L Dallas, Pennsylvania The Back Mountain's Newspaper Since 1889 March 13 to March 19, 2003 Vol. 114 No. 1 SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF SPORTS Youth basketball champions settled. Pg 9. SCHOOL Eric Danko knows his way around. Pg 11. 50 Cents THE DALLAS & LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS CALENDAR Back Mountain dancers in ‘Cinderella.’ Pg 16. School board postpones realignment of elementary schools By ERIN YOUNGMAN Post Staff DALLAS TWP. — Citing the need to ather more information before making @ school directors Monday d there will be no realignment of the district's elementary schools next year. “There is so much to be considered in regards to this and we feel the parents and the teachers must be heard,” said Ernest Ashbridge Jr., school board president. The change of heart came on the heels of the recent elementary task force recommenda- tion in favor of a re- alignment that, if approved, would place Kindergarten lis. through third grade at Dallas Elemen- Criticism about how the investigation formation. tary and grades four and five at Wycal- of the question was handled surfaced at “Hopefully over the next month we're the last few meetings. Among other “We want to get all the information we can, so we can make a proper decision.” the process. Demetrius Dallas school director things, parents going to propose a new policy where a said they wanted new task force can be established,” said to be involved in Frank Natitus, board member. “We want to get all the information we can, so we can make a proper decision.” Natitus questioned the accuracy of of a Wycallis stu- information provided by Dr. Michael dent, asked the Speziale, the assistant superintendent, board how it intended to gather the in- and published in The Dallas Post March 6. The information stated classroom See SCHOOLS, pg 7 ENCON employees face uncertain future By ERIN YOUNGMAN Post Staff DALLAS TWP. — One employ- ee of Energy Converters Inc. (ENCON) says when the plant closes at the end of the month, he and many others will lose much more than their jobs. Michael Kurtinitis, who has worked as a maintenance me- chanic at ENCON for the past three years, said he’s worked at other places, but none have compared to his experience at the Back Mountain plant. “After you punch in it’s like a community in there, the majori- ty have been there for 15 years or more. It's like a second fami- ly,” said Kurtinitis. Kurtinitis is like many ENCON “Being there 19 years, I've seen people give up their vacation time for those who are sick.” Bernie Lambert ~ ENCON employee ii -HA. esi employees who gathered recent- ly to share stories of years of work and friendship inside and out of the plant that manufac- tures heating elements. The See ENCON, pg 7 Chamber officials say area must choose a direction By ERIN YOUNGMAN Post Staff As the area endures the loss of jobs, officials at the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Busi- ness and Industry say regional indecisiveness and infrastructure POST PHOTO/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK ‘Pippin’ at Lake-Lehman issues are stifling business The Lake-Lehman Theater will produce the popular musical this weekend. Performances are scheduled for Friday, March 14 and Satur- day, March 15 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, March 16 at 3 p.m. in the high school auditorium. Reserved seat tickets are available at the door or in advance at a cost of $6 for adults and $4 for students. More details on page 3. Playing principal roles are Phillip Pineno, left, as Pippin, and Austin Williams as the Leading Player. growth in the Back Mountain. “There are some limiting fac- tors for future business develop- ment,” said Fred Lohman, Cham- ber Senior Vice President. “I don’t know if they (the Back Mountain) know what they want to be. Louis Brown still going, but ‘not as strong’ at 99 By CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Post Correspondent LEHMAN TWP. — The floral deliveries keep coming, beauti- ful roses, tulips from Cathi and School board reconsiders boycott of Sunoco station By KALEN CHURCHER Special to The Dallas Post cessfully to have the property assessment dropped from $8,900 to $1 in 1996. LEHMAN TWP. — One month Member Charles Balavage after the Lake-Lehman School questioned how someone can ac- Board voted to not patronize the cept rent for a property yet pay Sunoco gas station on Route po taxes. Solicitor Charles 118 near the center of town, it Coslett said a letter will be sent reversed its decision Tuesday to the Luzerne County assessor night. stating that because the land is Members voted during a Feb- gn “income producing property” They traditionally have been a bedroom community.” Lohman said if the area wants further business development, including either a business or in- dustrial park, significant infra- structure issues need to be ad- dressed. He said both water supply and transportation issues need to be looked into before the area can be considered something more than a bedroom community. Lohman. specifically cited the See CHAMBER, pg 7 16 Pages, 2 Sections Calendar Classified Crossword Editorials Obituaries Rusty Flack, Mrs. Evelyn Ide comes to visit. Louise Brown smiles and wonders how people seem to remember her 99th birthday. “Most of my friends are dead but the children still come over. I try to encourage people to come back again. Tell everyone I'm still going in Lehman but not as strong.” She revels quietly in the at- tention but seems to under- stand that she has become an institution in the Back Moun- tain community she loves. Louise Brown was born in 1904 in Muskegon, Michigan, the granddaughter of an eman- cipated slave from Kentucky. Her family sent her to Philadel- phia, to a summer school for playground workers, and there she met Leroy “Lee” Brown from Wilkes-Barre. “We meet on the first of August and were married POST PHOTO/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK ruary meeting in favor of the boycott after Joseph Kapitula questioned why the district fre- quents a business that does not pay taxes. An underground stor- age tank leak allowed the prop- erty’s assessment to drop to vir- tually zero, absolving the owners from a tax bill. The official vote to change the decision is likely to come at the March 18 regular meeting. It could not be taken Tuesday be- cause the meeting was a work session. Ann Marie and Robert Jones, owners of the station, said it was unfair to punish them because they do not own the land; it is leased from George Maculloch. According to Times Leader records, Maculloch argued suc- it should not be exempt from taxes. In other business, several high school seniors appeared before the board to express their disap- proval of the district planning for an indoor graduation ceremony. The district decided to move graduation indoors because arti- ficial turf on the new multi-pur- pose field would be ruined if walked on by individuals in high heels. Superintendent Robert Roberts said if senior class offi- cers could assure the board that only flat shoes would be worn, it would likely opt for an outdoor ceremony. This article appeared in origi- nal form in the Times Leader. Visioning meeting tonight CALL 675-5211 FOR HOME DELIVERY, NEWS OR ADVERTISING E-mail: dallaspost@Ileader.net The Dallas Post Please enclose this label with any address changes, and mail to The Dallas Post P.O. Box 366, Dallas, PA 18612-0366 The March meeting of the “Our Dallas - Today and Tomorrow” visioning committee will be held Thursday, March 13 at 7 p.m. in the Banks Student Center at College Misericordia. The agenda is expected to include a virtual look at downtown Dallas. jecember 10th; I don’t know Louise Brown attended service Sunday at Prince of Peace Episco- ow it happened because he pal Church in Dallas, where she has been a member for 60 years. See BROWN, pg 3 Brown, who is well-known for her craft work, turned 99 on March 8.
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