by J.R. Freeman
We are living in a time of crisis.
In Washington it’s the political crisis;
across the nation it’s the energy crisis;
and in Northeastern Pennsylvania it’s the
rail crisis. All three mean a change in life
style for all of us. But nowhere, perhaps,
will that change be more critically felt
than here. 3
Hearings before the Interstate Com-
.merce Commission during the next two
weeks are the first step in attacking the
rail crisis in Northeastern Pennsylvania
and in 17 other areas from Boston and Al-
bany to Chicago and St. Louis. These
hearings @ill partly involve what lies
ahead for rail transportation in the East,
the results of which will affect the lives of
almost half the people in the United
States. Though most local residents may
not see how they are directly affected by
the rail crisis since it involves mostly
freight, neither did they think the energy
crisis would ever curtail their mobility.
They know better now, and they know
that what was once so incidental as a tank
of gas has now become vitally important.
The rail crisis will have no less effect.
Neither is it less complex.
ICC Hearing Examiner Judge George
Morin began taking testimony at 9:30
a.m. Mondz; in the Navy Reserve Train-
ing Center, Avoca, with Gov. Milton J.
Shapp as the first of more than 200 wit-
nesses expected to testify during the
week-long hearing concerning a contro-
versial U.S. Department of Transporta-
tion report made public last month. The
report, titled ‘‘Rail Service in the Mid-
west and Northeast Region,”’ Volumes 1
and 2, was submitted in accordance with
section 204 of the Regional Rail Reorgan-
ization Act of 1973. It is designed to be
used by the new U.S. Railway Association
operations. Ultimately, Congress will
approve or reject.the USRA-planned sys-
tem.
Though none of the witnesses were ex-
pected to agree with the 1,000-page DOT
report, most took stands firmly against
it, particularly dealing with the report’s
conclusion that 445 miles of track be
abandoned in the 22-county area of
Northeastern Pennsylvania in a reorgan-
ization plan for six bankrupt railroads,
including the Erie-Lackawanna, Lehigh
Valley, Penn Central, Reading, Central
The long ines of automobiles at service
stations K®ve subsided in the area in the
past ten days, but the crisis is far from
over. That's the opinion of service station
owners throughout Lackawanna and
Luzerne Counties, and they plan to make
{ their complaints known to local, state and
‘federal officials at a meeting tonight
(Thursday) at 8 p.m. in the National
Guard Armory in West Pittston.
The meeting, which is expected to
attract mone than 400 service station
dealers and government officials from
the Abingtons to Wilkes-Barre, will be
chaired by Thomas Anderson, member of
the executive board of fhe Pennsylvania
Service Station Dealc: gsce ation.
According to Ge mc as oom, operator
Federal Program
Termed ‘Disaster’
Congres®an Daniel J. Flood, (D-
Wilkes-Barre) in a meeting with the
Pennsylvania Congressional delegation
and with Joseph Lasala, regional director
of the Federal Energy Office, Philadel-
phia, termed the federal gasoline alloca-
tion program a complete disaster and a
gross insult to the ‘‘all equal under law’’
concept on which this nation was foun-
ded. ‘Pennsylvania,’ he said, ‘‘is being
treated less than equal. I see no reason
why we are not being allocated our just
\due.”’
Congressman Flood emphasized that
his was not a partisan view but one on
which all Pennsylvanians are united.
Sen. Richard Schweiker (R-Pa.) has al-
ready criticized the unfair administra-
tion’s policy. Congressman. Flood declar-
ed, ‘The sentiment in Pennsylvania is
strong. Vi constituents, if treated fairly,
have the SYrength to accept difficulties
with quiet courage. Now, however, they
are righteousiy indignant.”
Congressman Flood said it was pointed
out that Pennsylvania ranks 37th in per-
centage of gas allocations from the 1972
base while serving a population which is
third largest in the United States. Addi-
tionally, the Keystone State has the
fourth highest total of automobiles in the
nation. The congressman continued,
“Just as an example of the inequity of the
| whole situation, Illinois is a state with 6
~ percent fewer cars than our state, yet re-
ceived a nifgeh higher allocation of gaso-
cationis further brought home by the fact
that many of my colleagues from the
Plain States, from the West and from the
South West, express dismay at the long
lines waiting at gas stations in Washing-
ton, saying there is no shortage of gaso-
Washington are no longer than they are in
my home town of Wilkes-Barre.
Congressman Flood stated his position
» earlier in a telegram to William E.
Simon, director of the Federal Energy
Office. He concluded, ‘Because of inac-
curate or incomplete data, the allocation
system has failed. The program must be
corrected so as to allow an equitable dis-
Flood said he would continue to press his
demands for fair treatment for Pennsyl-
vania.
of an ARCO station in Chinchilla who
attended a meeting of Luzerne and
will make the following demands to local,
state and federal energy officials:
—an increase in monthly gasoline allo-
cations;
—enactment of a franchise bill now be-
fore the state legislature which would re-
strict the major oil companies’ control
over dealers;
—a roll back of gasoline prices to their
May 1972 level (approximately 37.9 cents
per gallon for regular and 41.9 for pre-
mium);
—enactment of anti-trust legislation to
insure separation of m: jor oil companies
anu distributors. ;
Unless action is taken on these de-
“‘consider a shut down starting March 10
or 12.” :
Approximately 50 dealers in the Scran-
ton and Abington area threatened to shut
down last week, then called the plan off.
“We felt a shutdown would not be effec-
tive unless it encompassed a widen
area,” Cottell explained. “If just the
Scranton dealers were to shut down,
people wouldn’t have to drive very far to
get gas. If we all shut down in Lacka-
wanna and Luzerne counties, it might
mean something.”
(continued on PAGE SEVENTEEN)
Gov. Milton Shapp: ‘*
Charging that the DOT report “was
promulgated in brazen disregard for the
public interest,” Gov. Shapp branded the
report ‘‘totally unacceptable to the
people of Pennsylvania’ and predicted
that “if its recommendations are follow-
ed, it will result in severe economic hard-
ship for the Commonwealth.”
In a detailed statement, Gov. Shapp
told the ICC that the report, if adopted,
would ‘‘result in a transportation catas-
trophe of greater magnitude than the
wreck of the Penn Central.”
Criticizing the data used in preparing
the report, Gov. Shapp charged that DOT
had used 1972 railroad data. ‘For what-
ever reason, DOT ignored the fact that
many shippers were disrupted and many
miles of rail lines were put out of service
for long periods of time by Hurricane
Agnes. Here in Northeastern Pennsyl-
penalizing once again business as well as
working men and women because of a
natural-disaster over which they had no
control,” the governor said.
(continued on PAGE SIXTEEN)
“The DOT plan...would cut
this area off at the knees.’’
HE
VOL. 85 NO. 10
TWENTY CENTS
Recreational needs and opportunities
in the Back Mountain was the topic of dis-
cussion at a recent meeting of municipal
and school district officials. George
Partilla, executive ‘director of the
Luzerne County Recreational and Cultur-
al Enrichment Authority, was the featur-
ed speaker at the meeting which was
sponsored by the Back Mountain Cultural
Center and held at the Kennedy Lounge,
College Misericordia. Howard J. Gross-
man, president of the Cultural Center,
. The Back Mountain Policemen’s As-
sociation and the Luzerne County Police
Chiefs’ Association have recently declar-
ed their support of Robert Cooper, former
Jackson Township police chief, in his ef-
fort to regain his position. The police
groups have indicated that their backing
will include financial help if necessary.
Ben Jones III, the Back Mountain as-
sociation’s solicitor, is presently repre-
senting Mr. Cooper legally. LCPCA
solicitor Joseph Giebus has been in-
structed to assist Atty. Jones in Mr.
Cooper’s behalf.
Mr. Cooper is seeking the reinstate-
ment of his position which was lost to Don
Jones, under the Police Tenure Act, at
the Jackson Township reorganization
meeting, in January.
Dallas Township ex-chief Frank Lange,
president of the county chiefs associa-
tion, has been quoted as saying that the
LCPCA will back Mr. Cooper because no
formal charge of wrongdoing was filed
by Jackson Township within five days of
the reorganizational meeting. The Police
Tenure Act, Cooper’s supporters main-
tain, does not allow for the firing, sus-
pending or demoting of a policeman with-
out such formal charges.
zational meeting, Mr. Cooper asked why
he was being ‘‘fired’’. The township
the assistant to Mr. Cooper.
Mr. Cooper then refused the lesser
position, and threatened to bring a law-
suit against the township. Jackson Town-
ship solicitor Blythe Evans is handling
the township’s defense against the
Cooper tenure chalienge.
Tim Carroll, information officer for the
BMPA, told the Post that on the recom-
mendation of their board of governors,
the group of Back Mountain policemen
They based their backing, he said, on the
allegation that ‘insufficient reasons were
given for reducing Mr. Cooper in rank.’’
Meanwhile Chief Jones and constable
Cory Askew, both of Chase, Jackson
Township, have filed a civil suit against
former Chief Cooper. The two sought the
assistance of Atty. Joseph Gale regard-
ing the implications of alleged ‘‘slurs”’
made against them by Mr. Cooper when
he had been chief.
Papers filed in the suit indicate that
fidential records about Mr. Jones and Mr.
Askew which were obtained from the
Luzerne County Juvenile Court. The suit
also alleges that Mr. Cooper sought to
publish those records in this newspaper.
A hearing on the suit set for late Feb-
ruary was postponed when Mr. Cooper’s
attorney became ill.
In the latter part of 1973, Chief Cobper
made no use of salaried Patrolman Jones
because, he told the Post, Mr. Jones was
‘“uncontrollable’’ and a ‘‘source of fric-
tion in the township.” :
chaired the meeting.
Mr. Partilla outlined the scope of his
new agency which was formed following
the ravages of Tropical Storm Agnes. The
Authority has ‘provided a series of re-
creational opportunities to many victims.
-One of the most recent was the opening of
the Kingston Armory for use by citizens
wishing to take advantage of recreational
programs.
Officials of the Dallas and Lake-Leh-
man School Districts, recreation com-
mittees or commissions and governing
body officials of the municipalities in
both districts, respresentatives of the
Luzerne County Community College,
Gate of Heaven, Penn State Wilkes-Barre
Campus, and others attended the meet-
ing.
Many suggestions were made with re-
spect to recreation needs in the area.
Among those strongly urged were the
establishment of a community center to
serve all Back Mountain residents;
additional facilities and programs for
teenagers; a community swimming pool,
basketball, baseball, and volleyball
facilities; a roller and ice skating rink,
and much more.
Ongoing recreational programs being
administered by municipalities such as
Dallas Borough and Kingston Township
were discussed. Facilities such as Col-
lege Misericordia and the Penn State
Wilkes-Barre Campus were also noted as
being utilized for recreational purposes
in addition to the Dallas School District.
Possible use of experimental programs
to encourage family use of the Penn State
Campus was noted in light of the energy
crisis and the need to utilize local
facilities more effectively as the gasoline
shortage gets worse.
It was also noted that recreational op-
portunities were limited at the present
time in the Lake-Lehman Area, and that
there was a need to maximize the use of
all facilities for the benefit of all Back
Mountain residents.
(continued on PAGE SEVEN TEEN)
One of three arson charges facing a
young Forty Fort man is for a Lehman
Township fire ‘‘on or about’’ Dec. 10, 1973.
George Anthony Golias, 22, of 50 Durkee
St., Forty Fort, was charged by Wyoming
Barracks State Police fire marshall Paul
G. Cotter, with having set fire to fiber
glass insulation on the beam of a garage
section ‘‘of a home...owned by Sarah Ann
Cybul, RD 5, Shavertown.
Mrs. Cybul told the Post that the Dec.
10 fire only smouldered and caused no
damage. She added that a Nov. 12 storage
shed fire at Town and Country Manor,
Kingston Township, owned by her hus-
band, Paul Cybul, might also have been
set by Mr. Golias.
Mrs. Cybul said that she couldn’t go
into detail about the case before the hear-
ing, but she did note that Mr. Golias had
once worked for them.
* Mr. Golias, who is in Luzerne County
Prison in default of bail, is also charged
with setting fires at the Hy-Art Lamp
Manufacturing Company, South Franklin
and Horton Streets, Wilkes-Barre, Feb. .
pany, Mill Street and Gardner Avenue,
Wilkes-Barre, Feb. 26.
Mr. Golias was arraigned ' before
magistrate Stephen Stephanides of
Swoyersville March 1, following his ar-
rest by fire marshall Cotter, Wilkes-Bar-
re police detectives David Farrell and
Edward Cunningham, and Wilkes-Barre
fire captains Joseph Lynch and George
Soltis. He was arrested at the Frieder
Cigar Company where he was employed.
Assisting in the investigation were
State Police Lt. Chester Dudick and
detective William Berneski.
Mr. Golias is reported to have admitted
setting the three fires. He denied, how-
ever, having any part in the bomb scares
that have plagued the Hy-Art and Frieder
firms recently. ;
Dallas magistrate Leonard Harvey has
scheduled a March 8 hearing on the local
arson charge. Bail for that Shnres was
set at $1,000.