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I chose to focus my stats on arrests because those are incidents where most people would agree the alleged offender did something wrong.  It is also important to know that "arrest" does not necessarily mean "student being walked out in handcuffs." Even a citation is considered an arrest. 

I worked the ratios to allow for a better comparison between unlike school districts.  This way they're all being judged on the same scale.

It's interesting to note that some potentially stereotypical beliefs don't hold true.  For example, one might think an urban school district would have a higher ratio of student arrests.  That's not necessarily the case. Lancaster City's ratio is one student out of every 398 getting arrested.  That's with 11,000+ students. But Bermudian Springs is more rural, has fewer students (2126) yet has a comparable (and slightly worse) ratio of 1:354.  What does that mean?  It's hard to say.  But I think it's interesting.

The most recent school year with stats available is 2004-2005.  You can search for data in previous years and actually set up some pretty cool comparisons between years, school districts, etc.

Here's the link:

http://www.safeschools.state.pa.us/mod/HistoricReports/2005/files/reports_frame.htm

I'm not sure if you can just click on it, or if you will need to copy and paste it into the address line.

When you reach the site, look to the left.  There, under the title "Report List" you will see links to search by county, school district, school, etc.

Student Arrest Ratios:

Adams County                      Enrollment           Arrests          Ratio

Bermudian Springs SD            2126                     6               1:354

Conewago Valley SD              3752                     9               1:417

Fairfield Area SD                     1306                    5                1:261

Gettysburg Area SD                  3302                   39               1:85

Littlestown SD                          2067                     33               1:63

Upper Adams SD                      1800                    27                1:67

Cumberland County                 Enrollment             Arrests         Ratio

Big Spring SD                             3143                   77                1:41

Camp Hill SD                              1121                    7                  1:160

Carlisle SD                                   4804                   11                 1:437

Cumberland Valley SD                 7694                     2                  1:3847

East Pennsboro SD                       2829                     44                 1:64

Mechanicsburg SD                         3539                   25                    1:142

Shippensburg SD                            3299                    33                   1:100

South Middleton SD                        2180                     7                    1:311

Dauphin County                             Enrollment             Arrests              Ratio

Central Dauphin SD                        11108                   182                  1:61

Derry Township SD                         3464                     38                    1:91

Halifax SD                                        1245                     3                      1:415

Harrisburg SD                                   8312                     0                      None

Lower Dauphin SD                            3896                    10                     1:390

Middletown SD                                 2469                     26                     1:95

Millersburg SD                                    900                     7                        1:129

Steelton-Highspire SD                        1341                     99                     1:14

Susquehanna Township SD               3148                     34                        1:93

Upper Dauphin SD                           1308                     8                           1:163

Franklin County                                Enrollment             Arrests                  Ratio

Chambersburg SD                           7898                       130                       1:61

Fannett Metal SD                              614                        2                           1:307

Greencastle Antrim SD                     2787                        16                        1:174

Tuscarora SD                                    2651                     12                           1:221

Waynesboro SD                                 4124                     74                           1:56

Lancaster County                            Enrollment                Arrests                    Ratio

Cocalico SD                                    3606                        29                           1:124

Columbia Borough SD                     1461                        28                           1:52

Conestoga Valley SD                        3921                        22                           1:178

Donegal SD                                       2693                        10                           1:269

Eastern Lancaster County SD            3469                           5                           1:694

Elizabethtown SD                              3963                         12                           1:330

Ephrata SD                                       3995                           29                           1:138

Hempfield SD                                    7261                           6                            1:1210

Lampeter Strasburg SD                       3223                        15                           1:215

Lancaster SD                                    11134                        28                           1:398

Manheim Central SD                        3138                              0                           None

Manheim Township SD                     5417                           28                           1:193

Penn Manor SD                                 5406                           8                            1:678

Pequea Valley SD                              1937                           0                              None

Solanco SD                                        3940                           16                           1:246

Warwick SD                                       4576                           23                           1:199

Lebanon County                                Enrollment                 Arrests                        Ratio

Annville Cleona SD                           1703                              6                              1:284

Cornwall Lebanon SD                        4770                           0                                 None

Eastern Lebanon County SD               2436                           4                                 1:609

Lebanon SD                                       4299                           29                              1:148

Northern Lebanon SD                        2486                           25                              1:99

Palmyra SD                                       3007                           28                                 1:107

Perry County                                     Enrollment              Arrests                           Ratio

Greenwood SD                                  859                           0                                 None

Newport SD                                    1256                           5                                 1:251

Susquenita SD                                 2222                           27                                1:82

West Perry SD                                 2847                           7                                 1:407

York County                                    Enrollment                 Arrests                           Ratio

Central York SD                              4868                           9                                  1:541

Dallastown SD                                 5455                           44                                 1:124

Dover SD                                          3531                           54                                 1:65

Eastern York SD                              2659                              1                                 1:2659

Hanover Public SD                           1668                              10                              1:167

Northeastern York SD                        3215                             23                              1:140

Northern York County SD                  3221                           0                                 None

Red Lion SD                                       5620                             14                              1:401

South Eastern SD                                 3284                           20                              1:164

South Western SD                              4035                              37                              1:109

Southern York County SD                  3285                              4                              1:821

Spring Grove Area SD                   3855                              2                                 1:1927

West Shore SD                              8226                              71                              1:116

West York Area SD                     3146                              6                                 1:524

York City SD                                 6617                              90                              1:74

York Suburban SD                        2704                              0                                 None

The following is a list, compiled by The Associated Press, of the monthly pensions and lump sum payments given to newly retired Pennsylvania lawmakers:

and I let it slip through my fingers.  A year ago, January 2, 2006 an explosion trapped 13 men underground at the Sago mine in Upshur County, West Virginia.  Only one survived.

I was reporting for WDTV, the CBS affiliate in Bridgeport, WV and our local story became international news.  Before Sago, I had never covered a story that was put under such a microscope.  Everybody was watching.  And the networks responded... Matt Lauer, Elizabeth Vargas, Anderson Cooper.  Even Geraldo Rivera was there. 

It's amazing how easy it is to get caught up in the "bigness" of a story.  Suddenly, because all of these outsiders were there, I felt like I had to do a bigger and better job.  It wasn't enough to just tell the story to my local audience.  I wanted to out-do the big guys - nevermind the fact that CNN's travel crew was larger than my station's entire news operation!  And, truth be told, apparently some people in our audience felt the same way.  More than one person called in to complain that we weren't providing as many updates as CNN - how dare we!?!?!?!

But late on the night of January 3, and into the early morning hours of January 4, after rescuers had located the body of the only miner to be killed by the initial explosion, my opportunity came.  At about 11:40 or so (I'm going by memory... I could be wrong) CNN's Anderson Cooper broke in with a live interview with a relative of one of the miners, saying they had all been found alive.  Our newsroom confirmed this through emergency scanner alerts, relaying the same information to the local hospital, requesting the ambulances be sent to the mine entrance.

My job was to go to the hospital and interview family members as they arrived to see their men.  On the way, I was to stop and get video of the marquee signs that had been put up in town, particulary one that said, "It's a miracle!."  In the parking lot of the hotel where the sign stood, I met a man who was getting out of his pickup truck.  He was covered in soot and his hat said MSHA (Mine Safety and Health Administration, pronounced em-SHUH).  I waved to him.  He approached me and asked, "Did you hear?"

"Of course," I said. "Congratulations!"

"No," he replied. "You didn't. They got it wrong. They all got it wrong.  They found 'em.  But they're all dead.  Only one's alive."

Those words slammed into my soul like a freezing freight train.  Even as I type this I can feel the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.  I couldn't believe what he had just said, but the tears in his eyes meant I knew it was real.

I never got his name.  He covered his badge and told me that he couldn't be the one to tell me that information but that I was probably the only member of the media who knew the truth. 

I was able to confirm his info from Upshur County's Sheriff, a kind-hearted man whom I'd interviewed several times before.  He had been stationed at the hospital to secure the area.  And when I asked him if he had heard what I'd just been told, I could see by his vacant reaction he had.

I had a worldwide exclusive.

By this time it was probably pushing 12:30 or 1 in the morning.  I called my newsroom and our weekend sports anchor answered (that's what it takes to keep up with CNN) and he put me through to my news director, who had been on the clock for nearly two days straight.

When I told him we were wrong, that the miners were dead and only one was alive, I think he was speechless for about five seconds.  Who could blame him?  His brother is a coal miner.  He knows how serious mine accidents are and how seriously the people in our area take them. 

"How could we be wrong?" he asked.

"I don't know, but I know we are," I replied.  And I told him I wanted to report what I knew and how I knew it.

And what happened next I swear I will never forget.  (And hopefully never repeat.)  It was equal parts my news director, me, the weight of what was happening and the fear of being wrong that came together and prevented us from telling the truth.

We didn't break in with a report saying everyone else in the media world was wrong: the Associated Press, CNN, our direct competition, etc.  All I said in my live cut-in was that only one ambulance had arrived at the hospital and that it was the only one expected to arrive there, and I attributed that information to Upshur County's Sheriff.  And while that was true, it wasn't the whole truth.  The whole truth came out about and hour or an hour-and-a-half later.  And we followed suit, just like every other media outlet across the country, with our tail tucked securely between our legs.

By writing this, I don't mean to overlook the fact that the true tragedy wasn't what happened to me and my newsroom - it's what happened to those men and their families.  Their family members were told they could meet their miners at the church where everyone had been gathering for days.  The ambulances were supposedly going to stop by the church on the way to the hospital so they could see their loved ones.  Those families were on top of the world for hours, thinking there really had been a miracle and that twelve men were alive.  It should be a crime for the company to have withheld the truth from them for so long.  They knew those men were dead.  That only one was alive.  They knew and didn't set things straight for so long because they didn't know how to break the news.

But the truth is I was guilty of the same crime.  I knew and didn't fight hard enough to get it out.  We, as a station, were afraid to be the only bearers of bad tidings.  It certainly wouldn't have been an enviable position.  Everyone was rejoicing about how wonderful this all was.  How would it look to be the only station talking about tragedy? The whole world wanted the miracle story to be true.  It happened at Quecreek, why not at Sago?

I know everyone makes mistakes and that the idea is to learn from them and move on.  And that is part of what I love about my job.  Every day is a different story to tell.  Another chance to paint a new picture of a slice of life.  And hopefully I will have the opportunity to tell stories for a long, long time.  But when you tell one wrong it's difficult to go to work the next day (week, month, year) and feel like it was all part of a personal learning experience. And that's a hard pill to swallow when you're talking about dead coal miners and the loved ones they left behind.

Harrisburg is in a real bad place with it's budget battle in recent weeks. Loans. Layoffs. A Capital City conundrum.  And while it is against company policy to use this blog as a forum for my own personal opinion on this or any political situation, I can't help but make one observation about city council and the mayor.

Like some children, they don't play well with others.

Sure, that blanket statement doesn't apply to ALL of them. But it's clear to this reporter that anything resembling a working relationship will not happen soon.  You can cut the tension in the air at these recent meetings with a licorice whip.  People are getting fired (layed off is not a euphemism I'm particularly fond of) and each political body wants to blame the other.

The mayor says it is council's failure to pass first a $14 million loan and now a $10.5 loan that has resulted in cutbacks. He says the problems are real and they can't be ignored or wished away. 

The most vocal of the city councilmembers says it's the mayor's mismanagement of the budget that brought them to this point in the first place, and that borrowing money only leads to more debt.

I am in no position to offer advice to either side.  I'm sure each argument contains some truth.  It seems beyond belief to suppose both council and the mayor are lying about their reasoning for their actions.  It would be easy to say they should learn to trust one another more.  But trust doesn't happen by spontaneous combustion.  Trust is a two-way street that takes time to build.  And, unfortunately, time is of the essence.

I've begun to think of the two sides as a couple of gunslingers staring one another down.  Neither one budging.  Each with their own convictions.  A town's fate caught in the middle.

But there are no good guys or bad guys here.  And there are no winners.  Only losers:  the 32 city employees who were let go last week, the 25-plus police officers who are rumored to be axed during the next two rounds of layoffs, and, I fear, a city full of people who could lose faith in the entire system as a result.

(The preceding blog in no way, shape or form, represents the viewpoint of CBS 21 or ClearChannel Television.)

Hopefully the residents of one Dauphin County community are doing the "No Fire Dance."  But at least if  flames do consume their homes, they won't have to worry about those loud sirens causing a racket.

The officer corps and the administration of the Highspire Volunteer Fire Department have quit. They've walked off of the job. They cite frustration with a lack of funding from their borough as the reason.

But it's now the people of that community who are expressing the most frustration.

Sean Bennett is a hotel manager and the father of two young children.  He lives in the Willow Garden Apartment complex in Highspire; directly across from three apartments that burned in an arson in early May of this year. 

His quote of the day in response to the walk off:

"What are we gonna do besides have rental insurance and pray?"

Want more?

The following is the opening statement of a forum that's been posted on this CBS 21 Community:

"This is a disgusting and dangerous attempt to intimidate a town! As a Career Captain and Volunteer Firefighter I find the actions of these people reprehensible. Should there be an incident in HighSpire I hope for their sake no one is hurt." - road doc

According to the Borough Manager, John McHale, they've withheld funding because the Highspire VFD's administration won't complete an audit of the department's books.  Both sides reportedly have complaints about how the previous administration kept its books. The current chief says he shouldn't be responsible for what the previous administration did.

(Pause for disclaimer: I have nothing but total respect for the men and women who risk their lives to save mine.  To run into a burning building while everyone else is running out is heroic.  And necessary.  And to do it without getting paid?  Above and beyond.  I have taken some rescue training.  I can do CPR, the heimlich.  I've operated the Jaws of Life and the other cutting tools the rescue squads use to extricate victims from car crashes.  But I am by no means qualified to rush out there and start saving lives.  These people are.  And thank God for that.)

BUT I disagree with the logic that the current officers shouldn't have to go back and audit the books of the previous ones.  They recieve more than $20,000 dollars in annual funding from the borough, and they raise tens of thousands more from the community during fundraisers throughout the year.  If there is a question about how that money is being handled, and the fire officials know in their heart of hearts it is being handled properly, prove it.  If there were problems in the past that have ceased since the new administration took over, prove that too.

If there is nothing to hide, prove it.

On a side note, I think it is absolutely apalling that, in this day and age of Homeland Security money, there are still volunteer fire departments.  Do you mean to tell me with all of the millions of dollars being spent on bio-chemical decontamination tents and the like couldn't instead be spent on basic fire protection?  Firefighters should be paid.  Period. 

It's a shame that communities like Highspire have to pull a Blanche DuBois and "rely upon the kindness of strangers."

This time one year ago the focus of much of the nation was on the Gulf Coast and the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.  Things were bad.  Worse than many had anticipated.  Homes destroyed.  Flooding.  People stranded.  And the situation was about to get much worse.

I was reporting in West Virginia at the time; nearly one-thousand miles away.  And I was chomping at the bit wanting a chance to take part in covering the biggest story inside of the United States since 9/11.  I don't know what it is in me, or other journalists, that drives the urge to seek out the bad.  Morbid curiosity I guess.  No, it's more than that.  It has to do with feeling.  I want to feel the situation.  I want to see the bad.  It makes it real - not just pictures on the screen.  I want to see for myself the things that make up the stories of our time.  Because somewhere amid all of that bad, the good shows up.  The volunteers.  The rescuers.  The people who give of themselves to help total strangers.  I want to tell their stories.  I want to meet the people.  The afflicted and their heroes.  Because that's what I believe I was put here to do.

It didn't take long for the story of Katrina to come to me.  In the aftermath of Katrina, thousands of New Orleanians were evacuated from the city.  Some were taken by bus to Houston, Texas.  Some were flown to other cities in the south and around the country.  And some evacuees were flown, via military planes, to West Virginia and later bused to Camp Dawson, an Army National Guard base in Preston County - about 50 miles from my station.  There were about three thousand, or so.  The buses arrived in tandem for two consecutive nights.  I was there on the second night.  I watched as they stepped down onto solid ground.  They looked like zombies.  Weary from their long trip.  Recovering from what they'd just been through.  The clothes they were wearing were just about the only things they had with them, aside from the garbage bag suitcases they pulled out from the bus's cargo hold.  They shuffled by me, falling into line for the recovery center.

One of the many evacuees I met that night was a young man named Damien.  20 years old,  Damien lived in the lower ninth ward, the birthplace of rock legend Fats Domino; an area now known as one of the most devastated by Katrina floodwater.  The day before Katrina hit, Damien and his family sought shelter in the Louisiana Superdome.  It too was once known for something far brighter than it is today. 

Damien told me about the conditions inside.  Cramped quarters.  No air.  No toilets.  He said people used the floor for their bathroom - the same floor people used for a bedroom.   After awhile, he told me he was moved to the convention center.  Things there were no better.  They were worse. Damien said he saw several men rape a young girl, perhaps twelve years old.  And when word spread of what had happened, a posse of other men tracked one of the rapists down and shot him to death.  Damien said the body laid untouched for several hours.

Damien told me about these things and I could tell he was sincerely affected by them.  He was upset.  He needed to talk to someone.  I was surprised by how candid he was being with me, but I've been told people who've been through tragedy need to talk about it.  It's cathartic.  And a journalist with a camera easily stands out as someone who is willing to listen.

I saw Damien the next day too.  I had returned for a follow up interview.  He was wearing the same clothes.  But he had slept.  And he was happy.  He talked about how relieved he was to be there.  To be out of Louisiana and in 'Almost Heaven' West Virginia. 

I loved his 'Nawlins' drawl.  It made his words sound almost musical.  And I was proud of the story I'd told through him - a Katrina survivor airlifted from the sorrow who now had a chance to start life again in the Mountain State.

But Damien took that chance and threw it away.  Less than one week later I learned he was being charged with the rape of a seven year old evacuee.  According to State Police, Damien and his brother, whom I never met, stole this girl from her grandmother's arms, took her to their bunk room and took turns raping her.  A seven year old girl. 

He was arrested and taken to the Regional Jail.  I re-ran a portion of our interview that night, the part where he spoke with disgust of the rape he had witnessed in New Orleans.  His words didn't sound so musical anymore.

The state eventually dropped the charges against Damien and turned him over to authorities in Louisiana where I learned he was wanted for other, less severe, crimes.  My feeling is that, in Damien's case, West Virginia didn't want to deal with what they reasoned was Louisiana's problem.

I felt that Damien had betrayed me.  I had been taken in by his survivor story and wanted nothing but good things for him.  That was my mistake.  I learned a good lesson through that experience.  Take people for their word but don't project an image onto them.  And never underestimate the human being's ability to completely screw things up.

But I can't help but think that had Katrina not hit, and had Damien not seen the things no person should ever have to see, he wouldn't have hurt that little girl.  He wouldn't have even have been in a position to hurt that little girl.  I don't like the excuse that people are products of their environments.  But it's hard to argue with that logic when it applies to Katrina. 

People do things under situations of extreme stress that they couldn't have ever previously imagined themselves doing.  Good and bad.  There are great stories of heroism that have come out of Katrina.  The men and women who dangled out of helicopters to rescue people stranded on their rooftops.  The people who risked their lives to save stray animals that may have otherwise starved to death.  And the police officers who worked days on end to try and bring about some sense of order to their city that was free falling into anarchy. 

And then there are stories like Damien's.

Here's to hoping that as New Orleans continues to grow out of the devastation that there are more of the former and less of the latter.

What's in a name?

Dorothy. Virginia.  Esther.  Ethel.  Clark.  Gertrude.  Arthur.  Herbert.  Eunice.  Fanny.

Jordan.  Logan.  Amber.  Tiffany.  Brittany. Bethany.  Suri.  Scout.  Apple.  Austin.

The first ten names are what I would call "Old Fogey" names.  They're like one of those rare birds the post office prints collector stamps for.  An endangered species. Old. Outdated.  To them, John Wayne is a cowboy. Who do you know, less than 55, with the name Ethel?

The second ten are what I'm calling "Whipper Snapper" names.  They're hot off the presses.  The next big thing.  They're cool.  They know who Paris Hilton is dating. They know who Paris Hilton is.  And to them, Brokeback Mountain is a cowboy movie.  Who has a grandpa named Jordan?

I realize there are exceptions to these rules.  I know that somewhere out there little "Herbert" is crawling around in his diapers, and someone just checked Grandma "Tiffany" into the old-folks home.  That's not my point.  My point is that these names are primarily generation-specific.

There are many names that cross the generation gap:  James. Andrew. John. Joseph. Elizabeth.  Jessica. Mary. Michael.  They've stood the test of time.

Why?  What has happened here?  The name Elizabeth is no more "pretty" than Virginia.  Austin sounds just as strong as Michael.

I want to hear from the Whipper Snappers.  And if anyone can teach the Old Fogies how to blog, I want to hear from them too.