Press event on Police Officer Jennie Jenkins.

Mayor Eric Papenfuse. The culture in Harrisburg.

Chief Carter. Officer Jenkins in on paid leave.

As released by the office of the Attorney General.

HARRISBURG - Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane today announced charges against a Harrisburg City Police Officer following allegations that she misappropriated funds from the Harrisburg Police Athletic League (HPAL), a volunteer charitable organization she helped administer.

According to the criminal complaint, Jennie Jenkins, 43, 2605 N. 2nd St., Harrisburg, paid herself out of HPAL's charitable donations and grant funding following its revival in 2011.

The investigation revealed that when Jenkins assumed the role as president of the athletic league it was made clear that she would not receive any additional compensation beyond her salary as a city police officer.

The charges state that Jenkins allegedly wrote checks to herself from the athletic league's account and submitted falsified time sheets for periods when she was actually performing regular police duties. Agents estimate that Jenkins stole $7,000 from the organization.

Jenkins is charged with four counts of theft by unlawful taking or disposition and one count of theft by deception.

Attorney General Kane thanked the Harrisburg City Police Department and the Dauphin County District Attorney's office for their assistance with the investigation.

The case will be prosecuted in Dauphin County by the Office of Attorney General's Criminal Prosecutions Section.

Mecum Auctions billed as the Worlds largest collector car auction is coming to the Harrisburg Farm Show for a three day auction July 25, 26, 27th.

One thousand vehicles will be offered for sale during the event, NBCSN will broadcast the auction live on Thursday from 12-2pm, Friday 12-3:30pm, and Saturday 11:30-1pm and 1:30-5pm.

AUCTION SCHEDULE

Seller's Vehicle Check-in: Tuesday, July 22 8 AM-6 PM

Wednesday, July 23 8 AM-6 PM

Auction: Gates open daily at 8 AM

VEHICLES:

Thursday at 10 AM.

Friday at 10 AM.

Saturday at 10 AM.

ROAD ART: Will begin 30 minutes prior.

TV BROADCAST SCHEDULE:

Thursday, July 24 Esquire: 12-2 PM Live NBCSN: 5:30-8 PM Same Day Delay.

Friday, July 25 Esquire: 12-3:30 PM Live NBCSN: 5:30-8 PM Same Day Delay.

Saturday, July 26 Esquire: 11:30 AM-1 PM Live NBCSN: 1:30-5 PM Live.

Gates open 8:00 AM daily

MOTORCYCLES: Sunday at 11 AM

Gates open at 8 AM

(All Times Eastern) Notice:

Photo/Dani Fresh.

Updated 7.22.14

As released by the U. S. Department of Justice.

Peter J. Smith United States Attorney Middle District of Pennsylvania.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Danny Robertson, 63, Hershey, Pennsylvania pled guilty in United States District Court in Harrisburg to wire fraud relating to providing false information to racing officials and the public.

According to United States Attorney Peter Smith, Robertson was an employee at the Penn National racetrack and worked as a clocker. His duties included being present at the racetrack when horses had their official workout. Robertson was responsible for verifying that the horse was the actual horse the trainer represented it to be, accurately recording the distance and the time the horse ran in and providing the information to racing officials for the official daily racing program. Robertson also provided the workout time information by interstate wire via computer to Equibase, a Kentucky-based company that distributes information on a racehorse’s performance and workout times to organizations, media outlets and publications such as the Daily Racing Form, as well as on its own website.

Robertson was charged in an indictment presented on November 20, 2013. The count of the Indictment to which Robertson pled guilty alleged that the workout time information is relied upon by the betting public in deciding which horse to wager on in any given race. Robertson admitted that, in exchange for cash, he provided false workout times to racing officials and to Equibase. The times provided by Robertson as part of the fraud were inaccurate, or were completely fabricated for a horse that did not work out at all at the track. Robertson profited personally from the scheme, the betting public was defrauded and Robertson’s’ employer, Hollywood Casino and Racetrack, was denied its right to Robertson’s honest services.

Robertson pled guilty today before Senior U.S. District Court Judge William W. Caldwell pursuant to a plea agreement with the government. The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Harrisburg Resident Agency, the Pennsylvania State Police and the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission. Prosecution was assigned to Assistant United States Attorney William A. Behe.

Robertson faces up to 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.

Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.

A sentence following a finding of guilty is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant’s educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.

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From our archives.

Published November 22, 2013

William Behe, Assistant United States Attorney just after 3pm outside the Federal courthouse in Harrisburg.

Video 1. The investigation is continuing.

Video 2. This kind of conduct is being looked at closely.

Video 3. These are Equine Athletes.

Video 4. Penn National Racetrack is working with us.

Video 5. The Defendants.

Dauphin County Hotel Tax was enacted January 1, 2001 Ordinance No. 3-1999 imposed a 2% hotel room tax which stayed in effect until April 1, 2002 when the tax rate was increased to 3%.

Ordinance No. 3-2002 repealed and replaced Ordinance No. 3-1999 the tax remained at the 3% rate until March 1, 2008 when Dauphin county commissioners George Hartwick, Nick DiFrancesco, and Jeff Haste passed Ordinance No. 1-2008 which repealed Ordinance No. 3-2002 and increased the room tax to 5%

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A breakdown of the tax.

The first 2% of the tax.

20% to the City of Harrisburg. 70% to the Derry Township Industrial Authority.

10% to Dauphin County Economic Development Corporation to be remitted to the Hershey Harrisburg Region Vacations Bureau.

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The next 1% of the tax.

The entire tax revenue is distributed at the discretion of the county commissioners and to be used solely for tourism and regional promotion purposes. DCED administers the revenue from the 1% tax, DCED had transfers from Dauphin County of $2,140,139 in 2012.

Dauphin county commissioners voted to approve 2014 Tourism Grants during the Wednesday February 12, 2014 board meeting, the grants totaled more than $1.5 million.

How the 2014 1% tax was distributed.

2014 Tourism Grants (1%):

1. Dauphin County Parks & Recreation - $75,000

2. Dauphin County DCED - $250,000

3. Harrisburg Regional Chamber - $75,000

4. Big 33 - $100,000

5. Administrative Support (Audit) - $15,000

6. Parks & Recreation (Special Events) - $150,000

7. Hershey Harrisburg Regional Visitors Bureau - $250,000

8. Whitaker Center - $100,000

9. Modern Transit Partnership - $60,000

10. National Civil War Museum - $50,000

11. Hershey Harrisburg Visitors Bureau (Wine Country) – $50,000

12. Hershey Harrisburg Visitors Bureau (Brew Country) - $50,000

13. Historical Society - $40,000

14. Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra - $12,500

15. Harrisburg Young Professionals - $5,000

16. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Central PA - $5,000

17. Ned Smith - $5,000

18. Gratz Fair - $5,000

19. Jump Street - $40,000

20. Friends of Jazz - $15,000

21. Invica - $20,000

22. City Islanders - $75,000

23. Susquehanna Riverboat - $24,000

24. St. Patrick’s Day Parade Association - $10,000

25. PA National Horse Show Foundation - $25,000

26. Parks & Recreation Fort Hunter African American Cemetery - $12,000

27. Parks & Recreation Open Stage

Council on Humanities - $25,000

28. Hershey Harrisburg Regional Visitors Bureau (Future Stars) - $18,000

29. Youth Step USA, Inc. - $10,000

30. Hershey Junior Bears - $10,000

31. Gamut - $3,000

32. Harrisburg DID - $10,000

AA. 2014 Tourism Grant (2%): 1. Lykens Chamber of Commerce - $2,000

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The remaining 2% tax.

50% to the Hershey Harrisburg Region Vacations Bureau (HHRVB) solely for tourism and regional promotion purposes.

12.5 % to (HHRVB) to be used for tourism and regional promotion within the City of Harrisburg.

37% to the Derry Township Industrial Authority for the purpose of the improvement, support, rehabilitation, revitalization, or construction of one or more tourism-related facilities.

From the minutes of February 13, 2008 Dauphin County Commissioners Meeting.

A. Ordinance #1-2008 Hotel Tax.

(***A VOTE IS REQUESTED 2/13/08***)

DIRECTORS/GUESTS

A. Barry Wickes, President of PA Tourism.

Randy Stuart, GM of Holiday Inn Harrisburg/Hershey.

Mary Smith.

1. Ordinance #1-2008 – Hotel Tax

Mr. Stuart: My name is Randy Stuart and I represent the Dauphin County Lodging Association. I’m the President and we are in support of the 2% County tax increase.

The importance of this additional surplus of income for the tourism is critical in our ongoing efforts to promote tourism in the region. $1.1 million is in excess of what we do in the Dauphin County area. 15% of the workforce is represented by tourism. We are excited about the over 50% revenue we are going to generate as a result of this 2% County tax increase. Thank you.

Ms. Smith: I’m Mary Smith with the Hershey/Harrisburg Regional Visitors Bureau. The additional dollars generated will help us make an impact in tourism, promoting and direct selling and marketing of the Hershey/Harrisburg Region.

It not only promotes the tourism aspect, but also the meetings, conventions and sporting events. We should see a huge increase and impact in our ability to go out and market this as a number one destination in the State of Pennsylvania. So, thank you.

Mr. Wickes: I’m Barry Wickes, Pennsylvania Tourism and Lodging Association. On a state level there are only four counties in the Commonwealth that don’t impose hotel room taxes today. Again, I would like to reiterate what Mary and Randy had said the importance of having those marketing dollars dedicated to promote the tourism product here in Dauphin County and the capital region.

Mr. DiFrancesco: This is kind of an unusual situation. I’m not a big fan of increasing taxes, but this morning I have to tell you that this is a good day in Dauphin County culminating from four years of working together with the hoteliers and the tourism industry to really try to get us on track. For far too long we were not on track. There was some clashing going on between the two and tourism is such a major industry.

It is so important to this community as you have already stressed. This action that we take today really gives all of us, the entire team, the opportunity to promote this area even more to get more people brought into this area.

That is the beautiful part about this in that the local residents really don’t feel the full brunt of this. It is the folks that come in from the outside. It gives us the opportunity to go out and market it at such a higher level to really show the people outside what we have to offer here in Dauphin County and the Central Pennsylvania region.

I really look forward and I’m very impressed with what I have seen out of the Tourism Bureau. The hoteliers have always been a great partner with us. They have always been very supportive and we try to respond back to them as well because they are so critical to the economy. I think we are going to see tremendous results as a result of the action we take today.

I want to thank you all for the effort that you do every single day. We keep getting better and better. The market here and what we have to offer, people coming in from the outside, conventions and so forth, keeps getting better and better. You guys are doing a great job of promoting that.

Mr. Hartwick: The one thing that I would like to say and I apologize for being late, but with delays and trying to get all my family to where they needed to go was such a challenge. I don’t know what it is about cartoons and kids being mesmerized and not listening, but it was a challenge getting out of the house this morning.

When we first ran for office I know we met with the Hotel Association and a number of folks and the amount of investment that Dauphin County was providing at that time was about $200,000. That was clearly not enough. We are not the professionals. We wanted to make sure that we are engaging people who understand the highest and best use of their dollars in order to maximize the ability to get a good return on the investment and get more heads on beds.

I believe today’s commitment is $1.4 million. That is a significant commitment from this Board and it shows the confidence that we have in the professionals, the hoteliers who actually know when the ups and downs of their seasons are and maybe coordinating that with our Parks & Recreation Department in making sure that as we promote events we are thinking about the hotels and to try to assist you in your business plan. We understand who is obviously driving the show as it relates to tourism.

We are very appreciative of the increased numbers and we look forward to working with you and this is a successful step in the right direction. We expect to see a whole lot of return for the investment. Thank you.

Mr. Haste: I’ll just thank you and if you want to mark Friday at 10:00 a.m. for a press conference. Ms. Smith: We do. We have a press conference scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on Friday in the Lobby of the Hilton.

All I can say is it is a sweet launch followed by another press event that will take place on March 13, 2008 at Hollywood Casino. The exact time of that has not been confirmed, but it will be around 5:00 p.m.

It was moved by Mr. DiFrancesco and seconded by Mr. Hartwick that the Board adopt Ordinance #1-2008, which imposes a 5% hotel tax.

Mr. Saylor: Before you cast your vote I just wanted to note for the record that although the voting is today, the tax will be effective March 1, 2008 and I believe our Treasurer is preparing correspondence to go out to all the folks who will be impacted by this tax to inform them of such.

Question: Mr. Haste – Aye; Mr. DiFrancesco – Aye and Mr. Hartwick – Aye; motion carried.