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By JOHN HOINSKI
Staff Writer
The man accused of shooting two
Dallas police officers earlier this
month was released on bail Friday
following a scheduled preliminary
hearing before District Justice Earl
Gregory of Shavertown.
Donald R. Kelly, 38, of Noxen,
waived his hearing of the June 7
shooting incident in which he alleg-
edly wounded Dallas Township offi-
cer Wayman Miers and patrolman
James Tupper of Dallas Borough at
the township’s municipal building.
The case will now be forwarded to
Luzerne County Court, possibly by
early next Fall. Kelly is being
BOX 336
charged with criminal attempt to
commit murder, aggravated
assault, terroristic threats and reck-
less endangering another person.
Up until Friday, Kelly had been
incarcerated at the Luzerne County
Prison in lieu of $200,000 bail. But
that figure was reduced to $50,000 at
the request of Kelly’s lawyer,
Charles Gelso.
Assistant District Attorney
Charles Coslett did not object to the
reduction figure, but did ask that
the defendant meet certain stipula-
tions. According to the agreement,
Kelly must not carry any firearms,
abstain from the use of alcohol and
must stay away from taverns.
Kelly’s release, however, has
come under scrutiny because of
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I
past alcohol related incidents for
which he has been cited.
On the night of the June 7 mishap,
Kelly allegedly entered the Dallas
Township Municipal Building bran-
dishing a .357 revolver and shouting
obscenities before wounding the two
officers. At one point, he reportedly
said, “I went there (to the police
station) and told them I wanted
that----Carl Miers (Dallas Township
police chief)”. Kelly said that Miers
and officer Elliot Ide ‘‘ruined my
life.”
On March 11, 1985, both Miers and
Ide were involved in the arrest of
Kelly who was cited for driving
under the influence of alcohol. Prior
to that incident, approximately 16
years ago in another alcohol related
DONALD R. KELLY
matter, Kelly and Miers got into a
scuffle in which several people,
including Kelly, had to be placed
under arrest.
Officer Tupper said he was not
really surprised at the reduction
and said that the action is common
procedure.
“A person is presumed innocent
until proven guilty. So it’s really the
law that his lawyer would try and
get the bail reduced,” he said. ‘As
far as how I feel about him being
released, whether he will drink
again or not is anybody’s guess.”
Tupper, who is recuperating at
home, says he doesn’t know when
he will be back on the, job but that
the recovery from the injury itself,
a bullet wound to the right thigh
which also struck his left ankle, will
be six to eight weeks.
“I’m getting there,” the 34-year-
old Tupper said. ‘‘Tomorrow, I'll be
getting the stitches removed from
my ankle. But I have a chipped
bone in my foot and that might be a
problem.”
Miers, the 35-year old Dallas
Township officer who was shot in
the left calf, did not wish to com-
ment on Kelly’s release, but said
that his own progress has been
coming along slow.
“T’ll be back as soon as I can,” he
stated. ‘But, right now, I can’t put
any pressure on the leg. Last
Wednesday, I saw the doctor and he
wasn’t pleased with the leg. I still
can’t walk on it.”
Vol. 97, No. 24
By JOHN HOINSKI
Staff Writer
Elderly citizens who frequent the
Dallas Center on the campus of
College Misericordia (Mercy
Center) have found a new home —
at least temporarily.
Beginning on June 30, the senior
citizens will be moved to the Hunts-
ville Christian Church for approxi-
mately two months until a perma-
nent building can be found. The new
site, which will be opened from 10
Friday, will provide practically all
the same services the seniors now
enjoy.
The announcement came last
week from the office of the Luzerne-
Wyoming Counties Bureau of the
Aging in a statement indicating that
the location will act as an interim
facility until Sept. 1. If a permanent
site has not been found by then,
into effect.
“That center will not be closed,”
assured Pat Werner of the Bureau
of the Aging. “We are looking into
one possibility right now for a per-
manent building, but we can’t say
where it is right now. Renovations
would have to be made and there is
still the money problem, too.”
Because of government cutbacks
due to the Gramm-Rudman bill,
monies allocated for senior citizens
operations and facilities have been
slashed. In addition to having hours
at the center shortened from 71. to
four hours, an assistant director
was also dismissed three weeks ago.
In Wilkes-Barre, at the facility
located near public square, evening
group hours have been eliminated
as well as Saturday and Sunday
brunch.
The Dallas Center was notified
last winter that its lease would not
be renewed and that the building
would be utilized for retired nuns.
For 12 years, the center, which
averages approximately 31 to 33
people per day, has served as a
recreational and social environment
for the elderly.
“The people really enjoy coming
here,” said Jane Hady, director of
the Dallas Center. “They come here
and play shuffleboard, pool, cards,
games, they get a nutritious meal.
They sing, dance, go on trips. They
have a ball. And it provides com-
panionship for them.”
Hady says citizens have enjoyed
the program over the years and that
they will have the same benefits at
the new location.
Rev. Clifford Jones and the
Church Board of the Huntsville
Christian Church have authorized
their building to be utilized as a
temporary center until a permanent
site can be found.
Best of friends
Dallas Post/Charlot M. Denmon
Notes 89th
Mrs. Marguerite B. Bogart, West
42nd Street, Dallas, celebrated her
89th birthday Monday, June 23, at a
family dinner held at the home of
son-in-law and daugher, Mr. and
Mrs. Harold Grey, Dallas.
A native of Dallas, Mrs. Bogart is
the former Marguerite Rolison. She
and her husband, the late Russell
Bogart, resided in Forty Fort for
several years before they moved to
their home on 42nd Street where
Mrs. Bogart still resides.
Mrs. Bogart attended Wilkes-
Barre and Dallas Schools and, fol-
lowing the death of her husband,
she attended the Hoyt School of
Practical Nursing, graduating in
birthday
August, 1956. She is a charter
member and the oldest living
member of Luzerne Assembly of
God Church.
She did private duty nursing and
also worked in the former Home for
Friendless Women in Wilkes-Barre.
Mrs. Bogart’s children are Fran-
cis E. Bogart, Apopka, Fla., Ret.
Chief Warrant Officer, U.S. Air
Force; John K. Bogart, Dallas;
daughters, Mrs. John (Beverly)
Hartman, Schnecksville; and Mrs.
Harold (Marguerite) Grey, Dallas;
15 grandchildren; several great
grandchildren, and a great-great
granddaaughter, Carrie Martin.
Ld
25 Cents
Class of 1936
1986.
Master of Ceremonies.
Lamoreaux,
Evans,
Esther Barnes Johnson.
By CHARLOT M. DENMON
Staff Correspondent
Lake-Lehman School District’s
Board of Directors adopted a budget
of $8,162,679 for the year 1986-87,
raising property taxes five mills.
The increase increases real estate
millage to 118 mills in Harveys
Lake Borough, Jackson, Lake,
Lehman and Ross Townships in
Luzerne County and to 133 mills in
Noxen Township in Wyoming
County.
A tentative budget approved by
the directors in May called for an
increase of 11 mills but Board Presi-
dent Allen Keiper said the board
members worked many hours to
trim the budget to the present five
mills increase. A mill is a $1 tax on
every $1,000 of assessed properly
valuation. The owner of a property
assessed at $5,000 in Luzerne County
will pay $590 in school property tax
in 1986-87 and in Wyoming County
will pay $665 for the coming school
year.
William Samuels, resident of Lake
Silkworth, addressed the Board
saying he doubted that the five mill
increase would allow the board to
operate without going in the red
during the next school year.
Keiper said the board realized it
was a very tight budget and that the
directors would have to operate on a
month-to-month basis.
“There will be no ‘free for all”
this year. It will take dedication on
the part of everyone. I do not intend
that the district will end up in the
hole in 1986-87,” said Keiper.
Business Manager Raymond Bow-
ersox addressed the board and the
taxpayers in attendance. He told
them that expenditures each year
must be covered by re-occurring
income and there comes a time the
district must bite the bullet.
He stated the budget has been
trimmed to the point that one over-
whelming expenditure, one major
crisis could bring serious financial
consequences to the district. In the
16 years he has been with the
district, Bowersox said he has never
seen such a budget of six tenths of
one percent, or an overall 5.7 per-
cent increase. He said the mainte-
nance and operation budget of the
general budget was the hardest hit
with a serious reduction in mainte-
nance staff.
a little. Coyotes?
moonlit night?
— JOHN HOINSKI
The business manager continued
that academic classes are not the
only educational process and that
those who do not realize that do not
know what education is.
“This board must begin to
develop more re-occurring income
resources. It will be an unpleasant
year for the board, administration,
staff, students and community,”
said Bowersox.
In answer to a query by Ed Mark
as to why Bowersox did not warn
them at the beginning of the year,
the business manager replied that
There are only so many buses that
can be sold, only so much money in
the general reserve fund, he stated.
(See LEHMAN, page 2)
Inside The Post
Births ............... -. 14
Calendar .............. 16
Classified ...... - 13,14
Commentary ......... 6
Cookbook ............... 7
Obituaries ............. 2
People .................. 8
School .................. 12
Sports ................ ),10