Affordable things to do in the Pocono region this weekend

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Pittston’s Geisinger CareWorks opens Urgent Care Clinic for walk-in patients

WILKES-BARRE &#8212; John Fetterman is hoping his message will resonate with voters looking for real change in Washington, D.C., as he battles for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate against two more well known, more financed opponents.Fetterman, 46, is the mayor of Braddock borough in Allegheny County and he told the Times Leader Opinion Board Thursday he wants to change the way Congress works.Fetterman said some 10,000 individuals have donated $30 or less each to his campaign. He trails his two opponents &#8212; Joe Sestak and Katie McGinty &#8212; by &#8220;multiples&#8221; when it comes to campaign funds.Fetterman has also been running third behind Sestak and McGinty in most polls.But the 6-foot-8 candidate said the lack of money hasn&#8217;t deterred him. He is using social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter to get his message across. Add to that his constant traveling around the state to meet voters face-to-face and Fetterman hopes his message will resonate with voters who, as he said, are tired of the same old politics of Washington and Congress.&#8220;No doubt about it, we have to get our name out there,&#8221; he said. &#8220;While my opponents have been constantly campaigning in recent years, I&#8217;ve spent my time in Braddock trying to bring that struggling community back.&#8221;Fetterman said, &#8220;Television is king&#8221; when it comes to politics.But the phenomenon is when people see us up close, whether in person or during the televised debates, we win,&#8221; he said.He said there is a crisis in cities across Pennsylvania and the U.S. and he wonders what these cities will look like in 10 to 15 years.Fetterman&#8217;s concern is not just for the cities, but for all towns. He can&#8217;t remember the last time someone said they wanted to purchase &#8220;a fixer-upper&#8221; in Shamokin or that they were looking to move to McKeesport.Fetterman believes in bringing manufacturing jobs back. He said he can&#8217;t understand why an iPhone, for example, can&#8217;t be made in the U.S.&#8220;Our society has an inability to value manufacturing jobs at the same level as high tech jobs,&#8221; he said.He also favors increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour.&#8220;I&#8217;ve never heard anyone making $8 or $9 per hour say they have enough,&#8221; Fetterman said. &#8220;We in this society condone these low-paying jobs. I find it to have a flavor of slavery.&#8221;Fetterman still fumes over the 2008 collapse of the financial markets, saying they have paid billions of dollars in fines with zero criminal accountability.On the issuesISIS/terrorism: Fetterman feels President Obama has done a good job targeting ISIS leadership and containing its activities. He said ISIS does not present &#8220;an existential threat to the U.S.&#8221;Jobs: He said U.S. trade deals have been disastrous. He said it comes down to priorities and notes U.S. Steel is &#8220;hanging by a thread.&#8221;Affordable Care Act: Fetterman feels health care is a basic human right. He said the ACA has &#8220;left a gap&#8221; and he would favor a single-payer system. But with a divided Congress, he would pursue fine tuning the ACA.Border security: Fetterman said the idea of &#8220;teeming hordes&#8221; of people streaming into the U.S. &#8220;is just not true.&#8221; He added, &#8220;To not admit refugees simply because of their country of origin is wrong. I fail to see the difference between Syria and Cuba.&#8221;U.S. Supreme Court: Fetterman said he has a five-point litmus test for nominees to the court: repeal Citizens United, favor a woman&#8217;s right to choose, LGBT rights protection, climate science and a union&#8217;s right to organize.Gun ownership: Fetterman said common sense reforms are needed. He noted that 5 percent of gun dealers are responsible for 90 percent of guns used in crime. He said if 5 percent of restaurants were responsible for 90 percent of food poisoning cases, there would be an all-out attack on those restaurants.College education: Fetterman wants to make it simple to apply for financial aid for college students.Down the stretchFetterman is looking forward to the final debate, scheduled for April 22 in Philadelphia.According to his website, over the last 10 years as mayor, Fetterman said the cycle of violence in Braddock has been broken. On his inside right forearm, Fetterman has tattooed the dates of gun-related violent deaths in Braddock. He points to the nearly 5&#189; year gap when no lives were taken. On his left arm, the Braddock zip code is tattooed.<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman meets with the Times Leader Opinion Board Thursday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_TTL041516Fetterman1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman meets with the Times Leader Opinion Board Thursday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Bill O&#8217;Boyleboboyle@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>John FettermanAge: 46 (Aug. 15, 1969)Party: DemocratSeeking: U.S. SenateFamily: Wife Gisele; 3 childrenResidence: Braddock, Allegheny CountyEducation: B.S., Albright College (1991); master&#8217;s, University of Connecticut (1993); master&#8217;s, Harvard University (1999)Experience: Member Americorps (1995-1997); program coordinator Braddock Out of School Youth Program (2001-2006); founder, Braddock Redux (2003-present); mayor, Braddock Borough (2005-present).Website: johnfetterman.com</factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.</shirttailMeta></div>

Democratic Senate hopeful John Fetterman wants to institute ‘real change’