>» . SISA CRE = | =HeI@\V/\V IS \N BRI =CHO) oi lo | =3 D7AVE WARS HN WA (SESE [VN ES el [ele] Mb] Sy ile koh Wednesday, May 12, 1993 Vol. 104 No. 19 Inside Story Primary '93 cover- age in this week's issue: Judge and officer of election positions are the folks who assure an accurate vote count. Page 2. Voters' Guide for the primary election appears on pages 16 and 17. 'Town meeting sponsored by the Back Mountain Citizens' Coun- cil explored regional cooperation. Among the topics, water quality, recreation and tax reform. Page 3. Lake-Lehman superintendent Nancy Davis earns her doctorate degree. Page 2. Pack 281 holds Blue and Gold dinner. Page 11. New books added to collection at the Back Mountain Memorial Library. Page 8. Trucksville Fire Co. installs 1993 offi- cers. Page 8. Comedy and ghosts in Wyoming Seminary play, Lo and Behold, to be presented May 14-15. Page 10. Honor roll for Dallas High School, page 10, and Lake-Lehman Junior High School, page 6. Jeff Kunkle slugged two homers as Dallas beat Coughlin 11-6 in baseball. Page 13. 20 Pages 2 Sections Calendar.:;........v. 20 Classified........ 18-19 Crossword. ........... 15 Editorials................ 4 Obituaries............. 18 Property transfers.11 Schook:............ 14-15 SPOS... alae 13 (of VM CY LPR R FOR HOME DELIVERY, . NEWS OR ADVERTISING EE Dallas, Pennsylvania Dallas budget has no tax increases By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff The Dallas school board ac- cepted a tentative $15,752,095 spending plan with no millage increase for the 1993-94 school year at its regular meeting Mon- day, May 10. Business manager Charlotte Williams said that steady growth in the district averaging seven to eight percent over the past sev- eral years helped the district hold the line on its 158-mill property tax for three consecutive years. Income from real estate taxes will rise by $202,812 from last year, from $6,704,601 to $6,906,613, while the earned income tax will jump by $165,000, from $1,135,000 to $1,300,000, according to figures supplied by Ms. Williams to the board. Other significant local funding increases were found in delin- quent tax collections, netting the district $50,000 for an anticipated income of $300,000. Ms. Williams attributed this to more homes being sold due to lower mortgage rates, allowing back taxes to be collected in lump sums. The esti- mated tax collection rate in Dallas school district is 94 percent, Ms. Williams said. State funding will increase by $317,276, to $5,815,145, with an increase of $170,261 more in the basic instructional subsidy than had been planned for. This fund- ing, previously frozen by the state, was recently released by Gover- nor Casey. The district anticipates a pos- sible reduction in $265,000 in the special education subsidy, which had been budgeted under Gover- nor Casey's proposal but not yet released by the legislature. Increases in funding will be offset by a 9.07 percent increase in health and dental insurance premiums for all staff members and teachers’ salary increases of $363,767, bringing total teacher salaries to $5,456,795. Tuition for special private schools for developmentally-disabled stu- dents, estimated to cost an addi- By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff Flower power will hit the area May 13-16 as the Back Moun- tain Bloomers Garden Club hosts Northeastern Pennsylva- nia's first standard flower show, “In Concert With Nature.” Organized as a fundraiser for the Northeastern Pennsyl- vania Philharmonic, the flower show will feature juried exhib- its in three divisions open to amateur gardeners only, land- scaped displays, floral and garden markets, lectures and Little bloomers GETTING READY - Lake-Noxen third-graders Dwayne Kalinay, Rachael Ayers, Sarah Klug, Jamie Hoover and Arron Visneski inspect and measure their entries in the junior horticulturist division of the Back Mountain Bloomers Garden Club's first educational exhibits. The show will be held at the Montage Mountain ski area. According to club president Nancy Carey, the show will also present awards to students in grades 1-6 junior horticultur- ist division and grades 9-12, in design and special conserva- tion and ecology exhibits disivions. Formally organized in Janu- ary, 1989, the Back Mountain Bloomers is a member of Dis- trict III of the Garden Club Federation of Pennsylvania and the National Council of State POST PHOTO/GRACE R. DOVE ~ standard flower show, slated for May 13-16. All 66 third grade students at the school grew lettuce, radishes, coleus and bego- nias under the direction of science teacher Mrs. Bonnie Turchin for the show. Garden Clubs. Like a well-tended garden, the Back Mountain Bloomers started small and grew quickly to 26 members. “We originally formed to learn more about perennials and herb gardens,” said flower show chairman Lora Marcolina- Freifeld. “Our first project was planting bulbs at the Penn State-Lehman campus arbore- tum.” As the organization devel- oped, its projects became more ambitious: planting the garden around the Back Mountain Garden club cultivates first flower show Memorial Library, replanting the herb garden of the Swet- land Homestead in Forty Fort and reconstructing the historic Victorian garden at the Wyo- ming Historical and Geological Society's library in Wilkes- Barre, which earned the club three awards for restoration, of historical gardens at the Staie Federation of Garden Clubs’ convention April 19, Mrs. Freifeld said. Restoration of the Victorian garden included excavation of See FLOWER SHOW, pg 12 tional $75,000, or total of $100,000 for next year, has incre- sed because the state no longer contributes anything towards this expenditure. Previously the dis- trict was only responsible for 20 percent of the cost, not the entire tuition. ! School director Thomas Lan- don disagreed with the proposed increase of $1,500 in the library's budget for periodicals. “I would rather see this money put into See DALLAS BUDGET, pg 12 District to require weekly tax deposits By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff The Dallas school board unani- mously approved a new tax col- lection policy at its meeting May 10, which requires that the dis- trict's four local tax collectors make weekly deposits of all reve- nues into an interest-bearing account. i Itemized reports of all tax col- lections are due to the district by the eighth of each month and annual reports of all collections and delinquent taxes by January 15. SH Tax collectors will receive $4 per tax bill collected, a reduction from the previous rates that aver- aged $6 per bill. Assistant superintendent in charge of curriculum and instruc- tion Dr. Gilbert Griffiths and Mrs. Nagy asked the board to consider adding an assistant principal to the high school administrative staff, to assist principal Frank Galicki with discipline. When Galicki is away from the high school on district business, middle school principal Anthony Martinelli or superintendent Ger- ald Wycallis must substitute for him. The high school, which houses grades 9-12, currently has no assistant principal. [nt The board also accepted a pre- liminary 1993-94 budget of $15,752,095 (See separate story) ,which holds the line on the dis- trict's 158-mill property tax for the third consecutive year. See TAX DEPOSITS, pg 12 District Justice race attracts two with law background Miers ready for next step in judicial system By DAVE KONOPKI Post Correspondent Ever since he was a little boy delivering newspapers, Carl Miers felt a need to serve his commu- nity. Now, after 24 years with the Dallas Township Police Depart- ment, including 19 years serving as the chief of police, Miers wants to take his community service one step further. The 47-year old Davenport Street resident has announced his candidacy for District Justice. He has cross-filed and will run on both the Democratic and Repub- lican tickets. He is running for the six-year, $45,000 office against Jim Tupper, a former police offi- cer and current business owner. Miers is a 1963 graduate of Dallas High School and is a gradu- ate of Northeast Training Center State Police School. He also earned college credits at Penn State and Indiana University of Pennsylva- nia. Miers is also a 26-year vet- | eran of the Pennsylvania National CARL MIERS Guard, retiring at the rank of First Sergeant. “I've enjoyed police work,” said Miers, who graduated from the Minor Judiciary School at Wilson College in 1989. “I've dealt with the magisterial court system for many years and I know it well. I was going to run in the last (1988) election but I decided not to run when I heard that (incumbent and retiring District Justice) Earl Gregory was going to run again. I made up mind I was going to run this time no matter what.” Miers, who was elected Con- See MIERS, pg 12 Job's tough, says current occupant By DAVE KONOPKI Post Correspondent Unless you've been on the re- ceiving end of a traffic citation, ‘been involved in a small civil suit or have had a brush with the law, you probably have limited knowl- edge of the responsibilities and functions of a District Magistrate. And with two candidates, Dal- las Township police chief Carl Miers and business owner and former police officer Jim Tupper, vying for the vacant six-year post which pays an annual salary of $45,000, a better understanding of the position may be needed. Who better to explain the job than the man who has held the position for the past 20 years: Earl Gregory. Gregory has held the job in District 11-3-09 since 1973 and is retiring as soon as a successor is elected. The district is the larg- est of the 18 districts in Luzerne County, serving more than 30,000 people in eight municipalities: Dallas Township, Dallas Borough, Franklin Township, Kingston See TOUGH JOB, pg 12 Tupper plans to combine law, business experience By DAVE KONOPKI Post Correspondent After serving 13 years asa police officer before operating his own business for the past six years, Jim Tupper began to miss the world of law enforcement. Now he wants to put the expe- rience of both professions to work. The 41-year-old former Dallas ‘Borough police officer is seeking the office of District Justice. The position carries a six-year term and an annual salary of $45,000. Tupper has cross-filed and will be running on both the Republican and Democratic tickets. He is opposed by Dallas Township po- lice chief Carl Miers. The Trucksville resident is the current owner-operator of Tup’s Beverage, Dallas. He is a gradu- ate of Dallas High School, Luzerne County Community College and holds a bachelor of science degree in sociology from East Stroudsburg University. He re- sides with his wife, Jill and son, Brian. JAMES TUPPER “The biggest thing was that I missed the law enforcement as- pect of things,” said Tupper, of his reason for his candidacy. “I felt like I could contribute to the quality of life in the community. 've always been active in commu- nity service. When I heard (cur- rent magistrate) Earl Gregory was retiring, I decided to run.” ; Tupper is planning to make a few changes to the position, in- cluding more availability. “I would like to establish night time hours at least once a week,” See TUPPER, pg 12 os SALE HR En sl Te © i PBR Sn gui Sa
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers