ah J £ i! i 1 / gi (J (24) EX ZN cher all-star team photos 14 Vol. 101 No. 28 Family fight ends in son shooting his father By CHARLOT M. DENMON Staff Writer Thomas P. O'Brien, 60, of Har- ‘veys Lake was listed in fair condi- tion at Nesbitt Hospital Monday in the wake of an incident in which police say he was shot by his son. On July 10, at 11:56 p.m., Dal- las Township police were dis- patched to the O'Brien residence on Lower Demunds Road on a domestic violence call where some- one was reportedly shot. Officers Elliot Ide and James Jolley arrived . and found O'Brien lying along the driveway. His son, Robert W. O'Brien, 32, of Rte. 31, Arcadia, Florida, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and reck- lessly endangering another per- son. The younger O'Brien was ar- raigned before District Magistrate Earl Gregory and released on $25,000 bail, under his recogni- zance, with a hearing tentatively set for July 20 at 10 a.m. The father had been released from the Monroe County Prison the day before the incident. He had spent five months there after failing to post $100,000 bail re- quired after he was charged with . kidnapping and other violations in © an incident involving his former girlfriend. In that case, O'Brien ‘was accused of kidnapping the woman in Monroe County, trans- porting her to his Harveys Lake . trailer and attacking her there. Police said their investigation revealed that Thomas O'Brien ar- rived at the residence about 10:30 p.m., trying to obtain personal items, which violated a court order of Dec. 2, 1989, under the protec- tion from abuse act. He and his wife, had an argu- ment and O'Brien left with some of his effects. He returned later, claim- ing some of his belongings were missing and began arguing. He and his wife argued and she told him his remaining items were in a truck in the garage. He obtained his effects and began to leave, but backed up the car and returned to the house, and began kicking on the door, according to the report. Prior to his return, his ex-wife i got out a 38-special pistol, loaded 7 itand put it down. While they were arguing, the son picked up the gun and fired a warning shot through the screen door, the police record continued. His father retreated to the car and the son was afraid he was going for a gun, so he opened the door and fired at the rear of the car. The bullet lodged in his fa- ther's left lung. The elder O'Brien was taken to the Nesbitt Memorial Hospital where he was first admitted to the intensive care unit in serious con- dition. The hospital reported Monday that O'Brien was in fair condition and had been removed from the unit to a room. Calendar................ 18 Classified......... 15-17 Editotials..............: 4 Obituaries............... 2 Police Report......... 2 Property Transfers.8 School.................. 13 Sports... ..... 14-15 Coming up: HARVEYS LAKE ZONING BOARD - Tues., July 24, 7 PM, Harveys Lake Municipal Bidg., Route 415 LEHMAN TOWNSHIP PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSIONS -Mon., July 23: Planning 7 PM; Zoning, 8 PM, Lehman Twp. Municipal Bldg. Sign catches fire town and Kunkle. A i UO i. ,,.e_h Dallas, PA Wednesday, July 18, 1990 Not much damage was done after a small electrical fire caused damage to a sign at the Formu-3 Weight Loss Centers in the 309-415 Plaza last week. : The fire was caused by bare wires that were left from a previous sign, according to Dallas Fire Chief Ted Wright. Formu-3 recently moved int the shop and had just celebrated its grand opening. : Wright said that the fire burned a pole that was connected to the other shops in the plaza. He said that the fire could have been much worse if it were not noticed as quickly as it was. Firemen were at the scene for about one hour. Dallas firemen were assisted by crews from Shaver- Firemen are shown above inspecting the damage behind the sign and to the woodwork under the sign. (Post photo/Rich Johnson) Water authority closer to reality By CHARLOT M. DENMON Staff Writer the Back Mountain Water Commission took the first step toward establishing a regional water authority at a special meet- ing last week. Under the plan worked out by the commission, the Dallas Area Municipal Au- thority would become a water authority. “Kingston Township, Dallas Township and Dallas Borough agreed to present a resolution drawn up by the Commission and DAMA to their township and bor- ough officials,” said commission Under the plan, communities would develop common regulations that would be enforced by the authority chairman Jim Ward. “The bor- ough representatives at the meet- ing voiced the fear that the au- thority would cost them money, but when they learned that it would not, their representatives were willing to present the pro- posal to the officials,” Ward ex- plained. Dallas Borough manager Milt Lutsey and council member Patri- cia Peiffer attended the meeting. Dallas Township supervisors Phil Walter and Glenn Howell also agreed to present the resolution at a supervisors meeting, as did Kingston Township, which was represented by township manager Jeff Box and supervisor Herb Hill. Initially, the three municipali- ties who cooperated in the organi- zation of DAMA, Dallas Borough, Dallas and Kingston Township will be the ones to authorize DAMA as See WATER, pg 2 SE Dallas rec center brings summer fun By CHARLOT M. DENMON Staff Writer One of Dallas Borough's most attractive features for families is the park located on Luzerne Ave- nue and Burndale Road, a place where children and adults can exercise and play in quiet and safety. The Dallas Recreation Park was made possible following the Dallas Sesquicentennial celebration in the fall of 1967 when a committee decided that profits from the event would be used for the development of recreational sites in the Back Mountain. Since the beginning, the park unlike many recreation areas, has had a planned, formalized pro- gram. The children have skating par- ties, play miniature golf, go on various field trips and have arts and crafts periods daily. They also have Christmas in July, Western night with pony rides and western dress, as well as a big “end of the Year” party. There are daily volleyball and basketball games and every sea- son, they go on a major trip. For several years while Jay Pope was supervisor the park had a fireworks display every July 4, held on the grounds until the crowds who came to see the display except for one year when it was held on school property. “The crowds became so large we could no longer have the display on the park grounds and the ex- pense of the fireworks became too great for our budget. We asked the surrounding communities if they were willing to contribute since many of the people were from other municipalities. None of them were willing to do so, so we had to give up the display,” Pope said. “Some children from outside of the borough come to the play- ground, but as long as we were able to provide our own kids with the recreational facilities we don't stop them,” Pope said. “If it begins to interfere with our borough chil- dren, then we will have to screen the children and ask for identifica- tion. The minimum age for the children to be at the park alone should be six since the park is not a baby-sitting service. A residency pass may be something necessary in the future, if the crowd keeps growing,” Pope said. It was decided in the beginning DALLAS REC CENTER - Rec Center counselors Barry Brutko and Kathy Farrell take time out to Paramedics will be dispatched with ambulances By RICH JOHNSON . Staff Writer When an ambulance call comes into the Back Mountain Commu- nication Center there is now a better chance that a paramedic unit will be sent as well. Last week the communication center's execu- tive board voted to begin a policy of simultaneously dispatching the two units when warranted. The decision was not an easy one for the board, according to its president, Kingston Township Police Chief Paul Sabol. “I have spent a lot of sleepless nights worrying about this,” Sabol said at the meeting. “We have met with a lot of people and talked a lot about this before making the decision.” The board voted unanimously to adopt a policy of simultaneous Local Habitat group starts first project By RICH JOHNSON Staff Writer An area organization whose goal is to provide affordable housing for low income families is off to a great start. In just six months the Wyo- ming Valley Habitat for Humanity is beginning its first project for a family of seven. The area’s Habitat is an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity Interna- tional, according to Stephanie Bressler, the secretary of the board of directors of the local group. Bressler said that area churches began to look into this kind of project approximately six months ago and things have continued to grow. “We are very popular in the Wyoming Valley and there seems to be a lot of interest, especially in the greater Back Mountain Area,” said Bressler. The goal of the organization is to provide decent, affordable hous- ing for low income families. Habi- tat finds homes that need to be fixed up and provides help to families who want to do the work to repair them. Bressler stressed that the or- ganization was not involved in charity work. “We insist that a 35 Cents PEN, p! Previously, advanced life support units could be called only 3 by an ambulance crew on the scene dispatching when information made available to. the dispatcher satisfies requirements for such action. The board said that the criteria on which to decide whether or not a simultaneous dispatch is warranted is being reviewed by: members of the board and by emergency medical service person- nel. : A simultaneous dispatch will a8 See PARAMEDICS, pg3 Families must put = in"sweat equity’ and help with ~~ other projects family put in ‘sweat equity,’ which 2 means they put in a lot of work on the project and also help us with other projects,” she said. “The people still pay for the house, but they go through us which means they don’t have to pay interest and they can set up convenient pay- ment plans.” The money from the payments | is then recycled to help on another project, according to Bressler. le { 4 4 WAT eae | RRL 5 i od aE A Hy 3h fe Bressler also stressed that the : group is ecumenical, which means it adheres to a nondiscriminatory policy and will include all religions and denominations. The group is very pleased with 7 its first project. A home in Lake Township has been found and a family has received approval to take on the project, according to Mike Willis, pastor of the Noxen United Methodist Church, who ; See HABITAT, pg2 discuss plans for the day’s program with supervisor Jack Wolensky which included a trip to see the Red Barons play. (Post Photo/Charlot M. Denmon) of 1968 that instead of using the $6,275 in the Sesquicentennial funds for one project, it be divided among the communities who had participated in the planning and organizing of the festivities with a stipulation that the funds be used by each community for recreational purposes. A playground had been planned in the local area since World War II and the Dallas Borough Council immediately appointed a park irerity Baste : In the latter part of 1968, a committee comprised of George McCutcheon, Doris Mallin, War- | ren Dadurka, Edward Buckleyand Ernest Thomas met at the home of See REC CENTER, pg 6.
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