Wednesday, July 26, 1995 ~ 4 The Dallas Post Dallas, PA ERR The Dallas Post EDITORIALS Open Harveys Lake investigation to public Harveys Lake Mayor Rick Boice’s request that the state Department of Community Affairs evaluate the borough's "police department is a step in the right direction for that : troubled arm of law enforcement. It is also an admission that he and the borough council are unable to face and correct the _. department’s problems, or to squelch the rumors that continu- .. ously swirl around it. That should cause voters to wonder . whether they elected the best people for the jobs. The latest round of disruption, an allegation by a part-time officer that he felt threatened by a full-timer during an argu- * ment, is just one more messy situation for the department and the borough. It follows on the heels of last year’s jury acquittal "of assistant chief Ron Spock on graft charges. You may recall < that case, in which the friend of a DUI suspect “gave” a television set to the department, but not, the jury said, in ~ return for dropping charges. Borough council members were quick to provide a unani- -~mous vote of assent to Boice’s request, none of them apparently “eager to stand in the way of perceived progress. ~ No harm is likely to come out of the evaluation, but there's no guarantee anything good will be produced either. The best way to see that this process makes a difference is to have it conducted in the light of public disclosure and discussion. The citizens of Harveys Lake, and not just officials, should be interviewed and asked their opinion of the department’s opera- ~ tions. And, other than observations about specific individuals, the entire DCA report should be made public as soon as ~ possible after completion. ‘New zoning rules welcome, ‘be sure they are enforced ~ Lehman Township is the second Back Mountain municipal- ity to review and update its zoning this year. Among the proposals are restrictions on development near streams and other waterways. One would keep construction 150 feet from any stream that flows into a public water supply, and 50 feet from other bodies of water. Another would preserve trees larger than six feet in diameter. These are both sensible ideas, particularly given the rural character of the township. Nearly every town in the Back ‘Mountain could stand to tighten its zoning rules to some i extent, and not just to save natural features. Well-thought out . ‘zoning rules help preserve property values as much as trees. Fl © Rulébooks are only one factor in'the equation of a town’s character; the rules also must be enforced strictly and uni- formly. That is an effort that is not easy to carry out consis- ‘ . tently, especially for part-time administrators. It is yet another . areain which Back Mountain communities could cooperate, in . this case to hire a full-time professional whose time could be " budgeted among more than one town. EAR AE A A Publisher's notebook - There's a colossal land grab about tc take place, and this . time it’s not the government doing the grabbing. Congress, led . by Western mining and ranching interests, is considering a : plan to turn over millions of acres of public land to virtually * unlimited commercial use. The leaders of this perverted “back "to the land” movement say the federal government is far too ‘restrictive, and they are being denied their right to make a living. The pleas are accompanied by visions of bedraggled ~ cowboys just trying to get by on the range. But there are a few facts that get in the way of the story. For one, many of the ' beneficiaries wouldn't be hard-working cowpokes but million- aires who enjoy taking the tax deductions available to ranch- ers: Two are David Packard and William Hewlett (of Hewlett Packard computers fame), who own a 15,000 acre ranch that adjoins larger tracts of federal land in Idaho. Their cattle graze on about 100,000 acres of public land, for which they pay a small percentage of the private value of grazing rights. But they want more, to have clear control over the land and eliminate interruptions by pesky environmentalists and others who + think public lands are just that, the purview of all of us. ~The more radical among the range rights crowd say public land in the West should be “returned” to the states. But the land never belonged to the states, or in most cases to individu- als. It has been owned by the government ever since America ~ moved west and claimed vast tracts of what was thought to be . useless land. But as soon as gold was discovered, or ranchers - realized they could take the taxpayers for use of the prairie, an industry of special interests grew and migrated to Washington. I think our Western public lands, which last year attracted more than 50 million visitors, should remain in the public ~ domain and be protected from overgrazing, mining and other . development. If there are lands which aren't worth keeping, . and which can be safely used in other ways, they ought to be - sold for their fair market value, not leased at sweetheart rates to people who can afford to pay what they are worth. La BF OR 4 ' pow Sl Rolling fields in Lehman. Photo by Charlotte Bartizek. LETTERS } Public's support made swim team a success Editor: I would like to take this oppor- tunity, on behalf of the Dallas Swimming and Diving Team and Parents Association, to thank everyone who helped to make our inaugural year successful. A heartfelt thanks goes out to everyone who joined us at our first spaghetti dinner, and many, Reporter's noteboQke [Grace R. Dove | Last weekend I saw a promo- tion on television for an upcoming show about the Bermuda Triangle, which attempts to connect the infamous sector with missing socks. “So that’s where they've gotten to!” I thought, remembering count- less missing half pairs of my fa- vorite socks and those comfy little footsie things I wear under my sneakers. All these years I unjustly blamed big dog Taschi for taking my socks and footsie things pris- oner. But since Taschi’s untimely exit from this earthly plane late last summer, I'm still missing footwear. So it must be the Ber- muda Triangle. After further pondering the TV show's premise, I decided it must be right. And since the Sargasso Sea, which our ace environmental columnist Alene Case described so well in a recent column, over- laps part of the infamous Tri- angle, I drew another hot conclu- sion. Once all our missing stuff hits the Triangle, it has to go some- where. It probably joins with the Sargasso’s famous mats of float- ing seaweed to form a huge clump of gross stuff which floats around and catches unwary ships and planes in its nasty grip. The Clump of Floating Stuff, a sort of waterborne primal ooze many thanks to everyone who helped with the Swimming and Diving Team Flea Market. We would also like to thank all area businesses for their donations of gift certificates or merchandise to our raffle ticket sale. The three fund raising events were very successful and will benefit the team in many ways. Once again, allow me to thank everyone who helped make the year a success. Neither the team nor the Parents Association knew exactly what to expect in our first year, but we were thrilled with the community support we were shown. Mary Herbert Dallas Exclusive! Secrets of the Bermuda Triangle revealed composed of stray hats, gloves, keys, pens, underwear, pets, umbrellas, pencils, spare change, mail, cellular phones, floppy disks and homework assignments; also accounts for the reports of miss- ing aircraft in the area. Stray socks and underwear are notorious for producing mutated life forms, so when they bond and mate with the floating seaweed and other junk, the result is a slimy Thing which snags planes right out of the air with its long tentacles. Believe me, Spielberg is wast- ing his time spending bazillions of bucks in special effects for block- buster movies about dinosaurs created from Jurassic-era DNA harvested from mosquitoes trapped in amber or Congolese apes with PhD’s in human behav- ior. Why spend months and mil- lions making a robotized mockup of an ape's face or a velociraptor when you can sail down to the Bermuda Triangle and harvest your own special effects for free? The Sargasso stuff would proba- bly mutate into any life form you wanted in exchange for more socks and umbrellas. The Sargasso/Bermuda Tri- angle connection also explains the phrase, “The check is in the mail.” The check probably really was in the mail until a long slimy ten- tacle reached out from the depths of the Bermuda Triangle to drag it, kicking and screaming, back to its oozy watery lair to be sacrificed in goodness knows what dire ritu- als. It also explains an excuse made by a former friend who owes me lots of money: “I wrote you a check and left it in my mailbox for the postman to pick up, but some- body has been stealing my mail from the post office lately.” | At first, heartless skeptic that I am, | thought Rosie had made this all up. Now Isee the light, and know she was telling the truth all along. One of those long, weedy tentacles must have reached out from the Bermuda Triangle right up to her mailbox in the moun- tains and devoured her payment to me. Several times. Italso explains my missing deer whistles. Every few weeks the little black plastic critter-repelling whistle on the right side of my car's roof disappears. had blamed neighborhood pranksters for it, but now know the true culprit - that slimy seaweed. Ditto for a tent I never got back from another former friend, a bed which I blamed one of my sisters for swip- ing and a real Swiss Army knife which I thought a former hunting buddy had made off with. Carpenters, mechanics and plumbers should commission several soldiers of fortune to mount an expeditionary force to the Triangle to liberate all their missing tools. People who have lost credit cards, especially if they're receiv- ing large bills for merchandise they never ordered, should also investigate the Bermuda Triangle ONLY YESTERDAY 60 Years Ago - Aug. 2, 1935 FAMOUS AIRPLANE © | DESIGNER VISITS LAKE Igor Sikorsky, recognized throughout the world as one of the greatest designers and manu- facturers of airplanes, will come here on Sunday to be guest’ of honor at Russian Day festivities at the Harveys Lake picnic grounds. The annual summer social event of Our Lady of Victory Chapel » at Harveys Lake will be held in the Sandy Beach auditorium, Ags, 12, 50 Years Ago - Aug. 3, 1945 | NEWBERRYS SEEARMY BOMBER CRASH 25 Three years of suspense and anxiety, during which his son, qn) ) Sgt. Donald Freeman, was re- " ported missing in action in: the 3) Philippines, were ended this week for Wilbur Freeman of Jackson Township, with receipt of a War Department message declaring Sgt. Freeman was killed in action on March 31, 1942 during the Japanese invasion of the Philip- pines. Mr. and Mrs. Sev Newberry of Wellington Ave., Dallas, who had _ been spending several days in New York City, were among those who witnessed the crashofa U.S. bomber on Saturday morning. With scores of other guests of the Hotel Dixie on 43rd Street, the Newberrys had watched for sev- eral seconds the obvious danger into which the plane was running as it flew blindly at about the 67th floor level among the high build- ings and finally headed for the fog enshrouded Empire State Build- ing. PR 40 Years Ago- July 29, 1955, PUBLIC DUMP TO CLOSE; NO PLACE FORTRASH When orders on hand have been filled, possibly within two or thee weeks, Fernbrook Park Plant .of Bloomsburg Mills, Inc., will close and the building will be offered for sale, president Jack Weber an- nounced yesterday from the firm's headquarters at 525 Seventh hve! + New York City. Confronted with the need for immediate action because of the closing of Dallas Township's public dump Aug. 1, Back Mountain garbage collectors met this week \ 14 <Q <r at the American Legion Home and { made plans to seek some other place or means for garbage dis- posal. You could get - Chuck roast, 29¢ Ib.; rump veal roast, 49¢ 1b.; ground beef, 3 Ibs. /$1.00; Polish pickles, qt. jar, 25¢; Dole Pine- apple Juice 2 #5 cans, 53¢; Virg- nia Lee apple pie, 39¢ ea. 30 Years Ago- July 29,1965 GROUP WORKS TO FORM HARVEYS LAKE BORO. Harveys Lake Executive Asso- ciation, which hopes to form a borough out of parts of Lake and Lehman Townships lying within connection. I shudder to think the lake's watershed, will begin what terrible things the Primal Ooze Creatures must be ordering among resident freeholders, Au- circulating petitions to that end and charging to unsuspecting gust 6. Petitions will be individu- people’s accounts. ally directed toward both year- Now if I could only persuade round residents and summer the Primal Ooze Creatures to clean residents in case the courts are the cat box ( and leave the cat, divided as to what a “resident please) or take several of my less freeholder” (the man whose vote desirable relatives, neighbors and counts toward the move”) is. in-laws, my life would be com- plete. LEGISLATORS DIRECTORY The Dallas Post 4 Published Weekly By Bartsen Media, Inc. : P.O. Box 366, Dallas PA 18612 a - a 717-675-5211 } B Ronald A. Bartizek Charlotte E. Bartizek F PUBLISHER ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER ; Peggy Young Grace R. Dove i ADVERTISING ACCT. EXEC REPORTER Paul Rismiller PRODUCTION MANAGER J : [EE WITH : SOY INK Olga Kostrobala CLASSIFIED/TYPESETTING Jill Gruver OFFICE MANAGER NATIONAL NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION Federal Officials Congress Representative Paul E. Kanjorski (Democrat) Wilkes-Barre: 825-2200 Washington: (202) 225-6511 10 East South Street, Wilkes-Barre PA 18701-2397 or 2429 Rayburn Building, Washington, DC 20515 Senator Arlen Specter (Republican) Wilkes-Barre: 826-6265 Washington: (202) 224-4254 116 South Main Street, Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 Senator Rick Santorum (Republican) B-40 Dirksen Building Washington, DC 20510 Washington: (202) 224-6324 Fax: (202) 228-4991 State Officials State Senator Charles D. Lemmond (Republican) (717) 675-3931 22 Dallas Shopping Ctr., Memorial Hwy., Dallas PA 18612-1231 State Representative George Hasay (Republican) 287-7505 or 542-7345 or 474-2276 or 477-3752 369 South Mountain Boulevard, Mountaintop PA 18707 Hasay's district encompasses: Harveys Lake, Lehman Township, Jackson Township, Lake Town- ship, Franklin Township, Ross Township, and Dallas Township's north voting district. State Representative Phyllis Mundy (Democrat) 283-9622 or 655-3375 Suite 107, 400 Third Avenue, Kingston PA 18704 Mundy’s district encompasses: Dallas Borough, Dallas Township except for the north voting dis- trict, and Kingston Township. §: § 20 Years Ago - July 31, 1975 | IRISH TEACHERS VISIT HARVEYS LAKE : Back Mountain residents. will have an opportunity to openly discuss a number of important local issues Thursday at a “town meeting” open to the public and held at the meeting room of the First Eastern Bank, across from Dallas Shopping Center. Dr. F, Budd Schooley, president of the Back Mountain Protective Asso- ciation, announced the subject for the meeting is “community affairs”, a generalized theme which will include a number of Corcerns of area residents. A visit by 20 teachers form Ireland added to the authenticity of the annual Irish Day celebra- tion at Harveys Lake July 19. The teachers in the area are guests of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of Greater Wilkes-Barre, climaxed a J four day stay at Harveys Lake by entertaining and being enter- tained at the Irish Day celebra- tion. y he) ) BE Oy \
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