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Vol. 97, No
1
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In
25 Cents
Cable TV
project still
considered
By JOHN HOINSKI
Staff Writer
Despite an 11th hour decison by
Century Communications to pull out
of its deal to hook-up outlying areas
of Kingston Township with cable
television, those residents will prob-
ably still be receiving the service
from another company, hopefully
within the same one year time
frame.
Tele-Media Communications from
State College, Pa. will apparently
take over Dallas Cablevision Inc.,
providing the company meets the
same requirements as those out-
lined for Century.
Century, an affiliate. of Sentry
Insurance, a multi-million dollar
mutual company of Stevens Point,
Wisconsin, pulled out of the deal
just one hour before last Wednesday
night’s Kingston Township Supervi-
sors meeting when business man-
ager Fred Potzer received a call
from Walter Kinash, Eastern
Regional operations manager for
Century, informing him not to go
ahead with the public reading of the
contract (the contract must be read
at two public readings before being
approved).
Kinash told him that he received
a call from Century, advising him to
tell Potzer to postpone the reading.
Last Friday afternoon, Kinash
again phoned Potzer, telling him the
sale between Century Communica-
tions and Dallas Cablevision is off.
“They said there were problems
with time delays,” Potzer said.
“Dallas Cablevision wanted to close
the deal, but Century said they were
waiting for franchise agreements to
be signed. But I think its a smoke
screen for something else.
“And it’s really unfair to the
towns who have put so much work
into this project. Between Dallas
Boro, Dallas Township and Kingston
Township, we probably have $3,000
something we had to go through
with because we were going to
dealing with that company for the
next 13 years.
“And I’m the only one who knows
anything about it,’ Potzer contin-
ued. “Dallas Borough and Dallas
Township only know what’s been in
the paper. They still have not been
informed by anyone from the com-
pany. We still haven't received a
call from Century telling us the deal
is off. I think that’s a poor way to
run a business.”
Despite the setback, Back Moun-
tain residents will most likely
receive the service from Tele-
(See CABLE, page 2)
Springy sight
_ Dallas Post/Ed Campbell
services.
/
i A
Dallas Post/Ed Campbell
Student housing availability will
double with the start-up of a second
off-campus student housing unit at
Penn State Wilkes-Barre this
month, The complex known as Nit-
tany Woodlands provides housing
specifically for Penn State Wilkes-
Barre students and is owned by
University Housing Partnership.
Architect for the project is Donald
Miller of Smith, Miiler and Asso-
for the second unit took place¢
/
Monday, March 17. The first unit
opened in August of 1985, in time for
occupancy for the fall school semes-
ter. The site is adjacent to the
wesern wall of the campus and is
‘campus library and science build-
ug.
"Like the first unit, the new two-
ments, each designed to house six
people. Each apartment has 3 bed-
rooms and 2 baths.
According to Director of Student
Programs John Murphy, ‘‘Having
the additional housing available,
opens up a whole new realm of
possibilities for students who want
to come to Penn State Wilkes-Barre
but don’t want to commute. They
have all the advantages of a major
university but in a quiet country
setting with housing just a short
distance away.”
‘rock cut’
section
By JOHN HOINSKI
Staff Writer
State and local officials from the
Back Mountain met last Sunday
afternoon at the ‘rock cut’ section
of Route 309 to examine hazardous
conditions existing there, including
the lack of lighting.
The stretch of road in question, a
half mile strip starting from Was-
seroft’s in Courtdale to just below
JFranklin’s gas station in Kingston
Township, has been the scene of
over 100 accidents dating back to
1982.
On Sunday, officials, including
State Sen. Charles D. Lemmond Jr.
and Rep. Frank Coslett, met at the
site to review project maps from
PennDOT and to discuss solutions to
the existing problems.
Recommendations have been sent
to PennDOT officials, who were not
present at the meeting, to install
overhead sodium lights and appro-
priate directional or lighting devices
around the curve generally known
as “rock cut.”
Kingston Township alone has
recorded 100 accidents in that area
since 1982 with Courtdale police
logging another 25 more during the
same period. What makes the latter
figure so startling is that Courtdale
only has a part-time force.
“It was a timely date to look at
the area because it also brought the
attention of three mud slides thdt
occurred because of the hard rain
we had on Friday,” Kingston town-
ship business manager Fred Potzer
said.
“That area is not well lit to begin
with. Even with the headlights of a
car, you can’t see too far ahead.
And that could be a problem if there
is mud on the road. If someone has
to slow down or is rounding the
curve, they could easily slide off the
road.”
The downpour also caused rocks
to dislodge from the mountain, with
one of them striking the car of a
passing motorist on Saturday after-
noon. In addition, the rain once
again allowed the reoccuring fog
problem to surface. Because of the
creek that lies just off the road,
rainy weather often causes fog to
set in between the mountains.
Leaders hope to meet with Mike
Ryan, district engineer from Penn-
DOT, in the near future to assess
the problems and to look at design
plans. They say they would like to
make PennDOT aware of the grav-
ity of the situation before they begin
their repair season.
Those meeting at the site on
Sunday along with Lemmond and
Coslett were: Lisa Baker, adminis-
trative assistant to Lemmond;
Kingston Township manager Fred
Potzer; Supervisors Herb Hill,
Daniel Wisnieski and Edward Price
Jr.; Police Chief Paul Sabol; patrol-
man Mike Moravec and Courtdale
Police Chief, Gary Nicholas.
By JOHN HOINSKI
Statt Writer
Just one day after being criticized
by state Senatorial candidate
Charles Kirkwood for his part in a
flood aid bill, Sen. Charles D. Lem-
mond Jr., R-Dallas, announced last
week the Senate has approved an
amended version of that bill which
will provide aid for flood and tor-
nado victims in those affected areas
of the state, including Northeastern
Pennsylvania.
Under the $15 million dollar pack-
age, low and middle-income home-
owners here could receive up to
$12,500 for damages to personal
property inflicted by Hurricane
Gloria last September.
Last Tuesday, Kirkwood from
Monroe: County, who will challenge
Lemmond for the 20th District Sena-
torial seat in the May 20 primary,
rapped the Dallas resident for send-
ing House Bill 66 to the Senate
Examining reports
Appropriations Committee last
December, a move that Kirkwood
felt would kill the measure. Lem-
mond: wag also ‘accused by Senate
Democrats of being the swing vote
in a 24-23 vote on the bill to send it
to the committee.
But last Wednesday, Lemmond
announced a Senate version of the
flood aid package was moved out of
the Senate over to the house for
concurrence.
“With the support of the Senate
leadership, I helped develop legisla-
tion which will truly bring flood aid
to affected residents of Northeast
Pennsylvania,”” Lemmond said.
“Ironically, this success comes at a
time when my political opponent
has been sharply critical of my
working within the system.”
The former Luzerne County
Common Pleas Court judge said he
and other senators from battered
districts have been working for the
past two months on the package,
(See FLOOD, page 2)
Dallas Post/Ed Campbell
What a way to celebrate Girl
Scout Week! Five young women
from Penn’s Woods Girl Scout Coun-
cil have been selected to participate
in Wider Opportunities.
What are Wider Opportunities?
They are the chance to experience
Girl Scouting in different circum-
stances and , surroundings like
another country or another part of
is accepted for one of these pro-
grams can look forward to a
rewarding and exciting challenge,
and to having fun!
Senior Girl Scout Elizabeth Wil-
liames, a member of Troop 634,
Trucksville, will be a member of the
U.S.A. Patrol (12 girls and two
adults), to the 1986 Austrian Inter-
national Camp at Lilienfeld, Aus-
tria.
Inside The Post
Births .................. 15
Calendar ............... 16
Classified ......... 13,14
Commentary ......... 6
Cookbook:............... 7
Health .................. 12
Obituaries ............. 2
People ................... 8
School ................. 11
Sports................ 9,10