Free Republic

An Adams County political leader turned himself in Wednesday after, state police said, he drove the getaway car for a bank robbery suspect who had escaped custody by jumping through a courtroom window. Donald Christopher Palesky, 21, of Gettysburg, is a leader in the Pennsylvania Young Democrats, and, until Thursday, was the Adams County coordinator for PACleanSweep.... Palseky has been charged with two counts each of conspiracy and hindering apprehension, all felonies. He was placed in Snyder County prison in lieu of $200,000 bond. State police said two people saw Jack Rotharmel, Jr., 19, climb out a Snyder County courtroom...

In the beginning, experts gave it a week. Two, tops. Now, a state Supreme Court justice finds himself out of a job, and other incumbents in Harrisburg are left sweating over their political futures because of what pundits are calling a "populist insurrection." The anti-pay-raise movement that many had dismissed early on as a passing thunderstorm is developing into a Category 5 hurricane that threatens to uproot incumbents across the state next year. "Rome is burning, and the empire is crumbling," said State Rep. Thomas C. Petrone (D., Allegheny), who took the raise but later donated it to charities, including...

As the controversy over a pay raise for Pennsylvania lawmakers continues, a public relations event at a Pittsburgh elementary school this week turned out worse than state House speaker John Perzel of Philadelphia could have pictured -- literally. At the school event, Speaker Perzel again tangled with reporters over the pay raise (see related story) -- prompting a blistering editorial in Friday’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette saying the speaker’s “arrogance was on full display.” But to make matters worse, says Prof. Terry Madonna, political analyst and pollster at Franklin and Marshall College, a photograph (above right) published by another Pittsburgh newspaper, the...

About 1,500 protesters stood in a steady rain on the steps of the state Capitol this afternoon to demand that the legislators huddled inside repeal the 16 to 34 percent pay raise they approved for themselves in July. "We are revolting against the opulent lifestyle these people have given themselves with our money,'' Harrisburg radio talk show host Bob Durgin thundered. "Do you want to repeal the raise? Do you want to get rid of legislators' car leases? Are you angry?" he asked the crowd, which boomed back "YES!" to each question. Other speakers took to the microphone and got...

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Editorial writers and columnists have called it a mugging of state taxpayers, the Great Harrisburg Caper of 2005, an act of legislative thievery. ''Greed gone wild," one angry voter wrote. Public outrage over a hefty pay raise Pennsylvania lawmakers voted themselves in the dead of night a month ago has nagged them throughout their summer vacation and shows no signs of going away. Not only did legislators increase their salaries 16 percent to 34 percent -- reaching at least $81,050, more than in any state except California -- but they also crafted the package in secret without...