Hale Named Bloomsburg Coach

James Perrins Sr.

Tuesday, December 22, 1992 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 





Dec. 22, 1992, Musto and Trinisewski &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 1A &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Democrats &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 (Continued from Page 1A) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 DEMOCRATS, Page XA &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Analysis &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Warring Democratic duo to smoke peace pipe Ray Musto likely believes &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Trinisewski truce would be politically helpful to brother Joe &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 By BILL GRIFFITH &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Times Leader Associate Editor ay Musto and Frank Trinisewski might kiss and
make up pretty soon. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Sometime in the near future -- probably after the holidays -- these two
political powerhouses are very likely to have a sit-down which could lead to
them shaking hands "for the good of the Democratic Party." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And if they do that, a feud that has been simmering for about four years
will be over. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 At the center of this effort to get things "patched up" between Musto and
Trinisewski is county Democratic Chairman Jim Bach. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Bach said Monday he has been negotiating for a meeting between the two men
that presumably would include himself and Frank Crossin as well. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Musto said on Monday he has been contacted by Bach about such a meeting and
is willing to sit down with Trinisewski. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I'm ready to meet with him," he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Trinisewski, however, isn't as eager to meet as Musto seems to be. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I didn't seek any meeting," he said Monday, "but I'm willing to sit down
and listen to what they have to say." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He stressed that in no way did he initiate or suggest that there be a
meeting between himself and Musto or anybody else in the Democratic hierarchy. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It wasn't my idea," he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Although Musto won't say it up front, there is little doubt that he wants
Trinisewski on his side if his brother Joe Musto gets confirmed by the state
Senate as the newest county judge and then runs for the judgeship nominations
of both parties in the May 1993 primary. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Musto is trying to cover all the bases and circle the wagons on behalf of
brother Joe's spring candidacy and Trinisewski's help in that primary would
seem to be essential for any Musto victory. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Clearly Ray and Joe Musto need Trinisewski far more than he needs them. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Trinisewski, despite not being in elective office, continues to be a major
political force hereabouts. There isn't anybody around who can say, "Let's
have a party for me" and 1,600 people show up. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Musto knows full well that few politicians are accorded that kind of
loyalty and can call on a countywide voter base at election time. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A Musto-Trinisewski peace agreement, then, would bring immense support for
Joe Musto, both in the judicial primary and in the November 1993 general
election. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Ray Musto knows brother Joe is going to have a primary fight, mainly with
Hazleton District Justice Mike Conahan as things stand right now. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Conahan comes from a politically active family in Hazleton and already has
built support in the Wilkes-Barre area among Democrats who resent the way Ray
Musto has cornered the market on judges. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 As Trinisewski pointed out on Monday, a Joe Musto-Conahan scrap could be
interesting. Musto would have the Pittston area; Conahan the Hazleton area,
and that would leave Wilkes-Barre and Mountaintop and other areas wide open. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And where is Trinisewski's most reliable base? Wilkes-Barre, of course. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Then, too, the county Republicans have been making a lot of noise about the
Joe Musto judgeship nomination. They want the Republicans in the state Senate
to kill it. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But with Trinisewski on the side of the Musto family, if that's what comes
about, Joe Musto is sure to come up a winner all the way around. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 So what does Trinisewski get out of a political tie-in with Ray Musto? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Anything he wants; a county or state job any time he wants. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But he has always said he doesn't want a county or state job because he's
tending to his business and personal affairs and doing very nicely. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I don't want any job," Trinisewski said on Monday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The Musto-Trinisewski feud and the hostility it has produced has divided
the leadership of the county Democrats since 1988, when Trinisewski switched
from Republican to Democrat and formed a Democratic majority on the Luzerne
County Board of Commissioners with Frank Crossin. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Along with that switch and his political marriage with Crossin, Trinisewski
got full support from a number of other big-league courthouse Democrats like
Jim Bach, Mike Morreale, Bob Reilly and Joe Tirpak. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Thus the county Democratic Party was split into two camps -- the Musto
people on one side and the Crossin-Trinisewski wing on the other. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Musto made no bones about his opposition to Trinisewski from the get-go. He
didn't want Trinisewski in control of the courthouse and the political
patronage jobs that go with that control -- particularly those juicy
solicitorships Trinisewski made sure his buddies like Richard Goldberg and
Charlie Bufalino kept. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Through it all, though, neither of them really got hurt personally at the
polls in any subsequent elections. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Trinisewski even won the Democratic nomination for county commissioner in
the 1991 primary but later relinquished his spot to Rose Tucker -- who went on
to win in the general election that year with Crossin. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Musto himself won re-election to the state Senate in 1990, the same year
that Morreale and Reilly together with some other row officers were returned
to office. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Musto, though, emerged the victor in the most recent battles for Luzerne
County judgeships. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 First he made sure Joe Augello got appointed to a county court seat left
vacant by the resignation of Arthur Dalessandro. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Then he put his considerable clout behind Ann Lokuta, Corry Stevens and
Augello for judgeships in the 1991 elections. They all won. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 So did Hugh Mundy, who had the support of at least two important Democratic
players, Joe Joyce and the late Ed Wideman. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Trinisewski didn't do well in those judgeship battles. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He had worked very hard and used up many of his political markers in
support of the candidacy of Bufalino. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But he couldn't get Bufalino the governor's nomination for the Dalessandro
vacancy, nor could he generate enough votes to get Bufalino either a
Democratic or Republican nomination for judge in the 1991 primary. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Yet "Buf" did came really close for a Democratic nomination, which
eventually went to Stevens after a series of vote recounts.

Dec. 22, 1992, Musto And Trinisewski 
1a 
Democrats 
(continued From Page 1a) 
Democrats, Page Xa 
Analysis 
Warring Democratic Duo To Smoke Peace Pipe

Dec. 22, 1992, Musto And Trinisewski 1a Democrats (continued From Page 1a) Democrats, Page Xa Analysis Warring Democratic Duo To Smoke Peace Pipe