Vol. 101 No. 38 Dallas, PA Wednesday, September 26, 1990 [Residents want light at Center Hill By CHARLOT M. DENMON Staff Writer A large crowd turned out for the Dallas Borough Council meeting Sept. 18 to request that a light be placed at the intersection of Route 309 and West Center Hill Road. Dallas Borough resident George Cave reported that a number of serious accidents had occurred at the intersection over the past number of years including one recently involving his granddaugh- ter. “It was only by the Grace of God that she is alive,” he told the council. Payne Printery president Thomas Gauntlett also appeared at the meeting and spoke on the danger at the intersection. a Phil Donahue, safety director of the Luzerne County Transpor- tation Authority, said that the buses have a difficult time trying to turn left from the highway at that intersection. The council agreed that it was a dangerous intersection but said they thought it was a matter which should be discussed with Dallas Township officials, since half of the intersec- tion is in the township. Council members explained that the light would cost in the neighborhood of $60,000: Repre- sentative Scott Dietterick also attended the meeting and stated he would see what could be done. It was later decided to have the officials from PennDOT, Dallas Township, Dallas Borough, Sena- tor Charles Lemmond, Rep. Di- etterick and the police meet at the intersection to discuss a possible solution. The meeting was to be held last Friday. The appointment of a fifth offi- cer to the Dallas Borough Police Department was approved by a 5- 0 vote and James Patrick Sheerin of Scranton was appointed effec- tive October 1, following a week of training with the police depart- ment. The council also approved the adoption of the revised Luzerne County Waste Management Plan. Council member Patricia Peiffer reported that she sent in the reso- lution to go along with the recy- SeelIGHT, pg 5 Hundreds of homes missed in Census By CHARLOT M. DENMON Staff Writer The recently completed 1990 Census missed hundreds of homes in the Back Mountain, including ” entire new developments. As aresult, Dallas Borough, Dal- las Township and Kingston Town- ship have wasted no time in chal- lenging preliminary figures they received from the Census Bureau. Supervisor Frank Wagner of Dallas Township said that their solicitor filed an appeal immedi- ately stating the supervisors con- sensus of opinion that there were errors in the count of housing units in a number of the blocks on the preliminary map. The supervisors, zoning officer Leonard Kozick and several of the Township policemen will complete the total count of housing units this week as they inform the Cen- sus Bureau in their challenge. ‘aa “We had 2,417 units in 1980 ®..a this year, the preliminary report shows that the township has only 2,026 units,” Leonard Kozick explained. “That's ridicu- lous. In one development alone we have an additional 83 houses. We also have other developments such as Bluff Pointe, Pheasant Run, along Upper Demunds Road, and Harveys Lake will foot bill for light at Lake-Noxen | By RICH JOHNSON @ Staff Writer The Harveys Lake Borough Council has taken traffic safety School into its own hands. At the borough council meeting last week, the board voted unanimously to purchase a flashing light to be installed in front of the school. Councilman Joseph Sgarlat brought the matter to the board saying that there is a need for the light to be installed, but neither the state nor the school district wants to do anything about it. “I wrote to PennDOT and they said that there has not been enough accidents to warrant a light,” said Sgarlat. “To me that says that not enough of our children have been killed up there.” Sgarlat then said that he con- tacted the Lake-Lehman School See LAKE, pg 5 near the Lake-Noxen Elementary other areas. We're going to count every unit,” Kozick and Wagner explained. “The entire census was a joke,” said Wagner. Kingston Township manager Jeff Box said the township mailed its challenge by registered mail Mon- day morning. Zoning officer Ben Gorey stud- ied the preliminary report and map sent to the township and checked the blocks most likely to be in error. Gorey was a state planning consultant for nine years and was with the Luzerne County Planning Commission for seven years, so he was familiar with the procedure to be used. Box and Gorey checked blocks of 824 housing units and came up with an additional 76 units which multiplied by the census bureau's estimate of 2.6 per family gives a total of 199 additional people. “This means we. checked 37 percent of the units, the ones most likely to be in error. The blocks we didn't check had less chance of error. We targeted the areas ac- cording to the 1980 review as compared to 1990,” Box said. “We feel this should be an adequate See CENSUS, pg 3 i Graphic/Paul Rismiller) Tina Charney Kravits must leave A SIGN FOR THE TIMES - Stephen Kosisky of Dallas is working to have a "Duck Crossing" sign erected near the Pickett's Charge Restaurant in Dallas. The 10-year-old is shown feeding the ducks. He fears that passing motorists might not stop when the ducks cross the road. The birds often cross the highway (above) and go from Pickett's Charge to the Meadows Nursing Home. (Post Photo/Rich Johnson - Post family behind to go to Mideast By CHARLOT M. DENMON Staff Writer Brian William and Joshua screamed as their mother walked across the lot without looking back. z She held her head high and never Calendar Classified Editorials Obituaries Police Report Property Transfers.8 School Coming up: DALLAS TOWNSHIP SUPERVISORS - Tues., Oct. 2, 7:30 PM, Dallas Twp. Bldg., Route 309 FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP PLANNING COMMISSION - Mon., Oct. 1, 6:30 PM FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP SUPERVISORS - Mon., Oct. 1, 8 PM JACKSON TOWNSHIP SUPERVISORS - Mon., Oct. 1, 7:30 PM, Jackson Fire Hall KINGSTON TOWNSHIP PLANNING COMMSSION - Wed.., Oct. 3, 8 PM, Kingston Twp. Municipal Bldg. KINGSTON TOWNSHIP ZONING BOARD -Mon., Oct. 1,8 PM, Kingston Twp. Municipal Bldg. missed a step. It was difficult leav- : ing them and saying good-bye * without giving in and going back one more time. Captain Tina Charney Kravits, United States Air Force, had just left her five-year-old and three- year-old children with her hus- band and her sister at the NCO Building at Loring Air Force Base in Caribou, Maine. She had no choice; within the next three hours she would be on a plane bound for ‘the Mideast. It was not the first time she had left them but the other times were different. She would be gone for only a week or two. This time she prayed she would at least be home to take Brian William to his first day in kindergarten. The daughter of John and Elaine Charney of Dallas, Tina graduated from Dallas High School in 1980. and went on to Wilkes University. She has been in the Air Force for the past seven years and would have liked to make a career of it but she says her husband Brian has been opposed to that idea since the children were born. The Kravits-have always been together since their marriage after Area Fire Companies receive safety funds By RICH JOHNSON Staff Writer Back Mountain fire companies will soon receive more than $119,000 from the state to help secure the health and safety of fire fighters. The money, distributed through the state Department of Revenue, has been collected from the State Fire Insurance Tax Fund. The funds are generated by a two per- cent tax that is paid by out-of-state fire insurance companies. The companies collect the premiums from Pennsylvania customers through a Foreign Fire Insurance Premiums Tax. The funds, collected annually by the state, are sent to area municipalities which then distrib- ute the money to fire companies that serve the community This year the state released more than $36 million to 2,500 munici- palities. The money is divided throughout the municipalities by See FIRE, pg 5 Tina graduated from college. Youngster | comes toad of ducks By RICH JOHNSON Staff Writer When it comes to dealing with § state or local government agencies many people would rather keep quiet than argue a point. But 10- year-old Stephen Kosisky of Dal- las has decided not to “duck” an issue that he feels strongly about. § Kosisky has taken on a crusade § to protect the flock of ducks that § have made their home around § Pickett's Charge Restaurant and The Meadows Nursing Home in § Dallas. The ducks, which number more than 20, often walk across the roadway that runs between § Pickett's Charge and the Meadows J | and Kosisky is worried that motor- § ists may not stop for them. He wants a duck crossing sign put up to warn motorists of the birds. The youngster said he got the idea last week after he and his § 1 father had eaten breakfast at Pick- ett's Charge. “We were watching f| the ducks fromourtableandwhen § they crossed the road a car almost hit one of the ducks,” said Kosisky. § | “I told my dad that we should call § (the state Department of Trans- § portation) and see if a sign could § be put up.” f After school that day, Kosisky fy decided his idea to contact PennDOT was a good one and § placed the call. “I saw him flipping bs through the phone book,” said his § mother, Carol. “I asked him what he was doing and he said calling | i PennDOT to ask about a sign.” Stephen said he learned about PennDOT by watching the news with his parents. He said he called PennDOT but since it was after | 4:30 he got their answering serv- ice. He left a message but his call was never returned. This did not § deter the youngster and he called the department two more times ‘§ ‘before getting a response. “He finally got to talk with some- § See DUCKS, pg5 | This time it's a different situ- ation. Returning home from the state of Washington where she had been sent to train some of the service personnel, Captain Kravits was home only three days when she received orders that she was going to Saudi Arabia. “She had no doubt she would be sent over,” said her mother. “She was named ‘Targeting Officer of the year in September, 1989. The B-52 aircrews at Loring depend on her to help them hit enemy targets and get back alive.” See MIDEAST, pg 3 TINA CHARNEY KRAVITS Serving in Saudi Arabia 2IPAL Dallas Borough Dallas Twp. Franklin Twp. Harveys Lake Jackson Twp. Kingston Twp. Lake Twp. Lehman Twp. Ross Twp. TOTAL: Fire Insurance Tax Fund for Back Mountain communities ALLOCATION $11,415.47 $28,507.03 $ 5,641.49 $10,696.28 $11,899.07 $24,836.60 $ 6,037.34 $11,806.86 $ 8,362.68 $119,202.82
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers