IL Dallas, Pennsylvania The Back Mountain's Newspaper Since 1889 June 20 to June 26, 2003 NZ THE I ee Legion team wins big over W-B. Pg 11. DALLAS POST _ SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF THE DALLAS & LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS L SCHOOL Lake-Lehman students star at math. Pg 13. COMMUNITY Library Auction season kicks off. Pg 10. Roundabout gets preliminary OK By ERIN YOUNGMAN Post Staff DALLAS — After going over prelimi- nary PennDOT sketches of roundabouts orked into Dallas Borough's downtown, council members told PennDOT District Engineer Chuck Mattei Monday they were ready to move ahead with adding the item to PennDOT’s 12-year plan. Council will vote on the action at the July meeting. If the motion passes, the developer of a possible “big box” store in Dallas Township will be able to move ahead. Councils decision would mean that de- veloper J. Naparlo of Virginia would have a solution to the increased traffic expect- ed to arise from his development. Mattei said as a result, PennDOT would be able to grant Naparlo the Highway Occupancy Permit he needs to start construction on the store, which is projected to cover 155,000 square feet. Naparlo has not been able to move for- ward with his project because the bor- ough disagreed with his engineer’s recom- mendations to make Lake Street one-way out of the town center. As part of the permitting process, the developer is responsible for returning traf- fic levels of service to what they were pri- or to the development going in. But Lake Local man said to | aid murder probe Staff Reports KINGSTON TWP. — A Shavertown man has been iden- tified as one of the informants helping police investigate the urder of Michael Kerkowski d Tammy Fassett, whose bodies were found buried be- hind a Mount Olivet Road home. Hugo Selenski, who grew up in Dallas and lived at the home with his girlfriend, Christina Strom, remains in prison on charges of robbing Kerkowski’s father. Remains of three other bodies have also been found on the property, and authorities have suggested many others may be found. On Tuesday, police used dogs to search the property for signs of more remains, and on Wednesday they converged on a section of the Back Mountain Trail with the dogs. Also Wednesday, police used a dog to help search a home at 837 Miller Street in Luzerne, where Strom and Selenski pre- viously lived. Police were led to the Kingston Township property af- ter Paul Weakley told a law en- forcement official on June 3 he knew where Kerkowski’s body was located. Weakley made the admission before going to a court hearing on a felony bur- glary charge. Sources have confirmed a second informant, Patrick Russin, 33, of Shavertown, is a friend of Paul Weakley. He was recently charged with a See PROBE, pg 2 Surprise! L-L budget $1 million out of balance By TARA BENNINGER Post Correspondent LEHMAN TWP. — There was noticeable strain at the June 17 meeting of the Lake- Lehman School Board, as board members continued discussing the 2003-04 budget. To the board’s surprise, reversing earli- er reports of a surplus, Busi- ness Manager Kathleen Williams presented the board with a deficit budget. Revenue is projected to be about $19.5 million, while ex- penditures are expected to be about $20.6 million. Williams reported that a ma- jority of the increase between @ Olice get night vision goggles DALLAS TWP. — Police Chief Robert Jolley told town- ship supervisors Tuesday night that the department has re- ceived night vision equipment. The night vision goggles give an advantage to the police when looking for criminal ac- tivity or in the event that a per- son or child is missing, said Jol- ley. “Your flashlight can only go so far,” Jolley said, during the supervisors’ monthly meeting. The goggles cost $17,000 and were paid for by the Elec- tronic Proving Counter Drug Office Grant. This is a federal grant program through which police departments can pur- chase specialized equipment that is often the same as the military uses, Jolley said. The township plans to apply for this grant again in 2004. The grant program also pro- See POLICE, pg 2 this proposal and last week’s was a result of three new per- sonnel, which she said was not made clear until this week. Two new staff members are needed as security and mainte- nance for the new track and gym. “The current janitorial staff is already exhausted,” Williams said. “It is unreason- able to expect our current staff to work weekends, every week.” Williams said it’s important to protect the very costly in- vestment that has been made. Superintendent Robert Roberts echoed Williams in See BUDGET, pg 10 Street one-way was viewed unfavorably by many in the community. Stan Davies, who lives along Route 118 in Lehman near the proposed store, asked how long the area would have to endure the increased traffic before the round- about would be completed. Mattei responded that the roundabout would be on a three-year time line. Na- parlo said he expects his project to be complete in about two years. According to studies performed earlier in the year by Pennoni Engineers, working for Naparlo, the difference in completion times could mean a year of Level F service (on A-F See ROUNDABOUT, pg 2 Laughing all the way to graduation Nate Carsman shared a hearty laugh with Lake-Lehman classmates as Angelo Geor- getti, President of the Class of 2003, related stories of high school experiences. Story Harveys Lake warned on sewers hy DEP By ERIN YOUNGMAN : Post Staff HARVEYS LAKE — The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has found Harveys Lake Borough to be in violation of another aspect of the the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law. Last month DEP said that il- legal sewer discharges had been found making their way into the lake, putting the bor- ough in violation of Clean Streams Law. DEP has found that in addition, the Harveys Lake Municipal Authority has failed to submit required annu- al reports to the Wyoming Val- ley Sewer Authority (WVSA) for the years 2001 and 2002. According to a letter dated June 10 from Kate Crowley, Program Manager of DEP’s Wa- ter Management Program, the determination puts the Author- ity in violation of section 94.12(b) of Municipal Waste- load Management Regulations. See SEWERS, pg 3 'Hanson’s B developer backs off for now By ERIN YOUNGMAN Post Staff HARVEYS LAKE — The developer planning to turn the former Hanson's Amusement Park into an upscale villa community has decided to postpone his project. Ken Williams, of Columbia Mary- land, said Wednesday that on the ad- vice of Charles McCormick, Harveys Lake Borough Solicitor, he will forgo presenting his final plans to borough council until a problem with overflow- ing sewers is corrected. A sales office and models had been scheduled to open next fall. Speaking last week before his deci- sion to hold off on the plans, Williams shared his vision for the property that he said was to incorporate the history of the area with care-free lake living. “What I had in mind at Harveys Lake was really and truly a beautification project.” See HANSON'S, pg 3 18 Pages, 2 Sections Calendar Classified Crossword and more photos on pages 4-5. POST PHOTOS/JIM PHILLIPS CALL 675-5211 FOR HOME DELIVERY, NEWS OR ADVERTISING Gardens June 28. POST PHOTO/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Louise Mattes held a poppy blossom for the photographer in one of the gardens that will be on the Tour of Back Mountain | Gardeners to offer sneak peek, and trail Is the beneficiary By CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Post Correspondent E-mail: dallaspost@leader.net The Back Mountain Bloomers Garden Club held its annual flower show in the Kingston Armory for eight years. “The flower show was very extravagant, a lot of work went into it, there was so much detail,” said Gayle Perietti, secretary of the club. The 45-member group arranged and coordinated the show and pre- pared their own exhibits as well. Then came 9/11. “The Armory just wasn’t available anymore, so after brainstorming together one day we decided to do something new and exciting,” Perietti said last week- end. The group will hold its first Tour of Back Moun- tain Gardens, including homes, Saturday, June 28, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., rain or shine. The tour features seven Back mountain area gar- dens and their respective houses. “The house idea was really incidental to the garden tour,” said Rose Ann Nardone. “We are really looking See GARDENS, pg 10 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