4 The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, October 31, 1990 Tie DALLAS 0ST Accident response was credit to emergency Crews Back Mountain emergency personnel took a test of sorts last week, and they passed with flying colors. When a truck loaded with 2,600 gallons of gasoline over- turned on Route 309 in Shavertown last Friday, the entire Back Mountain emergency response infrastructure was thrown into action. Coordinated by the Back Mountain Communication Center, police, fire and ambulance personnel responded with amazing speed and assuring competence. In doing so, they averted both an immediate disaster—which explosion of the truck would have been—and the long term hazard the leaking gasoline presented to the area near the accident. Onlookers were impressed by the orderly and rapid action of the fire and police crews as they faced imminent danger. No matter how they felt on the inside, the men and women on whom our safety may someday depend performed splendidly. Phyllis Mundy for representative It was billed as the best political race in Luzerne County, but the contest for state representative from the 120th Congres- sional District has instead turned into a sham. Voters who want to assure the district of representation should cast their vote for Phyllis Mundy, the Democrat. A victory by her Republican opponent Scott Dietterick could mean no one will fill the 120th seat for some time. That's because Dietterick is likely to be tossed out of office or to resign since his conviction on fraud and forgery charges. Sharp-eyed observers of the political scene, including county commissioner Jim Phillips, anticipated this outcome months ago. After the jury's verdict earlier this month, the county Republican organization was unsuccessful in a ham-handed attempt to have Phillips’ name placed on the ballot. : This whole episode has been a sad chapter in the area’s political life, and a black mark on Dietterick’s name. Scott Dietterick had been one of the region’s most respected political figures. But his adamant refusal not to step aside earlier was the chief cause of this year’s confusion. Dietterick is appealing his conviction on all 19 counts, and continues to protest his innocence. It would be unrealistic, though, to count on his winning the appeal and retaining his House seat. Phyllis Mundy will be a good representative for the 120th District. She is conscientious, intelligent and resourceful; her background in the League of Women Voters and other activi- ties has prepared her well for the job. It is disgraceful that the confusion of this race hasn't left room for her and an opponent to discuss the issues that affect the Back Mountain and the rest of the district. Lack of choices perverts our politics Oh, well, it’s an election year. That seems the only appropri- ate sentiment as voters prepare to go to the polls and cast their ballots for—unopposed candidates. Even if you feel the incumbents have done a great job and deserve re-election, it’s not a healthy situation for so many of them to run with no credible opposition. The American political system works best when there is a vigorous public debate over issues of importance. That hasn't happened at all in our area this year. How easy it will be for our representatives to feel untouchable after an election like this. Perhaps so few citizens vote because there's so little reason to. That's not only a shameful circumstance, it is potentially dangerous to our society. Letters invited 2 The Dallas Post encourages readers to share their opinions with the community by writing a letter to the editor. All letters for publication must be signed and include a telephone number so that we may verify -authen- ticity. We will not publish anonymous letters. Send letters to: The Dallas Post, P.O. Box 366, Dallas PA 18612. Letters received by Noon on Monday may be included in that week's issue. Every pumpkin has his day (Photo by Charlotte Bartizek) Library news SE Library's 'Geographics" head for Georgia By NANCY KOZEMCHAK Last Saturday proved to be a very interesting and inspriing day at our own Back Mountain Memo- rial Library. We have accumulated many copies of the National Geo- graphic Magazines, so many, in fact, that we have told our patrons we just can’t take any more. How- ever, on Saturday, this lady came in and said she had been at our library auction this past summer and noticed we had some of these magazines for sale and she came back to buy some. We have been selling our books since the auction for $1.00 a bag and she bought 13 bags of National Geographics, which was our entire supply. The woman was Ann Dudek, who is the daughter of Dale Par- sons of Trucksville. Ann now lives in Atlanta, Georgia and she was taking the magazines back to Georgia with her. The Woodward Academy of College Park, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, has opened a new school called the North Cam- pus. They have some books but wanted National Geographics. She bought some books at the book sale in August and then saw in the paper about the special sale and came back for the magazines. Ann's connection with the school is that her son, John, who is 8 years old attends third grade at the new school. What a super tie-in with schools, libraries, neighbors and newspapers. Needless to say, our library will now accept donations of National Geographic Magazines. Our librarian, Mary Ellen Berry, and I attended the Sixth Annual Technology Conference sponsored by the State Library of Pennsylva- nia through the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The conference was held at the Holiday Inn in Grantville. The theme of the conference was “Meeting the Challenges of the 1990's and Beyond”, and was in- tended for library personnel of all types, public library trustees and school administrators interested in library technology applications. The conference was designed to provide information on planning, managing and implementing the latest technologies to meet 1990 challenges. : Mr. William Arms: Ph.D., vice president of Academic Services for Carnegie Mellon University gave the welcome and introduction on ~ electronic information systems: present and future impacts. I attended the morning work- shop presented by Chuck Broad- bent of the Pittsburgh Regional Library Center which covered the subject: Getting Started; planning for technologies, how to get started and how to evaluate proposals sub- mitted by vendors. The afternoon session I attended was presented by Dr. Mary Micco, of the Computer Service Dept. and Dr. Linda Rambler, Associate Di- rector of the University Libraries and Media Resources; both of the Indiana University of Pennsylva- nia. They covered many aspects of technology. : New books at the library: “The Fifth Law of Hawkins” by Charles Durden is a Book Club purchase which tells of Jamie Hawkins, the acid-tongued, iconoclastic hero whois a features reporter assigned to the ‘nightside’ shift at the Phila- delphia Call. Jamie has just been freed from a Mexican jail who was rescued by an American tourist. After working his charm, he is soon on his way to the City of Brotherly Love and big city jour- nalism. : “Meridon” by Phlippa Gregory is an exciting novel which becomes a dark, passionate tapestry of a young woman's struggle from poverty to wealth—of a rebellious heart's tempestuous journey to- wards love...set in the savage con- trasts of Georgian England, a time alive with treachery and intrigue. The young boy was asked why he did not return his library book. His answer, “I'm only halfway through the book”. When asked what the title of the book was; he said, “I haven't reached that part yet; I'm a backwards reader”. Forest Service sells trees at bargain basement rates By JOHN M. ANDERSON In terms of gasoline and air- plane tickets, your dollar isn’t worth much any more. I mean, it takes lots of them to get from point A to point B. But if you are a timber company, you can buy an entire lodgepole pine, 65 feet tall, about 100 years old, for about one dollar. The more- than-willing seller is an agency that supposedly works for you: The U.S. Forest Service. If the U.S.F.S. had a great surplus of trees, such a bargain sale might be justified. Unfortunately for your pocket- book and mine, the Forest Service ‘will spend at least two dollars to, make the sale. They will build a logging road to get to the tree. They will survey the tract in which the tree stands, and pay the lawyers to draw up the many documents required by government agencies when dealing with private busi- ness. The Targhee National Forest in ~ Idaholies along the western border of Yellowstone National Park. It provides adequate living space for the endangered peregrine falcon, bald eagle, and grizzly bear. There is some argument as to the official status of the grizzly. The sheep- herders don’t want it on the endan- gered list for obvious reasons. So its official status is “threatened” which means federal agencies can “control” its numbers. It appears that clearcutting in the Targhee in 1989 cost taxpayers about $3 million. The Forest Serv- ice’s own studies show that they lost money on nearly two-thirds of their sales last year. Across the country, losses have averaged $343 million over the last 11 years. Taxpayers subsidize these losses. Except in those pitiful remnants of virgin forest, I have no objection to harvesting timber on a sustained yield basis. A forest can grow a certain number of board feet of lumber per year. As long as the harvest is kept at that level, we won't run out of trees. In addition to furnishing timber, the Forest Service is bound by law to manage our forest for all their values, such as wildlife habitat on which hunt- ers, birders, fishermen, and hik- ers depend. They protect water- sheds which prevent disastrous floods and soil erosion. But the Forest Service seems to focus its attention on logging and ignores other forest uses. Consequently, they are selling timber off most of our national forests so fast and so cheap that the price doesn’t even cover the cost of selling the trees. In defi- ance of the public trust, the Forest . Service continues to cut forests faster than they can recover. They plan to build or rebuild 580,000 miles of roads through national forests. This will enable timber companies to get in and buy the timber at about half what it costs to grow the trees, build the roads, and negotiate the sale. Our national forests were es- tablished about a century ago to protect public forest lands from destruction. By then our “cut-out- and-get-out” policy had already stripped bare much of the East and upper Midwest. Our rivers were polluted and fishing and streams filled with silt eroding from clearcuts and logging roads. Today we have 156 national forests covering 191 million acres, equal to Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota com- bined. They could and should be managed as efficiently as privately owned forests. They can provide harvestable timber, protect the environment, provide recreation and still at least break even finan- cially. For some reason, taxpayers in the East and Midwest don’t pay much attention to the millions of acres they own west of the Missis- sippi. Consequently, we get a Secretary of Interior and a Secre- tary of Agriculture who are not interested in sound forest or wild- life management. If you're tired of this nonsense, you should let your senators and congressmen know. Private organi- zations such as Audubon, Wildlife Management Institute, or Wilder- ness Society can keep you informed on legislation affecting natural resources. Otherwise, western politicians will continue to use our national forests, grasslands, and wetlands to get themselves re- elected. That may be good for their pocketbooks. It's bad for yours. John M. "Frosty" Anderson was Director of the Wildlife Department of the National Audubon Society from 1966 until his retirement in 1987. : Only i; Township.20-0- vom modi kd yesterday 60 Years Ago - Oct. 31, 1930 : SULLIVAN COMMUNITY CENTER OPEN John Sullivan opened the new Sullivan Community Center ‘on Rice Street in Dallas this evening. Local Postograf Company: of Trucksville is shipping 150 new Postograph machines to New York. Parrish Heights Civic Club meets with Mrs. Henry Welch. Te Huntsville Christian Church to celebrate its 87th anniversary. Hayfield Farms at Lehman pro- duced two 10-ton litters of pigs again this year. Lehman High School gridders lost 14-7 last Friday. 50 Years Ago - Nov. 1, 1940 NEW SPUR HIGHWAY HITS DALLAS Wesley Oliver of Dallas was the first man whose number was drawn in the National Draft Lottery in Washington. : Future Farmers from seven schools meet in the Dallas Town- ship School auditorium. The new spur highway finally reached Dallas as workmen com- pleted pouring concrete on one side of the road. Wed - Ardena Brunges and Joseph LaBar; Ruth May Hazel and Frank Wrysch. Sordoni is among the sponsars of a proposed winter sports center. 40 Years Ago - Nov. 3, 1950 SCHOOL JOINTURE DISCUSSED 24 Biggest and best Hallow, Parade draws 400 masked march- ers. Lehman-Jackson Joint School Board may form its own Authority. Kingston Township, Dallas Borough and Dallas Township discuss school jointure. Natona Mills sponsors big mas- querade party at Kunkle Commu- nity Hall. Mrs. Hayden Phillips’ lands whopping big black bass in Can- ada. - Wed - Rhuea Vaughn Williams and John M. Culp Jr.; Dilys Ro- “maine Hunter and Harold Culver. Lehman Scotties defeat Dallas. = os PL eS? ~ 30 Years Ago . Nov. 3, 1960 CONTRACT AWARDED FOR A&P MARKET : A. Harden Coon of Coon Con / struction Company has some suggestions for the construction of Luzerne-Dallas Highway. : Back Mountain Kennel Club Dog Show attracts entries from all over the country. {8 Charles Williams, Harveys Lake, is the new All-Star bowling cham- pion of Luzerne County. Contract is awarded to Berretta Construction for the new A&P Market in the new Dallas Shop- ping Center. : Ray Daring breaks ground for new market on the Memorial High- way, Dallas. | Rain dampens but fails to daunt masked marchers on Halloween. Engaged - Lorraine E. Hoover and J. Eric Heising; Carroll Arnold \ af and Frank Hummell. Wed - Theresa Burant and Paid J. Hahn; Ruth Ann Race and Klau Claassen. 20 Years Ago - Nov. 5, 1970 TWO MILL TAX REFERENDUM NIXED Dallas Township okays sewers, solicitor objects. Heavy local vote in the Back Mountain favors Shapp and Hugh Scott. Back Mountain voters defeated the referendum for a two-mill tax for the library. Nesbitt Hospital Auxilliary fi- nalizes plans for the Holiday Fair. Dallas Water Company sends out notices of a rate increase effec- tive Jan. 1, 1971. Lake-Lehman girls are hockey champs completing an undefeated” season by defeating Dallas 3-0.. “+ Dallas Mountaineers defeat ‘Hanover 7-0 in last Friday's con- test. Engaged - Betty Emil and Rich- ard Mahoney. Wed - Diane M. Reese and Robert J. Bama. Tie DALLASCP0ST Published Weekly by Bartsen Media, Inc. P.O. Box 366, Dallas PA 18612 Telephone: 717-675-5211 Ronald A. Bartizek Editor and Publisher Peggy Young Advertising Acct. Exec. Charlotte E. Bartizek Associate Publisher Charlot M. Denmon Reporter Rich Johnson Paul Rismiller Composition Reporter Jean Hillard Olga Kostrobala Classified/typesetting Office Manager MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION AND THE PENNSYLVANIA NEWSPAPER PUBLISHER'S ASSOCIATION \ a Zing dG ma EE
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers