Vol. 117 No.9 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 February 26 - March 4, 2006 50¢ SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF THE DALLAS AND LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS Local student chosen to attend prestigious program Ross Fein- stein, a senior at Wyoming Seminary, will attend the U.S. Senate Youth Program in Washington, D.C.. FOR THE POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Getting an inside look into the political world By GENELLE HOBAN Post Correspondent SHAVERTOWN - As one of the pair stu- dents chosen to represent Pennsylvania, Ross Feinstein will take part in the 44th An- nual U.S. Senate Youth Program in Wash- ington, D.C. Feinstein, a senior at Wyoming Semina- ry, will join two student leaders from each state as well as the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense Education Ac- tivity during the week of March 4-11 in the nation’s capital experiencing the govern- @: in action. “The way it worked was my guidance counselor, Ms. Mason, mentioned it to me,” said the son of Dr. Peter and Jane Feinstein of Shavertown. “She told me that there was an opportunity. She is really great at what she does. I wouldn’t have known the pro- gram existed if it wasn’t for her.” Karen Mason, director of college guid- ance at Seminary, said she has known Ross for at least four years. “I'm most looking forward to meeting the other kids. | did a summer program last year...and if these students are anything like they were, it will be great.” Ross Feinstein Wyoming Seminary senior “Ross is very friendly and very passionate about academics and his interests to the point where he even gets you excited when he talks about them,” Mason said. “He has an upbeat attitude. I easily see him being an entrepreneur because of his great creativity and his great mind.” In order to be eligible for the program stu- dent applicants had to have a leadership role in an organization. Feinstein is presi- dent of the Seminary Government, an orga- nization that he said is more than just your typical student government group. “We have a set of administrators and fac- ulty that sit on it,” he said. “We do a lot of projects that help the community, and if something needs to be changed at the school we do it. The hardest part is to moti- vate other kids to be involved.” Aside from the Seminary Government, Feinstein is also a member of mock trial and the tennis team, as well as the editor of the school’s newspaper, “The Opinator.” After filling out an application for the program Feinstein was chosen as one of the 10 finalists for Pennsylvania in November. “I was pretty ecstatic when I found out,” said 18-year-old. “The 10 of us went to Har- risburg where I was interviewed and took a test on the constitution and current events.” In mid-December, Feinstein found out the good news. : “My mom called me at school and I See FEINSTEIN, Page 3 Bittersweet reunion for Cleary’'s comrades Fellow soldiers pay a visit to Back Mountain to meet fallen friend's family, fiancée By DAVE KONOPKI Post Editor DALLAS TWP. — The United States Army dress uniforms were replaced by blue jeans and winter jackets. The settings were a rustic outdoor campsite and a tavern, not a church and reception hall. Several members of the Army’s Third Infantry Division had planned to be in the Back Moun- tain last week, eager to attend the much-anticipated wedding of their friend — and fellow soldier —- First Lt. Mike Cleary. And though there were several smiles and a few laughs, a day of happiness was replaced by intro- ductions and remembrance. Cleary, a 2000 graduate of Dal- las High School, was killed Dec. 20 when a roadside bomb explod- ed near his convoy in Samarra, Iraq. The 24-year-old was en- gaged to marry his fiancée Erin Kavanagh on Feb. 18 and many of his fellow soldiers were expected to attend the wedding and recep- tion. Several of Cleary’s friends from Ft. Benning, Ga. decided to keep their travel plans and pay a visit to the Back Mountain last week- end. The visit gave the soldiers an opportunity to meet Cleary’s par- ents, siblings, and fiancé. “I feel I owe to myself and his family to come up here and meet them,” said First Lt. Tyler Her- nandez, who was Cleary’s room- mate in Iraq. “This allows me to come full circle in my support for them. But most of all, I think it’s important for me to be here for Mike. This was his wedding day.” A group of six soldiers made the day-long drive in several vehi- See FRIENDS, Page 3 FOR THE POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK First Lt. Peter Robinson looks at a photo of Mike Cleary in the office of Cleary Forest Products. Cleary and Robinson were friends at Sapper School and Officer Basic School. Council of Governments to discuss development The Back Mountain Area Council of Governments will hold a public meeting to discuss the Multi-Municipal Compre- hensive Master Plan at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28 at the Kingston Township municipal building, 180 East Center Street in Shaver- town. The meeting will feature pre- sentations by the planning con- sultants Kise, Straw, Kolodner, Cahill Associates, along with Ed- wards & Kelcey for the final draft of the BMACOG Multi-Munici- pal Comprehensive Master Plan. The study was initiated in Feb- ruary 2004 and is designed to provide the BMACOG member municipalities — consisting of the Borough of Dallas, and the townships of Dallas, Kingston and Lehman - with an integrat- ed comprehensive plan for fu- ture development in the Back Mountain region. : The Master Plan components will focus on the critical issues dealing with increased develop- ment in the region, including land use planning, transporta- tion, open space and recreation and environmental sustainabili- Funding for the $200,000 study was provided by the Penn- sylvania Departments of Com- munity and Economic Develop- ment, Conservation and Natural Resources, Department of Transportation, Luzerne County Commissioners and the Luzerne County Office of Community Development, with local match- ing contributions from the mem- ber municipalities. For more information about the meeting, call Dallas Borough manager Joe Moskovitz at 675- 1389 or Kingston Township manager Eddie O’Neill at 696- 3809. Dallas staff describes Kyle Wega as funny, brilliant and a ‘young shining star’ By DAVE KONOPKI Wega was a 2000 graduate of ¥ Inside The Post Post Editor DALLAS TWP. —- Kyle Wega walked into the main office at Dallas High School a few years ago with a trumpet to play a song for Mary Yankowski, who was celebrating her 40th birthday. But Wega didn’t serenade the longtime school secretary with a @ ii of “Happy Birthday.” ¥ie played “Taps” instead. “It was hysterical,” recalled Yankowski. “Everyone laughed, : including me. That’s the kind of Director of technology killed in accident person Kyle was. He was quiet and on the shy side, but he was funny. He was a great kid.” The Dallas School District and members of the Back Moun- tain community are mourning the tragic and sudden death of the 28-year-old Wega, who was killed in a one-car accident early Monday morning less than a mile from home near Kunkle. The 1996 Dallas graduate, the son of Jack and Cathy Wega — two longtime teachers in the dis- trict — was laid to rest Thursday morning in Fern Knoll Burial Park, Dallas. “When I hear the name Kyle Wega, 1 think happy,” said assist- ant superintendent Jim McGov- ern, who gave the eulogy for We- ga during a memorial service. “He was one of the happiest peo- ple I've ever met.” And he was an outstanding employee, says McGovern. “Being the director of technol- ogy is one of the most difficult jobs in the district,” he said. “It’s similar to being a sports official or umpire. The only time some- one notices you is when some- thing goes wrong. If a server or printer was down, Kyle was there to fix it. He was the con- summate fireman as far as tech- nology goes. It was comforting to know that if something was wrong, Kyle was going to fix it.” King’s College with a degree in Computers and Information Sys- tems. While he was a student, Wega was a member of the Dal- las marching band. He was also helped with the school’s drama department, working backstage with scenery, props, lighting and sound systems. “Kyle was a very nice kid,” said Dan Natitus, who graduate from high school with Wega. “He al- ways had a smile on his face. We See WEGA, Page 3 10 Pages, 1 Section Church Services......ccueennen. 2 PUZZIes llamas 2 SCO asc ererssrssrnasansrs 5 CIVIC tives rsiriirsnsnpsnimmminsiionsios 6 SPOFIS hii 78 Vv How To Reach Us News: 675-5211 thepost@leader.net 15 N. Main St. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 1871 Advertising: 829-7101 Subscriptions and Delivery: 829-5000 I
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