The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Thursday, March 21, 2002 {EDITORIALS Kingston Township has lost two men of worth Kingston Township has lost important contributors to its pros- perity and quality of life with the death of long-time supervisors "Herbert Hill and William Tippett. Both men died last week, leaving a void in township government, made even larger by the resigna- ‘tion a few days earlier of Randy Glidden. Hill and Tippett served 27 and 16 years respectively, through “what might be considered the township's golden age. During their “tenure, Kingston Township faced substantial pressure from devel- Jopers who wanted to take advantage of the township's popularity l'with people who worked elsewhere, but wanted to raise their fami- “lies in an attractive, suburban community. Contractors sometimes ‘complained about the township's stringent zoning and building regulations, but the consistent enforcement of reasonable restric- tions served to maintain high living standards. By virtue of its home-rule status, Kingston Township also was able to eliminate property tax, albeit by charging a higher local income tax — just the shift advocated by advocates of tax fairness. Herb Hill and Bill Tippett were far more than just government of- _ ficials; they were a link between Kingston Township's rural past and suburban present, between the private institutions that serve neighbors and public ones that look out for the interests of every resident. No matter what your politics, there’s no denying that they will be hard to replace, and those who follow them in public service can’t go wrong in starting where they left off. Is it a food fight at Lake-Lehman? Questions are being raised about the efficiency of the food ser- vice vendor for the Lake-Lehman School District, in part because it doesn’t appear students are buying enough lunches. Now, con- cerns about teenage dining preferences need to take into account the nature of the beast, in this case tastes that often raise corn chips at the top of the food pyramid, and an eating timetable that defies adult logic. One option is for the district to take over the food service pro- gram using its own employees. That may seem attractive on the surface, but the job is very complicated, particularly in a district with three elementary schools in disparate locations, state regula- tions to meet and personnel matters that inevitably arise. This is likely a case in which persuading a vendor to hike quali- ty and selection makes more sense than taking on the mealtime desires of more than 2,000 children and dozens of faculty mem- bers. I 3 = Te lo Jl = IH io 0 oN Susquehanna at flood is a danger to health and safety Editor, bs) At a time when drought con- ditions are front and center, discussions about flooding and ; the Susquehanna River Basin flood forecast and warning sys- I may seem an unlikely, if not untimely, topic. Quite the opposite is true. i Following the tragic events of September 11, we knew imme- | diately our country would be } changed in many ways. Today, ~ the federal government, during { this time of war, is faced with © untold challenges in an attempt ' to balance important and com- ! peting budget demands. Secur- ing and protecting our nation’s © citizens within our borders and } abroad must take the highest © priority. Understandably, Presi- * dent Bush has had to make k many tough budget decisions. Given this current landscape, we realized that funding ap- . provals would not be status i quo. But to learn that the Pres- ‘ident's budget proposal for the | ipcormin fiscal year contained “zero” dollars for the Susque- "hanna River Basin flood fore- cast and warning system was, | to say the least, disappointing. : The Susquehanna River . Basin is, undeniably, none of | the most flood-prone water- "sheds in the entire nation. In ; 1993 dollars, the basin experi- ‘ences an average of $113 mil- ion in flood damages each | year. That number rises dra- ‘matically in years when major, [Somes floods like Tropical Storm Agnes (1972) and the ice “jam floods of January 1996 strike the basin. Sixteen lives ‘were lost in the basin in 1996 . alone from flood events. People up and down the ‘basin from New York, Pennsyl- 'vania and Maryland can attest * Force; basin-wide flood warning sys- tem. It saves lives and greatly reduces flood damage costs by "providing te that allow people and business- es to secure their property and to get themselves out of harm's way before flood waters strike. For every dollar the federal gov- ernment spends on this pro- gram, the government saves up to $13 through reduced dam- ages — minimizing damages equates to reduced payouts from the federal flood insurance program. As I've stressed in the past, let's not be penny wise and pound foolish over a system that protects public health and safety. Saving lives during times of floods, which are in- evitable in this basin, certainly is a matter of homeland securi- ty and warrants funding. In the past, we have relied on key congressmen from the Susquehanna basin to restore funds for the flood warning sys- tem. We will once again call upon our members to help, most notably Senators Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum from Pennsylvania and the five co-chairs of the Congressional bi-partisan Susquehanna Task Congressmen George Gekas and Paul Kanjorski from Pennsylvania; Sherwood Boehlert and Maurice Hinchey from New York and Wayne Gilchrest from Maryland. They, and all our basin con- gressional members, under- stand the power of the Susque- hanna at flood stage and know firsthand the suffering their constituents and communities from past flooding. Paul O. Swartz Executive Director Susquehanna River Basin P.O. BOX 366, DALL Ronald Bartizek GENERAL MANAGER Bill Dunn ADVERTISING ACCT. EXEC. Darlene Sorber OFFICE MANAGER to the vital importance of the Commission I'he Dallas Post TIMESeLEADER unity Newspaper Group A 18612 « 570-675-5211 Timothy J. Raub REPORTER Ruth Proietto PRODUCTION MANAGER Ron and Charlotte Bartizek PUBLISHERS EMERITUS items you could get: a, yy — Necessity is the mother of invention. Lower Demunds Road, Dallas. Photo by Ron Bartizek. What's on the Horizon? This edition of “What's on the Horizon?” comes from the nation- al Land Trust Alliance as well as the North Branch Land Trust. Please contact us at 696-5545 or see our website www.nblt.org for more information. April 15 doesn’t have to be painful again next year. Instead, it can be a day you celebrate both your tax savings and the satisfaction of permanently con- serving important open spaces. The nation’s 1,200-plus land trusts - nonprofit organizations that are independent of govern- ment and work hand-in-hand with landowners who choose to conserve their lands - offer a va- riety of ways that you can per- manently protect your open space lands and perhaps shave your tax bill: * Donate it to a nonprofit land trust; ONLY YESTERDAY 70 Years Ago - March 18, 1932 APPOINT VIEWERS FOR SCHOOL SITE On petition of the board of school directors of Kingston township asking the right to condemn six and three-fourth acres of land in the township, owned by John Kaschenbach of Wilkes-Barre for school purpos- es. The premises were exam- ined by Attorney James Mc- Cabe, Charles E. Rowe and Daniel Sakowski. The Post Office Department is- sued a new two cent stamp on April 22 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founda- tion of Arbor Day. At A&P Markets some of the flour, 241/2 1b bag, 53¢; spinach, 2 Ige cans, 25¢; Palmolive Soap, 4 cakes, 29¢; rolled oats, pkge, 5¢; sugar, 10 lbs., 45¢. 60 Years Ago - March 20, 1942 NUMBERS OF 780 LOCAL MEN DRAWN The order numbers of 780 lo- cal men from the Dallas Area, who registered with either Local Board No. 1 at Wyoming or Board No. 5 at Shickshinny, were drawn at Washington in Don’t let another tax year pass without conserving your land * Donate a conservation ease- ment, which permanently lim- its the type and scope of devel- opment; or * Sell the land to a land trust in a “bargain sale” for below fair market price. Income Tax reductions are one way you can benefit. Under the Internal Revenue Code, for most gifts of appreciated land or con- servation easements, a taxpayer can deduct up’ to’30 ‘percent’ of his adjusted gross income in the year of the donationyift : of the gift exceeds ot dene tion the taxpayer can carry for- ward the balance for up to five additional years. For example, if Mrs. Landown- er has an adjusted gross income of $50,000 and makes a gift of a conservation easement worth $80,000, her deduction in the first year would be $15,000. The balance can then be carried for- ward for each of five years until she has deducted the full $80,000 value of her gift. Estate Taxes are another good way to save. Because develop- ment pressures in most parts of the country dramatically in- creased property values during the past 20 years, many people the first wartime draft lottery since 1917. Only the ultra-modern type- setting equipment of The Dallas Post made it possible for this small suburban newspaper to publish the complete draft sta- tistics for the 522 local men reg- istered with Board No. 1. A “Salvage for Victory” cam- paign designed to help overcome the national metal shortage and also speed the construction of the local Community House- was launched. This was spon- sored by the Dallas Area Wom- en’s Unit, and it took the form of a clean-up week, seeking odd bits of useless scrap metal and sold to the Construction Work- ers Union of Wilkes-Barre and proceeds will be turned over to help finance the Dallas Commu- nity House. 50 Years Ago - March 21, 1952 DALLAS ROTARY TO OBSERVE TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY Dallas Rotary Club will cele- brate the twenty-fifth anniver- sary of its founding at its meet- ing at Irem Temple Country Club. Dallas Rotary was orga- nized in 1927. The officers are: David Jenkins, president; Daniel Robinhold, vice presi- dent; Harold Titman, treasurer and Edward Keller, secretary. A collection of warm clothing for Korea will be collected by members of the Youth Council of Wyoming Valley Council of Churches. All main roads in the Back Mountain Area will be cov- ered. At ACME Supermarkets some ziand her husban : BAA * ust $250,000 in other assets. are forced to sell lands that have been in the family for genera- tions in order to pay estate tax- es. Consider the Triple Bar Ranch, a fictional working ranch, but a true-to-life financial example. The family patriarch bought the ranch in the 1960s, when land was far less expen- sive. Today, it is . worth $1,250,000. Mrs. Landowner is a widow, anid the ranch ¢ompris- es nearly her whole estate. She md accug ol Therefore, her total estate is worth $1.5 million. In nearly every state, the combined state and federal estate taxes would be around $200,000 - more than the surviving Landowner chil- dren could afford to pay, even though they want to see the ranch remain as open space. The solution may be the vol- untary donation of a conserva- tion easement, which legally lim- its the amount and type of devel- opment that can take place on land. An easement can be tai- lored to a landowner’s desires. The easement may, for exam- ple, permit construction of just two more large-lot homes but items you could buy: margarine 5 lbs $1; apple butter 5 28 oz. jar, $1; Alaska Salmon, 1 Ib. can, 39¢; sauerkraut, 2 Ige cans, 25¢; orange juice, 5 46 oz. cans, 95¢, 40 Years Ago - March % 1962 SPORTS CAR CLUB ALPINE RALLY WILL START FROM BACK MT. SHOPPING CENTER Northeastern Pennsylvania Region, Sports Car Club of America will stage the “Little Alpine Rally” from the Back Mountain Shopping Center in Shavertown. The Rally-masters are Mr. an Mrs. Tom Hillyer of Dallas. College Misericordia’s Varsity basketball team has enjoyed one of its most successful seasons, scoring eight victories against two losses. Army Pfc. Mark A. Wnek, son of Mr. and Mrs. John A. Wnek, Harveys Lake, participated with other members of the 25th Divi- sion’s 1st Battle Group, 35th In- fantry, in three weeks of annual Army Training tests at the Po- hakulos Training Area on the Is- land of Hawaii. 30 Years Ago - March 30, 1972 PUC ASKED TO HEAR UGI RATE ARGUMENTS Atty. James Lenahan Brown filed a motion for argument be- fore the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, in Harris- burg on legal questions in the interests of several local com- plainants who oppose the 17 percent rate increase granted to Luzerne Electric Division of UGI protect the land from construc- tion of a subdivision. As a result, Mrs. Landowner may reduce the land’s market value to $750,000, down from its current $1,250,000 value. Her estate, in- cluding $250,000 -in other as- sets, would then be worth $1 million, and no estate taxes would be due. The nation’s private, nonprofit land trusts have been tremen- dously succedsfal'at land protet- tion. . Grassroots land trusts had tected manently ER 6. 5 Sr iifon acres by the end of 2001. Of that, approxi- mately 2.6 million acres had been protected by conservation easements, according to the Land Trust Alliance (LTA). The amount of acreage protected by conservation easements in- creased more than fivefold since 1990. The North Branch Land Trust is one of a handful of small conser- vancies doing this work in North- eastern Pennsylvania. We would be happy to discuss protection of your individual property with you at any time. Please call the num- ber given above or e-mail us at info@nblt.org. Corp. The Dallas High School gym was jammed with nearly 1,000 children and their parents for the annual Easter egg hunt sponsored by the Dallas Junior Woman's Club. At a board meeting of the Back Mountain Memorial Li- brary Association, Atty. Merton Jones announced that a piece of property adjacent to the library grounds on Main Street, Dallas, had been purchased by the Li- brary Association. 20 Years Ago - March 17, 1982 BALLFIELD SITE SELECTED The newly formed Youth Base- ball organization, Inc. hopes to name the site of the recreational complex it intends to construct by the end of the month. Joseph Kelly, chairman of the land- search committee, says his or- ganization is waiting word from the owner of the land before any definite plans are released. Sixteen varsity men of the Dallas Senior High school base- ball team left for Leonardtown, Md., to play four pre-season games. The trip marks the first time a Dallas team traveled out- side the state to compete in pre- season play. The players raised $1100 for their trip through a T- shirt sale. The first Assembly of Elec- tions of the Scranton Province of the Sisters of Mercy met in Dal- las to elect a new Province Ad- ministrative Group. This group of Sisters is given the responsi- bility to direct the spiritual and 1 temporal affairs of the Province.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers