Ww Vol. 93, No. 48 Ovel YOR RA Porras rir Fe rosrennaprinting By DOTTY MARTIN Associate Editor Don’t be afraid of all the “hype” surrounding the highly publicized changes in the telephone industry because chances are great that you, as a customer, won’t notice any - at least not right away. It seems with all the publicity and all the advertising seen in the past few months about deregulation, fed- eral government mandates and the breakup of the Bell System, confu- sion is the only thing phone custom- ers have come away with. “Deregulation” and ‘deregulated environment,” terms telephone cus- tomers will hear often and terms that mean nothing other than the fact that terminal equipment is no longer regulated by the federal gov- ernment, is simply one more step in the advancement of the telecom- munication industry. Linda ‘Stallone, residence sales manager for. Commonwealth Tele- phone Company, says the changes can be made very easy to under- stand and looks forward to a more progressive system because of them. Commonwealth, the independent telephone company that services the entire Back Mountain community, is not responsible for the changes, but is rather, as Stallone puts it, “responding to what the federal government has called for.” “The (Commonwealth) Telephone Company has inherited the obliga- tion to help customers,” Stallone said. “We want to help customers. We welcome: calls from our custom- ers.’ So, if you are confused, don’t hesitate to call a customer service representative at Commonwealth Telephone Co. There’s a room full of such representatives at the 'com- pany’s Service Center on Route 309 and they have all been educated to answer any questions their custom- ers may have regarding telephone changes. The first change that you, as a Commonwealth customer, may notice, but should not panic over, is the way toll calls are presented on your monthly bill. Effective with your January, 1984 phone bill, toll calls will be listed separately and will appear as AT&T calls. All this means is that AT&T is the company contracted by Com- monwealth to provide Back Moun- tain customers with long-distance capabilities. As far as payment of your monthly phone bill is con- cerned, the procedure is the same. A friendly helper fi Dallas Post/Dotty Martin attire in” a Santa telephones available for Telephone Co. by the Public Utility Commission which told independent’ telephone companies what telephone rental rates they could charge. With dere- gulation of terminal equipment, Commonwealth has established its own monthly rental rates which are directly related to the cost of pro- viding customers with telephone equipment. Secondly, you return the broken phone to Commonwealth and pur- chase your own phone from any retail store, thus eliminating a monthly rental charge. Most retail stores, department stores, discount until that equipment needs repair. Before, when the telephone you use every day needed repair, you called Commonwealth’s Service Center and a repairman was sent to replace it with another phone. You now have three options as to what to do when your phone breaks. First, you continue to lease a phone from Commonwealth at a monthly rental charge. When you change equipment however, your monthly rental rate may change from the rate you are accustomed to paying. Until Jan. 1, 1983, Joseph O’Donnell was elected president of the Dallas School Board for 1984 at the board’s reorganiza- tion meeting held Dec. 6. Ernest Ashbridge Jr. was elected vice president and one of three Dallas representatives on the West Side Area Vocational Technical School Board. Newly-elected board members were sworn in by Luzerne County Judge Robert Hourigan. They are John George, Donald R. Jones, Harry Sickler, Albert Pisaneschi and Ashbridge. School directors whose terms did not expire in 1983 include Dr. Wil- liam Camp, Tex Wilson and O’Don- nell. A vacancy exists on the school board because George, who was elected to both a two-year seat and a four-year seat, chose to serve the four-year term. The board was accepting applica- tions from any district residents in filling the seat and was expected to make an announcement at a special meeting held Dec. 12. The Dallas School Board conducts regular monthly meetings on the second Monday of every month at 8 p.m. in the administrative offices. | Joseph “Red” Jones was named president of the Lake-Lehman School Board while Thomas Wil- liams was named first vice presi- dent and Bing Wolf, second vice president. The appointments were made at a reorganization meeting of the board held Dec. 6. Other board members include Gil- bert Tough, Donald Jones, Allen Keiper, Edward Mark and Marty Noone. Luzerne County Judge Robert Hourigan Magistrate Leon- ard Harvey conducted swearing-in ceremonies for members elected in November's general election. School director Marty Noon was appointed to the Back Mountain Library Board. Regular school board meetings are conducted on the second Tues- day of each month. last week just so she could s station, pulling an outof.c dog sitting in the back seat sitting in the parking lof waiting took a ride down Church Street al pack to the sorvies viously got tired of ar fo come along, so il Be prepared A You still pay Commonwealth Tele- phone Co. the total amount of the bill and you still make out only one check, payable to Commonwealth Telephone Co. The only thing Commonwealth is doing by changing the format of your monthly bill is informing you that AT&T is the company that provides you with long-distance service. Remember, payment of the bill is still the same as always. The second major change, which was put into effect in January, 1983 and which involves the telephone equipment in your home, is some- thing that probably won’t be noticed stores and catalog showrooms now carry a full line of telephones and telephone equipment for purchase. Thirdly, you can return the broken phone to Commonwealth and purchase a phone from Common- wealth at its ‘Phones & More” Store, located in the company’s service center. i According to Stallone, phones pur- chased from Commonwealth come with a six month warranty so that should something go wrong with the equipment, Commonwealth will either repair or replace it. In addi- tion to that six months, most tele- phone manufacturers that Common- wealth deals .with, offer the customer another six month war- ranty. In other words, purchasing tele- phone equipmenf is just like pur- chasing anything else - you take your chances and, should something go wrong with that equipment, you must pay to have it repaired. Stallone, who does not believe that owning a telephone is for everyone, says the decision as to whether to purchase or lease telephone equip- ment, depends entirely on the indi- vidual. ‘‘Some people are security- minded,’”’ she said. “They want the security of having a phone, but they don’t want the responsibility of owning one, so they lease the equip- ment. “Then, there are the economi- cally-minded,” she added. ‘They would rather buy and pay for repairs so they can eliminate the monthly rental charges.” It seems one change anticipated by most phone customers is an increase in monthly telephone rates. Stallone, however, said that although the possibility of a monthly rate increase exits, Commonwealth does not foresee any significant increases. “The possibility of a rate increase does exist,”” she said. “Such an increase would be seen in a monthly however, offers the line of terminal equipment.” as Stallone home to the telephone network. Dallas Post/Dotty Martin (See PHONES, page 8) 25 Cents Here’s how Linda Stallone, residence sales manager for Common- wealth Telephone Co., dis- plays a telephone cased in leather in the company's former retail store. Common- wealth opened its new ‘Phones & More'’ Store Tuesday at its Service Center on Route 309 in Dallas. access charge, an idea that is cur- rently being reviewed by the federal government.” Stallone explained that should governmental officials approve the increase, Commonwealth customers will be affected. The increase would mean an additional $2.00 per month for residents and $6.00 per month for businesses. However, should a monthly increase become a reality, Back Mountain telephone customers would not be affected until April 1984. Stressing the availability of Com- monwealth service representatives who are educated to respond fo questions relative to these changes, Stallone feels it is important that Commonwealth customers under- stand the phone company is not making these changes on its own. The federal government has forced these changes upon independent tel- ephone companies and the compa- nies are simply responding to the governmental mandates. “Deregulation is a challenge to independent phone companies like Commonwealth,” Stallone said. “But it is a necessary step in the progress of the tele-communication industry.” By JANE C. BOLGER Staft Correspondent “The deer Kill this year should be close to 60 or 70,000, comparable to last year,” according to Ed Gdosky, Pa. Game Protector, who covers the territory on the west side of the Susquehanna River. This estimate includes both the two-week buck season, the two-day doe season that ended yesterday and the Black Powder Muzzle Loading season that starts today and runs through Sunday. Both buck and doe can be brought down by muzzle, but under a new law this year only round balls may be used .as ammunition. The pre- viously allowed mini and maxi balls are prohibited. That is “to keep the hunt as primitive as possible,” said Gdosky, commenting that some of the new muzzle loaders ‘‘are almost as modern as rifles. “This has been been one of the worst years for poaching,” stated Gdosky who has been with the Pa. Game Commission for 26 years, reporting that he has made 18 arrests for hunting at night and has also cited three juveniles. “We are finding hides and heads hidden in many sports,”’ he reported. “We need help from the public.” Gdosly advised, ‘If you see some- one breaking the law, get the number of their hunting license, or a description of their car, and call us right away if you see something suspicious going on.” Gdosky’s 24 hours a day telephone number at the Game Commission is 639-1730, the central office number which is on call until 2 a.m. is 675-1143. “Poachers receive a $200 field fine and lose their hunting license for three years,” according to Gdosky. A similar $200 fine is also levied for ‘hunting over bait on a salt lick” even if the same hunter did not actually place the bait in that location according to Gdosky. He identifed common deer bait as apples and corn which bears also like, along with fish, cookies and stale donuts. Other common fines that the Game Protector and his deputies have been citing people for in-the field are illegal tagging, $25; loaded guns in cars, $10 if parked and $25 if traveling; borrowed license, $20 fine for each party; wearing less than 1,000 sqaure inches of flourescent orange (not red), $20. While initial reports of the deer kill seem to be within the expected range, the two-day bear season this year was not, according to the Game Commission.
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