~ BI Rrra i Tindlilif VOL. 83 NO. 18 DALLAS, PA. PHONE 675-5211 FIFTEEN CENTS UGI Fight Continues Back Mountain Protective Association and its hard-working solicitor, James Lenahan Brown, have won the right for oral argument against the $2.1 million rate increase given Luzerne Electric Di- vision of UGI Corporation. Notification was received by Atty. Brown that Penn- sylvania Public Utility Commission has granted a motion for oral argument filed by hig. PUC’s decision came in the form of a letter from Will Ketner, PUC secretary. “This surprised everyone, including me,” said Atty. Brown, ‘“as I believed it would never get this far. I'm delighted and will file a brief by next Thursday or Friday (May 11-12.)” Mr. Ketner advised that after consider- ing the request for oral argument and the answer against argument filed by UGI’s counsel, the PUC, in an executive session April 26, agreed to argument on ‘‘certain questions.’’ “I have no hint as to which questions these will be,”” the Back Mountain at- torney observed. ‘‘I think one they're Libgary Auction = Kickoff Dinner Slaged Next Week The Back Mountain Memorial Library Auction Kickoff Dinner will be held at 6:30 p.m. May 18, at Irem Temple Country Club, according to an an- nouncement made by Clarke Bittner, the 1972 Auction chairman. Jim Alexander is chairman of the dinner and will be assisted by Dr. Craig Aicher and Joseph Cominsky. Pete Ar- naud, ‘Toastmaster Supreme,” will act as master of ceremonies. This year’s dinner begins the festivities for the second quarter century of the Auction’s service to the community and to the Back Mountain Memorial Library. The 1972 Auction will be held July 7, 8 and 9 at the new location directly behind the library on Main Street, Dallas. Chairman Bittner will introduce this year’s #mmittee chairmen and outline plans for the annual summer event. This year’s dinner will again feature the Mini-Auction with Pete Arnaud holding forth on the auction block. A number of antique and new items will be on hand for sale to the highest bidder. EnterNginment will be provided by Jay Miller and Roy Supulski. An additional highlight will be a door prize. Tickets are available from library board members, service club members, at the library, and at the door. The dinner is open to the public. stuck on is the first question I raised— ‘Since the UGI service lines are connect- ed to the Pennsylvania-New Jersey- Maryland Interconnection, does the PUC have jurisdiction or does the Federal Power Commission?’ ”’ The complainants have 15 days from receipt of letter to file their brief. UGI will be allowed to file its counter-brief within 14 days after PUC receives the complainant brief. Oral argument will be scheduled at a time and place to be determined later, with hearings to continue following the argument, according to Mr. Ketner’s letter. Fifteen copies of the brief must be sub- mitted to PUC by Atty Brown, with an ad- ditional three copies to go to counsel of UGI. : Luzerne Electric Division of UGI was granted a 17 percent hike in rates by PUC, effective Dec. 22. In March Atty. Brown raised seven legal questions, which he contended should be resolved before the taking of any testimony. Two pre-hearing conferences, one in January and another in March, have been held by PUC in Harrisburg. The protective association’s solicitor said he had no idea when a date would be named for oral argument. With the coming of spring, operations at the American Asphalt Paving Com- pany in Chase have been resumed—and with these operations have come a flood of complaints from nearby residents. Among persons appearing at a recent Jackson. Township Supervisors’ meeting May” were Joyce Crumley and John B- Filip. Miss Crumley and Mr. Filip, who own homes near the asphalt plant, complained about air, water and noise pollution caused by plant operations, and about damages to property caused by blasting. ; Expressing dismay over the township Prison Community Meets by Dottie Beckham The petition, which was signed last week by 232 employees protesting en- forcement policies at State Correctional Institution, Dallas, has raised a number of questions concerning reforms initiated by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Correc- tion and the physical safety of personnel and inmates. The Post set out to find answers to these vital questions and others. The in- formation was gleaned from state offi- cials, the institution superintendent, cor- rectional officers, a chaplain, profession- al employees and some inmates. New treatment-oriented programs have been instituted throughout the state correctional facilities. Leonard Parkel, deputy attorney gen- Harveys Lake Borough Council may find its in the midst of a lawsuit if Lake Township Supervisors agree to renew their efforts to obtain the more than $5,000 presently held by the borough in a . police pension fund. This was the gist of statements made recently by solicitors of both municipali- ties: Atty. Joseph V. Kasper, Harveys Lake, and Atty. William A. Valentine, Lake Township. The controversy over which commu- nity is entitled to the $5,847.32 currently held in a police pension fund by the borough has continued for many years— to the consternation of government offi- cials at both state and local levels. According to Atty. Kasper, the money was originally provided as a pension fund \ i Pie } a ARR Es of S00 RANT . LE Ce J for Walbridge Leinthall, former chief of Lake Township police before Harveys Lake Borough was formed. Some time after Chief Leinthall became chief of Harveys Lake Borough following its separation from the township, the fund was turned over to the borough. It is Atty. Kasper’s contention that the fund was turned over to the borough upon recommendation of the Office of the Auditor General in Harrisburg, and that -a recent decision by the same office re- commending that the monies be returned to Lake Township represents a contradic- tion on the part of that office. Because of this apparent contradiction, Atty. Kasper advised Harveys Lake Borough Council at its regular meeting (continued on PAGE THREE ) supervisors’ apparent lack of concern for their plight was Mr. Filip, who charged that ‘‘nothing concrete has been ac- complished by the supervisors to bring the asphalt plant under control. “We have no intention of trying to put Banks out of business,” Mr. Filip in- sisted, referring to Johh and Bernard ‘Banks, owners of American Asphalt Paving Company, “We just want to be able to live here and make use of our property—and with the plant’s operations going as they have, this is pretty dif- ficult.” (continued on PAGE EIGHTEEN) Reform eral, stated that changes have come about at the Dallas facility, and quite re- cently, because Dallas was one of the last to adopt some of the new methods for prisoner rehabilitation. He said institutions, such as Grater- ford, Huntingdon, Rockview, Pittsburgh, etc., had already adapted to similar changes, and that his office had heard the same complaints from all of them during that time. He attested that the changes were brought about more than a year ago at most of the other institutions, and that Dallas was just now catching up under the leadership of Superintendent Leonard Maek. Commissioner of Corrections Allyn Sie- laff emphasized that prior policy was to keep ‘bad’ prisoners moving, but that this does not bring about rehabilitation, which is what ‘‘we are supposed to be doing.” Said the commissioner, “We must deal with the bad ones, just the same as we deal with the good ones. We must help them deal with their behavior. It’s easier to put them in a van and ship them off. This is no solution. Dallas is just begin- ning to realize many of the new, more modern policies, while all the other insti- tutions have already been through what Dallas has just started.” Superintendent Mack listed some of the programs that have been established at the local facility. One of the most active groups is Alcoholics Anonymous. Also, a resident law clinic has been set up—with three aims: to help advise and inform inmates of legal rights; to assist inmates in obtaining these rights as they pertain to their cases; to provide legal assistance for improvement in the efficiency and production of post-conviction petitions. It was stressed that the law clinic does not prepare writs, damage or civil suits against the institution or its personnel. Photo by Pat Cancro by William Scranton 3rd The visiting room at the Dallas State Correctional Institution is open twice from 1 to 4:30 p.m. It used to be that prisoners were separated from their visitors by a long table running down the center of the room. Visits were restricted to an hour and a half, and no physical contact was allowed. But that has changed recently. Red and blue Naugahyde chairs grouped around small coffee tables have replaced the long table. Vending machines selling soft drinks, coffee, and candy stand against one wall. There is a guard’s desk at one entrance to the room, but the atmosphere is relaxed. Prisoners and their visitors talk in groups or walk around the well lit and well ventilated room. Some prisoners spend their time in the embrace of a wife or girl friend, for this is the nearest to conjugal visits they are allowed at Dallas. ; In a way the visiting room is symbolic of the changes that have taken place at the Dallas prison since the state Bureau of Corrections, under the supervison of Superintendant Leonard Mack, began reform efforts at Dallas five or six months ago. Efforts to change procedure at the prison (outlined in a related ar- ticle; page 1) have not met with universal approval, however, and a petition cir- culated by prison employees scoring relaxed treatment for ‘‘maximum security prisoners’ attests to this fact. Although no names were given, two of the maximum security inmates alluded to in the petition were Richard Mayberry (H- 2727) and Kenneth Owens (C-8285). Mr. Mayberry and Mr. Owens together are responsible for new organization at the prison, the Resident Law Clinic. Approved by Supt. Mack, the “The’ Valiant Woman’’ was College Misericordia’s entry in the race at the Cherry Blossom Festival Sunday. Manning the raft for the seven-mile voyage down the river were, left to right, Sister Mary and Ned O’Malia, all faculty members at C.M. advise and inform inmates of their legal rights; to assist inmates in obtaining these rights as they pertain to their cases; and to provide legal assistance for improvement in the efficiency and productivity of post conviction petitions.’ To the inmates who organized and staff the law clinic their efforts represent an legal rights heretofore denied by the prison system. there can be little doubt that the law clinic is partially responsible for the petition which appeared last week. Richard Mayberry and Ken Owens are vocal in their condemnation of Pennsyl- vania’s prison system, and they are what some guards would call ‘‘agressive-type’’ inmates. Furthermore, they currently reside within the general prison popula- tion, which in the eyes of the petitioning employees ' constitutes ‘‘dumping maximum security inmates into a minimum security institution without any restrictions of behavior, threaten (ing) the security and lives of officers and deserving inmates.” years in prisons throughout the state, including Graterford, Western, to Dallas prison, Philadelphia, where he was in- volved in a court case and where, for the first time in seven years, he was allowed out of solitary confinement. He has a reputation throughout the state as a ‘prison lawyer’ due to the fact that he does much of his own legal work and is currently involved in a suit brought by himself and others against the entire ~ (continued on PAGE FOUR SERA 3 ST ie RA or BA CES FECTS & x Sra
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