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Your view: School consolidation wrong for WBA

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Lake-Lehman boys lax players lead West to 10-8 win

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; In the wake of this week&#8217;s shooting that targeted members of Congress, U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta has decided he will not be holding town halls until the country returns to a point where such events can be held in a productive manner.</p><p>Barletta, R-Hazleton, said Friday there are several ways to reach out to constituents that would not put lawmakers in harm&#8217;s way.</p><p>&#8220;Right now, there is a real risk to members and their staffs and the public,&#8221; Barletta said. &#8220;The rhetoric in politics has got to change. There is such a viciousness out there right now. The number of threats that members have received over the last year has increased dramatically &#8212; including myself. These town halls are opportunities for people to come and get incited and who knows what can happen.&#8221;</p><p>Barletta said he&#8217;s been at some town halls where police had to carry people out.</p><p>&#8220;I get concerned not only for my own safety, but for the safety of the people who are there, who actually come to be heard,&#8221; Barletta said. &#8220;That&#8217;s what these events are for, but there&#8217;s a level when people cross a line to actually incite other people and when individual safety becomes an issue and then the purpose of doing it is lost.&#8221;</p><p>Barletta believes other members of Congress should also avoid holding town halls after the <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/663281/house-majority-whip-shot-at-congressional-baseball-practice" target="_blank">shooting at a congressional baseball practice</a> Wednesday that seriously injured House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, and injured others.</p><p>This year marked the first that Barletta <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/local/663404/ex-pittston-mayor-good-friends-with-wounded-congressman" target="_blank">opted out of the annual Congressional Baseball</a> G<a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/local/663404/ex-pittston-mayor-good-friends-with-wounded-congressman" target="_blank">ame</a>.</p><p>&#8220;The problem with public town halls is that some people actually come with cruel intentions,&#8221; Barletta said. &#8220;We all have to learn again to talk to each other with respect. I really worry that town halls are only inviting violence.&#8221;</p><p>Barletta said he has held telephone town halls to reach constituents and he will consider resuming those.</p><p>Barletta said telephone town halls can reach thousands of people, giving them the opportunity to ask questions and get answers.</p><p>Barletta also conducts Main Street tours, where he visits communities, meeting with business owners, elected officials, and folks on the street.</p><p>&#8220;I get a good sense of what people&#8217;s concerns are,&#8221; said the former mayor of Hazleton. &#8220;It&#8217;s a very constructive way to find out what&#8217;s on the minds of constituents.&#8221;</p><p>Barletta has also held group meetings with opposition groups and their leadership. He said those meetings provide a forum for honest, open discussion.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s sad, but public town hall meetings have become a venue for people to come with an agenda and somebody could get hurt,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Hopefully, Congress, the media, everyone will have a role in changing how we talk and treat each other.&#8221;</p><p>Barletta hopes what happened to Scalise and the others Wednesday leads to some good.</p><p>&#8220;We can&#8217;t accept Hollywood people holding a decapitated head of a sitting U.S. president as being OK,&#8221; Barletta said. &#8220;It&#8217;s not OK and should be condemned by everyone. Until then, what we saw this week won&#8217;t be the last.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_Barletta-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Barletta </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_Barletta-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Barletta </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_ambulance-pic-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas is placed into an ambulance at the scene of a shooting at a baseball field in Alexandria, Va., Wednesday, June 14, 2017. Members of Congress were practicing for a game when a gunman started shooting. (AP Photo/Kevin S. Vineys)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_ambulance-pic-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas is placed into an ambulance at the scene of a shooting at a baseball field in Alexandria, Va., Wednesday, June 14, 2017. Members of Congress were practicing for a game when a gunman started shooting. (AP Photo/Kevin S. Vineys)</caption1><photoCredit1>(AP Photo/Kevin S. Vineys) </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_AP17165437481803.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Scalise </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_AP17165437481803.jpg</photo2><caption2>Scalise </caption2><photoCredit2>(AP Photo/Kevin S. Vineys) </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_AP17165562607213-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">In this undated file photo, James Hodgkinson holds a sign during a protest outside of a United States Post Office in Belleville, Ill. Hodgkinson has been identified as the suspect in the Wednesday, June 14, 2017, Washington D.C. shooting. (Derik Holtmann/Belleville News-Democrat via AP)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_AP17165562607213-2.jpg</photo3><caption3>In this undated file photo, James Hodgkinson holds a sign during a protest outside of a United States Post Office in Belleville, Ill. Hodgkinson has been identified as the suspect in the Wednesday, June 14, 2017, Washington D.C. shooting. (Derik Holtmann/Belleville News-Democrat via AP)</caption3><photoCredit3>(Derik Holtmann/Belleville News-Democrat via AP) </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Times Leader staff writer Travis Kellar contributed to this report.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Barletta urges members of Congress to halt Town Hall events