: °in August — dar setting the first day of the & Superintendent Gerald Wycal- Vol. 105 No. 14 Dallas, PA SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF THE DALLAS & LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS Wednesday, April 6, 1994 -L contract talks ‘professional, pleasant’ By GRACE R. DOVE -~ Post Staff The Lake-Lehman Education Associa- tion's request for fact-finding during its teacher contract negotiations isn’t as seri- ous as it sounds. “In the past, either side requested fact- finding only when they had run out of alternatives, as a last-ditch effort,” said Ellis Katz, chief negotiator for the school board. “Act 88 provides for a mandatory period of fact-finding as part of the nego- tiation process. Either side may request wit.” Katz is employed by Curtin and Heefner, a law firm which has a department spe- cializing in school district matters and contract negotiations. Act 88, which was adopted by the state Legislature in 1993, provides a specific timeline for school districts to follow dur- ing different phases of contract negotia- tions to keep them moving smoothly, said Lake-Lehman Education Association presi- dent Barbara Wall. “It puts more pressure on both sides to get things done and try to settle the con- tract earlier. Ideally the contracts should be settled by August 31, but that isn’t a firm requirement. Not having a mandatory deadline is a real drawback because talks “So far negotiations have gone very well,. The atmosphere is very amicable.” Ray Bowersox Lake-Lehman business manager can still continue for a long time.” Under Act 88, the board and the teach- ers’ association have ten days to either accept or reject it. If both sides accept the report, it be- comes the teachers’ contract. If either side rejects the report, the Labor Relations Board releases it to the media to be made public. Within ten days of the report having been made public, both sides must vote on it a second time. - Bowersox said. “The atmosphere is very amicable.” Wall, Bowersox and Katz refused to release any details of either side's de- mands. “In my experience, many school boards don't release any detajls of the bargaining process,” Katz said. The school board's negotiating team members are Jeffrey Frizten, Dr. John Presper and Elizabeth Sichler, with Katz Fact-finder James Paley, appointed by the Pennsylvania Labor Relations board March 29, has until May 9 to make his report to the board, according to district business manager Ray Bowersox. “Many things must be studied by both sides,” Wall said. “The talks are moving slowly but so far thave been professional and pleasant.” : “So far negotiations have gone very well,” Schools will open By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff After starting late, the summer vacation will end early this year ~ for Dallas students and teachers. At its regular meeting April 4, the school board adopted a calen- 1994-95 school year for teachers at August 29 and the first day for students at August 31. The last day of school and graduation will be June 12, 1995 with eight additional snow days built in during the April vacation: the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday before Easter and the en- tire week after Easter. lis noted that many neighboring POST PHOTO/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK acting as chief negotiator and Bowersox sitting in. See L-L CONTRACT, pg 12 Fishermen: More stocking needed By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff It's agood start, but not enough. Severalanglers at DiVeronica’s store and Bob's Bait at Harveys Lake said that while they're happy that the Fish Commission will stock the lake with 4,200 adult trout during the season, they don't think that’s enough fish. Old-timers can recall anglers standing practically shoulder-to- shoulder along the lake shore and many boats on the water the first day of the season, and most hauling in a catch. “It's not fair. They should stock more fish before the first day, so _ that everyone has a chance,” said Tom Gwynn, who fishes with rela- tives at the lake. Another man who refused to give his name said that 20,000 legal trout would be a better Stocking of large trout will follow opening day, page 3 but it won't help much,” said Bob Albee. “Maybe it will bring more people back - anything will help.” “This is only a drop in the bucket,” said Tom Sponseller. “The lake could use at least 25,000 adult fish, stocked before the first day of the season. In the past, they've stocked as many as 40,000.” Besides area streams, Harveys Lake is the only place in the immediate area where anglers can try their luck for trout, he said. Sponseller believes the Fish Commission should discontinue stocking brook trout in the lake and concentrate on rainbow trout. districts are adopting similar cal- endars because they lost so many days this past year due to the See SCHOOL, pg 12 weekend's Easter celebration. The perfect Easter shape Liz DiGiovanni, left, and Katie Bartizek inspected the eggs they had colored in anticipation of last Jolice suggest alternate routes By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff Those orange signs proclaim- ing “New traffic patterns ahead” will soon become an understate- ment as motorists face bottlenecks on Route 309 in Kingston Town- ship during the road construction season. Anticipating unavoidable traf- fic tieups, Kingston Township police chief James Balavage has suggested that commuters on their way to and from the Back Mountain allow at least an extra 20 minutes of driving time each direction. “People should remember what make quilt By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff For several years, students at Dallas Elementary School have worked on a special art project which has helped the Back Moun- tain Memorial Library. They make special quilts to be ! sold at the library's annual auc- tion. The proceeds are used to buy books for the children’s read- ing room. ] Begun by Mrs. Hayden, the quilt project is now being done by Mrs. i & Cathy Flick's class. Each student in the class makes a quilt block by stenciling a de- sign onto material, under the direction of Shirl Stec of Back Mountain Quiltworks and several ] volunteer mothers. Parents stitch the blocks to- gether. Stec brings the quilt top, batting and backing to the school for the children to tie together. “We tell them that they're w making surgeon's knots, so some See QUILT, pa 12 the traffic was like six years ago when the last major work was done on the highway,” he said. “People encountered delays of up to 40 minutes. Unfortunately there aren't many shortcuts for this stretch of roadway.” In order to minimize delays, he has suggested that motorists form car pools, use the bus or select alternate routes to and from the valley. e To Luzerne, Swoyersville and Forty Fort: use Carverton Road and Dug Road, which goes over Bunker Hill and ends in Luzerne. e To Exeter, Wyoming and points north: use Carverton Road ol Revised lane map on page 12 and West Eighth Street. e To Courtdale, Larksville, Plymouth and points south: take Overbrook Road to the Huntsville Dam, then Huntsville Road over Plymouth Mountain to Larksville. e From Dallas Borough, Dal- las Township and the outlying areas to Wyoming Valley: take Huntsville Road to Huntsville Dam, then turn left onto Hillside Road, which joins Route 309 at Russ Majors’, below the construc- tion zone. Drivers who normally take Sutton Road to Pioneer Ave. and Route 309 should turn left on Sutton Road, go to the Huntsville Dam and either turn left onto Hillside Road or follow the road over Plymouth Mountain. “Using Pioneer Ave. as a by- pass to the construction zone may notbe a good idea,” Balavage said. “You'll probably run into bottle- necks at the Route 309 intersec- tion.” He suggested that drivers try alternate routes as soon as pos- sible to familiarize themselves with the time needed for trips to the valley. POST PHOTO/GRACE R. DOVE YOUNG CRAFTERS - Dallas Elementary School students Paul Luksa, Julie Howell and Gabrielle Huh work on their quilt squares under the direction of volunteer mother Caroline Howell. amount. : “I'm happy that they're doing it Hungry bear browses through bird feeders By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff See STOCKING, pg 3 Several Dallas Township homeowners reported to the Game Commission last week that a bear was breaking into their bird feeders. ; The bear hit two feeders in White Birch Trailer Park and one on Upper Demunds Road near the Country Club Shopping Center. According to wildlife conservation officer James Jolley, the best way to discourage the bear is to remove the bird feeders for sev- eral weeks. “We'll try to trap it and remove it as soon as possible, but right now there are still too many snowdrifts for us to set a trap,” he said. “Right now they're just ending their hibernation and are very hungry.” Jolley said that anyone spotting a bear in their yard should leave it alone. At this time of year, female bears have young cubs with them and are extremely protective, especially if a person unknowingly comes between the mother and her cubs. According to information provided by the Game Commission, bears generally travel at night. Their favorite diet is vegetarian, making home bird feeders and garbage cans ideal munchie sources. Jolley said that this bear may be the same “garbage gourmet” bear seen rummaging through garbage cans on Davenport Street in Dallas last November. Hl 'Harvey' will be this season's play for Dallas High Theatre Troupe. Photos, details on page 3. Hl Baseball preview Dallas is young but talented, Lehman looks like a winner. Page 9. 12 Pages 1 Section 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 Calendar. ............i 8 Classified........ 10-11 Crossword. .........«. 8 Editorials.........o.c.. 4 Obituaries............ 10 School ,.....m rk 7 SPOS. 1.0.1. iinuiiins 9 CALL 675-5211 FOR HOME DELIVERY, NEWS OR ADVERTISING
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