Ron Harper, Jr is the investigative reporter responsible for what you are reading. The following is to give you an idea of his background:
He made his name in the Pennsylvania Capitol after taking on a corrupt Republican House member, Appropriations Chairman John Barley in 2002. Barley resigned amidst an FBI investigation 3 months after Harper released an investigative documentary entitled, “The Politics of John Barley” (click on 5thEstate.com to see video on youtube)
Over 20 years ago, Harper started an investigative website that rocked Lancaster County. The avant-garde citizen journalist routinely ‘scooped’ the Lancaster Newspaper, whose editorial staff hated him for exposing their conflict of interest due to being the major recipient of millions of dollars in public monies for the Lancaster County Convention center.
Before YouTube and Google, Harper posted pictures and video of his investigations while the newspapers were virtually text-based, except for advertisements!
Harper also got a judge and a dozen constables removed from office after proving they weren’t living where they said they were. The Superintendent of Lancaster City School Ric Curry was sentenced to jail for two years when Harper published proof he paid his unqualified relatives for consulting work they never performed. The FBI, using Harper’s story as a launching point, investigated and verified the allegations.
After publishing exclusively online for 8 years, Harper counterintuitively launched a print-newspaper in 2008 called the Lancaster Post. (click on LancasterPost.com to read online versions) Harper took on the establishment and gave them heartburn every Friday when his free, full-color tabloid came out.
Below is a screen capture from WGAL-TV of a meeting where the Lancaster County Convention Center Authority Chairman, Jim Pickard, threw a pie in anger over Harper’s shoulder. WGAL showed the video only once. A Lancaster Newspaper evening reporter was nearly splashed by the chocolate cream of the pie, but failed to write a single word about the incident!
Below are a number of ‘main stream’ articles on his reporting. If you ‘right click’ on the image and then click on ‘Open image in new tab’ the image will be larger. By clicking on the image it will enlarge even more.
