4 KLE RINT JER Sh hl or _ ET I EE I 4 The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, April 26, 2000 ih SSE EDITORIALS Ignore the quibblers; justice has been done Now that young Elian Gonzalez is with his father, where he should have been weeks ago, the propaganda battle between the boys’ Miami relatives and the Justice Department is in full swing. It seems no one can simply do what's right these days, they must justify their actions so opinion polls match the outcome. Janet Reno and her colleagues are at a definite disadvantage in this fight, since so many politicians eager to kiss up to the right wing have added their baying to the perverse logic of the spurned relatives, who now wail that Elian couldn't possibly be as happy out of the spotlight with his father as he was being taken advantage of by distant relatives and sycophantic offi- cials of various stripes. Their credibility is made crystal clear in the claim that photos showing a relaxed, smiling Elian with his dad must be altered. He couldn't possibly be that happy ~ without us around, they seem to be saying. ~ Comments by Congressional figures make it equally obvious that these men are poor imitations of real leaders, and care about nothing so much as pandering to the whacko vote, ‘except perhaps preening for the camera. And the news media adds fuel to the fire, elevating the Elian case to the level of the Cuban missile crisis, which in the context of the tranquil state of the world, may not be wholly inappropriate. Should the Justice Dept. have taken a kinder, gentler approach in removing the boy from his Miami captors? Per- haps; but imagine the uproar if unarmed, unprepared officers were ambushed by gun-wielding defenders of Elian’s captivity. Shakespeare said “all's well that ends well.” This sickening episode has ended as well as could be expected given the circumstances, and we should be happy for that, not looking for someone to blame . . but for what? Publisher's notebook Ron Bartizek Once the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rebuffed the Justice Department in the Elian Gonzalez situation, the sur- render of American society to anarchy by child was nearly complete. While ruling that 6-year-old Elian couldn't be taken out ofthe country until an appeal to remain is heard, the judges chastised Justice for not taking seriously Elian’s plea that he not be returned to Cuba. That sentiment might have been just a teeny bit influenced by the mob of kidnappers who have been brainwashing the tyke since he landed on U.S. shores, but the judges apparently felt their influence was irrelevant. Still the court clearly suggests that the wishes of 6-year-olds are to be given equal weight to that of their parents. That being the case, I can foresee these headlines soon: Girl wins return of Princess Bear The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that Princess Bear must be returned to Elizabeth (Lizzy) Larson, age 7. The girl's attorneys brought the case because Lizzy’'s parents, Tom and Mary Larson, hid the stuffed animal in a closet as punishment after Lizzy gave her brother, Tommy, 2, a “noogie.” In a statement, the court said the Larsons had not allowed Lizzy to adequately present her side of the dispute, in which she claimed Tommy had dreoled on her Barbie's shiny red shoes, justifying her retaliation. After vacation, child shuns school Gregory, (Giggy) Johnson liked kindergarten. But after a summer vacation spent with his grandparents in California, he didn’t want to return to Minnesota's cold climate, or to school. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed that he shouldn't have to, since Giggy’s attorney convinced them that authoritarian school policies restrict freedom of expression. While Giggy’s parents wanted him to return home, the court said Giggy’'s interest in surfing was just as important as their desire that he receive an education. In keeping with the revised standards for youthful responsi- bility, the Court is poised to hear the case of 4-year-old William (Willy) Brandon, who is charged with involuntary manslaugh- ter in the death of his uncle, who fell down a flight of stairs in the Brandon home after slipping on a Pokemon ball the boy had left in the hallway. : Allowance should be progressive, judges say Tiffany Snodgrass, 11, wasn’t happy that she received only $6 weekly allowance. After all, her parents, Richard and Grace Snodgrass, were worth millions, drove fancy cars and belonged to exclusive clubs. So Tiffany sued, with her attorneys arguing that allowance should be proportional to the parents’ wealth. “This is, quite simply, a form of child abuse,” said Dewey Cheatem Esq., who represented the girl. “More important, when she contacted me, her parents initially refused to pay my fees, giving them an unfair advantage before the court.” Rather than proceed with the case, the parents and Tiffany reached an out-of-court settlement, the terms of which were not disclosed, although a source close to Tiffany said it was “in the middle three figures” weekly. The Dallas Post Published Weekly By Bartsen Media, Inc. P.O. Box 366, Dallas PA 18612 570-675-5211 Ronald A. Bartizek PUBLISHER Charlotte E. Bartizek ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER OFFICE MANAGER Ken Brocious ADVERTISING ACCT. EXEC Kasia McDonough REPORTER Joanna Cease OFFICE/TYPIST/CLASSIFIEDS Ruth Proietto PRODUCTION MANAGER 7] PRINTED WITH PENNSYLVANIA SOY INK o hay NEWSPAPER Treat, treat, treat. Photo by Monica Marzani. Iwice-planted pine trees Back in time Anna Mae Estus My sister Madeline, our . friend Helen Czuleger, and myself spent a lot of time in the old historical cemetery on top of Huntsville Street. We liked to read the epitaphs and figure out how old people were when they died, and how old they would be had they been alive. Nearly every day we were there, we didn't even mind the garter snakes and black snakes sunning themselves on a tombstone. Nothing was ever taken care of, graves were sunken and tombstones were broken and upset. Weeds grew everywhere. For several days we hadn’t been to the graveyard and when we did go, lo and behold, the weeds were gone and the tombstones set up as straight as possible. Because we could finally see the ground, there were rows of small pine trees. We assumed they had been there growing right along. So we decided to take them home and plant them in our yard. We were very busy. First we planted a long row beside our fence by the school. We helped Helen plant hers near their vegetable garden. About that time, Mrs. Czuleger came to see what we were doing. Our mother was a be POST PHOTO/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Some of the pine trees still stand in Rice Cemetery. shopping for our meat for the week at Percy Brown's in Wilkes-Barre. When Mrs. Czuleger saw what we had, she made us pull up every tree we planted and marched us back to the graveyard. We had to replant every tree. Not only that, we had to water each tree every day until they were well established. It seems the Boy Scouts had cleaned up the cemetery, cut the weeds and planted the pine frees. So the next time you pass that graveyard on top of Hunts- ville Street, look at those biggest pines and know they were the twice planted ones. ! 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 119 S. Mountain Blvd., 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 the north voting district, and Kingston Township. ONLY YESTERDAY 70 Years Ago - April 25, 1930 DALLAS BORO. POPULATION INCREASED 104 PERCENT Population figures released by the United States Census Bureau, show that Dallas Borough has had an increase of 104 percent in the number of its inhabitants during the past ten years. The 1930 count shows a population of 1,185 as compared with 581 for 1920. It is expected that Dallas Township and Kingston Township figures will show an increase equal to that of Dallas. 60 Years Ago - April 26, 1940 STORES CLOSED ON WED. FOR "MID-WEEK HOLIDAY" Seven business firms in Dallas agreed to cooperate with the gen- erally observed custom of closing Wednesday afternoon. A spokes- man for the merchants pointed out that the plan of closing Wednesday afternoon is now ob- served throughout the country, as a move to give employees a deserved mid-week holiday. College Misericordia has re- ceived from Congressman J. Harold Flannery, an American flag which has been flown over the United States Capitol in Wash- ington. When Congressman Flannery presented the gift to the college, he sent with it a letter from David Lynn, architect of the capitol, stating that the flag was one which had flown from the staff on the Capitol dome. 50 Years Ago - April 28, 1950 BROWNIE TROOP LEARNS ABOUT DUTCH CUSTOMS Brownies of Troop 108, who have been studying all about Dutch customs, will have a chance to compare notes with a native of Holland at the Mother and Daugh- ter Tea, at the Dallas Methodist Church. Mrs. Jack Spaargaren, will attend the tea, laden with wooden shoes, ice skates, pic- tures of canals and windmills, everything that the Brownies have been learning about in books. You could get: Ajax, 2 cans for 23¢; Pillsbury's pancake mix, 20 oz. for 17¢; Gold Seal cake mixes, 1 Ib. pkg. for 23¢; Hershey's Chocolate Kisses, 6 oz. pkg. for 25¢; Kraft white american cheese, 2 lbs. for 96¢. 40 Years Ago- April 28, 1960 CHILDREN SUSPECTED OF STARTING FIRE Children playing with matches are suspected of having started a brush fire that swept through 25 acres of trees at Bunker Hill, en- dangering three homes which were saved only by strenuous work on the part of the Trucksville volun- teer firemen. The blaze kept fire fighters occupied for over nine hours. The Back Mountain Police As- sociation will hold its third an- nual dance Friday evening, at the Jackson Fire Hall. Music will be by the Electra Chords. It is the only fund raising function in which the police participate. Both square and modern dancing will be fea- tured. 30 Years Ago - April 30, 1980 DALLAS SENIOR HIGH MIXED CHORUS WINS TROPHY The Mixed Chorus of Dallas Senior High School will be awarded a trophy by Johnny Marcus, WBAX announcer and disc jockey. The trophy was won by the sing- ing group when they finished first in the music contest sponsored by WBAX during the Christmas Holidays. Many groups from Lu- zerne and Lackawanna counties participated in the contest. Each group taped several numbers which were aired during the Holi- day season. Judges from college and high school music depart- ments studied the tapes for all facets of musical ability. 20 Years Ago - April 24, 1980 DALLAS JUNIOR HIGH TO HOST EDUCATIONAL FAIR The Dallas Junior High School will host the second annual Spring Educational Fair at the school on May 7. Exhibits of students' work, films and demonstrations will be scheduled throughout the evening. A series of three working meet- ings on zoning administration have been scheduled. The meet- ings are directed to elect officials, planning commission members, zoning officers and zoning hear- ing board members. » ® ® ¥ >» ®
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers