DEP Starts Aerial Spraying for Black Fly Control

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The state started black fly suppression spraying operations in several counties on April 9th.   Spraying usually begins in late April or early May, but it has started earlier this year.

Amanda Witman, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, says surveillance detected the flies a few weeks earlier, but that does not mean they’re out in increased numbers.   That’s what the spraying is intended to prevent, by targeting the larval stage of four types of black flies that are pests to humans.  

Spraying is scheduled for 44 waterways in 33 counties. Witman says they plan to cover 1500 stream miles, which is a little less than last year.

Witman says the spraying uses BTI, a naturally occurring bacterium, which degrades quickly in the environment and does not hurt the ecosystem.  It is sprayed from low-flying helicopters, and spraying operations depend on weather conditions.

Witman says people living along the waterways should be familiar with the program. It has been around for many years. It covers large rivers like parts of the Susquehanna, Delaware and Juniata as well as smaller streams.

Witman says if you’re new to an area and concerned about a low flying helicopter, there are ways to check whether spraying is scheduled for that day. DEP notifies local Emergency Management officials about any spraying activity.  You can also get more information about the Black Fly Suppression Program at DEP’s web site.

New Voter ID Requirements?

One-on-One with David Christian, Republican for US Senate

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David Christian

David Christian’s background is the first thing that sets him apart from the other five Republicans running for US Senate.  At the age of 17, he convinced his mother to let him join the Army.  He was one of the youngest most highly-decorated officers in the Vietnam War. 

After returning home and rehabilitating his battlefield injuries, Christian became a businessman and veterans’ advocate.  He’s alarmed by the 12.1% unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans.  “If they can drive a tank and fly a helicopter, we can get them into a job,” Christian tells us.

He believes in retooling and retraining American workers for the jobs of the 21st century, but says the biggest obstacle to job growth is over-regulation from Washington DC.  “If we had the regulations in place that we have today… we wouldn’t have had a Henry Ford; we wouldn’t have had a Carnegie; we wouldn’t have had Edison.”  In the US Senate, Christian wants to fight for a moratorium on government regulations. 

The Bucks County resident serves as a business consultant and president of a defense manufacturing company in Northeast Philadelphia.  He was recently in central Asia, where he saw gasoline selling for just 32-cents a gallon.  “We have to look at oil in the soil here in Pennsylvania,” Christian says.  He believes it will bring billions of dollars in investments and tens of thousands of jobs.   

 Christian believes Washington DC needs more leaders with his gumption.  “It doesn’t matter if your neighbor is a Democrat, Republican, or a one-eyed horn toad, you should be out there fighting for them, because they’re an American,” he tells Radio PA.  “We’re Americans first and foremost.”

Radio PA has reached out to all five candidates running for the GOP nomination for US Senate.  We’ve already spoken with Sam Rohrer, Marc Scaringi and Steve Welch.  You can catch all of the long-form interviews on Radio PA Roundtable.

RadioPA Roundtable

Radio PA Roundtable 04.06.12

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Radio PA Roundtable is a 30-minute program featuring in-depth reporting on the top news stories of the week. Professionally produced and delivered every Friday, Roundtable includes commercial breaks for local sale and quarterly reports for affiliate files.

Click the audio player below to hear the full broadcast:

[audio:https://s3.amazonaws.com/witfaudio/radiopa/Roundtable04-06-12.mp3]

PNC Economic Outlook Survey Shows Increasing Optimism Among Small Businesses

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The PNC Economic Outlook Survey of small business owners in Pennsylvania shows increasing optimism about their sales and hiring.    61% are optimistic about the local economy in the near future, an improvement from the fall survey. A growing number, 18% compared to 9% in the fall, expect to hire full time employees. More than half expect sales to increase.

Gus Faucher , a senior economist with PNC Financial Services Group, says the Pennsylvania economy is doing better in general than the national economy.  He says it tends to be concentrated in stable industries and it’s benefiting from natural gas exploration.  He says small business owners in the state are  the most optimistic they’ve been since prior to the Great Recession.

More than half expect sales to increase. However, there is some concern about inflation, especially in light of rising gasoline prices.  Faucher says 79% of those surveyed expect consumer prices to rise in the coming year, perhaps influenced by the jump in gas prices.

Faucher says the survey shows renewed interest in credit. 15% said they will likely take out a new loan or line of credit in the next six months. While more than one-fifth still say credit is difficult to obtain, he says that number has gone down over the past year or so.

Faucher says Western Pennsylvania is benefiting from Marcellus Shale in terms of direct jobs as well as support industries such as manufacturing. He says Eastern Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia area are lagging behind.  He says the Harrisburg area is suffering because of the financial difficulties in the capital city as well as layoffs in state government.

Businesses in Pennsylvania are still pessimistic about the national outlook, but Faucher says that number is lower than it was in the fall. He says they see local conditions picking up before the national economy.

Few Issues Resolved at Brief Hearing

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Joe Amendola

Joe Amendola

All the major pre-trial issues remain in play, as Jerry Sandusky’s defense lawyer will argue for the charges to be thrown out at a later date.  “Those motions and those issues are still very much at issue here in the case,” attorney Joe Amendola told the media following a brief hearing in Centre County Court. 

State prosecutor Joe McGettigan suggests that the defense team’s pre-trial tactics have been lengthy and pointless.  But Amendola responds that, “If the Commonwealth had been more specific, we probably wouldn’t be here today.” 

Joe McGettigan

Amendola wants many of the charges thrown out based on a lack of specifics from the Commonwealth.  It’s a notion that state prosecutor Joe McGettigan steadfastly denies.  “We have provided voluminous specificity as to the acts with which he is charged,” McGettigan told the mass of reporters who gathered at the courthouse in Bellefonte.    

A few of Jerry Sandusky’s pre-trial motions were withdrawn on Thursday, including a request to suppress statements Sandusky made to authorities in 1998 and a request to suppress intercepted phone conversations Sandusky had with two of the alleged victims.  Amendola tells reporters that both pieces of evidence will actually help the defense at trial.    

The 68-year-old Jerry Sandusky – a once iconic assistant football coach at Penn State – remains on house arrest following his November arrest on 52-counts of child sex abuse. 

Amendola says his client’s spirits are high, and Sandusky looks forward to spending the Easter holiday with most of his family.  McGettigan says the Commonwealth looks forward to the victims getting their day in court. 

Right now it looks that that will happen in early summer, as jury selection is slated to begin on June 5th.

Jerry Sandusky Pre-Trial Hearing Today

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    The key principles in the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse case are gathering in Centre County today for a pre-trial hearing on a variety of issues, including a defense request to dismiss all charges against the former Penn State assistant coach.

    With the trial still two months away, more than 100 journalists have gathered at the Centre County Courthouse for today’s hearing. Jerry Sandusky is expected to be in the courtroom for the proceeding. Some of the key disputes to be discussed today include how much information the state will have to turn over to the defense in advance of the trial and what evidence will be admitted in the case.

    Sandusky is charged with more than 50 counts of child sexual abuse against at least 10 young boys over more than a decade. He is currently under house arrest and awaiting his trial in June.

Lawmakers Prepare to File Lawsuit Against Commonwealth Over Education Funding Formula

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Rep Rosemary Brown

Rep Mario Scavello

 

Some lawmakers are getting ready to take the state to court to challenge the school funding formula.   Representatives Mario Scavello and Rosemary Brown, who represent parts of Monroe and Pike Counties, are initiating the suit.  They have backing from colleagues in other areas of the state that are seeing growth. 

The suit will challenge the hold harmless provision.  Since 1991, it has required that school districts get no less money than the year before, regardless of student population.  The lawmakers say that has been hurting growing districts, while benefitting districts with shrinking student populations.  

Representative Brown says enough is enough; it’s time this outdated formula is challenged.    She says she will not accept that it can’t be changed. She says realtors are having trouble selling homes because of property taxes.

Representative Scavello says the school property tax rates in his district have made people prisoners in their own homes.  He cited an example he’s often repeated- a home bought for 250 thousand dollars five years ago, that’s worth 150 thousand dollars today and has an 11 thousand dollar property tax bill on it. He says the Pocono Mountain School District last year raised taxes per house between 400 and 500 dollars.  He says we just can’t continue to do things like this.

Representative Scavello says he’s paying the legal fees out of his own pocket.

Brown and Scavello had support from other lawmakers in districts facing similar problems.  Representative Ron Miller (R-York) says they’ve tried to change the education funding formula in the legislature, but it’s “very hard to convince people to take money from their constituents to help ours.”

Representative Stan Saylor (R-York) agrees.  The house majority whip  says people aren’t willing to give up money that flows into their school districts and keeps their property taxes very low.

Representative Scavello says there will be a taxpayer from every school district involved in the suit and he expects it will take 90 to 120 days before the suit is filed, to allow time to gather all of the information. The suit was announced at a news conference.