Oo SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF THE DALLAS & LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS Vol. 104 No. 45 Bear pays a visit to Davenport Street backyard By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff When Ruth Roan heard a noise behind her Davenport Street home, stepped out into the yard and called “Who's there?,” the last thing she expected to answer was a bear. “When I told my husband about it, he wouldn't believe me. He said it must have been a big dog,” she said. Then Jarrett Roan went out into the yard to investigate for himself. ¢ o & N \ “Ruth, come here!” she heard him call. As she opened the back door, he whis- Borough budget *has 4 mill tax hike By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff If the Dallas Borough Council approves ils preliminary 1994 budget, borough homeowners will pay an average of $15.71 more in property taxes next year. Although a four-mill increase will put real estate taxes at 20 mills, the $536,412 budget shows only a modest increase of $34,755, or six percent, over last year. “We have tried tobe as frugal as possible and have found many wasy to save money, but salaries and certain expenses have gone up,” said borough manager Mill Lutsey. The borough has cut legal [ees by one third, gas heating service by 15.7 percent and other admin- istrative office expenses by four percent. Earlier this year the borough was faced with an emergency $14,000 bill to replace the bor- ough building's heating system, which had been “nursed along for years” until it finally gave up the ghost, Lutsey said. Although the fire company donated $2,200 towards the new system, the bor- ough still had to come up with the rest. Lutsey said that the cost of road materials has increased along with road maintenance costs. The borough also needs a new snow- plow truck and a new police cruiser. A projected increase ol $32,530, or 29 percent, in real estate taxes See DALLAS BORO, pg 14 pered, “Do you know that there's a bear in our yard?” Mrs. Roan said that when she had looked outside after hearing the garbage cans fall over around 9:30 p.m., the bear was standing in front of the back steps. “I thought about inviting him in for coffee but I changed my mind,” she joked. She called a neighbor and the 911 dis- patcher, who contacted the Game Com- mission. According to information provided by the Game Commission, bears travel most Dallas, Pennsylvania often alone at night and eat nearly any- thing. Their favorite diet is vegetarian, which makes suburban homes’ garbage cans a handy food source. According to Wildlife Conservation Offi- cer Dick Karper of the Pennsylvania Game Commission in Dallas, bears are eating heavily at this time of year in order to fatten up for their winter hibernation. Breeding females are all ready to hiber- nate, while males and non-breeding fe- males will stay out of their dens for two or three weeks, Karper said. This bear had evidently been a garbage gourmet for some time and was looking for an easy snack from an unsuspecting resi- dent, he said. “When bears invade suburban back- yards, people often want to feed them and videotape them,” he said. “By feeding the bears or making garbage accessable to them, we're creating our own problem. They become imprinted to human contact and lose their natural fear of humans.” “We can’t tranquilize these bears and move them at this time of year, due to federal regulations. Bear season is only Wednesday, November 10, 1993 two weeks away and federal laws don't allow bears which have been tranquilized within the past 30 days to be harvested,” Karper said. To bear-proof your garbage, the Game Commission suggests keeping it in alocked, airtight container so that the bears can't smell it. Pouring some household ammo- nia on top of the garbage before the bag is sealed will help to confuse the bears’ sense of smell and keep them away, Karper said. The Game Commission says that if you see a bear in youryard, the best thing todo is to leave it alone. Teachers, board 3 i POST PHOTO/GRACE R. DOVE FRIENDLY VOICES ON THE LINE - Volunteers from College Misericordia manning the Phone Friend lines are, seated: Cindy Reed, Sue Hayik and Tina Bennett; standing: Stephanie Cipriani and Rev. Michael Bealla. Phone Friend aids kids home alone By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff “Can you help me? I just spilled grape juice on my Mom's brand-new couch.” “All the kids laughed at me in reading class today.” “How do I multiply three numbers together?" These and other questions important to kids are answered every day by trained volunteers manning the telephone lines at Phone Friend, an afternoon telephone help-line for children home alone, operated by the Dallas United Methodist Church as a nondenominational community outreach program. volunteers, Phone Friend is back on line, stafled by four students from College Misericordia. By dialing 675-7525, children can talk to vol- unteers trained to lend a listening ear, help with a crisis or simply chat about the child's day at school. “We get all kinds of calls, ranging from ques- After a year's absence due to a lack of available tions on homework to children hearing a strange noise while at home alone,” said Dallas United Methodist Church pastor, Rev. Michael Bealla. “The one that stands out in my mind was from a child who had just spilled grape juice on a new couch,” he chuckled. “The volunteer was able to talk her through cleaning up the spill so that Mom See PHONE FRIEND, pg 14 French exchange student gets taste of gridiron By DAVE KONOPKI Sports Writer “Je pensais que c’etait inhu- main” Although he had been a foot- ball fan for more than a decade, Loic Duchesne had never seen American football in person. In fact, Duchesne’s exposure to foot- ball, was extremely limited. In his hometown of Cergy- Pontaise, France, a rural commu- nity 20 miles outside of Paris, just one NFL game was televised per week. And that game was con- densed to just one hour. There is no college football and, of course, no high school football. There was the city team in Cergy-Pon- taise and although Duchesne was allowed to work out with the team, ~ he wasn't able to play because of the minimum age limit of 19. Duchesne’s mother wanted him to come to America for one year as an educational experience. Duch- ense wanted to play footall. Now, he's doing both. Duchesne’s is one of two for- eign exchange students who are spending their senior year at Bishop O'Reilly High School in Kingston. He originally stayed with Richard and Barbara Zeglin of Dallas and now stays with the head of O'Reilly's French depart- ment, Jean Sartin, and her family in Swoyersville. He arrived in the United States on August 23, just before the start of the high school football season. Although he had never played in an organized football game in his life, Duchesne decided to give the American version of the game a shot. It was an eye-opening expe- rience. “Je pensais que c’etait inhu- main.” That was his first impres- sion. “I thought it was inhuman,” said Duchesne, giving the trans- lation of his first thought. “There was such a big difference between football here in America and foot- ball in France. The training here is much tougher. In France, we trained two times a week. I was very sore after the first practice.” The 6-1, 164-pound senior has seen playing time as a defensive tackle and kick returner and has been practicing with the receiv- ers. One person who has been impressed with Duchesne is Bishop O'Reilly head coach Jim McGovern. “He's a very good athlete,” said McGovern. “He has tremendous speed and quickness. He's very coachable and has a great desire to learn. Loic gives you 110 per- cent everytime he steps on the field. He's enthusiastic and is a great player to have on the team.” Of course, there was one occa- sion when Duchesne’s emotions got the best of him - or rather, his Hage i ™ LOIC DUCHESNE assistant coach. “He had two quarterback sacks against Carbondale,” explained McGovern. “He got so excited that he came over and head-butted one of the assistant coaches. We all laughed really hard but we told him he had to curb his exuber- ance.” The Queensmen coach said Duchesne was overwhelmed when he first stepped onto the field in America but quickly added that the transfer student could have had a remarkable career if he had played earlier. “He could. have been an all- star, no doubt about it,” said McGovern, when asked how good Duchesne could have been if he grew up in America. “The biggest Duchesne fell in love with American football - and a few other things in the United States. “I love Big Macs,” said the likeable Duchesne. “And the pizza over here is much better than in France. The kids at O'Reilly are a lot closer than the students at my high school in France. I like it here.” Duchesne said some of the differences between the teenagers in France and the United States include certain freedoms, like driving a car (you have to be 18 to drive in France) and selecting your own classes, students in France are not allowed to choose their subjects. Duchesne, who has a 19-year old sister, Elise and al4-year old brother, Emeric, has grown to like college football, in particular the University of Michigan (“Ilike their helmets) and Notre Dame (“They have a French name and it seems like everyone else in America likes them.”). There is little doubt Duchesne who is looking forward to return- ing to France to reunite with his girlfriend at the end of the school year, will take back with him friendships, a good educational experience, and, of course, a new respect for American football. settle on raises By DAVE KONOPKI Post Correspondent Dallas school board members have voted unanimously to ap- prove 1993-94 salary schedules for the district's teachers. Unlike the pay rates the board vetoed in August, the new plan grants raises to newer teachers in the district. According to superintendent of schools Gerry Wycallis, “The origi- nal plan had no increase for the first and second steps. These do.” Incoming teachers and those in the first two salary steps will re- ceive increases of about 3 per- cent. Both the original plan and the latest one give the teachers’ union $340,000 to distribute among the district's teachers. As a result, those with more experience will receive a lower rate of increase than had been proposed in Au- gust. The district has 137.5 full-time teachers or equivalents, after hir- ing 15 replacements for last year’s retirees. In August, the union said it planned to distribute the extra money only among the 122 teach- ers who remained at the end of the 1992-93 academic year. Under the terms of an agree- ment between the board and teachers, the average teacher's salary will increase by 11.5 per- cent through the 1994-95 year, but the percentage increase var- ies greatly through the scale. At the end of the contract, the aver- age salary will be $47,000. Amid sentimental farewells from outgoing president Jack Cleary and board member Tom Stitzer, the board also voted 6-1 Monday night to spend nearly $80,000 of a $363,00 windfall on i capital improvements. Cleary, who has served 12 years on the board and did not run in thisyear’s elections, presided over his final meeting while Stitzer, who has served on the board for the past four years, also said his See SALARIES, pg 14 Harveys Lake appoints Grimes road supervisor Council turns down offer to work free By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff Over the objections of the audience, the Harveys Lake Bor- ough Council appointed Paul Grimes as temporary part-time road supervisor at a meeting for special purposes November 8. Ed Kelly and mayor-elect Richard Boice voted against the measure. Grimes, who is also the bor- ough's codes enforcement officer and a part-time Fish Commission waterways officer, will earn a sal- ary of $200 per week with no benefits for a minimum of 30 hours’ work per week. Replying to a question [rom George Gwilliam, Boice said that there was no written job descrip- tion, no written list of qualifica- tions and no residency require- ment for the job. “We'll have the qualifications and job description in writing at the time of hiring,” he said. When asked when the position had been advertised, council members said that they couldn't remember. David Abod said “I think in January.” The 15 or so persons in the audience laughed. Council members said that they had asked the audience “at every meeting” ifanyone would be inter- ested in the position. During a break for executive session, nine members of the audience who have attended at least the past six council meet- See HARVEYS LAKE, pg 14 H Old Shoe preview When Dallas and Lake- Lehman meet Saturday in the annual classic, there'll be plenty at stake. Complete pre- game preview on page 9. EE INDEX 14 Pages 1 Section Calendar.............. 11 Classified........ 12-13 Crossword............ 11 Edilorials................ 4 Obituaries......... 5,12 School.....cc..o.roueins 7 SPOONS... ...... 0: 9-10 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 (EL | i I 4H ( ( |] I] Ta ] 1 SE || u + it i I Wt | | kl § {3 | RRR | Vi oF & &
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