Hallstead – The State Constabulary made a raid on the place of L. E. Tiffany on the night of June 14th and made a large haul of gamblers and gambling apparatus. For a long time past some of the best citizens of Hallstead have been making complaints to D. A. Ferguson to the effect that Mr. Tiffany was keeping a gambling house. The D. A. secured a member of the state police to appear in plain clothes and get acquainted with the “boys” and he soon got in their good graces. The officer went to Susquehanna and reported of his progress and it was planned that all would be on the job on the evening of June 14. Warrants were sworn out and about 10 o’clock four members of the constabulary and the D. A. proceeded to Hallstead in automobiles. Admission to the joint was easily obtained by the plain-clothes member, who was followed by the other three. Mr. Tiffany and all in the game were placed under arrest with gambling evidence. Tiffany and Wm. Haganaw waived a hearing and entered bail for their appearance at court; the rest of the crowd was held as witness.

Auburn – The Auburn and Rush poor farm has a surplus of hay on hand and have sold it for $14 per ton, hauling it to Meshoppen, eleven miles at least. Some farmers think hay will bring a good price next winter and will pay to hold over. Also The veterans of the Civil War, who were residents of Auburn, are very few in number now. Perhaps one-half dozen from the township may go to Gettysburg, but it is doubtful.

South Gibson – Ralph Lewis, a South Gibson boy, while out shooting crows on the Belcher farm, about a mile from the town, was very much surprised to see a black bear come nosing along. He was armed with only a small 22-calibre rifle, but that did not deter him from killing the animal, although it required three shots to do it. It has been many a year since bears were seen around here, but it is believed that bruin has for some time resided in the wilds of Elk Mountain, a few miles away. The youthful hunter was the cynosure of many admiring eyes, being second only to that of the bear. It weighed 132 pounds.

Lenoxville – D. W. Kenyon and family are moving back to their farm in Greenfield. We are sorry to loose them from our little community and our best wishes go with them ever.

Flynn, Middletown Twp. – It has got so that our rural deliveryman, Milton Warner, has to carry a garden rake and stop for hours to rake stones off the road.

Howard Hill, Liberty Township – Marion Foster, teacher at the Brookdale Orphanage, closed her school last Friday and took the boys to Tripp Lake and spent the day fishing. Others who went were Mrs. Effie LaSure and daughter, Violet, Edna Reynolds, Thea Caswell, Bessie Howard and Elbert LaSure.

Stevens Point – Geo. A. Prentice and family mourn the loss of their 8 year-old (Jake) pet cat, who by some means just lost his timetable and was overtaken by a train and was killed. The remains were picked up and buried by C. J. Cook and others.

Heart Lake – J. B. Hadsell, editor of the Binghamton Press, has purchased a lot and will build a cottage shortly. The Post Brothers’ cottage is nearly completed. Also Dance in the coolest dance hall in Northern Pennsylvania, at Heart Lake, July 4th. If you dance you can’t dance at a better place.

Parkvale, Dimock Twp. – W. C. Green is preparing to move his barn. James Bunnell is doing the work. [Mr. Bunnell was known as the master barn and house mover at this period of time.]

Binghamton – It takes the Binghamton girls to catch the boys over in Susquehanna county. The last one to be caught was Thomas Hassen, of Auburn. Miss Loretta Kane was the lucky girl. Now Tom, when we come over to Montrose we want a good cigar. Best of wishes to you and your better half.

Montrose – One of the features of the balloon ascension at the Montrose Fourth of July celebration, after the aeronaut has cut loose in a parachute, is a trained dog cutting loose in a similar parachute shortly afterward. Many other novel attractions will be found in the big celebration here the Fourth. Also The Star Bloomer Girls, alleged champion lady baseball players, will play a local team here on Saturday. The young women have played ball here before and always play an interesting game.

Brooklyn – Archie Kent and Miss Florence Packard were married last week at Unadilla, N.Y. Mr. and Mrs. Kent will be at home to their friends after July 1. Mr. Kent was also examined by the State Board of Undertakers at Philadelphia and has been granted an undertaker’s license.

Susquehanna – J. Thompson Bean, who for a number of years has edited the Transcript-Ledger, has resigned his position. Geo. V. Larrabee, for many years the business manager, is the new editor.

St. Joseph – One of the prettiest and most impressive weddings ever solemnized in St. Joseph’s Catholic church took place on June 17th, when Miss Mary Frances Griffin youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Griffin, of Forest Lake, became the bride of Mr. John Joseph Bergin, of Little Meadows. For many years the bride has been a school teacher in Susquehanna county and since the death of the late Miss O’Reilly, has been in charge of the choir serving faithfully as organist and vocalist. The groom is one of Little Meadow’s most popular young men, who conducts a store in his hometown.

Hop Bottom – The auto drivers are too numerous to mention. They seem to have the best right to the public highway, followed by a cloud of dust we do not enjoy.

Springville – Wm. Peet, who had lived for years near the Baker creamery, was buried at the Lynn cemetery on Tuesday. He was a veteran of the Civil War. Also At Lynn, the quarantine has been lifted from the homes of J. S. Howard and Mrs. Adah Hartman for mumps and measles.

Forest City – John Lukus, Archie Perry, John Brink and W. J. Bryant were fishing at Miller’s pond the first of the week. They came to Herrick Center and were at Flynn’s hotel for supper when a stranger walked up and demanded to see their fish. They willingly complied with the request when the aforesaid stranger announced that he was W. C. Shoemaker, of Laceyville, and that he was a state game warden and that their presence was desired in Judge Bowell’s court, whither the fishermen went. The judge imposed a modest fine of $80, or $10 for each fish, and $2 was assessed for trimmings. The fish, it is said, were 11 ½” in length, being ½ inch less than legal size.

There is a transportation bill pending in the Pennsylvania legislature that would nearly double most traffic citations by adding a $100 surcharge to every ticket that would be used to subsidize public transportation. Given the number of traffic citations out there, it is estimated that this surcharge would generate $100 million in annual revenue solely for the benefit of public transit systems which exist, needless to say, primarily in the larger urban areas of the Commonwealth. It is not clear whether this transportation bill will pass as a number of legislators are questioning whether it is too steep a price for traffic offenders to pay for minor traffic offenses.

As it stands now, the lowest fine for a minor traffic violation is $25, but with the added court costs and surcharges, there is no traffic ticket that ever comes in under $100. Thus, the proposed new legislation will essentially double the cost of some of the more minor traffic offenses – and then funnel all of those resources to the large urban areas for mass transit programs. Of course, like most of these legislative brainchildren, the money generated from the additional $100 surcharge is a paper estimate. In other words, they have determined how many traffic citations are issued in a given year throughout the Commonwealth – and then multiplied their $100 surcharge to that number to magically generate a new mythical slush fund to fund public transit. Would the surcharge generate additional revenue? No doubt, it would generate some revenue. Would it generate the paper revenue that the planners contend? No, it would not.

The reason is pretty simple – there is a percentage of traffic offenders who simply do not pay their tickets - or enter into extended payment plans with the courts to pay off those tickets. After all, when you are trying to put food on the table and gas in the car (which under the new proposal will become more expenses as a result of new gasoline taxes), most families are finding that a dollar just does not go as far as it used to go. Further, there are lots of families out there that simply do not have a spare dollar to spend – and families that are so far behind financially that there next several paychecks are already accounted for even before they are received.

So, where does that leave the criminal justice system in the collection of fines and costs from financially strapped offenders? When the offender does not pay on his or her payment schedule, the court will issue a warrant for the offender’s arrest. The warrant then has to be served – which means that law enforcement has to go hunting for the offender, arrest the offender, drag the offender before a judge, and the judge has to conduct a hearing to determine whether the offender has the ability to pay. If the judge determines that the offender does not have the ability to pay on his or her fines and costs because of other legitimate living expenses, then the offender is released with a new payment plan – likely paying even less per month. At that point, all of the effort and resources expended by law enforcement and the court have been wasted – not a single dime was generated from apprehending the offender. Has the legislature considered those costs? You and I both know the answer to that question.

On the other hand, the offender may have been able to make some payment and simply ignoring the court order as the offender was likely spending money on more trivial things. In court the other day, I actually had an offender admit that he did not have enough money for his fines and costs because he needed money for beer and cigarettes. His candid admission earned him a contempt of court finding and a 6 month jail sentence – but he could get out of jail by getting his payments caught up. Sometimes incarceration works – and it did in that case. There have been other occasions when people have simply sat in jail for 6 months – estimated cost to the taxpayer being $65 per day! Interestingly, in traffic offenses, the Court has the ability to “run off” the fines with days of incarceration at $40 per day. In other words, some offender stay in jail, eat three meals a day, get credit for $40 per day toward their fines and costs, and walk out owing nothing a few days later – all on the taxpayer dime.

When you hear about these surcharges being added to criminal offenses, you should proceed with extreme caution. Reality is much different than a paper calculation – and there are lots of hidden costs whenever we create a system where people cannot readily pay their fines and costs. How do you strike a balance between appropriate punishment for a traffic violation and the imposition of unreasonable fines and costs? I suspect that is the ultimate question – but then again, perhaps if the fine and costs are so great, then people will stop violating the Traffic Code. I suspect that is not going to happen either.

Please submit any questions, concerns, or comments to Susquehanna County District Attorney’s Office, P.O. Box 218, Montrose, Pennsylvania 18801 or at our website www.SusquehannaCounty-DA.org or discuss this and all articles at http://dadesk.blogspot.com/.