L Dallas, Pennsylvania The Back Mountain's Newspaper Since 1889 October 3 to October 9, 2002 United We Stand Vol. 113. No. 40 50 Cents SPORTS Lake-Lehman struggles against Meyers at homecoming. Pg 9. SCHOOL Meet the Dallas Middle School Student Council. Pg 12. COMMUNITY St. Therese’s plans Birthday Tea. Pg 5. ‘strength in numbers By ERIN YOUNGMAN hes Post Staff 9 The formation of a Council of Gov- ernments (COG) between municipali- ties in the Back Mountain could mean better long-range regional planning and the ability to stretch taxpayers’ dollars. Within the next two months, four municipalities — Kingston Township, Dallas Township, Dallas Borough and ®arveys Lake Borough — will vote on whether to approve the drafting of an ordinance that would allow them to participate in a COG, an intergovern- mental association created for contigu- ous municipality cooperation. Kingston Township, the birthplace of the Back Mountain COG idea, approved drafting the ordinance on September 11. Dallas borough followed on September 18. . Long-range regional planning, apply- ng for grants and sharing of services @.uch as a shared zoning officer, are some of the benefits of joining a COG. Joe Moskovitz, Dallas Borough Man- ager and J. Carl Goodwin, Supervisor from Kingston Township, agree that growth in the Back Mountain necessi- tates long-range regional planning that would best be undertaken within a COG. “We need to look at what we share in ommon; were looking to address problems that are bigger than where the tax boundaries are drawn,” said Moskovitz. Goodwin cited traffic corridors as an example of long-range planning that would be best addressed by the COG. “There are four traffic corridors that are heavily congested. We need to ap- proach the state to see what can be done, so with future growth (it) doesn’t get worse,” said Goodwin. By working together, all of the mu- @.ipaiities concerns and solutions could be taken into consideration. Moskovitz said that if such long-term planning had existed prior to the growth that caused the expansion of See COG, pg 3 *Assistant Principal will return to Dallas this month By ERIN YOUNGMAN Post Staff DALLAS TWP. — James McGovern will return as Assistant Principal of Dallas High School as soon as the Crestwood School District will release him, probably before October 31, said Dr. Gilbert Grif- fiths, Superintendent of Dallas School @istrict in an interview last week. Board may file complaint eagainst teachers By KALEN CHURCHER Special to The Dallas Post LEHMAN TWP. — The Lake-Lehman School District may file a grievance against the teachers, despite having reached apparent agreement on a new employment contract. Board President Charles Boytin said attorneys may have to re-enter the pic- jure because the Lake-Lehman Educa- tion Association has not signed the final agreement. Although the union was hand-delivered a copy of the collective bargaining agreement on Sept 26 — an agreement it voted to accept 107 to 5 — the pact was not signed as of Tuesday night. Therefore, at the advice of its solici- tor, Charles Coslett, the board will ask ruce Campbell, its special negotiation counselor, to investigate if a grievance See LEHMAN, pg 12 Surprise and congratulations POST PHOTO/JIM PHILLIPS As soon as Amy Lynn Hartman was named 2002 Homecoming Queen at Lake-Lehman High School Saturday, her mom, Don- na, was there with a hug. More photos on page 4. McGovern was originally hired as as- sistant principal for the high school in late fall of the 2000-2001 school year, but resigned to accept a position as high school principal at Crestwood starting in August, 2001. McGovern resigned from turnover there in little more than a year, but also because Crestwood students have strongly voiced their unhappiness in the change. : Griffiths said McGovern's decision to leave Dallas after less than a year didn’t Youths on campaign to build skate park By ERIN YOUNGMAN Post Staff In the past few weeks several boys from Dallas High School have been spending their free-time going door to door to get support for a skate park in the area. They said they were inspired to start the petition by two things: the lack of a place to go and the experience that other kids from other towns have peitioned to have skate parks put in and won. “We were all together one day, we had just got kicked out of Dallas Hard- ware’s back parking lot when we decid- ed to go to the police station to find out how to start a petition,” said 14-year- -0ld Josh Reese. The boys started the petition in Sep- tember and have acquired more than 200 names by going door to door. Their goal is to get as many names as possi- ble and to present the petition to Dal- las Borough and Dallas Township for their aid in the creation of a skate park. Since 1996, skateboarding in Dallas Borough has been prohibited on streets, sidewalks, walkways, alleys, and any other areas open to the public. Skateboarders are often considered by residents, police and elected officials to be at odds with businesses, pedestri- ans and vehicular traffic. The boys feel that the creation of a skate park would _ provide a place for them other than the street. Joe Moskovitz, Dallas Borough Man- ager, said there were many complaints that precipitated the creation of the 1996 ordinance and that ultimately the borough was concerned about skate- boarders coming in contact with pedes- trian and vehicular traffic. ° “Parents were dropping off their kids in the CVS parking lot and saying ‘have a good time dear’ as they drove away,” said Moskovitz. See SKATE PARK, pg 3 16 Pages, 2 Sections that position two weeks ago. Controversy has surrounded McGov- ern’s decision to leave Crestwood partly because his resignation marks the fourth POST PHOTO/SANDY PEOPLES Shirley Forney, seated, was presented with an engraved pewter bowl in ac- knowledgment and appreciation for her 15 years of service as the chairman of the Friends of the (Back Mountain) Li- brary. Jill Kryston presented the gift and will assume the chairmanship. weigh into his decision to rehire him, say- ing that it is the nature of the assistant principal position to build a resume. “He was going to be principal, so it was By SANDY PEOPLES Post Correspondent DALLAS - Members of the Friends of the Back Mountain Memorial Library gathered at a luncheon last Friday at the home of member, Beth Rosenthal, to honor their friend, Shirley Forney, for 15 years of ser- vice as chairperson of the group. Forney was the first chairperson named when the group formed in 1987. She has decided to step down from the chairman- ship, but still plans to be involved with the important work the group does for the li- brary, and therefore, the community. The new chairperson, Jill Kryston, pre- sented Forney with a gift from the group. An inscription on the large pewter bowl read, “With gratitude to Shirley Forney from the Friends of the Back Mountain Memorial Library for her work as chairper- son from 1987 to 2002.” “The group was originally founded as a book discussion group,” said Forney. “Then we decided to have fundraisers to help keep the library doors open.” a step up. An opportunity came available that looked to be lucrative financially and professionally; I would never hold some- one back,” said Griffiths. Dallas has also had a problem keeping administrators, especially assistant prin- cipals. The district has been in the process of trying to fill the high school See McGOVERN, pg 12 | Friends of the Library chairperson honored for 15 years of service The “friends” have four major fundraisers each year. Last year their efforts netted more than $23,000 for the library. They sponsor an author's luncheon in April, a fruit sale in December and the popular basket booth at the annual auction in July. They also do an annual “friends” let- ter asking for donations. The letter brings in more than half of the money they raise each year. A newsletter is also produced to help the thousands of patrons keep up with the many good things that are hap- pening at the library. “I am very committed to the purpose of the Friends of the Library,” said Forney, “but it's time to turn the reins over to someone else. I want to do more traveling and spend more time with my family. A late in life observation of myself is that I should have been a librarian. I love books and like to spend as much time as I can reading to my three granddaughters.” Forney also likes to attend book signings and has a large library of autographed See LIBRARY, pg 3 Calendar.......c....rcoiiwenes 16 Classified.................. 13-15 Crossword... .....ov-icirrieve 10 EQHONIaNS.... coor ieicesienas rans 6 ObUATNES.......ccoccoivinvii vain 2 SCHOOL. iiss cn swenudreneisits 11 SPOS... cvsiinss vise siatanss 9-10 CALL 675-5211 FOR HOME DELIVERY, NEWS OR ADVERTISING E-mail: dallaspost@Ileader.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