hn ye . 2 The Post Sunday, February 22, 2004 Missing (continued from page 1) her Lake Township home at 11:30 p.m. Her purse and win- ter coat were found at her house. Wednesday afternoon, Bailey pored over maps with a handful of volunteers as they deter- mined who would do a “walk through” of the park. “I came home from work on Friday ... I didn’t even get into the driveway and Pauline came running saying Phylicia is miss- ing,” said Beth Freeman, a fami- ly friend. “I've known Pauline for years. I was there for the birth of two of her kids. If this was my kid, I'd be going nuts.” Family members say police are investigating several leads, but volunteers plan to continue their search until Thomas is found. The young woman's dis- appearance has prompted many residents to tape her “missing person” posters to their vehi- cles or display them in their shop windows. Bailey said she is ready to of- fer a reward for her daughters return and Hamilton urges any- one who might have even the smallest bit of information to contact state police. Bailey offered a brief mes- sage to her daughter: “I know you can’t get to a phone, but as soon as you can get to a phone, you call us. Everyone is here. Your family, everyone is here, and we love ” you. 1 p——— Allen Gonczol, second from left, won the Dallas American Legion essay contest. Heather Perry was runner-up. Also in photo, Clarence Michael, left, contest chairman, and Bill Kup- stas, Post Commander. Gonczol wins Legion essay contest Dallas High School junior Allen Gonczol won first place in the 69th annual essay con- test sponsored by the Daddow- Isaacs Post 672 American Le- gion of Dallas. The theme of the essays was, “What is patri- otism?” Heather Perry, a Lake- Lehman senior was runner-up. Other contestants were Eliza- beth Valli Bovee, Nicole Walsh Read the winning essay, page 4 and Sara Trosky. Gonczol won a $300 US. Savings Bond, Perry won a $250 bond and the other con- testants won $100 bonds each. Gonczol will represent the lo- + cal Legion Post at district com- petition later this month. The winner of the district competi- tion advances to the state fi- nals, where the winner receives a $3,500 scholarship. The winners were honored at a breakfast Feb. 14 at the Le- gion Post. Judges were John Oliver, Fred Templin and Stephen Batory. Clarence Michael was chairman of the contest. Former teacher charged for relationship with student By MARK GUYDISH For The Post DUNMORE — State police on Wednesday charged former Dallas High School teacher Greg Solfanelli with corruption of a minor, alleging he had sex- ual contact with a student sev- eral times beginning last sum- mer. According to court papers, the girl told police she “began to become close” to Solfanelli, 26, in March 2003. Solfanelli did not teach any of her class- es. They exchanged computer screen names and began online conversations. Lehman Police say, during one of their online chats, Solfanelli told the girl, then 16, “a story about the lobster and the starfish. ... The lobster worked with other lobsters, and was not supposed to have feelings for the starfish, but he did.” A few months later, the pair began a sexual relationship that lasted until January, according to court papers. A two-page affidavit of proba- ble cause detailed four occa- sions in which the girl had sex- ual intercourse with Solfanelli or performed other sex acts with him. The first encounter hap- pened last summer, when the girl drove to the Tunkhannock Wal-Mart to meet Solfanelli, be- fore going to his home on Lily Lake Road, according to court papers. The pair met three more times between summer 2003 and January at various places. Dallas School District offi- cials said they learned of the re- lationship in mid-January. They suspended Solfanelli with pay Jan. 19. He resigned Jan. 28. Police filed a charge of one count of corruption of minors at District Justice George Clark’s office in Chinchilla. The charge is a first-degree misde- meanor with a maximum sen- tence of five years in prison. Lackawanna County District Attorney Andrew Jarbola said the corruption charge was war- ranted because of the teacher/student relationship and the trust that relationship must include. Solfanelli also could lose his teaching license, though he still had it as of Wednesday, accord- ing to a spokeswoman for the Department of Education. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for 10 a.m. March 16 in the Lackawanna County Courthouse. (continued from page 1) selves may not be permitted but we have no choice.” ~ He does not feel the code was needed in small communi- ties where there are few multi- family homes or little shoddy construction, but that the codes were more suited to an urban area. Alvin Cragle, treasurer, noted that a Board of Appeals would also have to be formed and that board would need to act collec- tively if administered jointly by the communities. The decision to adopt, administer, and en- force the state construction codes must be made between April 8 and July 8. In other business: ¢ The supervisors approved a grant application to the De- partment of Environmental Protection for a storm water runoff plan around Lake Silk- worth. “We're looking for a set of recommendations, some solu- tions, and cost information, funded by DEP, that would al- low us to look into swales, storm sewers, and innovative 99 Arne Maplin Rebar PB Blaster Penetrating Catalyst (13.26 az} $1508 SalaPrice Lillie. 259 Less Msitis Renate © 00 WHERUMANGE NARA POWER" 65 Month Battery #50120, 28F, 26, 26R. 38, 58, 7C 3WIS SAVE Thr pmb in Rebate NAPA Gold Cabin Air Filters Far Clean, Fresh Air Inside Your Car ... Change Your Cabin Air Filter Every 12,000 Miles, i2 vu Aim DALLAS AUTO 68688 Memorial Hwy., Dallas » 675-2143 ART filtering systems,” said Jack Hanish, Lake Silkworth resi- dent and president of the PA Lake Management Society. The lake is stable right now but fe- cal and chemical counts have been high in the past and Han- ish contends that is due to runoff from roads and storm sewers, not seepage from septic systems. The study would ad- dress this overflow into the lake. ¢ A new police car has been ordered and two older ones will be advertised and sold. The township will have three usable cars said Howard Kocher, police chief. ® The township will re-estab- lish a line of credit with Luzerne National Bank for $30,000 to cover overtime and additional salting of roads, if necessary. Luzerne County is late sending out property tax bills and the township’s cash flow may be negatively affect- ed. The township did not need to ask for credit last year and credit sought in past years has never been actually used. Replacement members named to municipal authority board By ERIN YOUNGMAN Post Staff HARVEYS LAKE — Two new members have been ap- pointed to the Harveys Lake General Municipal Authority Board. David Schuler has been ap- pointed to replace Homer Bak- er, whose term was up at the end of last year. Schuler will serve a five-year term. John Brokenshire was appointed to replace Bruce Hanson who for- mally resigned by letter at the January meeting. He will fill out the remainder of Hanson's term, a period of four years. Council member Ed Kelly said Schuler was “more or less automatically appointed” be- cause he had been attending board meetings regularly. Kelly said it was decided, however, that to fill Hanson's position, borough council would request interested persons apply and submit to an interview process. Letters of interest were due by the end of January. The borough received three letters of interest. The other two applicants were John P. Farrell and former borough council member Fran Kopko. Resident Jay Niskey also ap- plied for the position, but his letter was received after the end of January deadline, said Borough Council President Betty Jane West. West said Brokenshire was selected for the appointment because of his training as an ac- countant. Brokenshire is cur- rently the borough's account- ant. “We felt he could as a board member get a handle on the financial situation. Our con) cern right now is that there is financial stability.” Raises (continued from page 1) from $410,433 last year at this time to $218,131. He stressed that $134,652 of the current amount is designated restricted and cannot be spent. “What this means is we have not collected any taxes this year. So we are still operating on our reserve,” he said. Tax collection is delayed this year due to the late passage of the county’s budget. Council President West said after the meeting that unfore- seen expenses related to last year’s death of Harveys Lake Police officer Mark Karlunis and additional garbage fees have also eaten away at the bor- ough’s reserves. “Once tax bills start to come in we should be okay,” she said. At a special February 5 meet- ing, council appointed a new part-time police officer, Stephen Barry. Barry will fill some of the hours left by full- time officer Karlunis’ passing. He will make $12.65 an hour. West said the borough could not afford to appoint a full-time replacement at this time. Blaine said he and the bor- ough’s accountant have created new reports that will keep track of the financial situation. In other business, Dr. Fred Lubnow of Princeton Hydro said the borough is pursuing $100,000 worth of Department of Environmental Protection and Environmental Protection Agency grants that would be used to continue to reduce the amount of phosphorus-rich runoff going into the lake. ‘D said already completed projects “have reduced the phosphorus load by 29 percent, but more reduction is needed. Elmcrest speeders targeted By CAMILLE FIOTI Post Correspondent DALLAS TWP. — Some residents of Elmcrest Manor, between Route 415 and Lake Street, have complained recent- ly about speeding cars going through their development, es- pecially on Elmcrest Drive, the main road. Robert Jolley, police chief said at the Feb. 17 Board of Supervisors meeting that this is the first time he has heard any complaints about speeding along Elmcrest Drive. “If anything is brought to our attention about any of the road- ways in developments or even the state highways, we’ll assign someone starting tomorrow morning to see what it looks like and what action we can take,” Jolley said. Police will start patrolling the area and if anyone drives in excess of 25 miles per hour they will be ticketed... - No Fis “We’ll put some signs up. If they have to go 25 miles per hour, they'll think twice before going through,” said Frank Wagner, vice chairman. In other business: ¢ 1 e Construction has starte on the pole barn on the back lot of the municipal building. The structure, being built by C.B. Structures, Inc. of New Holland, PA will be used to house the township’s mainte nance equipment. e The township’s salt supply was “next to nothing” said Wagner but they just received two loads, which is enough to salt the roads for the rest of the winter. DATE: TIME: PLACE: NEEDED: A thru F GthruM N thru § TthruZ New First Graders DALLAS SCHOOL DISTRICT Dallas, Pennsylvania March 15-18 9:00 to 11:45 1:00 to 4:00 Wycallis Elementary School Gymnasium Immunization Records, Birth Certificate, Social Security Card And Child Those With Last Names Beginning: Register On: Any further information needed, please call Dallas School District - 674-7229 Monday, March 15 Tuesday, March 16 Wednesday, March 17 Thursday, March 18 Thursday, March 18 TIMESeLEADER 7 Have a story idea? by to order. THE POST 15 N. MAIN ST., WILKES-BARRE PA 18711 any misunderstandings created by a story. 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