Lackawanna County restaurant inspections: May 18-22

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Slade Heathcott solid in New York Yankees debut

Rather than a dull affair, the municipal primary in Luzerne County last week turned madcap. Here&#8217;s a rundown of the good, the bad, the ugly &#8211; and the outright bizarre.The good. Voters in one Wilkes-Barre magisterial district avoided the habitual inclination to cast their ballots for a Kane. In this case, the Kane in question was 33-year-old Jared Kane, who had hoped to win election to the post held for 30 years by his father, District Judge Martin Kane. The heir apparent, however, became the subject of intense scuttlebutt surrounding his nomination papers.At least two people whose names appeared on Jared Kane&#8217;s petition for the Republican ballot say they didn&#8217;t sign it. That caused local government watchdogs to cry fraud.Kane failed to defend himself before election night, declining efforts by the news media to convey his side of the story. The district attorney&#8217;s office began poking into the matter last week. Under Pennsylvania law, fraudulent statements made on election petition affidavits constitute a misdemeanor. Violators face a fine of up to $500, a maximum prison sentence of one year, or both.With 458 votes from Democrats, Kane was a distant third behind Thomas Malloy (1,036 votes) and Justin Woychik (501 votes), according to unofficial results. Kane also trailed Malloy on the GOP ticket.The outcome suggests that primary voters, though few in numbers, were paying attention to this race and not operating an autopilot, which brings us to &#8230;The bad. Of the county residents eligible to vote Tuesday, most didn&#8217;t bother. Turnout in Wilkes-Barre, where the parties&#8217; nominees for mayor and council council were being chosen, was below 26 percent. County-wide turnout registered even lower, at 21 percent. That&#8217;s pitiful.And it raises doubts about the health of democracy.The ugly. An as-yet unknown person, or perhaps cluster of people, made an 11th-hour attempt to sink the campaign of Wilkes-Barre mayor hopeful Tony George. A flier mailed to certain city addresses inferred a tie between George and the Nation of Islam, some of whose members he met with in 2001 while serving as police chief.The scare tactic, dripping with racial undertones, seemingly fell flat. George, 63, secured the Democratic Party&#8217;s nomination and advances to the fall contest with Republican Frank Sorick and potentially one or more Independent contenders.The bizarre. An incumbent Exeter Township supervisor found himself in the awkward position of seeking re-election while also under scrutiny for allegedly mishandling grant funds. Richard E. Overman and three other township officials were charged only days before the election. Voters in the Republican primary passed over Overman.Adding to the strangeness, longtime county official Stephen A. Urban essentially became the man without a party. Though seeking re-election to county council as a Democrat, Urban was the target of ads paid for by a political action committee &#8211; and orchestrated by the county&#8217;s Democratic Party &#8211; calling for his ouster.County Democratic Party Chairman Michael DeCosmo later referred to Urban as a &#8220;party maverick.&#8221;The general election is scheduled for Nov. 3. Brace yourselves.

Our Opinion: Primary provided Luzerne County with plenty of drama