\ lt Win $1, 000 as AN <4 4 RE = The Dallas Post SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF THE DALLAS & LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS Yol: 106 No. 50 Dallas, Pennsylvania Water company seeks 39%-63% rate hikes By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff 3 © BACK MOUNTAIN - Custom- ers, of four small area water com- panies may ring in the new year with larger water bills. ‘National Utilities, Inc., owners of the Midway Manor, Oak Hill, Worden Place and Rhodes Ter- race water companies, has asked the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) for permission to increase its rates by an average of 49 per- cent effective January 29. ‘Midway Manor, which serves 75 customers in Kingston Town- «yp ship, and Worden Place, which serves 180 customers at Harveys Lake, will increase their rates by 652.8 percent. A typical customer By ANN POEPPERLING 9 Post Correspondent KINGSTON TWP. - Despite snowy weather, a crowd of resi- dents showed up Dec. 5 to oppose the possibility of a craft shop at the corner of Holcomb Rd. and North Memorial Highway (Rt. 309), Shavertown. Roy W. Evans submitted an application to rezone his property ~N ocated at 20 N. Memorial High- vay from residential (R-1) to Commercial (B-2) in hopes of ppening a craft shop. now paying a flat rate of $33.43 every two months will pay $54.44 under the new rate plan. Rhodes Terrace customers will see a 48.9 percent increase in their water bills, from a flat rate of $48.24 every two months to $71.86. Rhodes Terrace serves 275 customers at Harveys Lake. Oak Hill's 486 customers in Lehman Township will see a 38.9 percent increase, from an average of $65.20 every two months to $90.62. That adds up to $543.72 per year. Oak Hill is the only area division of National Utilities with water meters. In contrast, the typical cus- See RATE HIKE, pg. 10 Barbara Spriggs of 156 Welles St., Forty Fort represented her brother, who couldn't appear because of work. Residents of Holcomb Road, a narrow road on a steep hill be- tween Memorial Highway and Pioneer Avenue, had a number of reasons why a commercial estab- lishment wouldn't be welcome in their neighborhood. John L. Joyce, who owns prop- erty at 12 Holcomb Rd., adjacent to the Evans property, rents his house and is concerned for his tenant. In a letter to the commis- Road repairs shoddy, towns say By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff BACK MOUNTAIN - As National Utilities asks for rate increases of up to 63 percent, two towns in which the company does busi- ness fume over its poor repair record. The company, which owns the Midway Manor, Oak Hill, Worden Place and Rhodes Terrace water companies, has been involved in an ongoing battle with the Lehman Township supervisors over shoddy repairs to cuts it makes to access sioners, he described “lack of a proper buffer zone, increased traffic, bright lights, and the pos- sibility of an unsightly retaining wall.” Joyce also believes that Holcomb Rd. cannot absorb more traffic, adding “anything result- ing in increased traffic will result in increased accidents.” His letter stated that the intersection is broken pipes under paved roads. It has yet to comply with the township's pave cut ordinance and has left dirt-filled holes in the roads months after it finished repairing pipes, according to supervisor Doug Ide. The ordinance describes how anyone cutting through the pave- ment of a township road for any reason must repair their work, specifying the type of fill and asphalt needed. “National Utilities finally took See SHODDY REPAIRS, pg 10 Planners nix plan for Rt. 309 craft shop dangerous and has been the site of many accidents in the past. Joan Hine, 16 Holcomb Rd., presented a petition with 100 signatures in opposition to the rezoning, as well as 31 signatures of children living in the area. She feels if traffic to the proposed craft shop is rerouted from Pioneer Ave. down Holcomb, the increased activity will be dangerous to chil- dren who play in the area and walk Holcomb to and from a bus stop at the corner of Pioneer. See CRAFT SHOP, pg 10 Snark wins debate, it looks bleak for Santa By Rudolph ‘Red’ Nose (This is the third of a four-part children’s story, The Dallas Post's Christmas present to our young readers.) All of the North Pole turned out for the debate between Santa and Snark. Radio Polaris sent a crew out to broadcast it and even the local television station, SNOW- North Pole had cameras there. Snark had done a lot of think- ing about the debate. He knew he had to score lots of points early to be considered the winner. Santa was just too popular for Snark to let him off easy. And he knew he had to prime the elves for what was to come. So Snark had signs put up all around the Halls of Congress, which was the only building large enough to hold such a crowd. “Vote for Snark - the Low-Fat Candidate!” one sign said. “Rip Claus's Claws out of the office” advised another. And those were the nice ones! The debate was to be moni- tored by Felice Navidad, the editor of The Zero Gazette, the North Pole’'s premier newspaper. But first, each candidate was to make a statement. Santa was first. “You all know me,” he said, smiling. “You know I've put every waking moment since the beginning of time into being a good Santa. I'll trust you to do the right thing.” The elves applauded politely. Then it was Snark’s turn. “You think you're doing well, don't you,” Snark began. “Well, I say you're just a bunch of slaves! See SNARK, pg 17 By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff LEHMAN TOWNSHIP - While Airman Darin Ide will face ethnic hatred in Bosnia, his family will have to deal with the unknown. “The unknown is the worst part,” said his mother, Gail Ide, who is forming a support group for families of service personnel serving in the war-ravaged repub- lic once known as Yugoslavia. “I'm trying to form a network for moral support for families and to share information.” If enough people are interested in forming a support group, Ide has already found a place to meet. After seeing Ide on television, a Dallas students ace statewide test By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff DALLAS - They're tops and proud of it. For the past three years, Dallas students have joined their peers across the state in taking the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA), a six-hour battery of standardized tests in math and reading. “They're valuable teaching tools - the scores help us determine which parts of our curriculum are strong and which ones still need improvement,” said assistant superintendent Dr. Gilbert Grif- fiths. “They also help us deter- mine whether or not the curricu- lum is meeting the state's required December 13 thru 19, 1995 : Two soldiers from Lehman now 1n Bosnia minister from Nanticoke and the Scranton Veterans’ Center called her and offered space for meet- ings. Ide, an Air Force ground com- munications specialist, and a fel- low Lake-Lehman graduate, army; logistics specialist Thomas M. See BOSNIA, pg 10 FE SR learning outcomes in these ar- eas.” The tests were last administered in March to students in grades five, eight and 11 in the state's 501 public school districts, which are required to participate in them. _ Students’ scores are compared with schools of similar size, popu-" lation, wealth and other demo- graphics across the state. Similar schools may not be from the same general area, so that Dallas wouldn't be in a group of similar schools to be compared with Wyoming Area, for example. “To compare Dallas with other districts in Luzerne Countyisn'ta true apples-to-apples comparison \ f See TEST, pg 9! HB St. Therese's in Shavertown holds annual Advent Concert. Photos, pg 3. Hl Kristy Rice honored for outstanding artistry. 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