Those two boys had absolutely no chance at life. No child deserves the ending they had to suffer through. It’s bad enough their own mother went missing; who most likely was murdered by Powell.

It makes absolutely no sense to me; I cannot fathom why someone would do such evil to others, especially their own loved ones. Do people like this have no conscience? Evidently not.

I have to wonder what my own 8 year old son thinks of this. He’s watched the news with me. It’s a shame he has to know the world contains people like Josh Powell.

Sadly, I remain to be emphatically dumbfounded at the many levels of evil people can reach.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

I wonder how long it will be before they tell us how to sit on the toilet. Should I shake it once, or twice?

They are already telling us what we shouldn’t eat. I don’t care if bread and rolls contain an excessive amount of salt. I like salt. I want salt. I need salt.

Cripes.

That is all.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Take this for instance, changes in gas drilling leases without the county government letting the public know.  Oh, they’ll say they gave notice.  Yeah they did.  24 hours.  That’s not shady at all, huh?

Three West Middletown-area residents and one with family ties to the area chastised Washington County commissioners Thursday, saying they would have preferred more notice on an amendment to the lease with Range Resources for natural gas drilling in Cross Creek County Park.

Ellen Armstrong, whose family farm became 125 park acres before the flood-control dam was built, said she had the opportunity to ride horseback over much of the land that later became a park totaling 2,400 acres.

“I’m concerned that an endangered species in this county is going to be a hilltop without a (well) pad,” Armstrong said.

Her husband, Gary, who is still rankled by clear-cutting done in error on the West Middletown Cemetery property for a well pad, said he believes Cross Creek is getting short shrift in both expenditures and programs compared with Mingo Creek County Park.’

Paul Parker, a 36-year resident of Hopewell Township, was a planning commission member in the 1970s with a vision for recreation, but he said Cross Creek has strayed, turning into an industrial park.

And Mr. Parker is 100% correct.   By the way, he’s my Dad.

“We have lost complete control of our local government. We don’t have a voice anymore. Range (Resources) speaks louder than the citizens,” Parker said before his remarks were met with applause.

Cha-Ching!  It’s about time someone said that.  Again, he’s absolutely 100% correct.  Round of applause?  Excellent!

Robert Donnan of Peters Township was unsuccessful in his attempt to have the board table its decision and attempt to gather more public input.

Commission Chairman Larry Maggi asked those with questions about the lease modifications to meet with Scott Fergus, director of administration, and he also discussed the matter with the Armstrongs.

What?  Mr. Maggi won’t answer the questions?  Why not?  Isn’t that his job?  What, he cannot handle the heat?  Oh man, get this guy out.

The vote to amend the county’s lease with Range Resources was unanimous.

Fergus said under the original terms of the lease, Range could have drilled 22 wells over a period of 22 years. Instead, it is now limited to eight years and a total of seven well pads.

There are currently four well pads in the park. The first gas well in the park was a vertical well.

“No one contemplated well pads with horizontal drilling,” Solicitor J. Lynn DeHaven said.

The county’s oil and gas royalty, formerly 14.5 percent, has been increased to 16 percent.

The commissioners were not required to hold specific meetings on the topic to seek public comment. “It’s representative government,” Fergus said

“Do you pick one topic that’s more important than another and decide to wait on it?” Maggi asked rhetorically after the meeting.

Fergus also noted two master plans for the park have had different objectives. The original plan in 1972 called for a golf course, miniature golf, lodges, a ski slope and ball fields, none of which came to pass after a second master plan was developed in the late 1990s.

The lake has a boat launch accessible from the Route 18 side of the park, and another one, called the Thompson Hill boat launch, is to be built on the Route 844 side.

Since the signing of the original lease in 2003, the county has received $3,798,465 in revenues from all sources.

Of that, $1,669,311 was used for capital expenses at the county parks and $1,559,630 was deposited into the general fund, $569,524 of which remains in the gas revenue account.

The main capital expenses were paving of roads and paths in both Mingo and Cross Creek, equipment such as tractors, dump truck, mowers, playground equipment for both Mingo and Cross Creek, a sand volleyball court, the design and permits for the new boat launch development, diagnostics and repair of the Cross Creek sluice gate and the Mingo Park bike and walking path.

“We will be using substantial funds to complete the Thompson Hill development, which will be similar to the present boat launch area,” Fergus said.

Ya know, this reminds me of another recent story tied to fracking:

The state Fish and Boat Commission will accept a bonus payment of $2.2 million from a Marcellus Shale natural gas driller under an oil and gas development lease at the damaged Dutch Fork Lake property in Donegal Township.

The money from Southpointe-based Range Resources will fund the commission’s efforts to repair dozens of other high-hazard dams it owns across the state, said Eric Levis, the commission’s press secretary.

“It takes years to rebuild these and a lot of money,” said Levis, estimating the commission needs nearly $30 million to repair all of its dams.

The commission also will receive 18 percent in royalties on gas produced from the property under the terms of the lease agreement the commission approved Tuesday, he said.

The commission last year approved a Marcellus Shale program, which allows drillers to tap into the oil and gas under its properties only if they can set up drilling rigs on adjoining land, Levis said.

“They are not allowed to bring equipment onto our property,” he said.

The commission already has secured the $4.5 million it needs to rebuild the Donegal dam and restore Dutch Fork Lake, which was drained in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan in 2004. Work on that project began in August.

Range spokesman Matt Pitzarella was unavailable for comment Wednesday.

Unavailable for comment, eh?  Gee, I –wonder- why.

Hmmm, wait a second … Wasn’t state funding set aside/approved to restore Dutch Fork Lake?  So, what happens to that money?  What’s going on here?  How will the lake be restored (which supposedly began in August) if the State of PA agreed to a gas lease on the property?  Why aren’t these questions being posed?  Let’s see how much of the funds being brought in from this lease are actually used on dams/spillways.  I bet it’ll be none.  Excuses will be made like, “funding ran out for this, so we took it for that” and so forth.  That money will go nowhere except in Corbett’s cronies somebody’s pocket.  You watch and see.

(Click image to enlarge.  All emphasis added by me, of course)

My wife had a restaurant.com coupon to use at Wong’s Wok, which by the way is in the Trinity Point Shopping Center, Washington, PA.

The staff was very friendly, and eager to help us make a choice based on what we like (ex: do we like chicken? do we like beef? vegetables?).  After sampling a couple different offerings, I made my decision; deciding on the “Shrimp and Chicken” and “Amazing Chicken” with fried rice, an egg roll, along with a side of wonton soup.  Yep, it’s a lot. Hey,  I was hungry, plus I wanted to be able to have plenty left to take home.  Nothing is better than heating up a good helping of Chinese food when that certain time to snack comes up.

The young lady who waited on and helped us (whose name was “Katy”) even offered to have our food brought to the large corner booth they suggested for us.

The experience sounds pretty good so far, right?  Unfortunately, from this point forward, this is where it goes downhill … real fast.

My egg roll was cold, and when I say cold, it was downright lower than room temperature.  I don’t know what the staff at Wong’s Wok were thinking, but the last time I checked, food should be served piping hot.

Secondly, the wonton soup, while warm (not hot), severely lacked any flavoring.  The broth was watery, the wontons tasteless.  The soup lacked any kind of seasoning whatsoever.  Pity.

My plate of Shrimp and Chicken, Amazing Chicken, and fried rice?  All cold.  What’s the deal with serving food cold?
I just don’t get it.  The Amazing Chicken tasted pretty good, in fact, it was probably the only item out of my meal containing any flavor.  The Shrimp and Chicken tasted “fishy.”  I just couldn’t finish it.

All in all, while the staff were friendly and quite helpful, the quality of the food sucked.  I’ve heard so many good things about this place, especially from several people on Facebook.  I have no idea what these people were thinking, but the next time I’m in the mood for Chinese food, I’m going to Sesame Inn.

My son had an eye doctor appointment late afternoon yesterday, so we all thought it would be nice to treat him to a good dinner at Olive Garden.

This review will be based on the Bethel Park location, since this is the Olive Garden we frequent the most.

We arrived around 5PM, and were immediately seated.  A big plus for me, I detest waiting, especially when I’m so hungry my tongue is hanging out of my mouth.

I started off with the raspberry lemonade.  While okay in its own right, it was also too damn sweet.  Why so much sugar?  Yikes.  Sugar high city.  Heck, that’s all I could taste.  Where was the lemon/raspberry flavoring?  I’ll pass by on this during my next visit.

I was delighted to see the “Sausage and Peppers Rustica” return to the menu.  It was a favorite of mine from years ago, and I was more than willing to place an order for it.  I went with the salad for my side for I am a sucker for Olive Garden’s salad dressing.

Not long after I was into my helping of salad, my main course came.  Oh man, did it look good!

The “Sausage and Peppers Rustica” was pretty much the same way I remembered it.  The sauce had just the right amount of tomato acidity with a slight amount of kick to it; thanks to the copious amount of garlic found throughout.  The pasta was perfectly cooked al dente; just the way I prefer it.  The sweet Italian sausage was also perfectly cooked, and it had a very good flavor.  The only drawback to the dish?  The green and red bell peppers were very much undercooked. Nearly raw. Bummer.

It took me a while to finish my plate because I was savoring each bite.  After finishing up, there was no way I could even think about dessert.  Who needs dessert when my beverage had so much sugar in it anyway.

Oh yeah, the waiter had no personality to speak of.  Oh well, at least he managed to get our orders right.  If there’s one thing I find annoying in restaurants is a wait staff who conduct themselves as if you’re bothering them.  This guy demonstrated my annoyance quite accurately.

Anyway, if you’re ever at an Olive Garden, I recommend you go with the “Sausage and Peppers Rustica” dish.  Trust me, it’ll satisfy your appetite.  Come hungry.

Just don’t expect authentic Italian food at this place.  It’s not like that.
It’s more like a place that serves something you’d make at home while calling it “Italian.”

We used to frequent El Campesino quite a bit since it came to the McMurray area close to seven years ago. That changed after discovering the “El Paso” and more recently, “Old Mexico” restaurant establishments. That being said, we wondered how El Campesino would stack up against the competition.

We arrived at El Campesino around 6:10 last night and were surprised as to how busy the place was for a Monday night. If a place is bustling, that’s a promising indication the food is damn good.

The customary tortilla chips and salsa arrived as soon as we sat at our table. While the salsa tasted okay, it had a very acidic overtone. The tortilla chips were also burnt. Even after requesting a replacement basket of chips, the second basket arrived burnt as well. Ohhh-kay.

We each started off with a bowl of chicken tortilla soup. It was very good, quite hardy with generous helpings of tender chicken meat in a rich and tasty broth.

The main course consisted of three hard shell beef tacos. What a disappointment, not only did the taco shells arrive so soggy the beef dropped out of the bottom, some of the lettuce on my wife’s tacos was frozen. Are you kidding me? Frozen lettuce?

A close up of frozen lettuce:

Also, since when did El Campesino add onion to the taco meat? Completely nauseating.

I don’t know what happened to El Campesino between now and the last time we dined there, but if last night’s dining experience is any indication of the quality of their food, well, they can keep it. I’ll stick with Old Mexico. By the way, an Old Mexico review will be coming in the future.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone