Two Pennsylvania Mayors Elected To Higher Office

The mayor of McKeesport, Jim Brewster (D) won the 45^th District State Senate seat on Tuesday.  Brewster has been involved in McKeesport politics for many years, first serving a ten-year stint on city council and then as mayor for the last seven years.  The mayor has helped improve conditions in McKeesport and hopes to do the same thing in Harrisburg.

On the other side of the state, 3-term Hazleton Mayor, Lou Barletta (R) finally ousted 13-term incumbent Paul Kanjorski (D) on his third try and is headed off to represent the 11^th Congressional District is Washington, DC.  Mayor Barletta made national headlines when Hazleton passed an immigration law which is being challenged in a federal case by the ACLU.  Barletta said he will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.  Barletta feels being in Congress is the best place to address the immigration issue.

Some Thoughts About Onorato’s Loss In Allegheny County

This is an interesting article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about Dan Onorato’s unsuccessful bid for governor and what went wrong for him in Allegheny County, where he should have won handily over GOP rival Tom Corbett.  I found this article insightful.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10308/1100517-455.stm

Harley-Davidson Looking At Kansas City Operations – Possibly Moving Work To York

Image via Wikipedia

Looks like Harley-Davidson is entering round three of the “get what we want” trifecta.  First York got the squeeze, then Wisconsin and now Kansas City.

Harley is “reviewing its operations” in Kansas City and has determined they need to make some big changes if they are going to continue operations there in the future.  Sound familiar?  So unless Kansas City follows York’s and Wisconsin’s lead, they could be losing their jobs.  York is being eyed as a possible site to move that manufacturing if Kansas City gets closed.  York says capacity is no problem and they would welcome the additional work. 

The workforce in York will be reduced by more than 50% till all is said and done.

We’ll have to keep an eye on the situation in Kansas City to see if they fall in line or try to play hardball.

Today’s Smile

Two Philadelphia Teens Arrested For Animal Torture

Just when you think people can’t sink to a lower level, something like this comes along!

Two Philadelphia teenagers, ages 15 and 16, evidently had nothing better to do than put a kitten in a microwave and throw it out a third-story window whilst capturing their “deed” on video using their cell phone.  Stupid is as stupid does.

Fortunately, the kitty survived the fall and is under observation before being released for adoption.  Neighbors called the police when they saw the microwave oven come flying out of the window.  Thank you concerned citizens!

The SPCA has the kitty and these upstanding young men are facing first-degree felony charges of willfully and maliciously torturing an animal.  Adults convicted of an animal-torture offense can get two years in prison!  GOOD!  Throw the damn book at them!  Or better yet a microwave!