More Bonusgate coverage

Read The Patriot-News’ main story on the second round of charges in the Bonusgate investigation here.  Check out the front page here.

And here was my contribution to the package of stories in today’s paper:

Corbett outlines conspiracies

By Kari Andren, November 13, 2009

State Attorney General Tom Corbett said the charges filed Thursday broke down broadly into two categories. Here is what he outlined:

Rep. John Perzel’s misuse of taxpayer-funded resources for political campaigns

After winning re-election by a razor-thin margin in 2000, Perzel vowed never to face such a close election again, so he embarked on a plan to use technology to gain a competitive advantage in campaigns.

He became the architect of a political strategy that used $10 million in taxpayers’ resources to hire ghost employees, direct automated “robocalls” that cost thousands of dollars each time they were used, and develop sophisticated computer systems to help himself and other Republicans get elected.

Perzel developed a cover story that these were for constituent services, but the grand jury found that the House Republican Campaign Committee, the outside arm of the caucus, was the primary user.

The grand jury also found that Perzel had staffers spend hundreds of hours on state time to work on his re-election efforts.

Bonusgate, part 2

In July 2008, state Attorney General Tom Corbett charged 12 people connected to the House Democratic caucus with awarding taxpayer-funded bonuses for political campaign work.  On Nov. 12, Corbett brought long-anticipated charges against House Republicans.   Below is the final version of what I posted live (a first for me!)  for The Patriot-News during Corbett’s press conference.

John Perzel is ‘architect’ behind political strategy in ‘Bonusgate’ case, Corbett says

Rep. John Perzel, R-Philadelphia (AP)

By KARI ANDREN, The Patriot-News

November 12, 2009, 1:47PM

Former House Speaker John Perzel, R-Philadelphia, former Republican Rep. Brett Feese and eight other current and former aides to the men used taxpayers’ funds, employees and resources for political campaign purposes, Attorney General Tom Corbett alleged today.

Corbett has charged 10 lawmakers and staffers in the second round of the “Bonusgate” investigation into whether taxpayer money was used for political purposes.  He said the investigation is ongoing and looks at all four legislative caucuses.

The aides charged Thursday are Perzel’s former chief of staff Brian Preski; current chief of staff Paul Towhey; Perzel’s brother-in-law and former House employee Samual “Buzz” Stokes; Perzel legislative aide John Zimmerman; his campaign aide Don McClintock; Feese aides Jill Seaman and Elmer Bowman; and former GOP information technology deputy director Eric Ruth.

They are each charged with several theft, criminal conspiracy and conflict of interest counts.  Additionally, Perzel, Preski, Feese, Seaman, Towhey and Zimmerman are charged with obstruction of justice in a 188-page presentment by a grand jury.

Because dogs can be veterans too…

Two military working dogs have found homes in the midstate

By KARI ANDREN, The Patriot-News

November 10, 2009

As four-footed soldiers, they sniffed out bombs, looked for drugs and stood guard.

Now, Derrick and Fritz, recently retired German shepherds who served as military working dogs, have found homes in the midstate. Both dogs arrived from Lackland Air Force Base in Texas last month.

About 800 dogs are in various stages of training for the Department of Defense or the Transportation Safety Administration at any time at the base, said Rodney Sparkowich, adoption coordinator at Lackland.

Derrick and Fritz were honored in the state House of Representatives on Tuesday with a resolution recognizing the contribution military dogs have made to America since World War I.

West Shore School District

Some parents feel ill-served on special-education concerns

By KARI ANDREN, The Patriot-News

November 03, 2009

Jennifer King envisions her son going off to college, having a career and maybe even getting married.

Those might sound like the average mother’s dreams for her son, but for the parent of a special-needs child, they can sound downright extraordinary.

“Everything will be his decision,” King said of her son’s future. “But I work very hard to not limit his own thoughts of his own potential.”

King is fighting the West Shore School District to keep her third-grade son, who has Down syndrome, in mainstream classrooms as much as possible.

When the district proposed transferring her son to a special-education classroom for two core academic subjects, King said she requested a meeting with school and district officials.

In the past, when she requested a meeting, no changes were implemented during the process of working out their differences, she said.

But this time, King found out her son’s classroom placement was changed before the meeting took place because she did not initiate mediation or file a due-process complaint to halt the changes.

So King helped organize a group of parents and supporters who co-signed a letter to the school board and attended the Oct. 15 board meeting.

Midstate schools aim for international standard

Students graded globally in IB program

BY KARI ANDREN kandren@patriot-news.com

October 30, 2009

A program known for its world-class standards shows students how to really learn, teachers say.

Last year, Harrisburg Academy graduated its first group of seniors with an International Baccalaureate diploma and became the second school in the midstate to offer the rigorous two-year diploma program.

Now Cumberland Valley High School is poised to become one of the next schools in the area to offer the degree. The district expects to begin offering courses in the 2011-12 school year, with the first IB students graduating in 2013.

International Baccalaureate, or IB, students take high-level courses in each of the major academic subjects, a foreign language and a philosophical course called Theory of Knowledge. They also must complete a full-fledged research paper and community service.

Again, a little out of order

Shortfall prompts furloughs

BY KARI ANDREN kandren@patriot-news.com

October 09, 2009

Lower Allen Twp. officials say the township took in nearly $1 million less than expected in 2008, which is prompting one-day-a-week furloughs for all nonunionized employees for the rest of the 2009 calendar year.

At a Tuesday morning meeting with employees, township manager Tom Vernau said the township’s fund balance, or net worth, lost $988,000 from Jan. 1, 2008 to Jan. 1, 2009.

“We didn’t overbudget,” Vernau said. “And we didn’t overspend.”

A little out of order…

Capitol displays student murals

Creating the art depicting intolerance inspired a passion for acceptance and diversity, one of the painters says.

BY KARI ANDREN

September 14, 2009

Cedar Cliff High School graduates unveiled a series of their murals depicting intolerance Friday at the state Capitol.

Inspiration for the murals stemmed from a two-day training session on diversity and conflict resolution last year by the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, the state agency that enforces anti-discrimination laws.

The murals were painted by a group of Cedar Cliff students, who were then high school seniors, in small groups during their final marking period last spring. They will be on display in the East Wing Rotunda until Sept. 18.

Beautification project draws criticism

Taxpayers’ anger shadows Wormleysburg beautification project

The groundbreaking ceremony/Photo by Sean Simmers, of The Patriot-News

By KARI ANDREN, The Patriot-News

October 01, 2009

The project has been labeled ludicrous. Senseless. A frivolous waste of money. An embarrassment.

The project is an effort by Wormleysburg, Cumberland County, to beautify the riverfront approach to what was the western span of the Walnut Street Bridge.

The borough broke ground this month on the $212,000 plaza that will include benches, planters, decorative brick walkways, fences and landscaping at the approach to the former span. It’s been nearly 14 years since a flood carried away chunks of the iron bridge, leaving a gap of several hundred feet between City Island and the West Shore.

In a question posed to readers last week, The Patriot-News asked if the project, funded through state and county grant money, was a good use of public tax dollars. Nearly 60 percent of the 266 people who responded said no.

Student can wear t-shirt

Schools relent on T-shirt messages

BY KARI ANDREN, kandren@patriot-news.com

October 20, 2009

A temporary agreement will allow a Crossroads Middle School student to wear a homemade “Abortion is not healthcare” T-shirt that school officials had ordered him to turn inside out.

Under the agreement approved Monday by a federal judge, the West Shore School District will also permit other students to wear anti-abortion and religious T-shirts. Additionally, the district will not enforce other portions of its dress and grooming policies that are being challenged in a federal lawsuit filed by the student’s father, William Boyer.

Boyer, of New Cumberland, claims his son, identified as E.B. in the lawsuit filed in U.S. Middle District Court, was unfairly censored on Sept. 8 when he wore the anti-abortion shirt and was told to turn it inside out.

Anti-abortion shirt not allowed

The t-shirt in question.

West Shore School District unfairly censored T-shirt, father’s lawsuit says

By KARI ANDREN, The Patriot-News

October 06, 2009

On the day President Barack Obama was to address students nationwide, a Crossroads Middle School student donned an anti-abortion T-shirt to protest Obama’s proposed overhaul of the nation’s health care system.

The student wore the T-shirt, which read “Abortion is not Healthcare,” with no disruption and no problems until his fifth-period teacher sent him to the principal’s office. He was ordered to turn the shirt inside out because it might offend other students, according to a lawsuit filed Monday.

William Boyer, the student’s father, filed the lawsuit against the West Shore School District in U.S. Middle District Court. Boyer, of New Cumberland, alleges that his son, E.B., was unfairly censored by school officials Sept. 8 when they made him turn his shirt inside out.

Neither district officials nor their solicitor wanted to comment on the lawsuit because they had not seen it, said Rob Cox, an attorney with Eastburn & Gray, the law firm that represents the school district.