4 The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, October 21, 1998 EDITORIALS Don't be lulled into apathy; do your part by voting Nov. 3 The 1998 elections are approaching, but chances are you haven't been paying much attention. If predictions hold true, turnout for this “off-year” vote will be abysmal, which in this case means even worse than usual. The whole notion of “off-year” elections is misleading. The offices up for grabs next month — Governor, State Represen- tative, U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator and others — are as important to our lives as the Presidency. The federal govern- ment may deal with “larger” issues and ; 783 ) sweeping changes in jus- : y : tice, tax law or trade, but our day-to-day relation- ship with government occurs at the levels we'll vote for November 3. Con- cerned about property taxes? Bill Clinton can’t offer any help. Think the road you drive to work needs traffic signals? Don’t call Washington. Want to add on to your home? Don’t ask the President for a variance. Even in our relation- ship with the federal government, Senators and Representa- tives hold more power than the White House in most affairs. Laws and budgets, after all, must be passed by Congress, not - simply decreed by the President. Even after signing, all legis- lation is subject to review by the courts if anyone challenges its ‘validity. : ~ Perhaps the focus on the White House is a reflection of the national news media's obsession with Presidential scandal. Or maybe it's because they get to go on all those cool trips. “Whatever the reason, it's as though we've forgotten the bedrock principle of our system, the three-legged foundation on which our freedom and prosperity are built. ~~ Don’t fall into the trap of thinking this is “only” an off-year election. It’s just as important as any other, and our responsi- bility to participate is just as great. Sly operators know that when we don’t turn out in force, they can win election by attracting a minority of partisans. If that happens, we have no place complaining about the result. Publisher's notebook | Sometimes inspiration comes in the mail, even in the form of - all those “junk mail” pieces most of us get by the bushel. This being the unofficial high point of the catalog year, I was working my way out from under the pile last week when I realized how much times have changed in a generation or two. Listen, children, and you shall hear about how things worked in your parents’ and grandparents’ day. ~ Believe it or not, there was a time when most items people bought were replacements for what had worn out. New shirts were purchased only when your elbows poked out of the old ones. Ditto for shoes (no, we didn’t walk on our elbows, but the other parts of our anatomy broke through), and more often than not they would be resoled and given new life. Tools and other gadgets were used until they broke. Only then did you go “shopping,” which meant visiting one of a few stores in town, in search of specific items. What do we do now? Why, when the new catalog arrives, we sit down and leaf through it, needing nothing but looking to see if there’s something we'd like to buy anyway. This used to be considered wasteful; now it’s just doing our part to sustain the economy. Perhaps the most startling change has taken place with cars. (And what we used to call trucks, but now term “SUVs.”) Back in the bad old days, cars were less reliable, their bodies rusted out, and tires went bald in 10,000 miles. But most people kept the old buggy going for longer than we do now, which meant frequent trips to the repair shop. Not anymore; now we have the miracle of leasing, whereby we fork over insane monthly payments, then hand in the keys after three or four years and start over again. And this is with cars that go 100,000 miles between tuneups! Every now and then I read a story about how my generation is falling behind its parents in financial terms. I scratch my head and wonder, though, if the problem isn’t that we're making less money, but that we're spending so much more of it. But, hey, maybe that’s the price of living in the greatest economy in the history of the world. Or so the people who want to lend money at usurious rates say. Deadlines for news copy In order to plan each issue, The Dallas Post must adhere to self-imposed deadlines, as well as those of our printer. To have the greatest likelihood of publication, items should be received at our office by 4 p.m. the Friday prior to each issue. [tems will be accepted until 4 p.m. Mondays, although much of the paper is already assembled by that time. Send or bring items to: The Dallas Post, 607 Main Road, P.O. Box 366, Dallas, PA 18612. Our normal business hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. A deposit box is located at the front of the building for after-hours submissions. The Dallas Post Published Weekly By Bartsen Media, Inc. P.O. Box 366, Dallas PA 18612 717-675-5211 Charlotte E. Bartizek ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER OFFICE MANAGER Ronald A. Bartizek . PUBLISHER Jessica Appolo : ADVERTISING ACCT. EXEC Kylie Shafferkoetter REPORTER Olga Kostrobala CLASSIFIED/TYPESETTING Ruth Proietto PRODUCTION MANAGER MEMDER # 42 E] PRINTED WITH NIN PENNSYLVANIA SOY INK ™ AL NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATIC or Lazy, hazy days of . . . fall. Photo by Monica Marzani. LETTERS sn Raise your voice to get C-SPAN back on cable Editor, : I have no idea as to how many of you have ever availed your- selves of the opportunity to watch C-SPAN on you TV during the hours when the most boring parts of the proceedings of the U.S. House of Representatives are off the air, but if you have been doing soyou perhaps know that C-SPAN is no longer a part of Telemedia’s A Case for consegmuation Alene N. Case I share these articles with many friends and relatives who have no opportunity to see this newspa- per. This exchange has been quite productive over the years because these people send me things that they think I might like to use in future articles or they make in- sightful comments, generally com- plimentary. Last month I wrote a column in which I let the cynical side of my nature overcome the usual opti- mism with which I view the world. And, one of my friends, who is a Sister of Mercy, correctly pointed out that I had omitted one impor- tant component of our human condition - the column entitled “Conservation Costs Money” ne- glected to emphasize the role of community. Cynicism is one of the most pervasive “-isms” of modern times. We all seem to fall into it from time to time. And, I have noticed that as people grow older they often fall into its clutches. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Dean of the basic package. If you want to see C-SPAN re- stored as part of the basic TV package offered by Telemedia, it seems to me that quite a number of you are going to have to phone Telemedia to that effect and also phone or write to either Paul Kanjorski, Charles Lemmond, Phyllis Mundy, or all three of them. My wife and I would like to see C-SPAN restored to what we be- lieve is its rightful position in the basic package, but we realize that this means nothing unless quite a substantial number of our fellow citizens feel the same way and make their desires known to the powers that be. So, if any of you share our interest in this, kindly let you wishes be know. Bob Fleming, Dallas Rebutting the cynic in me Annenberg School of Communi- cation in Philadelphia, has stud- ied the cynicism with which we approach politics and has come to the conclusion that cynicism is dangerous. “Primarily ... it dis- courages involvement in one’s community. If you are cynical ... you're less likely to think things can change - and less likely to try to make change happen.” This same critique could apply to those of us who become cynical about environmental improvement. The major flaw of the column “Conservation Costs Money” was that it assumed that every person or family was out to live ecologi- cally by themselves. Obviously, that is rarely the case. Sharing food, ideas, and equipment among neighbors is not only ecological, it is also connectional. Our human communities become meaningful for us when we work together to achieve goals that individuals could not achieve on their own. That is why we join together in congregations, political parties, boards of directors, committees, clubs, and town councils. That is also one reason we should strive together to solve environmental problems. Sometimes the challenges fac- ing us as we try to address these problems are so vast that we think that they are totally unassailable. But, then, we read in the latest issue of Audubon that some dams ing conservation issues. onrivers are actually coming down to let fish pass for spawning, and we realize that when people work together even supposedly unas- sailable things can be changed. The last paragraph of the first benchmark’ draft of The Earth Charter summarizes the connec- tion of community and optimism. - After listing 18 different principles by which the peoples of earth should be guided, it states: “Em- bracing the values in this Char- ter, we can grow into a family of cultures that allows the potential of all persons to unfold in har- mony with the Earth Community. We must preserve a strong faith in the possibilities of the human spirit and a deep sense of belong- ing to the universe. Our best actions wi]l embody the integra- tion of knowledge with compas- sion.” I couldn't have said it bet- ter myself. Therefore, the next time you are dealing with a sticky environ- mental problem, remember not to try to do it alone. And, the next time you notice me becoming cyni- cal please point out to me that there are better ways of approach- I must have known that when I wrote the final sentence of “Conservation Costs Money,” because that sen- tence reads “Let's work together to care for the earth and all its creatures.” That's not the state- ment of a cynic. If youmissed The Post - you missed the news! ONLY YESTERDAY 60 Years Ago - Oct. 28, 1938 HUNTSVILLE CHRISTIAN - - - CELEBRATES ANNIVERSARY Huntsville Christian Church which boasts the oldest church @ building in this section, began its 95th year of existence this week. The anniversary was celebrated last week with appropriate cermonies, under direction of Rev. C.H. Frick, pastor and’ scores of visitors returned to help the little old church mark the occasion: ° The 27th day of Wilkes-Barre's newspaper strike passed with little prospect of resumption of the four city newspapers in sight. sharply divided over the very ba- sis for bargaining, the nunmiber of employees represented by the American Newspaper Guild, the striking newspapermern and the publishers of the suspended news- ' papers are not even meeting for negotiations now. 50 Years Ago - Oct. 20, 1948 ANNUAL HALLOWEEN . . PARADE PLANNED Arrangements have been com- pleted for the annual Back Moun- tain Halloween parade tomorrow at 6:45 p.m. Dr. Henry M. Laing Fire Co. Community Band will lead the parade and the marchers will be policed by members of the é \ fire company under Chief James Besecker. Hr Par A new refrigerator and motor repair shop is being opened by Donald Bulford at 122 Main Street, Dallas. Bulford was with Greater- New York Refrigeration Efxgineers for four years. Wen, You could get - Picnics, 4-8 Still - i L § Ibs., 49¢ 1b.; Porterhouse steaks, ° 69¢ lb.; stewing chickens, 49¢ Ib.; Virginia Lee donuts, 18% doz. 40 Years Ago - Oct. 24, 1958 THE DALLAS POST HONORED BY HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT For the first time in Pennsylva- ‘nia a country newspaper has re- ceived commendation “for out- standing contributions to the fur- therance of traffic safety from the Department of Revenue, Bureau of Highway Safety. A hand illumi- nated certificate, emblazoned in green and gold and bearing the state seal of the State of Pennsyl- vania was presented in’ person Wednesday morning to The Post by Gov. George M. Leader. Tentative plans call for the grand opening of Back Mountain Shopping Center at Shavertown, Nov. 15. Humphrey's Children’s Apparel and Humphrey's Children Bootery, expect to "be well establsihed in their new locations by Nov. 15. Adam Hozempa with two stores in Edwardsville and Kingston will move his Kingston store into the shopping center location this weekend. Dicton’s Bakery is already moving in fix- tures and expects to be well lo- cated by Nov. 1. 30 Years ago - Oct. 31,1968 | CASTLE INN RESTAURANT BEATS BLAZING FIRE An early morning fire which came close to completely destroy- ing the Castle Inn Restaurant Saturday was promptly quelled by three local fire companies. Only one section of the Inn was gutted by fire. Of undetermined origin, the blaze is believed to have started ; in the office or ladies room. Kingston Township Police will pick up any guns or ammunition residents might like to get rid of. If firearms are of no use, they will be destroyed, otherwise put" to. use by the police department. 20 Years Ago - Oct. 26, 1978 TAXPAYERS UPSET WITH L-L SCHOOL BOARD -, “If you don’t cause a fuss, the Lake-Lehman School Board will do whatever it wants and you will have to pay the bill” said Dr. Ed- ward Meka, vice president of Harveys Lake Tax Association at their October meeting Tuesday. With about one half the meeting devoted to criticism of the board’s announced plan to proceed with construction of a new Lake El- ementary building at a cost of $4.2 million, the association unanimously adopted a resolu- tion opposing the plan. The re- ported necessity of increasing the present school property tax mill- age an additional 15 mills; bring- ing it to 98 mills overall was singled out for special criticism. . CB) O UU) (J (a = 8
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers