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Governor Tom Corbett took questions from the media for about 20-minutes on Thursday, and almost every one of them was focused on the Jerry Sandusky scandal and its continued fallout at Penn State. Corbett calls it clear that there was evidence not initially provided by then-PSU officials when it was subpoenaed by the attorney general’s office.
Gov. Corbett answers reporters’ questions on Thursday.
“I am very disappointed in the lack of forthcoming evidence to the subpoena that was given to them by the attorney general’s office,” Corbett says. “The prior administration, they made decisions as to how they would deliver, and what they would deliver. I’m sure that is the subject of much discussion on the 16th floor of Strawberry Square.” As folks in Harrisburg know, the 16th floor of Strawberry Square is where you can find the attorney general.
Corbett did not comment specifically on the prospect of additional charges being filed, telling reporters that his personal opinions are not as important as the conclusions reached by Attorney General Linda Kelly.
The governor was also very careful to direct his criticism at the former leaders of Penn State, not at the university as a whole. He believes that some media reports are affecting the reputations of many who had nothing to do with the scandal. “The university is a wonderful, world-class research institution, world-class university as far as I’m concerned,” says Corbett. “Rather than trying to knock it down as an organization, we ought to be building it up.”
Corbett says he’s read about 2/3 of the ‘Freeh report’ so far, and he plans to talk about it with the Penn State Board of Trustees before he discusses it with the news media. He believes the entire incident will be judged by people from different perspectives for decades to come.
It was a good year for table games at Pennsylvania’s casinos, with a double digit increase boosted by June’s numbers and the newest casino.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board says revenue from table games play rose 15.5% last month compared to June of last year, with play up at all but three casinos and helped by the addition of the Valley Forge Casino Resort.
For the fiscal year that ended in June, table games revenue rose nearly 31% over the previous year. All 10 casinos that were operating last year posted increases, with the Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem showing the highest numbers.
Combined with slot machine revenue generated in the fiscal year, gaming revenue was up 10 percent compared to the previous year.
The dry weather is having an impact on some drilling operations in the Marcellus Shale region. It’s affecting water withdrawals in the Susquehanna River Basin.
The number of withdrawal suspensions ebbs and flows with the water flow levels, but operations in 13 Pennsylvania counties have been affected. Susan Obleski of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission says these water withdrawals have pass by flow restrictions. That means when a certain amount of water is not passing by the withdrawal points, the restrictions kick in.
Obleski says the pass by conditions are based on very conservative assumptions, so they tend to affect withdrawals long before any drought declarations are issued.
Most of the suspensions are related to hydrofracking operations for natural gas drilling but there are also some golf courses affected. Not all withdrawals have the restrictions, and those less than 100 thousand gallons a day that are not associated with natural gas development are not regulated by the commission.
Angry with the State System of Higher Education’s decision to raise tuition rates by 3% this fall, State Rep. Brad Roae (R-Crawford) issued a blunt statement this week, which said it “should be ashamed of itself” for trying to take advantage of students.
Roae tells Radio PA the US Department of Labor recently reported that the Consumer Price Index inflation rate last year was 1.7%. “But the PASSHE board is calling the 3% tuition increase a below inflation rate increase, which I think is pretty bogus,” Roae explains. He believes the tuition hike is unnecessary and will only serve to make a college education less affordable.
PASSHE spokesman Kenn Marshall stands by their assertion that tuition has been held under the rate of inflation for the fifth time in the past eight years. He says the Consumer Price Index and inflation rate are not interchangeable. “The CPI is actually a number that can be used to calculate the inflation rate… and based on that 1.7% CPI, the annual inflation rate is actually 3.1%.”
Students rallied against proposed higher education budget cuts this spring. In the end, the new state budget included level funding for state-owned and state-related universities.
The mathematical debate notwithstanding, Rep. Roae believes State System tuition should be frozen. “My ten piece bill package would do what the PASSHE board should be doing, and that’s looking at ways to keep costs down so that tuition isn’t so high.” In addition to a tuition freeze, Roae’s bills would cap university presidents’ salaries, make full-time professors teach more hours, end paid sabbatical leave and more.
But Marshall says they’ve been actively engaged in costs controls for more than a decade. “We’ve reduced our costs by almost $230-million dollars over the past ten years,” he says. That includes 900-positions being left vacant in the past two years alone.
In-state, undergraduate tuition at all 14-state-owned universities will be $6,428 this fall.
A Child Advocacy Center can be the focal point of care for young victims of physical or sexual abuse. With them, state Rep. Julie Harhart (R-Lehigh/Northampton) says child victims must only tell their traumatic stories once. Without them, she says, they would have to go through that experience five or more times for police officers, doctors, social workers and other officials.
Harhart is the prime sponsor of the Children’s Advocacy Center Funding Act which would help to support the state’s 20+ existing CACs, and assist counties that want to establish them. No taxpayer money would be spent on the program, as HB 1739 calls for a $2-fee on certain court filings in the state. However, that funding stream may be tweaked in committee to instead come from a fee on certain child abuse background checks conducted by the Department of Public Welfare.
The source of the funding is expected to be thoroughly discussed when the House Judiciary Committee convenes a public hearing in the capitol complex on Tuesday.
Rep. Harhart tells Radio PA that her passion for the bill comes from the success she’s seen firsthand at the Lehigh County Child Advocacy Center. “It’s a one-stop-shop for the tiniest victims of crime,” she says.
This is not a new issue; Harhart has been working to find a statutory funding stream for CACs for ten years now. She acknowledges, however, that the Penn State scandal may be bringing her bill more attention this year.
It was another rough week for Centre County, but it ended with a celebration of the arts. With music and food in the backdrop, more than 100 artisans displayed their wares at the People’s Choice Festival in Boalsburg over the weekend. The annual event near State College drew a large crowd, with many people still proudly wearing Penn State shirts, hats and other items just days after the Freeh Report cast a shadow on the legacy of former Coach Joe Paterno.
Joe Paterno memorabilia continues to be a top seller for Harrisburg-based “The Stadium Store”
Vendors displayed and sold handmade clothing, jewelry, pottery, furniture, artwork and numerous other items. Among the artist vendors at the festival were Jacob and Betsy Eisenhour of Harrisburg-based “The Stadium Store.” Items for sale in the Eisenhours’ tent included a large number of framed Paterno-themed works, which were predominantly displayed. The mother and son duo says Paterno items continue to be among their top sellers, and people who stopped by their festival tent this weekend have been “as supportive as ever” of the once-revered head coach. Betsy says she saw many emotional reactions to her son’s Paterno artwork this weekend, with some visitors crying and one woman kissing a picture of Paterno while saying “I love you, Joe.” Eisenhour also doesn’t shy away from her own continued support of Paterno and his legacy. She says she hopes that Paterno’s statue remains in its place outside Beaver Stadium. She visited the statue for the first time this past weekend. The Jerry Sandusky scandal and the ensuing fallout at Penn State hit home for Jacob Eisenhour. In addition to being lined up to design what would have been Joe Paterno’s commemorative retirement coin, the talented artist had also been previously commissioned to produce original program cover art for The Second Mile’s retirement dinner for Jerry Sandusky. He says he met Sandusky multiple times but never suspected the horrific life the former defensive coordinator was leading in private. Eisenhour says he’s saddened that Paterno is now being “more villainized than Jerry Sandusky.”
Last week, former FBI Director Louis Freeh released the results of his 8-month independent internal investigation of Penn State University’s role in the Sandusky sex scandal. The scathing 267-page report linked Joe Paterno to attempts to cover up Sandusky’s sexual abuse of children in 2001. The former head coach died in January at age 85 before he could be interviewed by Freeh’s team. Former university President Graham Spanier was also criticized in the report, along with former Athletic Director Tim Curley and former Vice-President Gary Schultz, both of whom are facing criminal charges for what prosecutors say was their failure to report Sandusky to authorities. Spanier has yet to be charged.
Jerry Sandusky is awaiting sentencing for his convictions on 45 counts of molesting young boys, most of whom he met through his Second Mile charity foundation. The former defensive coordinator was convicted in June and is scheduled to be sentenced in September.