The Back Mountain's La AVI Ei 8 Newspaper Since 1889 ~The Dallas Post . Vol. 104 No. 36 Dallas, PA SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF THE DALLAS & LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS Wednesday, September 8, 1993 Back Mountain depends on volunteers in time of need By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff ‘Every time their pagers beep, they must immediately leave families, meals, showers and even municipal meetings to go out at all hours, in all kinds of weather. They are the few who serve many, the volunteers who man the’ ambulances and fire engines in the Back Mountain's 14 fire and ambulance companies, whose only payment for their many hours of training and work is knowing that they are providing the best possible emergency services to their neighbors. “We're always looking for vol- unteers. Many families new to the Back Mountain may not realize that we're not a paid municipal staff,” said Dallas Fire and Ambu- lance Company's chief Robert Besecker. Besecker recalled Dallas Fire Company's worst fire a year ago, when a 100 member all-volunteer force from five Back Mountain fire companies battled the Labor Day morning blaze which destroyed Daring’'s Market on Route 415. Besecker said that his men had stayed inside until the wrappers of candy bars on a shelf near the cash register burst into flame. “You always must consider safety as the first priority. It was time to get out. I ran to one of our engines and hit four long blasts on the air horn — our signal to get out immediately,” he said. Dallas and several area fire companies routinely tour area manufacturing plants, such as Offset Paperback, Payne Printery and Native Textiles, to review fire prevention and fighting plans with plant managers, a fire safety pro- gram which has been very suc- cessful, Besecker said. “You never take chances with people's lives,” he said. Training requirements Safety and training are the words most often used by fire and ambulance company chiefs. Although the state has no train- ing requirements for volunteer firefighters and the federal gov- ernment only requires firefighters to take a hazardous materials recognition and awareness course, local fire companies offer up to 250 hours per year of training: weekly and monthly work nights, special classes and fire schools Dallas pot field goes up in smoke By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff The Dallas Township police reaped a bountiful harvest of -'25 marijuana plants with a .*street value between $3,700 “and $5,000 Wednesday, Sep- tember 1 from a property in East Dallas. According to police chief Carl Miers, the plants, ranging from 4-1/2 to nearly 6-1/2 feet tall, had been found in an area of dense brush only 100 feet from the road by a hunter out spot- ting deer for archery season. “The plants had obviously been cultivated,” Miers said. “We found wire mesh plant protectors commonly used to keep animals from nibbling garden plants around each marijuana plant.” Nearly ready for harvest, the plants were hidden in dense brush on a well-drained hill- side, Miers said. “Someone knew what they were doing when they set it up. It had been very well-planned.” Marijuana is usually har- vested around the end of Sep- tember, when the plants are in the seed stage, Miers said. The See POT FIELD, pg 10 POST PHOTO/GRACE R. DOVE UP IN SMOKE - Dallas Township roadmaster Frank Wagner sprays fuel oil onto a pile of 25 marijuana plants burned by township police after having been seized September 1. It's fair “ time! Luzerne County Fair starts Wednesday. Complete schedule on page 13. sponsored by the Back Mountain Firefighters’ Association, and a well-developed mutual aid sys- tem which Besecker also credits with being instrumental in get- ting a 911 system into the Back Mountain. The state also offers a 66-hour course in the essentials of fire- fighting, according to Trucksville Fire Chief Brian Johnson. The fire company pays for any tuition costs. Although Trucksville Fire Company has 89 members, only about 30 are active, Johnson said. The daytime hours, when many people are at work or school, are when they're needed the most. Ambulance companies also need volunteers The same is true for ambu- lance companies, whose crew members may not be available during the day. “During working hours or when people are away, sometimes it's tough to get a crew together,” said Jackson Township ambulance assistant chief, Jay Wilkes. “We need more volunteers. When we See VOLUNTEERS, pg 10 Rt. 309 work to begin next week By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff Truck drivers call it “road de- struction.” Other drivers call it mostly un- printable names. It - a long-awaited road im- provement project and accompa- nying big orange barrels denoting new traffic patterns— has come to the Back Mountain. Beginning Monday, September 13, workers from American As- phalt will begin work on the first of three phases of a $2.5 million project which will once again change the face of Routes 309 and 415, The first phase calls for widen- ing Route 309 between Center Street at Burger King and North Pioneer Avenue near Howard “Duke” Isaacs’ car dealership, upgrading of drainage ditches, in- stallation of curbing to control traffic flow into and out of busi- nesses along this stretch and the addition of a center turning lane for vehicles entering these busi- nesses. During construction, Route 309 will become one lane in each di- rection, with a center lane re- served for turns, between Center Street and North Pioneer Ave. as workers begin to widen the high- way's southbound side, accord- ing to Rolly Keisling, community relations coordinator for the Pen- nyslvania Department of Trans- portation (PennDOT). New drainage pipes at Isaacs’, Holcomb Road and Southiork Floral will also be installed, Keis- ling said. While crews are doing See ROUTE 309, pg 10 Tijuana Bar too noisy, says LCB By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff A notice of violation of noise regulations sent to Thom Greco, license-holder for the Tijuana Bar at the amphitheater may be music to the ears of Harveys Lake noise foes. According to Sergeant David Douglas, district office com- mander of the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement in Wilkes-Barre, the notice of violation was sent to the bureau's Harrisburg offices and a copy sent to Greco by registered mail August 24. Within a month, the Harrisburg office will issue a citation against Greco. Since the beginning of the summer, Douglas has received “numerous” complaints from Harveys Lake residents about music emenating from the Tijuana bar, which residents say can be heard more than 2-1/2 blocks away. Noise which can be heard out- side a licensed establishment (a bar or restaurant serving liquor) is a violation of the state liquor code, Douglas said. A hearing on the citation will be scheduled before the administra- tive law judge in Wilkes-Barre within the next six months, Douglas said. “If the judge finds him guilty, we'll cite him every time that noise from the bar can be heard on the street,” he said. Fines range from $50 to $1,000, with repeated offenses possibly leading to suspension of the es- tablishment’'s amusement permit or liquor license, Douglas said. Although liquor is sold and consumed in the Tijuana's li- censed area, while live bands play in the bar's unlicensed area where liquor isn't allowed, both parts of See TIJUANA, pg 10 ‘M Fall Sports Preview 12 pages of high school teams. Special section inside. HW Orthodox church struggles to survive in Lehman. Page 3. 30 Pages, 3 Sections Calendar............o.s. 18 Classified......;...... 15-17 Crossword. ............... 15 Editorials.......uo.... lis 4 Obituaries... .i.5.20. 14 Property transfers......2 SPOS... wid 11 hho CALL 675-5211 FOR HOME DELIVERY, NEWS OR ADVERTISING The Dallas Post MAILING LABEL- Please enclose this label with any address changes, and mail to The Dallas Post, P.O. Box 366, Dallas PA 18612-0366
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