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Vol. 106 No. 35
ack
takes
a toll
: Crops whither,
fire risk grows
By GRACE R. DOVE
Post Staff
BACK MOUNTAIN - Fire chiefs
say the woods are so dry that even
the dirt can catch on fire. Foliage
and underbrush in the woods are
desiccated, while flower beds and
lawns turned brown and brittle
weeks ago.
To date the area has received
less than a third of its normal
August rainfall and is running
well below normal for the spring
and summer.
Most Back Mountain commu-
nities have banned open burning.
Water companies are asking their
customers to conserve.
Area farmers are watching their
crops and livelihoods wither away.
“Unless we get rain, the situ-
See NO RAIN, pg 8
DPE
gt NSS
7
Dallas, PA
Newspaper Since 1889
e Dallas Post
August 2 30 thru u September 5 5, 195
contra dancing.
Cyanide downs PG&W worker
By GRACE R. DOVE
Post Staff
CEASETOWN - Acyanidespill
_ at the Ceasetown water filtration
plant Monday afternoon sent one
worker to the hospital.
wo According to Juneann Greco,
spokesperson for plant owner
Pennsylvania Gas and Water
(PG&W), Corey Klinefelter came
into contact with alkaline cyanide
while performing a routine labo-
ratory test for manganese on a
water sample. The alkaline cya-
nide is used to neutralize the
manganese, Greco said.
The manganese test is one of a
| series of water tests required by
the government and done as a
matter of routine. Klinefelter had
been doing the lab test wearing a
fume hood, but accidentally spilled
cyanide on his hand.
Klinefelter was taken by the
Lehman ambulance to the Mercy
Hospital in Wilkes-Barre after
becoming lightheaded and con-
fused.
He is in serious condition Tues-
day morning, according to a hos-
pital spokesperson.
The Jackson Township ambu-
lance and emergency manage-
ment coordinator Sam Wilkes were
assisted at the scene by the
Lehman ambulance.
Dri ve for fire truck takes to streets
SHAVERTOWN - It isn't St.
Nicholas Day, but the Shaver-
town firefighters hope area resi-
dents will leave something in their
large rubber boots Sept. 1 and 2.
Firefighters holding boots will
stand on Route 309 at the Center
Street intersection Friday from 4
t0 7:30 p.m. and Satuday 10a.m.-
4 p.m., requesting donations from
drivers to help pay for Ladder 61,
a new state-of-the-art aerial lad-
der truck.
Signs reminding motorists of
the Boot Day and the need for
donations will be posted near the
intersection. Firefighters wearing
vests will walk through stopped
traffic on the highway soliciting
donations while the Route 309
light is red. All donations will be
appreciated.
Cops raise funds for ARC
Recently the members of the Back Mountain Police Association
presented a check to Linda Ross of the Luzerne County
Association of Retarded Citizens from the Back Mountain
Police Ham & Egg breakfast.
At the presentation were, from left, John Fowler, Paul Sabol,
John Blaski, Linda Ross (LUZARC) and Dave Wier.
POST PHOTO/GRACE R. DOVE
Field technicians Rich Lewis and Christopher Alsmtrom of
Ecoscience, Inc., finish up an archaeological study of the area
around Huntsville Road.
Archaeologists 'dig’
Huntsville Road
By GRACE R. DOVE
Post Staff
DALLAS - For the past several
weeks a team of archaeologists
has been digging up the latest dirt
from the Back Mountain. Their
most significant find has been
acres of poison ivy.
As part of a state-required
archaeological study of Huntsville
Road by Ecoscience, Inc., field
technicians Rich Lewis and Chris-
topher Almstrom dug round holes
along the roadside about two feet
in diameter every 15 meters for
the road's entire length. Such an
investigation is required by the
state whenever a road is widened
or straightened, they said.
“Whenever we find artifacts, we
mark the location and go back
later and look for more,” Lewis
said. “We dig all the way down to
the sterile subsoil.”
“This should be easy digging,”
Almstrom said at a spot near the
Reservoir Road intersection. “The
soil is dry and there aren't any
wild grape vines.”
Lewis carefully sifted the shov-
elfuls of dirt which Almstrom
unearthed, finding several small
pieces of white crockery, pieces of
nails, a healthy crop of poison ivy
and a dead catbird. The nails and
crockery were catalogued and
dropped into a plastic bag to go
back to the lab for further study.
The catbird was left in the weeds.
According to Ecoscience prin-
cipal investigator JoEllen Burk-
holder, the main finds have been
glass, crockery and several types
of nails, which can be dated by
their method of manufacture.
“The cut nails are from the late
1800's,” she said. “We have found
glass dating from the mid-1800's
on up to modern times. Some of
the oldest pieces are fragments of
a good quality of porcelain proba- -
See DIG, pg 8
FUN DAY, SUNDAY
Arts at Hayfield, held last Sunday on the Penn
State campus in Lehman, enjoyed its usual fine
weather, and those attending had lots of fun. In
photo at left, Rebecca Pomerantz, 5, had two big
red hearts painted on her cheeks. She's the
daughter of Steve and Beth Pomerantz. Below,
Sarah Reid, Beaumont, was twirled by Oliver
Larnie of Bloomsburg as they demonstrated
POST PHOTOS/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK
Sisters’ x
stay close
Over years
By GRACE R. DOVE
Post Staff
DALLAS TOWNSHIP They call
themselves “The Sunflower Sis-
ters,” sporting identical sunflower
hats, T-shirts and angel pins.
Once next-door neighbors in
Shavertown, they have been best
friends for more than 70 years
and have never had a big argu-
ment. i
Each summer for the past seven
years, sisters Helen Gary Wheeler,
Ruby Gary Oberst and Beatrice
Gary Tolinski have gotten together
with Doris Oberst Roberts and
Mildred Oberst Streader for lunch
and “Sisters’ Day” at Pickett's
Charge, to catch up on the latest:
events. Doris Roberts, who owns
a newspaper in Lake Mind
NJ, takes the scenic route to the
Back Mountain, stopping in New
Jersey's Neshanic and Phil-
lipsburg, then hopping across the
Delaware River and zipping up to
White Haven and Kingston to pick:
up the rest of the gang.
At 73 years young, Doris and’
Ruby are the kids of the group.:
“And they act that way too,™
Beatrice wisecracked. “Ruby and
Doris always used to follow us
around. Now they can’t wait to get
going — they're the only two left
who still drive.”
Helen is the middle child. They
See ‘SISTERS’, pg 2
Theft charge against KT
policeman going to trial
By GRACE R. DOVE
Post Staff
PITTSTON - Kingston Town-
ship patrolman Robert Weiss
waived his right to a preliminary
hearing on charges of theft by
unlawful taking August 23 before
District Magistrate Fred Pieran-
toni.
Weiss is accused of taking
$106.90 from a sealed envelope in
an locked evidence room in late
March and has been suspended
with pay from his job. He is free on
$500 bail and must report to the
Luzerne County district attorney's
office for fingerprinting and to be
photographed within 10 days.
The hearing, originally sched-
uled to be heard by District Mag-
istrate James Tupper, was as-
signed to Pierantoni by Luzerne
County President Judge Toole
after Tupper recused himself from
it because he knows Weiss. An-
other magistrate, Andrew Barilla,
also recused himself because he
had dealings with Weiss as a po-
lice officer.
Scheduled for 2:15 p.m., the
hearing was delayed for nearly.
two hours because District Attor--
ney Peter Paul Olszewski's staff
hadn't been notified and didn’t
send arepresentative. When Pier-
antoni called him, Olszewski's
staff said they were ready to prose-
cute the case and sent detective
lieutenant Gary Sworen to the
hearing.
“I'm very disappointed that this
has transpired,” said Weiss’s at-
torney, Vincent Cappellini, who
unsuccessfully moved to have the
case dismissed for lack of prose-
cution. “We have had to wait here
2 1/2 hours.”
He said he advised Welsh to
waive his right to a preliminary
hearing because “it’s a good idea.”
Weiss also said he was disap-
pointed in the delay, refusing
further comment.
HB Movie mogul?
Joseph Hudak is heading
to Hollywood for a busi-
ness intership . Page 11.
HM Ready to drive
Jeff Farley has his golf
game tuned up for the fall
season. Page 9.
14 Pages 2 Sections
Calendar................. 14
Classified............... 12-13
Crossword................. 14
Ediorials.................. 4
Obituaries............... 7,10
SCHOOL... 11
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