HE “Complete Back Mountain News’ ’ ALLAS~I-0OST VOL. 82 NO. 30 THURSDAY, JULY 29, 1971 DALLAS, PA. PHONE 675-5211 FIFTEEN CENTS $2,150,181.19 PennDOT Reveals Sum For X-Valley Property Total expenditures to date by Pennsyl- vania Department of Transportation for properties along the right-of-way of the proposed North Cross-Valley Express- way is $2,150,181.19, according to Thomas J. Harrington, district engineer. This sung was expended to acquire 107 pro- perties. Properties which are currently in- volved in litigation or for which boards of review have been requested are not in- cluded in the total figure of bought pro- perties. The largest sum paid for any one pro- perty was $390,000. This went to King’s College for its Scanlon Field property at the intersection of Wyoming Avenue and West Bennett Street, Kingston. Atty. K.C. Marianelli received the highest price paid to date for residential property. PennDOT paid $74,408.74 for his corner property at Park Place and yo Avenue, Kingston. vr. Harrington stated the full payment to property owners could include such figures as settlement for the residence, land, supplementary payments, moving costs and other expenses incurred with settlement. Further statistics were released by John Ermel, PennDOT’s property manager, Dunmore office. A total of 27 properties have been vacated. The breakdown includes: 60 re- sidential owners, 63 residential tenants, one business owner, 3 tenant businesses. Ninety-nine owners are to be vacated in the near future. @ properties Gouglit anu vacated, 65 homies have been razed. Eight homes are under contract to be demolished. Gypsy Moths No Threat To Area-Yet The devastation wreaked by gypsy moths in other parts of Pennsylvania and in,a number of states has not been found ir™®this immediate area to date. Associate county agent James Beard, Luzerne County Agricultural Extension Association, said defoliation is mostly to tHe east of this area. “There are ab- solutely no signs of defoliation in our area, but it is expected that some 200,000 acres of forest lands will be ruined in the state,”” Agent Beard stated. The superintendents of two state parks and one county park also declared they had seen no evidence of gypsy moths in their areas. James Zambo, Frances Slocum State Park head, replied to a query, ‘“Thank- fully, we have seen no signs of pests or the defoliation they cause. We have been jerted to the problem, and shall take iimediate steps should we find them in the park.” Having no camping facilities, Frances Slocum Park is not as apt to have the caterpillars brought in as are the other parks. At Moon Lake Park, Director Robert Neff reported that all campers are given pamphlets to keep them aware of the problem. The literature is provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and among other things tells campers how to keep from transporting the destructive moths from one area to another. “Our maintenance personnel have seen no evidence anywhere in our 600-acre park. We don’t check every day, but employes do keep their eyes open for signs,’”’ Director Neff observed. Posters on bulletin boards, booklets given to campers, defoliation checks are some of the things being done at Ricketts Glen State Park to keep personnel and park-users aware of the situation, stated Superintendent Brent Semmel. (continued on PAGE TEN) As of the last count, Mr. Ermel said over 100 claims have been settled. Properties are being acquired by PennDOT for construction of Section 1 of North Cross-Valley Expressway, which will run eventually, as proposed, from a point near Luzerne-Courtdale to the in- tersections of Routes 115 and 315 in the vicinity of Veterans Administration Hospital, Wilkes-Barre. The proposed highway would facilitate travel for Back Mountain residents. PennDOT officials have stated the start of construction on the expressway ‘‘is not in the foreseeable future’, due to orders from the U.S. Department of Transpor- tation to study three alternate routes for the highway, resulting from a new emphasis on preserving open spaces and recreational areas. Federal funds are in- volved in the $32 million dollar project. However, acquiring of properties is pro- ceeding by PennDOT on the assumption that the original proposed route will be used. Youth Treated For Effects of Drugs, Alcohol A liquor and drug party involving approximately 30 teenagers was detected July 16 by Kingsinn T-ugshin Patolman William Pugh. The circumstances of the party and how the alcoholic beverages and drugs were obtained by the youths are still under investigation by State Police, the State Liquor Control Board, Luzerne County Juvenile Police, and Kingston Township Police. One teen-age boy, believed to have combined vodka and LSD, was taken to Nesbitt Memorial Hospital, where he was a patient until July 22. Reportedly, he was the victim of what narcotics officer Pugh termed a ‘‘bad trip’. Said to be a parole violator, the 16-year- old boy has been placed in detention at the Juvenile Center, Wilkes-Barre. Chief of Police Herbert Updyke ad- mitted the party was held in the vicinity of Shavertown in a private home, but said the “exact location is not being revealed because we’re still investigating”. There is to be a preliminary conference today at Kingston Township Municipal Building between the boys and girls that may be involved, their parents, and juvenile authorities and local police. Although several kinds of alcoholic beverages were stolen from American Legion Post 672, Memorial Highway, Dallas, the same weekend, Sgt. Ray Titus, Dallas Borough Police, stated, “To the best of our knowledge, the person(s) who stole the liquor are in no way in- volved with the party in Shavertown.” Sgt. Titus reported that 18 boftles of liquor and $30 in cash were taken from the Legion building. A glass in a north- side door was broken. Two latches were unhooked on the door, one by force. The liquor was stored in locked cabinets, which were pried open. “We have a fingerprint, and also some prints made by a sneaker-type shoe.” reported Sgt. Titus. He added that the burglar injured himself in entering the building, as there was blood in a number of places. Laboratory work was done by Trooper Gene Centi of the State Police. Concerning the youngsters at the party, the names of all those who participated are known by the police. Those seriously involved will be petitioned into Juvenile Court, Charles A. Adonizio, chief probation officer said. SCOTT SAFFIAN No Arrests Yet Arson Suspected Five-thousand bales of hay were consumed—along with several pieces of mechanical milking equip- ment—when a fire destroyed the Basil Frantz farm on Route 309 in Kunkle early Sunday morning. as Barn Destroyed in Kunkle Fire Arson is suspected in a blaze which . destroyed a barn in Kunkle owned by Basil Frantz early Sunday morning and in two other fires which gutted unoc- cupied buildings in the Kunkle area Wednesday and Thursday nights of the previous week, an official of the Dr. Henry M. Laing Fire Company told the Dallas Post late Monday afternoon. Called in to investigate the cir- cumstances of the three fires was State Fire Marshall Paul Cotter, who is being assisted by Dallas Township Police and officials from several Back Mountain fire companies. Fire Marshall Cotter indicated that while the Frantz barn fire “may have been accidental,” the absence of elec- trical wires in the two other buildings would definitely suggest arson. A fire the night of July 22 leveled an unoccupied dwelling on Route 309 near the entrance SCOTT SAFFIAN The headlights of several emergency vehicles glisten against the rain soaked pavement as firefighting operations are established along Route 309 in Kunkle. The origin of the barn fire is under investigation by State and local fire marshalls. LommaToAnnounce Sale Ralph Lomma, president of National Utilities, 305 Cherry St., Scranton, said Tuesday that negotiations for purchasing five Back Mountain water companies will be completed this week. “The parties involved conferred with lawyers today (Tuesday) and negotiations, except for a few minor technicalities, have been completed. When all technicalities have been cleared away, we will make the announcement and give the list of names of the water companies,” stated Mr. Lomma. To date, National Utilities has pur- chased Rhodes Terrace Water Company and Warden Place Water Company, both at Harveys Lake, and Oak Hill Water Company, Dallas. road to the Irem Temple Country Club; Wednesday night, a vacant house on the Beaumont Road to Harveys Lake owned by an individual identified only as ‘Rosenfeld’ was also consumed by flames of a mysterious nature. Although no arrests had been made as of Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Cotter told the Post that “we have our suspicions and are checking out several reports and leads.” Dallas Township Police Chief “Pete” Lange acknowledged that several young boys from the area were questioned Sunday and Monday, but said that he had ‘‘nothing definite” to report following the interrogations. The State Fire Marshall cautioned would-be sleuths from drawing hasty conclusions from the investigation presently underway, pointing out that arson ‘is a very serious crime.”’ A report that a tan Volkswagen was seen fleeing the scene of Sunday night’s fire was dismissed by Mr. Cotter, who noted that ‘there are lots of Volkswagens in the Back Mountain.” Seven area fire companies responded to the barn fire alarm shortly after 12 a.m. Sunday morning. A mechanical fail- ure in the emergency telephone system maintained by the Dr. Henry M. Laing Fire Company resulted in the siren’s sounding 18 times before it was finally shut off. Over 5,000 bales of hay stored in the well-ventilated barn provided fuel for the flames, and a heavy rainstorm did little to squelch the fire. Firemen report that battling the blaze would have been an even trickier proposition than it was had there been wind with the rain. A ‘“‘deluge gun’ was credited by some on-the-scene observers with containing the fire in the vicinity of the barn structure. Acquired by the Dallas fire company two years ago, the deluge gun utilized a large nozzle in pumping 350 gallons of water per minute onto the blaze. “The gun knocked the intense heat down,’ one fireman observed, ‘‘and let us get close enough to fight the fire by more conventional methods.” : (continued on PAGE TEN)
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers