Here’s a fun one for you-

Go to the Harrisburg PennLive Forum.

Create a new post – title it anything you’d like.

Untitled.

No title.

Antelope.

Whatever.

And then type the words Vera White Bingo in the body of the message.

Less than an hour later, the post mysteriously disappears.

Oddly enough, the following article has mysteriously disappeared from the PennLive Archives as well- it’s a good thing I found it buried somewhere in the internets and was able to retrieve it.

The Mayor declared today “the fight has only begun“.

If that’s how you feel, Mr. Mayor- I only need to ask two questions-

“Who are you fighting with and why?”

Thursday, December 16, 2004
BY REGGIE SHEFFIELD
Of The Patriot-News

Harrisburg City Councilwoman Vera White will be charged with running an illegal bingo hall and never passing along money to charitable groups, Dauphin County District Attorney Edward M. Marsico Jr. said yesterday.

White and four others face charges of illegally operating bingo games in Steelton and Harrisburg, Marsico said.

The Steelton Lion’s Club, 310 S. Front St., and Kline Village Bingo, at 38 Kline Plaza, Harrisburg, repeatedly violated the state bingo law, according to a Dauphin County grand jury report.

State law allows bingo to be operated only by licensed charitable organizations. Both clubs employed workers with no ties to charity and failed to provide all proceeds to registered charities, Marsico said.

An attempt to reach White last night was unsuccessful.

The indictments were filed as a result of a report issued last month by a Dauphin County grand jury.

In April and June of 2003, White submitted applications to the Dauphin County treasurer’s office to obtain licenses for a bingo hall in Kline Plaza, authorities said.

Each time, the applications were rejected because the organizations named in the applications — the Capital Athletic Foundation and the Harrisburg Youth Commission — failed to qualify as civic or charitable organizations. Instead, both were classified as political or governmental bodies.

“Although bingo licenses had been sought and denied, [White] allowed the Kline Village bingo to operate under the belief that the bingo license was valid,” Marsico said in a statement released yesterday.

On five occasions from March 2003 through August 2003, White “received funds from bingo operations and never turned those funds over to the charitable organizations,” Marsico said.

The organizer of both bingo halls, Joseph A. Sersch Jr., formerly of 5 Gloucester Place, Harrisburg, faces eight violations of the state bingo law and six counts of theft.

Bank records showed that Sersch had $250,000 in bingo checks deposited into his accounts during 2003, according to the grand jury report. By law, Sersch is permitted to earn a total of $10,400 per year from bingo.

Sersch organized and managed the daily operations of the bingo hall in the Steelton’s Lions Club, according to the grand jury report. He also organized the Kline Village Bingo Hall, the grand jury report stated.

In the spring of 2004, Sersch sold his townhouse for about $70,000, and in June he and his family moved into an estate valued at about $599,000, the grand jury report said.

Sersch and his household are the registered owners or lessors of two Jaguars and a 2004 Hummer, according to the grand jury report.

“Charities are to benefit from bingo operations, not unscrupulous operators,” Marsico said.

“Charities should be vigilant and involved in all aspects of bingo operations to ensure that they are receiving their rightful proceeds,” he said.

Others facing charges include Cynthia Zeigler, who faces six counts of violating the state bingo law; Nicole Wilkerson, who faces three counts of violating the state bingo law; and Josephine Potts, who faces six counts of violating the state bingo law.

Potts and Wilkerson operated the Kline Village Bingo operation on behalf of Sersch, the grand jury said. Cynthia Zeigler, Sersch’s sister, worked at the Steelton address, according to the grand jury report.

Theft of funds in excess of $2,500 is a third-degree felony punishable with up to seven years in prison. Bingo-law violations are first-degree misdemeanors punishable by up to five years in prison.