Oral arguments given over Lackawanna County commissioner vacancy
The Lackawanna County Democratic Committee argues that the home rule charter should apply, which would give the power of choosing three candidates out of a pool of applicants to the committee, before being handed off to county judges for final selection.
On Tuesday, both sides argued in front of a panel of three judges.
The legal teams for both the Lackawanna County Democratic Committee and the county argued for what they believe to be the correct way to choose the next commissioner that will fill former Commissioner Matt McGloin's seat.
The county's team said that there are inconsistencies between both the Supreme Court ruling, Rule 1908, and the county's home rule charter, arguing that when an inconsistency occurs in a process such as this, the Supreme Court automatically trumps the other side.
Pittston police uses social media to fight drug dealers
However, the Democratic Committee's team does admit there are inconsistencies.
This case is legislative, not judicial, so the home rule charter, which was adopted by county voters in 1979, still stands.
The Democratic Committee questioned that, if Rule 1908 is chosen, does that mean anyone, not just Democrats, can apply to this position?
The county argued that Rule 1908 specifically says candidates, not party, and that candidate is a specific term that should narrow it down to Democratic candidates only.
The Democratic Committee also noted to judges that Rule 1908 simply says the court of common pleas will receive applications, but does not say it will consider them.
Commissioner Chermak also filed to remove the county from this case, arguing that if Commissioner Gaughan wants to proceed with this, he should do so on his own as an individual, not a commissioner, utilizing taxpayer dollars.
Arguments closed around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, and there is no word on when a decision from the judges will be made.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
a few seconds ago
- Forbes
Memo To The Fed And The Treasury Department: It's The Dollar, Stupid
The USD Coin logo displayed on a smartphone in Suqian, China, on March 13, 2025. (Photo Illustration by Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images) NurPhoto via Getty Images When successfully directing Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential run, Democratic strategist James Carville coined a phrase that became the campaign's de facto slogan: 'It's the economy, stupid.' The uncertain state of the economy was the #1 issue for voters. The state of the dollar should be the Federal Reserve's #1 concern. Similarly, the Treasury Department and the White House should cease any talk of weakening the dollar as a means of improving our trade balance. Experience demonstrates that a weak dollar begets inflation and big economic trouble. Strong nations don't have weak currencies. It is indeed telling—and a warning of future problems—that U.S. short-term interest rates are higher than those of the EU, Britain and Japan, yet the dollar has been feeble against the euro, the pound and the yen. The very definition of inflation is lowering the value of a currency, usually by creating too much of it. In this case, the dollar is wobbling because markets lack faith in it, even though the U.S. economy is doing better than most others. This weakness fuels chatter by the so-called BRICS—Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa as well as five new members—of finding an alternative to the greenback for international trade. If the dollar is not shored up, expect stablecoins to grow and evolve into monetary alternatives. In other words, the U.S. monopoly on money will face high-tech challenges. People won't stand still if inflation ruins the dollar. Former World Bank President and Treasury official David Malpass puts the dollar issue succinctly: A stable dollar means stable prices. Malpass would make a splendid replacement for Fed head Jerome Powell. Unfortunately, the Fed believes economic growth causes inflation. The institution has a strong bias against a vigorously expanding economy. This is the fundamental issue with our central bank. It's oblivious to the basic importance of a stable dollar—as are all too many economists. Money measures value like a scale measures weight, a clock measures time and a ruler measures length. It isn't a commodity like wheat or gold. It's not similar to a stock that goes up or down, depending on how well an economy is doing. When exchange rates were fixed, before we went off the gold standard in the early 1970s, the Free World flourished as never before. Floating, unstable exchange rates distort trade patterns and lead to brainpower being diverted from productive uses to trying to profit from opportunities offered by financial instability. The daily volume of currency exchange trading now exceeds $7 trillion. Noted economist and monetary expert Judy Shelton observes in her book Good as Gold: How to Unleash the Power of Sound Money , that profits are found in being nimble at arbitraging fleeting opportunities in unsettled financial markets. What a waste of people's talents. President Trump is right that Fed boss Jerome Powell is playing politics regarding interest rates. But as the president nears a showdown with Powell, he and his team should emphasize the fundamental point that the fight isn't just about the current levels of interest rates but, more important, it's about a stable and respected dollar.
Fox News
a few seconds ago
- Fox News
Democrats spent thousands in campaign funds to visit illegal Kilmar Abrego Garcia: report
Despite some claiming they spent money out of their own pockets, several Democrats spent thousands in campaign funds to visit illegal alien and alleged MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador, according to reporting by the New York Post. Democrats rallied around Abrego Garcia after they claimed he was wrongly deported by the Trump administration to his home country of El Salvador in March. Several Democrats, including representatives Maxwell Frost, D-Fla.; Robert Garcia, D-Calif., Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., Maxine Dexter, D-Ore.; and Glenn Ivey, D-Md., flew to El Salvador to advocate for Abrego Garcia's return. The New York Post reported that Frost, Garcia, Ansari and Dexter, all of whom made a joint trip to San Salvador to pressure the Trump administration to return Abrego Garcia April 21, paid for the trip through campaign funding, despite all except Garcia claiming they paid out of pocket. The New York Post wrote that Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show Frost's campaign reported spending $1,362 on Salvadoran-Colombian airline Avianca May 8, about a week after his trip to visit Abrego Garcia. Dexter's campaign similarly reportedly spent $1,315 on travel with Taca Airlines April 18, despite the representative saying he had self-funded the trip. Despite telling a local news outlet she had used her own money for the trip, Ansari's campaign reported in FEC filings that the congresswoman spent $2,616 on travel with Salvadoran airline Avianca the same month she flew to visit Abrego Garcia. Meanwhile, California Democrat Garcia's office confirmed he spent $1,982 on another Salvadoran airline, Taca International Airlines, in April, and an additional $502 for "event space rental" at the Hilton San Salvador, the outlet reported. Ivey, who attempted to visit Abrego Garcia in late May, spent $291 in campaign funds, according to the Post report. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., the first Democrat to make the trip and who remained an outspoken voice on Abrego Garcia's behalf, notably did not report any campaign spending for Salvadoran air travel or lodging in mid-April, when he made his trip. Abrego Garcia, who was returned to the U.S. in June, faces charges of human smuggling and conspiracy. According to an indictment, Abrego Garcia played a "significant role" in a human smuggling ring operating for nearly a decade. Attorney General Pam Bondi described him as a full-time smuggler who made more than 100 trips, transporting women, children and MS-13 gang-affiliated persons throughout the U.S. According to police and court records shared with Fox News Digital, Abrego Garcia was arrested in Hyattsville in October 2019, at which point he was identified by the Prince George's County [Maryland] Police Gang Unit as a member of MS-13.
Los Angeles Times
29 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Trump resists bipartisan calls to release Justice Department files on Jeffrey Epstein
WASHINGTON — The case of Jeffrey Epstein, closed long ago by investigators but nevertheless a constant source of fascination to conspiracy theorists, is the story that won't go away for President Trump, who this week continued to resist releasing documents in the case against bipartisan calls and increasing national interest. The case has dogged Trump's second term from the start, ever since the attorney general, Pam Bondi, alluded to the existence of a list of Epstein's clients sitting on her desk in February. Bondi later said she misspoke and that no such list exists. But the president's MAGA base and Democrats alike are now calling for the entire Justice Department file of Epstein material to be released, an appeal so far rejected by Trump and his aides. Trump's defensiveness over the file has put Republicans on Capitol Hill in the difficult position of appearing to protect Epstein's co-conspirators, as Democrats take advantage of the internal Republican divide with calls for a vote to release the documents. A poll conducted by the Economist/YouGov this month found that 83% of Trump's 2024 supporters want the government to release all material related to the Epstein case — 'past supporters,' as Trump referred to them Wednesday, calling them 'weaklings' and 'foolish' for pressing their interest in the case. Epstein, a wealthy financier with a deep bench of powerful friends, died in a New York City prison in August 2019 facing federal charges over a child sex trafficking conspiracy. The charges followed reporting by the Miami Herald of a scandalous sweetheart deal brokered by federal prosecutors in Florida that had allowed Epstein to serve a months-long sentence and avoid federal charges that could have resulted in life imprisonment. One of those prosecutors, Alexander Acosta, later became Labor secretary in Trump's first administration. He resigned amid a public outcry, weeks before Epstein's death. The New York City medical examiner and the inspector general of the Justice Department have ruled Epstein's death a suicide. This month, the FBI released what it characterized as the 'full raw' footage from a camera near what it says was Epstein's prison cell at the time of his death. But suspicions of conspiracy were only turbocharged by the release of the tape, which Wired first reported had three minutes cut from the original footage, according to metadata of the file. Epstein's known association with some of the world's most famous men, including Bill Gates, Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew, have fueled calls for their release. But it is Trump's highly public relationship with Epstein that has caused the story to resurface. 'Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files,' Elon Musk, Trump's largest donor in the 2024 presidential campaign and his close aide in the White House at the beginning of his term, wrote on X during their fallout last month. 'That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!' (He later deleted the post.) Photos of Trump and Epstein attending parties together have proliferated online. And Trump frequently acknowledged their friendship before entering politics. 'I've known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,' Trump told New York magazine in 2002. 'He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.' On Wednesday, Trump said Bondi should release only material from the Epstein files that 'she thinks is credible.' When asked whether he would support the appointment of a special counsel to examine the case, he replied, 'I have nothing to do with it.' 'I would say these files were made up by [former FBI Director James] Comey and [former President] Obama, made up by the Biden [administration], and we went through years of that with the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax,' he said. On Wednesday, Maurene Comey, James Comey's daughter and a federal prosecutor who had worked on the Epstein case, was dismissed from the Justice Department. Comey said Thursday that the department gave her no reason for her firing. In a briefing Thursday, White House Press secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated the president's opposition to a special prosecutor. 'The president would not recommend a special prosecutor in the Epstein case,' she said. 'That's how he feels.' Legitimate concerns have been raised over releasing documents from the case that could reference individuals who are not credibly suspected of wrongdoing. But those calling for the release of the entire file now say that the scale of Epstein's child sex trafficking ring, and the corruption around efforts to protect him over nearly two decades, are a matter of public interest. 'We want the entire file — we don't trust Bondi to say what's credible and what's not,' Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland and ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, told MSNBC on Thursday. 'We can be the judge of that ourselves.' On Capitol Hill, responding to Republican concerns over the optics of voting against the release, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is considering a measure that would call for the files to be made public. The measure would be nonbinding, a source familiar with the matter said.
