Bruce Ticker

From the outset, Grafton Thomas’s mother and attorney harped on his 20-year history of mental illness. They said he was diagnosed with schizophrenia long ago and ceased taking his anti-psychotic medication two months before he allegedly drove to a Chanukah party at a rabbi’s house in Monsey, N.Y., on Dec. 28, and wounded five or more Orthodox Jews with a machete. [Bruce S. Ticker]

Two stunning moments. The process of impeachment is inherently volatile, and in the past week it grew worse than imaginable: Religion was injected twice in a five-day period [Bruce S. Ticker]

These elections follow those in 2018 when Pennsylvanians re-elected Gov. Tom Wolf and Sen. Robert P. Casey, both Democrats, while Democratic governors were elected in the other states, Wisconsin and Michigan. … No doubt the Jewish vote contributed to Democratic gains in Philadelphia’s suburbs. The Jewish presence in Montgomery County has long been substantial and in recent years expanded northwards. Delaware County has had a smaller but steady Jewish population. In recent decades, the Jewish population has grown in Chester County and skyrocketed in Bucks County. [Bruce S. Ticker}

The pain endured by residents of the Squirrel Hill section of Pittsburgh in the past year has yet to faze Pennsylvania lawmakers like Mike Turzai and Joseph B. Scarnati III – not enough to join attempts by Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and City Council to stem gun violence. [Bruce S. Ticker]

Pundits are questioning if the impeachment inquiry conducted by the House of Representatives will cost Democrats their majority in the House. What they overlook is the prospect that some Republicans may lose their jobs – like Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick who represents Bucks County and a sliver of Montgomery County in southeastern Pennsylvania. (To read more, please click on the headline)

Excerpt: In Paterson and Trenton, both iconic cities in New Jersey, Michael Jackson and Kathy McBride are members of the city council today, and towards the other end of the country, Patrick Little is running for council in Garden City, Idaho, a suburb of Boise. Little is a white nationalist and a Republican. and Jackson and McBride are African-American Democrats.

Jackson played the race card in Paterson after he was admonished for proclaiming “Jew us down” during a council meeting on September 10 while debating the reconstruction of a local stadium, according to The Paterson Press. “That was meant with no malice,” Jackson said, noting that he learned the phrase during his “upbringing.”

The councilman subsequently questioned if the city administration was doing enough to quell violence involving young African men. In an argument with Mayor Andre Sayegh, he said the phrase was used by people to describe haggling. “I never use it,” the mayor said. (Please click headline to read full story)

By Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania — We will learn eventually if New York’s $1.7 million investment to contend with bias-related incidents will work, but the outbreak in attacks against Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn exposes ongoing drawbacks in the system. Deborah Lauter, who heads the newly created Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, hopes