Dick Cheney causes flag flap on visit
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Flag flap on veep visit
Wednesday, 20 September 2006
By PAUL KRUPSKI
Standard-Speaker
WILKES-BARRE — Vice President Dick Cheney faced a lot of American flags during his political fund-raising visit Monday, including four that were borrowed from Luzerne County Courthouse.
The flags with stands were taken for display in conjunction with Cheney’s visit to the Wyoming County home of Howard Flack, who hosted a $1,000-a-person or $1,500-per-coup1e event to solicit campaign funds for embattled Republican U.S. Sen. Don Sherwood.
The absence of the flags, which were taken from four third-floor courtrooms, caused a delay in the court schedule Tuesday morning because the judges, by law, are required to have the national banner on display during public proceedings.
State law dictates, “A person is guilty of a summary offense if, being directly or indirectly in charge of any public gathering, in any place, he fails at such gathering to display publicly and visibly the flag of the United States reasonably clean and in good repair.”
The legal requirement had tipstaffs and aides to the judges scrambling to locate flags from other areas for temporary use in the courtrooms.
The flag flap had the courthouse buzzing with questions: Who authorized the removal of the flags? Who made the request to borrow them? When would they be returned?
Reporters asking the questions were being told the flags were on their way back to the courthouse.
The flags were returned around 1 p.m. and placed back in the courtrooms.
Asked why the flags were missing, some people said it was because “they wanted as many American flags as possible for the vice president’s visit.”
A grounds worker said he was under the impression the U.S. Secret Service requested the flags.
Building and Grounds Director Ed Holleran confirmed that report. Holleran said the commissioners approved the request.
It also was rumored that flags were borrowed from the Lackawanna County Courthouse.
A check there determined the commissioners’ office and court administration were unaware that any flags had been taken from the building.
One court aide summed up the situation stating, “No one wants to talk about it. It’s blame the maintenance guys.”
