4 THE DALLAS POST/Wednesday, April 27, 1988 * Editorial/opinion Tie SDALLASCP0ST A Publication of Pennaprint, Inc. DEBBY HIGGINS Editor DAVID F. CONNER General Manager Off the top It's all in The Dallas Post = DEBBY HIGGINS Post Editor The volume of newsworthy items that comes into the offices of The Dallas Post is amazing. According to the 1980 census, the population of the Greater Back Mountain hovers somewhere around 35,000. Geographically, our publica- tion’s coverage territory encompasses areas. as diverse as the many thousands who live from Trucksville to Beaumont, Shickshinny to Centermoreland, and all the communities in between. That adds up to one giant amount of people, places, and things to report about. And each and every one is as important as the next. ~ The problem with any newspaper lies in the amount of space available to be used to print all the news. Most times, there is more news than space. At The Dallas Post, as with every other newspaper, the number of pages in each issue is dependent on the amount of advertising space purchased. This determines whether the newpaper punblishes 12, 16, 20, or ‘more pages. For those who are unaware of the system of newspaper publishing, we can lay to rest, right now, the misconception that editors determine the size of each issue. Advertisers do that and the editor is left with the task of filling the remaining space. Like an artist facing a blank canvas, an editor must take available “mediums and piece them together to’ complete a coherent, colorful, and interesting work. This task calls for fairness, creativity, and the ability to work quickly and efficiently. It would be a much easier job if every piece of civic, school, church, and social news could be published as soon as it’s received at the newsroom. Unfortunately, this cannot be. Therefore, an editor must decide fi what will be used immediately and what must wait for publicaton in Subsequent issues. ~ Many items are dated and cannot wait for later issues. These are the items that are given priority. ~ For any person of group of persons who have submitted news items or pictures for publication and who have not seen those articles in print that ‘week, disappointment naturally follows. Anger often accompanies that disappointment. 'In these cases, all an editor can do is to publish the item at the earliest possible time. And this is done with as much fairness as possible. Every newspaper functions this way - there is no alternative. At The Dallas Post, a community newspaper for 99 years, the aim is to be a resource to be depended on to keep readers abreast of what goes on in the Back Mountain. And to keep up with progressive attitudes, The Dallas Post will continue to include items of general interest that will ~ appeal to readers who are looking for some reading enjoyment of another nature. Each publication of The Dallas Post will be a balance that hopefully will satisty the reading needs of growing communities. Every effort is made to objectively select articles and pictures that will please all our readers. But if something isn’t published one week, rest assured it will be in The Dallas Post in following editions. This is the only way we can accomodate all the news that’s important. Rooney speaks Women hate miniskirts BY ANDY ROONEY . Special to The Post Short skirts are being blamed for slow business in women’s clothing stores. If you want a miniskirt, you can probably find one on sale. The dress designers and the people who write about women’s clothes like short skirts but, except for a hand- ful of women under 30, with great- looking legs, women hate them. A woman never seems comforta- ble in a short skirt. Watch a , woman wearing one and you can see how careful she’s being. She can’t sit down, bend over, get out a car or climb a flight of stairs without wondering about the angles and about how much of herself is visible. French women who go topless at the beaches along the Mediterra- nean seem casual and easy with their bareness, but American women in short skirts never seem to get used to them. Their knees are always on their minds. I hate clothes that constantly remind me of what I'm wearing. The clothes I like are the clothes I put on in the morning and forget until I take off at night. Obviously most women feel the same. When a woman gets herself together for a special event, it’s right that she should put on her drop-dead outfit for the party. Cher did the right thing, but wearing a skirt up to here, on the street, in the middle of the day, is ridiculous and intrudes on the thoughts of everyone she passes. People have never agreed on what to wear and I suppose it’s more interesting that way. If you sit in a car and watch people coming and going on a busy street, you'd never guess they all came from the same planet. The variety is incredible. This morning, several weeks after the first day of spring, it was 37 degrees when I left the house to come into town on the train. Still, I noticed that a lot of the women going to work in their offices were dressed differently than they would have been on a 37 degree day in the middle of winter. Some of them weren't wearing any coat at all over their suit jackets. On the same kind of day in the middle of winter, they'd have had on an overcoat, scarf and gloves. The temperature was the same this morning but their dress had been decided on, not by conditions but by the calendar. One man who catches the same train I do every morning, doesn’t wear a coat all winter and he never waits inside the station. He takes his position on the platform, jams his hands into his pockets with his newspaper under his arm and stands and waits, eyes straight ahead. It doesn’t matter if it’s below zero, he stands there and takes it like 20 lashes. I've never talked to him and I can’t figure out why he does it. He must have some philosophy about it. Maybe he thinks it’s good for him, like a cold shower. Maybe he’s showing the weather who’s boss and proving it can’t intimidate him. If he were a woman, he’d probably be wearing a miniskirt. I’ve never believed the ‘‘thin blood’ theory. The idea is that people who grow up in warm cli- mates are more affected by the cold than people. who grew up in the North. The same people are always cold and the same people are always hot, no matter where they came from or what the condi- tions are. It’s more a state of mind than a condition of the blood. The women businessmen catching the train to work are a small minority and it’s very apparent, in a business. situation, how much more of a problem clothes are for a woman than for a man. It’s accept- able for a man to wear the same suit to the office day after day but a woman can’t wear the same dress. I suspect this is a custom women have imposed on them- selves because I don’t think men care whether women wear the same dress on successive days or not. If fashion ever dictates that men wear short pants to work, I'm going to join the women who refuse to wear short skirts. It happened In Harrisburg showed that 44 Pennsylvania chil- ‘dren died as a result of child abuse last year. “All but five of those children who died were under the age of five,” White said. “The loss of any child’s life is tragic, but the loss of a child’s life as the result of abuse is horrifying.” Under the state’s Child Protec- tive Services Law, the Department of Public Welfare is required to release annual child abuse statis- tics on April 15. Statistics show that substantiated cases of child abuse are leveling off -- 7,192 in 1987, just 65 more than in 1986. ~ “Training for child protective service workers is continually Child abuse cases down | State Welfare Secretary John F. - White, Jr. released the state’s ‘annual Child Abuse Report, which " being emphasized and monitored,” White said. “This year, some $500,- 000 will be used to provide inten- sive training for these workers in risk assessment, sexual abuse counseling and case documenta- tion.” Under Gov. Robert P. Casey’s proposed budget, a special $9.6 million allocation will provide increased funds to counties to upgrade programs for children needing counseling and support services. A 24-hour toll-free Child Abuse Hotline 1-800-932-0313 continues to be one of the Commonwealth’s most effective tools in combating child abuse. Anyone who suspects that a child has been abused should report the incident immediately to the hotline. |A note from the editor The Dallas Post, your community newspaper, would like to print as many newsworthy items as possi- ble. But, like any newspaper, The Dallas Post must operate under a deadline. This makes it necessary for all copy to be submitted no later than 12 noon, Mondays. The Dallas Post, will continue to do our best to provide our readers with all the news they need - Safety tips for gobbler season BY CARMEL SIRIANNI Special to The Post Pennsylvania’s spring gobbler hunt got underway on April 23 and while Game Commission officials expect a good season thanks in part to late March and early April warm weather, the emphasis is on safety. -Wrap a daylight fluorescent orange band around the tree or hang the band or a fluorescent orange cap or vest from an over- head branch at the position where the caller is located, and wear fluorescent orange while going into or coming from the woods. -Never stalk a turkey. Chances of getting a shot are slim; accident changes are high. -Eliminate the colors red, white and blue from your clothing. All three colors are found on a mature turkey. -Never attempt to approach closer than 100 yards to a turkey. The bird’s eyesight and hearing are too sharp to let you get within 100 yards. -Don’t move, wave or make turkey sounds to alert another hunter. A quick move may draw fire. If necessary, yell to alert another hunter of your presence. -Be extremely careful when using the gobbler call. It may attract other hunters. -Don’t hide so well you can’t see what is happening. Elminating movement--not concealment-- is the key to success. -Your calling position should have a solid background as wide as your shoulders, and have 180-degree visi- bility. -Camouflage hides you--it doesn’t make you invisible. Sit perfectly still; turkeys-and hunters both see even slight movement. -Never shoot at'sound or move- ment. Be absolutely certain of your target before you pull the trigger, you cannot call back the shot. Hunters should be familiar with regulations governing spring gob- bler season: turkeys must be bearded; they may be hunted one- half hour before sunrise until 11 a.m.; only shotguns or bow and broadhead arrows may be used; and if a hunter uses an over-under combination gun, single ball ammu- nition may not be in the hunter’s posession. Successful hunters must tag the turkey within one hour, or before removing it from where it was killed. The tag supplied with the hunting license must be used. Per- sons not required to have a license may use a homemade tag showing the hunter’s name, address, and the date, time and county of har- vest. Turkey kill report cards must be filled out and mailed to the Game Commission within 10 days. The spring hunt concludes May 21; Inside Pennsylvania PA growth should be guided BY HOWARD J. GROSSMAN Special to The Post Pennsylvania is undergoing significant change in various regions yet little attention is being placed upon development management from a land use perspective. There is a need to reexamine the way in which development can be guided in both growth parts of Pennsylvania and those regions of the Commonwealth which continue to experience economic hardship. Called by many different names, this phenomenom requires a new language to better enable public and private sector officials to meet the obligation of a new Pennsylvania. Thus, may come the concept of development management strategies which can be utilized throughout the Commonwealth to help guide how development and redevelopment can take place from a land use viewpoint. A statewide land use planning strategy and a sub-state review and comment process involving all levels of government through the various’ legislative and administrative mechanisms available to Pennsylvania government, is an absolute necessity if Pennsylvania is to grow effectively in the 21 Century. Now is the time to establish the capacity upon which this planning process can take place. Land use planning in Pennsylvania has, is, and will continue, to be needed at the regional, county, area, municipal, and neighborhood levels of Pennsylvania. Since Pennsylvania should probably be considered five or more states, based upon the reality of Commonwealth geography and perceptions, a development strategy in one part of the State might be quite different than a strategy in another part. Currently there does not seem to be any major focus on land development and land use planning in the State, although historically in Pennsylvania the topic has received much attention through organizations such as the Pennsylvania State Planning Board. The Pennsylvania State Planning Board faces extinction as a result of#™ legislative sunset review, which has caused a conclusion to be reachei that the State Planning Board no longer seems to play a relevant or significant role, and therefore, should not be continued as part of a statewide land use development strategy. Examples abound of differing conditions in various regions in Pennsyl- vania, however, one strong mainstream is the need to promote land use planning and land development strategies while the opportunity exists to foster this type of environment. For example, in regions which are undergoing population loss, the opportunity exists to create new plateaus of land use planning and regional strategies prior to an upward shift in that region’s economy which could mean new population growth. Regions of Pennsylvania which are growing, but have not reached saturation, are facing strains in municipal facilities and services and much more of a pressure exists to mandate land use planning and zoning in a wide sweep across that particular region. An example would be the Pocono Mountains and the possibility for such techniques as a Poconos Commission, similar to the Adirondacks Commission or the Lake Tahoe Commission which helps to guide and control, but not stop growth. 2 In the Back Mountian, land use planning has come about as a result ot the appointment of municipal planning commissions and a variety of zoning ordinances which are implemented through zoning techniques carried out at the local level. Since the Back Mountain Area is undergoing extensive growth, it may be useful to have municipalities work closely together within this part of Luzerne County to coordinate activities in relation to land use planning and zoning. This can be accomplished through a voluntary system of cooperation among local governmental officials to join together periodi- cally to talk about issues relating to growth and ways to guide new development and carry out programs of community improvement where appropriate. Assistance can be provided by the Luzerne County Planning Commission and other organizations who have some expertise in land planning and development. The establishment of land development i land use strategies which can be undertaken at the local level od cooperation with other organizations would be a step in the best interest for the future of the Back Mountain. Child Find offers hope One hundred twenty four children missing from Pennsylvania, which include stranger and parental abductions and runaways, have been registered with, Child Find of America over the past seven years including 14 active cases from Pittsburgh. Hope for the return of the parentally abuducted children may be an innovative program which seeks to draw the kidnapping parent i.to mediation. The first of its kind, the Child Find Mediation Program is an innovative approach to solving cases of parental abduction in which a child is kidnapped by one of its parents for a variety of reasons sometimes, just to hurt the other parent. The program uses mediation as a forum for returning the child to a more stable environ- ment. “Parental abductions constitute over 90 percent of our total case load,” reports Child Find’s Execu- tive Director Carolyn Zogg. Under the new program, parents who have abducted their own children may call a toll-free number, 1-800- A-WAY-OUT, anonymously to speak to Child Find’s mediation experts. In addition, parents contemplating abducting their own children, or relatives who suspect that a parent is planning an abduction, may also call the number for counseling. The program is available free of charge and all cases are kept strictly confidential. Child Find’s innovative Mediation Program, begun in Florida in Sep- tember 1986, has been extended to New York, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Ala- bama. It will be available to Penn- sylvania residents in early May in conjunction with a visit to Pitt burgh by Child Find’s Executive. Director Carolyn Zogg. Working in collaboration with The Advertising Council McCaffrey and McCall Inc., and funded by the Mattel Founda- tion, Simplicity Pattern Com- panmy, Spunk Fund Inc., U.s. Trust Company, Greentree Founda- tion and the Charles A. Frueauff Foundation Inc., Child Find has made successful inroads to combat the trauma of parental child abduc- tion. Parental kidnapping is a felony in 46 states and can be punished as a misdemeanor in 27 states. Pennsylvnaia, abduction can Ew either a felony or a misdemeanor. Maximum punishment is imprison- ment of up to 10 years and a fine up to $15,000. Child Find of America, a pioneer in the field of missing children, was founded in 1980 by the parent of a missing child. Child Find’s primary focus is the location of missing children. The Post asks: “Wheres do you go to have a good time?” BOB SAUNDERS Bob Saunders Realtor Associate Forty Fort “Every 3 or 4 weeks I take my wife out for lobster tails at The . Lobster Trap, across from The Woodlands. P SEA KATHY RODOWSKI Kathy Rudowski Dancer Hunlock Creek “T go to the ‘Cracker Box’ on Market Street in Kingston.” JOAN MARIE SHREY Joan Marie Shrey Housewife Harveys Lake “I like going Jedidia’s, Pickett’ S Charge, the Dallas Mall, the Acme, the bank and Grotto’s.” \ JULIE SHREY Julie Shrey Student Harveys Lake ‘‘Rollaway, The Patio at the Mall, bowling or shopping at the mall.” JOHN SPERRATORE John L. Sperratore Retired Harveys Lake “We go fishing at Harveys Lake, or to Grotto’s, we don’t go too far.” JACOB HYPES Jacob Hypes Retired Aircraft Morton, Pa. “Fishing at the lake, hunting, we go drinkin g and dancing in Phila- delphia. I go to country musical festivals all over, Virginia and = West Virginia. I play a fiddle in a Blue Grass band.” AW (i 7 > ry
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers