» @ 9 P q L Vol. 104 No. 47 Dallas, Pennsylvania SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF THE DALLAS & LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS Wednesday, November 24, 1993 By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff It's like being pregnant — either you are or you aren't. That's the confusion in termi- nology which officials of the Back Mountain Communications Cen- ter face — do we already have 911 service or not? The answer could affect the Back Mountain's relationship with Luzerne County's proposed county-wide high-tech 911 sys- tem, first proposed more than a year ago. Luzerne County 911 director Kevin O’Brien and coordinators David Macekura and John Skludowski met with the Back Mountain Communications Cen- ter board November 9 to discuss how the proposed system will af- fect the Back Mountain. “We're not here to sell the county's system,” O'Brien said. “We're not here to take away your business. Ifyou want to go through Under a study proposal, the county could charge a $1.25 monthly fee on phone bills the county, that's your preroga- tive.” Although Act 78, dubbed the 911 Bill, provides counties with access to funding for county-wide 911 systems, it does not make them mandatory in Pennsylva- nia, O'Brien said. Act 78 defines 911 service as any system in which a caller can dial 911 and reach an emergency dispatcher 24 hours a day. Of Pennsylvania's 157 coun- ties, 44 already provide some form of 911 service, according to De- partment of Community Affairs By GRACE R. DOVE “EAT! EAT! EAT!” - Lake-Lehman athletes Will Woronko and Ernie Chamberlain were encouraged by cheerleaders and friends Mandy Disque, Becki Olson, Amy Keiper and Tim Williams, and, back row,Megan Kovach and Christy Shamus at a pizza-eating contest against Dallas at the Villa Roma November 18. The event ended in a draw. Pizza-eaters chomp to a draw “We're going to have some fun tonight,” POST PHOTO/GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff Harveys Lake's Villa Roma Restaurant was packed Thursday night as 10 athletes from Dallas and Lake-Lehman high schools squared off in a pizza-eating contest as part of the two schools’ traditional Old Shoe football game. As fans and family cheered them on, each ~ gridder devoured an 18-inch pie in an excit- ing timed 10-minute event which ended in a draw. Although they had practiced eating pizzas earlier in the week, Lake-Lehman athletes Will Woronko, Mike Adamshick, Kevin Rusinko, Ernie Chamberlain and David Fosko faced stiff competition from Dallas gridders Marty Straigis, John Robinson, Greg Nazdan, Rich Butcokfski and Dan Brody. Origin of 'Old Shoe’ discovered, page 10 Straigis had set a 1992 record by eating 75 Buffalo-style chicken wings at the Dallas Gridiron Club’s annual Wing Night, while “Naz” Nazdan had bested him this year, chow- ing down on 90 wings, four cuts of pizza and a six-pack of Coke. Before the contest began, Villa Roma's general manager, Chic Sicco, walked around blowing a whistle to keep order as the wait staff bustled about carrying trays of food and drinks for the other patrons. It definitely wasn't business as usual. Sicco said after a few shrill blasts. “Wait for ' the pizzas to cool off. When the balloon pops, start eating. May the best team win.” “EAT! EAT! EAT!" chanted the Lake-Lehman cheerleaders as the Knights kept pace with their rivals. At one point Ernie Chamberlain, still manfully chomping on a pizza slice, climbed onto his chair to check on the Dallas team’s progress. Dallas supporters called out technical advice in the glare of a television spotlight and bright blue flashes of reporters’ cameras. “Make two pieces into a sandwich! Don't eat the crust!” It was neck and neck the entire time, until only a pile of crusts remained on each table as See PIZZA-EATERS, pg 14 By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff Dallas High bests food drive's goal the week of November 15-19, exceeded everyone's expectations. The high school's halls were POST PHOTO/GRACE R. DOVE THE FIRST WAVE - Loading up the first truck of non-perishable food items collected for the Back Mountain Food Pantry last week - are Dallas students Jeff Morris, Harry Phillips, John Thompson and Terry Eyerman. It was the best kind of food fight. Everybody won and not a scrap was wasted. Dallas High School's week-long food drive to benefit the Back Mountain Food Pantry, in which each homeroom competed to col- lect the most items, netted 15,626 cans, exceeding its original qoal nearly four times. That's not counting nearly 1,000 food items donated to the drive by the Westmoreland Ele- mentary School, $1,000 in cash donations, 21 large turkeys, two roasting chickens, two Cornish game hens and a canned ham. Organized by Jay Pope's senior sociology students, the drive, held filled November 19, the last day of the drive, with a steady stream of students carrying boxes and bags of food items to the loading dock, where the overflow from the stor- age area in the faculty dining room had piled up. Motivational food drive posters containing everything from Bible verses to quotations from famous figures still decorated the halls. Particularly memorable was a neatly hand-lettered excerpt from a haunting ballad of the days of the Irish potato famine: “Oh, the praties (potatoes), they were small, when we dug them in the fall. And we ate them, coats and all, full of See FOOD DRIVE, pg 10 911 coordinator John Patten. It's up to each county to decide if it wants to use basic 911 or more expensive high-tech versions, Patten said. The Back Mountain's 911 sys- tem, which automatically forwards all calls to the dispatcher, is an example of a basic system as de- fined by the act, according to Commonwealth Telephone Com- pany business marketing man- ager William Bader. Luzerne County is pushing for uzerne County's 911 plan not favored here a high-tech enhanced 911 sys- tem, which can trace all incoming calls and provide callers’ specific locations, medical information and other pertinent data. It's a better system than the Back Mountain's, O'Brien said. Under the county-wide 911 plan, all calls would come into a central answering point, where dispatchers would route them to the appropriate dispatching cen- See 911, pg 14 Amusement tax posed at lake By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff Harveys Lake Borough's mayor- elect Rick Boice said at the coun- cil’s regular November 15 meet- ing that he is asking the council to consider a four percent general amusement tax. The amphitheater would proba- bly be required to pay this tax, Boice said. “They have been in business for two years, with us helping them,” he said. Lake-Lehman School District attempted to enact a 10 percent amusement tax in 1992, which would have also directly affected the amphitheater. It was unable to do so because none of its member municipalities had such a tax on their books, a state re- quirement. Boice added that he wasn't concerned about any threats from concert promoter Thom Greco like those he made to bring in heavy metal bands if Lake-Lehman enacted its tax. “They dropped the idea and he brought those bands in anyway,” Boice said. Boice, who will begin his first term as mayor January 1, also is forming an “advisory committee to the mayor-elect” to discuss solutions to the borough's noise problem and other problems and asked interested residents to contact him at his office at the municipal authority. “I want people to tell me what's needed,” he said. “If I don’t make significant efforts to address our problems and solve the noise problem, then I'll resign and the council can appoint Mr. Gwilliam as a successor.” Republican George Gwilliam was Boice's opponent in the re- cent municipal election. In other business, the council voted to: e Contact the state Civil Service Commission to set up testing for See AMUSEMENT TAX, pg 10 Arson charges against two men are dropped By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff Arson charges against two Dallas Township men were dropped at their preliminary hear- ing November 18 before District Magistrate Earl Gregory. Alfred “Rocky” Koziel, 34, cur- rently lodged in the Susquehanna County Prison on parole and fire- arms violations, was arrested September 28 and charged with four counts of arson and related ofenses in connection with fires March 28 and May 22 at vacant homes at 87-B Washington Street and 92 Harris Street in Dallas Township's Roushey Plot section. Also arrested September 28, Barry Dean Miller of 94 Harris Street, was charged with two counts ofarson in connection with the May 22 fire at 92 Harris Street and had been released on his own recognizance on $10,000 bail. Prosecuted by assistant dis- trict attorney John Aciukewicz, the charges were dropped due to what the District Attorney’s office called “substantial problems with the prosecution.” Under a proposed plea agree- ment, Miller was to have testified against Koziel in exchange for having charges against him re- duced, according to assistant district attorney Dan Pillets. At the last minute Miller declined to testify, Pillets said. Compounding the problem, another witness who could defi- nitely identify at least one suspect in the vicinity of the fire was never available tobe subpoenaed, Pillets said. “Clearly there was enough probable cause for an arrest,” said Pennsylvania State Police trooper Charles Parulla, who investigated See ARSON CHARGES, pg 10 HM Red Cross blood drive Fri., Nov. 26, 1-6 p.m., Gate of Heaven School, Machell Ave., Dallas. Call 823-7161 for appointments. INDEX 18 Pages 2 Sections Calendar.............. 15 Classified........ 16-17 Crossword........... 15 Editonals............... 4 Obituaries......... 3.16 School. .........c... 8 Spoons... 11-12 CALL 675-5211 FOR HOME DELIVERY, NEWS OR ADVERTISING The Dallas Post LABEL- Please enclose this label with any address chan ¥ and mail to The Dallas Post, P.O. Box 366, Dallas PA 18612-0366 MAILIN(
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