L November 23 to November 29, 2003 Vol. 114 No. 47 @ Troop 232; builds a winning catapult. Page 7 SERVING T HE COMMUNITIES OF THE DALLAS & LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS Blood drives take on new importance By ERIN YOUNGMAN Post Staff DALLAS - While out and about this week preparing for the holidays, the American Red Cross would like you to remember it only takes an hour of your time to help save a life. The organization is counting on a good turnout at two upcoming Back son Molly Groody. “From what I know, the Back Mountain has a terrif- ic donor base.” That base is especially important right now, because the organization is heading into the holidays with a blood supply that is a third of what is consid- ered safe. While donations usually tend to slip around the holidays, this year’s need is ning of summer.” She said normally such a decrease would turn itself around when schools reopened in the fall. That has not been the case this year. Blood supply is down to about a day’s supply, or even less for some types. A safe amount would be about a three- day supply. “Now we're going into the holiday You can help American Red Cross Blood Drives Tuesday, Nov. 25 10-4 p.m. Fellowship Evangelical Free Church 45 Hildebrandt Rd., Dallas Friday, Nov. 28 1-6 p.m. Gate of Heaven Church 10 Machell Ave., Dallas Budget is on agenda once more ountain blood drives. Donations e. this area will help keep supplies from dipping dangerously low, said Wyoming Valley Chapter spokesper- Groody. more dramatic than in years past, said “We've had a drop since the begin- season and people will get real busy — giving blood goes way down on the See BLOOD, pg 4 formation. Call 823-7161 for more in- By RONALD BARTIZEK Post Staff KINGSTON TWP. — Try, try again. That’s what the supervisors will do Monday Cool and clean Erin Sutliff, left, and Tina Watkins got a kick out of soap by the slice that seemed too pret- ty to actually use. They were at the craft fair ponsored by the Lake- Lehman Band Sponsors, held November 15 at the high school. More photos on page 4. POST PHOTO/ CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK at a special meeting aimed at producing a first reading of the 2004 township budget. The session begins at 7 p.m. Township Manager Eddie O'Neill has stat- ed the present plan spends $400,000 more than it takes in, with the difference being made up by drawing down savings accounts. That is a combined figure for both the general and capital accounts. Incoming Su- pervisor Jeffrey Box says the two should not be mixed. “That makes no sense,” he says. Box doesn’t like the idea of spending re- serves — which would be reduced to $146,000 under the plan — but said Wednes- day there may be no other choice in the short term. “The township needs to provide services, police officers and road workers,” he said. He is hopeful an improving economy in 2004 will improve the township's fiscal situation. O’Neill hopes to complete a first reading at the conclusion of Monday's meeting. “That’s the intention, once we hash it out,” he said last week. Plenty of hashing has already gone on dur- ing four rancorous meetings held since Octo- ber 27. In those meetings, the supervisors agreed to reinstate the summer recreation program, spring cleanup and made a com- mitment that no employees will be laid off, all of which could add to the projected deficit. A project to pave Green Road has been blamed for some of the fiscal difficulties, and members of the public have asked the super- visors to look into cancelling or postponing it. O'Neill said it may be possible to do so. “There are some options and they will be discussed Monday,” he said. A first reading was scheduled for Novem- ber 12, but the supervisors voted 3-2 to re- ject the budget at that time. The document must be available for public inspection for 10 days prior to final adoption, which must take place by December 31. Some resistance to re-addressing By RONALD BARTIZEK Post Staff HARVEYS LAKE — Thomas Clark doesn’t un- derstand why the home he has lived in since 1984 must suddenly have a new address. “I've been 3 Kitchen Avenue for 15 years; I'd like to remain 3 Kitchen Avenue,” Clark said Monday night. Clark said representatives from the Harveys Lake Fire Department stopped by his home November 15 to inform him that his new address would be 73 Kitchen Avenue. Since his street has only eight houses on it, Clark wonders why it’s necessary to renumber them. “What's the difference?” he asked. The entire borough is being reviewed and most addresses changed to conform to the “Colorado” system that is recommended by the Luzerne Coun- ty 911 Center. The consistent addressing is meant help emergency responders find the correct lo- @. when answering to a call for help. “We are suggesting what is appropriate,” said Connie Masias, Data Control Supervisor of the county 911 center. Instead of more accurate response, Clark sees ex- penses for himself. “I think it would hit me right in the wallet,” he said, because he would have to change the address on his driver’s license, car reg- istrations, insurance policies, checks and other doc- See ADDRESS, pg 2 Early deadline for November 30 Due to production requierments imposed by the Thanksgiving holiday, deadlines for the November 30 issue of The Post have been moved up. All con- tributed material for that issue must be received by 1 p.m. Monday, November 24. Send material by e- mail to: thepost@leader.net HER PHOTO CONTRIBUTED Phase I, restoring the exterior of the Noxen Depot, is moving along smartly. Support- ers of the restoration met last week to plan Phase II, the interior. Depot project steams ahead By M.B. GILLIGAN Post Correspondent NOXEN — The All Aboard Committee of the North Branch Land Trust met recently at the Old School House in Noxen to discuss plans for Phase II of the Noxen Depot Rehab project. Phase I, the exterior work on the building, officially started in August although the planning began nearly four years earlier. Ex- terior work should be completed in January. “Phase II involves the interior of the build- ing and we hope to utilize a lot of volun- teers,” said Linda Thoma, Executive Direc- tor of the Land Trust. “We are making plans to solicit donations of cash but also goods and services.” The committee hopes to find plumbers, electricians, building contractors and, even, well drillers willing to volunteer to help with the project. “We're certainly going to need an army of volunteers, but it’s something that we can See DEPOT, pg 4 Bridge rebuilding waits on PennDOT By ERIN YOUNGMAN Post Staff SHAVERTOWN — Preliminary work on the long awaited $800,000 East Center Street bridge project, began earlier this month. If all goes as planned, the new, wider bridge could be complet- ed by the end of 2004, said project Engineer Dave Fetterman. An additional $30,000 will be spent to add a third lane to the bridge. According to Eddie O’Neill, township Manager, the Pennsylvania De- partment of Transportation will reimburse the township 80 percent of the project’s total cost. On the drawing board since at least 2001, a new bridge is needed to replace what is largely a centu- ry-old structure resting on layered fieldstone, said Fetterman, of Borton Lawson Engineering. Years of high and fast-moving water through Toby’s Creek below has worn holes in the foundation. See BRIDGE, pg 4 Sizable water rate hikes are sought By PAMELA C. TURFA For The Post Pennsylvania Suburban Water Co. — the parent of a number of small Back Mountain systems — is seeking permission to raise rates for most cus- tomers. Rates for seven water systems in Luzerne and Wyoming counties would go up 9 to 44 percent un- der the company’s request, filed Friday with the state Pennsylvania Utility Commission. Customers in the Oak Hill system would see a See WATER RATES, pg 4 V InsiDE THE PosT 14 Pages, 2 Sections Calendar Church Editorials News from Dallas Borough, Dallas Township and Lehman Township Page 3 Obituaries School Sports... Gate of Heaven auction photos Page 5 Dallas wrestlers compete at Benton tournament ¥ How To Reach Us News: 675-5211 thepost@leader.net 15 N. Main St. Wilkes-Barre PA 18711 Advertising: 970-7102 Subscriptions and Delivery: 829-5000 Page 3
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