Local News
Sestak: Tax drillers instead of I-80 drivers
MERCER COUNTY — Tolling Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania is technically a state issue, but that hasn’t stopped it from spilling into the talking points of federal politicians, including 3rd District congress members, past and present.
Add to that list U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, a southeastern Pennsylvanian who will run against Sen. Arlen Specter for the Democratic nod in next spring’s primary.
Sestak spokesman Jonathan Dworkin said his boss isn’t opposed outright to tolling, but he has come up with another option.
“Before we put that burden on the average guy that’s driving down I-80, we should look for other sources of revenue, like giving a reasonable tax for the oil companies on the Marcellus Shale,” Dworkin said.
Sestak wants to resurrect plans to tax companies drilling for natural gas in the Commonwealth’s Marcellus Shale, using the taxes partly to offset any environmental impacts from that drilling and partly to fill the funding gap if I-80 is never tolled – something that’s a possibility since the state has yet to win the necessary approval from federal authorities.
The state plan aims to raise $60 billion over 50 years to fix roads and bridges across the state through tolls on I-80.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission would be responsible for tolling I-80 and this month resubmitted its application to the Federal Highway Administration after the FHA rejected it in September 2008.
How much revenue a tax on natural gas companies would generate depends on the tax rate, said Dworkin.
Numbers Dworkin released show that a 5 percent to 10 percent tax could produce from $107 million to $325 million. By 2014, Sestak’s numbers predict the tax could generate between $632 million and $1.9 billion.
Part of that tax would go toward environmental protection, so it’s hard to predict how much the plan could help the state’s roads and bridges, Dworkin said.
The natural gas tax idea was kicked around during state budget negotiations, said Sestak’s news release.
Sestak is serving his second term. A former three-star admiral and Clinton-era director of defense policy, he holds a doctorate in political economy and government.
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Court nixes ruling man is sexually violent predator
State Superior Court has denied a local judge’s request to issue a precedential opinion in a rape case.
Mercer County Common Pleas Court Judge John C. Reed had ruled that Chad S. Thompson, 24, formerly of Stoneboro, is a sexually violent predator, but Superior Court said in a 2-1 decision July 8 that an expert’s testimony was insufficient to back that declaration.
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Stacey wants to continue fight over razed home
Raymond Stacey has requests pending in three courts as he presses his long-running attempt to prosecute the city of Hermitage and those he believes are responsible for illegally demolishing his parents’ house.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Philadelphia, on April 29 quashed an appeal because Stacey did not file his argument brief and appendix of supporting documents.
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Burglars strike while residents sleep
Several Shenango Valley residents’ homes were broken into overnight Tuesday and Wednesday while they slept.
Two burglaries in Sharon involved people entering open windows.
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Commissioners formally move to raise sewer fees
Hermitage commissioners introduced an ordinance Wednesday to increase sanitary user fees.
Residents tapped into the Hermitage Municipal Authority lines now pay $95 a quarter. That rate will bump up to $105 a quarter on Jan. 1, under the proposed rate hike.
Two more hikes on Jan. 1, 2012, and Jan. 1, 2013, will result in the rates increasing 50 percent from the current fee. -
Water is on at Forrest Brooke
Water service has been restored at Forrest Brooke Manufactured Home Community after well problems left the 165-unit complex dry Tuesday.
A boil and conserve water advisory has been issued by the DEP and will remain in place until tests confirm the water is safe to drink, Forrest Brooke’s manager Pete Havens said.
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Storm damages trees, wires
Thunderstorms ripped through parts of Mercer and neighboring counties Wednesday night, downing trees and wires and keeping rescue workers on their toes.
A Mercer County 911 dispatcher shortly after 8 p.m. said they were busy with calls across the northern part of the county. He said there had been a few reports of trees falling on homes.
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City leaders open to talks
Sharon officials aren’t opposed to sitting down with their counterparts in Farrell to revisit the idea of combining the two struggling cities.
“It never costs a penny to talk and there’s no (idea) that’s not worth looking at,” Sharon councilman Ed Palanski said. “I think it would be foolish to oppose looking at the idea.”
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Murphy’s Law doesn’t faze regional planners
A complicated, two-day public meeting blitz in 32 counties ran headlong into Murphy’s Law in Mercer County on Tuesday.
The group Power of 32 are looking to re-write the regional map and create a grand, 15-year strategic economic plan for the 32 counties in four states that make up the Ohio River basin and greater Pittsburgh area.
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Forrest Brooke copes with water outage
Residents of Forrest Brooke Mobile Home Community in Jefferson and Lackawannock Townships woke up Tuesday morning to find they didn’t have any water.
Managers of the park could not be reached for comment, but residents said they were told they won’t get water service back for at least another month.
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City facing bleak financial reality
LaVon Saternow has been Farrell’s city manager since 1992. Shortly after she took the job, Sharon Steel, the city’s economic engine, officially closed down.
Since, the city has struggled to remain solvent and Mrs. Saternow said it is facing its worst financial crisis in her tenure.
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Court nixes ruling man is sexually violent predator
