Northeastern Pennsylvania Population Drops Slightly As South Population Rises

A lot of people in this part of the nation swore they’d move south during this year’s harsh winter. It appears many of them already have.

According to estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau, warm regions regained population growth momentum last year that was lost during the recession. But population fell in the area comprised of Luzerne, Lackawanna and Wyoming counties.

Fourteen of the 20 fastest-growing metropolitan areas were in Florida, Texas or the Carolinas, led by The Villages near Orlando, which grew by 5.4 percent between July 1, 2013 and July 1, 2014. In contrast, the fastest-growing metro areas in Pennsylvania grew by 0.6 percent.

The bureau estimated that the population in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area fell by 2,159, or 0.4 percent over the year. Within the three-county region, Lackawanna County lost the most, 1,115, or 0.5 percent. Luzerne County’s population declined 1,033, or 0.3 percent, and Wyoming County’s was relatively unchanged.

Read more:  http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news/152599118/

More Choices Coming To Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport

Locator map of the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Metropolitan Statistical Area in the northeastern part of the of . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Private charter flights from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport to at least one new destination appear likely to start by the end of the year with the airport’s expanding relationship with Aviation Technologies.

Michael Gallagher, chief financial officer of Aviation Technologies, identified Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., Florida, Myrtle Beach, S.C., and the Bahamas as potential destinations of interest.

Gallagher hopes the company can “make an announcement” regarding some sort of expansion of service in the fall, with an eye toward the flights becoming available on Dec. 1.

Airport officials are negotiating a long-term contract with Aviation Technologies to take over many important functions at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, such as airplane maintenance and running the flight school.

Read more:  http://citizensvoice.com/news/more-choices-coming-to-avoca-airport-1.1527453

Zimmerman Is Acquitted Of Murder And Manslaughter Charges

SANFORD, Fla. — George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who fatally shot an unarmed black teenager, igniting a national debate on racial profiling and civil rights, was found not guilty on Saturday of the second-degree murder of Trayvon Martin.  He also was acquitted of manslaughter, a lesser charge.

After three weeks of testimony, the six-woman jury rejected the prosecution’s contention that Mr. Zimmerman, 29, had deliberately pursued Mr. Martin, 17, because he viewed the hoodie-clad teenager as a criminal and instigated the fight that led to his death.

Mr. Zimmerman said he shot Mr. Martin on Feb. 26, 2012, in self-defense after the teenager knocked him to the ground, punched him and slammed his head repeatedly against the sidewalk.  In finding him not guilty of murder or manslaughter, the jury agreed that Mr. Zimmerman could have been justified in shooting Mr. Martin because he feared great bodily harm or death.

The jury, which has been sequestered since June 24, deliberated 16 hours and 20 minutes over two days.

Read more:  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/14/us/george-zimmerman-verdict-trayvon-martin.html?_r=0

VIDEO: Cook Exposes Golden Corral’s Alleged “All-You-Can-Eat Ribs… By The Dumpster” Policy

Golden Corral (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Golden Corral—the chain of buffet restaurants most-frequented by people who didn’t want to drive the extra 10 minutes to get to Old Country Buffet—is dealing with a PR nightmare after a video of one of their employees started making the rounds on the Internet this week.

Brandon Huber is a cook at the Golden Corral restaurant in Port Orange, Florida. He recently filmed a video from his place of employ, claiming that the restaurant’s management had wheeled loads of unprepared food out to the dumpster area during a health inspection.

The video—shot vertically, in true selfie style—shows Huber walking out to the restaurant’s dumpster area and pointing out that a bunch of uncooked meat and pans filled with food are resting inches from the dumpster.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/trending/VIDEO-True-American-hero-exposes-Golden-Corrals-All-You-Can-Eat-Ribs-By-the-Dumpster-policy.html#kwOgc27ADyyiHQO2.99

A Legal Blow To Sustainable Development

Official 2007 portrait of U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  This is so bad!

STRAFFORD, Vt. — LOST amid the Supreme Court’s high-profile decisions on affirmative action, voting rights and same-sex marriage was another ruling that may turn out to have a profound impact on American society.  The court handed down a decision on Tuesday that, in the words of Justice Elena Kagan, will “work a revolution in land-use law.”

While that may sound obscure, the decision in Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District will result in long-lasting harm to America’s communities.  That’s because the ruling creates a perverse incentive for municipal governments to reject applications from developers rather than attempt to negotiate project designs that might advance both public and private goals — and it makes it hard for communities to get property owners to pay to mitigate any environmental damage they may cause.

The court’s 5-to-4 decision, with Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. writing for the majority, arose from an order issued by a Florida water management district denying an application by Coy A. Koontz Sr. to fill more than three acres of wetlands in order to build a small shopping center.  The district made clear that it was willing to grant the permit if Mr. Koontz agreed to reduce the size of the development or spend money on any of a variety of wetlands-restoration projects designed to offset the project’s environmental effects.  Because Mr. Koontz declined to pursue any of these options, the district denied the permit.

Read more:  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/27/opinion/a-legal-blow-to-sustainable-development.html?src=me&ref=general&_r=0

Tropical Storm Isaac Slogs Toward U.S. Gulf Coast

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – Tropical Storm Isaac churned across the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, disrupting U.S. offshore energy production and threatening to hit Louisiana on the anniversary of devastating Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The storm swiped south Florida on Sunday before moving into warm Gulf waters, where it is expected to strengthen into a hurricane.

On its current track, Isaac was due to slam into the Gulf Coast anywhere between Florida and Louisiana by Tuesday night or early Wednesday, the seventh anniversary of Katrina hitting New Orleans, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

“The weather is going to go downhill well in advance of that and that’s why today is the day of preparation,” said NHC director Richard Knabb.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/business/sns-rt-us-storm-isaacbre87l0ph-20120822,0,2605372.story

Biggest Burmese Python Found In Florida—17.7 Feet, 87 Eggs

Florida has a new attraction—a 17.7-foot-long (5.4-meter-long) Burmese python, the biggest snake ever found in the southeastern U.S. state, scientists say.

What’s more, a necropsy on the euthanized python revealed she was carrying 87 eggs—also a state record for the species, a University of Florida team announced Monday.

Captured in Everglades National Park, the “monstrous” constrictor will eventually be displayed at the Florida Museum of Natural History, according to the university.

The Everglades is home to a growing population the invasive Southeast Asian pythons, many of which have either escaped into or been dumped into the wild. (See Everglades pictures.)

Read more: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/08/120814-burmese-python-snake-florida-eggs-biggest-science/

NBC: George Zimmerman To Be Charged In Trayvon Martin Case

An enlargeable map of the 67 counties of the state of Florida (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Pete Williams, NBC News, and M. Alex Johnson, msnbc.com

Updated at 2:57 p.m. ET: The special prosecutor in the Trayvon Martin case will announce criminal charges against George Zimmerman on Wednesday, a law enforcement official told NBC News.

The nature of the charges wasn’t immediately known, the official told NBC News Justice Department correspondent Pete Williams, speaking on condition of anonymity. But because Angela Corey — the special prosecutor appointed by Florida Gov. Rick Scott to re-examine the case — previously announced that she wouldn’t take the case to a grand jury, first-degree murder is not an option.

Corey’s office confirmed that a news conference would be at 6 p.m. ET in Jacksonville, Fla.

Authorities in Sanford, Fla. — where Zimmerman, 28, a neighborhood watch volunteer, shot Martin, 17, on Feb. 26 — also began preparing for an announcement from Corey, NBC station WESH of Orlando reported. Seminole County sheriff’s deputies spent Wednesday morning setting up barricades along the booking area for new inmates at the county jail. 

Read more: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/11/11144255-nbc-george-zimmerman-to-be-charged-in-trayvon-martin-case?lite

What Kind Of A World Do We Live In????

Lord have mercy!

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