| b d g——r . 4 TheDallasPost Dallas, PA Wednesday, October 23, 1991 T= PDarLas®Post re ven # & # i Dallas should fight to keep state funds The Dallas School District is right to appeal the state Department of Education’s denial of its request to retain $130,000 in excess funding the district received this year. To refund the money to taxpayers, which is what the state Legislature wants the district to do, would be wasteful and improper. Dallas, like many districts across the state, was forced to “adopt a budget for the current school year before the state budget was passed. That meant that school districts had to estimate how much state funding they would receive. Dallas “guessed low. ~The Legislature—stung by criticism of higher taxes in its own ~ budget—decided to save face by requiring school districts to refund the extra state funds unless a strong case could be -made for keeping them. Among the acceptable uses were . restoring programs that had been cut due to decreased funding ~ and purchasing needed textbooks or materials. Dallas pro- posed just such usage, but was denied. ~ If the money was refunded, a good percentage of it—the district says about $25,000—would be lost to administrative and delivery costs. Some of that would go to printing the following statement on any rebates. “This decrease of school district tax assessment results from additional revenues allo- ~~ cated to the district as a result of the passage of the ‘General Appropriations Act of 1991’ by the Pennsylvania General Assembly.” That sounds like a little free advertising for the Legislature. As long as the money will be used to make improvements in - the Dallas district’s ability to provide students a good educa- tion, it should be used that way and not to make token refunds for the benefit of the Legislature’s image. ~ Thomas confirmation bruised all Americans No matter what our political views, everyone in the nation feels somehow stained by the public hearing on Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas's alleged sexual harassment of professor Anita Hill. If you missed the live television coverage, you were at least spared the embarassment of watching fourteen middle-age white men struggle to address probing questions about a subject which most knew little of, to a man who used his race to blunt their efforts. This investigation should have been conducted behind closed doors, as are others, and the public portion reserved for questions about the nominee's qualifications for the Court. One result of this spectacle has been a call to change the confirmation process itself, a view pushed by President Bush and others. That makes sense only if changes are consistent with the Senate's duties in confirming executive branch ap- pointments. That duty is to advise and consent, not simply to roll over and play dead. Other than the Hill hearings and too much emphasis on how Thomas would vote on abortion rights, the Senate-acted properly in thoroughly examining this nomi- nee’s background and judicial thinking. From the start, the Thomas nomination was shrouded in politics, as Mr. Bush put forward a nominee whom he knew was not especially qualified, but whose conservative ideology fit ~ with his party’s own. The bonus was that the President thought Thomas’s race would prevent Democrats from aggressively opposing his appointment out of fear for losing support among black voters. Perhaps the most revolting aspect of the whole mess was the transparent attempt of some senators to accuse those who ~ opposed the Thomas nomination of failing their black constitu- ents. Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, whose role as water boy for right-wing interests is well known, made that charge only minutes after the voting was completed. Mr. Hatch'’s attack revealed only that he lacks the depth of character to under- stand votes of conscience that go against his parisan views. Clarence Thomas was confirmed to the Supreme Court by the narrowest margin in American history. Other recent nominees—even those with a clearly conservative bent—have received far greater support from both sides ofithe aisle. That's not because they were white, it’s because their judicial quali- fications were vastly superior to those of Judge Thomas. Even inthis case, 11 Democrats voted for him, and they provided the margin of victory as only two Republicans voted no. If he has another opportunity, the President must put ~ forward a nominee who is clearly ready for the Supreme Court, and the nation will be spared a repeat of this debacle. But if the next nominee is as marginally qualified as was Clarence Thomas, the Senate has every right and responsibility to put “him or her under the microscope for a close and complete examination. Do you agree? Disagree? Editorials are the opinion of the management of The Dallas Post. ~ We welcome your opinion on contemporary issues in the form of letters to the editor. If you don't write, the community may never hear a contrasting point of view. Send letters to: The Dallas Post, ~ P.O. Box 366, Dallas, PA 18612. Please include your name, address and daytime phone number so that we may verify authenticity. We ~ reserve the right to edit for length and grammar. %ie SDALLASCPosT Published Weekly by Bartsen Media, Inc. P.O. Box 366, Dallas PA 18612 Telephone: 717-675-5211 Ronald A. Bartizek Charlotte E. Bartizek Editor and Publisher Associate Publisher * Peggy Young Eric Foster Advertising Acct. Exec. Reporter Paul Rismiller Olga Kostrobala Production Manager Classified/typesetting Jean Hillard : Office Manager . MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION AND THE PENNSYLVANIA NEWSPAPER PUBLISHER'S ASSOCIATION " Before the frost Photo by Charlotte Bartizek Only yesterday 60 Years Ago - Oct. 23, 1931 DALLAS MAN KILLS GIANT LIZARD Fred Turpin, Dallas killed a 25- inch Hellbender in front of his cabin at White's Ferry. The Hellbender is the largest member of the sala- mander family and superficially resembles a lizard. Dallas Borough Council voted to retain the services of Officer Ed- ward Elston at a salary of$100 a month until the [irst of the year. Three Kingston Township [oot- ball players suflered injuries in a game with Lehman High School. The ground on which the game was played was very rough. Lehman won 26-0. “Merely Mary Ann” starring Janet Gaynor now playing al, Himmler Theatre. 50 Years Ago - Oct. 24, 1941 MRS. MOORE NAMED TO CIVIL SERVICE POST Mrs. Dorothy Moore of the Dal- las Post Office stall has been ap- pointed secretary of the civil serv- ice board according to an an- nouncement received from Wash- ington this week. Dallas District Girl Scouts will join other Girl Scouts to celebrate Girl Scout Week Oct. 26-Nov. 1. At that time they will honor the memory of Juliette Lowe, founder of Girl'Scouting in this country. Wed - Margaret Roberts toJacob Harris; Ethel Harris to Otis Allen Jr.; Reta Beardsley (o Earl Nielsen; Mary Cherfin to Robert Karl Math- ers. More than 600 children [rom Dallas Boro and Township schoools are expected to take part in a Hal- loween parade led by bands ofboth schools, Friday night, Oct. 31. 40 Years Ago - Oct. 19, 1951 MEADOWCREST HOUSING TO OPEN Meadowcrest Housing Project being built off Carverton Road in Kingston Township by Luzerne County Housing Authority when completed sometime after the first of the year will house 100 families. Capt. Alfred Camp hone on leave of absence is leaving (oday for Fort Sill, Oklahoma enroute [or Calilor- nia with Korea his objective. American flag sales by Dallas Chapter Eastern Star reached $400. Third Family Frolic set for to- morrow night at Dallas Borough Elementary School to be staged by the PTA. Deer may be hunted with bow and arrow during two week period Oct. 15-27 inclusive excepting Sunday. 30 Years - Oct. 26, 1961 ROCK SLOWS PIONEER AVE. GAS LINE WORK Twelve members of the Dallas School District faculty are partici- pating in United Fund Drive in this area, canvassing local busi- ness eslablishments. Work crews ran into bedrock while laying natural gas lines along Pioneer Avenue. For 300 feet boul- ders had to be broken with jack- hammers. Engaged - Kathleen Alice Richards to Russell N. Faux. Wed - Ann Marie McCue and Donald A. Gavigan. Mrs. Francis Ambrose will di- rect the Boot-black Minstrel proj- ect of both Senior and Junior Women's Club scheduled for Nov. 10 and 11 al Dallas Senior High School. 20 Years Ago - Oct. 21, 1971 MIKE DAVIS WILL TRY | FOR SIT-UP RECORD | Back Mountain Protective As- sociation and Lehman Township Taxpayers Association are among the lirst of number of Back Moun- tain organizations as being strongly opposed to propose rale increase by UGI Corp. iy Plans lor construction of K. 4th Cross Valley Expressway seem- ingly are al an impasse again due to lack of federal approval of the proposed route. : Pure albino deer was fatally injured when it jumped a fence trying lo escape several dogs chas- ing it. ice Engaged - Rosalie Mary Klecha to Richard E. Kerpovich, 4) * Dallas turned two last queer interceptions into scores as they came [rom behind to defeat Plains 21-7. = il West Side Tech was defeated by Lehman 29-18 at Huber Field in Plymouth. ' Mike Davis, senior at Dallas Senior High will attempt to do over 17,000 sit ups this week in order to break world's record. Library news £ @ * Videos for children added to library By NANCY KOZEMCHAK The library has received three new video cassettes for the chil- dren's department: Charlolie Dia- mond presents “Diamonds and Dragons”; Richard Scarry, “Three Animal Nursery Tales”; and "Mon- terey Bay Aquarium”. Other chil- dren videos in the collection in- clude: “Zlateh the Goal”; "Charlie Needs a Cloak"; “The Story About Ping"; “The Little Drummer Boy"; “The Snowman” and “Morris's Disappearing Bag". The rotating collection from the Osterhout is featuring a selection of craft books which we have shelved in the office area of the library. These books may be bor- rowed from our library for a three week period. Some of the titles are: "The Art of Egg Decorating” by Allan Stacey which includes stage-by-slage instructions accompanied by dia- grams and color plates. “The Joy of Giving Homemade Food" by Ann Seranne includes unique recipes and creative packaging ideas for all occasions, plus herb garden gifts and simple cookie projects to dazzle and delight children. Also, “Stamp I!" by Kay Glea- son is a project book of stamp pad prints and patterns teaching how to cut ordinary household items into a variety of simple shapes. “The Make-It Merry Christmas Book” by Jeanne Lamb O'Neill shows how to make astonishingly beautiful decorations and gifts out of everyday household scraps and nature gatherings...a joyful way to make Christmas what il should be. New book purchases at the li- brary: “"Remember” by Barbara Taylor Bradford is sel in the dy- namic world of television news and tells the story of a woman haunted by the mystery of her greatest love. Nicky Wells is a television war correspondent; but her life is shat- tered when she loses the only man she has every truly loved and fi- nally [inds solace in her work. “Sleeping Beauty” by Judith Michael is a mesmerizing, big- canvas blockbuster of love, poli- tics, family and revenge, and a poignant drama of an almost- middle-aged woman, finally awak- ened by the healing embrace of love. Anne Garnett is a high-pow- ered divorce lawyer, tough, smart and untouchable. The success of her life is measured by money, possessions and power. “Cruel Doubt” by Joe McGinnis is a riveting account of small-town murder when a family’s lives and illusions were shatlered one hot summer night in 1988. A story of love and betrayal. The Back Mountain Memorial Library conducted a fire drill last week, which included the patrons using the library, stall members and the children attending the Little People Day Care School on the second floor of our building. A representative of the fire alarm system in the library was making his routine maintenance check on the alarm system and wanted to try the system, so we complied with his request and conducted a routine lire drill. The Back Mountain Memorial Library has an ever-growing col- lection of Audio Book Cassettes. These book tapes have become very popular with our patrons and many of our patrons now donate some of their own when they finish them for the library shelves. “Put a book in your ear” has become a slogan for some audio companies and many commuters are getting in- volved with ‘a good listen’ and claim itis the only thing that keeps them sane on long commutes to the workplace. The industry shows some 30,000 titles are now being offered by 600 producers. As the popularity of taped books started to grow, the literary set was skeptical. A book vice president stated, “We always thought the spoken audio would take people away from reading, however it is just the opposite. It's something you do primarily when you're doing something else.” A librarian would say, there's noth- ing like holding a book in your hand; but as long as people get hold of a good book, does it really matter what format it's in. A few recent titles at the library include “China Boy” by Gus Lee, read by B.D. Wong; “Russka” by Edward Rutherford, read by Denis Quilley; “Circle of Friends" by Binchy; and “A Suitable Vengeance" by Eliza- beth George. The library circulated 6,411 books during the month ofl Sep- tember; 3,789 adult litlles and 2,622 juvenile. Book Club circu- lated 263 books; Interlibrary loan transactions totaled 29; registra- tions 232 and new borrowers join- ing the library were 119. A lovely selection of new chil- dren's books has arrived at the . TZ iy — collection library and will be available in the children’s room soon: “The Mousg- hole Cat” by Antonia Barger and Nicola Bayley is the story of a tat called Mowzer and a [ishermdn named Tom who set out in their little boat to try and save a village. “The Heroine of the Titanic” sby Joan W. Bos is a tale both true and otherwise of the life of Molly Brown. She was one of the most famous heroines of the West. “Follow The Dream” by Peter Sis is the story of Christopher Columbus. Ina pa rial retelliing, Christopher Coldm- bus overcomes a number of ob- stacles to fulfill his dream of sail- ing west to find a new route to the Orient. “Johnny Appleseed” is a poem by Reeve Lindburgh with paintings by Kathy Jakobsen. It relates the life of John Chapman, whose distribution of apple seeds and trees across the Midwest made him a legend and left a legacy still enjoyed today. A new holiday book, “Thanksgiving” by Miriam Nerlove is the story of a boy and his mother who bake two pumpkin pies ahd go to Grandma's house for a tradi- tional Thanksgiving celebration. All » “ » n > '] ‘of these books are beautifullyil- lustrated and tell such interesting stories. " » National Guardsmen plan reunion 2 A group of local former National Guardsmen has formed a commit- tee which is busy organizing a reunion, planned [or this coming November 2. The gathering is specifically for men who served honorably at the Nanticoke Armory anytime during the period January 14, 1955 thru January 13, 1980. An initial mailing of invitation has been made, and interested individuals who have not received an invitation are asked lo phone Earl Samuel at 675-5778, or Le- onard Gronkowski at 735-3694: Lake Silworth Lions pick raffle winner : The Lake Silkworth Area Liohs announce Dennis Kepler, Wilkes- Barre as the winner of the boat and trailer in their latest ralfle. The Lions thank all who helped to mdke the fundraiser a success, espe- cially those who purchased raflle tickets. id
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers