Wy) | | | — = v i | w= @/0i. 106 No.5 IR PR Dallas, PA Feb. 1 thru Feb. 7, 1995 Bi eu a Mt LS ® o Seniors bow again at donkey ball game Lehman teachers maintain 67-year winning streak BY VALERIE WOLFE Student Correspondent As the first semester ended and a new one began at the Lake- L.ehman High School, things be- gan to get hectic. event that seemed torelease some of the stress was the Donkey Basketball Game. The Donkey Basketball Game was designed to help seniors col- lect money for the many activities | they take part in during their last year at Lehman. Between the trip to Washington, moving-up day, and the senior picnic, things can § -get very expensive. The game, which took place on Friday, January 27, was not dif- ferent from the years before. As usual, the high school gymna- sium was packed at 6:30 p.m. to see the “boxing glove” game. The See DONKEY BALL, pg. 12 The school | IT WENT THAT-A-WAY - Tom Williams, left, and Jamie Patton watched the flight of the ball guys who wear boxing gloves try during last week's donkey basketball game at Lake-Lehman High School. The teachers main- tained a 67-year winning tradition with an overtime victory. POST PHOTO/GRACE R. DOVE «Jones will seek county post By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff Lake-Lehman school director Joseph “Red” Jones has set his sights on higher office. The 14-year school board vet- eran plans to announce Saturday @that he will seek the Republican nomination for Luzerne County Commissioner, at a kick-off rally at the Independent Hose Com- pany in Kingston. “I want to bring the common- sense approach back to county government,” he said Monday. “The citizens of the county must ¢hoose what they want the status quo or the future. The status quo @ isn’t acceptable any more.” EPA steps up pace of Lehman cleanup By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff The odd-looking black trailer @sitting in the field off Mill Street in Lehman Township isn’t someone's future home. It's the latest step in a federal cleanup of a gasoline spill which has affected nearly 20 wells and a wetland area around Lehman Corners. No stranger to the county's political arena, Jones lost a simi- lar bid in 1991 by only 330 votes. In 1975 he had won the primary and teamed up with Frank Trini- sewski, only to lose by 142 votes in the November election. If he wins in November, Jones said he will have to resign his seat on the Lake-Lehman school board. The board would appoint a re- placement to finish the remaining two years of his term, he said. When asked his position on the hotly debated Luzerne County Arena, Jones said, “If it will cost the Luzerne County taxpayers any more money on their property taxes, I'm definitely not for it. I'll support it if it won't cost the tax- Begun in late October after more than seven months of test- ing, the federally funded cleanup will remove MTBE, an octane- boosting unleaded gasoline addi- tive, from the underground water tapped by many area wells. The actual cleanup began with a small unit which pumps water from the wetland, filters and aer- ates it to remove the contami- nant, thenreturns it to the ground. payers more money. An arena has great possibilities for economic development.” He added that he plans to be a full-time commissioner who will remember the needs of all areas of the county. “Iwilldemand a full-time county government,” he said. “It is clear that full-time government is what is needed and what the hard- working citizens of Luzerne County deserve.” Jones has served for the past 14 years on the Lake-Lehman school board and served two terms as its president. He also has rep- See JONES, pg 3 In December the larger unit set up in a trailer was installed at the site. According to Environmental Protection Agency site coordina- tor Richard Fetzer, 600,000 gal- lons of MTBE-contaminated wa- ter has been pumped from the wetland behind the Lehman Sunoco station. “It's too early yet to tell the effect on people's wells,” Fetzer JOSEPH 'RED' JONES said. “We'll continue to treat the water and test the more wells for six months, then have a hydrolo- gist study the results and make recommendations. When you're treating ground water like this, you don't see any sudden, dra- matic changes. It takes time.” The contamination was first discovered in 1991, when a See EPA, pg 2 Helping needy kids Members of the Dallas Kiwanis and friends and staff of McCrory’s in Shavertown who organized a drive to provide holiday gifts for area needy children were: front row: Cliff Parker, Marge Marek, Janet Tracy and Dale Swire; back row: George McCutcheon, and Leonard D. Harvey. Robert Dolbear, Joseph Grimes POST PHOTO/GRACE R. DOVE Water rates will decline In most By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff If the Public Utility Commis- sion (PUC) approves a suggested water rate settlement, most area General Waterworks customers will see slightly lower water rates for the next year. PUC administrative law judge Wayne Weismandel approved a 5.14 percent across-the-board rate increase for General Water- works of Pennsylvania, which the PUC will consider at its February 9 meeting. Under the settlement, water rates for customers of the Dallas, Noxen and Shavertown water companies will decrease. 12 per- cent, from an average of $333 per year to $292. Customers of the Harveys Lake division, however, will see rates of area Only Harveys Lake customers will see increases increase nine percent, from $266 per year to $292. “We won't really know what the commission will do until Feb. 9,” said Mike Coyle, manager of General Waterworks’ Dallas area office. “They could approve it or reject it.” A rate increase resulting in a decrease isn't as confusing as it sounds, Coyle said. General Waterworks owns water companies in Harrisburg, See WATER RATES, pg 3 Officials cautious on joint police By GRACE'R. DOVE Post Staff Officials from seven Back Mountain municipalities want more information before commit- ting themselves to consolidating their police departments, now that a feasibility study on combining their police departments intoare- gional police force is half com- pleted. Representatives from Dallas and Harveys Lake boroughs and Kingston, Jackson, Lehman, Franklin and Lake townships attended a meeting January 24 to hear the results of the first phase of the study, done through the state Department of Community Affairs. Dallas Township did not wish to participate in the study. Funded through a state grant, the study is taking a long, hard look at the area's police services — the number of officers in each department, departmental budg- ets, officers’ training — even how many cruisers each police depart- ment has. Combined with information on each community's population, size and tax information, the study when finished will portray each community's police services and cost to the residents. In its final stages, it will break down the cost and number of officers which a consolidated po- lice department would need, if one were to be formed. “It might look good on paper, but would we have adequate police coverage?” Patricia Pieffer Dallas Borough councilwoman The study has no strings at- tached - none of the participating municipalities will be required to join a regional police force. “Based on the information presented Tuesday, the estimates of the number of officers needed for each department isn't too dif- ferent from what we already have,” said Back Mountain Citizens’ Countil vice-president Will Co- nyngham. “The remaining ques- tions are how much it will cost us and how consolidation would improve our police service.” The group plans to visit exist- ing regional police departments to see how they work and to speak with the officers and residents as soon as possible. See JOINT POLICE, pg 12 “The results to this point are very positive.” Walter Glogowski Jackson Twp. supervisor BM Sue the council Harveys Lake councilman threatens to sue borough council and president. Page 8 HB Be a sweetheart Check out the Valentine's Day special offers on page 12. Ce ND =A 12 Pages 1 Section Calendar................... 8 Classffied........... 10-11 Crossword................ 8 Editorials................ 4 Obituaries........... 2.10 School... ol 7 SPOMS. cits. ci id 9-10 The Dallas Post CALL 675-5211 FOR HOME DELIVERY, "EWS OR ADVERTISINC 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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