Vol. 115 No. 49 Banner day for flag football fun(d)raisgj Page 7 : pro L Ft The Back Mountain's Newspaper Since 1889 December 5 to December 11, 2004 A pn 50¢ SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF THE DALLAS & LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS County's tax collection move unlikely to affect 2005 budget Kingston Township stands to lose $12,000 in revenue if Luzerne County collects its own taxes. By RONALD BARTIZEK Post Staff KINGSTON TWP. — Whether or ot Luzerne County opts to take over collection of county taxes, there’s like- ly to be little change in the 2005 town- ship budget, which will be up for adop- tion at the December 8 supervisors meeting. The county now pays Kingston Township $3.50 per bill to collect coun- ty property taxes. Dominick DePolo, Deputy Treasurer, estimates a savings of more than $12,000 if the county col- lects the taxes directly. Those county payments offset about two-thirds of the salary Kingston Township, employee agree to $195,000 settlement of discrimination claim. Page 2. Township pays to part-time tax collec- tor Karen Rose. Township Manager Eddie O’Neill said Kingston Township pays 55 cents per bill to the county to cover the cost of including the township’s tax in the same mailing, in effect reducing the county’s cost to $2.95 per bill. That makes the savings to the county just over $10,000, but the township's costs would continue at the present rate, or perhaps grow if the county would no longer allow the combination mailing. The township conceivably could make up for the loss of revenue with the occupational privilege tax, present- ly $10 per person levied on anyone who works in the township. The town- ship now passes the entire amount through to the Dallas School District, but is required to send as little as $5. The Legislature recently passed a bill that allows municipalities to charge up to $52 per year. Supervisor Jeffrey Box says he does- n’t think that will happen right now. See BUDGET, pg 2 FOR THE POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Gary Michak looked over the ruins of his family's home in Sutton Hills. He, his wife and two children escaped unharmed from the burning house. Family feels outpouring of support after fire Parents and children escaped from early-morning blaze, a fami- ly dog did not. By RONALD BARTIZEK Post Staff JACKSON TWP. — For the family of Gary and Courtney Michak, the devastation of losing their home and the family dog in a fire has been coun- tered by an outpouring of support from friends, neighbors and strangers. The fire, which started shortly after midnight on Nov. 29, completely gut- ted the Michaks’ two-story house at 145 Blueberry Hill Road, in the Sutton Hills development. Heat from the flames was so intense it melted siding on the house next door. Gary Michak said he, his wife and two children were asleep in second- floor bedrooms when the fire started. They were alerted by smoke alarms. “There was smoke and flames everywhere. My wife and the kids went out the back door and I went out the front,” he said. Crews from five fire departments were dispatched to the scene, but the home was almost fully engulfed in flames by the time they arrived. “In a matter of minutes the house went,” said Michak. Michak attempted to get one of the family’s cars out of the garage while it was burning. “I went in but it was already gone,” he said. A day after the fire, it was still backed against a tree at the edge of the driveway. Originally from Plymouth, the fam- ily inoved into the house three years ago. Courtney Michak said they are overwhelmed by the generosity of neighbors, their church and social service agencies. “We are so thankful to everybody,” she said. “We have so many people helping us.” The Red Cross put them up in a hotel right after the fire, and neigh- bors have been collecting clothes for their children, ages 3 and 5. “The See FIRE, pg 2 o lias teacher Shirley Breymeier wins Misericordia award again, 16 years after first time. By CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Post Correspondent There aren’t any bad days in Shirley Breymeier’s learning support class at Dallas Elementary School according to Cole Vennie, a College Misericordia senior. Vennie, an educa- tion major, spent 25 hours observing Breymeier’s classroom. Vennie recommended Breymeier for the annual “Excellence in Teaching” award = presented last month by College Misericordia. “She’s loving, dedicated, happy and always has extra time for her stu- dents, but her best quality is her classroom management skill — she always has the classroom under con- trol,” said Vennie. “She even took the time to explain to me her complex scheduling system d gave me tips on parent-teacher onferencing.” Breymeier thinks her student observer is pretty special, too. sets a good example for those who will follow FOR THE POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Cole Vennie, seated, nominated Dallas Elementary teacher Shirley Breymeier for an Excellence in Teaching award from College Misericordia. ® Cole to come to class,” 8 Breymeier. | tion == come to “I can’t count how many aides and observers I've had in my classroom over the years, but I used to wait for said “She did more than observe, she has a quiet way with the kids and interacts well with them.” This ideal student-teacher matchup | was made especially so because this was the first year the award recom- mendations were made by the educa- students themselves, said Education Week Coordinator Rita : Mundy. “We decided to try something new and it was a success.” Previously college faculty members made the award recommendations based on their field observations. At Dallas Elementary School, Breymeier handles 12 to 13 children ik who can be learning disabled, mental- ly retarded, autistic or a combination 5 of these conditions, in 30- to 75- minute periods. They are all at differ- ent grade and ability levels and they are taken out of their homerooms to Breymeier’s class. Scheduling is no easy task. “Actually, the scheduling is a night- See TEACHER, pg 3 Students and scouts restock food bank shelves By M.B. GILLIGAN Post Correspondent TRUCKSVILLE The Back Mountain Food Pantry at Trucksville United Methodist Church has seen a lot of activity recently, as is usual at this time of year. Volunteers were on hand to pre- pare 156 food orders for Thanksgiving dinners. Those clients stopped in to pick : up their groceries and several groups ‘ dropped off an abundance of collected food items. Dallas Cub Scout Pack 281 collected nearly 1,000 items at a recent meeting. “Each Cub Scout was given five plastic bags and a wish list of grocery items,” said Ron Santora, Cubmaster. The wish See FOOD BANK, pg 3 FOR THE POST/M.B. GILLIGAN Michael Terninko, a member of Dallas Cub Pack 281 and a fifth grade student at Gate of Heaven School, carried a box of food into the Back Mountain Food Pantry. Inside The Post Ross Elementary kids put on annual Native American play Page 10 12 Pages, 1 Section Calendar . i... shes « 12 Church. ul sii 1 Crossword ......... . «sh 8 Editorials.» &.ion vies 4 Obituaries .. 7... ed a0 5 SCHOOL iv ii fanin te 9-10 SPOrts Lod shai diiiih 7-8 How To Reach Us News: 675-5211 thepost@leader.net 15 N. Main St. Wilkes-Barre PA 18711 Advertising: 829-7101 Subscriptions and Delivery: 829-5000
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