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BRIGHT
BOX z
36
£330 40g ose
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Vol. 96, No. 15
25 Cents
Corruption
charges
dropped
By JUDIE MATHERS
Staff Writer
As of Monday, James Ragowski,
the Tunkhannock Area school
teacher who had been suspended
from his teaching position when
charged with corruption of minors,
had heard nothing from the school
district regarding reinstatement.
District Magistrate - Leonard
Harvey dropped all charges against
Rogowski at a preliminary hearing
held Thursday, April 18.
After hearing the testimony of two
youths who stated that Rogowski
knew nothing of any alcohol being
available to students who attended a
party at his home, Harvey dis-
missed the eight counts of corrup-
tion of minors and stated, “I just
couldn’t see putting this man
through anymore. We're dealing
with the man’s whole future and the
kids both claimed Rogowski didn’t
know about the beer and spiked
punch.”
The charges had been filed
against the teacher after an investi-
gation of a complaint filed by the
mother of a 17-year-old youth who
alleged that her son returned home
intoxicated following a party held at
the Rogowski home. Apparently, the
youth had, however, been drinking
in Noxen before he arrived at the
party.
“I haven’t heard a word from the
District ~ since the hearing,”
Rogowski told The Dallas Post.
“But then,” he continued, “I was
never questioned at all by the Dis-
trict at the time of my suspension.
They simply handed me a’ letter
which stated that I was being sus-
pended due to some facts they had
received concerning an ‘alleged
party. They said I would be con-
tacted after a Board meeting, but,
to the best of my knowledge; that
metting hasn’t taken place.”
“A while after I was suspended,”
he concluded, “Dr. Place, the Dis-
trict’s Superintendent, called me
and asked me to ‘come in and
answer some questions. I didn’t go,
on advice from my attorney
because I had not been questioned
at the time of my suspension, and
that was the last I've heard from
them. I’ve made no decision as yet
about what I'll do concerning my
back pay and the District’s actions,
but I'm very anxious to get back to
teaching.”
Eleven
seeking
positions
By CHARLOT M. DENMON
Staff Correspondent
Lake-Lehman taxpayers will elect
members to fill five positions on the
Lake-Lehman School Board in the
May Primary. The positions to be
filled are for four-year terms and
one two-year term, with one four-
year seat in Region II, and two four-
year term positions in Region III.
Following is a brief summary of
the candidates, who are seeking the
board seats in each of the three
regions.
REGION I - 4 year term (1)
SBING WOLFE
NAME: Bing Wolfe
ADDRESS: RD 4, Dallas
AGE: 32
EDUCATION: Graduate of Lake-
Lehman High School and Penn State
Wilkes-Barre Campus with an Elec-
trical and Electronic Technology
degree.
OCCUPATION: Electronic Techn-
ician, Commonwealth Telephone Co.
CIVIC ORGANIZATIONS: Chair-
man, Board of Elders, Community
Church of Dallas; Director, WGRN
RAdio Station, Sweet Valley;
member, Murgas Amateur Radio
Club.
SCHOOL BOARD EXPERI-
ENCE: Two year term on Lake-
Lehman School Board.
FAMILY: Wife, Ruth; children,
Valerie, 7; Benjamin, 4.
“I am running again to try to
continue what has been accom-
plished, to improve the educational
program and because of my con-
cern for the students, administra-
tion and teachers bu keep cost of
education in balance for the taxpay-
ers. I hope, with the help of the
other board members, we can keep
taxes down for the coming year.”
CHARLES W. GORDON, JR.
NAME: Charles W. Gordon, Jr.
ADDRESS: RD 2, Box 367A, Pikes
Creek, Dallas
AGE: 48
Noxen High School; B.S., Business
Administration-accounting major-
Pennsylvania State University.
OCCUPATION: Insurance Broker
and owner of Gordon Insurance
Agency.
CIVIC ORGANIZATIONS: Past
president and present board
member Harveys Lake Lions Club;
member, Irem Temple Masonic
Shrine; member, Dallas Regional
Board of United Penn Bank; presi-
dent, Back Mountain Wrestling Club
Elementary Program.
SCHOOL BOARD EXPERI-
ENCE: None
FAMILY: Wife, former Dorothea
‘‘Pudgie’’ Nothoff, Lake-Lehman
graduate; daughter, Teri, Lake-
Lehman graduate and first year
student at Luzerne Co. Community
&
College; son, Charlie, fifth grade
student at Lake-Noxen Elementary
School.
‘“‘Lake-Lehman School District
has achieved an outstanding, well-
rounded curriculum of education for
our children. The teachers and
administrators rank among the
most qualified and dedicated people
in their profession. I would like to
see continued, the high standards of
education and opportunities availa-
ble to the students. Teh future holds
many challenges for our educational
system and sound business deci-
sions will have to be made by the
Board of Directors, according to the
wishes of the taxpayers, to continue
to provide quality education at rea-
children to provide a clean, safe,
moral atmosphere in which to
develop their minds and bodies and
to achieve their own level of excel-
lence, and we owe it to ourselves to
provide the necessary facilities in
practical amounts a economically
as possible.”
REGION II - 4-year term (1); 2-
year term (1)
ROBERT C. EMERY
NAME: Robert C. Emery
ADDRESS: RD 4, Box 206A,
Dallas
EDUCATION: Graduate of a Phil-
adelphia High School and attended
Temple University.
OCCUPATION: Customer Service
Account Representative, Honeywell
¢
Information Systems.
CIVIC ORGANIZATIONS:
Former United States Air Force
member; former member of
Lehman Volunteer Fire Company.
SCHOOL BOARD EXPERI-
ENCE: Actively attended and par-
ticipated in the District’s monthly
school board meetings since June,
1984, attended the open portion of
the school board work sessions.
FAMILY: Wife, Barbara; daugh-
ter, Diana, fourth grade student,
Lehman-Jackson Elementary
School.
“I believe we have a good educa-
tional system in this district. How-
ever, I think we as a community
can make it better. Almost a year
ago at a school board meeting at
Lake-Noxen School I coined a
phrase, ‘Quality Education at the
Lowest Cost’. I believe in this state-
ment. I also believe we can control
costs and still give our children a
quality education.”
WILLIAM GEORGE
NAME: William George
ADDRESS: RD 1, Sweet Valley
AGE: 52
EDUCATION: Newport Township
High School graduate; also took
numerous management classes
OCCUPATION: Management
supervisor at Danville State Hospi-
tal, employed by Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania.
CIVIC ORGANIZATIONS:
Member of Sweet Valley Fire Co.,
20 years; crew captain and also
food chairman for Sweet Valley
Fire Company Parade & Bazaar;
charter member of American
(See ELEVEN, page 8)
on for 10
months
By JUDIE MATHERS
Staff Writer
For almost 10 months, Ed and
Bernadine Weiss of Elizabeth Street
in Dallas have been the victims of
malicious vandalism. The couple
describes their lifestyle as one of
terror. Mrs. Weiss has been driven
to total collapse on one occasion. Ed
Weiss, who has been characterized
by neighbors as a kind and gentle
man, has openly admitted he does
not go outside his home empty-
handed. “I want you to know I go
out and patrol the perimeter of my
home well prepared to defend
myself,” Weiss said. “And I don’t
know what I will do if I come across
whoever has been doing this!”
The Weisses have compiled what
they call their ‘‘nightmare book.”
Each time an incident has occurred,
they have photographed the result-
ing mess and or damage and placed
the pictures chronologically in a
scrapbook, along with the date and
time. The collection does indeed
present a pictorial nightmare.
“Why is this happening?’ they
ask. “Why us?” “And most impor-
tant of all, why haven’t the police
done more to help us?”
According to the Weisses, six
months ago they contacted the State
Police. “At that time” Mr. Weiss
reports, ‘the officer with whom I
spoke told me to contact our Bor-
ough police and request 24-hour
surveillance. 1 did contact Paul
Labar, a close personal friend and
Mayor of Dallas, and asked him to
arrange for us to have that surveil
lance. Mr. Labar told me it was
impossible; that the Borough could
not afford that kind of e¥vense.”
When questioned about this,
Labar responded, ‘‘Yes, Mr. Weiss
did ask: me to arrange for 24-hour
surveillance. I can’t remember
whether or not I told him we
couldn’t afford it. I do know that at
ANALYSIS
the time we were short-handed and
didn’t have the manpower. Besides,
in order for a surveillance of that
kind, you need the permission of the
Borough Council.”
When asked if he approached the
Council about the surveillance,
Labar answered “No, I did not.”
When - Borough Police Chief Ed
Lyons was asked about the surveil-
lance, he said this was the first time
he had heard anything about it. He
further stated, ‘The only time the
Weiss name has ever come up in a
council meeting was when the
Weisses and 20 of their friends and
neighbors came to a meeting last
February.” That was the meeting
when discussion of a crime watch
began; however, Borough Solicitor
John Morris advised against the
crime wateh. :
Shortly after the media publicized
the happenings, Mayor Labor spoke
out on behalf of a neighborhood
crime watch and announced that
Officer Jack Fowler of the Borough
Police was in the process of getting
information on how to get a crime
watch organized.
During an interview with Elmer
Bradshaw, chairman of the Luzerne
County Crime Watch Association,
Bradshaw related the following:
“After reading some articles in
February about what was happen-
ing to the Weiss couple, I decided to
get in touch with them. I did, and,
in fact, spent several hours at their
home explaining how a crime watch
works and how to get one started. A
few days later, I contacted Jack
Fowler and gave him the same
information. I also called Chief
Lyons, but when 1 inquired about
has no problems.”
(See VANDALS, page 8)
deterrent for awhile anyway...”
— JUDIE MATHERS
The slogan ‘“Neighborhoed Crime
Watch” has become familiar to
many of us. We’ve read about it or
heard about it through the media
and perhaps have even considered
becoming involved. But how does
one go about doing that? And how
does a crime watch actually work?
In an attempt to answer these
questions, The Dallas Post met with
Elmer Bradshaw, Chairman of the
Luzerne County Crime Watch Asso-
ciation.
“The first thing you have to do,”
explained Bradshaw, ‘is get people
interested. People have to want a
safer place in which to live. If
you've got that, the steps to estab-
lish a successful neighborhood
crime watch are fairly simple.”
Following is the process as
described by Bradshaw:
Interested people come together
for a meeting during which the
actual workings of the crime watch
are explained. A vote is then taken
to determine whether or not they
want to proceed. If they do, one
volunteer becomes the program
coordinator. It is his or her respon-
sibility to coordinate all activities.
He maintains a list of all involved
persons, maintains an adequate
supply of materials used in the
program, and serves as a liaison
between neighborhood residents and
their police department. The neigh-
bors in essence become the eyes
and ears of the police department.
They work as a team to prevent and
suppress crime.
A chairperson volunteers or is
elected who maintains a map of the
{
neighborhood and its sub-divisions,
maintains a list of subdivision cap-
tains, maintains a master file of
neighborhood canvass forms, and is
responsible for keeping an adequate
supply of informational packets,
decals, engravers, and other mate-
rials.
Depending ion the size of the
neighborhood, subdivisions are
broken down into sectors, and sec-
tors into blocks with one person in
charge of each sector, then block,
etc. If only a small section of a
community parti€ipates, for exam-
ple, block captains would report
(See STEPS, page 8)
Inside The Post
Calendar ............. 13
Classified ......... 14,15
Commentary ......... 4
Cookbook ............... 7
Crossword ............. 2
Dear Aunt Patty .... 7
District Court ........ 3
Obituaries ............. 3
People ::.....nl. 6
Police Blotter ........ 3
School ..-.......... 12
Sports ............ 9,10,11
4 3