EArt _— PAGE FOUR In a special meeting Friday, Oct. 27, Dallas School Board directors ap- coach of the Dallas School District, a position left vacant by the recent resignation of Joseph O’Donnell, who left the district to accept a position at Montrose High School. The board also appointed Joseph T. Swanberry of Wilkes-Barre as assistant wrestling coach for the 1978- 79 school year. Mrs. Sally Riegel of Trucksville was appointed as the junior high school majorettes advisor for the school year. cops ee Brobst was appointed to the coach position by a unanimous 8-0 vote of the board with only four taxpayers at the meeting, one a local news reporter. A Dallas native, Brobst is not new to the district having coached Dallas varsity teams from 1956 to 1970 running a record of 223 wins against only 97 losses. During that time Brobst had three undefeated teams and three district championships. He also won the Eastern Regional crown in 1959. Brobst stated that although he has not coached since 1970, he loves the Susan and Sam Merrill will stop voting booth and ask them to fill in a secret unsigned ballot. The voters are asked to fill in the There also are questions dealing with such issues as sales tax, income tax, inflation and abortion. The ballot also asks the voters to name their choice of candidates for the House of Representative and Congrees It deals with issues of priority such as crime and tax cuts. The Merrills will ask the voters by Liz Seymour. As negotiations began Monday between labor and management at the Times-Leader Evening News, the newspaper's purchaser, Capital Cities kicked off a public relations campaign designed, in the word of one Spokesman, to “present the newspaper ’s side of the picture.” Richard Connor, Chief of Operations, addressed repre- sentatives of local newspapers, radio and television stations at a luncheon at the City Squire Restaurant. Denouncing what he termed ‘‘the have gone unchecked by local police” throughout the strike, Connor gave his 7:30a.m. to11:30 a.m. and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. The answers to the questions asked during the day will give NBC an idea of the way the vote is going. Susan Merrill will be wearing two hats on election day since she is a member of the League of Women Voters and the league is doing the same type project for ABC. The totals reported to NBC by the Merrills will be fed into a computer which will give the newsmen a composite projection of voting throughout the state. Susan said that there was no special reason that she and her husband were as coach kids, the school and sports and that it means a lot to him to have a suc- cessful athletic program at the school which has been his life. He indicated that there is a lot of talent in the Dallas District and he is confident that he can coach Dallas back to a winning program. He did not say that it will be this year, however. “It takes time to build and that is what I want to get started at right away. Winning won't be easy but I'm confident I can provide the leadership necessary to bring good basketball to Dallas.” to NBC selected to report on the precinct located in the Shavertown Fire Company's building. “We had certain characteristics they needed to complete a total projection. NBC asked Common Cause to select a precinct with these characteristics and from the 250 members of Common Cause in this congressional district, Common Cause selected us. Actually, it is an inexpensive way for NBC News to obtain the reports of the election. NBC will pay us but we will turn the money over to Common Cause.” by the Rev. Charles H. Gilbert It is usual, I believe, that one likes then begin to wish for some of the “good old days’ when the world was so much better, we think. But that is not my idea today. I have been one who always was looking ahead for some new evidence of progress, some new hope for the present and some new faith for tomorrow. I am not running my wheels in the ruts of the old days. But something I can forsee in the near future, right in front of our house, has disturbed me lately. I see it when I am walking my dog up the road. I look down a great deal, and I watch traffic, too. And what I see I want to pass on to you who see me looking down and up. When I look down I see this road we have lived on for the past 20 years. We were living here when it underwent a great renewal and rebuilding project. in 1960. Those great machines which we loved to watch at work, and the biggest one had a smaller but bulldozer push from behind to get this rocky ledge opposite our house cut down. We used to be level with the road bed, but after that work we sit five feet above it. The new road was made 22 feet wide instead of 14. Rollers went back and forth to pack it down hard.” The blacktop was smooth and beatuiful to drive on. There was a wide berm to walk on, each side of the pavement. An excellent job, done well. That was then. I have seen the rain pour down, and try to decide which way to run, for we are at the water- shed on this hill. Some goes down the hill, toward the creek and the river. Some goes into the swamp and over to Norman Lewis’ pond before going down the other creek to the river. And some works its way straight down under the pavement through little cracks. When I walk, I have to watch side to side and ahead and behind to see what these great railroad freight cars on rubber tires are going to do. I don’t want them to run over my Kynarion dog on her leash, so I pull her out of the way. The wide berm isn’t so smooth any more, and the weeds were only cut once this summer, so it’s not so good to walk on now. Those great loads of commerce keep coming in low and low-low gears up our hill from the river road and then back down to the level highway again in Wyoming. They probably don’t like having to come up this winding two-mile hill and around the corner at the top any better than we like having them on our road. But they can’t get under the Coxton Bridge, with its 12’6’’ clearance. Sometimes they try it, and almost lose their tops. Sometimes they squeeze through by going under the wrong side of the underpass, very, very slowly, while oncoming traffic has to wait more or less patiently. Sometimes they get partway through and decide they had better back out and turn around, a slow process while school bus loads of children wait to get home, and parents on their way home from work sit in their cars and watch. So as far north as Falls the highway department starts warning trucks of the need for coming up one of our hill roads to avoid that bridge. And commerce keeps saying, “We need to have bigger and bigger trucks on the roads to carry more and more goods efficiently.” Now when my cane goes tap, tap on the road, I hear hollow places. And when I look down I see bigger cracks. The whole surface between here and the corner is a network of cracks, and the edges are crumbling. Last spring, when driving up our hill Cathy learned to swerve and twist to avoid most of the potholes. They were eventually patched after months of waiting, and probably plenty of cussing from the drivers of the big trucks which helped to make them. Now there are new ones star- ting at the edge of the patches. And from here to the corner, which I can see closely, I can see that our beautiful road is breaking up. And that is what I see in our future, friends and neighbors. Oh, for the good old days! I used to see roads being built with horses and scrapers. And Oberdorfer Road was built so beautifully with modern machinery back in 1960. But it going to pieces and by spring it may not be fit for me to walk on. My cane won’t be able to push chunks of blacktop out of the way, and it will be dangerous for me to walk with potholes in my path. I don’t really expect PennDOT to take that into consideration when spending our gas tax. But I can hope that the trucking people complain. account of Capital Cities’ involvement with the newspapers and the unions. According to Connor, at the time Capital Cities purchased the Wilkes- Barre paper, it was warned by members of the international news- paper unions that there would be a strike at the Wilkes-Barre Publishing Company when current contracts ran out. It was this warning, Connor said, that led the company to erect a chain link fence around the property, install surveillance equipment, and make arrangements to hire security guards. Connor asserted that company representatives met with the unions in purchase, in an. effort to ward off a strike. He claimed that union repre- sentatives had made a pact beforehand not to talk at that meeting, making communication “very difficult” between labor and management. When contacted later, Paul Golias, spokesman for the Wilkes-Barre Council of Newspaper Unions denied the allegation, saying ‘‘There was an obvious air of apprehension among the workers because of what has happened in Pontiac, Michigan, but no pact of silence.” During the summer, claimed Connor, management made numerous attempts to meet with the three unions involved. He said that Capital Cities ‘repeatedly’ proposed meeting dates to the Wilkes-Barre Typographical Union, but that union representatives failed to come to the meetings. Golias attributed that failure to ‘normal scheduling problems.” According to Connor, negotiations did not begin until late in September. The typographers struck on Oct. 6. That strike has not been sanctioned by. the International Typographical Union, due to what Golias termed ‘purely technical problems’, and it’s members are not receiving strike benefits from the international union. Connor said that Capital Cities and representatives of the Newspaper Guild had met during the summer, but that no meeting lasted longer than half an hour. Golias termed that ~ At a news conference last Wed- nesday, representatives of Capital Cities Communications, Inc. deplored what they called “mob rule and mob violence” in connection with the strike at the Wilkes-Barre Publishing ~ Richard Connor, operating officer ‘of the Times-Leader Evening News, protection the newspaper has received from the Wilkes-Barre Police Department, saying that he was ‘‘appalled by the lack of cooperation from the police.” The news conference was called after an early morning incident in Ars by Capital Cities were beaten, one of them requiring hospitalization. According to Connor, a van carrying newspaper employees and at the building’s gates at 5 a.m., and was met by a crowd of pickets. As employees attempted to enter the building they were pushed and shoved by the crowd. Connor stated that the failed to respond. At 6 a.m. another van arrived, incident one of the plainclothes guards reportedly saw a uniformed Wackenhut guard being dragged into an alley by picketers, and went to his defense. At that point, Connor claims, the crowd turned on the plain clothes guard and beat him until police arrived on the scene. Connor reported that the guard was hospitalized with injuries around the head and face, and possible damage in the kidney region. Connor showed photographs of the two beaten men, displaying the extent of their facial injuries. ~ Connor made a distinction between the Wackenhut guards who he stated were hired to protect the building, and hired after the strike began to protect the newspaper’s employees. Ac- cording to Connor the Wackenhut guards are not armed, but the The Times-Leader Evening News has been published sporadically since the beginning of the strike more than publishing regularly despite what he called ‘‘lawlessness by a few in- dividuals and the unwillingness of the police to enforce fhe court-ordered -injunction.”’ He claimed that on Monday and Leader Evening News had been accepted into 52,000 homes. The normal circulation of the paper is 69,000. Connor said that he and other Capital Cities representatives had met with the police following Wed- nesday’s disturbances, and that the alleged failure to the police to respond was under investigation. Connor would not rule out the suggestion of federal intervention, saying that Capital Cities was ‘‘exploring every possibility.” The striking unions have charged that Capital Cities purchased the Times-Leader Evening News with the intention of forcing a strike’ among its workers. One point of contention has been the chain link fence erected in May by the new owners. Connors said that Capital Cities had a violent strike when the contract ran out, and installed the fence to protect the newspaper property. ‘The mob violence we have witnessed makes us believe that we were not unjustified in erecting the fence,” he sated. Connor claimed that there had been four violent strikes at the Times- Leader and it parent companies since the 1930s. He stated that in 25 years the Capital Cities conglomerate had experienced only two strikes, both at the same paper in Pontiac, Michigan. He was not able to say how many of the Capital Cities affiliated newspapers and broadcast outlets were unionized, but he said that “most had at least one union on the premises.” no negotiations were going on, although Connor stated that Capital Cities would ‘‘come to the table when called.” Connor said that neither he nor the Capital Cities lawyers had been contacted by federal mediators. According to Conner all offers, with the exception “ihese to the Pressmen’s EE s represet Capital Cities’ first offers, and are jopen to negotiation. Capital Cities land the Pressmen’s Union hg been negotiating for some weeks pefore the strike was called. Ig At 5 a.m. this morning, Wilkes- Barre Publishing Company, owned by Capital Cities Communications, Inc. of New York, once again attempted to use brute force and bloodshed to impose its views upon the citizens of Wyoming Valley. Today, however, they dlso went one step further and used guns. In the early morning hours of today, seven pickets were peacefully picket- ing in front of the Wilkes-Barre Publishing Company. On two occasions in less than one hour, strikebreakers, delivered by the vanload and reinforced by Wackenhut guards, assaulted pickets and caused mayhem. In the midst of this unwarranted attack, a private security guard, hired by Wilkes-Barre Publishing Company, brandished a loaded revolver. Fortunately, pickets were able to disarm the publishing company guard before anyone could be seriously injured. In tandem with attacks on Wilkes- Barre citizens, Wilkes-Barre Publishing Company tells blatant lies publicly, by announcing that it made offers to one of the unions when, in fact, no such offer was made. Bruce Connor, director of operations for the company, an- nounced that the publishing company had offered Wilkes-Barre Typo- graphical Union $50,000 for every job up to 40 that the union would agree to sell out. No such offer has ever been made. The Wilkes-Barre Council of News- paper Unions at this time calls upon the Wilkes-Barre Publishing Com- pany to come to the bargaining table and spell out its position if in fact it has one. Various community leaders in- cluding Judge Podcasy have urged that the dispute be settled at the bargaining table. But the company has shown no inclination to date to bargain in good faith. Instead, Capital Cities has chosen to try to do its bargaining on the streets and in the press. Wilkes-Barre Council of Newspaper Unions at this time has notified the Federal Mediation Service that it is requesting a meeting be set so that if in fact Capital Cities does have an offer, the council may hear what it is, across the bargaining table which is as it should be. Further, the council would like to be recorded as having no objection to the press attending any such meeting. The Wilkes-Barre Council of Newspaper Unions has instructed its attorney to ask Judge Podcasy to bring the parties together in informal session to seek resolution of this situation and an end to possibilities of further picket line confrontations. The council feels'that Capital Cities’ activities violated the restrictions of the court order issued Oct. 13. However, at this time, in an effort to avoid the filing of formal charges, the informal session has been requested. When is an undefeated team not a winner? Impossible, you say! Well, that’s what happened this weekend at the Lehman-Dallas (BTeam) Mini Football game. When Lehman tied Dallas 0 to 0 and won the league championship by virtue of a greater point differential. Each team was 5-0- 1 in league play, but Lehman scored two more than Dallas throughout the entire year and was crowned champ. We feel a grave injustice has been done to a fine group of boys who played their hearts out and fell victim to a league rule, not another football team. We the Dallas J congratulate coaching staff on an excellent job, and echo the sentiments of our boys when they told us, ‘‘They’re the toughest team we've ever played.” As far as we're concerned, you're every bit as entitled to the champ- ionship as we are. We salute you, the Lehman Lions ‘‘B” team coaching staff and players. Tom McLaughlin - Don Weidner Ted Gabel Tom Stepanski Randy Jones and the Lions statement ‘‘incorrect.’”’ Numerous negotiations did take place between the company and the Pressman’s Union, according to Connor. He said that by early Sep- tember the contract with the union was 90 percent completed and initialed, but that on Sept. 11 union officials announced their desire to start over. Connor said that from his ex- perience with other comparable sized papers he felt that the Times-Leader Evening News had too many workers in the pressroom. Both sides agree that no offer has been made at the bargaining table to buy out-the local pressroom workers. Connor stated that Capital Cities “had available” $2 million for such a buy-out, and that the availability of these funds had been discussed with union officials. Connor dated the serious violence of the strike from the night of Oct. 13, when vans and trucks belonging to the newspaper were severely damaged. Oct. 13 was the day that an injunction was issued against the strikers. Last week an incident occurred when the guard tried to pull a gun on the crowd. Connor asserted that the guard was ‘‘attempting to protect his weapon’ from capture by the crowd. Connor announced that John Burgess, the injured guard, had left the hospital and was flown home to Pittsburgh on Monday. Another incident of lesser violence that occurred last week had been filmed, and that film was shown at the luncheon. The film, taken from inside the front door of the Wilkes-Barre Publishing Company, showed em- small crowd of pickets and uniden- tified onlookers. In the filmed incident a female employee is spat upon, and a male employee is pulled to the ground. According to Connor the woman was also pushed to the ground outside of camera range. Prominent in the film is a man Connor identified as Carl Romanelli, editor of the Citizen’s Voice, who rushes the cameraman and attempts to cover the lens with his hand. picket line at the time of the filmed incident but that he did not rush the cameraman. He said that he did stand in front of the camera and waved his hand but did not touch the camera lens. Romanelli added that the from the window, then later came downstairs with his camera. Connors stated that on Thursday he decided that they had sufficient evidence to call for an arrest warrant on two men in connection with the violence. Connor declined to identify the two men by name, but said that one was a local man, and the other was an outside organizer for one of the unions. Some confusion and controversy have surrounded that warrant. Ac- cording to Connor, a warrant was taken to District Attorney Chester Muroski for signature by Captain John Swim of the Wilkes-Barre Police Department. Connor claims that Muroski refused to sign the warrant until Swim’s authority to present it had been approved by the Mayor’s Office, and that Mayor Lisman deferred the decision until the City Council had met. When asked about the allegation, Mayor Lisman said ‘No warrant was ever turned over to me, and if it had City Council. That is not a Council matter.” . Ray Carlsen Blaze Carlsen... ... Mrs. T.M.B. Hicks Charlot Denmon Bea LaBar Joe Wright Bob Tomaine Kay Whitehead James Smith March 3, 1889. Subscriptions. $7 per year. Telephone 675-5211 or 825-6868. POSTMAST 9
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers