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Vol. 93, No. 48
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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.