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READING EAGLE
readingeagle.com
Executing Justice
DEATH PENALTY PERSPECTIVESPART FIVE OF FIVE
WASHINGTON The Federal Reserve decided Wednesday to raise its key interest rate
by a quarter-point to a range of 0.25 percent
to 0.5 percent. What that means for us:
The rates that most people pay for mortgages, auto loans or college tuition arent
expected to jump anytime soon. The Feds
benchmark interest rate has limited inuence
on those things.
But the Feds move will raise short-term
borrowing costs for banks. And that, in turn,
is intended to prod banks to boost certain
other rates. Rates on credit cards and home
equity loans and credit lines, for example,
will most likely rise, typically by the same
amount as the Feds increase. The increases
could appear as soon as one or two months
after the Feds action.
Also, Americans with adjustable-rate
mortgages will probably face a higher rate at
the date of their next adjustment.
Auto-loan costs may rise as well, economists said, though not as fast as the short-term
rate the Fed controls.
Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at
Bankrate.com, calculates that for a $25,000,
ve-year car loan, a one-quarter percentage
point increase would boost monthly payments
by precisely $3.
The interest rate impact on the typical
household from a quarter percentage point
move is almost inconsequential, he said.
Most people wont even notice.
And most people buy homes for reasons
that have little to do with a slight rise or fall
in mortgage rates, McBride said. They tend
to buy when they feel nancially secure or
experience a major life change, such as having children.
Rate hike: Why the Federal Reserve decided to
increase short-term interest rates. A9
No surprise here: Area experts are underwhelmed by the expected rate increase. A10
By Nicole C. Brambila
Reading Eagle
TODAY
State
Nation
Money
Life
M. DOMER LEIBENSPERGER:
THE KING OF MANY THINGS
A pickup truck crashes into the home, sending one man inside to the
hospital. B4
43 55
Index
ADVICE
BRIDGE
E9
E10
CLASSIFIED
COMICS
HOROSCOPE
D1
E6-E8
E8
MONEY
OBITUARIES
OPINION
A10
B5B7
B8
PUZZLES
TV TONIGHT
E8
E5
A4
Executing Justice
Larry RJ Bobish Jr., center, with his adoptive parents Mark and Kristi Altrogge in front of their home in Altoona.
I believe in forgiveness
Bobish was 14 when he
wrote a letter forgiving Edwards during the killers trial.
Though his adoptive mother
helped Bobish with the letter,
the Altrogges said he was not
coached in any way and that,
frankly, the boys sincerity
had surprised them.
I believe in forgiveness,
said Bobish, noting he had
harbored anger toward Edwards.
An attorney collected the
letter but never gave it to Edwards or the court.
Bobish, his family said,
wasnt happy when the jury
sentenced Edwards to death.
He did not want Marky to
die, Kristi Altrogge said.
Bobish hasnt spoken to
Edwards since that fateful
morning. But if Bobish were
to speak to Edwards, he said
hed tell him that there is
forgiveness in God. And hed
tell Edwards that he forgives
him, too.
Im at peace with whats
happened, Bobish said. Its
not something I (am) holding
against him.
The Reading Eagle sent a
letter to Edwards at the State
Correctional Institution at
Greene on Nov. 2 seeking
comment, but did not receive
a response.
Doctors tried unsuccessfully twice to remove the bullet that had lodged near the
base of Bobishs skull. It has
since migrated to his lower
back, a sometimes painful
reminder of that murderous
morning. So, too, is the calcium on his brain from the
head trauma he suffered that
Bobish believes contributes to
the painful migraines he still
sometimes gets.
The Altrogges still cant believe he survived.
For a long time he never
talked about it, said Mark
Altrogge, 65, who is the senior pastor at Saving Grace
Church in Indiana, about 60
miles east of Pittsburgh.
The couple met the boy
while he was still in protective custody.
Because Bobish fell behind
in school, Kristi Altrogge began homeschooling him. And
then later, Bobish asked if the
Altrogges would adopt him.
How do you say no to a
child whos just lost his whole
family? Kristi Altrogge said.
How are you going to say no
to that? He was looking for
a home.
Mark Altrogge explains that
taking in Bobish is the true
religion the author of James
writes about in Chapter 1,
verse 27: Religion [ >>> A5 ]
A5
Executing Justice
The superintendent of a prison that houses many death row inmates says
his line of work isnt as dramatic as Hollywood would have people believe.
[ A4 >>> ]
that God our Father accepts
as pure and faultless is this:
to look after orphans and
widows in their distress and
to keep oneself from being
polluted by the world.
Robert
Gilmore,
above, is superintendent
of the State
Correctional Institution
at Greene in
Waynesburg,
Greene County, right, where
most Pennsylvania death
row inmates
are housed.
READING EAGLE: SUSAN L. ANGSTADT
Shawshank Redemption or
The Green Mile, corrections staff at Greene rotate
in and out, and none spend
long stretches on death row,
Gilmore said.
Its not at all what you
might see on TV, he said. Its
not at all how its portrayed.
Gilmore described the unit
as clean and orderly.
You dont get a sense of uneasiness, he said.
The staff levels are higher
on death row, a closed unit,
with two correctional officers
escorting inmates in and out
of a cell, in which inmates
spend 22 hours a day. Being
this staff-intensive is expensive, adding an estimated
$10,000 in yearly costs for
each capital inmate.
Gov. Tom Wolf in February
issued a moratorium on executions until a report study-
Executing Justice
Only 28 occurred
in 2015. The drop
reects waning
public condence
in the system.
PEAK: 315
IN 1994 & 1996
350
DEATH SENTENCES
By Nicole C. Brambila
Reading Eagle
300
250
232
200
150
PEAK: 98
IN 1999
100
50
EXECUTIONS
49
28
1976
80
85
Death Penalty Information Center
90
95
2000
05
10
15