Details on page 12 ®,51.105 No. 45 2¢ By:GRACE R. DOVE ost Staff ~Although police say youth gangs aren't yet a problem in the Back Mountain, they have noticed an increasing number of young people mimicking the gangs seen on television and in movies. “It's small, but it could grow quickly,” said Kingston Township police chief James Balavage, one of several area police officers who have attended special semi- nars on gang activity. @ “When wedescribed several recent in- cidents in the Back Mountain, officers from New York, New Jersey and Ohio said the same things had happened in their towns a couple of years before they had gang problems. Five years ago it was just a bunch of kids who thought they were a gang. Now they are a gang,” he said. Police have seen more kids wearing baseball caps set at special angles, more grafitti on buildings and highway divid- ers and more fights during the past several years, he said. Four names or acronyms have been Dallas, Pennsylvania “What separates a gang from a social club is the criminal activity — violence or intimidation on the Streets or at school.” James Balavage Kingston Township police chief heard with increasing frequency in the Back Mountain: OTR (On The Rise), TWK (Third World Knights), Straight Edge So- SS FL ciety, and 187. OTR is a tagging posse, a group of young people who spray-paint grafitti on buildings and blank walls, Balavage said. “They say they don't do drugs or alco- holand don't engage in sex,” he said. “All they do is spray paint.” He isn't sure what TWK and Straight Edge Society do - they could be tagging posses, gang wannabees or bona fide gangs, he said. The 187 group's name disturbs po- lice. According to the California penal code, Section 187 covers murder. Nov. 9 thru Nov. 15, 1994 Increase in youth crime worries police “We're not sure whether they claim any affiliation with out-of-state 187 gangs or if they're simply gang wannabees,” Balavage said. A group of students who dress alike, have a special group name and hang out together aren't considered a gang until they begin to break the law and police see a pattern to their activities, he said. “These kids are the ‘wannabees,’ the ones who mimic the gangs they see on television and MTV,” Balavage said. See YOUTH CRIME, pg 8 Dallas will host Speaker on gangs By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff i Concern over recent alterca- tions involving Dallas High School students has prompted the dis- @rict to schedule a special par- ents’ meet- ing Novem- James Mar- | inello, assis- tant chief of : e Luzerne | county Pa- role Depart- ment, will discusslocal ™** and national JAMES MARINELLO gang trends and what parents should know about gangs. “We don't have a gang problem here yet,” Marinello said. “Our kids are intelligent. We can work th them to prevent gangs from getting a foothold in the area.” Television, rap music and MTV have glorified West Coast youth gangs tosuch an extent that many local kids now think the lifestyle See GANGS, pg 8 Not so fast! Pat O'Neill finally brought down Lake-Lehman's Mike Pitcavage in last weekend's Old Shoe Game. Dallas won 19-0, completing an undefeated regular season. The Knightsend with a 6-4 record Jackson budgets four-mill tax hike By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff After holding the line for a year at 13 mills, Jackson Township property owners will see a four- mill local property tax increase next year, if the draft budget adopted Monday night holds. The Jackson Township super- visors approved a preliminary 1995 budget with property taxes of 17 mills at a special meeting Oct. 31. Earned income and per capita taxes will remain the same. The total spending figure of $637,819 is a 5 percent increase over the current year. Tax reve- nues of $436,114 show an in- crease of $29,164, or 7 percent, over 1994 after the proposed 31 percent tax rate increase. Some of the increase will offset a projected decline in state funding. Miscellaneous public works expenditures are expected to in- crease 27.8 percent or $16,0000, to $57,400, while $249,055, an additional $22,840 or 10 percent, has been budgeted for road re- pairs and maintenance. General government expenses are budgeted to decline by nearly 5 percent, while outlays for cul- ture and recreation are slated for a nearly $6,000 cut. POST PHOTO/LYNN SHEEHAN and will go to the Eastern Conference playoffs, meeting Wellsboro at home Saturday. Dallas hosts Meyers Satuirday for the District championship. More photos on page 9. is tenor in *Dusseldorf By.GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff Back Mountain native Jeff Martin, a tenor with the Dussel- dorf Opera in Dusseldorf, Ger- many, will return to the area Qlovember 13 to perform in a concert celebrating Wyoming Seminary’'s 150th anniversary. ¢ Martin lives in Stralsrund in the former East Germany, not far from the Baltic Sea and the city of Rostock. .. The son of Trucksville residents Mr. and Mrs. R. Spencer Martin and a 1977 graduate of Wyoming Seminary, he studied music with départment chairmanJohnVaida, @who inspired him to study voice at Westminster Choir College. *I wouldn't have even known that Westminster existed if Mr. Vaida hadn't told me about it,” he said. He also studied at the Univer- sity of Cincinnati and sang with the New York Choir College, the Chicago Opera Theater, the Penn- sylvania Opera theater and the gf ssa City Opera in Colorado efore going to Germany in 1989. “I went to Germany with high hopes,” Martin said. “In this pro- i JEFF MARTIN fession, there are more jobs in Germany than anywhere else in the world. Every town with more than 70,000 residents has an opera house - the government subsidizes them.” Unable to find work as a pro- fessional singer when he first arrived, he eventually ran out of money and became a street musi- cian to pay the rent. “I had heard of people perform- ing on the street and decided to try it,” he said. “I was amazed - people acutally enjoyed it. It's incredible to think that you can stand there and sing or play and people throw money at you.” His career as a street singer lasted only two months, ending See MARTIN, pg 2 JLocal musicians return for special concert Wyoming Seminary 150th Anniversary Concert, Sunday, Nov. 13, 3:30 p.m., St. Stephens Episcopal Church Brian Farrell in piano master class By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff Brian Farrell, the son of Hun- lock Creek residents Donna and Dennis T. Farrell, will return to the area to perform in a concert celebrating Wyoming Seminary’s 150th aniversary November 13. A fourth-year piano student at Julliard Conservatory in New York City, Farrell graduated from Seminary in 1991. While at Seminary, he accom- panied the choir and soloists at chapel, participated ina few drama productions and played for recit- als. He studied piano with Tom Hrinkiew and the late Ann Vanko Liva. “I didn't have much time for anything else,” he said. His high school mentor was music department chairmanJohn Vaida. “I learned to be more aggres- sive with people in music,” Farrell said. “In the musical world you must be an aggressive person- no one will do things for you.” Vaida remembers Farrell as an extremely talented person who always had his nose either in a textbook or his music. “Brian is one of the most gifted and scholarly students have ever known,” he said. “His talent is in a class by itself.” Farrell showed a great depth of understanding, both in musical composition and musical struc- The township expects to begin the year with $91,700 on hand, an increase of $35,065 or 61 percent more thanit had lastyear. For more than 30 years the township's property tax was 3.5 mills. It was raised to 13 mills in 19983 to fund badly needed road repairs. The budget will be available for public display at the municipal building until the December 5 meeting, when the supervisors will vote on it. ture, Vaida said. He enrolled Farrell in an accel- erated music theory course taught on a college level during his senior 3:30 p.m. at St. Stephen’s Episco- pal Church. A 150 voice chorus of alumni, students and friends of the school At the regular November 7 meeting, the supervisors voted to name three roads. The former Bonkotown Road A has been ‘duct and teach private lessons, and a festival orchestra will join Farrell and tenor Jeff Martin in the program. year at Seminary. “He did so well that his fresh- man music theory course at Jul- liard was a breeze,” Vaida said. Farrell has been accepted into an accelerated master’s program at Julliard, a course which Vaida said is “nearly impossible to get Roth was named a 332d into.” degree Mason recently. Page While Julliard isn't too difficult 3 academically, its intensive music courses have extremely high stan- dards, Farrell said. Students must give recitals and attend master classes, which he described as private music les- sons given in front of an audience. “You check your ego in at the door,” he joked. Farrell wants to perform, con- named Bonko Drive, while See BUDGET, pg 2 H He's the top. Ed HB On the run. mat Samuiel and Steve Oliver are winding up outstanding college cross country sea- sons. Page 10. 20 Pages 2 Sections The Dallas Post MAILING LABEL- Please enclose this label with any address changes, but is keeping his options open. Calendar............... 16 “I'm not sure how it will hap- Classified........... 14-15 pen. he said, Editorials.................. 4 is fondest recollection of his ke Wyoming Seminary days is a Obituaries.......... 14-15 special piece by Felix Mendelssohn School...............5.. 13 which he performed at a recital. Spons.......... 9-11 “Kenny Parks and I played al- ternating pages of music using one piano,” he said. “It was a lot of fun seeing us jumping on and off the piano bench without missing a note.” The concert celebrating Wyo- ming Seminary's 150th anniver- sary will be held November 13 at Dallas Reporter: Separate 4-page pull-out section. and mail to The Dallas Post, P.O. Box 366, Dallas PA 18612-0366 CALL 675-5211 FOR HOME DELIVERY, NEWS OR ADVERTISING
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