`lunatic' Takes Police On Wild Trip 
Ten-hour Battle Ensues Following Routine Arrest

3 Care Centers Get New Owner 
Three Area Personal Care Centers Are Part Of A Major Purchase By 
Mechanicsburg-based Balanced Care Corp.

Sunday, February 02, 1997 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1B 





Endorsements loom for Dems &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 All those candidates who are scrambling for Democratic nominations for
county office in the May 20 primary are going to find out exactly where they
stand with the party leadership come March 20That's the date the 51-member
Luzerne County Democratic Executive Committee will meet in the Elks Club in
Wilkes-Barre to make its official endorsements for county controller, register
of wills, prothonotary and jury commissioner. The time of the meeting is 7
p.m. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; County Democratic Chairman Jimmy Bach has set the gathering for March 20 so
the executive committee will know who has and who hasn't filed nominating
petitions between Feb. 18 and March 11, the official filing period. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 With the exception of Ray Musto, who makes no bones about who he's for and
against, others in the front ranks of the party leadership are saying they'll
follow the dictates of the Executive Committee: meaning they'll back whomever
the committee officially endorses even though they have their own personal
favorites. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Joe Joyce, for example, will be headed for Florida soon and isn't sure if
he'll be back in the area in time to vote on the endorsements. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "If I'm there, I'll vote for Ellen Mondlak for the register of wills
endorsement," Joyce says, "but if she doesn't get it, I'll support whomever
does win out." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Joyce has always been known as an important party insider and moneyman, but
this time he says he's not going to involve himself either personally or
financially. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I really don't have that much interest in those offices," Joyce says, "so
I will do whatever Jimmy Bach does." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 What Bach is doing -- or says he's doing -- pretty much coincides with what
Joyce says he's doing. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I'm just going to let the executive committee decide who the party
endorses and then I'll go along with that," Bach says. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Even at that, though, it's no secret that Bach is against Dottie Stankovic,
the incumbent in the register of wills scrap. So it seems to follow that, like
Joyce, he's for Mondlak in that one -- but you'll never get him to admit it. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 With prothonotary, Bach is solid for Gene Duffy, another incumbent, who
will be challenged by Jim Burns. Yet he doesn't come out openly for any of the
controller candidates: Frank Pizzella, Bill Brace, and supposedly, Tom Pizano. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Another top-level party player who's always at the center of the action is
John Moses. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I'm dead-set against all of this infighting," Moses says. "I want to see
the Democratic Party united behind an endorsed ticket, so I'll support the
candidates who win the endorsements on March 20." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Frank Crossin and Tom ~Makowski are said to be trying to steer clear of the
skirmishes that have already flared up in the register of wills and controller
contests. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Both of them have also adopted a "I'm a good Democrat" stance which
presumably means they'll follow the decisions of the executive committee and
back the endorsed candidates. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Joe Mazur, chairman of the Fourth District Democrats, is against Stankovic,
but he too has said he'll do his duty as a party loyalist and back her if she
wins the committee's endorsement. But unlike 1993 when Stankovic ran for
office the first time, Mazur no doubt won't help her get the endorsement the
way he did back then. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 While all of these guys are sort of soft-pedaling this whole deal over the
endorsements, Musto has put out the word about exactly where he's at (in some
of the races, anyway). &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He is totally against Brace for controller. He hasn't said who he's for in
that race, but Pizzella used a picture of Musto in one of those television ads
he bought and which were aired on Super Bowl Sunday on Fox 38. Still, Musto
doesn't say he's for Pizzella or against him. As for Pizano, Musto says he
talked with him, but that's all. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 For register of wills, Musto is 100 percent for Stankovic, as is Stanley
Jarolin. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 There's no way state Sen. Musto could ever be for Mondlak because he's had
differences with her and her husband Jerry in the past. And he'd never go for
Loretta Chmura because two of her backers, Joe and John Yudichak, gave Jarolin
a tussle in that state rep race primary in the Fourth District last year. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In the jury commissioner face-off between incumbent Dan Blaine and Jerry
Bonner, who runs the Carriage Stop Inn, Musto doesn't come out openly for
either candidate, but he does say that "Bonner will give Blaine a fight." Does
that sound like he's for Bonner? Sure does. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Asked what he'll do if the candidates he's against win committee
endorsements, Musto said, "I'll review their past actions and then decide what
I'll do." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 When you look at all of this, you know darn well that this meeting is
guaranteed to be a grade-A sizzler. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In fact, after it's over, they'll probably have to send in somebody to wipe
the blood off the walls. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Bill Griffith &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Endorsements Loom For Dems 
All Those Candidates Who Are Scrambling For Democratic Nominations For County 
Office In The May 20 Primary Are Going To Find Out Exactly Where They Stand 
With The Party Leadership Come March 20.

Endorsements Loom For Dems All Those Candidates Who Are Scrambling For Democratic Nominations For County Office In The May 20 Primary Are Going To Find Out Exactly Where They Stand With The Party Leadership Come March 20.