4 . The Dallas Post on Dallas, PA Wednesday, March 27, 1996 a The Dallas Post EDITORIALS Dream on, Congressman No doubt about it, Congressman Paul Kanjorski is a dreamer. While other politicians revel in the rough and tumble of party politics, he slips into a vision of a Wyoming Valley that never was, but perhaps can be. Then he finagles funding in the federal budget to support his dreams. And he’s pretty good at it. Meanwhile back home, local pols fight to retain their stand- ing, fearful that Kanjorski's manipulations will leave them out in the cold. They're not used to being upstaged by our man in Washington, and many don't like it, so they're lashing out at Kanjorski’s secrecy and what they see as a desire to control all levels of the Democratic party in the region. Perhaps their fears are correct, but does that really matter to the rest of us? Kanjorski has his faults, and surely some personal motives for his actions, but we might want to accept them if he’s able to pull off his latest scheme. He sees the Wyoming Valley filled with good jobs and growing companies, its employees sailing on a lake where the mighty Susquehanna has raged. And he sees the region changing, emerging from decades of economic and social stagnation into a bright, high-technology future. It's an optimistic — some would say foolish — scenario and quite unlike what other political leaders have dared to project. Even the most forward-thinking among us may have a hard time swallowing the whole Kanjorski vision, of a new Silicon Valley in the hills of northeastern Pennsylvania. There were probably few believers in the early days of the economic explosion in northern California, or Salt Lake City, or San Antonio either, just as there aren't a lot here now. But that didn’t stop the dreamers, who were eventually proven more correct than they ever expected. That's unlikely to happen to ~ Kanjorski, who seems able to dream big, and if even hall of his expectations are fulfilled, we'll all be better off for it. The greatest danger for the Wyoming Valley lies not in a visionary Congressman, but in the dozens, hundreds, maybe thousands of local political figures who like the way things are, precisely because they hold all the cards. They're uncomfort- able with change, uneasy with outsiders, fearful that prosper- ous newcomers will mean the end of their reign as big fish in tiny. ponds. They see this region as one of scarcity, where only those. with the right connections can get ahead, and they supply those links. And there's at least one radio mouth who eagerly feeds on insecurity while doing his best to convince listeners nothing good will ever happen here, Dream on, Congressman. We don’t know if your dreams will come true, but it surely is worth the risk to give them a chance to become reality. Publisher's notebook ~ We had the pleasure of visiting Washington, D.C. last week, to attend the annual Government Affairs Conference of the National Newspaper Association, to which we belong. Washington's a wonderful city, at least the part of it most visitors see, and I always feel proud of the monuments, museums and other facilities we each-own a piece of. We visited Air and Space (This is a must when you have young children) and Natural History in between our business schedule. A reception at the White House was better organized than one we attended two years ago, and everyone was able to have a photograph taken with President Clinton. He gave his usual shiert stump speech, touting his administration's accomplish- ments to counter the negative perception prevalent in the ress. wel go back. When the kids are older, they'll be able to tolerate the art museums, or go off on theirown. We still haven't made it to the House of Representatives viewing area, or the Corcoran, or the Jefferson Memorial. I met with Congressman Paul Kanjorski during a luncheon at the Library of Congress. He has always accommodated this visit, and has plenty to talk about. I appreciate his willingness to take time from his schedule for a small newspaper publisher. I can't say the same for our two Senators. I invited both to the luncheon, even offering to arrange that all Pennsylvania pub- lishers be seated together with them. Neither even had the courtesy to reply, which I specifically requested. This makes it look as though Senators Specter and Santorum think they have more important things to do than listen to their constitu- ents, at least relatively powerless ones. z Do you agree? Disagree? Editorials are the opinion of the management of The Dallas Post, and are written by the editor unless otherwise indicated. We welcome your opinion on contemporary issues in the form of letters to the editor.Send letters t& The Dallas Post, P.O. Box 366, Dallas, PA 18612. Please include name, address and a daytime phone number so that we may verify authenticity. We do not publish anonymous letters, but will consider withholding the name in exceptional circumstances. We reserve the right to edit for length and grammar. The Dallas Post Published Weekly By Bartsen Media, Inc. P.O. Box 366, Dallas PA 18612 717-675-5211 Charlotte E. Bartizek ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Ronald A. Bartizek i PUBLISHER Grace R. Dove REPORTER Peggy Young ADVERTISING ACCT. EXEC Olga Kostrobala CLASSIFIED/TYPESETTING 4 ‘ Paul Rismiller , PRODUCTION MANAGER 4 Jill Gruver OFFICE MANAGER | i ; PRINTED WITH NUN PENNSYLVANIA =/|SOY INK] NTCHA pewseaeen NEWSPAPER Chris Balchunas took to a ladder for some tree trimming duty at the Huntsville Golf Club. He and his wife, Karen, are the horticulturalists for the course. Photo by Charlotte Bartizek. m— A Case for conservation a Alene N. Case Most of use now realize that the Susquehanna River is the major tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. We also know that Pennsylvania contains the largest portion of the drainage area for the Susquehanna River. We have come to a rather limited understanding of some of our relationships to the river and the bay. Fewer of us discard waste oil into storm drains and more of us support controls on sewage treatment plants and other industrial discharges into our waterways. It is time to give serious thought to less obvious connections between our activi- ties and the health (or lack thereof) of the Chesapeake Bay. The Chesapeake Bay is the larg- est estuary in the United States. Estuaries are among the most bio- logically productive regions on earth, often rivaling coral reefs or intensive agriculture. But, be- cause of its shallow depth and small opening to the sea, the Chesapeake is quite vulnerable to the changes taking place along its shore and within the drainage basins of the rivers that flow into As I was Jack Hilsher If an alphabetical list of noted curmudgeons were compiled it would start with Fred Allen. Then Bob Benchley, and W.C. Fields. Oscar Levant definitely and Groucho, natch, and add Westbrook Pegler, but we're past the K's and missed George S. Kaufman, who many say was the wittiest man in America. Yet, today people vaguely recall the name but not what he did. The most prolific and success- ful playwright ever on Broadway, Kaufman was born plain George in 1889 to German-Jewish par- ents and added the “S,” he said, for euphony...his newspaper by- Flooding still major ill for Chesapeake it. Only one percent of the pollut- ants that reach the bay in a year are flushed out to the Atlantic Ocean in that year. This year may be a little differ- ent. The flood of ‘96 will have consequences that can only be guessed at now. The actual vol- ume of fresh water entering the bay in January was almost as greal as during the 1972 Agnes flood. This water carried with it large amounts of sediment which will settle out on the bottom of the bay. That sediment undoubtedly contains large amounts of phos-- phorous which may be resus- pended later in the summer as the water warms and oxygen levels decrease. Nitrogen in huge quan- tities is also carried in the water of such floods. Some of this may be lost to the ocean faster than nor- mal simply because of the high flows, but much of it will be there in the spring to produce large, undesirable algal blooms. As one researcher puts it, “any kinds of improvements that we might be making in nutrient loadings are going to be masked just by the huge flows that we had.” The sediments will smother many bottom-dwelling animals. The fresh water will kill others that are more accustomed to a saltier environment. It remains to be seen whether or not the grass beds on which many fish and other species depend will be hurt as they were in June of ‘72. They were growing then - this time they were dormant for the winter. Many ~ species can recover after one “freshet” such as this, but we had others in ‘93 and ‘94. Will they be able to withstand a third in quick succession? This recent flood was no acci- dent. Our lack of responsible wa- tershed land use planning has made such events inevitable. We continue to clear large areas near streams, to build huge structures such as shopping malls, to pave more and more land for roads and parking areas, and to allow the filling of wetlands - with the proper permits, of course. Only recently have we given serious thought to replanting steep hillsides with trees or to providing vegetated buffer zones along streambanks. Many people continue to cut brush along streams or divert flow from swamps under the mistaken no- tion that the faster the water flows downstream the better. Actually, the opposite is true — the slower the water flows downstream, the more will be absorbed and held for drier times. And, the more storage of water we can encourage, the fewer floods we will have. There are may excellent organi- zations working very hard to re- store the Chesapeake Bay to a healthy water body. I recently re- . ceived the January 1996 docu- ment from the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) entitled_Pennsylvania's Chesa- peake Bay Nutrient Reduction Strategy. It contains all sorts of marvelous plans to work with farmers to reduce the runoff from’ fields and barnyards, to take even” more nitrate and phosphate out’ of our sewage before pumping it back into the river, to try to get more , cooperation from New York, since about 25 percent of fhe’ Susquehanna drainage area is in that state, and even to addréss’ the issue of the nitrogen oxides emitted by our automobiles and power plants. Over the next four” years we will try to meet our stated : goal of reducing the nutrient in- put into the bay by 40 percent from the base year 1985, We are about halfway there, at leas(’ in 5 terms of phosphates. But, I submit that all this’ time, effort and expense may be to no availif we fail toaddress the deeper- issues of the causes and conse- quences of flooding. During idods, | the sewerage system oftert” com: bines with the storm drain system | so that raw nutrients are flushed | into the river. During floods, there | is no time for the usual aeration and biological processes that ren- | der many pollutants harmless | before they reach the bay. During floods, the sediments that have settled to the bottom of rivers'and reservoirs (even behind the ‘huge hydropower dams) are suspended. and washed to the bay. Let all of us who live within the - drainage area of the mighty Chesa- peake resolve toinclude her health in all of our plans. ps George S. Kaufman, extraordinary wit line was “G.S.K." He was raised by a neurotic mother who protected George from germs by preparing all his food in sterile containers and keeping him from the outdoors. She left him with a lifelong fear of disease and death. George wore glasses, was skinny, and bullied. He fought back with gags instead of fists, and started to write stories in high school. At 15 he was a regular newspaper contributor, eventu- ally writing a humor column. He wrote theater criticism also, and later became drama editor at The New York Times. His first play flopped, but by 1921 he and sev- eral collaborators (like Edna Ferber, Ring Lardner and Abe Burrows) wrote hit after hit, among them “The Man Who Came To Dinner,” “Of Thee Sing” (the first musical to win a Pulitzer) and “You Can't Take it with You.” The public was a [alse front. Not a dour man, his caustic com- ments were provoked by stupidity and he actually liked people and could be generous and compas- sionate. When Hitler evacuated Jews, Kaulman sponsored many to come to the U.S. and supported them until they were settled. But the wit was always there. Seated next toa non-stop talker at dinner, Kaufman asked, “Madam, don't you have any unexpressed thoughts?” He loved bridge but hated incompetence. When a poor partner asked to be excused to visit the men’s room, Kaufman replied, “Gladly - for the first time today I'll know what you have in your hand.” Sensing Kaufman’ disgust with how he played, the partner asked how he would have played a hand. “Under an as- sumed name,” Kaufman an- swered. One of the best of his many barbs is the classic story involving crooner Eddie Fisher, who was notable more for three wives (Debbie R., Liz T., and Connie S.) than for his voice. A very young Fisher and Kaufman were on a TV show and Fisher complained girls” ~ wouldn't go out with him because: of his age. He asked fpuiniany advice. Kaufman's reply: “Mr. Fisher. on Mount Wilson there is a tele: scope that can magnify the most: distant stars up to 24 times more than any previous telescope could. It was unsurpassed until one was | built at Mount Palomar capable of ! even greater magnification, Hour : times the resolution of the Ment ; oo CAE, IC Wilson instrument.” “Mr. Fisher,” Kaufman contin- ued, “If you could somehéw put the Mount Wilson telesc ope in- side the Mount Palomar telescope, ) § EC I you stillwouldn't be able to detect | my interest in your problem." Kaufman died in 1961. Moss | Hart eulogized, “The paradox | of | his nature was that he felt deeply, | yet he sheered from any display of emotion. Almost always, it re- i mained unexpressed.” But not his wit. tA Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski (D-PA 11th District) Wilkes-Barre: 825-2200 Washington: (202) 225-651 1 10 E. South St., Wilkes-Barre PA 18701-2397 or 2429 Rayburn Building Washington, DC 20515 Senator Arlen Specter (R) Wilkes-Barre: 826-6265 Washington: (202) 224-4254 116 S. Main S., Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 Senator Rick Santorum (R) B-40 Dirksen Building Washington, D.C. 20510 Washington: (202) 224-6324 Fax: (202) 228-4991 State Officials State Sen. Charles D. Lemmond (R) LEGISLATOR'S DIRECTORY Federal Officials (717) 675-3931 22 Dallas Shopping Ctr., Memorial Hwy., Dallas PA 18612-1231 Lemmond's district includes the Back Mountain. State Rep. George Hasay (R) 287-75050r 542-73450r 474-2276 or 477-3752 369 South Mountain Boulevard, Mountaintop PA 18707 Hasay's district encompasses: Harveys Lake, Lehman Township. Jackson Township, Lake Township, voting district. ad Franklin Township. Ross Town- ship, and Dallas Township's north State Rep. Phyllis Mundy (D) 283-9622 or 655-3375 Suite 107, 400 Third Avenue, Kingston PA 18704 Dallas Borough, Dallas Township except for the north voting district, and Kingston Township. = * A TT A as oT SE ROR RR TE Ra Te pn Seg Ti Se Ty k { 3 | | : t { ! Loe. NN i UK a ¢ ¢
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers