Leave it to Michael Jackson. On the same day that cultural icon Farrah Fawcett passed away, only someone with the stature of the King of Pop could steal the headlines. Just when it seemed as though Farrah was about to get her last few moments of fame, MJ dies in sudden and mysterious fashion.

In the newsroom, the sequence of events on Thursday afternoon went something like this: Around 4:15 or so, one of the producers announced that Jackson had been rushed to a hospital in Los Angeles. From my post on the assignment desk, I began monitoring the Web site TMZ.com, which, initially, seemed to be the only outlet reporting anything. Shortly, ABC's live channel began showing aerials of activity outside the hospital where Jackson had been taken. TMZ continued to update its story, quoting Jackson's family and friends saying that "things did not look good."

As we continued to monitor TMZ, CNN and other Web sites for updates, the Associated Press remained oddly - for lack of a better word - unupdated. The AP, which will put out a news alert when some bill makes it out of committee or when some government from a country you never heard of gets overthrown, was reporting nothing. Nothing. It didn't even put out an alert which cited information from other media outlets. With nothing else to go on, we aired a story on our 5pm newscast citing the report from TMZ.

Anyway, one of the anchors then moseyed up to the assignment desk and we began chatting about our memories of Michael, the lack of updates, etc. Then, it happened. I don't recall the exact time, but maybe around 5:30 or so, I refreshed the TMZ page and saw the headline: Michael Jackson Dies.

It was the gasp heard round the newsroom.

The anchor and I both inhaled rather loudly as we read the headline. According to TMZ, the man who brought us "Thriller" and so many other pop classics was gone. With no warning. Just like that.

We now began looking for confirmation. Some other entertainment Web sites reported the death a short time later. But, an LA newspaper Web site reported that he was in a coma. CNN still said only that he had been rushed to the hospital. The Associated Press still had nothing. By the time it actually sent out a news alert reporting that Jackson had been rushed to the hospital, there was already no doubt that Jackson was dead.

So, the King of Pop remained weird til the end, dying under weird circumstances, and surrounded by weird happenings (at least in the media). Specifically, why was the AP so late reporting anything? Why did it take outlets other than TMZ so long to confirm the death? Where did that story about the coma come from?

Weird. Kind of like the time Jackson showed up to his child molestation trial on a stretcher and wearing pajamas. Long after his glory days as the King of Pop.

Just when you thought it was safe to travel Interstate 80 for free, along comes word that plans to convert I-80 through Pennsylvania into a toll road are not dead yet.

To recap: a while ago, the state legislature (I think it was part of budget negotiations in 2007) okayed Act 44, a plan that promised to solve all of Pennsylvania's transportation problems by turning Interstate 80 into a toll road and by privatizing the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Two years later, none of that has happened. The Feds rejected Plan A for I-80 and then turned down the revised Plan B. State lawmakers put the kibosh on Turnpike privatization on the grounds that the bid by a Spanish-led consortium just wasn't big enough.

Of late, I've not heard much about revitalizing efforts to privatize the Turnpike. But, there are rumblings of a Plan C where tolling I-80 is concerned. Word has it that the Turnpike Commission (which would take responsibility for I-80 if it becomes a toll road) is preparing yet again to ask the Feds to OK the plan.

About the same time those rumbling surfaced, along came efforts at both the state and Federal levels to stop those tolling plans before they get rolling again. In a news release dated May 28, GOP state reps from central PA urged constituents to write to Specter, Casey, et al and urge them to oppose any efforts to turn I-80 into a toll road.

Such correspondence may not be necessary if Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) has her way. It seems that tolling talk is also going on deep in the heart of her home state of Texas. So, on May 20, Hutchison issued THIS news release to let people know that she has introduced a bill that would ban adding tolls to existing federal highways. The news release reads, in part:

"Sen. Hutchison’s legislation would prevent states, private entities, or private-public partnerships from adding tolls on existing free federal highways, bridges, or tunnels built with federal funding. Furthermore, the bill would prohibit states from attempting to purchase highways from the federal government and place them under state ownership or lease them to foreign investors for the purpose of tolling them. The legislation does not prohibit tolls on new construction."

So, two years later, here were are. I-80 is still a toll-free highway. The Turnpike is still run by the Turnpike Commission. And, the roads in PA are still pretty crappy. Will any of that change in another two years? We'll see.

At work tonight, with just a few minutes to go before news time, one of my co-workers came to me with a problem. He is compiling a list of his top five worst movies of all time. He had four, but couldn't decide on a fifth. Hey, I get it. There are so many bad movies to choose from.

I don't remember all four of his picks, but one of them was "AMERICAN ANTHEM," starring Olympic gymnast Mitch Gaylord and Janet Jones before she became Mrs. Wayne Gretzky. I've never seen it but that's probably because I've heard that it's a really bad movie.

One of the first bad movies I thought of was "Godsend" starring Robert DeNiro. Even Greg Kinnear couldn't save this movie from being horrible. I also thought of another DeNiro film, "Hide and Seek," which, in my opinion, is only slightly better than "Godsend." We also mentioned "Forces of Nature" starring Ben Affleck. Another co-worker thought "Bounce," another Affleck film, was also bad, but I don't think it's bad enough to make a worst movie list.

After that, I was stumped, so I turned to my old Web site where I keep an online archive of my movie reviews. If I ever get around to redesigning my current Web site - which is the reason I took a couple classes at LCCC - I will transfer the archives to the revamped site. But, for now, they live on the old site. A quick check of the archive turned up these clunkers:

• FORCES OF NATURE - in which Ben Affleck almost misses his wedding day because he doesn't travel well.
• THE FORGOTTEN - in which Julianne Moore tries to remember that she once had a kid.
• GODSEND - in which Robert DeNiro creates a little monster.
• HIGHLANDER: THE SOURCE - lacking any kind of magic, it went right to the Sci-Fi channel.
• HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE - in which Harrison Ford tries to sell real estate while solving the murder of a rap star.
• MEET THE FOCKERS - in which DeNiro takes a road trip to met Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand.

I probably should have also added another Affleck gem, "Jersey Girl." That movie was so bad that the emotional climax came in the first couple minutes when Jennifer Lopez died in child birth and left Ben Affleck to carry the movie on his own. As the aforementioned second co-worker said, if Ben Affleck is the romantic lead, you know you're in for a bad movie.

Primary 2009 has come and gone and, as with any election, there were a few surprises (at least from my perspective, skewed and/or uninformed as it may be).

Let's start in Luzerne County where voters answered a resounding "Yes" to the question of a Government Study Commission (a.k.a. home rule). What with the corruption scandal and all going on in LuzCo, I can't say I'm surprised that voters want to explore the possibility of a different form of county government. But, I am surprised at the margin by which the referendum passed - 77% yes to 23% no. Sounds like they really, really want change. The true test will come with a second referendum, when whatever plan the Government Study Commission comes up with gets put to a vote. We'll see if the desire for change remains strong between now and then.

One of the other most-watched races in Luzerne County was the contest to fill two open seats on the county bench. Although the corruption scandal framed the race, the two open seats are not directly related to the fallout from the scandal. One seat currently belongs to President Judge Chester Muroski, who is reaching the mandatory retirement age. The other seat belonged to Michael Conahan, who retired as a full-time judge before the scandal erupted.

At any rate, a full 17 candidates cross-filed for the primary; three will now move on to the general election. One of those three is District Magistrate BILL AMESBURY. He won on both the Democratic and Republican ballots. I'm surprised by that only because his ballot position was at or near the bottom on both sides. Voters obviously cared enough to do some work and seek him out.

The other winners were TINA POLACHEK GARTLEY on the Democratic side and RICHARD HUGHES, who finished as the top vote-getter on the GOP side. With so many candidates in the race, it was tough to get a feel for who had the advantage. Even so, I'm a little surprised by Gartley and Hughes because I didn't notice a lot of advertising (at least not on TV). Obviously, they found other effective ways to get out their messages to people in areas where it mattered most. I think that, come fall, the edge goes to Amesbury and to Gartley. Amesbury because he seems to have broad support, and Gartley because Democrats outnumber Republicans in Luzerne County and because there seems to be some sort of movement to have a woman on the county bench.

In Wyoming County, one of the few contested races turned out to be a lot closer than expected. Unoffical numbers show that incumbent DA George Skumanick has squeaked out a win over GOP challenger DEBORAH ALBERT-HEISE by fewer than 30 votes. Albert-Heise is an attorney from Tunkhannock who also serves as the county's public defender. I'm not sure why this race was so close. Skumanick has been in the news lately with the whole "sexting" thing at Tunkhannock Area High School. So, maybe that issue has some people riled up. Or, it could just be a matter of both candidates having some name recognition in the community. Don't know. In any case, there was also a Democrat on the ballot, so this race ain't over yet anyway.

One more race of note to mention. Voters in Harrisburg have given long-time mayor Steve Reed the boot. Reed lost last night's Democratic primary to city council president Linda Thompson. Reed's been mayor of the state capital since the early 80s. During my tenure in Harrisburg, he was always showing up at the scenes of fires or shootings to comment for the media. It was kind of a pain because, if he wasn't there, often there was no one around who was authorized to provide information. But, when he was there, he usually had something to say. Anyway, I think Reed did a lot of positive things for Harrisburg. But, the city still has lots of problems and when Reed spent millions on artifacts for a Wild West Museum that never materialized, it didn't help. HERE'S what Reed had to say (courtesy of WHTM) when he conceded the race:

I'm back!  Now that my classes at LCCC are almost over, I finally had some time to work on my Web site and update the POLITICS page. The primary is only 10 days away, so better late than never.

The hardest part was looking for Web sites for the 17 judge candidates in Luzerne County!  I found links to 16 of them.  As far as I could tell, Michael Pendolphi does not have a Web site.  If he does, let me know, and I'll add the link.

As an Independent, the only thing I can vote for in the primary is the HOME RULE referendum in Luzerne County. I suppose that calling it "home rule" at this point is not completely accurate, but it sounds a lot better than the official title - "Government Study Commission."  Voters are being asked to decide if there should be a commission to study alternate forms of government for the county. If the voters say "yes," then a committee will be formed (those candidates are also on the ballot) and they'll decide whether home rule or some other alternate form of government should be put to the voters in some future election. Basically, this is the referendum to decide if there should be a referendum.

I was out of the area in 2003, the last time Home Rule came up for a vote (and lost), so I can't really compare the level of sentiment/organization then to what it is now.  But, the current home rule proponents seem to be organized and active.  Add in the internationally-known problems of Luzerne County, and I won't be surprised if the outcome is different this time around.

BTW, the late, great Chris Farley wants you to VOTE!

Wow.  I know I've been kind of lame of late, but it's been about two weeks since I posted anything.  I even missed a music video weekend.  Shame on me.

My excuse is twofold.  First of all, Facebook is putting a serious dent in my blogging.  It's easier to post an article or make a quick comment on FB than it is on here.  But, I'm not ready to give this up just yet.

Secondly, I've been busy.  You may recall that I took a computer course at the local community college last fall.  It met two days a week and went pretty well.  So, I signed up for another computer course and a yoga class for the spring semester.  Each class meets two days a week, but not the same two days.  Long story short, I'm at school for four mornings each week, then working my regular night shift at the station.

I'm tired and am ready for the semester to be over.  I need to sleep.  And have some fun.  This tune by Noah and the Whale has been getting some regular airplay on my favorite college radio station.  Enjoy.

Lately, when I tune into one of my FAVORITE radio stations, I hear a song called "Ghost Town" by Shiny Toy Guns. I like it. Embedding on the OFFICIAL music video is disabled, but here is a version that has the lyrics included.

One of the things that has struck me about the so-called "Cash for Kids" scandal is just how minor some of the offenses were that landed these kids in detention. I'm not saying that, in general, some sort of punishment wasn't merited. But, long periods in juvie seems over the top in a lot of these cases.

Makes you wonder what might happen to a youngster who got caught smoking on school grounds, in the boys' room, perhaps. BROWNSVILLE STATION did the original version. MOTLEY CRUE covered it. And, that cover version is used in this video put together by some high school kids somewhere.

As I have noted before on this blog, when Northeast PA makes national news, it's almost never for something positive. A couple years ago, we - well, Pennsylvania - made the LEAD on ABC's World News when drivers were stranded on Interstate 78 in Berks County. That incident occurred around the time of the Valentine's Day Storm, when I-81 in NEPA was shut down for the better part of 24 hours.

Of late, NEPA has made national and international news for two reasons. One is the "sexting" scandal in Wyoming County. The DA is now being sued by the ACLU because he gave kids an option of taking an educational course or facing criminal charges. The ACLU sees it more as a threat: take the class or face the charges. A tech-oriented publication in the UK printed THIS article in which it comes down squarely on the side of the ACLU.

The other - and more notorious - reason is the so-called "Cash for Kids" scandal in Luzerne County. Two (now former) judges stand accused of taking kickbacks in exchange for sending juvenile offenders to a privately-run detention center. (Former) judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan have pleaded guilty to federal charges and face seven years in prison. However, Ciavarella denies any direct "cash for kids" connection.

The New York Times has published several articles concerning the case. The most recent ARTICLE came today, and detailed how the judges managed to block various efforts to put a stop to what some people suspected was going on.

That article came on the heels of a report on ABC's 20/20 which focused largely on the speed at which Ciavarella sentenced the juveniles who came before him. The juveniles interviewed for the program said they were in the courtroom for only a few minutes at best, often had no legal representation, had practically no opportunity to speak, and were immediately hauled off to the detention center.

What struck me most about the 20/20 report (PART 1 & PART 2) was the language. The reporter used phrases including "diabolical plan," "rapid-fire justice," "absurdly swift justice," and said that the judges padded "their pockets on the backs of children."

Perhaps the most dramatic language came from a woman with the Juvenile Law Center, which is working with many of the families involved in the case. She called the events taking place in Luzerne County "probably the most egregious abuse of power in the American legal system." My love of the word "egregious" notwithstanding, that's a pretty powerful statement. It says, in essence, that Ciavarella and Conahan are/were the crookedest judges in the history of American judging.

Wow! And it ain't over yet.

These first couple days of spring haven't been exactly warm, but they've been sunny, which has me thinking about the John Denver classic "Sunshine on My Shoulders."

And, thinking about that song has me thinking about the time I saw him in concert. I'm guessing the year was 1976 (or maybe early 1977), so I would have been 10 years old. The concert was at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In the audience were me, my mother, our pastor, and his wife (they were young). We drove to NYC in their orange and white VW van (I said it was the '70s), had dinner at some sort of Greek pizza place, then saw the concert. The opening act was STARLAND VOCAL BAND.

I don't remember too much about the concert itself. But, I remember that our seats were very near the top. If there were any rows behind us, there weren't many. I also seem to recall that neither Starland Vocal Band nor John Denver had a backup group. They were just there, in the middle of the Garden floor, on a small stage, playing their own acoustic guitars. No fuss, no muss, just music. Simple.