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Vol. 97, No. 17
By JOHN HOINSKI
Staff Writer
Members of the Jackson Town-
ship Advisory Committee, disgusted
over on-going snags concerning the
installation of warning sirens at
various sites throughout the town-
ship, will meet with state and prison
officials next month at the State
Correctional Institute at Dallas in
an effort to finally clear up the
matter.
Since 1982, the committee, headed
by Pat Rusiloski, has been pressing
for the installaion of three sirens, at
various sites, along with the con-
struction of towers, lights and fenc-
ing projects, but for one reason or
another problems have developed,
causing one delay after another.
Last January, the group finally
seemed to be on the verge of having
its plight answered when officials
connected with the plan said bids
should be received by early March,
with the project scheduled for com-
pletion by around September.
But, once again, more snags have
developed. Now, no one is sure just
what will happen.
“I’m just so disgusted that I don’t
loski said. “I have a letter here
from GSA (General Services
Agency) saying that the sirens
would be cmpleted by August 31,
1985. Now look where we are. At
least if they constructed one siren to
warn the people in case something
happened.
“But I'll tell you, this makes me
persistent. If nothing is done here,
then maybe I'll call a public meet-
ing.”
Originally, the group put together
a package deal that not only
included the siren project, but
others, too, consisting of towers,
lights and fences to be constructed
at selected locations. Since the siren
was the committee’s main concern,
however, it was pulled from that
original package and given first
priority.
But since that January meeting,
although bids were put out twice for
the siren deal, none were received.
It was then put back in with the
original package but only one bid
was received. The contractor, how-
ever, later retracted the bid.
“We did receive one bid on April
30, but it came in over the alloca-
tion,” said John Raber, a spokes-
(See SIREN, page 2) .
By JOHN HOINSKI
Staff Writer
Luzerne County District Attorney
Bernard A. Podcasy announced last
week that no charges would be filed
against any individuals concerning
allegations of child sexual abuse at
the Kiddie City Child Care Center
located on the campus of College
Misericordia in Dallas.
Reading from a prepared state-
ment at a press conference last
Wednesday at the Luzerne County
Courthouse, Podcasy said that not
enough evidence had been gathered
to press charges and that investiga-
tions have come to a close. He
refused to elaborate on the details
of the case, saying that statements
might imply that someone had done
something wrong.
“A review of the entire report
leads this office (the district attor-
ney’s office) to conclude that there
is an absence of legally sufficient
evidence to support the allegations
Grounds
By JOHN HOINSKI
Staff Writer
Preparation for the annual Luz-
erne County Fair has become so
extensive over the years that it has
practically become a year-round
raised in this matter,” Podcasy
read, “and therefore there does not
exist a legally supportable basis on
which to pursue criminal charges.”
Although Podcasy did say that
investigations have ceased, he noted
the matter would be re-opened if
future evidence comes to light.
Podcasy also emphasized that the
probe, which had been conducted by
Trooper Stanley Jezewski and
Trooper Paul Andrejko, Troop P,
Pennsylvania State Police, Wyo-
ming Barracks, Luzerne County
Detectives, the Dallas Township
Police, and by Children and Youth
Services, was undertaken to investi-
gate original allegations of abuse in
November of 1985 as well as those
made in January of 1986.
The report indicated that 102 indi-
viduals were interviewed, re-inter-
viewed or were attempted to be
interviewed, including all 14 volun-
teer staff members who were work-
study students at the college.
Is Spring here?
mm——
oe
Dallas Post/Ed Campbell
project. This week, workers should
be nearing completion of yet
another phase that will give the
grounds a noticeably different phys-
ical make-up.
“For the past two months, laborers
have been busy excavating the
grounds and installing water and
By JEAN HILLARD
Staff Correspondent
The Fellowship Evangelical Free
Church of the Back Mountain broke
ground for their new building on
Sunday afternoon at property
located on Hildebrand Road, Dallas
Township.
The groundbreaking took place
just five years to the month after
the first service of this group was
held at Camp Orchard Hill in 1981,
Three couples, the Ken Millers,
Scott Dieffenbachers and Evan
Thomases, met together for a
couple months of praying about the
need for a certain kind of church in
the Back Mountain Area. They felt
a need for a reach out of love
toward people, kindness toward one
another and a real expression of
love, God’s Love, among men. After
Pastor Dwight and Holly Hodne and
asked if they would help them get
something like this started.
In May of 1981, the first service
was held in the Lodge of Camp
Orchard Hill, Dallas, where Pastor
Hodne served as camp director. A
very informal type service with
Pastor Hodne on the, guitar and
coffee and donuts served each
Sunday getting the friendly, wel-
come feeling type of atmosphere in
the air before each service was soon
to win the hearts of many. A fellow-
ship was indeed happening and it
was catching on fast. Soon the
number of people attending each
Sunday grew to such a number that
the Lodge couldn’t accommodate
them. No pastor, no church build-
ing, and no money. Where did such
a congregation turn? :
It was at this point of time the
need for a full time pastor was
evident. Pastor Hodne was
approached, and accepted the call
as pastor, resigning as camp direc-
tor. Now, a place to meet was
needed. The Trucksville Free Meth-
odist Church rented their building to
this congregation and services were
held there until once again the
number of people outgrew the size
of the building.
A search began a second time for
a place to meet. College Misericor-
dia agreed to meet the needs on a
temporary basis and Merrick Hall
turned into a place of worship each
Sunday. The three couples have
grown to 180-200 people attending
weekly.
Ground was purchased, an archi-
tect hired, and a building will soon
be constructed. No money has been
borrowed and, to date, the needs
have been met.-The land is paid for,
machines are moving in, preparing
to build a house for the congrega-
tion of the Fellowship Evangelical
Free Church.
power lines, which will be located
undergrounds so the fields could
eventually be used for baseball and
soccer, and will soon begin work on
three separate structures, including
two buildings for arts and crafts
and one for a horsebarn.
In addition, a service road, which
will circle the fair grounds, will be
put in for emergency and fair vehi-
cles.
“Right now, the big thing is to
level the .grounds,” said Bob Car-
tier, president of the Fall Fair
Association. “Then we can seed it
and get the bumps and stones out of
the way so we can use it for
recreational purposes.”
Also, the Association plans to
erect a two-story structure in the
near future for administrative and
community use.
“It will be used to house the
offices for the Fair administration,
but we want to add a community
room, too, so that maybe different
clubs, for example, could hold their
meetings,” said Dana Campbell,
chairman for Planning and Develop-
ment.
Last week, workers, the majority
of which have been volunteers, were
busy installing sewer lines to take
away water runoff from the sur-
rounding hills while also hauling
dirt back to the 4-H arena ara that
will provide parking for various
trailers in the Fair. That means
considerable parking space will
open up for patrons who will now be
isolated from the trailers.
In addition to the present fair
grounds, the Association has
be developed. ;
“This work isn’t something that
we decided to do overnight,” Car-
tier said. “There are constant ideas
coming in so it’s something we’re
always involved with.
“Now we’re working more for the
recreation part than on develop-
ment. We plan on using these two
fields for baseball, softball and for
soccer, and we put the power cables
(See GROUNDS, page 2)
4
25 Cents
Seniors
won’t be.
kicked out
By CHARLOT M. DENMON
Staff Correspondent
“There will be a Back Mountain
Senior Citizens Center in this area,”
Charles Adams, executive director
of the Luzerne-Wyoming Counties
Bureau of the Aging told The Dallas
Post this week.
Adams said he wanted to dispel
the concerns of the Back Mountain
residents, who had heard the
rumors that after the Senior Citi-
zens Center on the College Miseri-
cordia campus closed July 1, local
seniors would have to attend the
Kingston Center.
Adams said the Bureau does not
plan to have: the Back Mountain
seniors attend any other Center.
Since Mercy Center officials notified
the Bureau of the Aging that they
could not renew their agreement.
when it ran out July 1, Adams has’
been looking for another location in
the Back Mountain for the past two
months.
Presently, he has not found a site
that will meet the regulations
required by the state and federal
governments. There are some
places where the owners have indi-
cated they would spend thousands of
dollars to renovate in order to meet
requirements but this would be done
only at exorbitant rental fees.
Despite the difficulty in finding a
place, Adams explained he and his
staff will continue looking for a
place. Sen. Charles Lemmond is
also assisting in finding a location
for the Center.
Adams said the Bureau, after a
nine-month study, discovered that,
on the average, 31 persons attend
the Senior Citizens Center between
the hours of 10:30 to 1:30 p.m. For
this reason, the Bureau has dis-
cussed opening for four hours daily,
running the same programs includ-
ing the lunch hour during that
period. He said there is no plan to
phase out the Back Mountain Senior
Citizen Center, but it will be oper-
ated as' a Neighborhood Planning
Center similar to the one in
Edwardsville.
In Luzerne County, approximately
24 percent of the population are
senior citizens. In Wilkes-Barre, 27
percent of the population are senior
citizens as compared to only 16
percent of the population senior
citizens in the Back Mountain Area.
The Back Mountain Senior Citi-
zens group has called a meeting for
2 p.m. tomorrow at the Dallas
American Legion for the purpose of
discussing an appropriate meeting
place and to request that the Center
(See SENIORS, page 2)
Ground broken
Dallas Post/Ed Campbell
Although excavation has been
going on for the past several weeks,
groundbreaking ceremonies for the
Country Club Shopping Center were
officially held last Monday in Dallas
Township.
The center, which will be con-
structed on a seven acre site adja-
pal building near the Northeastern
Bank along Route 309, will house
eight stores in addition to Insalaco’s
Supermarket, which will be the
main tenant. The opening is set for
the Fall of 1986.
George Nicholson, vice-president
of Humford Equities, developers of
the $3 million project, said Insa-
laco’s will occupy 31,000 feet of the
52,000 sq. ft. site with eight smaller
stores, one of which will probably
be a drug store, occupying 1,500
square feet each. He did not indi-
cate which other stores would
occupy the vacant lots.
ow
“We will be releasing names as
leases are settled,” Nicholson said.
“I can’t say who we are negotiating
with, but I can say that the response
has been tremendous, and that has
been without advertising.”
Insalaco’s, which operates eight
other stores located throughout the
area, will be the big draw for Back
Mountain residents, and market
officials are excited over the possi-
bilities.
“We decided to build back here
because of the growth and potential
that does exist,” said Vince Insa-
laco, vice-president of the organiza-
tion. “We feel the people back here
are in need of this type of store.
They really don’t have anyplace
close where they can go.”
Insalaco said the company
decided to expand to the Dallas
area after careful consideration and
studies had been performed.
“We are always looking to expand
in areas throughout Luzerne. and
he
Lackawanna Counties,’’
explained.
— JOHN HOINSKI
Inside The Post
Births ................0
Calendar .......... or.
Classified ......... 13, 4
Commentary ..........
‘COOKDOOK ........cocu.:.
Obituaries ............. 2
People ........ Sain
School ...........
Sports ...........