DRIVE CAREFULLY
we O YOUR KIDS! |
Hang in there, folks!
MUST BE THAT TIME
AGAIN WHEN THINGS
GET A LITTLE TENSE
IN THE SCHOOLS...
finn 4G
Only yesterday
50 YEARS AGO - MAY 18, 1934
The swing against Governor Gifford Pinchot’s state
machine was evident in results of the local primary
election. The Back Mountain region favored Republi-
can candiates Schnader, Turpin and Shortz.
Miss Nora Burke served as May Queen for College
_Misericordia. Students moved in procession from
McAuley Hall to the grotto of Our Lady where the
Blessed Virgin statue was crowned. Monsignor J.J.
Curran, St. Mary's Church, officiated at the service.
You could get - Smoked picnic hams, '12¢ 1b.; pink
salmon, 2 tall cans, 23c; cigarettes, $1.17 carton;
butter, 3 Ibs., 79¢; chuck pot roast, 12%c Ib.; Wesson
oil, 25¢ pt.; peaches, 2 lbs. 23c; Maxwell House Coffee,
32¢ 1b.
’ 40 YEARS AGO - MAY 19, 1944
Ruggles sawmill at Beaumont valued at $8,000 was
completely destroyed by fire. Piles of newly-cut
lumber worth $8,000 were saved. Harry Ruggles, Jr.,
Idetown was one of the owners.
One hundred firemen representing Trucksville,
Shavertown and Dr. Henry N. Laing fire companies
were the guests of Herbert Hill, Shavertown florist at
a good will dinner at Shavertown Methodist Church.
Speakers were Rev. Felix Zaffiro, pastor; Willard
Lozo, Shavertown; Joe Bulford, Trucksville; Henry
Peterson, Henry M. Laing Company and the host Mr.
“Hill.
Married - Jimmi Walls to T. Sgt. Kepner; Betty
Jane VanHorn to Pfc. Luther H. Phillips.
Deaths - Clinton Brown, Lehman School Director;
Earl Bellas, Jr., Centermoreland; John Campbell,
Shavertown:; Karl Rebennack, Meeker.
You could get - Sliced beef liver, 35c 1b.; haddock
fillets, 36c 1lb.; citrus marmalade, 2 Ib. jar 25c;
seedless raisins, 15¢ pkg.; shredded wheat, 11¢ pkg.;
"tomatoes, 25¢ 1b.; potatoes, 5 1b. 29¢; cabbage 5¢ solid
head.
30 YEARS AGO - MAY 21, 1954
Lehman-Jackson-Ross chose their May Queen court.
~ Chosen by a popular vote of the student body were
Barbara Trethaway, Shirley Campbell, Janice Barnes,
Margaret Harrison, Jane Conner, Therese Rodriguez.
In a hotly contested primary contest between Harold
Flack and Senator T. Newell Wood, Wood carried all
Back Mountain municipalities except Dallas Township
where a tie occurred.
Sherman Kunkle served as chariman for the annual
Sweet Valley parade. Eight bands were scheduled to
appear in the parade as well as antique and modern
fire equipment and various floats. The fair ground
festivities included wood-sawing and wood-chopping
contests for women as well as men.
Engaged - Margaret Strayer to Attorney Charles
Bowman Strome.
Married - Dorothy Cornell to Charles Antabiln;
Beverly Ann Conrad to A-3C David Ruth; Alice Kibler
and Remigius Williams.
Deaths - John Space Jr., Noxen; Edgar Williams,
Dallas. :
You could get - Rib roast, 49c 1b.; veal roast, 49c Ib.;
haddock, 43c lb.; sweet corn, lg. ears, 6-29¢; apples, 3
Ibs., 43c; peanut buter, 12 oz. jar 37c¢; Mazola salad
oil, 73¢c qt.; Kleenex facial tissue, 3 pkg. 200s, 45c.
20 YEARS AGO - MAY 21, 1964
Mrs. Mary R. Dale, Allentown assumed duties as
head librarian at the Back Mountain Memorial
Library. Formerly with the Allentown library, she
received her degree in Library Science from Western
Reserve Library School.
For the first time Dallas High School golfers
captured first place in the District 2 championship.
Bob Allen and Ralph Elston competed in the 30th
annual PIAA Championship in State College following
the team win.
Engaged - Irene C. Sickler to James Melvyn
Seward; Marybeth Keast to Dayton E. Garnett; Ann
Mari Dorrance to Kurt Steiner Ulrich.
You could get - Sirloin steak, 69c lb.; picnic hams,
25¢ '1b.; haddock fillet, 45¢ lb.; 3 doz. eggs, 95¢;
tomatoes, 25¢ lb.; 1. gal. Farmdale ice cream, 59¢; 8
oz. pkg. cream cheese, 29c; applesauce, 25-0z. jar,
29¢; Scott’s toilet tissue, 11c. roll.
10 YEARS AGO - MAY 16, 1974
Rebecca Greschuk, a graduating senior at College
Misericordia, was selected to receive the Fulbright-
Hays Scholarship for the academic year 1974-75. This
was the first time in the college’s 50-year history that
a student received this prestigious award.
Plans for a soap box derby to be held on Mt. Olivet
Road, Carveton Heights were finalized. Boys and girls
10 to 15 were eligible to enter. The race was sponsored
by the Kingston Township Recreation Committee.
Engaged - Michelle Karis and William C. Frederick;
Kathie Ann Beisel to James Roman; Mary Jo Brozena
to Robert Wojtowicz.
Married - Karen Ann Brown to Craig Lyndon
Hensle.
Anniversaries - Mr. and Mrs. Richard J. Griffith, 32
ears.
id Deaths - Morgan Price, Hunlock Creek; Lewis J.
Kyttle, Hunlock Creek; Flora Baer Wilson, Dallas;
William Harris, Harveys Lake; James Hutchinson,
Trucksville. :
You could get - Chuck roast, $1.09 Ilb.; skinless
franks, 99c¢ 1b.; roasting chickens 59c 1b.; fresh
strawberries, 2 pts., $1; Florida oranges, 59¢ doz.;
Land O’ Lakes butter, 69¢ 1b.; Dial soap, 4 reg. bars,
Tie SIALLAS
(USPS 147-720
(inthe Jean Shop Building)
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AS PAPER
OL NEWSPAPE
dah
1984
Refund checks
being rushed
State Treasurer R. Budd Dwyer
assured hundreds of thousands of
Pennsylvania taxpayers today that
his Department is rushing distribu-
tion of their anxiously awaited
income tax refund checks to them
‘as expeditiously and swiftly as
possible.”
Dwyer declared his Department
has already processed and mailed
over 883,000 of the refund checks
Classified Ad
and he has placed his staff on an
indefinite overtime basis until the
remaining payments authorized by
the Revenue Department’s Bureau
of Examinations are on their way to
taxpayers eagerly awaiting them.
“Once we get transmittal vouch-
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
$14. out of state
Paid in Advance
1
ers from the Revenue Department,”
Dwyer said, “our people work rap-
1dly to complete the processing and
mailing. We here at Treasury know
how important it is to taxpayers to
: et their refunds as fast as we can
J. Stephen Buckley. . .. i. uh iii ol hy ae Publisher Be ¥hcth ont. This 1% 4 large project
! : in addition to our regular work-
BillSavage. . ... i... seis Managing Editor load.”
Dotty Martin i... aati pias did oo ssociate Editor }
Mike Danowski..: ida), vos Advertising Representative b The Tronturer said Jat he has
Sheila Hodges... dat. wid. Circulation Manager Yi at the total number
nds to be distributed this
year may run to an estimated 1.5
million.
3
OPINION
By EDWIN FEULNER
With April behind-us, the IRS is sorting through the
last of the estimated 96-million income tax returns
Americans filed for 1983. The take for the U.S.
treasury is an estimated $300 billion - hardly what
you’d call pocket change.
And contrary, to what the liberal champions of the
“oppressed” repeatedly tell us, the wealthy - with all
their so-called tax avoidance schemes - were stuck
with the lion’s share of the tax bill.
Recent analysis by U.S. News & World Report and
Boston economic analyst Warren Brookes show that
the relatively few wealthy people in the United States
pay the bulk of all taxes - both as a percentage of
income and in real dollars. And, Brookes has shown,
cuts in the tax rate actually increase the amount paid
by those in the upper-income brackets.
For instance, last year, some 1.5 million taxpayers
who earned over $75,000 filed tax returns for 1982. Yet,
those 1.5 million taxpayers paid 23 percent of the total
revenue collected by the IRS. In the middle-income
brackets, those earning $20,000 to $75,000, 34-million
taxpayers, paid 62 percent of the revenue collected.
The dollar figures are even more revealing. In real
terms, the one-and-a-half million upper-income tax-
payers paid $63.8 billion in taxes. The approximately
59-millin taxpayers earning less than $20,000 a year, on
the other hand paid less than $42 billion in taxes.
Moreover, the roughly 8,200 millionaires, who filed in
1983 handed over as much to the feds as did the 34-
million wage earners who earned less than $10,000. Is
that catering to the rich?
the average, almost 40 percent of their income to the
tax man, despite the ‘‘tax schemes’’ that we have been
led to believe enable the wealthy to get away without
paying any taxes. A person who made $20,000 to
$25,000 gave the federal treasury 12.3 percent of his or
her income. Some would argue that since a millionaire
makes 50 times more than a $20,000 wage earner, he
should pay 50 times more in taxes. But if that were the
case you'd find yourself living in a country where no
one has any reason to work any harder or take any
more chances than the next fellow. Why would anyone
bother? :
Tax-and-spend liberals like to cite data showing that
the U.S. has the second lowest tax rate of any
industrial nation in the world, second only to Japan.
With a 31 percent average tax burden (as a share of
total deomestic output), the U.S. looks pretty attrac-
tive to those paying 44 percent in France, 40 percent in
Britain, and 37 percent in West Germany.
Unfortunately, these figures only take federal taxes
into consideration. When one includes city, county and
state income taxes, as well as sales and excise taxes,
we find that U.S. working people face one of the
highest tax-burdens in the world. And the wealthier
one is the more one pays.
Those self-proclaimed ‘champions of the poor” had
better do their homework before they get on the ‘sock
it to the rich” bandwagon. They obviously don’t know
what they’re talking about.
(Edwin Feulner is president of The Heritage Foun-
dation, a Washington-based policy research institute.)
®
Here is a summary of important
event that occurred on Capitol Hill
last week from: Rep. Frank Coslett,
120th Legislative District.
DEBATE BEGAN this week on
the commonwealth’s 1984-85 budget.
The measure, introduced by House
Democrat leaders, differs in certain
areas from the budget proposed by
Gov. Dick Thornburgh in February.
Members overwhelmingly approved
an amendment which bars the use
of approximately $62 million in lot-
tery funds fo mortgage assistance
and aid to the disabled. Proponents
of the amendment said use of the
funds would violate the Legisla-
ture’s ‘‘social contract’ to use lot-
tery profits for programs aiding the
elderly and that general fund reve-
nues should be used for the affected
programs. Opponents said state lot-
tery funds have been used for addi-
tional programs such as tax and
rent rebates for the disabled.
-0-
OTHER BUDGET amendments
approved included the restoration of
funding for the governor’s proposed
$48 million ‘‘excellence in educa-
tion’’ program, $15 million for a
revised school subsidy formula and
$10 million for merit awards for
teachers.
-0-
THE HOUSE Judiciary Commit-
tee approved and sent to the House
floor a bill adding 13 common pleas
judgeships in counties across the
state. Two more judgeships would
be adding 13 common pleas judge-
ships in counties across the state.
Two more judgeships would be
added in Erie County and one each
in Adams, Berks, Blair, Bucks,
Chester, Clearfield, Cumberland,
Delaware, Westmoreland, York and
the judicial district in Snyder and
Union counties. The Commonwealth
Court would also be expanded by
two members. A judge in one of the
affected counties said ‘‘we are
drowning in cases” and urgently
need another judge.
By HOWARD J. GROSSMAN
On April 10, the Electorate of
Pennsylvania approved a referen-
dum authorizing a $190 million eco-
nomic development bond issue. By a
vote of nearly two-to-one, the bond
issue was enacted, and now the
General Assembly of Pennsylvania
has a task of providing the legisla-
tion to implement the bond issue.
Over a three to four year span of
time, these bonds will be issued to
encourage economic growth in a
variety of ways, many of which will
become important to the seven
vania. In Carbon, Lackawanna, Luz-
erne, Monroe, Pike, Schuylkill and
Wayne, many organizations will
gear up to apply for certain grants
or loans and both the public and
private sectors will have an oppor-
tunity to participate.
The Economic Development Coun-
cil of Northeastern Pennsylvania
took the leadership in the region in
encouraging a yes vote, and has
assembled information on how the
funds will be utilized. The following
represents the nine parts of the
Economic Development Bond Issue
Program which will supplement the
general fund budget of the Common-
wealth and be an important ingredi-
ent toward the goal of economic
stability. These nine elements
include the following:
1. Business Infrastructure Pro-
gram to be administered by an
existing state government agency to
provide loans or grants to local
economic development agencies to
help situate a client in hand.
2. Updating of Vocational and
Technical Equipment - would pro-
vide money to the Department of
Education for the modernization of
vocational equipment. in area vo-
tech schools and community col-
leges. Recommended commitment:
$27 million.
3. Small Business Incubators
which would provide outreach
money for the building acquisition
or lease expenses including the
refurbishment of abandoned school
buildings. 5
4. Conservatiof Corps Program to
employ young people in labor inten-
sive improvement projects at public
facilities. Careful management
should be undertaken to insure that
all projects have a future value and
a potential for future revenue yield.
5. Agricultural Investments -
Loans for farming. Recommended
commitment: $10 million.
6. Community Capitalism Pro-
gram to provide two-fold assistance
to community employee groups
trying to prevent plant shutdowns.
Initial step would be payment for
professional evaluation of the feasi-
bility of employee ownership suc-
ceeding.
i
7. A modified and expanded Penn- #
sylvania Capital Loan Fund. Under
the program the loan funds could be
used for working capital as well as
land, buildings, machinery and
equipment with a maximum state
participation of 20 percent of the
total project cost or $50,000, which-
ever is less. Recommended commit-
ment: $15 million.
8. Minority Economic Develop-
ment using existing state agencies.
Recommended commitment: $5 mil-
lion.
9. Recreational Improvements -
The acquisition, rehabilitation or
development of facilities for com-
munity services and public recrea-
tion. Recommended commitment:
$30 million.
Municipalities, non-profit organi-
zations and others who feel that any
of the nine items may affect them
should begin to think of projects for
which these dollars can be tapped. gg
The Economic Development Councitdl
stands ready to assist those who
wish to take advantage of the $190
million bond issue in Northeastern
Pennsylvania. Further information
can be secured by writing the
Development Council at 1151 Oak
Street, Pittston, PA 18640-3795.
(Howard Grossman is the execu-
tive director of the Economic Devel-
opment Council of Northeastern
Pennsylvania.)
By NANCY KOZEMCHAK
Library Correspondent
Now that spring is officially here
with the warmer weather and
summer is not too far away, many
people turn their thoughts to golf,
golf, golf! Overheard at the coffee
counter most every day from golf
‘pros’ like Bob, Jack, Russ, Tony
and Warren, some very interesting
hints on what not to do and how to
tee off, putt and drive, and what is a
birdie, an eagle or a hole-in-one.
Just a reminder, the Back Mountain
Memorial Library has many books
about golf written by nros such as
Ben Hogan, Tom Watson, George
Plimpton, Gary Player, Jack Nick-
laus, Bobby Jones, Tommy Armour,
Dick Aultman, Tom Lo Presti,
Arnold Palmer, and a book edited
by John Coyne, “The New Golf For
Women” which features a foreword
by Kathy Whitworth. Warm weather
is golf time and hints by real pros
can help improve your golf game.
Come to the library, look on the
non-fiction shelves for 796.352 and
find a book for your ‘golf fever’!
The library circulated 6,847 books
during April and handled 885 refer-
ence questions. 269 adult books and
111 juvenile books were added to the
collection and 125 patrons were re-
registered. The ninth grade students
of Dallas spent many days in April
at the library working on term
papers. On some of the days, it was
difficult for the staff members to
work their way through the stu-
dents. One good thing developed, 70
new juvenile members joined the
library in April, most of them 9th
graders, and 27 adults became new
borrowers.
Here’s a tip for businessmen:
Your library can often be especially
helpful to men and women in busi-
ness. A good share of the library’s
reference and circulating book col-
lection relates to business-whether
you're interested in management,
supervision, salesmanship, real
estate, advertising, investments,
computers, or other business-
related subjects. Stop in at the
library soon and check out the
section on business for the help you
need.
New books at the library: “Poli-
tics and Money” by Elizabeth Drew
is a book relating to the new road to
corruption. It is a shocking book
about a subject that is causing a
national furor: the way tht thee
raising and spending of campaign i
funds is corrupting the democratic
process. It is the issue at the heart
of the nation’s political life.
“Magic Princess: Growing Up in
Sam Giancana’s Family” by Anto-
inette Giancana and Thomas
Renner is a story of luxury and
isolation and loneliness. Nine years
after Sam Giancana’s gangland-
style slaying, his daughter has
made public the details of her
father’s life and the trauma of
growing up under his iron rule. It is
a passionate and tragic account.
“Castaway’’by Lucy Irvine is an
extraordinary true story of what
happened when very different
people teamed up to make a dream
a reality. An ultimate vicarious