It's Now Clear That Pot Doesn't Lead to Hard-Core Drug Use Two recent studies should be the final nails in the coffin of the lie that has propelled some of this nation's most misguided policies: the claim that smoking marijuana somehow causes people to use hard drugs, often called the "gateway theory." Such claims have been a staple of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy under present drug czar John Walters. Typical is a 2004 New Mexico speech in which, according to the Albuquerque Journal, "Walters emphasized that marijuana is a 'gateway drug' that can lead to other chemical dependencies." [continues 597 words]
As Deadly Year Nears the End, a Look at 2 of the Hundreds of Teens Who Sell Dope DRESSED IN A black Dickies suit and black Timberlands, the chubby-faced 17-year-old crack dealer paced around the desolate lot working another graveyard shift. In the darkness, a steady stream of addicts ambled toward him to make a buy. Then he saw a familiar face: his close friend's mom. "I need a nick," she mumbled to him. Without hesitation, he sold her a nickel bag - $5 worth of crack. [continues 2595 words]
A LIGHT WIND whips through Hunting Park on a blustery morning, tossing leaves and cigarette butts from one deserted street corner to another. Jim Coolen Jr. settles into the cramped rear of a dilapidated van that he will call home for the next eight to 12 hours. The musty vehicle creaks and groans every time Coolen moves. Most days, it has all the warmth and comfort of an igloo. But the van is the perfect cover for Coolen, a veteran undercover narcotics cop, allowing him to watch a notorious local drug kingpin and his henchmen blatantly conduct their trade on the street. It's all part of a choreographed surveillance operation run by Coolen and other cops in Narcotics Field Unit 2. [continues 1749 words]
'Tis the season for the state Department of Agriculture to crank out press releases reminding us that Pennsylvania is a national leader in Christmas tree production. The latest yearly numbers -- 1.7 million pine trees worth nearly $14 million in sales to their growers -- sure sound impressive. But $14 million is chicken feed next to what some Keystone State "farmers" are pulling in each year by growing America's No. 1 cash crop -- marijuana. The state Ag Department's press corps doesn't send out releases on annual pot sales. [continues 497 words]
HOLLIDAYSBURG -- Someone cares. That's a message the Blair County Drug Court tries to convey to addicts whose heroin or crack cocaine habits led them to the wrong side of the law. On Wednesday, a group of Central High School students showed the adults in drug court that someone cares about their children, as well. Four high schoolers who belong to Students Against Destructive Decisions and school counselor Stephanie Thompson brought armloads of Christmas gifts to the courthouse and stacked them on both sides of the hallway outside a large courtroom where drug court was being held. [continues 336 words]
As a businessman active in Luzerne County for almost 40 years and a longtime drug harm reduction activist, I would like to add some thoughts concerning how to protect our children to the commentary published on Nov. 28 by William Kashatus entitled, "Time to get serious about heroin epidemic." I can best accomplish this through the following unsolicited recent letter from a student graduating from college to his mother, a public health specialist: Dear Mom, It has been eight years since I entered high school on the heels of your famous advice about drugs: "Johnny be skeptical and, most of all, be safe." Although I'd like to tell you that I never needed your advice because I never encountered drugs, I'd prefer to be as honest with you as you have been with me. [continues 330 words]
The Issue: The number of people incarcerated in the United States sets a record. Our Opinion: More drug treatment programs need to be developed as alternatives to jailing non-violent offenders. The get-tough-on-crime policies that were in vogue three decades ago have resulted in jails and prisons across the country bursting at the seams. Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice reported that at the end of 2005 there was a record high of 2.2 million people behind bars in this country, an increase of 2 percent over 2004 that saw a similar increase over 2003. [continues 492 words]
In response to the Dec. 5 article "Researchers Say Smoking Pot Not Always Path to Hard Drug Use": The results of this study are hardly shocking. The National Institute on Drug Abuse has funded similar studies in which the government hoped to reinforce some of their "facts" about smoking marijuana. A recent study at UCLA found that there was no link between smoking marijuana and lung cancer. Dr. Donald Tashkin, a UCLA pulmonologist who has studied marijuana for 30 years, said in a Washington Post article in May, "We hypothesized that there would be a positive association between marijuana use and lung cancer and that the association would be more positive with heavier use, What we found instead was no association at all, and even a suggestion of some protective effect." More and more we are seeing that the myths surrounding the use of marijuana are being debunked. It's time to get rid of the social stigma and criminal records associated with its use. Joe Province Shaler [end]
Even the Few Prevention Models That Phila. Uses Lack Resources. They are called the "gold standard" for violence-prevention programs: 11 models - out of more than 600 examined - that have proved most effective at thwarting crime and violence. At least five of these prevention efforts, aimed at children and teens, are being used in Philadelphia, but often on a very small scale or desperately short of funding or volunteers. With gun violence and murders mounting in Philadelphia, the lack of interest or investment in proven programs raises questions about why the city hasn't done more. [continues 1587 words]
A Search at Moorestown High Found "Significant" Amounts of Cocaine, Amphetamines and Other Drugs, Officials Say. A search at one of the most elite public high schools in the region turned up "significant" amounts of cocaine, amphetamines, diet pills, marijuana, prescription drugs, and drug paraphernalia, school authorities said last night. The drugs were found at Moorestown High - a school flush with Advanced Placement courses, where 94 percent of students go on to college and where most participate in extracurricular activities. After an investigation by school officials, six students were questioned by authorities Wednesday, searched, and given drug tests and arrested, interim district Superintendent Timothy Brennan said. [continues 572 words]
Pittston Twp. Officer Charles Michael Byra Jr. Is Accused Of Stealing Evidence. A federal prosecutor said a Pittston Township police officer accused of stealing evidence targeted minority drug dealers and had female suspects perform sex acts on him. U.S. Assistant Attorney William Houser further said Charles Michael Byra Jr., 28, gave a .380-caliber pistol he stole from the Dupont Police Department where he worked earlier this year to a convicted felon. Houser described some of the alleged evidence against Byra during a hearing in federal court in Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday. Calling that evidence "overwhelmingly strong," Houser attempted to convince U.S. Magistrate Judge Malachy Mannion that Byra is a "continued danger to the community" and should remain in federal custody. [continues 644 words]
Studies have shown that the recreational drug Ecstasy can cause brain damage when used often, but a new study suggests that even a few doses of the illegal substance can alter the brain's memory system and that the changes may be long-lasting. "We didn't expect to find such changes," said Dr. Maartje De Win, a resident in radiology at the Academic Medicine Center in Amsterdam. She and her colleagues tested the effects of the popular drug on 188 young adults (average age 22) they recruited who said they had intentions of trying Ecstasy but had not done so yet. [continues 290 words]
FORD CITY -- Despite their involvement in numerous drug arrests in the borough, Ford City police officers are not a part of the county's drug task force, and some council members think they should be. "There has been drug activity in the borough and our officers alone can't handle the problem," said councilman Homer Pendleton, who requested the issue be brought to the table. "With all the talk of meth labs and the known drug houses in town, we need to do something to solve the problem." [continues 348 words]
Contrary to popular belief, smoking marijuana need not be a steppingstone between using alcohol and tobacco and experimenting with illegal drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Researchers led by Ralph E. Tarter, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Pharmacy, found that nearly a quarter of the young men they studied used marijuana before they began drinking or smoking cigarettes. It's the reverse of what's known as the "gateway hypothesis," in which drug use is thought to progress from alcohol and tobacco to marijuana to hard drugs. [continues 865 words]
They seem to be getting younger, the teens who parade before the Cumberland Valley School Board for their fate to be decided in discipline hearings. Ninth- and tenth-graders are getting caught with marijuana and abusing prescription drugs, and when the board's discipline committee asks, most of the teens say they started using drugs during the summer before ninth grade, says Assistant Superintendent Mary Riley. "That summer is absolutely crucial," Riley says. Twenty-six students faced discipline hearings in the first two months of school, a disturbingly high number compared with the 56 teens who had hearings during the entire last school year, when the first hearing occurred after the October Homecoming dance, she says. [continues 317 words]
Faced with a rising number of young teens getting involved with drugs and alcohol, the Cumberland Valley School Districts is inviting parents to become students for a night. On the curriculum -- the ABCs of stopping substance abuse. "Drugs 101" on Dec. 7 will teach parents how to recognize the signs their child may be headed for trouble -- and how to spot often innocuous-looking drug and alcohol paraphernalia. The two-hour program, put together with the Cumberland Valley Community Action Committee, will also bring parents up to speed on what's out there -- from stolen prescription meds and pot to inhalants, cocaine and heroin -- that could hurt their kids. [continues 390 words]
Dumping near those "No Dumping" signs that dot the roadways through rural Pennsylvania is a common sight, but some worry that the trash might have a sinister source. In Michigan, for example, hunters have come across at least three methamphetamine labs so far this hunting season, according to reports from that state. Materials used to make the drug are explosion hazards, state police said, making the manufacturing facilities highly dangerous and pushing their construction far away from population centers. And, although no such lab has yet been found on a public hunting land owned by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, officials are asking hunters to be on the lookout for them as they join the million-man orange army marching into the Keystone State woods today. [continues 305 words]
Good cop and bad cop? Thought to be a shining example, a born-again Camden officer is accused of allegedly helping the bad guys. On the day Cpl. Michael Hearne was appointed to lead the faith-based efforts of the Camden Police Department, he drove to a seedy supermarket to meet an old friend. The friend had a proposition: Lend me a gun to rob drug dealers, and I'll give you half the cash. Hearne agreed, according to state police. [continues 848 words]
Dumping near those "No Dumping" signs that dot the roadways through rural Pennsylvania is a common sight, but some worry that the trash might have a sinister source. In Michigan, for example, hunters have come across at least three methamphetamine labs so far this hunting season, according to reports from that state. Materials used to make the drug are explosion hazards, state police said, making the manufacturing facilities highly dangerous and pushing their construction far away from population centers. And, although no such lab has yet been found on a public hunting land owned by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, officials are asking hunters to be on the lookout for them as they join the million-man orange army marching into the Keystone State woods today. [continues 255 words]
As a retired police captain, I applaud the police work that went into the recent breakup of the drug ring that netted 937 grams of cocaine. But, if my years of experience in those positions has taught me anything, it is that nothing will change except the lives of those arrested and their families. Ever since President Nixon declared a war on drugs in 1970, U.S. taxpayers have paid over $1 trillion to arrest our way out of our drug problems. We have made over 35 million arrests and currently spend $69 billion a year on this war. [continues 608 words]
They Want to Know How Son Could Shoot Self in Cop Car The parents of a Southwest Philadelphia man who police said shot himself in the head while handcuffed in the back seat of a cop car demanded answers yesterday from the Police Department. Oliver P. Neal Jr. and his ex-wife, Beverly, sat next to family attorneys and complained that police have not contacted them about their son, Oliver P. Neal III, 26, of Wheeler Street near 57th. "They haven't the decency to knock on my door," said Neal. "Why didn't they contact us? What kind of system is that?" [continues 517 words]
Milton Friedman, arguably the best known and most influential free-market economist in the world for the last 40 years, died in the San Francisco area Thursday at age 94. Friedman, who lived for years in the liberal epicenter of House Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi's downtown San Francisco congressional district, advised presidents, prime ministers and helped foreign countries set up market economies. But more important to the everyday American, he was a major popularizer of the moral and practical benefits of freedom and capitalism. A principled enemy of socialism, monopolies and big government, a friend of competition and choice, he argued early, hard and persuasively for such things as a voluntary army, educational vouchers and an end to the prohibition of drugs. [continues 1517 words]
Pittsburgh police and the Allegheny County medical examiner's office yesterday were investigating three possible heroin deaths and six non-fatal overdoses. Officials in Westmoreland County also are investigating the deaths of a couple found in their apartment from a suspected overdose. Toxicology tests haven't been completed on any of the victims, and police said they don't know yet if any of the cases are connected or related to a particular batch of bad heroin. In the city, Leslie Williams, 48, was found at 8:36 p.m. at a residence on La Place Street in the Hill District. Investigators found a syringe near his body. [continues 180 words]
Interested Customers Had to Know a Secret Code. The Wyncote Mini Deli in Ogontz offered customers more than the standard hoagie and chips: For an extra $25, police said, you could buy a bag of marijuana to go with your meal. But you had to know the code: Simply add a child-sized, barrel-shaped container of Hug juice to your groceries and another $25 to your payment. "You had to do it at the same time," said Philadelphia Police Capt. Chris Werner Narcotics Field Unit II. [continues 125 words]
Janine Pacelli doesn't want teenagers to view her as another Mr. Mackey, the little-respected "South Park" counselor who repeats a "drugs are bad" mantra without thoroughly explaining the consequences. But she's not seeking to use scare tactics, either, to persuade teens to ponder the dangers of drug use, underage drinking and smoking. As a treatment specialist for the Fayette County Drug and Alcohol Commission, Pacelli says she's confronted by teens growing up in communities where a prevailing feeling exists that alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use is an accepted way of fitting in. [continues 488 words]
After nearly a year of wrangling over the fate of a mushroom heir who ran an underage bacchanal at his Avondale residence, both sides yesterday applauded the cases's resolution. Under the terms of a plea agreement approved on Thursday, Richard A. Basciani will spend five to 10 years in jail followed by five years' probation. Basciani, 50 of Avondale is a former vice president of Basciani Foods, a Kennett Square-area mushroom purveyor that has been featured on the Discovery Channel. [continues 299 words]
Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett Addresses the Media Wednesday Morning After Nine Current and Former Mansfield University Students Were Accused of Trafficking As Much As $500,000 Worth of Cocaine, Marijuana And Prescription Drugs Over the Past 16 Months. MANSFIELD -- A "drug organization" responsible for selling as much as $500,000 worth of cocaine, marijuana and OxyContin in the Mansfield area is out of business following a drug raid Wednesday by state troopers, probation officers and representatives of the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office. [continues 669 words]
Millennium Circle Fund Votes to Give a Grant to Luzerne-Wyoming Counties Drug and Alcohol Program. WILKES-BARRE -- A group of community-minded Luzerne County residents on Tuesday afternoon voted to award a $25,000 grant to help tout drug and alcohol prevention messages among area schoolchildren. The money will allow the Luzerne-Wyoming Counties Drug and Alcohol Program to deliver anti-drug lessons to 13 school districts, said Michael Donahue, the program's director. "If we don't talk to our kids about drugs, the dealers will," Donahue told members of the Millennium Circle Fund, an area philanthropic group. [continues 359 words]
There it is again in the obituary section of The Patriot-News. Another young person has lost her life to heroin. Every day, in the obituary or state and local sections of the newspaper, there are heartbreaking articles and obituaries about the deaths or incarceration of our region's young people because of alcohol and drug problems. Right on this point, in its recent report to the Foundation for Enhancing Communities, the Community Investment Initiative studied and surveyed the immediate five-county region of central Pennsylvania - -- Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lebanon and Perry counties -- and identified the region's top five "most critical issues." [continues 606 words]
Because heroin is sold via an unregulated illicit market, its quality and purity fluctuate tremendously. A user accustomed to low-quality heroin who unknowingly uses pure heroin will likely overdose. The inevitable tough-on-drugs reaction to overdose deaths is a threat to public safety. Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only increase the profitability of trafficking. For addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war doesn't fight crime, it fuels crime. [continues 181 words]
Why do heroin and other illegal-drug deaths often make the front page [Cover, "Horse Country," David S. Barry, Oct. 19, 2006], while deaths caused by tobacco rarely get mentioned even in the obituary notices? Our annual tobacco-versus-all-illegal-drugs-combined kill ratio is about 23.5 to 1. And the vast majority of our 17,000 deaths from illegal drugs are because the drugs are illegal. Because certain (politically selected) drugs like heroin are illegal, they are of unknown quality, unknown purity and unknown potency -- just like alcohol was when it was illegal. Kirk Muse Mesa, Ariz. [end]
SPRING CHURCH -- Fifth-grade students at Apollo-Ridge Elementary School had to wonder what they were doing planting daffodil and tulip bulbs on a chilly October day. "It's never too cold to plant something," said Lorraine Valenta, of Apollo, a member of the Penn State Master Gardeners. For 75 members of the school's Just Say No Club, that meant putting on their winter coats and trying to keep their hands warm while they dug in the dirt outside the entrance to their school and got a lesson in fall planting. [continues 351 words]
"I can't not do this. I'm only one person but I want to make a difference." Those were the words of Enrique "Kiki" Camarena used to explain his decision to join the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in the 1980s. Camarena, who was born in a dirt-floored house, was a college graduate, former United States Marine and current police officer when his decision to make a difference was made. What he didn't know was just how much of a difference to which his decision would lead. [continues 281 words]
A Heroin Epidemic Runs Wild in Bucks County. Some of the names in this story have been changed. Two weeks ago, Doylestown police responded to a 911 call from a house where 19-year-old John Warren IV had been doing heroin in his upstairs bedroom with Jeramiah Seger, a classmate bound for Florida State University. Lt. Mike Cummings said both boys were dead when they arrived shortly after 9 p.m. "One was dead in a kneeling position, the other was sprawled, half falling off the bed," says Cummings. "They had been dead for some time when our officers arrived. They had lividity and rigor mortis." [continues 3628 words]
FORD CITY -- Although the sky was gray and it was cold and raining, Terry Davis said Tuesday the day never looked better. After spending nearly five years in prison viewing time passing through iron bars, even the dreariest days look good to the ex-athlete, ex-drug dealer and ex-gang leader. Yesterday, Davis, in the company of Robert Stanko of the Zelienople-based National Character Education Foundation, told nearly 500 Lenape Technical School students how drugs led him to prison, endangered his family and nearly killed him. [continues 1247 words]
Somerset County's courthouse was abuzz Friday with young and old voices trying to make a difference. Courtroom No. 1 filled beyond capacity as hundreds of students, parents and public officials joined a Red Ribbon Rally in which awards were presented for anti-drug posters, banners and essays. The rally marks the beginning of a weeklong campaign to combat drug and alcohol abuse among young people. Along with individual awards, for the 12th consecutive year, a team from Rockwood Area High School took first place in the banner contest. Second place went to the Shade-Central City School District, while Meyersdale Area School District came in third. Teams from the Turkeyfoot Valley Area School District and Somerset County Technology Center achieved honorable mention. [continues 619 words]
Milford, Pa. -- When Danielle Caggiano moved to Matamoras from Long Island she wanted to know what teens her age did for fun. So she asked her classmates at Delaware Valley High School. "Watch TV, have sex or do drugs," is what they told her, the 16-year-old Caggiano said. Pike County has a growing teen drug problem, according to Westfall police. During the 2004-2005 school year, police made more than 30 drug-related arrests between Delaware Valley High School and Middle School. Six of the arrests were made in one day, Westfall police Chief Mark Moglia said. [continues 539 words]
SOMERSET - Kayla Mack isn't shy about offering her opinion on illicit drugs. The Shade High School senior plays a star role in turning young people away from drugs. "I reach for the stars -- not drugs," Mack, 17, said. "I warn them that drugs only interferes with their goals. What's more important, achieving your dreams or getting high." Mack received a Lion Scholarship Award on Friday for being the outstanding Student Against Destructive Decisions. She plans on attending the Conemaugh School of Nursing in Johnstown to become an RN. [continues 298 words]
Wally Scott says mandatory checks would answer those who claim illegal-drug use is common among elected officials, county staff and law enforcement personnel. Reading District Judge Wally Scott said Wednesday that he wants all district and county judges and their staffs to submit to random, mandatory drug testing. Scott, in an Oct. 3 letter to Berks County President Judge Arthur E. Grim, wrote that he believes judges and their staffs should be held to a high standard. "I am asking that a policy for mandatory drug testing for the judiciary be implemented," Scott wrote. [continues 298 words]
Drug users in the area are experiencing firsthand that a fentanyl induced high is not far from a long goodbye. Fentanyl, a pain killing drug normally administered by an anesthesiologist, is making headway as a party drug. Since April of this year, Montgomery and Berks counties have reported more than 30 fentanyl-related deaths. In Philadelphia, 70 deaths and up to 220 overdoses have occurred, and in the tri-state area, there have been 200 deaths and 500 overdoses, according to a 2006 Pennsylvania State Police report. [continues 732 words]
Authorities don't know if less ecstasy on streets. Close to three years ago, state and local authorities shut down one of the largest ecstasy rings on the East Coast, but gauging the bust's impact on the local drug trade since then has proven difficult. Coming across ecstasy during a drug bust is routine for police, but it is found far less frequently than street drugs cocaine and heroin. So law enforcement officials cannot say for sure whether the biggest ecstasy bust in the history of Northampton County has put a dent in the dealing of the sometimes-deadly designer drug. [continues 514 words]
Workers Say They Are Seeing An Increase In Campaign Participation. CLARION - Clarion County drug and alcohol prevention workers say they are seeing an increase in participation for this month's Red Ribbon Week awareness campaign. The annual event helps draw attention to the problem of drug abuse, underage drinking, and binge drinking. "It seems more people are getting involved," said Vicky Hilborn, a prevention specialist for the local drug and alcohol department. "It's exciting this year." Clarion commissioners on Monday approved a proclamation designating the week of Oct. 23 to 29 as Red Ribbon Week. [continues 604 words]
Benjamin Saks had a rocky month last February. The architecture fourth-year's car broke down, two of his tires were slashed, and he was shot in the hand after helping a police officer arrest a criminal. "What's worse was that my architecture project deadline was very close," he said. Such is the life of a hero. Saks was granted this title, along with a bronze medal and a $4000 grant, by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission on September 28. The organization, which has no ties with Carnegie Mellon University, is a 21-member commission in Pittsburgh dedicated to honoring people who perform acts of heroism in the United States and Canada. They also provide financial assistance for those disabled and the dependents of those killed helping others. [continues 699 words]
Jay Bundy says he's fed up with being called the "pothead president." "It's not like we're saying, 'free buds for everyone,' or 'we're gonna hand out nuggets,' " Chris Brink, Bundy's vice presidential candidate, said. "No. It's not like that." Brink and Bundy are running on the presidential ticket for the University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) elections that will be held this Wednesday. President of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Bundy said the administration should accept his platform regardless of his advocacy for the legalization of an illegal substance. Felicia McGinty, associate vice president for student engagement, said if elected she would work with Bundy in all situations, including making positive life decisions. [continues 402 words]
With a potentially deadly batch of heroin blamed for the deaths of two Cumberland County residents in two days, Coroner Mike Norris had a very simple message: "I don't need the business, folks. We need to make it known that this deadly combination is out there," he said at a press conference Wednesday morning. In front of him, two enlarged color photographs each contained a small bag with a crude black stamp on it. On one, the word "DIESEL" had been stamped. [continues 1261 words]
Parasites continue to feed on Altoona, state Attorney General Tom Corbett said Monday. The parasites are the "city" dealers, in this case from Brooklyn, N.Y., who peddle heroin and cocaine in Blair County. Two Brooklyn men charged in connection with an August raid on Lexington Avenue were arrested again Monday during a countywide drug bust. [Names redacted] were sent back to Blair County Prison after their arraignments. Corbett said he plans to work with the U.S. Attorney for Brooklyn and provide information gained during [Names redacted] prosecutions. [continues 473 words]
Police Say They Have Been Trying To Be Visible When Searching Suspected Drug Houses To Show Neighbors Their Complaints Are Heard. Mayor Tom McMahon said Wednesday that he was encouraged residents cheered police as they handcuffed and hauled away a pair of suspects after a drug raid this week in the 100 block of North Third Street. "I think this could be the start of neighbors from around the city being able to step forward and be visible to take specific actions to not only support our police officers, but disrupt the activity of these people who are continuing to disrupt neighborhoods," McMahon said. [continues 418 words]
A Web site includes local municipalities as good places to buy drugs. Local officials take issue. It's easy to obtain some marijuana on the streets of Horsham, at State and Main in Doylestown, strolling through Tyler State Park, or shopping at Ardmore's Suburban Square, according to a Web site that purports to be an international consumer's guide to finding pot. WeBeHigh.com includes Philadelphia and eight suburban towns in its worldwide list of places where visitors can do a little illegal trade. [continues 726 words]
Coroner: Body Found Near Railroad Tracks Had Been There For Days LANCASTER, PA - Toxicology results should reveal the cause of death of a man whose body was found Monday night, investigators said. The man, whose name had yet to be released Tuesday, was found dead around 9 p.m. in a ravine near railroad tracks and a stockyard. Lancaster County Coroner Dr. G. Gary Kirchner said the man had been dead for at least a couple of days and his body was decomposed. [continues 221 words]
"Love," As William Shakespeare Observed, "Is Blind." Chester Stankiewicz of Bethlehem Township, it was reported in Monday's paper, patted his granddaughter on the arm and told Northampton County Judge Anthony Beltrami what a fine person she is. I have six granddaughters, and I love them dearly, but if one of them swiped $28,500 from me to buy cocaine, I'd be perturbed. While I might ask a judge not to put her in the clink, I would not be lovingly patting her arm as I begged. [continues 581 words]
Inside Pennsylvania
