SERVING THE BACK MOUNTAIN FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY @ Vol. 104 No. 5 Dallas, PA Wednesday, February 3, 1993 ~ The Dallas Post J 35 Cents i Jeannette Wright wins award at Vo-Tech. Page 7. {| SPORTS e First half caders in Dallas, Lehman basketball. Sports page. Rich Davis becomes a leader of the Black Knights. Sports page. i COMMUNITY Charity ball will aid Make-A-Wish Foundation Page 6. Barbara Campbell named outstanding student at Lake-Lehman. Page 7. Red Cross Blood drive Wed., Feb. 3,9amto 2 p.m., Dallas High School. Call 823-7164 for ap- pointments. 12 Pages 1 Section Calendar................ 8 Classified........ 10-11 Editorials. 6 4 Obituaries........... 10 School:....u.niiiis. 7 OPOrIS.......covusees ina 9 (oF. VN NYSP R FOR HOME DELIVERY, * NEWS OR ADVERTISING [EI Survey aims Inside Story to answer prison water questions By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff After spending nearly $1 million of state money to install a water line between Ceasetown Dam and the State Correctional Institution at Dallas (SCID), prison officials want touse it only when the prison'’s wells go dry. Jackson Township officials and residents have become concerned that the prison’s pumping of up about 300,000 gallons of water every day from two of its four wells could lower the water table and cause neighboring residents’ wells to go dry. In an effort to determine the prison'’s effect on nearby wells, the Department of Corrections has appropriated $34,000 for a 90-day hydrogeological study, begun the week of January 4, by Environmental Research Group in Lancaster. “The water line was never intended to be the prison’s primary water source,” said Department of Corrections Press Secretary Ben Livinggood. “We're presently trying to determine if SCID’s wells are affecting those of its neighbors. Commissioner Lehman and his staff will make the ultimate decision on the prison’s primary water source based on the results of the study.” “The Jackson Township supervisors unanimously believe . | -~that.it is most prudent for the prison’s primary water source to be the new water line from Ceasetown Reservoir,”. said supervisor Walter Glogowski. “The prison consumes a large See WATER, pg 2 (Post photo/Charlotte Bartizek) Ride 'em donkeyboy? Lake-Lehman senior Rich Davis looks a little shaky atop his mount during the annual donkey basketball game between the “seniors and faculty at the high school. More photos on page 3. Jackson Twp. hires new zoning officer By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff Jackson The Township supervisors have appointed John Krupa as the new building inspector /zoning officer, toreplace the late Robert Culp. Krupa’s salary, for four hours of work aday, will be $400 per month. The supervisors will set his office hours after the next work session. The supervisors commended Andrew Sholtis, who served as interim zoning officer, for his work. “Andy did a fine job; he was there when the community needed someone to help out .in an emergency,” said supergvisor Joe Stager. In other business at their meeting Monday, Feb. 1., the supervisors voted to: Authorize township secretary Henry Zbiek to advertise a new part-time flexible-hour clerical position, to help Zbiek with typing, preparation of reports and other See JACKSON, pg 12 READY FOR ACTION — Cub Scouts from Dallas Troop 281 set up their race cars for the troop’s Pinewood Derby Friday, January 29. From left: David Glicini Danny Smith, David Werts, David Neiman. (Post Photo/Grace R. Dove) Cub Scouts rev up for Pinewood Derby By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff Seventy-two hot, custom-built race cars roared through Dallas Borough Friday night, January 29. A Batmobile, several hot rods with flames painted on their sides and hoods and the “Kunkle Kid" were followed by a fluorescent orange prototype with a dinosaur on the back and a magenta-haired troll at the wheel. None of them was road-legal: no turn signals, lights, mufflers, license plates or inspection stickers. And all of the driver. were underage. But the police never noticed. This was Cub Scout Troop 281's Pinewood Derby, with all of the cars built to specifications by the “drivers,” run on a 30-foot track in the basement of the Dallas United Methodist Church. Each boy began with a kit: a block of pine, four wheels, two axles and a set of instructions. Cars couldn't weigh more than five ounces or be more than seven inches long and 2-3/4 inches wide and couldn't have any springs, bushings or washers on the wheels. The rest was up to the boys: body style, sanding, final finishing, body work, paint and trim. A traditional Cub Scout winter activity, the Pinewood Derby has been run on the same track for more than 25 years in the Back Mountain. Trophy winners for first, second and third place in the Wolf, Bear, fourth grade Webeloes, fifth grade Webeloes and best-looking cars in the show were: Johnathan Nutche, Danny Smith, Chris Marcikonis, Paul Fiske, Robbie Amann, Nick Zimniski, Dave Nieman, Dave Werts, Nathan Jones, Matt Josuweit, Malt Carey, Herby Bressler, Matt Reschauer, Doug Jennings, David May, Ryan Stredny, Michael Yurchak, Justin Coggin, David Glicini, Ryan Morgan and Mike Miller 8 months later, Schwartz says By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff Ayear after convicted murderer Stephen G. Schwartz shot his former girlfriend, Deborah VanLeuven, todeath, he has asked the court for a new trial. In a post-conviction appeal filed January 22, 1993, at the Luzerne County Courthouse, Schwartz requested that his original plea of guilty to a general charge of homicide be changed to not guilty. Filed by attorney Gerald P. Deady, the appeal claims that Schwartz's original legal counsel, public defenders Louis Bott and Ferris Webby, “were ineffective in advising him to enter his plea of guilty.” Schwartz was convicted in a trial before Judge Hugh Mundy May 11, 1992, of shooling Ms. VanLeuven to death in front of their two-year-old daughter, Stephanie, in the driveway of his parents’ Dallas Township home Friday evening, January 17, 1992. He was also found guilty of theft and receiving stolen property for fleeing the murder scene in Ms. Vanleuven's car, taking her credit cards and taking the pistol used in the shooting from the home of TV seta he's not guilty another girlfriend. 2 Mundy dismissed an additional charge of reckless endangerment, filed because district Attorney Peter Paul Olszewski said that the child's life had been placed in danger during the shooting. : Schwartz has not yet been officially sentenced and is lodged in the Luzerne County Prison. “Basically, Schwartz is asking for a new trial, which is his right and which we are prepared to testify at,” said Dallas Township Police Chief Carl Miers, whose officers assisted the Pennsylvania State Police in the original investigation. Miers believes that since the same evidence would be used at a second trial, a similar verdict (guilty) could be obtained. “The appeal process is very long and drawn-out,” Miers continued. “But that's the legal system .- everyone is entitled to their day in court. Everybody gets frustrated with the system.” % “I am confident that this appeal isn't going anywhere,” Olszewski said. “Schwartz will spend the rest of his life in jail.” The hearing before Judge Hugh Mundy on Schwartz's appeal is scheduled for February 22. gift, not bribe, giver says By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff The man who gave a color television to the Harveys Lake Police Department said that the set was simply a gift to the department and not a bribe for dropping a driving under the influence charge. At the bribery trial of the deparment’s assistant chief, Ronald Spock, Peter Joseph Achey testified that he donated the set to save his auto repair business. But he said he never spoke directly to Spock about the gift, except when he delivered the it to Spock at the police department's office. Assistant District Attorney David Lupasand Spock's defense counsel Johnathan Blum grilled Achey on this question during Tuesday morning's testimony at Spock's DAY IN COURT - Harveys Lake Assistant Police Chief Ronald trial on bribery charges. Under questioning by Lupas, Achey testified that Spock had stopped him for suspected driving while under the influence December 15, 1991. Achey refused to take a blood alcohol (BAC) fest because the “few beers” that he had consumed during the afternoon might show up and cause him to be arrested for driving while under the influence. If convicted of D.U.I., Achey said that he could have lost his driver's license and auto inspection and autosaleslicenses, his only means of making a living and helping to support his mother, whom he live with. ; Achey testified that, acting on the advice of a friend, Mark Kline of See TV SET, pg 3 Spock arrived at the Luzerne County Courthouse Monday for the start of his trial on bribery charges. The jury was selected Monday and the trial began Tuesday. (Post photo/Grace R. Dove) £
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers