A choir sings Frosty the snowman as protesters chant "Hands up, don't shoot" and "I can't breathe" during Thursday's tree lighting at the Capitol in Harrisburg.

Governor Tom Corbett at the Capitol xmas tree lighting.

Green trees, and cold winter months.

As released by the Office of the Dauphin County District Attorney.

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Harrisburg – The Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office has completed its review of the incident giving rise to the arrest of Harrisburg City Couniclwoman Sandra Reid on November 26, 2014, at a city gas station. District Attorney Edward M. Marsico, Jr. has determined that a summary charge of disorderly conduct is warranted against Ms. Reid. Ms. Reid unnecessarily inserted herself in an active arrest and ignored numerous requests to allow the police to continue their work at the scene of the arrest without interference. The District Attorney concluded that a misdemeanor charge of obstructing the administration of law did not apply to her conduct. That charge requires proof of force, violence, or similar unlawful act and there was no evidence of such conduct in this case.

The video surveillance from the gas station and the patrol car demonstrated that the two police officers involved acquitted themselves appropriately and with extraordinary patience throughout the incident. The officers had arrested a man who had been involved in an incident inside the gas station/convenience store with a woman whom he had prevented from leaving the store. Ms. Reid pulled into the station and her headlights shone into the face of the arrestee. Police asked Ms. Reid to turn off her lights and after a few requests she did turn off the lights, then turned them back on, before finally turning them off again. Ms. Reid then instructed the officers to take the arrested person inside the store, presumably on account of the cold. The temperature at the time of arrest was 45 degrees Fahrenheit. The arrestee, who was seated, seemed comfortable and was cooperative with the two officers there. During her interaction with the one officer, Ms. Reid demanded his name and badge number. Ms. Reid repeatedly berated the police during their detention of the person arrested. Ms. Reid had no connection to the arrested person or the circumstances that led to his arrest. Ms. Reid ignored numerous requests from the police to stop interfering with the arrest and detention of the man. After her arrest, Ms. Reid identified herself as a member of city council and indicated an intention to call the chief of police.

As part of its review process, the District Attorney’s office read a report of an earlier interaction between Ms. Reid and a Harrisburg Bureau of Police officer. On August 27, 2014, Ms. Reid confronted a uniformed officer in a marked vehicle near her house. The officer had his emergency lights on and was investigating the theft of a car on that street. Ms. Reid ordered the officer to move his car. When he informed her that he was conducting an official investigation, Ms. Reid threatened to call the chief of police. After the officer again informed her that he was conducting an official investigation, Ms. Reid repeated the order for the officer to move his car and demanded his name and badge number. After being informed that her neighbor’s car had been stolen, Ms. Reid responded, “Oh, I didn’t know”, and then let the officer continue his investigation. These charges are mere allegations and Ms. Reid is presumed innocent at this time.

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Updated 6:30pm

As released by the Office of the Mayor.

HARRISBURG – Mayor Eric Papenfuse is calling for civil, open dialogue to try to ease tensions between law enforcement and many people in minority communities amid national protests over recent police killings of African American men.

“This is a time for both sides to step back and reflect on the reasons for the tensions and to examine what we can do as a community to ease hostilities,” the Mayor said. “I pledge to do my part to stimulate the discussions by taping a series of programs on WHBG Channel 20 that will look at the different perspectives on community and police relations in Harrisburg and beyond.”

Mayor Papenfuse will host the Channel 20 series that will begin in December and continue through next year. The Mayor will interview youth, law enforcement officers, educators, community activists as well as elected officials to delve into the reasons for the ongoing tensions that threaten public safety.

“The first show will focus on understanding the experiences of men of color who come into contact with law enforcement officers,” Mayor Papenfuse said. “Subsequent shows will look at the experiences of police officers as they patrol city streets and at efforts underway to improve community policing and reduce hostilities.”

Mayor Papenfuse also will participate in community forums on community relations and policing, including a 6 p.m. Jan. 12, 2015 event sponsored by Bethany A.M. E. Church, 912 21 St.

The Mayor expressed regret at the recent incident that led to the arrest of Councilwoman Sandra Reid on charges of obstruction of justice after she allegedly interfered with police officers as they were arresting a suspect at 15th and State Streets.

The District Attorney today reduced the charges against Reid to disorderly conduct.

“This was a most unfortunate incident that escalated too quickly,” Papenfuse said. “But it has inspired us to reflect on the underlying reasons for the tensions in our communities, and to work to address them to prevent the kind of unrest we are seeing in other cities.”

As released by the Office of Senator Scott Wagner.

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(Harrisburg, PA) – State Senator Scott Wagner (R-28) this morning reacted to comments made yesterday regarding the financial situation of the Commonwealth and the mid-year budget briefing by Budget Secretary Zogby.

“I’ve been sitting back listening to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, and unfortunately it is apparent that none of them understand how the finances of a business operate,” Wagner commented. “The Commonwealth is identical to an operating business where there is revenue and there are expenses. As an owner and operator of multiple businesses, I fully understand that my business enterprises would not be able to operate without an operating line of credit from a bank. The Commonwealth has revenue of approximately $30 billion per year. Any experienced business operator or chief financial officer would agree that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania should have an operating line of credit equivalent to 60 days of average revenue, which would be an operating line of credit of approximately $5 billion.”

“As a private sector business owner, I know how to manage a budget and what factors will impact the budget. The Democrats are trying to spin the budget issue to scare the public into thinking the only solution is more tax increases, when in reality, revenue comes in at different times throughout the year. The $2 billion deficit is not unrealistic at this time of year. A large portion of the revenue that comes into the Commonwealth is received between January 1st and April 15th through payments for PA State Income Tax.”

“Many Democrats are using the budget discussion as an opportunity to grand-stand politically and criticize Governor Corbett for the equivalent of borrowing against a line of credit to cover revenues that are slower at the end of the year. Any private sector business operator needs to understand cash flow into and out of their business. Businesses routinely operate with lines of credit. This is what businesses do – and if some of the critics would have ever signed the front of a paycheck rather than the back, they might possibly have a better understanding of cash flow, borrowing money and cycles throughout the year that affect cash flow.”

Senator Wagner also points out that the winter we experienced earlier this year was the worst winter that many businesses have seen in 30 years, and this impacted revenues to the Commonwealth.

Senator Wagner commented that at one of his companies this past winter they spent approximately $50,000 on snow removal, which is more than double of any year that the company spent over the last 15 years. I would be curious to know how much additional expense the Commonwealth spent on snow removal at Commonwealth owned or leased facilities throughout the state.

Senator Wagner points out that in a three month period during the severe winter we just experienced, if car dealers in all 67 counties throughout Pennsylvania sold 500 less vehicles per county on an average, that would equal 33,500 less vehicles sold. Factoring transaction value of $25,000 per vehicle times 33,500 vehicles would result in lost revenue of $837,500,000 to the car dealers. Sales tax of 6% lost to the Commonwealth on revenue of $837,500,000 would equal $50,250,000.

“Many people who had planned on purchasing a new vehicle during the winter may have had to cancel their vehicle purchase to replace a roof, spouting, or a new furnace because of the severe winter we just experienced.”

“The bottom line is this: many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle just don’t understand the complexities to operate a business and this unfortunately means that they struggle to understand economics,” Wagner further explained. “We face a deficit next year because costs continue to climb for pensions, human services, corrections, and debt.”

“For the last four years, Democrats could have worked with Governor Corbett to solve these daunting issues and instead chose to do what they’re doing now – distorting the facts and complaining without offering solutions. Governor Wolf, yesterday, to his credit, chose to delay actions and wait until he gets to spend some time reviewing the budget in depth before offering any commentary.”

Senator Wagner states, “I continue to stand by my statement that Pennsylvania does not have a revenue problem, it has a spending and expense problem.”

“For the benefit of all of Pennsylvania, the Democrats need to step up to the table and begin working on actually fixing problems rather than just criticizing and grand-standing politically.”