1S0d Sejjeq ayl _ |0oyos oO] xoeq - 4 Vol. 107 No. 35 9 c' > Q — é 9661 cis é 9 & By RONALD BARTIZEK Post Staff DALLAS - A group of California investors has filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission to start a new televi- sion station, ostensibly serving Dallas. According to papers filed July 22, Pappas Telecasting of America is requesting permission to con- struct and operate Channel 62, The Back Mountain's The Dallas Post / which would be an affiliate of the new WB Television Network, launched last year by Warner Brothers Studios. The filing in- cludes a request for waiver of some FCC regulations, primarily relat- ing to potential interference with television signals at the same fre- quency emanating from Allentown and Kingston, New York. The papers make frequent ref- erence to the investors’ desire to serve the public interest by bring- a 5 0 wed Dallas, Pennsylvania ing Dallas its first local television service. But the estimated market area is nearly 5,000 square miles with a population of 884,226. The transmitter would be located on Haystack Mountain in Hanover Township, and a legal notice pub- lished in The Dallas Post states the location of the studio has not been determined. Among the arguments for a waiver, the application states: “The public interest benefits of authe- rizing the proposed new station far outweigh any potential detri- ments. First, the community of Dallas would gain its first local transmission television service ... of more far-reaching importance, however, the proposed new sta- tion is part ofa larger plan to allow the development of The WB Tele- vision Network as a competitive fifth national network.” The application states that WB Network will offer a 30-minute A A TS Polish bobsled team starts By RONALD BARTIZEK Post Staff SHAVERTOWN - You may have noticed the five clean cut, muscu- lar young men wearing neat white t-shirts. You might think they are incoming students at College Misericordia or Penn State, at least until you hear them talk among themselves. When you overhear their conversation in Polish, you could easily assume they are ex- change students, here for a se- mester. of study before returning to their homeland. But you would be wrong. These are five young men on a mission, and the path to their goal has brought them through the Back Mountain on their way to the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagana, Ja- pan. The quintet, all former track and field stars in Poland, make up the Polish National Bobsled team. + »'98 Olympic quest here They are here to train and to raise funds for their team, which will attempt to qualify for the Olym- pics during the coming winter's racing schedule. Louis Pugh of Dallas, their manager, hopes ex- posure in northeastern Pennsyl- vania will generate donations that can be used to offset the esti- mated $50,000 minimum amount needed to compete beginning in November. “Nobody helps these kids,” in Poland, Pugh said, because the emerging democratic government simply can't afford niceties like training facilities. Even with the help, this will be a bare bones team, down from a normal con- tingent of a dozen athletes. The five will have to race two sleds, a four-man and a two-man, so there's precious little room for error or injury. See BOBSLED TEAM, pg 9 POST PHOTO/RON BARTIZEK T-shirt sales will help raise funds for the Polish National Bobsled Team. Team member Jaroslaw Grzyb showed off one. The shirts are on sale at Ernie's Fitness. “Planners send ordinances for supervisor approval e By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP - At their Aug. 19 work session and Aug. 26 regular meeting, the plan- ning commission unanimously voted to send the drafts of two proposed ordinances to the su- pervisors for their approval. According to a proposed itiner- ant merchants ordinance, mer- chants who don't live in the town- ship will be required to pay $300 for a license, which entitles them to do business in the township for amaximum of 100 days. Itinerant merchants will also be required to have a Job Johnny on their sites if no sanitary facilities are acces- sible. The ordinance doesn't apply to township residents setting up yard sales or small stands on their own property, although these persons will also be required to have some sort of sanitary facilities avail- able. A proposed nuisance ordinance will prohibit the storage of rub- bish, trash, waste, car or equip- ment parts or vehicles with ex- pired license plates or inspection stickers. Residents may not burn garbage, tires or tar products. Property owners may not allow buildings to become dilapidated or unsafe, must cover wells or cisterns and may not build dams across waterways unless they have the proper state authorization. Any vacant structure which could become a fire hazard, home for rodents or attraction for people to congregate or play is also prohib- ited if the ordinance is passed in its present form. Po} educational children's program every morning beginning in Sept. 1997, and one hour of prime time family programs from 8 to 9 p.m. each weekday evening. The station would be one of a series of proposed new WB Net- work affiliated stations in the top 100 broadcast markets. In a foot- note, the investors say that na- tional advertisers want to reach at least 80 percent of the country, but WB affiliates now reach only August 50¢ 28 thru September 3, 1996 “California firm plans TV station for Dallas, sort of 65 percent. According to the application, Warner Brothers invested $300 million to launch the network and lost $50-$75 million the first year of operation. The company does not expect to break even for four years. The filing estimates that $3,885,000 will be needed to con- struct and operate the local sta- tion for three months, and lists a See TV STATION, pg 8 Arson charge shocks fellow firefighter By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP - A fel- low firefighter doesn't understand the arson charges against assis- tant fire chief Joe Strazdus. Joe helps a lot of people, he says. Strazdus was charged with three felony counts of arson, two felony counts of criminal tres- pass, two summary counts of criminal mischief and one’ felony count of burglary August 16 in connection with a fire May 25 which did $100 in damage to a vacant home on Village Road in Orange. . “I don’t know what's going on. I wasn’t there that night,” said Ri- chard Bartholomew, a fire com- pany member and temporary crew chief ; of the Franklin- Northmoreland Ambulance. “Joe spends all his time volunteering — he’s also on the Luzerne County Emergency Management team, is a rescuer at Proctor & Gamble and drives the ambulance. When- ever he’s called out —- even in the middle of the night - he always seems to have his act together.” Being the first person at the fire hall or a fire scene doesn’t mean he started it, Bartholomew added. “I'm often at the fire hall doing work, and 1 live nearby, so it doesn't take me long to answer a call. Joe's the same way. He has spent a lot of time up there work- ing on the shed and doing other See FIREFIGHTER, pg. 8 Borough bars skateboards from streets, sidewalks By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff DALLAS - Skateboarders have only a month to continue consid- ering the borough as their play- ground. In response to a growing num- ber of complaints from residents and business people, the borough council is expected to pass an ordinance banning skateboard- ers from all public streets, alleys and sidewalks at its September 17 meeting. The council approved the first reading of the ordinance August 20. Police will impound skate- boards belonging to first-time of- fenders for up to 15 days and, in the case of minors, call the par- ents and mail them a copy of the ordinance. Subsequent offenses will result in the impoundment of the offenders’ skateboards for up to 30 days and a fine of $15 to $300. If the offender is a minor, his parents will be responsible for the fine. Police will also enforce the ordi- nance in shopping centers, which are considered public thorough- fares even though they are pri- See SKATEBOARDS., pg 8 HW Fixin the Lady Alda Maturi is bringing an old boat back to life at Harveys Lake. Pg 3. HW Biz kids Three Lake-Lehman seniors learn about free enterprise. Pg 2. 14 Pages 2 Sections Calendar...............ce.u. 14 Classified............... 12-13 Crossword................. 14 ECitonals... co. niin. 4 Obituaries................. 12 School... iui 10-11 SPOS... aii 9 CALL 675-5211 FOR HOME DELIVERY, NEWS OR ADVERTISING The Dallas Post L.- Please enclose this label with any address changes, and mail to The Dallas Post, P.O. Box 366, Dallas PA 18612-0366 4 4 MAILING LAB}
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