6 The Dallas Post
EDITORIAL
Friday, September 26, 2003
OUR OPINION
With effort, compromise
can be achieved on trail
What a shame it would be if the fledgling Back Mountain
Trail should come to a halt because supporters are unable to
secure an adequate right-of-way along the old railroad bed that
is its foundation. If that were to happen, walkers and bikers
wouldn’t be able to travel safely from Luzerne to Harveys Lake
— perhaps one day even beyond — and local businesses
would not benefit from increased traffic off the trail.
Reluctance to embrace transient visitors is not unique to
the Back Mountain. The same careful negotiations that are
taking place now between the Anthracite Scenic Trails Associ-
ation and land owners have been rehearsed for decades along
the length of the Appalachian Trail, at least on portions that
skirt populated areas. The main concerns are the same, too; li-
ability for accidents and potential vandalism.
Those are valid points, but they can be addressed with suffi-
cient open-minded discussion. One key sticking point, and one
that is big enough to disrupt the trail’s completion, is an 800-
foot section behind New Mart and Newell Fuel Service in
Trucksville. The owners of the business are wary that the trail
association’s insurance is inadequate to protect them from a
damage suit. And while there has been talk of building a wall
to both prevent falling and to discourage thieves and vandals,
the trail group’s budget is stretched thin until right-of-way
commitments are obtained, making it difficult to provide more
detailed plans for the barrier.
Surely there can be a meeting of the minds that will satisfy
both sides in this disagreement. While the business needs to
protect itself from risk, it also stands to benefit from walkers
and bikers who will stop by for a cold drink and a bite to eat.
The trail’s organizers, on the other hand, can’t do anything
less than what is reasonably necessary to calm the Newells’ jit-
ters, and if that means coming up with a more concrete safety
plan, they’ll need to do so.
The Back Mountain Trail is yet another arrow that can be
added to the quiver of amenities that make this a satisfying
place to live and do business. We simply can’t let it slip away
without exhausting every possible strategy to make it a suc-
cess.
EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK
If you've read the article on the front page about changes at
The Dallas Post, you may still have concerns and questions
about its status. Rest assured, there is no desire or intention
to eliminate this newspaper, only a change in strategy for its
continued health and relevance.
The newspaper business isn’t unlike others in the sense
that competition and consolidation are the order of the day.
We aren't the first publication to combine
with a larger daily, and surely won't be the
last. And frankly, without the support of a
sugar daddy, it’s not at all certain The Dal-
las Post would have survived anyway. That’s
not because we weren't committed to keep-
ing the Post going after more than a centu-
ry, it’s because maintaining a thriving inde-
pendent weekly has become more difficult
RON
BARTIZEK
with each passing year. An increasing chal-
lenge has been shoring up the advertising base while serving a
limited geographic area. Every time a bank merges or a chain
store replaces one with local ownership, it becomes more diffi-
cult to reach decision makers who tend to care little about the
character of a community and who avoid dealing with small
papers or other media that in their minds are unimportant.
Unlike “country” weeklies, The Dallas Post also had to con-
tend for more than 20 years with two daily competitors, and
for most of that time with the Sunday Independent as well. As
the saying goes, “When elephants do battle, the ants get tram-
pled.” Thanks to the si*pport of the community, it has never
gotten to that point, but there’s no question that competition
for readers and advertisers is more intense here than in rural
county seats far removed from daily newspaper cities.
So, here’s the good news. Beginning Sunday, October 5,
The Dallas Post will reach more than twice the number of
readers it has in recent years. That means your news and ad-
vertising will be seen by far more of the people who are poten-
tial members of your club, volunteers for your church or cus-
tomers of your store. And we are more committed than ever
to getting your news out, so we're asking you to continue
sending it in. The best way to do that is by e-mail (dallas-
post@leader.net), but if you need to drop off printed copy or
photos, you can continue to do that by mail or at the box on
the front porch. We plan to set up other drop points soon, and
will tell you about them when we do.
If you want to talk about the Post, have a news tip or a sug-
gestion, don’t hesitate to call me at 970-7157. I'll be here.
Colorful cabinets, outside at Lake-Lehman High School. Photo by Charlotte Bartizek.
New Blood Alcohol Content measure meets federal mandate
The Senate on Sept. 24 ap-
proved a conference committee
report on a bill that meets a
federal requirement to lower
Pennsylvania’s blood alcohol
content (BAC) level to .08 and
would establish a three-tier
penalty system for those caught
driving while intoxicated, ac-
cording to Senator Roger A.
Madigan, Chairman of the Sen-
ate Transportation Committee,
and Senator Charles W. Dent,
author of the legislation.
“This measure will make
Pennsylvania's highways safer,”
said Senator Madigan, who
spearheaded the conference
committee of Senate and
House members that developed
the legislation.
“I believe we came up with a
great compromise. We are
changing the penalty system to
reflect the severity of a driver’s
impairment. Right now, there
is only one level and the penal-
ties are the same whether a dri-
ver’s BAC is .10 or .25.”
“I appreciate the efforts and
assistance of my colleagues in
the Senate and the House, the
Pennsylvania District Attorneys
Association, MADD and many
others who helped put together
this important legislation,” said
Senator Dent. “This bill meets
a federal requirement and pro-
tects Pennsylvania’s share of
federal highway funding and
will be a deterrent to drunk
driving that will save lives.
Under the provisions of Sen-
ate Bill 8, individuals with
BACs ranging from .08 to .099
would face penalties somewhat
lower than the current mini-
mums. Those with BACs rang-
ing from .10 to .159 would face
penalties similar to current law.
Those with BACs of .16 or
higher would face mandatory
minimum sentences that are
higher than the current law.
The penalties within each of
the three BAC tiers also in-
crease based on repeated of-
fenses. :
“We recognize that people
make mistakes and this meas-
ure reflects that,” Senator
Dent said. “However, we also
know that some people don’t
learn from their mistakes and
the bill recognizes that as
well.”
SB 8 also redraws certain re-
quirements for evaluation and
treatment designed to provide
more timely and direct av-
enues for treatment for drivers
who are diagnosed with real
addiction problems. The bill
addresses situations where in-
surance companies fail to meet
a state requirement to provide
certain coverage for treatment
because the addiction was de-
termined as a result of a DUI
“The legislation puts more
emphasis on treatment than
what currently exists,” Senator
Madigan said. “It’s important
that we, the state and local
communities, work together to
help those who are fighting ad-
diction problems.”
The legislation also removes
a loophole that allows some re-
peat DUI offenders to avoid a
requirement to use an ignition
interlock system in their vehi-
cles. Under SB 8, offenders can
no longer “opt out” of the re-
quirement by accepting an ex-
tra year of regular license sus-
pension.
The Senate originally passed
SB 8 in April. The House
amended the bill in July. The
two chambers could not reach
an agreement on the bill and
sent it to a conference commit-
tee.
In addition to Senator Madi-
gan and Senator Dent, Senator
J. Barry Stout, D-46th District
and Minority Chairman of the
Transportation Committee,
served on the conference com-
mittee. The House members
serving on the committee in-
cluded: Representative Dennis
O’Brien, R-169th District, Rep-
resentative Richard Allen
Geist, R-161st District, and
Representative Keith McCall,
D-122nd District.
The conference committee
report is now headed to the
House for a vote early next
week. Pennsylvania stands to
lose 2 percent of its federal
transportation funding if it
does not adopt the mandatory
BAC limit by Oct. 1. That
would increase to an 8-percent
loss in funding if the standard
is not adopted by 2007.
Pennsylvania would lose
$10.24 million if the statute is
not in place for 2004, accord-
ing to PENNDOT estimates.
The penalty would increase to
nearly $20.5 million in 2005;
$30.7 million in 2006; and, al-
most $41 million annually
from 2007 on if Pennsylvania
fails to meet the federal re-
quirement.
Letters, columns and editorials
Letters to the editor are welcome and will be published,
subject to the following guidelines:
e Letters should not exceed 500 words.
¢ No writer may have more than one letter published dur-
ing a 30-day period, except as a reply to another letter.
® Letters must be signed and include the writer's home
town and a telephone number for verification.
e Names will be withheld only if there exists a clear threat
to the writer.
* The Post retains the right to accept or reject any letter,
and to edit letters for grammar and spelling, as well as to
eliminate any libel, slander or objectionable wording.
70 Years Ago -
October 6,1933
INSTALLMENT PLAN
FOR TAX PAYMENTS
The installment plan for the
payment of taxes was adopted
by Kingston Township School
Board as a means of and facili-
tating the administration of the
business of the district.
Boys, who were using an old
railroad tie,
which they
had placed
on the rails
in the vicin-
ity of Birch
Tie DALLAS POST
TIMES*LEADER Cogagunity Newspaper Group
P.O. BOX 366, DALLA 18612 * 570-675-5211
dallaspost@leader.net
Ronald Bartizek
EDITOR/GENERAL MANAGER
Justin Wisnosk
ADVERTISING ACCT. EXEC.
Darlene E. Sorber
OFFICE MANAGER
Erin Youngman
REPORTER
Greg Stauffer
AD PRODUCTION MANAGER
ONLY Grove
YESTERDAY might have
caused a
number of
lives had it not been for the
alertness of William Hufford,
motorman on a car from Dal-
las. Hufford saw the tie and ap-
plied the air brakes just in time
to prevent a severe jarring of
passengers.
Some of the items you could
get at A&P Stores: Eight O’-
Clock coffee, Ib. 17¢; Maine po-
tatoes 15 1b 33¢; Lifebuoy soap
4 cakes 25¢; ginger ale 3 amall
bottles 19¢.
60 Years Ago -
October 8, 1943
WATER SUPPLY
RUNNING LOW
Leslie Warhola, manager of
Dallas-Shavertown water Com-
pany, said that water supplies
throughout Pennsylvania are
running “alarmingly low with
the drought continuing in spirt
of recent rains. many rural
wells have dried up, Warhola
said, and farmers in some in-
stances are carrying water to
their stock.
H. M. Hendricks, supervising
principal of Lehman schools,
announced that the enrollment
at Lehman is higher this year
than last year, in spite of the
apparent exodus from the val-
ley. There ar 466 students en-
rolled in the Lehman schools.
Concerned that a shortage of
raw hides may cause further
curtailments in production, a
number of employees of the Ar-
mour Leather company plant,
at Noxen, have moved their
families to other localities
where they have obtained em-
ployment in defense plants.
50 Years Ago -
October 2, 1953
FIRE COMPANIES CO-OP-
ERATE TO CONDUCT PRO-
GRAM
Dr. Henry M. Laing Fire
Company in co-operation with
Shavertown and Trucksville
volunteer Fire Companies is
planning an educational pro-
gram of school fire drills,
demonstrations and lectures
during Fire Prevention week
Construction is moving
along rapidly on the new 24-
unit motel being constructed
by S. & S. Construction Com-
pany at the intersection of
Routes 309 and 115. The entire
building will be faced with na-
tive stone. "
Movies that played at the
Sandy Beach Drive-In:
“Rawhide” starring Tyrone
Power, Susan Hayward and
“The Hitch Hiker” with Frank
Lovejoy, Edmond O’Brien;
“Houdini” with Tony Curtis,
Janet Leigh.
40) Years Ago -
October 3, 1963
BIGGEST PARADE EVER
FOR DALLAS FALL FAIR
The largest parade in the his-
tory of the Dallas area will pre-
cede the Fall Fair. Colorful
floats will be numerous, Har-
veys Lake Boat Club will show
three sailboats with sails. The
parade will be led by the color
guard of the 109th Field Ar-
tillery.
Unidentified vandals broke
into Dallas High School by
smashing a window late at
night, according to Police Chief
Frank Lange, then made their
way for teacher Donald Evans’
homeroom where they expect-
ed to find about $300 in re-
ceipts for class pictures.
Some of the items you could
get at Daring’s Market: rib
steaks, 79¢; ground beef, 3 lbs.
$1.29; pork butts, 37¢ per Ib;
beef liver, 33¢ 1b.; ring bologna,
1b. 49¢; roast beef, 1/4 1b., 50¢.
30 Years Ago -
September 27, 1973
DAMA RECEIVES $140,500,
PAYMENT FROM DER
A check in the amount of
$140,500 has been received by
the Dallas Area Municipal Au-
thority. The amount represents
the fifth and final payment by
the Department of environmen-
tal Resources of a $1.080,600
grant th help in the design and
construction of the Back Moun-
tain sewerage system.
Construction on the one-half
milion dollar Encon Plant in
Fernbrok is underway with all
steelwork erected to date. The
building itself will be of pre-en-
gineered fabricated steel.
Mrs. Edward Johnson,
Trucksville had been hired by
the personnel committee of the.
Back Mountain Memorial Li-
brary to replace Fran Rinehart,
who resigned as assistant li-
brarian
20 Years Ago -
September 28, 1983
PSU DONATES GYM
TO LAKE-LEHMAN
At a regular meeting of the
Lake-Lehman board of school
Directors, Jane Griffin, Athletic
Director at Penn State Univer-
sity of wilkes-Barre Campus
presented to Mr. Joseph “Red”
Jones, a donation of a Univer-
sal Gym. This a piece of athlet-
ic equipment involving weights
and various stations for exercis-
ing.
Offset Paperback Manufac-
turers Inc. received a $935,000
loan from the Luzerne County
Board of Commissioners for
business expansion efforts.
Some items you could get at
Daring’s Market: chuck roast,
Ib. $1.49; ground chuck, Ib.
$1.49; Kraft Dressing, 8 oz.
69¢; Velveeta Cheese, 2 Ib.
$2.99; Miracle Whip 32o0z.
$1.59.
QQ: Where do you find the most Back Mountain news each week? A: Only in The Dallas Post