News

Congratulations to DA Risa Vetri Ferman

Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman recently was honored with the National Children's Advocacy Center's 2010 Outstanding Service Award for Prosecution. The award recognizes her work cofounding Mission Kids, which provides a wide range of support services for victims of child abuse.  
"Working to open a child advocacy center for Montgomery County has been one of the most rewarding endeavors of my time in the District Attorney's Office," Risa told the Times Herald. "It has been a privilege to be part of a team of professionals dedicated to improving the lives of abused children."
Congratulations Risa on your great work with Mission Kids and well-deserved honor.
Read the complete Times Herald article 

Primary winners off and running

Friday, May 21, 2010

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The voting machines weren't locked up yet from their primary duty before Pennsylvania's race for governor took a sharply confrontational tone.

The nominees, Republican Attorney General Tom Corbett and Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, a Democrat, signaled their eagerness for combat at back-to-back post-election news conferences in which they clashed over issues including the so-called Bonusgate prosecutions and the direction of the state's budget.

The Senate election, after making history by ending the career of veteran U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, showed at least a veneer of civility. New father Pat Toomey and U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak forged a bond in two unusual pre-primary debates. But while they may have shared a beer or two, without Mr. Specter as their common enemy, the coming months will test the persistence of their high-minded tone. The Senate candidates may steer away from the personal rancor of the Democratic primary. However, it was already clear that each was eager to portray the other as an out-of-the-mainstream ideologue.

At an afternoon news conference at his Downtown headquarters, Mr. Onorato signaled that he would not allow Mr. Corbett's public corruption prosecutions to be an unchallenged asset to the Republican's campaign. He forecast that questions would be raised about the timing of the Bonusgate prosecutions and why "some were indicted, some not."

The first wave of the Bonusgate trials focused on Democrats, but since then, another wave of indictments has included members of both parties. Mr. Onorato also contended Mr. Corbett had politicized his office because he joined a state attorneys general suit challenging the federal health care reform legislation.

"He's absolutely wrong," Mr. Corbett responded when apprised of the Onorato criticism an hour later at the Allegheny County Airport.

"My decision is my decision," he said in rebutting the suggestion that the health care litigation was motivated by politics.

Voters say they wanted change

Friday, May 21, 2010

Allentown Morning Call

HARRISBURG | They may not have turned out in droves for Tuesday's statewide primary election, but from their worries about jobs and the economy to their desire for a change in the way state government does business, Pennsylvania voters had plenty on their minds this campaign season.

The question is: Now that Republican Tom Corbett and Democrat Dan Onorato have sewn up their parties' gubernatorial nominations, will they listen?

''They're there to serve the people,'' said Herb Zug, 82, during an interview on the steps of the state Capitol on Saturday, three days before the primary.

''The present government believes the people are there to serve them and we've got to get it back to the way it's supposed to be,'' continued Zug, who had planned to vote for Corbett's ultimately unsuccessful rival for the GOP nomination, state Rep. Sam Rohrer of Berks County.

The next governor will face a host of problems when he takes office in January.

Onorato or Corbett will have to contend with an explosion in public pension costs, the loss of federal stimulus money and a roughly $4 billion budget deficit over the next two years.

Both men have said they intend to cut costs and rein in spending. But neither has offered much in the way of specifics as to how they intend to do that.

Copyright © 2009 by UPTRC. All Rights Reserved.