se x - «© manager, Photo) Gy Eo and Edward Boltz,. vice by Dick Swank . Pennsylvania Press Bureau As surely as it takes nine hundred upon one hundred bucks to make a ‘thousand and as surely as one million naturally grows to one billion and as surely as the average tax-payer cannot carry in his pocket or even in his new compact automobile what it costs to conduct a presidential selection. You bet we dropped a bundle in the last election. Matching funds from the public coffers is an idea that apeals to common cause and Nader vision and is a condition that inveighles virtuous women into underwriting debates. But I abhor the havoc it creates. No matter how the cigar- chomping bosses of yesterday’s caucases burned the midnight oil-- contributors to the energy crunch- they managed to shorten the process of finding proper can- didates and funding them with an overspill of corporate dollars. That financed the quadrennium show without irritating the skin underneath our collars. .. It doesn’t take hibernation in some ivy-draped academy. g For most of ust know that tam- pering with the long held truths generated by the two-party system and the significance of the bottom line and the certainty that politics is better left to the politicians; it puts sealing wax on this soliloquy. More evidence, if I needed it, came about half past eight Of election evening when I no longer needed to wait To discover that what computers had led me to believe would happen when they were first used by net- works two decades ago had now come to fruition And I could abandon my prone position, Reassemble my potato chips and liquid refreshments and the pads and pencils and the charts con- taining all the electoral votes of all the states and how the popular vote would stack up and all the mar- velous helps that used to make election time one in which hope could outlive hope and weary hour follow wearier as I waited the last possible communication As to who now would lead the nation. The profundity of who will make the country work Suddenly depends upon the reportorial jerk Who, consulting electronic props, Tells us where the voting stops. With the help of doggie food baggers and trash bag fillers and conjurors of underarm scent dispellers and concoctors of butter that tastes like margarine and designers of cutie hamburgers and other great comforts that spill from the cornucopia that might better have been lost, The next president can be gotten without cost. Herewith, I entertain a motion: Wherein we hire the firm of Walter, Wawa and Reynolds (Kronkite, Barbie and Frank) to insert five votes each from their already predictable key precincts and, ignoring the risks of naming Bush, Kennedy, Mondale, Anderson and Ford, or the hidden quotient X, dispense entirely with the next four years of speculation; we accept their verdict, and so go onward with utter faith and our deepest devotion. by David M. Cleary Harrisburg Bureau During a post-election sesion that lasted only three days, Penn- on money bills. They gave final approval to more than $82 million in construction and repair funds, including $43 million for a new state office building in Harrisburg. Another appropriation of $37 million is to improve bus transportation in various parts of the state. The new Harrisburg building is to be occupied primarily by the Department of Environmental Resources, which has been housed in several Harrisburg locations, largely in rented space, since its birth in 1970. Plans for that building, endorsed by both Gov. former Gov. Milton J. Shapp, had called for the first two floors to be rented to business firms. Rent money was to help pay off the building’s cost over the years, but scrapped on the final legislative day. Other capital expenditures have been approved for a new armory at Fort Indiantown Gap, repairs and renovations at state colleges, and a long list of smaller projects-- including a boat launching area for the State Fish Commission on the Susquehanna River. On the mass transit front, almost $34 million of the $37 million alotted will go for the purchase of buses, which--barring unforseen developments--should meet the replacement needs of 14 urban and two smaller- transit systems until the end of 1984. The buses are to be purchased by PennDOT rather than the separate transit systems, with the thought that the single order for many vehicles will provide better leverage for geiting desired modifications, as well as a better price. The single order for many buses is also expected to be given priority over smaller ones by bus manufacturers. Unlike car makers, the bus builders are busy these days as high gasoline prices divert people from private cars to public transportation. In another transit appropriation, the state will provide $878,000 toward the $7 million cost of bringing Harrisburg’s ancient rail- bus station up to modern standards. Legislators did not, however, deal with the problem of raising the needed money through new or in- creased taxes. Instead, they authorized bond issues to provide whatever funding cannot be met from current revenues. The state appropriations also set the stage for seeking federal grants. Power Balance in Senate State Rep. Milton Street, who declared last week that he’ll be a Republican when he takes his seat in the State Senate, isn’t expected to lose support of Philadelphia Democrats who elected him to that position. Over the years, as he staged demonstrations aimed at in- fluencing Philadelphia’s City Council and the state General Assembly, he has made clear that party label isn’t nearly as im- portant to him as his advocacy of better life for black people. It was a black district that sent him to the House two years ago, and he will occupy the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Herbert Arlene (D- Phila.) who is also black. As the Senate’s first black Republican, he’s telling his con- stituents, he’ll be on the majority side, able to do more for them than he could as a minority Senator. For one thing, he will be a com- mittee chairman. Sen. Henry G. Hager (R-Williamsport) announced incident to Street’s switch to the Republican ranks that a new committee on Community and Economic Development will be created, with Street as chairman. Hager, named as the candidate for Senate President Pro Tempore by the Republican Caucus, can make that promise with con- fidence; Street’s switch gives the Republicans a 26-24 majority in the Senate even without the tie-deciding vote of Lt. Gov. William Scranton IIL Heating Assistance Applications Available The Department of Welfare, which had hoped to have ap- plications ready by November 1 for people who qualify for state help in paying this winter’s heating bills, ran into some delays. But the applications are available now, Welfare Secretary Helen B. O’Bannon has announced, and can be obtained from welfare offices in Anyone receiving a welfare grant is also eligible for help with energy bills, she said, and so are many others. Any person living on an income of less than $4,738 a year is eligible. The limit on income rises with each additional member of the household. A family of four, for example, may have income up to $12,420 in some counties and $12,880 in others. Applications will be accepted until a $119 million grant of federal funds is exhauste, Mrs. O’Bannon said. PENNSYLVANIA ACTION LINE questions about Pennsylvania Government. Preference is given to matters of greatest statewide ap- plication, and questions may be sent by mail to: “PAL,” 2717 N. cannot accept phone QUESTION: I've heard that a consumer won a refund from his electric company even though he couldn’t prove his meter was inaccurate. Is that true? as C.S.B., 0il City ANSWER: Yes. Last Spring the Public Utility Commission adopted a policy of considering factors other consumer claims he was charged than was used. During October, William Replogle of Wiliamsburg, Blair County, became the first consumer to get a refund under that policy. He did it by showing that the bill he got for March of this year was far higher than in March of previous years, even though there had been no change in energy usage on his farm and no increase in the number of occupants of his house. Records showed Replogle had used 2,400 kilowatt hours in March of 1977 and 2,420 in the same month of 1978. The PUC ordered Penn- sylvania Electric Co. to base the biil for March of 1979 on 2,420 hours instead of the 3,400 shown on the meter. : QUESTION: Several weeks ago calling for a ten-week extension of unemployment compensation payments. But our local unem- ployment office says it has no word about it from Harrisburg. P.T.L., Marion Heights ANSWER: When the bill was passed by the U.S. Senate, the Senators added some provisions that were not in the version previously adopted by the House, so it had to go back to the House for ; concurrence with the additions. And the U.S. House of Representatives | has not yet taken that second vote. A spokesman for the Penn- sylvania Department of Labor and Industry sees little hope that the legislative action in Washington will be completed this year. So for the time being, at least, the time limit for unemployment comepn- sation payments remains at 39 ! L A In the final week of its 1980 session, the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to cut off state funds for Medicaid abortions except in cases of rape, incest or danger to the mother’s life. The more than 10,300 abor- tions at a cost of $2.9 million, and anti-abortion lawmakers contend that most of those operations were performed for convenience, rather than for legitimate medical reasons. The legislation is now in the hands of Gov. Dick Thornburgh, who has not yet said whether STORE HOURS: 3AM. -9PM. he will sign it. Working at a brisk pace to clear its calendar, the House passed two other much-publicized meas- ures: a ‘‘deadly force” bill giving homeowners more leeway to shoot an intruder, and a bill that will permit the victims of malicious lawsuits to countersue for damages. The House also voted to outlaw the possession or use of the drug-related utensils that are found in so-called ‘‘head shops.” State Sen.-elect Milton Street of Philadelphia, a black activist whose talent for confrontation % EES GRADE "A" SHURFINE TURKEYS 10-20 Ib. 79¢ GRADE “A” BUTTERBALL TURKEYS 10-20 Ib. 89¢ CHOICE BOTTOM CHOICE BONELESS RUMP ROAST. CHOICE BONELESS EYE ROAST .. CHOICE BONELESS YAMS. CELERY FLORIDA ORANGES LETTUCE RED EMPEROR GRAPES ......... RED & GOLDEN DELICIOUS APPLES : NR COUPON a ne per family +51.99 52,19 ».*2.69 Ib. $2.39 in3.% 59° cee 00 se es 00 cee sss se eee DARING's B one term in the Hous who will become chai man of the Senate Committee on because of the assistance offices for an Democratic Party’s appointment. ¥ “insensitivity to the needs of the poor and the = = r=ecssmeeeencs blacks.” AVAIL KRAFT 32 OZ. KRAFT 10 0Z. CRACKER SHARP STICKS KRAFT 12 GAL. KRAFT 1 LB. QUARTERS KRAFT 12 OZ. SINGLES AMERICAN CH STORE SLICED WILSON SLICED WHITE AMERICAN CHEESE 55 0 an om mm En en EE EN en # NR COUPON - PERSONAL sos 0060s : One per family | [PAGE THREE pected to benefit from the state’s ~ $119 million program to provide home- heating aid this winter. Welfare Secretary Helen O'Bannon said that payments would average between $270 and $300, depending on a family’s size, its income and the type of = fuel’ used: Applicants should telephone their county = e, r- ’s Ability is a poor man’s wealth. --M. Wren. ABLE 51.300 | 49] re BARREL © 02s vss es 0 ase EESE a Ib. *1.99 5.31.99 DARING'S B § SIZE IVORY ee gis Expires Nov. 29, 1980 1 Expires Nov. 29; 1980 § COFFEEMATE COFFEE CREAMER $735 16 oz. DIAMOND WALNUT MEATS 16 oz. Pkg. CRISCO SHORTENING 3 Ib. can $919 IMPERIAL MARGARINE 1 Ib. gtrs. 69¢ JOY LIQUID DETERGENT $749 32 oz. WITH COUPON 1 99 CASCADE DISH DETERGENT 50 oz. 1 89 5 : | NEW SUNSHINE PEPPERIDGE FARM DUNCAN HINES DUNCAN HINES FROZEN PEANUT BUTTER Dp) Choc Choe Chip- : atmeal Raisin [9 79 10% «317 89 $119 ; 2 LITER HEINZ Ens SANKA COCA-COLA KETCHUP CHOC. i 1 1b, TAB, SPRITE 32 oz: bore 24 oz. bl. 1 $359, 00¢ 99¢ 8 WISK ITO SEALTEST KEEBLER Gal. Bottle TEA BAGS COTTAGE CHEESE | SNACK CRACKERS $49 100 ct. 1 9 79¢ 8 oz. box 79° CAMPBELL'S CAMPBELL’S CHUNKY CAMPBELL'S CHUNKY V-8 JUICE 46 oz. 79° CHUNKY BEEF Soup 19 oz. 89¢ SIRLOIN BURGER SOUP 19 oz. 89¢ VEGETABLE BEEF SOUP 19 oz. 89¢ NABISCO PREMIUM CRACKERS 1 Ib. box Reg. Ret. 95¢ 75° PLANTERS DRY ROASTED PEANUTS 24 oz. jar FURMAN'S WHOLE TOMATOES 30 oz. can 2/79 DIAL BATH SIZE SOAP 2/89: go Fe a if ELMDALE WHOLE KERNEL CORN 30 oz. can 4/1 HANOVER VEG. SALADS 14.02. jar 69° FOLGER'S INSTANT COFFEE 10 oz. jar LA PIZZERIA PIZZA
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers