personal experiences

Look Mom, I'm an All-Star! (sort of).

December 22, 2009

TweetIt should come as no shock that as a young boy, I didn’t exactly line the family trophy case with a collection of my athletic conquests. As an unwilling devotee to Husky jeans, I was lucky to snag a ribbon for participation in any competitive endeavor I managed to get involved in. So it was [...]

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Maybe Reading Isn't So Fundamental After All

December 8, 2009

Tweet Well here’s a new one. We were on the House Floor today, preparing to discuss SB 711, which is the bill that will legalize table games in Pennsylvania. Suddenly, a Republican representative made a motion to have the bill read aloud on the House Floor before we could move on. On its face, this [...]

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Breaking Ground is Hard To Do… But Raining on a Parade is Apparently Pretty Easy

September 2, 2009

TweetFirst, the happy blog post I had been working on about the new sewage project we broke ground on in Avella. Then some comments from a constituent. I stood in the late summer sun, just a touch too warm to allow me much comfort in my suit and tie, and took a moment to observe [...]

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A Response, But No Answers

August 12, 2009

TweetSince being elected, I can’t begin to count how many letters and emails I have received on just about every topic you can imagine. I try to personally answer every one, which can get difficult this time of year as I literally receive hundreds of budget-related emails per day. As I read the letter, I [...]

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I'll do windows too if it will get me extra credit.

January 23, 2008

Tweet This past Sunday morning I was at my computer, engaged in my weekly ritual of reading the local papers online when I stumbled across an interesting column in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. The column, by State Capitol Reporter Brad Bumstead, is entitled “‘F’ is for failed freshmen“, and it goes on to discuss how [...]

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Busy Bodies

December 31, 2007

Tweet Yesterday I had the opportunity to check out the “Bodies” exhibition at the Carnegie Science Center. For those who haven’t heard of the exhibition, here is a brief explanation from their website: Take a close-up look inside the skeletal, muscular, respiratory, and circulatory systems as you come face-to-face with polymer-preserved human bodies. These meticulously [...]

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Justice Delayed is Justice Denied

December 15, 2007

Tweet Finally, after 18 long months, it appears as though there will be a lawfully elected Chairman of the Washington County Democratic Party. A court order was recently signed acknowledging that the June 2006 Leadership Election was not conducted in accordance with the by-laws. The case, which is both well-travelled and well-documented, has been to [...]

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Getting Lit Up in Burgettstown

December 10, 2007

TweetOver the weekend, I passed on the opportunity to go to New York for the annual Pennsylvania Society weekend to stay home and attend some events back home. On Saturday, I attended a Christmas Dinner at the Burgettstown Senior Citizens Center, where I spent the afternoon with over 100 of my constitutents, including a lovely [...]

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What We Accomplished in the State House This Week

December 6, 2007

TweetI’m not even going to bother explaining. Go read it in the paper or something. Tweet

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Above the Fold and Below the Belt

December 4, 2007

TweetI had mixed emotions this past Sunday as I read the Washington Observer-Reporter, a newspaper that generally does a pretty good job of reporting on what we do with an objective and non-biased point of view. The front page article was a very well-done piece by Linda Ritzer dealing with the concerns involved with the [...]

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