at this time.
Cotto is being held at Northampton County Prison and faces one count of criminal homicide.
Life Lessons. >>> eve tannery: New research is showing that race and economic status are major factors when it comes to having a healthy baby.>> jaciel cordoba: WFMZs Nancy Werteen tells us more in Life Lessons. >>Nancy: Every pregnant woman wants to have a healthy baby but it turns out there are some women who are at a higher risk for complicated pregnancies and because of this their babies can have problems at birth and in their first few years of life.This new research says African American infants are two point five times more likely to die than white infants.One doctor has set up a program trying to help at risk moms get the support they need. >>nat sound (working in office) (:01) >>nancy: today amber broadus has a stable job working at a bank.but when the single mom of three was pregnant with her last child, she wasnt sure she would make it. >>Amber Broadus Mother of Three "i was at a point where i wanted to give up.I was at a point where i wanted to abort my third child." (:05) >>nancy: then she found moms-2-b.its a program started by pediatrician patricia gabbe (gabby) that supports women like amber throughout their pregnancies and their babies' first year of life. >>Patricia Gabbe, md Pediatrician and Founder of Moms2B I've always had a heart for caring for the underserved." (:03) >>nancy: the women meet weekly to receive nutritional education, access to health professionals and emotional support. >>Patricia Gabbe, md "i wanted to help moms feel their pregnancy is so valuable." (:03) >>nancy: one of the programs main goals is to reduce premature birth rates.african american women have an especially high risk. >>Patricia Gabbe, md "Stress of living in inner cities, rapid repeat births." (:03) >>nancy: moms-2-b has enrolled over 350 women and welcomed over 150 babies. >>nat sound (talking) (:02) >>nancy: tanikka price is a volunteer at moms-2-b. despite getting pregnant in college, the mom of six graduated from law school. >>Tanikka Price Volunteer and Mother of 6 "You can still go to college, you can still go to law school, you can still live all
Police have released surveillance video of a Chester County man who went missing last month in Pittsburgh.
Police believe the man in the video is 22-year-old Paul Kochu. It was taken near his home on the south side of Pittsburgh in the early morning hours of December 16th, which is the day he disappeared.
His father George Kochu, who is also known as Jack, said he is relatively certain the man staggering in the video is his son.
He said, "It looks like he is walking and he is in some amount of discomfort or pain. So we think that he was injured in some way and somehow."
Sources said Paul and his roommates went to a bar the day before he went missing.
Paul left early, but called his roommates to help him with a cut on his hand he got on a broken drinking glass.
After the roommates helped Paul, they went to get something to eat.
When they returned home, Paul was missing, along with his cell phone, wallet and keys.
His car was still parked outside of the home.
Paul moved from South Coventry Township to Pittsburgh to attend Duquesne University.
He graduated and became a nurse at Allegheny General Hospital.
Family members have made several trips to Pittsburgh to find Paul, but they haven't had any luck.
Kochu said, "Helplessness is what I'm feeling right now."
Police are now using sonar equipment to search rivers.
The community has come together to hand out flyers and offer free meals to the family.
The father said, "We are hoping that Paul is alive. We're hoping that someone is taking care of him. We're hoping that someone will call the police soon and let them know that they have Paul, that he is okay, that he is hurt, that he is hungry and that we can come and get him as soon as possible."
Police are also looking through surveillance video from several banks as well and the family is offering a $20,000 reward.
Brad Osborne unanimously was elected chairman of the Lehigh County commissioners Monday night.
Vic Mazziotti unanimously was elected vice chairman.
No other commissioners were considered for either position during the brief 2015 reorganizational meeting.
And both men were approved with no pre-vote discussion by the other commissioners.
Osborne will take the seat of Lisa Scheller, who has served two years as chairwoman of the nine-member board.
The votes put Republicans, who hold a 7-2 majority on the board, into both leadership positions.
David Jones, the previous vice chairman, is a Democrat.
Both Osborne and Mazziotti will have to win re-election later this year if they intend to remain on the board beyond 2015.
So will fellow Republicans Scheller and Amanda Holt.
Holt was appointed commissioner in July to complete the unexpired term of Commissioner Scott Ott, who resigned last spring to move to Texas.
This will be Osborne’s second stint as chairman of the county commissioners. He held the position in 2012, his first year as a commissioner.
"The board's selections come as no surprise,” said Lehigh County Executive Thomas Muller, after the meeting.
Muller, a Democrat, said he had emailed his congratulations to both Osborne and Mazziotti.
Scheller made the initial nomination of Osborne to succeed her as chair. But Commissioner Percy Dougherty reminded her that, under Robert’s Rules of Order, the chair cannot nominate or make a motion.
Holt then made the motion for Osborne to become chairman and Dougherty seconded it.
After the vote, Osborne thanked his colleagues, saying the position as chairman “requires a lot of trust and entrust.”
He also thanked Scheller for leading the commissioners for the last two years, including through “many difficult discussions.”
He told her: “You’ve helped us come to solutions that serve not only the county but also the taxpayers.”
The commissioners applauded Scheller.
She later thanked them for allowing her to serve as chairwoman, calling it a privilege and an honor.
Scheller said she looks forward to Osborne and Mazziotti leading the board in 2015, adding: “I’m absolutely confident they will do a fantastic job.”
Commissioner Michael Schware nominated Mazziotti to be vice chairman. That was seconded by Jones, who was vice chairman.
After the vote, Mazziotti thanked his colleagues, promised to do his best and commended Jones for the “excellent job” he did as vice-chair.
“I look for his assistance, guidance and support,” said Mazziotti.
One reporter was the only person in the audience at the short public organizational meeting in the county government center in center-city Allentown.
When Scheller adjourned the meeting, Jones declared: “That’s a record.”
“Nine minutes,” said Commissioner Geoff Brace.
“I wanted to have the longest meeting and the shortest meeting,” joked Scheller.
An early October commissioners meeting, on amendments to the 2015 county budget, lasted nearly six hours.
After Monday night’s meeting, Scheller said she decided not to seek the chairmanship again because “I really thought it was time for some new leadership on the board of commissioners.”
New leaders’ goals
At the commissioners' next meeting on Jan. 14, Osborne said he will speak in detail about the direction he would like to lead them in 2015.
But after Monday’s meeting, Osborne said one of his top priority goals will be “to review, shape and — where missing —initiate policy that directly affects the finances of the county, as carried out by the administration.”
He said doing that is a core responsibility of the commissioners. “If we get on it quickly and do our job well, we’re not going to be making what I would call systemic changes when we get to the budget season.”
Osborne said another priority goal will be to reconstitute commissioners’ committee meetings, which usually are held in rapid succession beginning at 5:30 p.m. on the same nights when their semi-monthly full board meetings begin at 7:30 p.m.
“I want to make them more productive,” he said of the committee meetings. “At times in these meetings, we end up asking questions about missing information rather than considering the merits of the legislation.”
Osborne would like to get questions answered before a committee meets. He added: “A natural consequence of that is we’re not meeting for the first time and talking about legislation that we’re going to end up voting on later that night.”
Mazziotti previously voiced his objection to issues going before the full board for action on the same night they go before commissioners’ committees for the first time.
Asked about his 2015 priorities as vice-chairman after the meeting, Mazziotti said commissioners need to be more proactive about developing policy.
He said one top policy goal for this year will be determining the future of the county-owned Cedarbrook nursing homes.
“For too long, the commissioners kicked that can down the road,” said Mazziotti. “Even in years when the county actually made a profit at Cedarbrook, there was real reluctance to put serious money into refurbishing the facility.”
He said Cedarbrook’s staff provides very good care, but the place has too much of an institutional feel —“it doesn’t feel like a home.”
Mazziotti said Cedarbrook has four residents sharing rooms and they have to go down a hall to go to the bathroom.
“We need to find a solution,” he said. “And we need to do it in such a way that we can keep the subsidy under control at the same time.”
Mazziotti noted commissioners will appoint a task force of industry experts to help them address what should be done about Cedarbrook.
“But bottom line, it becomes the responsibility of the commissioners to determine how we’re going to proceed,” he said.
Mazziotti said another core issue for commissioners in 2015 will be to continue looking at the county’s finances. “I think we’re on a pretty good path, but we need to make sure we stay on that path.”
Like Osborne, Mazziotti has been a county commissioner since 2012. This will be his first term as vice chairman of the board.
The 59-year-old Osborne is plant manager at GEO Specialty Chemicals in South Whitehall Township.
Before being elected a county commissioner, Osborne was on the South Whitehall board of commissioners from 2005 to 2012, including serving more than three years as president of that board
Before retiring, the 68-year-old Mazziotti was director of fiscal affairs for Northampton County for five years.
Before that, he said, he worked in the private sector for 20 years, mostly with software companies.
Meeting schedule approved
The commissioners also approved their 2015 meeting schedule during Monday’s organizational meeting.
They meet twice a month, usually at 7:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month.
But Dougherty noted there will be some exceptions in 2015.
They will meet on Sept. 24, a Thursday; they will meet on Nov. 10 and 24, both Tuesdays, and their second December meeting will be on Dec. 16.
These days, with electronic devices that can be carried around by hand, loaded with more information than most computers had 20 years ago, with pod-casts that are all the rage, it is hard to imagine the impact that television had when it arrived in the Lehigh Valley in the 1940s. But there once was a time when people thought it would never happen here.
Although television had been invented as early as the 1920s, the Great Depression of the 1930s made investors unwilling to put money into this new “device,” and the market for consumer electronics was not growing. But by the 1940s, at least in large cities, TV stations had begun to offer programs, primarily sports events.
So it makes sense that the first television broadcast in the Lehigh Valley that is known was a basketball game. The date was Dec. 21, 1946, and the Muhlenberg College basketball team was playing the University of Pennsylvania at the Penn Palestra. It was to be broadcast by WPTZ in Philadelphia.
One of the few televisions that existed in the Lehigh Valley at that time was owned by B. Bryan Mussellman, a managing director of radio station WSAN.
The day before, Mussellman’s son had extended the antenna by 60 feet to be sure of reception. Here is how it was reported in the Morning Call the next day by John Y. Kohl, Sunday editor:
“The B. Bryan Mussellmans settled themselves comfortably in the living room of their home at Allentown, R 1. Someone flicked off the lights and there they were in the Penn Palestra watching the first class basketball game between Muhlenberg and Penn. It sounds like magic. Actually it was the first television broadcast received in the area.”
Muhlenberg went on to beat Penn in an exciting game that ended 57-50. And although the players could only be seen during the foul tries and times out, broadcasters described the action in between “the commentary and crowd sounds were crystal clear.”
To judge from comments in the press of the time, many people in the 1940s thought the whole idea of television in the Lehigh Valley was a pipe dream. Sure, radio worked fine, but would TV reception work at all in the region? Wouldn’t South Mountain block out any kind of broadcast from Philadelphia?
Skeptics apparently had a point, but it was a debatable one. The day after the broadcast, the local press noted that while it had its drawbacks, it was inaccurate to write off television just yet.
“While the visual reception was not as clear as it could be if the set was in the Philadelphia area,” one newspaper noted, “the reception was a triumph for the local area inasmuch as it was believed impossible.”
Despite this relative success, few in the Lehigh Valley were ready to jump on the television bandwagon. Perhaps the biggest breakthrough came on February 21, 1947. On that day, according to Allentown’s Evening Chronicle, a local bar owner, Bill “Jazz” Max, installed the first television in his tap-room at 2nd and Tilghman Sts in Allentown.
Now able to see the new broadcast medium, without having to go out and actually buy one, the conservative Lehigh Valley population got to view a television in operation. Soon other bar owners were following Max’s example.
Prize fights were among the more popular bar-room draws on the little black and white screens. Baseball games were another. According to local historian, the late Mahlon Hellerich, between 16,000 and 20,000 Allentown residents saw the World Series games between the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees on television in 1947.
The broadcast of national political party conventions in the hotly contested 1948 campaign was another, although one local woman was later to complain that all she could see most of the time were the delegates’ legs.
At the same time department store owner Max Hess was also seeing the opportunities of television. Hess brought in Philadelphia TV dealers and network representatives to prove to them that reception was possible, if not perfect, in the Lehigh Valley.
Electronic appliance dealers were soon putting televisions in their windows as they were broadcasting. “You would walk up and down Hamilton Street which in those days was a very busy street,” recalled Sylvia Lawler, who covered television for the local press for many years, “and you would see little knots of people at the windows.”
But the cost of a 16 inch screen television, $395 for a Motorola, almost $500 for a similar-size RCA Victor, was expensive by the standards of the time. In 1950 a new Philco with an internal aerial was selling for $229.95 plus tax, which was a little better. By 1949, at a time when there were 6 million TV sets nationwide, it was estimated by the Evening Chronicle that there were between 5,000 and 6,000 sets in the Lehigh Valley.
Reception remained a problem. Towers were erected at the cost of $1,000 a piece to receive channels 3, 6 and 10 out of Philadelphia. TV antennas sprouted from roof tops. “It was awful,” recalled Lawler, remembering the visual clutter. “There was this jungle tangle of high television antennas that looked horrid.”
Although largely useless today, those home antennas remain in many places. Few in Allentown at the time were aware of the pioneering work in cable television being undertaken at that point in the coal regions by John Walson. It would be the early 1960s before it finally arrived in Allentown.
Today the Lehigh Valley has many television options including three local stations, WFMZ-69, WLVT-39 and WBPH-60. Wouldn’t those people who gathered around a grainy black and white screen to watch a snowy vision of a basketball game in the Mussellman’s living room in 1946 be amazed?
Nearly half a million US babies are born premature. Many of these infants won’t make it to see their first birthday.
Research is showing race and economic status are major factors when it comes to healthy babies.
African American infants are 2.5 times more likely to die than white infants.
There's a new program helping at-risk moms-to-be get the support they need.
Today Amber Broadus has a stable job working at a bank. But when the single mom of three was pregnant with her last child, she wasn’t sure she would make it.
“I was at a point where I wanted to give up. I was at a point where I wanted to abort my third child,” says Broadus.
Then she found Moms2B. It’s a program started by pediatrician Patricia Gabbe that supports women like Broadus throughout their pregnancies and their babies’ first year of life.
“I’ve always had a heart for caring for the underserved,” says Patricia Gabbe, MD, pediatrician and founder of Moms2B.
The women meet weekly to receive nutritional education, access to health professionals and emotional support.
Gabbe says, “I wanted to help moms feel their pregnancy is so valuable.”
One of the program’s main goals is to reduce premature birth rates. African American women have an especially high risk.
Moms2B has enrolled over 350 women and welcomed over 150 babies.
Tanikka Price is a volunteer at Moms2B. Despite getting pregnant in college, the mom of six graduated from law school.
“You can still go to college. You can still go to law school. You can still live all of your dreams and you can be a fantastic parent while you’re doing that,” says Price.
It’s a story that inspires women like Broadus.
“The mental support, emotional, friendships. I really thank God for that program because it saved my life,” says Broadas.
She is a mom that just needed a little support to fuel her success.
Moms2B serves the Columbus, Ohio, area.
Nationally, Ohio ranks 48th worst in the country for infant mortality.
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