Monroe is site of nuclear attack scenario

By WILLIAM DOOLITTLE
Monroe Messenger
Mass death and widespread misery would follow a nuclear attack on Monroe County, Pa., a scenario prepared for the Army War College in Carlisle
predicts.
Death and serious injury would be widespread if an atom bomb were to be detonated by terrorists.
There would be so many bodies, the report predicts, mass burials or freezing of corpses might have to be used.
The imagined 10-megaton explosion at Pocono Raceway during a popular race weekend likely would engulf and consume local, state, and regional emergency responses. Unless very well-trained, many of the initial responders could become victims themselves.
The Army’s paper, written by Professor James Kievit and Lieutenant Colonel Jeff McNary, surmises, “More than 100,000 people were in the immediate vicinity of
the detonation, many of them transients from out-of-state. Blast and heat immediately destroyed or severely damaged most structures within 1,000 meters of the detonation.
“An electromagnetic pulse damaged many electronic devices within about 5 kilometers ( 3 miles). Injuries from flying debris occurred out to 6 kilometers ( 3.7 miles). Temporary
flash-blindness contributed to innumerable traffic accidents on nearby highways, including multi-vehicle pileups in both directions on nearby I-80. Radioactive fallout drifting east southeast directly threatens the Stroudsburg area (pop. approx 30,000), with the potential to drift through New Jersey, perhaps as far as Newark, or even to Staten Island, N.Y.”
The report also predicts and recommends the following:
– On site tracking of current and cumulative radiation dosage among responders, and rotation of forces. Currently no centralized management system
exists.
– Sufficient immediate treatment and medical evacuation capabilities. Mass casualties will overload local and state capabilities; federal assets cannot
deploy in time to provide effective aid.
– Immediate availability of sufficient specialized aircraft and crews to accomplish medical evacuation and movement of responders.
– Victim registration and dose identification of all survivors for purposes of lifelong medical monitoring.
The writers’ bleak conclusion states, “Response to an attack of this nature may well be qualitatively and quantitatively overwhelming.”

Female cop sues Pocono Mountain department

By WILLIAM DOOLITTLE
Monroe Messenger
A female police officer has sued the Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department for gender discrimination, specifically charging that pornography was visible to her on a department computer.
Debra l. Hartley of Effort contends the department maintained a “sexually hostile work environment” for women, and three male “fellow patrol officers perpetrated a pattern of discriminatory and sometimes abusive behavior.”
Hartley was “constructively discharged” in 2003 and given a “right to sue” by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
In federal court documents the department denied her allegations and challenged a ruling that allowed parts of the case to move forward.
However, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas I. Vanaskie in Scranton stated, “It is undisputed that the Police Department did not have a sexual harassment policy in place.” He added there was only “sporadic” training of police staff on the subject of sexual harassment.
A trial is set for October.

Oh deer! Tipsy hunter bags ranger’s decoy

Last autumn rangers in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation area were running a deer decoy operation near the cemetery along Zion Church Road in the southern end of the park when a man drove up in a pickup truck, stopped in the middle of the road, and shot at the ranger’s decoy white-tail deer from inside the vehicle. He was charged with illegal hunting, driving on a suspended license, and open beers. He had a 075% blood alcohol level. Oh, and he missed the decoy deer. WD

Big fraud scandal erupts at Toby Army Depot

By WILLIAM DOOLITTLE
Monroe Messenger
With the arrest of an electronics sales manager for bribing some Tobyhanna Army Depot officials, a widening scandal involving millions of dollars is being alleged by federal officials.
Thomas A. Marino, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, has charged Kafu Stephen Chung with myriad counts of bribery and fraud.
Chung has pleaded guilty and has agreed to cooperate with the federal prosecutor by naming co-conspirators, “government project mangers and purchasing agents.”
The specific charges are
–conspiring with Army base officials to bribe them to secure business for his firm, Computer Giants of New York.
–fixing the competitive process with bribery to secure business for his firm.
–Chung and the unnamed “public officials acting on behalf of the United States Army” would take cash and “other considerations” to undermine the bidding process.
–The U.S. Army conspirators would provide sealed bid information the Chung.
–They also arranged for undamaged computers to be sent to Computer Giants for repair. Then Chung would resell the same computers back to the Army Base as new equipment.
–Chung also arranged for Computer Giant to bill the Army Base for “undelivered goods.”
Marino charges that the bribery scandal began in February of 2001 and continued through 2005, involved nearly $8 million paid to Computer Giants.
Chung, whose home address is not given in the criminal information, is not a U.S. citizen and faces deportation.

What this new local news outlet is, and is not

This new publication will cover selected stories in Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg primarily. There will be a focus on courts, and stories gleaned from official sources. The Monroe Messenger will select stories not generally covered by the other local media. It will be serious but not too serious, light hearted in comment from times to time, but not foolish. It will not offer the cute story fare featured by so many newspapers and television stations these days. This news outlet staff is comprised of a single person, myself, William Doolittle, who has long experience in journalism. You will find my biography on this site. We will endeavor to publish one original news story about Monroe County, PA, each day. This is a not-for-profit operation. There is no advertising so there will be no advertiser pressures on the Monroe Messenger. At the outset there will be few readers but the audience may grow. So if you are educated by The Messenger, you may wish to bookmark the site and spread the word.