`kindergarten Stuff' Leads To Grade A Feud At Meeting 
**see For The Record 1/15/98

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After The Only Pa. Team 
In The Nfl Playoffs Lost, 
Many Area Football Fans 
Shifted Support To Denver And Qb John Elway

By TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Tuesday, January 13, 1998 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 3A 





WILKES-BARRE- Judge Ann Lokuta calls it the most embarrassing moment of her
life. A county official says it was just a misunderstanding. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 With hundreds of spectators looking on, Luzerne County's only female judge
was about to take a seat with other judges for the swearing-in ceremony of
county row officers on Jan. 5 when, she said, she was ordered off the stage by
a county official. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "This voice came over the loudspeaker. They said `Judge Lokuta, your seat
is out there,' " Lokuta said Monday, referring to seats which had been set up
for the public inside the courthouse rotunda. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Not wanting to make a scene, Lokuta complied with the request while several
other judges, including Joseph Augello, Correale Stevens and Hugh Mundy,
remained seated on stage with other dignitaries, she said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Lokuta, who has said she has a strained relationship with some members of
the legal community, said she can't say for sure if she was the victim of an
intentional snub. But she can't help but wonder. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I'll let people make their own decision. Isn't it amazing I was the only
person asked to leave the stage?" she said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "You ask, was I hurt? Yes. Was I embarrassed? Certainly. It was just
unbelievable." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But county spokesman Jim Torbik said Lokuta has it all wrong. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Torbik said county commissioners insist there was no difference in status
between those invited to sit on stage and those who sat in the audience.
Commissioners were pressed to find seating for the hundreds of spectators,
Torbik said, and no one intended to embarrass the judge. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "As you can understand, it was a very crowded situation ... There was no
attempt made to be adversarial or contentious," he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But Lokuta can't understand why she was ordered off the stage, especially
since there were three open seats located behind the other judges, she said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I didn't have to be in front. I'm not picky," she said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Lokuta said she has attended the swearing-in ceremony six of the seven
years she's been on the bench. Each year, she sat on stage with the other
judges. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 She said she visited the stage the Friday before the ceremony and saw that
her name was not on a reserved seat. She asked a county worker about it, and
he told her the situation would be rectified. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I specifically told them I would be there. It's not like it was some
cavalier attempt by me," she said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 When she was asked to leave the stage, Lokuta initially thought it was
reserved for only those who were part of the ceremony, she said. As she
watched from the audience, she saw that judges Augello, Mundy and Stevens were
spectators like herself. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 On Monday, Augello, the president judge, declined to speak to a reporter
about the incident. Through his secretary, he said only that the function was
not sponsored by the court. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Lokuta said she is not sure which official ordered her from the stage. The
function was coordinated by county chief clerk/administrator Gene Klein, with
the county's solicitor, Richard Goldberg, serving as master of ceremonies. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Contacted Monday, Goldberg said he did not issue the order, and was not
aware that anyone else had done so. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I'm shocked to hear that. I absolutely would not do that," Goldberg said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Klein did not return several messages left at his office. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 County Register of Wills Dorothy Stankovic and Prothonotary Carolee Medico,
two of the row officers who were sworn in, said they were busy speaking with
supporters and did not personally hear Lokuta ordered off the stage. But they
said others in the audience told them they heard the directive. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I thought it was uncalled for and very inappropriate," Medico said. "She
is a judge, an elected official. To treat her like that ... " &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It was odd," said Stankovic. "She does hold the title as a judge." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Lokuta said she is still smarting from the incident, but she's prepared to

Judge Expresses Contempt After Being Told Where To Go 
Having Taken Her Place On Stage With Other Judges At Swearing-in Ceremony For 
Row Officers, Ann Lokuta Was Directed To Sit Elsewhere

Judge Expresses Contempt After Being Told Where To Go Having Taken Her Place On Stage With Other Judges At Swearing-in Ceremony For Row Officers, Ann Lokuta Was Directed To Sit Elsewhere