marty flynn – Tom Borthwick

Politics

Scranton School Board Mid-April Update: PTAs & Fair Funding

April 14, 2019 By Tom Borthwick

Scranton’s kids have an issue. While we look at our district’s budget of $166 million and how we constantly experience shortfalls that require cuts and borrowing and tax increases, we are missing the biggest issue when we talk about how to address it: fair funding. According to the last state budget, a kid from Scranton […]

Politics

Scranton School District: State Lifeline And A Look At How We Got Here

December 23, 2017 By Tom Borthwick

With news that the state is going to provide $2 million to the district as a kind of lifeline, there’s reason to celebrate this Christmas. There’s also reason to be cautious, because, based on the district’s Powerpoint from their raucous meeting last Monday, $2 million isn’t nearly enough to dig us out of this hole. […]

Politics

Ain’t No Party Like a Tom Wolf Comes to Scranton Party!

March 28, 2014 By Tom Borthwick

… Because a Tom Wolf Comes to Scranton Party Don’t Stop! I hope you enjoy the Office reference and clunky title. On to the meat of it: I’ve been around the block enough to have my hopes and dreams (and really any kind of reasonable sense that the future will be alright) totally crushed by […]

Politics

PA-112, PA-113, & PA-114: And We Have Races!

February 4, 2014 By Tom Borthwick

The routine of breakfast consumption in NEPA involves more than mimosas and toast. We get our truest, necessary sustenance from politics. A slice of gossip here, buttered with a little bit of hearsay there, and a healthy balanced meal of the latest corruption arrests coupled with rampant speculation about upcoming elections leaves us ready for […]

Politics

What’s the Word? Edition #2: Post-Holiday Politcs, from Lackawanna to Harrisburg

January 8, 2014 By Tom Borthwick

A return from my honeymoon means a return to the world of blogging. I’ll have a post with some reflections on that magical time in relatively short order. To hold you off, the feature image is of Spello, the town I spent most of my time in. Bella! My absence from America over the holidays […]

Politics

What’s the Word? Edition #1

December 11, 2013 By Tom Borthwick

It’s important that I spend some more time blogging, as opposed to thinking about blogging. The format of this space hasn’t really been solidified in my mind, yet. Since this is TomBorthwick.com and not NEPArtisan.com, my former political blog, it’s obvious that the focus is different. So I’d rather my writing life take precedence over […]

Politics

PA-113: The War for West Side

December 2, 2013 By Tom Borthwick

Usually the summer before the November election, rumors about what’s going to happen in the following primary start emerging. Maybe that’s the nature of politics everywhere, maybe it’s unique to this area. Regardless, it happens. Because of both redistricting and having a delegation to the General Assembly that’s full of freshmen, we have a lot […]

Politics

The Transit Bill: Mediocre and Maybe Better Than Nothing

November 22, 2013 By Tom Borthwick

Pennsylvania’s roads and bridges are an absolute disaster. So is our government. I think roughly 100% of the population, plus or minus 5%, agree with these statements. We don’t have the final version of the newly passed transportation infrastructure bill in front of us because the State House and State Senate have to work out […]

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