Sunday, October 28, 2012

Something's Smokin in Shamokin - Worth Watching

The Pimpernel doesn't often promote shows or products. On occasion I will however promote documentaries if they tell a story I think my readers should know. I don't remember why or how; but, recently I came across a series of videos on YouTube which appear to be credible and a little disturbing.

According to the videos, a couple of guys wanted to fix up some properties in Shamokin, Pennsylvania. One of the gentlemen claims to be an investor from Florida and the other was involved in renovations. The second gentleman is named Scott J. Binsack. According the them, when they tried to talk to the City Council about a renovation plan for the City, they were harassed and ignored. At least until they began filming things in an attempt to highlight alleged corruption in the town.

I did some research and there is a web presence for Mr. Binsack going back a bit and indicting that he had indeed been a house remodeler. According to a local paper in Shamokin, Mr. Binsack and his associate did indeed donate $2,500 to God's Chuckwagon, a charitable soup kitchen in the area.

I decided to see if there were any updates of the videos and there was. Mr. Binsack has apparently been charged with violating his parole and was set to turn himself in; but, has chosen to run. He is claiming that he has been told if he turns himself in he may be injured. He also claims that the charges are not valid charges.

With the technologies available today, it is possible that the whole thing is some sort of publicity stunt to raise awareness of the area and bring in some investment; however, I believe they may actually be sincere and are just attempting to raise awareness. I leave it to my wonderful readers to decide for yourself. I am going to leave links to the videos and to the Facebook page, now, I don't use Facebook so I do not know what the page shares with friends, there may be additional information.

YouTube - Something's Smokin in Shamokin


Facebook - Something's Smokin in Shamokin

Two thoughts. One, Mr. Binsack should turn himself in. The video was a good idea because if anything was to happen to him, lots of questions will be asked including by me. In my opinion, he should turn himself in to the Chief of Police who he accuses of corruption and make sure there are plenty of witnesses. The second thing is about why it interested me in the first place. Since the housing bubble burst, there has been more corruption going on involving real estate than I have witnessed in my whole life and I spent 30 years around that industry. The smaller the town, the more simple it is to take advantage of the market.