Brooklyn – Miss Alice Lee has just published another book entitled “Ross Grant, Tenderfoot,” the sequel of which is now in press. [Alice Lee published her books under the name of John Garland.]

Silver Lake Twp. – Camp Susquehannock, at Tripp Lake, was opened yesterday. Over 60 boys and young men arrived at the camp yesterday, coming by way of the Lackawanna to Conklin, N.Y., and thence overland.

Heart Lake – Professor John H. Normile, who specializes in racing vs. aeroplanes, by the aid of a balloon, will give two ascensions here during the celebration on July 5th.

Hopbottom – A gang of men are at work laying the track and stringing the wire between Nicholson and Hopbottom, on the S & B Trolley, and it is now believed cars will be running into Hopbottom by the first of next week. The work is being pushed also through to Brooklyn, a distance of four miles, and it is currently reported that the town will also be enjoying trolley service within the month.

Montrose – A corps of six engineers from the State highway department has been surveying the streets of Montrose, laying out the route accurately and getting the grades and lateral measurements for the laying of the new brick pavement. Highway department officials have stated to the borough council that the work of paving will be taken up as soon as possible, probably by early autumn. Lack of State funds to provide for the county’s apportionment will result in paving only from the Baptist church corner, up Church street and out Grow Avenue to the borough line, and Public avenue from Church. Next year there will be sufficient funds to complete the work.

Springville – The Memorial committee of the Wyoming conference has placed a very neat marker at the grave of deceased Methodist ministers. There are five former ministers buried in the Lynn cemetery. ALSO Halderman’s Truck will carry 30 passengers to Heart Lake’s celebration July 5th. Room for a few more.

Rush – On Sunday evening next Rev. C. M. Griffeth will preach a special sermon to the Men’s Bible class on “The Annihilation of the Saloon.” All men are especially requested to be present.

Fairdale, Jessup Twp. – R. H. Olmstead, son of Mr. and Mrs. Geo. M. Olmstead, was one of those elected to the student council from the School of Agriculture of State College.

Hallstead – The Meisch silk mill is doing its last work in the throwing department, preparatory to removing those machine and installing new modern weaving machines. The mill is to be renovated and with the addition of more employees will give employment to some 75 people. The owners are doing a good business and contemplate, in addition to their present factory, the building of a brick structure to house more machines and increase the output.

Little Meadows – Everybody is invited to attend the Fourth of July celebration to be held at the home of W. D. Minkler, on Monday afternoon, July 5. Supper ready at 5 o’clock and continue until all are served. Ice cream and cake during the evening.

Susquehanna – Frank Bennett, of Oakland, captured an alligator in the Susquehanna River, at Beebe Park, measuring 4 feet and 9 inches. If you may believe the Susquehanna Transcript. ALSO The Buffalo Eire league and the Susquehanna Erie league crossed bats Saturday, at Elm Park, our home team winning.

Great Bend – Several Italians residing here will leave for Italy the first of July, having been called home to fight for their country.

Auburn Twp. – Concerning the marriage of Miss Daisy Dean, of Auburn, a former teacher at Montrose, the Scranton Republican says: “Fellow workers of Harry Harper Swift, a nephew of Vice-President E. E. Loomis, of the Lackawanna railroad, who is employed as a claim agent in the legal department of the railroad’s offices here, were happy yesterday over the culmination of a romance which began two years ago at Montrose and ended Wednesday, when Mr. Swift and the young woman in the romance, Miss Daisy Dean, were married. Miss Dean was a school teacher and at an earlier period she taught at the Montrose High school. It was while she was teaching, two years ago, that she met, and with a glance, conquered young Mr. Swift. It was all by accident, this is literally so, because Miss Dean was a passenger on a train which ran into an automobile. In the subsequent lawsuit Miss Dean was a witness and Mr. Swift was there in his capacity of claim agent for the company. He fell in love with her instantly. It is said that Miss Dean was very cautious about accepting the attention of Mr. Swift. In fact, it is claimed that she made him make an affidavit before a notary that he was not married. Anyway, they soon became deeply devoted to each other and the marriage was performed by Rev. H. C. McDermott, at the bride’s parent’s (Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Dean) home.

New Milford – New Milford Borough will hold a special election August 3rd, to vote upon the question of bonding the town for $7,000 to be used in connection with county and state money, to pave her main street.

Forest City – Complaint has been made to the Burgess that boys, and in some instances young men, throw highly explosive torpedoes on the sidewalk at the feet of ladies to frighten them. The special police have been instructed to make arrests in such cases.

Thompson – Warren Plew, of East Pine Street, died Tuesday evening at his home after an illness of two or three weeks. He is survived by one daughter, Nellie, who lived with him, one sister, Mrs. Sarah Slocum, of Jackson street. Mr. Plew was a veteran of the Civil war and only last Decoration day, just one month ago, took an active part in the memorial services at the cemetery.

News Briefs: The West Chester Normal school, last week, graduated 275 students. Those from Susquehanna county are: Anna Webb, Montrose; Mary I. Walker, Forest City, Lillian T. Perry, Brooklyn; Florence Bush, Montrose. ALSO Lieut. Lyman P. Spencer, age 75, one of the originators of the Spencerian penmanship copy book, used in public schools all over the country, and a Civil war veteran, died at Sunbury recently, after a long illness of a complication of diseases. ALSO The European war is demanding horses and mules from American farms by the hundred thousand, increasing their value, so that the announcement that Henry Ford will soon have a $200 farm tractor on the market is good news to the farmer. It will fill a long-felt want in plowing and harrowing the soil, drawing heavy loads, and doing the heavy work generally about the farm. Ford claims that the plowing, etc., can be done at a fourth less expense, and that the addition of mechanical labor and the greater ease of performance will have a tendency to keep the farmers’ sons on the farms. He is planning a large factory and proposes constructing 1,000,000 tractors yearly.

I received an email from a reader seeking information on “small claims court.”  We do not have “small claims court” in Pennsylvania, but we do have a minor judiciary composed of magisterial district courts.  In Susquehanna County, we have three magisterial court districts – one in New Milford, one in Clifford and one in Montrose – and each has a geographic area of the county over which they have jurisdiction.  Each magisterial district has a single magisterial district judge: Judge Jeffrey Hollister in Montrose, Judge Jodi Cordner in New Milford, and Judge Suzanne Brainard in Clifford.  Each of these judges have been elected – and they serve 6-year terms.

From a criminal justice perspective, magisterial district courts play a huge part.  Preliminary arraignments occur there – where a defendant is initially arrested and bail is set.  A preliminary hearing follows where the magistrate judge has to determine whether the Commonwealth has sufficient evidence to support charges moving to the Court of Common Pleas.  Magistrate judges also hear, decide and sentence all summary offenses – these would be things like speeding tickets, harassment, disorderly conduct and similar minor criminal violations.  Outside of the criminal justice arena, magisterial district judges also have limited jurisdiction in some civil matters.

People often refer to the magisterial district courts as “small claims court” because they have a monetary limit on their jurisdiction – they can only hear civil claims that do not exceed $12,000.  These are minor civil claims that could be contractual disputes, unpaid debts, and other tortious behavior resulting in minor injuries.  Magisterial district judges hear eviction proceedings between landlord and tenants – including claims for damages and lost rents.  Magisterial district judges can also award temporary protective orders prohibiting an abuser from having contact with a domestic assault victim.

The reader wanted to know how to start an action in a magisterial district court – and the answer is that it is fairly simple.  If you go to one of the court offices, they have pre-printed forms that you simply have to fill out essentially identifying yourself, the other party, the amount of damages you are claiming, and the nature of the claim itself.  A potential litigant would fill out the form, pay a filing and service fee, and then the magisterial court would schedule a hearing and provide the other side notice of the hearing date.  The reader wanted to know if there were costs involved – and the answer is yes – there is a filing fee and service costs, i.e., the cost of getting a copy of your complaint to the other party and providing them notice of the proceeding.  If you are successful, the judge will include those costs in any judgment against the other party.

The reader wanted to know how to tell where to file a complaint in a magisterial district court.  Generally speaking, this is a jurisdictional question – and it could vary depending upon the circumstances of the case.  The easiest answer is that you can always bring a claim in the jurisdiction where the claim arose.  For instance, the reader asked what to do if a New York paving company did a job in Pennsylvania and breached the contract, would you file in New York or Pennsylvania.  Because the claim occurred here in Pennsylvania, you could file the claim here (or you would also have the option of going to New York if you so desired).

Finally, the reader asked who enforces the magisterial judge’s decision – and I assume that the reader was referring to a civil proceeding where a judgment is obtained.  If the other party does not file an appeal to the Court of Common Pleas, you can ask the magisterial district judge to issue an order of execution – which commands the Sheriff to levy on property owned by the other party in order to satisfy the amount of the judgment.  The Sheriff will go out and find property owned by the other party and notify the other party that the property has now been levied.  The other party is then prohibited from disposing of that property (if they do so, they can face criminal prosecution), and the Sheriff schedules a public sale for the property.  The proceeds from the sale would then be used toward satisfying the judgment.

Of course, the collection part of the equation is normally where the rubber really meets the road.  Oftentimes, the Sheriff is unable to find any property that would even qualify for a levy or be worth the costs and efforts to attempt to sell it.  When I was in private practice, I used to caution clients about throwing good money after bad.  Winning litigation – even in small claims court – can be a pyrrhic victory, i.e., it costs more money than it will ever be worth.

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.

While we slept America morphed. We had been attacked, it was said, by an enemy who “hated us because we were free.” We took up “the white man’s burden” and were repaid—not with thanks—but hatred and infamy. We went to war—against a tactic, “terrorism,” and toppled governments to make the world safe for Western civilization. Our current government can neither name “the enemy” nor admit to the true nature of our warfare. The war’s actions are euphemistically referred to as “overseas contingency operations” not only in the Middle East, but in Asia, Africa, and Europe. Just what would constitute victory no one can say, or at least no one is willing to say.

NATO forces are on high alert from the Baltic to the Black Sea. An actual hot war is ongoing in Ukraine where Western proxies face off against those of the reconstituted Russian Empire. Meanwhile ISIS continues its war of genocide against Christians, other religious minorities, and even Shiite and Kurdish Muslims. America’s response remains ineffectual and demoralizing for the victims of ISIS barbarities. Those harboring hope of deliverance face a future almost certain—conversion or cruel execution.

In Italy a tidal wave of refugees stream across the Mediterranean from Libya on anything that will float. A large percentage take to sea in craft so un-seaworthy that to say the death toll is staggering would be an understatement. The vast flow of Muslim refugees is inundating Europe with peoples unaccustomed to Western civilization, but who nevertheless know they would face certain death at the hands Al Quada-affiliated factions should they fail to flee. Rare is the mention that the current, grim situation is a consequence of American-backed rebellion and overthrow of Gaddafi in 2011.

Meanwhile years-long negotiations with the Islamo-nazi regime in Tehran have dragged on for years. The only thing certain is that the Administration wants a deal in the worst way (and I do mean in the “worst” way) and the mad mullahs WILL achieve the technology and capability to launch thermo-nuclear, intercontinental ballistic missiles. Our only democratic and steadfast ally in the Middle East is aghast at the prospect; so, too Americans who comprehend the effects of catastrophic collapse due to HEMP (High-altitude Electro Magnetic Pulse).

The national news media of America blissfully ignores or pays short shrift to the major international news stories aforementioned. Neither do they care at all to examine the major news stories domestically. For example, how is it that purchasing power of the average American worker has actually declined steadily since the turn of the century, even as inflation is proclaimed to be virtually non-existent? Why are nearly 50 million people on food stamp (EBT) assistance, and over 108 million dependent on a monthly government entitlement check? Are these really signposts of prosperity? And why is it that the rate of participation in the labor force (able-bodied Americans) is at its lowest level in over 37 years? The Fed has kept interest rates at near-zero for seven years, yet we have only economic stagnation, zero return on savings, and more businesses closing than opening each year.

The national news media is completely uninterested in exploring and reporting on scandal after scandal over the last six years: “Fast & Furious” (gun-running by the Department of Justice to Mexican drug cartels); IRS-Gate (use of tax law and IRS political appointees to shut down critics’ right to free speech); Benghazi-gate (the murder of four Americans, including the rape-torture of America’s Ambassador to Libya); EPA-gate (an ongoing legal case and cover-up by EPA officials who lied under oath, and used private email addresses under alias/fictitious names to subvert justice and to prevent information subject to FOIA request from being obtainable); and finally Server-gate (the Secretary of State—yes, THAT one—who used a private email address and a private server, who transmitted classified material over the unsecured server, and who is eminently and consequently subject to black-mail by foreign governments).

No, America’s news media obsesses over incendiary racial issues. What of Ferguson, Missouri? “Hands up; don’t shoot!” Oh, that’s old news. From the months of burning obsession over “an unarmed teen gunned down by the police” the news media shifted to the Freddie Gray story in Baltimore. That national obsession pushed any story worthy of coverage out of the limelight for weeks. Meanwhile, the rotten fruit of Baltimore has only produced police fearful of policing and soaring rates of crime, violence, and murder.

The recent shooting of eight church-goers by a crazed killer on mind-altering prescription drugs provided fertile ground for national media to stir up more bad blood between races. Residents of Charleston were apparently too virtuous and of such kindly disposition that they would not riot and destroy their own city—so dismaying for the race-baiters.

But not to worry, the national media recalibrated and shot-gunned the narrative in several other directions. Mainstream media, parroting the Administration’s first reaction, pushed an agenda for elimination of Americans’ Second Amendment rights. Soon after, the removal of anything directly connected to the Old Confederacy, or vaguely connected to ante-bellum slavery became the centerpiece of the story.

While a case can be made that it’s appropriate for the Republican Governor of South Carolina to take advantage of the opportunity to remove the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia (a replica of the flag under which General Lee’s soldiers fought) from the Statehouse grounds, I don’t think it will offer more protection to the pious attending Bible study. As to proposed abridgements to Second Amendment rights, a fallacy of logic appears in high-handed operation: removing firearms from lawful gun-owners will not make the public safer. Sadly, it would only leave unarmed citizenry, like those in the Charleston Bible Study, at the mercy of thugs who care not how they obtain their firearms.

The point of this commentary is to highlight what many awakened readers already know: the news media is NOT reporting on and will continue to not focus on the stories of true gavitas. Even in the competition for the Republican nomination for President, the media will only cover the horse-race itself, and gotcha questions, but never focus on an in-depth exploration of issues and the implications of proposed solutions. The media’s agenda is to focus on the trivial, the cultural, and most importantly the issues which can be exploited to divide the American people. The strategy is two-fold: keep people somatized, apathetic, and in a funk of helplessness, or keep them antagonized, distrustful, and seething with envy and hatred. The news media is working full-time and over-time to report only those stories on their masters‘ agenda, and to report them in a manner which will shape public opinion only to the benefit of the Police State.

Yes America, while you were sleeping our country slowly, but inexorably, shifted, melded, and morphed into the Police State before you. So imperceptible was the change that most Americans never noticed, and many reject that truth even today. The present “soft” despotism, albeit an “elective despotism,” is fast transforming into a “hard” despotism.

I leave you with a frightening analogy. Imagine it’s late at night. You’re driving your car at a high-rate of speed down a lonely road, with your girlfriend in the passenger seat—fast asleep. Up ahead is an 18-wheeler coming toward you . . . in your lane! In those waning seconds before impact you have to ask yourself, do I awaken my passenger or let her sleep on? Sudden death, never knowing what hit her . . . or awakened to possibly die of fright before having the smallest chance to brace for impact?

I have chosen the latter. I’ll begin breaking it down next week.