You'd think that the day after Halloween wouldn't be a day to talk about sweet, sweet chocolate, but I can't resist linking to a story on CandyBlog (sponsored by McKeesport Candy Co.) about how the Clark Bar, "the signature item of one of the country's largest candy empires, started with a small operation run by young entrepreneur David L. Clark":
Mr. Clark entered the candy business in 1891 and spent a few years learning the trade before starting his own company, D.L. Clark Co., in 1886.
He manufactured candy in two back rooms of a small house with the help of a small staff. Within a few years, he made enough money to open a small factory in McKeesport.
Crown Chocolate became Thurman Candy, makers of "Tris Anne" chocolates, which were sold all up and down the East Coast by McKeesport-based G.C. Murphy Co. Thurman's moved to North Versailles Township in 1967 (coincidentally to the site of the old Vogue Terrace, mentioned here just a few days ago).
As originally proposed by Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-Fayette, House Bill 443 was a good bill. It created the presumption of access to agency records but contained a list of exemptions for medical records, documents that would disclose ongoing police investigations and documents related to homeland security.
That was before the House State Government Committee got hold of it. The committee replaced Mahoney's bill with language that would close much of Pennsylvania government and rushed it through in less than a day. The amendment was not available to the public until hours before the committee met, and significant amendments were added without public input. The committee even suspended procedural rules to rush the bill through.
(More) than 50 amendments have been tacked on, causing the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association to withdraw its support for the House version sponsored by local state Rep. Timothy S. Mahoney (D-South Union).
Why the House State Government Committee would ladle on so many changes - including an exclusion for all e-mails and the ability for governments to deny requests deemed burdensome - is the subject for much speculation. We thought the House Speaker's Reform Commission had already thrashed out most of this stuff, given the huge fanfare that accompanied its high-profile work.
Because it's Halloween, I've looked around my tattered, dusty archives and found a grisly tale. Back in 1998, I was asked to write a "10 years later" piece on the Tony Michalowski murder for the Tribune-Review.
Well, it's 19 years later, and police still don't know how or why Michalowski was killed, or who dismembered him and scattered his remains in three Mon Valley towns, so it seems as good a time as any to look back.
Police always suspected Michalowski's killer was Robert Wayne Marshall, 37, of Shadyside, who was also a suspect in the death and dismemberment of another man. But before they could pull Marshall in for questioning in 1992, he took an overdose of pills and liquor and slashed his wrists open, committing suicide in May of that year.
You can read about the Michalowski case in the "Local History" section of Tube City Online. There doesn't seem to be anything else online about the case; who knows, maybe having it out there where Google can find it will prompt someone to remember the slaying.
. . .
In Related Stories: Floyd Nevling, who's quoted throughout the Michalowski story, was recently dismissed as Pleasant Hills police chief in what sure sounds like a political vendetta. The borough accuses Nevling of being unprofessional and creating a hostile work environment for police officers.
Nevling notes that these accusations only became an issue after he sued the borough for a disability pension, and after his wife won the Republican nomination for a seat on Pleasant Hills council.
Ah, local government in the Mon-Yough area ... making Chicago in the '50s seem sane by comparison!
. . .
The Shop Around The Coroner: Incidentally, if you read the Michalowski story, you'll also note that I quote former Allegheny County Coroner Joshua Perper. About a week after the original Michalowski story ran in 1999, I received a letter from Dr. Cyril Wecht, who (it's safe to say) dislikes Perper.
"It must have been difficult for you to write such a lengthy article about the coroner's office without mentioning my name," Wecht wrote to me. "Thank you for not associating me with the failings of my predecessor."
I still don't know if that was a slam or a compliment, but I treasured it anyway. I happen to be a fan of Wecht and own a couple of his books; unfortunately, what I really wanted was a letter from Wecht like this one.
Ah, maybe some day I'll get one. Then I'll know that I've arrived.
. . .
Sorry 'Bout That: You'll forgive me if Tuesday's Almanac never appeared. I spent most of the day in bed with a sinus headache, waking up only to head to my local grocery store, the House of Rancid Lunchmeat, where a large woman was haranguing one of the cashiers.
"Where the Halloween candy?" she asked.
"All we have left is what's on that shelf," the cashier said. There were a few lonely bags containing "fun-size" packets of M&Ms and plain chocolate Hershey bars.
The lady looked it over, snorted, then went back to the checkout line. The only thing she was buying was a 5-pound bag of Domino sugar.
I desperately wanted to ask, "Are you making your own Halloween candy? Or do you want a straw so you can eat that here?"
But I didn't, which is a good thing, because she easily outweighed me by 100 pounds and would have splatted me like a bug.
. . .
Also Noted: At the House of Rancid Lunchmeat, there was a neatly printed sign on the frozen-food cooler that said, "Due to the recall of Banquet pot pies, we are unable to sell them at the present time. Sorry for the inconvenience."
Underneath, someone had pasted a copy of a fax from ConAgra discussing the recall. On the fax they had written in felt-tip pen: "We are NOT ALLOWED TO SELL the pot pies. Don't ask!"
I'm assuming that people heard: "Hmm, Banquet pot pies were recalled because they might cause diarrhea, vomiting and rectal bleeding. Maybe the supermarket will sell 'em to me cheap! Whoo-hoo!"
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: We're in no need of our own Mensa chapter any time soon.
Last week, a newspaper had the following headline on page 1, over what was described as an "investigative report":
WEAVE EPIDEMIC HITS COMMUNITY HARD:
Drawback is Hair Fall Out
A Boy one day spied a beautiful bunch of FOP grapes hanging from a tree at a press conference along Banksville Road. The grapes seemed ready to burst with juicy endorsement, and the Boy's mouth watered as he gazed longingly at them.
The bunch hung from a branch with high standards and even higher expectations, so the Boy had to jump for it. The first time he jumped he missed it by a long way. The second time he jumped, he tried to knock them down with his golf clubs, but he still could not reach them. So he rode off a short distance in his Homeland Security SUV, had a couple of beers, and returned to try again, only to fall short once more. Again and again he tried, but always in vain.
Now he sat down and looked at the grapes in disgust.
"What a fool I am," he said. "Here I am wearing myself out to get a bunch of sour grapes that are not worth selling the taxpayers down the river for."
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