Is it Labor Day????

A favorite Northern Schuylkill pastime at the Wimbledon. I wonder if CNN still has the video of Labor Day's gone by?

Circus Coming to Town!!!!

Legislature members speak out about possible furloughs

Philadelphia the place to be Saturday!!!!!

The City of Brotherly Love will be the place to be on Saturday. The Voice will be at Citizens' Bank Park for Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band concert.


Not to be left out, Rush will be across the street at the Wachovia Center.


And...........Barack Obama will be in the city for a town meeting. A good test for the Barack-O-Meter would be an appearance at the Jimmy Buffett concert. I remember a U2 concert back in '88 when a guy from Jersey showed up on stage at JFK. It was "the Boss" of course.

Camping Season Is Upon Us!!!

Please remember to put out your fire. Here is a video of a camping trip gone bad.

(NOTE: Resemblances to anyone is central Pennsylvania is strictly a coincidence.)

With Great Sadness, Coal Township Legend Passes

A view of the memorial at the former Coal Township Stadium dedicated last fall.

With great sadness, the Coalregion Voice has learned of the passing of Coal Township legend Coach Bernie Romanoski Sr.. Romanoski was well known throughout the greater Shamokin-Coal Township community for his many years in the Coal Township and later Shamokin Area School Districts. His philanthropic efforts later in life were numerous, especially for veteran causes.
Updates will follow throughout the weekend.



Romanoski was 85 years old.


UPDATE:


Today's front page story. My favorite is when Bernie tried to combine football and golf into one sport with Jazz Diminick.

Chuck Souders says Bernie's shoe will be hard to fill.

Obituary

Politics in Central Pennsylvania

Republican Congressional candidate Chris Hackett resolved lingering back-tax issues with one of his Luzerne County businesses days after winning the GOP primary.


Northumberland County's fiscal black eye and broken finger.


Sparks fly (not coal) in Schuylkill County.


Luzerne County juvi case gets a little more interesting. In a related story, watch 250 million fly off into the sunset.


I hope Montour County doesn't feel left out.

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Finally, longtime Milton Area basketball coach Tony Fannick call it quits after 31 years. Fannick made the AAA state finals in the 1987-88 season and built the program into a District IV power since the mid-80's.

Welcome to the 20th Century Pennsylvania!!!!

After some political manuevering, the PA Senate passed SB246 (Smoking Ban) yesterday by a 41-9 count. Governor Rendell is expected to sign the bill soon. Senator Don White who is holding a Colon Cancer Screening Bill (SB146) back in committee was in the "9".

*******************************

Wonder what is going to happen to the former KMART building in Coal Township? Rumors are circulating around town about a halfway house. If you want to get one step ahead of the game, read Gort42 about some of the dealings going on in Luzerne County espcially with the judges.

In comparison, Northumberland County looks like "Sunday School".

********************************

The Heartland Conference formed for the 2008-09 year could be a power conference in softball. Two of it's future members are headed to the state finals in Milton and Loyalsock in AAA and AA. Both schools also return alot of quality. Some other teams that are usually strong will be Mifflinburg (2004 PIAA Champ in AA), Jersey Shore, South Williamsport, Central Columbia and Southern Columbia.

Rendell backs Scranton, Allegheny smoking ordinances

HARRISBURG - Efforts by Senate Democrats to allow Scranton and Allegheny County to craft their own anti-smoking ordinances were apparently strengthened today when the Rendell administration signaled it would support such an effort.

read more | digg story

The Price of Oil

I heard a great comment on the price of oil last night. It took from the beginning of home heating oil to get to $2.00 a gallon last summer. Why did it go from 2.00 to 4.00 in one year????

McCain and Beer?

John McCain in Philadelphia on Wednesday

John McCain's campaign is expected to announce laster today that the Republican presidential candidate will hold a town hall meeting at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Wednesday morning.Doors will open at 9:30 a.m. and the event will begin at 11:30 a.m.

read more | digg story

Obama coming to Philly on Friday for fundraiser

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) will be in Philadelphia on Friday to attend a fundraiser at the Sheraton in Center City, The Morning Call reports.It has yet to be announced whether or not Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, will hold any public events in town that day.

read more | digg story

Livestrong Summit Delegate

Hi Readers,

I was selected as a delegate for the Livestrong Summit to be held in Columbus, Ohio July 24-27. Although it is a great honor to be selected, I do have to fund this myself. I am looking for donations to help me defray 16 hours of driving and 3 days in a hotel. I am figuring this trip will cost $500 including a $125 registration. I am including the round figure costs of hotel's listed below.

I am looking for small donations to help defray the cost. My goal is to get halfway to $500. If I could get $500 or more excess money will be split evenly between the Colon Club and the American Cancer Society.

A secure donation could be made by clicking on the button on the left under the heading of Livestrong Summit.

Sincerely,

Edward

LIVESTRONG.org
Dear Edward,

Thank you for your application to participate in the Lance Armstrong Foundation's 2008 LIVESTRONG Summit. We are pleased to inform you that your application has been accepted and we would like to invite you to join us as a LIVESTRONG Summit delegate!


The LIVESTRONG Summit will take place on July 24-27, in Columbus, OH on the OSU campus. If you plan to attend, you must confirm by registering no later than June 13, 2008. Delegates who do not register by this date will risk forfeiting their delegate spot. You may register by following these steps:
Follow this link to access the registration form (Please note: the registration fee is $125. It is non-refundable and not tax deductible):

Login using your username and password provided below. (Once you log in, you can change your password.)

Once registered, please book your travel as soon as possible!

Below you will find helpful information for booking your travel. To find more details about traveling to Columbus and the Summit weekend, log on to my.livestrong.org. Please logon often to find up-to-date information.

If you choose to not attend the LIVESTRONG Summit, simply reply to this email with 'Decline to Attend' in the subject line. In the body of the email, include your first and last name. Please send a response by June 13.

Hotels

Hotel

Contact
Price (per night)
Hyatt on Capitol Square
614-228-1234
$149

Hyatt Regency
614-463-1234
$145

The Columbus, A Renaissance Hotel
614-228-5050
$129

Hilton Garden Inn
614-263-7200
$119

Baymont Inn OSU
614-267-4646
$79

Red Roof Inn
614-267-9941
$68

When booking your accommodations, please mention you are part of the Lance Armstrong Foundation's LIVESTRONG Summit to receive the rate listed above. You will be required to pay for your first night’s stay upon making your reservation.

Air Travel

Please coordinate travel according to the following schedule:

Arrival - Thursday, July 24, 200812:00 pm – 6 pm - Registration (if you arrive after registration ends, you will be able to register Friday morning)4:30 pm – 6:00 pm –Reception
Departure - Sunday, July 27, 20081:00 pm – Summit Ends (if possible, please plan your departure after 3 pm)

If you have questions, concerns or troubles registering, please email Tara at summit@livestrong.org.

Thank you for supporting the LAF's goal to make cancer a national priority. We look forward to seeing you in Ohio at the 2008 LIVESTRONG Summit!

LIVESTRONGLance Armstrong Foundationhttp://www.livestrong.org/
© Lance Armstrong Foundation :: P.O. Box 161150 :: Austin, TX 78716-

Remembering Becca

A person I met from the Colon Club passed away from colon cancer at 1:30 this morning. She was from Mechanicsburg, PA. She was diagnosed with StageIV colon cancer soon after she gave birth over three years ago and spent her entire time as a mother fighting colon cancer.

Becca's Blog

Here are the things Becca wanted to do before she moved on:

In no particular order......

1. I want to own my own home.

2. I want to take a trip to Greece.
3. I want to ride a mechanical bull.(No snickering please!)
4. I want to turn 40.
5. I want to take a trip to Alaska.
6. I want to watch my daughter graduate from High School.
7. I want to got back to work. I really miss my job!
8. Though highly unlikely, I would love to have another baby.
9. I want to get a new tattoo to cover the one on my ankle.
10. I want to need a haircut. I had nice hair & I miss it, damn it!
11.I want to see the look on my daughter's face the first time she sees Mickey Mouse in person. (6 weeks & counting!! I can't WAIT!)
12. I want to make sure that every one of my friends & family know exactly how much I love them... really, really love them. (Even if they happen to be a deadbeat with no job.)
13. I want to understand why I got cancer.
14. I want to live long enough to see a cure for cancer.
15. I want to watch my husband graduate from college & become a teacher.
16. I want to fly First Class.
17. I want to kiss my grand babies.
18. I want to take a helicopter into the Grand Canyon.
19. I want to take my daughter to Niagara falls & ride the Maid of the Mist one more time.
20. I want to have stupid fights with my teenage daughter 'cuz we both have PMS.
21. I want to tell my grandchildren what a pain in the ass their mother was when she was a teenager.
22. I want to send my husband on a dream golf vacation because he deserves it, damn it!
23. I want to make sure that my sister-in-law knows what a truly cool sister, Aunt, & God Mother she is.
24. "I'd like to thank the Academy..." (Sorry, had to do it!)
25. I want to make sure that Jen knows that even though she lives so far away I can feel the love & support flowin' to the lower 48!
26. I want to make sure that Tom & Paul know how much I appreciate their love & support even though I don't get over much right now 'cuz I've been feeling so crappy. (And I know how much they LOVE living in PA!)
27. Although I am deathly afraid of heights, I'd really like to ride in a hot air balloon!
28. I want to take a trip to Banff.
29. I've always thought about writing a children's book. Maybe I should just give it a try.
30. I want to see a jazz concert @ Lincoln Center.
31. I want to see Mt. Rushmore.
32. I want to read Tuesday's With Morrie because I'm probably the only person on earth who hasn't read it yet.
33. I want to read The Secret Garden, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, & Jane Eyre to my daughter just like my mother read them to me.
34. I want to go back to LA & do all the tacky touristy crap that I didn't get to do the last 2 times that I went. Oh yes, I WILL buy a star map...
35. I want to swim in the Gulf of Mexico.
36. I want to go to the San Diego Zoo.
37. I want to learn to ride a horse.
38. I want to see San Fransisco.
39. I want to have lunch with this lady, 'cuz she ROCKS!
40. I want Ty Pennington & his crew to come & fix my mom & dad's house even they make me crazy. They deserve it.
41. I want to watch this over & over again because it's freakin' HILARIOUS! I think I've seen it 20 times & it still gets me!
42. I want to take a carriage ride through Central Park & have dinner at Tavern on the Green.
43. I want to eat sushi in Tokyo.
44. I'd like my steroids to wear off so I can got the hell to bed. I'm really rather tired!

Dirty Ashtray in PA State Senate

21 members of the Democratic Caucus voted in block against the bill for a 31-19 tally against. Senator Robert Mellow appears to be the master of the double-talk according to the Patriot News.

Fate of the Smoking Ban - Editorial from the Patriot News.

Regardless of what your stance is on clean indoor air. This bill took much of smoke out of many places. If you think the government has the right to tell an owner what to do is another question. For the most part, it put all tavern/restaurants on equal footing. The bottom line is clean indoor air is a health issue that is a drag on the medical system which puts a strain on all our pockets in the end. Here are some of the winners and losers if the bill passes:

WINNERS

Local Bars - this PA relic, your neighborhood bar that may serve for one or two days a week will be able to remain with smokers. Lets face it, this industry is dying a slow death. I grew up in a town where each block had a tavern. Now there may be only five left. I am assuming this is going on statewide.

Fire Companies and Veterans Organizations (Private Clubs) - Applause for being patriotic. Fire Companies will have no food requirements. There is an exception to this if the club or fire company is leased or rented for an event where the public is invited (including children under 18)

Losers

If the bill does pass the legislative process, look for some migration of clientele from non-smoking to smoking hangouts in the short term. Long term look for more people to go to eateries more frequently and enjoy the smoke-free venue.

PA State Legislature - does this reek of after hours pay raise if this doesn't pass?

UPDATE: PA Senate Rejects the Smoking Bill

PA Senate Rejects Smoking Bill

By a vote of 31-19, read the rest of the story here.

UPDATE:

Roll Call of the PA State Senate.

Pennsylvania Smoking Ban Passes First Hurdle

Smoking ban gets on fast track

by CHARLES THOMPSON, Of The Patriot-News

A hard-fought ban on indoor smoking in most public places is suddenly on a fast track in the General Assembly.

The bill, which received the blessing of a Senate-House conference committee Tuesday on a 5-1 vote, was scheduled to get a final vote in the Senate today. The state House of Representatives could follow later in the day, though a vote might wait until next week because of scheduling issues. Both chambers are expected to approve the bill.

A spokesman for Gov. Ed Rendell said Rendell would sign it into law as soon as possible. The law would take effect 90 days after that.

Smoking would be barred in restaurants, most offices and government buildings. The measure would allow smoking in casinos -- except the two in Philadelphia -- bars, hotel rooms and private clubs.

None of the groups involved got all that they had sought in the bill, but in the end, most say they support the end product. The American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association are on record as supporting the bill.

Bill Godshall, executive director of SmokeFree Pennsylvania, called it a "huge first step" for a state with one of the weakest indoor smoking laws in the nation. "At least this bill protects 95 percent of the workers from secondhand smoke at the workplace. We'd like that to be 100 percent, but we're not going to let the perfect interfere with the good."

Perhaps Rep. Bob Belfanti, D-Northumberland County, generally regarded as a lawmaker supporting smokers' rights, described the changes it would bring to Pennsylvania.
Smoking would be out at diners, pizza shops, doughnut shops, nightclubs and bingo halls, all places where his constituents like to gather and perhaps have a smoke.

"We have created a venue where you will never have to smell second-hand smoke unless, intentionally, you choose to," said Belfanti, who said he would reluctantly support the bill. "I'm going to take a lot of hits back home in my district for voting for this."

Health groups bemoaned exceptions that they said would still leave thousands of casino, bar and private club employees still working in smoky areas. Some, like the American Lung Association, were urging defeat of the bill for that reason.

"We feel that the commonwealth has really missed an opportunity to be a leader in protecting all Pennsylvanians from the toxic dangers of secondhand smoke," said Deb Brown, the lung association's vice president for advocacy.

Others said the bill allowed too much government intrusion of businesses and individuals' rights.
State Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R-Montgomery County, a longtime champion for an indoor smoking ban, said he would accept this as a good first step "because I don't believe we can get any other bill out of this committee, or out of this Legislature."

The bill had landed in the conference committee after the House and Senate approved competing bills last year.

The final product was hammered out over the last two months by Sen. Chuck McIlhinney, a Bucks County Republican representing four committee members who wanted more exemptions, and Rep. Mike Gerber, D-Montgomery County, the prime sponsor of the tougher House bill.
Their ability to compromise was expected to help the bill win strong majorities when it hits the full Legislature.

Senate Minority Leader Robert J. Mellow, D-Lackawanna County, was the lone conference committee member to oppose the bill. He railed against the package after he failed to win support for an amendment to let Allegheny County and the city of Scranton re-enact stricter local bans that were overturned in court.

Mellow chafed at the fact that the panel agreed to allow a similar local ordinance in Philadelphia to stand. Rendell, a former mayor of Philadelphia, had said last month he would veto a bill that rolled back the Philadelphia law, which bars smoking in casinos.

Before the vote, Mellow complained that the committee is essentially telling "the people of Allegheny County, go to hell ... I never heard anything so hypocritical in all my life."

WHERE SMOKING WOULD BE BANNED

Workplaces not otherwise exempted, such as all offices and factories.
Restaurants, nightclubs and most bars.
Most health care facilities.
Schools, colleges and government-owned facilities.
Public transportation centers and mass-transit vehicles.
Stadium, theaters and other performance venues (except for designated smoking areas).

WHERE SMOKING WOULD BE ALLOWED

25 percent of casino gaming floors, except in Philadelphia, where a city ban would apply.
Bars where food sales are less than 20 percent of total sales, and customers younger than 18 cannot be served. Some bars in existing restaurants could permit smoking if they meet the above criteria and are completely walled off.

Private clubs, including fire stations.

Designated smoking rooms in hotels and motels.

Designated smoking areas at truck stops, residential health or day treatment facilities.

Cigar bars and other tobacco-related businesses.