Wednesday, November 28, 2012
State Sen. Wayne Fontana breaks down suggestions made by the task force in light of the Jerry Sandusky scandal.
- GOVERNMENT
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Wednesday, November 28, 2012
As a response to the Jerry Sandusky and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia child abuse scandals, the Pennsylvania General Assembly created a Task Force on Child Protection in January to review the state’s child protection laws and procedures. After months of testimonies throughout the state being given by various advocate groups and professionals who deal with child abuse on a daily basis, the task force released their recommendations on Nov. 27. The following is a brief outline of suggestions by the task force: To view the Task Force on Child Protection’s entire report, please click on the following link: www.childprotection.state.pa.us/ Early in 2011, I introduced Senate Bill 549 (SB 549) that would require school employees to report …
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Pennsylvania voters elect their first woman and first Democrat to be the state's attorney general.
Kathleen Kane achieved two firsts in her Pennsylvania attorney general election victory: She defeated Republican David Freed 56 to 41 percent in unofficial results from Tuesday's voting. Kane won the support of Lehigh Valley voters on her way to statewide success: Lehigh County Northampton County Kane, 46, is a former Lackawanna County prosecutor who will now oversee an office with a staff of about 700 and subject to legislative battles over a budget that now stands at $81 million, according to a Philly.com report. Kane had a slight fundraising edge in the race. Both candidates pledged a review of the Jerry Sandusky child rape case and its handling by former Attorney General Tom Corbett, now the state's governor.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
'The initial cause of their shutdown was to avoid voting on a resolution calling for a federal investigation of why Jerry Sandusky was allowed to remain free for more than two-and-a-half years.'
State Rep. Martin Michael Schmotzer said in a news release on Tuesday that Republican majority leaders of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives are still stalling legislation regarding child sex abuse and education reform. The week of Oct. 1, the House was scheduled to vote on a bill (H.B. 2318) that would require school districts to include age-appropriate child exploitation awareness education guidelines—that would be developed by state officials—in the health curriculum for students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Schmotzer, a longtime Baldwin-Whitehall School Board member, has filed education reform amendments to the bill. "First, Republicans stalled this legislation by canceling a session day and cutting another one short," …
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
The former Penn State assistant football coach maintains his innocence and vows to continue to appeal his conviction.
This story was updated at 11:17 a.m. McKean County Judge John M. Cleland today sentenced Jerry Sandusky to no less than 30 years and no more than 60 years in prison for sexually abusing 10 children, multiple media outlets report. “The crime is not only what you did to their bodies, but their psyches and souls,” Judge Cleland told Sandusky in court, the Pittsburgh Tribune reported. “It is this remarkable ability to deceive that makes this crime so heinous.” A defiant Sandusky gave a rambling statement in which he denied the allegations and talked about his life in prison and the pain of being away from his family. “It is for those still standing for us that we will continue to fight,” Sandusky said. “We’re definitely in the fourth quarter…
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Two local lawmakers blasted GOP leadership for putting the House in recess instead of dealing with the vote.
A group of state House representatives on Thursday attempted to force a vote on a resolution that would urge the U.S. Attorney to investigate then-Attorney General Tom Corbett’s handling of the Jerry Sandusky investigation. State Rep. Jesse White, D-Cecil, posted on his Facebook page that the Republican majority “immediately stopped proceedings” and that many representatives on that side of the aisle had “fled the floor” despite the House still being in session. “This is shocking and outrageous—what depths won't they go to in order to learn the truth?” the lawmaker wrote on his Facebook page. To read HR 520, click here. A procedural move was attempted by state Rep. Timothy Briggs, a Democrat, to force a vote on the resolution. State Rep. …
Thursday, September 6, 2012
The Steelers legend, PSU alumni and Hall of Fame running back wants the NCAA to consider reinstating at least six years of the late Joe Paterno’s wins.
Franco Harris has consistently defended the late Joe Paterno in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. Now, Harris of Sewickley is on a mission to get the NCAA board members to lift some sanctions against Penn State University. According to the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, the former Pittsburgh Steelers running back began individually visiting the 18 NCAA board members on Tuesday hoping to find leniency for Penn State. Harris told the Trib he believes the NCAA’s sanctions--which included a $60 million fine and the elimination of 111 victories from 1998 to 2011--were a rush to judgment against Penn State and former head coach Paterno. University trustees accepted the sanctions, which were based on former FBI Director Louis…
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Taxpayer dollars should not be used to pay costs of scandal, State Sen. Fontana says.
- OPINION
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Wednesday, August 1, 2012
For months now, I have sat back and watched what has unfolded in the Penn State scandal. I consider myself a fair man who likes to hear all angles and sides of a situation and then base my judgment on the facts, or what is seen as the facts. As we have witnessed here, far too many times Pennsylvania and the nation have been too late to rescue a victim or victims when it comes to various forms of abuse. All we can do from here is try to find a solution to the problem and make sure a situation like this never happens again. As your State Senator, one of the biggest areas I advocate for is public education. Every child should receive a quality education and what I see as a fundamental right. Not only does a child learn reading, science, and …
Monday, July 23, 2012
The NCAA imposed $60 million fine, reduced scholarships, and banned bowl appearances.
Stopping short of cancelling the season, the NCAA Monday imposed severe, wide-ranging sanctions against Penn State football in light of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. “This is just an unprecedented, painful chapter in the history of intercollegiate athletics,” said NCAA President Mark Emmert. The sanctions include: The NCAA also will require Penn State to employ a chief compliance officer. The NCAA will select an ethics integrity monitor who will report to the NCAA as well as to Penn State and the university’s trustees as to the school’s progress. Also Monday, the Big Ten Conference announced its own sanctions, saying Penn State is not allowed to share the conference's bowl revenues while it's serving the NCAA's postseason ban…
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Penn State's President said the statue had become source of division. Paterno library's name will not change.
Penn State President Rodney Erickson announced early Sunday that the bronze statue of former football coach Joe Paterno would be removed from outside Beaver Stadium, and stored in a secure, unidentified location. "With the release of Judge Freeh's Report of the Special Investigative Counsel, we as a community have had to confront a failure of leadership at many levels," Erickson said in a statement on the University's web site. "The statue of Joe Paterno outside Beaver Stadium has become a lightning rod of controversy and national debate, including the role of big time sports in university life. The Freeh Report has given us a great deal to reflect upon and to consider, including Coach Paterno's legacy." Police and construction workers …
Take our poll and let us know whether you agree with the decision to remove the statue honoring the legendary late coach—in the wake of the Sandusky scandal and Freeh report.
Once one of the most revered coaches in the NCAA, the legendary Joe Paterno was honored on Penn State's campus about a decade ago with a bronze statue that's become a landmark. But in the wake of the Sandusky scandal and the subsequent Freeh report, Penn State removed the statue at dawn on Sunday. Fox News reported earlier this week that some Penn State students had begun a vigil to protect the statue from vandalism. CNN reported that a small plane flew around the Penn State campus on Tuesday carrying a banner that read, "Take the Statue Down or We Will." Other tributes to the much-honored former coach have begun to fall. This week, Paterno's alma mater, Brown University, removed his name from its annual award to the outstanding male …
JS
9:25 am on Saturday, November 10, 2012
Roger - your point has been pretty consistent. You want the investigation to end for two reasons: One - We all do wrong and people just want to continue this to make themselves feel better about our own crimes and misdemeanors. I still find this argument attempts to trivialize the serious damage that was done to children in this case by comparing it to minor trangressions that we all have in our … more ›