A3O-Uncaster Farming, Saturday, May 2, 1998 Grange Members Urged To Support Lawsuit Abuse Reform (Continued from Page A 24) suit reform farmers, consum ers, governments, taxpayers. As an example of how serious the problem is, Shirvinsky said the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is sued 50 to 60 times every week. State Attorney General Mike Fisher was the last featured speak er at the Grange event He said the state gets sued about 70 times per week, and the issues range. State highways arc always an issue. Fisher said the state pays out about $35 million a year in dam ages to travelers on state toads because of lawsuits. Fisher was originally scheduled to be first speaker of the day for the state Grange, but he changed his schedule to attend a Washington D.C. press conference about tobac co, at the request of President Bill Clinton. Fisher said he made good time on the road getting to Union Depo sit for Grange event. He said he left Washington at 2:20 p.m. He made it to the event by 4:30 p.m. A spokesperson for Fisher arrived first and took the podium while awaiting Fisher’s imminent arrival. The spokesman talked about Mike Fisher’s political positions and spoke highly of Fisher’s attri butes for leadership. Fisher explained that he is the state’s third elected attorney gen eral. Previous to 1978, they were appointed by the governor. Recently elected, Fisher’s term of office is to last through 2001. LONG DISTANCE PHONE SERVICE As Low As 6.9 centra infinite For 1+ and 800/888 service 24 hrs. a day 7 days a week Rates vary depending in which state you’re located •NO Prepayment • 18/6 second Increment Billing • Monthly Billing • Verified Account Codes and individual •NO Access Codes billing for community phone use Low Foreign Rates - Canada 12 cents a minute Inquire About 13.9 cpm Phone Card Calls NO surcharge. $5 rechargeable cards are activated and ready to use. Call anywhere in the world. May use your social security # as a pin number. Activate for any amount you want over $lO Tel-Com Phone Services 539 Hilltop Rd. Myerstown, Pa. 17067 For more information call 717-866-6520 or 800-779-7729 only during office hours from 8 AM to 5 PM Monday thru Friday Part time or full time sales people wanted inquire about the $50,000 annual income plan Customers cut your bill to zero with our referral plan (Fisher’s election to the position follows a term that was filled by an appointment required after the state’s second elected attorney general, Ernie Preate, was forced to resign, amidst corruption allega tions. Preate served several years in low-security prison and has since become religious.) He said that his job is to be the state’s top attorney in criminal and civil matters. He has 180 attorneys working under his command, 350 enforcement officers, and 350 sup port staff. There are 18 offices across the state and several toll free numbers. There are three divisions of con cern for the state attorney general office criminal, civil, and publ ic protection, In the civil issues, of the 70 law suits filed each week against the state, he said about a third of them ate filed by prison inmates. For years, with free access to law libraries, and lots of time available, inmates have filed many civil suits on their own, without representation of an attorney. Many local-court officials have long been frustrated with the increasingly heavy scheduling and work load required to process, review and dispose of each inmate filed case, regardless of how fri volous or ridiculous. On top of that are an increasing mountain of administrative and equally court-time eating frivolous filings by non-inmates. Fisher talked about a lawsuit filed by an inmate that was reported in newspapers recently. Hie inmate claimed he should be compensated for suffering because the prison didn’t give the right size underwear. Reiterating some of the message of the Pennsylvania Civil Justice Coal don, Fisher said something needs to be done to curtail frivol ous lawsuits. Fisher said the attorney gener al’s Public Protection Division focuses on anti-trust issues, and other, more direct, consumer com plaints, such as fraud schemes involving repair or home improve ment work, credit card fraud. He said that the Bureau of Con sumer Protection receives about 100,000 telephone call complaints and about 30,000 followup written complaints each year. He said that after receiving the written formal complaint, the department attempts to help resolve the issue by serving as mediator. « v. “All of us are consumers,” he said, “so, when we are fighting for consumers, remember all can be victimized.” Fisher touched on a unsolicited telemarketing calls and the laws that govern them. He said he wrote new laws when he served in the state General Assembly, and he said there are new laws in the works regarding home improvement contractors. He also talked briefly about the Megan’s Law issue and that he supports it. (The law requires those convicted of sexual predation of children to forever announce to local law enforcement officials their past conviction so as to allow the general public to forever iden tify them as having committed tz, PA Federalsburg, MD 1-800-673-2580 1-800-735-6361 Direct drive 36" fan with 115-230 volt, 1/2 HP motor in wood crate with guards and cord. *175 such a crime, sort of like a scarlet letter.) According to Fisher, the role of attorney general also includes working cooperatively with other states’ attorneys general to combat organized crime and corruption. He briefly discussed a case against Toy-R-Us which this week was found guilty of price fixing. Fisher also talked about his office’s relationship to all the local district attorney offices through the Criminal Law Division. He said some of the enforce ment targets are for public corrup tion, organized crim, environmen tal violations, and enforcement of controlled substance laws, specifi cally to limit the availability of illegally manufactured and/or dis tributed pharmaceutical substances. He said that his office has con current jurisdiction with local dis trict attorneys in drug enforcement. It is a popular issue with Fisher. He said, “Problems of drug abuse arc not just urban problems. We have seen them spread into all communities.” Fisher said there has been rapid rise in the teenage use of drugs. He said from 1991 to 1996, use of drugs by sixth- through eighth grade students increased from 10.5 percent to 20 percent The abuse of cocaine went from 1.5 percent to 3 percent; of inhal ants from 4.8 percent to 8.9 per cent; of hallucinogenics from 1.8 percent to 3.8 percent; and heroin from 1 percent to 2 percent, according to Fisher. He added that heroin has all Northeast Agri Systems FD 36 QUANTIT Electrical cords, hanging hardware, shutters, thermostats and all other fans on special Call for free estimates, etc. thorized master distributor since 1982 Northeast Agri Systems, Inc. OS Flyway Business Park store hours Mon -Fn 730t0 4 30 $$ 139 A West Airport Road 24 Hr 7 Day Repa,r Se,vlce QE9 Lititz, PA 17543 ag Ph (717)569-2702 1-800-673-2580 ™ W& I FD 48 Direct drive 48" fan with 115-230 volt, 1 HP motor in wood crate with guards *329 DISCOUNTS FOR 10 OR MORE! become much stronger than ever. He said that when it was a problem in the 19705, the street heroin ran about 6 to 8-percent pure. Today, he said it runs about 50 percent pure and can damage and Idll very easily. He said hospital emergency room treatments for drug over doses in Mercer County alone in one year went from 132 to 311, he said. Fisher said all illicit drug users ought to be punished as well. He said that efforts should be made to catch users and to punish them with some sort of restrictions on freedoms, such as perhaps home arrest with a radio transmitter ankle bracelette. A seizure of 95 kilograms of cocaine was done at the Philadel phia International Airport a week ago, Fisher said. He said a plane came in loaded with the cargo and the suspected smugglers were rid ing first class on the plane. He said the cocaine had a street value of $lO million and that his office made the seizure working together with federal agents. The shipment came in on a flight from Puerto Rico, he said. (Hie Puerto Rico airport is a key tansfer point for many flights from North America to Central and South America.) Fisher also spoke out against the Phildelphia city government prog ram of exchanging needles. He said he would like to see it stop, claiming that it does nothing but promote drug use and hasn’t made any dent in the number of (Turn to Paga A3l) Belt driven 48" fan with 230 volt, 1 HP energy efficient motor, in wood crate with guards 5 335 * 9 *,9 tAMJfSJfJfJFJTJ, NEF 48 FEDERALSBURG, MD. 305 UNIVERSITY AVE. (Formerly Loog Lumber) 1-800-735-6361 STORE HOURS' 7'SOAM -430 PM Monday ■ Friday
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