Dallas, Pennsylvania The Back Mountain's Newspaper Since 1889 September 13 to September 19, 2001 Vol. 112. No. 37 50 Cents SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF THE DALLAS & LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS SPORTS Fall high school sports season opens. Reports on all the teams. Pg 9. SCHOOL Gate of Heaven School plans 50th anniversary celebration. Pg 11. COMMUNITY John Randolph to be honored for service to Arthritis Foundation. Pg 7. Prospective buyer would put offices in old Westmoreland school By HEATHER B. JONES Post Staff KINGSTON TWP. - A prospective buyer for the Westmoreland Elementary School has plans to convert the build- ing to professional office space if all goes right in his purchase plans. Scott Ciravolo of Dallas, owner of Tree Design Studio, Inc., is interested in purchasing the property at 106 South Lehigh Street that was once the Westmoreland Elementary School. The ‘Rotten’ thief JSteals money from Lions’ fair booth By HEATHER B. JONES Post Staff LEHMAN - The latest victim of theft in the Back Mountain is the Harveys Lake Lions Club, and at all places, the Luzerne County Fair. As the Lions were closing the booth at about 9 p.m. Sunday night, after a successful weekend at the fair, volun- teers noticed the cash box was missing. Someone had walked in the back door, grabbed the cash box and run off. “I just can’t believe people can be that rotten,” said Kim Shina, Harveys Lake Lions Club president. Shina said there was approximately $500 in the cash box. The Luzerne County Sheriff's Department found the box, but no cash. The box will be ex- amined for fingerprints, Shina said. The Harveys Lake Lions estimate they made over $1,000 at the fair. This year the Lions tried something new called “The Mouse Game.” The game is @®. out 50 years old, said Pete Austin, a club member working the fair booth. The game has a wood base with numbered holes. The sides are con- structed of glass. What makes this game of chance so amusing is the little box Dick Williams lowers onto the game board. Williams slides back the top of the box and a small white mouse crawls out. The mouse sniffs around and chooses a hole to run down. What- ever number hole the mouse chooses wins. Bets range from 25¢ to $5 and pay one to four odds. The game brought a See THIEF, pg 8 Neighbor’s ecomplaints about dilapidated home raise quandary Od Borough official hesi- ®1ant to take action against 85-year-old lifelong resident By HEATHER B. JONES Post Staff DALLAS - The condition of a home on Rice Street was brought to the attention of the Dallas Borough Council during its regular August meeting. “I think it's an unsafe condition,” said n Marie Guarnieri of 25 Rice Street, a borough resident for 16 years. “I don’t understand why there hasn't been ac- tion taken against the house.” The house is the residence of 85- year-old Merle Thomas. He was born in the Rice Street home, which is directly across from Guarnieri's house. Guarnieri complained about the dilapi- dated house and the large number of @®:: that hang around the property. “This is a health hazard,” she told council members. “I'm not supposed to be living in slums; I pay taxes.” See HOME, pg 3 property is still owned by the Dallas School District and has been for sale for three years. “I have an advertising agency which is growing,” said Ciravolo, whose busi- ness is currently located in Wilkes- Barre. : His idea for the old school building is to relocate his advertising agency to the Back Mountain and rent professional office space to other companies. “All professional office space, most of which will be for me,” he said. Ciravolo has Got Fish? whe location. It's a nice no intention of putting Storeliont ry nesses in the building. “I love the building and the location. It’s a nice quiet location,” Ciravolo said. _— He plans to keep it that way if he buys the building. “I had inquires from people interested in buying it (Westmoreland School),” said Ben Gorey, Kingston Twp. Zoning Officer. “They were just general in- quiries that never panned out.” Ciravolo has been the first serious prospective buyer for the property. Ciravolo has filed an application with the township to rezone the property from Single Family Residential District (R-1) to Neighborhood Commercial (B- POST PHOTO/HEATHER B. JONES At the Luzerne County Fair Samantha, 6, of Trucksville, tried to hit the target so she could win a fish at the Dallas Kiwanis booth. She got some help from Henrietta Schooley. This year’s fair ended Sunday, after four days of ideal weather and huge crowds. For more scenes, turn to page 4. Minor injuries in school bus crash Four students who. were on the way to West Side Vo-Tech were taken to area hospi- tals after the bus they were riding in collided with a pickup truck Tuesday morn- ing. The bus was traveling south on Rt. 309 and moving from the left to right lane when the front bumper of a pickup truck pulling out of Jack Williams Tire glanced off the bus’s rear bumper. “The bumper on the bus isn’t even bent,” said Dallas Township Police Chief Robert Jolley. “It wasn’t the grinding crash that was first reported.” The four students complained of dizziness and whiplash. The rest of the students were transferred to another bus and taken to school. In photo, Dr. Gilbert Grif- fiths, Dallas Superintendent of Schools, led students to the bus that had been sent to finish their trip. A The Dallas Post changes 1 ublication day The Dallas Post is being published Thursdays beginning with the Sept. 13 issue. The newspaper had been published Wednesdays for several years. The Post, which has served the Back Mountain area since 1889, has been published on various days of the week throughout its history. It was dated Saturday for most of its first 40 years. The publication date moved to Friday beginning with the second is- sue of 1930, then to Thursday in the early 1960s. It was last published Thursdays in 1978. The change is being made to allow for more timely publication of local news and advertising. Reports from important municipal meetings that take place Monday and Tuesday can now be included in the issue immedi- _ ately following the meetings, and fea- tures relating to upcoming weekend events can be developed more fully. Other content and design changes will take place over the coming ; weeks. ow . 1). The Kingston Township Planning commission had scheduled a public hearing on the rezoning of the property for September 4. Before the public hearing, Ed Price, Jr., chairman of the Kingston Township Planning Commission, announced there would be a delay in the rezoning process. The Pennsylvania Municipal Planning code states the county plan- ning commission must be notified of a Pint-size gridders make their point By HEATHER B. JONES Post Staff DALLAS - Dallas Junior Moun- taineers and Kingston Township Raiders football players, cheerleaders, parents and coaches packed the Dallas School Board meeting Monday night. The two youth football programs came to the meeting to ask permission to use Mountaineer Stadium for games. A week ago, flyers were pasted through- out the two organizations rallying par- ents and children to attend the Septem- ber 10 school board meeting. Until they saw the fliers, district offi- cials did not know the teams were un- happy with their assigned playing field, said Dr. Gilbert Griffiths, district super- intendent. In August, the school board assigned the Dallas Middle School field as a game field to the teams. The orga- nizations originally applied for general usage of fields for practice and games, said Griffiths. An application for the specific use -the stadium was never submitted. “Both teams were offered the middle school playing field because it is a full PIAA sanctioned football field,” said See GRIDDERS, pg 8 L 16 Pages, 2 Sections Calendar............cocciesuuiss 16 Classified.................. 12-15 Crossword.........cecc..civeis 16 EGHONAIS........ cotter ceesvins 6 ObIUANES.........ccomereenress 2 SCROOL. i. uc. viii avers canon 11 SPOS. coves rset 9-10 CALL 675-5211 FOR HOME DELIVERY, NEWS OR ADVERTISING E-mail: dalpost@ epix.net Please enclose this label with any address changes, and mail to The Dallas Post P.O. Box 366, Dallas, PA 18612-0366
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers