Philadelphia Daily News from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 8

1 i i PAGE 8 PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1999 vat' rt-. CD BD La ODD ARRISBURG Next time you complain about your local elected officials, consider this: In Erie, a state She Is said to worry about Y2K. This led to a zoning violation citation from her local township. Well, actually, it was the hundreds of screaming peacocks, pheasants and other birds she was keeping that led to the citation. Hey, at least they weren't newts.

The witch story, according including pushing books and tapes on witchcraft. Seyfert "is not doing interviews," said an aide in her Erie office. An aide in her Capitol office (where there are no Halloween decorations) declined comment. The House returns to session Monday after a long summer break and, believe it or not. Republicans need Seyfert.

The GOP majority stands at 103-100. One Republican, Rep. Frank Serafini, of Scranton, stands convicted of perjury and awaits sentencing. The state Constitution says covicted perjurers must resign. If he went and Seyfert went, that's 101-100 and very politically risky.

House Republican Leader John Per-zel, of Philadelphia, is said to be less than enchanted with developments. His spokesman, Stephen Drachler, when asked yesterday if Perzel would like to discuss current events with the Daily News, snorted and said, "What do you think?" Well, I think the House could use a little magic. John Baer covers state government for the Daily News. Send e-mail to bawjphilly.infut "'It fit mmftmv, LJ House member Is denying she's a witch. Yep.

Came right out this week and said, "I am not a witch." As you might imagine, this made headlines in Erie. Now, I know people in Philadelphia, including editors at this newspaper, think I make stuff up about the Pennsylvania Legislature. God knows it sometimes seems that way. They are a squirrely bunch. But state Rep.

Tracy Sey-fert, R-Erie, 57-year-old psychologist and former mem ber of Erie City Council, is now on record denying a former aide's charge linking her to witchcraft. The aide, Marilyn Soltis, resigned along with three other aides in the wake of an FBI raid of Seyfert (pronounced Cy-fert) property Sept. 9 that turned up a 10-ton electric generator and a 500-gallon fuel tank, federal surplus property Seyfert apparently managed to nab for her own use. (OSOVeirS prefer former Eioines to U.S. by Myung Oak Kim Daily News Staff Writer Baby Amerikan has given up his namesake.

Four-month-old Amerikan Karaliju the first child born on U.S. soil to Albanian refugees airlifted from the Macedonia refugee camps flew to Kosovo Tuesday with his parents and grandparents. The baby's departure ended a summer of intense publicity that included claims by his father that the family was going hungry. The father, Nairn Karaliju, later retracted those claims. Now the family is back in the village of Ferizaj, south of Pristina, where the father had worked as a farmer.

"They were in a very tough situation," said Chip Corcoran, executive director, of. Refugee, Services of North the agency that reset- 4 jomj. M.BAER to a legislative aide in another Erie office, is "on fire, it's Erie's answer to local talk radio is playing 'Ding, Dong the Witch is There also are jokes about "The Erie Witch Project." Whether Erie native Gov. Ridge is a chicken bone away from the White House. And speculation about Sey-fert's answering "You ve reached the office of Rep.

Seyfert. This is Beelzebub," spawn of Satan. The representative is out doing my bidding right now. If you'd like to talk to deceased representatives, press one. If interested in government surplus, press two." Meanwhile, Soltis could not be reached yesterday.

Her son said she was sleeping (let's hope). But her letter of resignation said Seyfert was "exhibiting more and more bizarre behavior," i urn tied the family in Texas after an initial stay at Fort Dix. "The publicity was just so overwhelming. I don't think they found much peace here. In fact, for the first month or two, they were merely doing interviews." Corcoran said the family decided to leave after a relative in Kosovo told them their house had survived Serb looting and NATO bombing.

Lebibe Karaliju with her newborn son, Amerikan, leaves Virtua Memorial Hospital in Mount Holly, N.J., after giving birth in May, one day after arriving in the United States 3 5 1 V-3M 1 TTsIin "ilt Beauty STEVEN M. FAUV DAILY NEWS "I firmly believe they went home because they had something to go home to," Corcoran said. He said the family was also having trouble adjusting to the pace and economic demands of American life. "A lot of refugees were not used to the fast pace and the fact that a lot of American families routinely work See KOSOVARS Page 48.