Archive for the ‘Democrat’ Category

Candidates line up for coroner, clerk of courts, wills register

Bucks Countys Democrat and Republican organizations are lining up candidates to maintain your criminal court record, process your marriage license, and, quite possibly, autopsy your corpse.

Last week, the parties announced their top choices in four elected positions register of wills, clerk of courts, treasurer and coroner.

The Democrats want Rocco Rocky Dotto III to investigate all sudden, unexplained and violent deaths. A former deputy coroner for Bucks County, Dotto now works as a licensed funeral director at James J. Dougherty Funeral Home in Middletown.

This has been my lifelong dream, said Dotto, who proposes educational outreach presentations by the coroner at local high schools.

The Republicans are sticking with incumbent coroner Joseph Campbell, a podiatric surgeon from Doylestown. Campbell is seeking a fifth term overseeing the county morgue and crime lab in Warminster.

Meanwhile, in Bristol, Robyn Trunell wants to process your last will and testament. The borough councilwoman is the Democrats choice for Bucks Countys next Register of Wills, a seemingly benign position that nonetheless attracts controversy.

Considered a quasi-judicial post, the elected register sometimes conducts legal hearings to manage estates when someone dies. The staff, meanwhile, handles adoptions and marriages in the county.

A corruption scandal rocked the office in 2012. The longtime director Barbara Reilly was convicted on allegations she rewarded county workers for staffing the polls on Election Day.

Reillys eventual replacement, Republican Don Petrille promised transparency, initiated new security protocols, but also, unwittingly, stepped into the debate over gay marriage two years ago.

Under state law, Petrille said he had no choice but to deny the marriage license request of a same-sex couple visiting his office in 2013. The couple sued and the resulting federal lawsuit overturned Pennsylvanias ban on gay unions.

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Candidates line up for coroner, clerk of courts, wills register

Democrat Delegation Returns From Trip to Cuba – Video


Democrat Delegation Returns From Trip to Cuba
A delegation led by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi discussed a recent trip to Cuba to speak with government officials -- the first trip of its kind since...

By: Associated Press

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Democrat Delegation Returns From Trip to Cuba - Video

Sen. Bob Menendez: Will corruption charges stick?

Justice Department officials wont say whether they may bring criminal charges against US Sen. Bob Menendez.

But according to numerous news sources, the New Jersey Democrat is the subject of an investigation into his relationship with a wealthy Florida eye doctor and political donor, including trips to the Dominican Republic on Dr. Salomon Melgens private aircraft and actions Sen. Menendez allegedly took regarding Medicare payments that would have benefited the ophthalmologist. Menendez also is said to have intervened regarding a port security business in the Dominican Republic in which Dr. Melgen had a financial interest.

At a news conference Friday, Menendez strong denied any wrongdoing.

"Let me be very clear, I have always conducted myself appropriately and in accordance with the law," he said. "Every action that I and my office have taken for the last 23 years that I have been privileged to be in the United States Congress has been based on pursuing the best policies for the people of New Jersey and this entire country."

Menendez wouldn't take questions, he said, "because there is an ongoing inquiry." But he portrayed his relationship with Melgen as a friendship that goes back years.

"We celebrated holidays together," he said at the news conference. "We have been there for family weddings and sad times like funerals and have given each other birthday, holiday and wedding presents just as friends do."

The two men also appeared together frequently at Democratic Party and Latino political functions from Washington to Miami. Melgen has contributed nearly $200,000 to Democratic Party candidates since 1998, including $14,200 to Menendez, the Associated Press reports. And in 2012, during Menendez's re-election campaign, Melgen gave $700,000 to a super political action committee that spent more than $580,000 to help Menendez.

The thread of that inquiry goes back several years.

In 2009 and 2012, Menendez intervened with top officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services the agency that oversees the Medicare program about a CMS ruling that Melgen had overbilled the Medicare program by nearly $9 million. Melgen has repaid those funds, Politico.com reports. FBI agents and investigators from the Department of Health and Human Services have searched the Florida ophthalmologists offices twice as part of the probe.

Meanwhile, Menendez has been required to pay thousands of dollars in reimbursement for the flights on Dr. Melgens aircraft.

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Sen. Bob Menendez: Will corruption charges stick?

Unite Rochester: Urban League of Rochester celebrates 50 years

Updated: 03/06/2015 6:04 PM Created: 03/06/2015 4:07 PM WHEC.com

In Sunday's Democrat and Chronicle, an ongoing Unite Rochester Campaign special report focuses on a Rochester organization that is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

The special report focuses on the Urban League of Rochester and the impact it has made on hundreds of thousands of lives. For the majority of those years, the two men at the helm have been current President and CEO William Clark and Bill Johnson, who is being honored by the organization next week.

Janet Lomax spoke with Democrat and Chronicle reporter James Goodman about the report. You can see the full video by hitting play on the video player. And you can read the full report in the Democrat and Chronicle on Sunday.

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Unite Rochester: Urban League of Rochester celebrates 50 years

Congressman Dave Brat: We have Republicans sharing Democrat talking points! – Video


Congressman Dave Brat: We have Republicans sharing Democrat talking points!
The John Fredericks Show is Common Sense for the Commonwealth and a Voice for Virginia. The morning show is focused on issues that impact the daily lives of ...

By: JohnFredericksShow

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Congressman Dave Brat: We have Republicans sharing Democrat talking points! - Video