4 The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, September 1, 1999 EDITORIALS Pressure must be kept on prison officials Officials at the State Correctional Institute at Dallas (SCID) offered too little information, too late when they met with representatives of the press and public last Friday. They seemed contrite and acknowledged that they make mistakes, offered to work harder to be good neighbors, and said all the things you would expect of people who had been caught with their hands in the cookie jar. The problem is, their errors didn’t result in a shortage of dessert but in two convicted felons on the loose for four days. No one expects prison guards or managers to be perfect. That's exactly why neighbors and guards have said all along that towers should be manned at all times, even if a high-tech security system is in place. Oh, and in working order too, unlike the one that has been languishing in partial use for nearly three years after men were taken out of the towers, while an unsuspecting public was given no indication of the risks just over the hill. David Larkins, superintendent of the prison, said he’s all for more and better communication with the public, now that the cat’s out of the bag, so to speak. We hope he takes action equal to his sentiments, and makes sure the innocent public is fully informed about the state of affairs at SCID, before — not after — another disaster. : The threat to the public was most evident when one of the inmates who escaped two weeks ago attempted to hijack a pickup truck, but was foiled by a feisty older woman who wouldn't give up her keys. But let's not fool ourselves — the next escapee probably won't be so easily discouraged, and the result may be a needless tragedy. And let's not forget the guards, who must attempt to maintain order in a facility overcrowded with convicts, a quarter of whom are serving life sentences. There have been several instances of injury within prison walls, too. We commend legislators and citizens wito are keeping the heat on the state prison system to live up to its obligations. They should keep at it until prison officials understand that saving some overtime pay is too high a price to pay for putting the public at unnecessary risk. Publisher's notebook During a recent vacation to southern New England, I had the opportunity to attend a baseball game at Fenway Park, one of the very few remaining stadium'’s that offer more nostalgia than luxury boxes. Oh, Fenway has those too, in a massive structure behind home plate that didn’t exist when I went there as a boy, but most everything else is the same — the subterranean maze of food stands (many more than before), the quirky angles in right and center field, and of course the Green Monster, with its hand-operated scoreboard. But Fenway will probably be gone in a few years, replaced by a “modern” field that we're promised will retain the wall and basic dimensions, but will hold 10,000 more paying customers, undoubtedly the key ~ feature. [ guess you can’t stop progress, and goodness knows Fenway has its shortcomings. Still, it was nice to occupy wooden seats that have been holding fans’ backsides for decades, to see a hit down the right field line carom off that odd angle, and witness a home run onto the porch in straightaway center, near the crevasse that has caught so many hard line drives over the decades. The new Fenway will be right next doot and will offer more creature comforts than the old one, even if it lacks the irreplaceable charm of a ballpark that has hosted the Red Sox for more than 80 years. On the bright side, perhaps when the field moves a couple of blocks, the “curse of the Bambino” will stay behind. That would be worth it. Speaking of Boston, we got to sample the notorious traffic in the “Athens of America,” and not much has changed there, either. Drivers in New England tend to move a little faster on the highway than here, and there are a lot more of them, so I think it’s a credit to mankind there isn’t an accident every 100 yards. In town, Boston is quite a bit tamer than New York, at least on a Sunday afternoon, but you'd better be paying attention or you can end up sightseeing in unattended places, as when I got in the wrong lane and crossed over to Camiridee instead of to the city center. One thing I like about driving in a real city is that you know other motorists will take every advantage possible, and you are expected to do the same. That's unlike the mistakenly courte- ous folk here who drive me crazy by granting the right-of-way at an intersection, thus confusing me and everyone else about what will happen next. Do you agree? Disagree? 3 Editorials are the opinion of the management of The Dallas Post. We welcome your opinion on contemporary issues in the form of letters to the editor. If you don't write, the community may never hear a contrasting point of view. Send letters to: The Dallas Post, P.O. Box 366, Dallas, PA 18612, fax them to (570) 675-3650 or send them by e-mail to dalpost@aol.com. Please include your 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 570-675-5211 Ronald A. Bartizek Charlotte E. Bartizek PUBLISHER ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER OFFICE MANAGER Gregory Culver ADVERTISING ACCT. EXEC Kasia McDonough REPORTER Ruth Proietto Olga Kostrobala PRODUCTION MANAGER CLASSIFIED/TYPESETTING Christine Pizzano OFFICE ASSISTANT #] PRINTED WITH PENNSYLVANIA E SOY INK ™ hi NEWSPAPER wall, Dried flowers and plants take on an interesting new look at Arts at Hayfield. Photo by Charlotte Bartizek. | IY i Story of early Little League brought back fond r memories Editor, I found your SR 18 article about the very early days of the Back Mountain Little League to be extremely interesting. Thanks so much for the memories. I was on the roster of the Fernbrook team from 1955 to 1959 and was privileged to have played four years at the Shavertown field. I have many fond memories of that field, the elementary school and yes, the swamp. Our 1956 team came in first place and also won the playoffs. Unfortunately my trophy was lost but I still have the playoff patch which was awarded each rostered player. The 1959 season was the first season played on the present Little League ‘field located on Church Street in Dallas. Fernbrook was fortunate and again won the regular season as well as the playoffs - thus be- coming the first champion at the new site. I still have and cherish my 1959 trophy. It's hard to be- lieve that 40 years have passed since those carefree days. Again, thank you very much for the article and for reviving the memories. Fred Gosart * Harrisburg ONLY YESTERDAY 70 Years Ago - A8g. 31, 1929 SERIOUS FilRE DAMAGES HARVEYS LAKE PROPERTIES Fire at Harveys Lake, Monday evening was the most disastrous in a year of serious fires. In June 1928 the popular Oneonta dance pavilion, two cottages and three business houses were totally de- stroyed. at aloss of $50,000. Later in August the Casino was partly burned, suffocating two Wilkes- Barre boys who had just take summer jobs at the place, and now, the last and worst of them 10 buildings including the. telephone exchange totals a loss of $135,000. Now playing at Himmler The- ater, “Interference” with Greta Garbo. 60 Years Ago - Sept. 1, 1939 VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS APPEAL TO COMMUNITY A baker's dozen attended an open forum meeting of Dr. Henry The economic Howard Grossman Few people are aware that many attempts have been made over the last 40 years to change the way the use of land is managed and controlled in Pennsylvania. These attempts have ranged from state government proposals, to plan- ning organizations across the Commonwealth joining to promote new use of land legislation, to the latest attempt by a Pennsylvania 21st Century Environment Com- mission to suggest that the use of land is the highest priority in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and that steps should be taken accordingly. Earlier approaches have not been successful to this point. While modifications have been made over time to the Pennsylva- nia Municipalities Planning code M. Laing Fire Co. to discuss ways by which public interest can be aroused to the needs of the orga- nization. It was pointed out that the company is not in serious need of funds but that public apathy is permitting it to lose spirit. Only a few persons re- spond to fire calls and fewer at- tend regularly scheduled meet- ings. It was likewise mentioned that fire equipment needs atten- tion and that the burden of drying hose after the fires and answering fire alarms is falling on the shoul- ders of one or two men. A commit- tee was appointed to make a thor- ough study of the needs of the company. 50 Years Ago - Sept. 2, 1949 LL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PLANS MOVE AHEAD Lacy, Atherton & Wilson pre- sented preliminary sketches of the new addition to Lehman School at a joint meeting of Leh- man and Jackson School Boards Monday. It will be erected at the north end of the present building and will house an 800-seat audi- torium, 40x74 ft. gymnasium, Home Economics room, and six additional classrooms. Showers and dressing rooms for athletic teams will be under the balcony bleachers in the gym. You could get - Fryers, 43¢ 1b.; short ribs of beef, 35¢ 1b.; peaches, [t's time to make sense of land planning o and while well done reports have been published, no consensus has been reached with the state that the way the control and manage- ment of the use of land occurs should be radically changed. The latest approach has been the publication of the 21st Cen- tury Environment Commission Report, along with the outstand- ing book published by Pulitzer prize winner Tom Hylton, titled “Save Our Towns, Save Our Land.” East and west, north and south, small town village, local govern- ment, large city metropolis, or growing suburban municipality, the management and control of the use of land is a dominant feature which deserves more at- tention. This is why the 240 rec- ommendations in the 21st Cen- tury Environment Commission Report are so critical. There have been occasions over the last 40 years when it has been felt that Pennsylvania would move forward along with other states such as Oregon, Vermont, New Hampshire and Florida with significant use of land legislation to enable the Com- monwealth to be a leader in this field. These times, however, have 4 lbs, 25¢; grapes, 2 lbs., 25¢; sweet potatoes, 3 lbs., 23¢; Nabisco Ritz crackers, 1 1b. pkg., 43¢. 40 Years Ago - Sept. 3, 1959 BOARD TO DISCUSS DALLAS HIGHSCHOOL PROJECT Members of Dallas School Board Building Authority who were summoned to attend a spe- cial meeting of Dallas School Dis- trict Tuesday evening arriving during a recess in the meeting. A motion to assign to the authority the contract dated Feb. 1959 be- tween Lacy, Atherton & Davis for the propsoed new senior high was held in abeyance until members of the authority could sanction it in person. Fred Eck, president of the authority, said the matter of advertising for bids will be taken up at the next meeting Sept. 10. 30 Years Ago - Sept. 4, 1969 TAX INCREASE DEBATED To increase property tax levy by two mills in support of Back Mountain Memorial Library or to leave things as they are - a ques- tion facing voters in a November referendum vote appeared to carry little or no controversy in the area this week. Survey conducted by The Dallas Post revealed that by far the majority of voters at present hold to the opinion that if the been brief and without construc- tive action. On the other hand, many factors inhibit the ability of most Pennsylvanians to think such change will come about in the near future. Pennsylvania is blessed with abundant natural resources which have led to the conclusion that new land use leg- islation and new capacity build- ing would be the best alternative for the Commonwealth's future. In 1974-1975, major reports ~ were published on land use in Pennsylvania. This was accom- plished through the Pennsylvania State Planning Board and the staff and management team in the governor's office. Unfortunately, nothing happened with these documents except to file them in libraries and on shelves in plan- ning offices. Prior to that, it took 10 years to pass a modernized (at that time) Pennsylvania Municipalities Plan- ning Code. Decades earlier, Pennsylvania had been a leader in state plan- ning, having established one of the first state planning boards in the country. Under the leader- ship of a man whose wisdom and increased tax levy is necessary as it presently exists, then a millage increase should be enacted. Sur- vey on the proposed assessment brought out the fact that very few residents in the area had given it any thought at all, or even knew the issue had been proposed. Overwhelming opinion was that the annual library auction could ‘be depended on to cover all ex- penses and when questioned, resi- dents were at first confused be- fore becoming concerned. 20 Years Ago - Aug. 30, 1979 TAXPAYERS REVIEW UGI RATE INCREASE REQUEST Dr F. Budd Schooley, presi- dent of Back Mountain Protective Association, announced this week that his group is taking steps to review the recent rate increase application filed by UGI Corp. for power rates for areas including Back Mountain. Schooley said BMPA Atty. David Saba will con- tact PUC’s consumer advocate to request details on the rate hike request. Nancy Ide of Harveys Lake cap- tured the All-Events title in the 1979 Wyoming Valley Women's Bowling Tournament with 2091 total pins. She placed first in singles, doubles and teams with 694, 689 and 718. Her average going into the tournament was 119. guidance should never be forgot- ten, Francis Pitkin, the State Plan- ning Board matured and was sub- sequently taken over by mation- ally respected planner Irving Hand. Now, for all intents and pur- poses there is no state planning _ function in Pennsylvania. We need to return to the days when planning was an accepted practice’and the planning organi- zations across the state all pro- moted the need for statewide plan- ning. Perhaps the 21st Century En- vironment Commission report will be a springboard to statewide plan- ning. Perhaps it will lead to 21st century modernized planning leg- islation and most importantly, the acceptance and value of planning as the major tool for the guidance of the Commonwealth through the fragile and sometimes incoherent nature of the planning of the great- est state in the union - Pennsylva- nia. Howard Grossman is Executive Director of the Economic Develop- ment Council of Northeastern Penn- sylvania. He lives in Dallas. Db L
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers