HEALING BUT ANGRY –
HIS WORK WILL CONTINUE

     Community activist and neighborhood leader Jose Rivera is healing after he was sucker punched at a Father’s Day bar-b-que in Crystal Park on Sunday (the above photo was taken this morning).
     Lancaster City Detective Richard Mendez met with him today. The police still have not checked for footage from the Safety Coalition camera in the park. Rivera said the detective would be back to him either later today or tomorrow. Rivera said the park was packed and there were numerous witnesses although he was attacked from behind and he did not see his attacker.
     Rivera said the attack is not going to keep him from his neighborhood work and he said he has an obligation to watch the park as his grandkids and the neighborhood kids play there. He said he will not retreat.
     He also said he has a message for Chief of Police Jarrad Berkihiser: After he was attacked and bleeding Sunday it took two phone calls to 911 and two hours for a policeman to arrive. Rivera said the policeman who finally came had been on the other side of the park.
     He said they need a much greater police presence in his neighborhood. He said council members Janet Diaz and James Reichenbach reached out to him as did the mayor’s chief-of-staff Jess King and Milzy Carrasco who manages the Office of Neighborhood Engagement.
     This story will be updated tomorrow.

WHERE ARE THE ARRESTS?

*   Posted on Lancaster Online’s Facebook page under the LNP article, “Lancaster neighborhood leader attacked while at park Sunday; police investigate,” (click here).        
     Maybe the mayor could begin by asking the police why there have been no arrests! Why are there cameras if they aren’t used?

******

TOO LATE, REINAKER!

     Obviously he didn’t report it immediately or before the first story/video ran in LNP or he would have mentioned when questioned for that story. Duh.
Posted on Lancaster Online under today’s LNP article pictured left (click here).
      Exactly! And it doesn’t take a genius or a judge to figure that out. From the first LNP story with the video there is this (click here):
     “I neither expect nor deserve any special treatment and made no such request on this occasion,” Reinaker said.
     Reinaker is stating he did nothing wrong. Why would he self-report?
     And there is also this:
     Asked to clarify what he meant when he instructed the officer to check his registration, Reinaker said he knew the officer would be checking and wanted to get on his way as soon as possible.
     “If my intent was to tell him who I was, I could certainly have done so,” Reinaker said.
     It doesn’t take a genius or a judge to know that’s a lie. Telling him to run his registration is the same as stating his name and saying you better let me go, mister! And again, he’s saying he did nothing wrong so why would he have self-reported?
      Reinaker’s last ditch effort to save himself following the video and the public’s outrage is to state he “self-reported.” Too late, Reinaker!
      Once again, please file a complaint with the Judicial Conduct Board of Pennsylvania (click here). The more the better.
     The entitlement and arrogance displayed by Reinaker in the video are outrageous and this is a clear example of wealth, power and privilege – and especially white privilege. And this is unacceptable in a judge.
Please file a complaint and check back later today.

ARREST HIS ATTACKER!

     Jose Rivera, a well  know community activist, was beaten Sunday night in Crystal Park. He did not see the person but believes it was a teenager. The person hit him from behind. Rivera went to the hospital.
     A policeman took a report Sunday night after a two hour wait, but that officer is off until tomorrow and he hasn’t heard anything else from the police. There is a Safety Coalition camera right at the park that should have captured the beating.
     He expressed concern for the teen this afternoon and said the police need to arrest him before his neighbors get to him. He said there needs to be a much stronger police presence in the neighborhood and in his experience all of the police are downtown.
     The police need to make an arrest now and if they don’t know who did it they need to release the video to the public for identification of this person who would sucker punch a 60-year-old community activist who works everyday to improve the community.

******

—  As of 1:20 pm today when the below screenshots were taken, WGAL had 191 comments on their Facebook page and LNP had 116. Not a single one of those comments supports nor do they believe what Judge Reinaker said on WGAL. Not a single one.

—  How could Judge Reinaker “self-report” if he watched the video for the first time yesterday? What a bunch of absolute crap! Click here to report Reinaker to the Judicial Conduct Board of Pennsylvania.

***************

**   Jose Rivera in a message to me last night at 8:50 pm:

MAKE ARRESTS

 * Where are the police and Mayor Sorace?

COMMUNITY ACTIVIST ATTACKED

     Jose Rivera, a community activist, a member of the West Lancaster Jewels and known to all the city council members and the mayor, was attacked at Crystal Park.
Please check back for this developing story.

ARRESTED!

     The police arrested Dekendrick D. Jones this afternoon. Click here for the full DA’s press release.

  —   So the DA’s office issued a press release on Saturday thanking the public and stating they had identified the exposer but never gave his name and never said he was not in custody and that they were looking for him! Can you help us? If you see him call us.
     What in the world? How incompetent is that? Demand answers!

FLASHER ON THE RUN?

*** BREAKING ***  According to the Manheim Borough Police this morning by phone, Dekendrick D. Jones “has not been apprehended yet.” They stated there will be a police press release issued this afternoon.

—  Do they have Jones in custody? His docket status is “inactive,” there is no bail amount and there is no date for a preliminary hearing (click here).

l***   The exposer apparently is 24-year old Dekendrick D. Jones. The charges below were filed before District Judge Edward Tobin this morning.

****

NAME HIM!

**   On Saturday, the DA’s office was all excited they solved a case and they thanked the public for their tips in the above press release (click here). The release states in part:
     The man gave a statement to police.
     Charges are pending. More specifics will be released when charges are filed.
     Okay. Enough suspense! Could we have the man’s name now?

ENOUGH!

WHERE WERE
BERKIHISER, SORACE & STEDMAN?

(Click here)

     A father is killed and his son wounded in the early morning hours of Father’s Day and there is not a word from Lancaster Police Chief Jarrad Berkihiser, Mayor Danane Sorace or District Attorney Craig Stedman. Not a word.
Please check back later today.

*     As of 12:30 pm today, 85% of the participants in the below online LNP poll in their editorial today do not believe Judge Reinaker’s statement was “sufficient,” (click here).
      It most certainly was not. Hopefully the members of the Judicial Conduct Board of Pennsylvania are reviewing his actions right now.

HOLD THE POLICE ACCOUNTABLE!

(Click here) 

*    In fact, John Lugo II is one of LNP’s top stories online (click here). Just remember – he has shaved!

HE HAS REGRETS –
ABOUT SHAVING!

     I just have to end the day with these further posts from John Lugo II! Comparing himself to El Chapo! Oh, it is all just too much! 

**  This genius from today’s news is wanted for threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend (click here for the police press release). He shaved to hide his identity and posted it to Facebook only to learn that the charges are “misdemeanors.” So look for the shaved guy on the right and if you see John Lugo II call the police!

******

     This was posted on Lancaster Online’s Facebook page about the “haunted bridges” video and are they ever correct. Do not waste five minutes of your life. There is no ghost or fingerprints!
     LNP’s Tyler Huber is talented and some of these have been quite good. This one is not. Tyler should wait for the mayflies to swarm and capture that nightmare!

THREE SHOOTERS ON THE LOOSE!

    [Editor’s Note:  I ran the below early Saturday morning but it was quickly overshadowed by a video of a woman kicking a dog.
     I am re-running it today because it is so important and the public needs answers. There are three shooters on the loose and no one is following up on these crimes.
     There is a city council meeting tonight at 7:30 pm. Someone needs to tell the mayor and council members that the police and the DA need to be held accountable and answer to the public who pays them.]

*****

—  On June 7th, the Lancaster Police announced the arrest and charges against Adedolapo Patrick Olaniyi, who was shot multiple times in what has been described as a “gun fight” on June 5th (click here).

EDUCATE YOURSELF

     The problem with “beating her ass” is that it’s illegal and you’re doing the exact same thing that has you so outraged in the first place! And the wife of the LNP education reporter really should know better than to make these public posts on Facebook.
      These animal stories are for some reason clickbait for mass outrage and the news outlets know it – and so do the police and the DA’s office. How about we get as upset about domestic violence and as a commenter to this site said, “Murders, shootings, corruption in the DAs office, k2 epidemic, heroin, & child molesters should be what rages people. People got issues smh.”

REDUCE HER BAIL!

     Remember the below story about Annie Beiler (click here)? She hired someone to debark her dogs at her puppy mill. Her bail was $1,000 unsecured. Ashley Gaston is in jail on $50,000 cash bail.
     This whole thing borders on the absurd and DA Craig Stedman trying to look good. The DA’s office “wrapped” this whole thing up in a matter of hours but if you see my initial post this morning – there are three shooters on the loose and not a word from the DA!

                      Annie Beiler                        Ashley Gaston
                  $1,000 UNSECURED bail     $50,000 CASH bail

***   The police have charged her (click here for the police press release).

**   The police came and took the dog.

*     So I will post the video of the woman kicking the dog mentioned in the comments that is going “viral.” Why does this evoke outrage but a gun fight on a busy street during broad daylight does not?

THREE SHOOTERS ON THE LOOSE!

—  Yesterday, the Lancaster Police announced the arrest and charges against Adedolapo Patrick Olaniyi, who was shot multiple times in what has been described as a “gun fight.”

*    From the updated press release. I would certainly assume there will be more arrests! Who shot Olaniyi?

ONE ARREST MADE

Adedolapo Patrick Olaniyi

     One man is under arrest and charged as a result of Wednesday’s shooting – the man who is in the hospital  – click here for the updated police press release.

COULD THE
PUBLIC GET AN UPDATE?

     Unbelievably, there has been no update to this story since June 5th. Nothing!
—  What is the condition of the man who was shot multiple times?
—  Was the ‘person of interest’ involved? Was this person arrested? Has   anyone been arrested?
—  Why isn’t the public in danger?
—  What does Mayor Sorace have to say about this? Why isn’t she demanding protection for the public?
—  Does anyone hold the police and DA accountable in Lancaster County?
Please check back later today.

     No we’re not in danger…we just have piles of unsolved murders.
This comment in today.
       Is that ever the truth! And piles of unsolved shootings!
     This is simply unbelievable. The Lancaster Police have not issued an updated press release as of 3:34 pm today on yesterday’s shooting. This is unacceptable!
     Where is Mayor Sorace? Why isn’t she demanding her police chief release information to the public? The public has a right and need to know! This is why the public pays police officers – to protect and serve and solve crimes!
     There will be much more tomorrow.

*****

& BERKIHISER TELLS
THE PUBLIC NOTHING!

     Another shooting in Lancaster. It’s getting hard to keep count and there has only been one arrest in all of them.
     Police Chief Jarrad Berkihiser released almost no information to the public yesterday except to say the public is not in danger. How does he know that? This was a gun fight in broad daylight!
     The LNP article with the video of Berkihiser being interviewed is here.
Please check back later today.

SAY NO TO STEDMAN!

     The below are the ending three paragraphs to today’s LNP editorial, “The battle for DA’s civil forfeiture records is joined, and it’s a fight for citizens’ right to know,” (click here).
     Just come out and say it LNP: Craig Stedman should not be a Lancaster County Judge!

LEGAL QUAGMIRE!

     In the letter, Carfley [Wacker’s attorney, Peter Carfley] wrote he is “not convinced” the city has the right to exercise eminent domain on a property it owns to terminate a lease it signed.
From today’s LNP story, “Wacker Brewing’s lease on a storage building is a hitch for city’s fire station plans,” (click here).        
     Cue the lawyers! What a mess!
Please check back later today.

THAT’S EXPENSIVE BEER!

     So, what is going on with Wacker Brewing Company and the city over 425 W. King Street? The city owns 425 W. King Street.
     On January 1st of 2018, the two parties signed a five year lease agreement with Wacker paying the city $554 a month to use the property for warehousing and storage.
     The problem: There is no termination clause in the lease.
     The city needs the property now for one of the two new fire stations.
     Bryan Kepner, the president of Wacker, sent the city a letter stating he felt $495,000 would be just compensation for his company for the city breaking the lease.
     Cue outrage!
     Unless an agreement between the two is made prior, council voted last night to move this to the city council meeting on June 11th for a final vote. The city would use “eminent domain” to terminate the lease.
    Oh, this should be interesting! How many lawyers will get involved? Maybe the city should consider putting a termination clause in their leases? And maybe Mayor Sorace and Kepner could work all this out over a beer?
     We will see…

WHO WAS HIGH?

     “I recommend we table this,” city council president James Reichenbach said to council members last night about the salary study. He said they have “bigger things” to concern themselves with. Yes, they do!
      And there was no marijuana ordinance update. Mayor Sorace “explained” that she and police chief Jarrad Berkihiser got confused between June and July. The update will actually come in July. Hmmm…

      And council went after Wacker Brewing Company and their president Bryan Kepner big time. It’s a long, involved story that will be coming but Kepner wants $495,000 over a $554 per month lease. Oh, there was outrage!
Click here to watch the video of last night’s meeting (in three parts) and check back later today.

***  Raymond Corll’s attorney filed the below petition and motions Friday in Lancaster County Court.

*****

WELL PLAYED!

**   On a different and somewhat lighter note, the below is the third “Crime Watch” email from LNP in the last week that has advertising for the Marinaro Law Firm. If you recall, LNP sued Marinaro for payment and owner Mike Marinaro said in an email to this site that he was going to counter-sue (click here).
     As expected, it looks like they have worked out their differences. Marinaro told me over the phone they could afford to pay the bill but were not because of principle. I never doubted for a minute that they could pay because his firm has been expanding rapidly and I’ve seen him in court and he is an excellent attorney.
     And LNP would not want to lose a major advertiser and they most certainly would not want this from Marinaro’s email to be made public:
     “…that LNP made false, misleading statements, regarding circulation numbers of its newspaper and digital consumers.”
      Oh, my. Well played, Mr. Marinaro!

*****

*    A commenter brought up that there is a “Salary Study” on tonight’s agenda for the city council committee meeting (link below). Several months ago, Council President James Reichenbach brought up clerk Bernie Harris’ salary from out of nowhere and said it was “low” compared to comparable cities and they were going to look into this further.
     If this is what they are talking about it is ridiculous. I don’t know what Harris makes but I will find out. Meantime, in the middle of a financial crisis there should not be raises for anyone!

CORLL, SMUCKER
AND CITY COUNCIL

     Former Lancaster city police Sgt. Ray Corll posted bail Tuesday, allowing him to be released from prison while his case is under appeal.
From the June 28, 2017 LNP article, “Former Lancaster city police Sgt. Ray Corll released on bail during appeals process,” (click here).     
     Corll has been free on bail for almost two years pending first his appeal to the Superior Court of PA which was denied and then his appeal to the Supreme Court of PA.  As reported here on Friday, the Supreme Court denied his appeal on May 30th.
     When will Corll be returned to prison to complete his 7-to-23 month sentence? I will make calls today.
     As to yesterday’s post regarding David Smucker, he is scheduled to have a status conference this Thursday at 9:00 am before President Judge Dennis Reinaker. A portion of a post from this site on April 2nd is below (the original is here):      Finally, there is a Lancaster City Council Committee Meeting tonight at 6:00 pm. The agenda is here and includes an update on the marijuana ordinance.
There will be much more on this coming later today.

  THE SPOTLIGHT IS ON MURSE!

     A retweet by LNP editor, the Caucus editor and a “partner in Spotlight PA,” Tom Murse yesterday is below. And you really think, Tom, that your partners in Spotlight PA are not going to find out how you have lied to and defrauded the people of Lancaster out of millions and millions of dollars? Simply unbelievable. He is an absolute disgrace to journalism.

*** BREAKING NEWS ***

CORLL APPEAL DENIED!

     Former Lancaster Police Sgt. Raymond Corll’s appeal to the PA Supreme Court on his conviction has been denied (see below and click here for the full docket)! When will he return to jail to finish his sentence?
     Please check back later for this developing story.

****

**   The irony! The Lancaster City Alliance has a link to a nice Forbes article on Steve Murray of Zap & Co. (click here). So how could the tax base grow only 1.35% between 2006 and 2017?

*****

*     The story is now online: “Lancaster seeks consultant to review operations, finances; calls for PA to modernize local gov’t rules,” (click here).       

LNP: MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR
TO THE FINANCIAL CRISIS!

     Today’s front page headline in LNP’s print edition (the story is not currently online and I will link when it is available).

     What a misleading headline! The city is not fiscally fit – that’s the whole point of all of this. And from the article there is this:
     In Lancaster, despite all the recent investment, the property tax base grew just 1.35% between 2006 and 2017.
     How is that possible? We know LNP’s for-profit Marriott Hotel was given a $10.3 million dollar tax break and Mayor Sorace and any city council members who voted for this should resign or be voted out of office. And the whole “arrangement” between Sorace and LNP should be investigated by the state attorney general’s office.
Please check back later today.

*    I have to re-run this because it is so apropos today. On March 21, 2017, I ran the below photo with the headline, “IS THIS THE EXACT MOMENT WHEN SOMEONE ASKED FOR THEIR ETHICS CODE?” (click here for the original).

******

5-30-19 UPDATE

5-30-19 – UPDATE – I am waiting for LNP to tell the public the city of Lancaster is in a financial crisis. LNP has been so busy over the last decade backing politicians who gave them millions of dollars for their convention center/Marriott Hotel and telling people how Lancaster is so much better in so many ways than Reading or York!
      And, of course, it’s not good for their tax-free Marriott Hotel business to have the city in financial distress. Will this slow down the convention business? And LNP has for years told the public that everything was great when they should have been holding these public officials accountable and warning the public that the spending was not sustainable.
     Now, it has all come to a head. When will LNP tell the public and how will they spin this? 

NOT MONEY WELL SPENT!

—   Oh, and James Reichenbach and Mayor Sorace, you do not give a $10.3 million dollar tax break to LNP!
         Former Mayor Art Morris has taken down his website but you can still read his letter to NewsLanc.com (click here).

—  OMG! This post just went up on the city’s Facebook page. Talk about deflection! Skip over the financial crisis part of Mayor Sorace’s report at 41:00 and skip to 50:23! OMG!

—   From an LNP editorial on January 4, 2018 (click here):—   Listen up Mr. Reichenbach and Mayor Sorace – the city doesn’t give $3 million dollars to a company and then follow-up and give them a $1.5 million dollar loan when the company’s assets are a building in Reading valued at $89,000. Do you understand that concept, Mr. Reichenbach and Mayor Sorace? That’s not a good or wise business move!

**** Council President James Reichenbach spoke briefly after the mayor and thanked the mayor for her “leadership” and said, “we have played by every rule.” That’s a lie, Reichenbach!

***   LNP was there last night! That’s LNP reporter Tim Stuhldreher sitting in the photo below with his computer taking notes. LNP must be trying to figure out how to put a good spin on this. After all, they’ve been telling Lancastrians everything is just wonderful for years while happily taking millions in public money for their for-profit, off the tax-rolls Marriott Hotel!
     Again the link to the video is here and Mayor Sorace begins her report at 41:00 into the tape.

**   Act 47 is a state oversight program for “financially distressed” cities in Pennsylvania. The state tries to help cities turn around their finances and operations. The name comes from the Municipalities Financial Recovery Act (Act 47 of 1987).

*    Mayor Sorace told council that Lancaster is taking steps to enter the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development early intervention program. She said many see this as a precursor to Act 47. She said Lancaster is “no where near” Act 47.

*** BREAKING NEWS ***

SERIOUS FINANCIAL TROUBLE!

      Mayor Sorace told city council tonight that the city is close to financial disaster and she loses sleep over the 2020-2021 budget (click here for the mayor’s report which is at the end of the meeting). This is extremely serious – and what is the city doing – putting out a RFP to hire a consultant!
Please check back later today for updates on this very serious developing story.