Ee at HE 4 The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, November 10, 1999 EDITORIALS Customers should know where payments are going Something smells foul about the Harveys Lake Sewer Authority's (HLMA) failure to pay for services supplied by the Dallas Area Municipal Authority (DAMA), and the way the matter has been handled up until now. The Dallas Postreceived a copy of a letter sent from DAMA to their counterparts at Harveys Lake, detailing arrears of more than $400,000 that have built up since 1993. That amount includes both regular fees for service and Harveys Lake's $250,000 share of the cost to install lines that carry wastewater from Harveys Lake to the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority plant. Richard Boice, executive director of the Harveys Lake authority, says payments have been withheld because of disputes over the charges, because the Harveys Lake group thinks DAMA charges too much now that it acts as a pass- through for sewage rather than treating it at the plant in Trucksville. That may be a legitimate concern, although it seems pretty insignificant since the annual charges average less than $11,000, out of about $750,000 HLMA should be taking in from its customers each year. And officials at DAMA say there has been little communication from Harveys Lake about the matter. Apparently there isn't much talk between HLMA and its solicitor either. The letter, which is dated Friday, Oct. 22, should have arrived at Harveys Lake Monday, Oct. 25. But Boice didn’t bother to notify the agency’s attorney about it until he received a call from a Post reporter Nov. 8. And Martin Noon, president of the Harveys Lake Borough Council, said the same day that a reporter's call was the first he had ever heard of the issue. The issue is now in arbitration, since DAMA filed suit to collect the money about a year ago. The agreement between the two agencies, which expires next year, requires that step before stiffer legal action can be taken. : The letter includes a threat to cut off service Jan. 1, 2000 if payment isn’t made. There's not much chance of that happen- ing, since it would endanger public health. Besides, terminat- ing service would cause the most harm to Harveys Lake customers, most of whom have been paying their $515 annual bill and shouldn't be penalized for the HLMA's lack of desire to settle the matter. Perhaps those customers will now ask where their money has been going, if not to pay the legitimate operating expenses of their sewer service. Publisher's notebook Back in the Stone Age (or was it the Stoned Age? Not for me, but lots of other people.), I would have been labeled a liberal. I was all for civil rights, freedom of expression, ending the Vietnam War and handing out surplus cheese. That was then, this is now, and in the passing years either I've become much more conservative, or the champions of equal rights have moved so far the other way they're in danger of toppling over. The latest well-publicized case that illustrates the point is the one about the 9-year-old boy who wants to play soccer using a walker on wheels. It seems the parents of little Ryan Taylor of Lawton, Oklahoma, signed him up for youth soccer, and he even got to play in a few games before officials realized they were setting themselves up for a lawsuit if another child crashed into the device. Little did they know they would be targeted no matter how they reacted. I guess they weren't familiar with an incident in California in which a judge ruled a youth baseball league violated the Americans With Disabilities Act by excluding an 11-year-old with cerebral palsy who needed crutches to walk. The judge said the league based its decision on unsubstantiated fears of harm. I know these situations aren't that easy to navigate, but are we really doing these kids any favors by forcing their participa- tion in activities that simply aren’t suitable? In Oklahoma, the ~ league offered to let Ryan kick the ball in from the sidelines — a reasonable compromise — but that’s not good enough for the parents, at least the mom, who was the only one quoted in the article I read. It's easy to understand that parents of handicapped children want desperately for their kids to have a “normal” childhood, and not miss out on the enjoyment of team play. But that’s no reason to make an entire organization change the rules, or ignore the hazards to other children that are created when . crutches and walkers are put in the playing area. Heck, there are many kids with only the handicap of poor coordination whose parents have the good sense to direct them to other activities, rather than push them into something they obvi- ously will never be good at. Of course, every coach knows there are plenty of parents who don’t fit that mold, and they can be found in the stands screaming for their kids to get more playing time. I'm all for making accommodations in practice or other situations where the action is controlled, and the intent is just to have fun, or to give otherwise deprived children the oppor- tunity to experience a taste of the thrills and spills they see on television. But let's keep our perspective; when it's game time, leave the field to those who have at least the minimum required skills and don’t need to bring large metal objects with them. The Dallas Post Published Weekly By Bartsen Media, Inc. P.O. Box 366, Dallas PA 18612 570-675-5211 Charlotte E. Bartizek Ronald A. 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 rd PRINTED WITH PENNSYLVANIA SOY INK|_ INEWSPAPER Teddy, the new kitty at Hillside Farms Greenhouse, snuggled up for the holidays. Photo by Charlotte Bartizek. Library news Carol King There is still time to register for the performance of “Aesop’s Fables: Stories That Teach,” to be held at the library on Tuesday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. in celebration of Children’s Book Week. Children aged 4 to 12 and their families are urged to attend. Aesop's delight- ful talking animals will present their messages as interpreted by Rand Whipple of Learning Tomor- row, Bloomsburg, through storytelling, mime, and audience participation. Please call 675- 1182 to register. The annual Citrus Fruit Sale, sponsored by the Friends of the Back Mountain Memorial Library, is currently taking place. Please Sign up now for 'Aesop's Fables’ see page 6 for the coupon pro- vided by the Dallas Post for your convenience. Your order and pay- ment must be received in the li- brary by Nov. 20. We hope you will support this fundraiser. Note that this year, for the first time, it will be possible to order a half: orange and half-grapefruit mix. Martha Butler reported that she attended the Luzerne County Li- brary System Board meeting on Oct. 13. On November 16 at 6:45 p.m. the group will make its pre- sentation to the County Commis- sioners for next year’s county funding. All library board mem- bers are encouraged to attend this meeting. On October 20 Martha attended the Wilkes-Barre District meet- ing, where the New Standards and New State Aid Formula were discussed. She alsoreported that anew library page, Nicole Sutton, has recently been hired, and that a contribution was made for the Children’s Wing Endowment by the First Federal Bank of Shaver- town. October's statistics included the following: total circulation - 6,873; books added - 155; new borrowers - 74; active borrowers - 12,249. The week of November 22-27 has been declared as Amnesty Week by the library. No charges will be made on overdue books and materials. Now is the time to get all those strays back to their home base without penalty! Martha also announces that the library will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 25. Other items: the library is selling cloth book bags @$5 for the child's size and $8 for the adult size; and a reminder to pick up your copies of the “Entertain- ment 2000” book at the library. They are priced at $25 each and offer substantial discounts not only on entertainment butin many areas of everyday life. They also make excellent Christmas gifts. Coupons will be valid starting in December. This is another fund- raiser which we hope you will support. New books New on The New York Times best-seller list since our previous report — and available at the 1li-™ brary — are Personal Injuries, by Scott Turow: “A crooked lawyer joins forces with an FBI agent who has secrets of her own”; A Walk to Remember, by Nicholas Sparks: “In 1958, a high school senior in North Carolina finds love with the daughter of a Baptist minister”; Second Wind, by Dick _ Francis —atlast, say Dick Francise? fans: “A British meteorologist chases hurricanes in the Carib- bean and then faces other kinds of storms back home”; The Look- ing Glass, by Richard Paul Evans: “A clergyman fleeing his past nurses an equally troubled woman back to health”; and Assassins, by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins: “The sixth volume in a series about true believers who confront the Antichrist”. J ONLY YESTERDAY 70 Years Ago - Nov. 9, 1929 LIMITED 20 GUN CLUB BUILDING HUNTING CABIN Fine progress is being made on the new hunting cabin being built on South Mountain by The Lim- ited 20 Gun Club of Noxen. When completed the building will be as nearly fireproof as possible. The building is 18 x 40 feet and will be sheeted with metal to protect it from forest fire. Now playing at Himmler The- atre, "Desert Rider” with Tim McCoy. 60 Years Ago - Nov. 10, 1030 DALLAS BOARD AWARDS BUILDING CONTRACTS Acting promptly to carry out the plan approved by voters on Tuesday, Dallas Township School Board on Wednesday awarded $28,765.22 worth of contracts for the erection of an addition to the high school building. Project will be financed in part with a $20,000 bond issue authorized at the Gen- eral Election by a vote 384-219. Final plans will be approved by the board within a few days and work will be started early next week. Howell E. Rees, editor of The Post left yesterday for New York City to be the weekend guest of Lurton Blessingame literary agent and critic, at a’series of confer- ences with the editors. Mr. Rees’s story “The Picnic” was awarded first prize in Blessingame’s an- nual contest for non-professional writers. 50 Years Ago - Nov. 11, 1949 PRINCE OF PEACECHURCH READY FOR CHRISTMAS Excellent progress has been made on the new Prince of Peace Episcopal Church since ground was first broken Sept. 13. Foun- dations for both church and par- ish hall are completed and exte- rior walls of handsome cut stone are now being laid by Joe Blazes. The parish hopes the Christmas services can be conducted in the new church by its 160 communi- cants in the Back Mountain Area. Fall construction in the Back Mountain area has shown no sign of letting up. Real estate pur- chases, renovations and building maintain an un-seasonable and heavy trend. Activity is especialy noticable in the new Goss Manor development. 40 Years Ago - Nov. 12, 1959 KT OFFICES MOVING TO VETERANS BUILDING Kingston Township will shortly have a new municipal building with offices for police, tax collec- tor and supervisors. Kingston Township Veterans’ Association having disbanded has turned its building over to the Supervisors. Renovations will start shortly with expectation that the building will be ready fo occupancy about Jan. 1. Details of the transfer have been worked out with directors of the Association who will retain their Charter but are giving up their real estate. 30 Years Ago - Nov. 13, 1969 UNITED TEXTILE WORKERS PROTEST JOINTURE Charges that a resolution was railroaded through an ALOA con- vention Saturday to affiliate the Amalgamated Lace Operatives of America with the United Textile Workers of America have been leveled at ALOA officials by Russell Banta, one of the delegates to that convention. The dispute is but one ina number of conflicts which have arisen as a result of the attempt by several Natona Mills employees to seek new union rep- resentation when the ALOA con- tract expires early next year. The new affiliation resolution is viewed by several workers as an attempt to block the efforts of employes committed to the United Auto Workers Union to obtain a Na-{Pp tional Labor Relations Board elec- tion in January. Such an election would put the question of union representation before the Natona employees in a secret ballot elec- tion. : 20 Years Ago - fNov. 8, 1979 REPUBLICANS TAKE FOUR SEATS IN HL COUNCIL RACE In the hottest contest in the four candidates backed by the Harveys Lake Republican Orga- nization for the four seats on the borough council defeated the four candidates listed on the Demcratic ticket which included two incum- bent Republicans who had the Democrat nomination but not that -of their own party. Issue in the borough election which broughtegy out a near record crowd of voters was the present council's vote to purchase the stone house owned by relatives and business associ- ates of Helen Sgarlat, prominent borough businesswoman and Democratic party power in the vicinty of Sandy Beach for use by the borough as a municipal build- ing. LEGISLATORS DIRECTORY » Federal Officials Representative Paul E. Kanjorski (Democrat) Wilkes-Barre: 825-2200 Washington: (202) 225-6511 e-mail: paul.kanjorski@hr.house.gov # 400M, 7 N. Wilkes-Barre Blvd., Wilkes-Barre PA 18702 or 2353 Rayburn Building, Washington, DC 20515 Senator Arlen Specter (Republican) Wilkes-Barre: 826-6265 Washington: (202) 224-4254 e-mail: senator_specter @specter.senate.gov 116 South Main Street, Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 or 711 Hart Senate Office Bldg., Washington, DC 20510 Senator Rick Santorum (Republican) Scranton: 344-8799 Washington: (202) 224-6324 Fax: (202) 228-4991 e-mail: senator @santorum.senate.gov 527 Linden St., Scranton, PA 18503 120 Russell Senate Office Bldg. Washington, DC 20510 State Officials State Senator Charles D. Lemmond (Republican) (717) 675-3931 e-mail: smurphy @ pasen.gov 22 Dallas Shopping Ctr., Memorial Hwy, Dallas PA 18612-1231 State Representative George Hasay (Republican) 287-7505 or 542-7345 or 474-2276 or 477-3752 144 North Mountain Boulevard, Mountaintop PA 18707 Hasay'’s district encompasses: Harveys Lake, Lehman Township, Jackson Township, Lake Township, Franklin Township, Ross Township, and Dallas Township's north voting district. State Representative Phyllis Mundy (Democrat) 283-9622 or 655-3375 Suite 113, 400 Third Avenue, Kingston ~ PA 18704 Mundy’s district encompasses: Dallas Borough, Dallas Township except for '® a north voting district, and Kingston Township. O
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers