Vol. 117 No. 8 February 19 - February 26, 2006 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF THE DALLAS AND LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS McCarroll's Rachel Malak, left, and Do- manique Glatz. raise their hands to ask a question. Kingston Mayor-James Haggerty answers questio man-Jackson Elementary School. | yi _ A id LC k UL i PHOTOS FOR THE POST/M.B. GILLIAN ns posed by students during a recent program for second grade students at Leh- « A civics lesson M.B. GILLIGAN Post Correspondent LEHMAN TWP. — Second graders at Lehman-Jackson Ele- mentary School were treated to a personal civics lesson last week. Kingston Mayor James Haggerty visited the school and dis- cussed the various aspects of his job. “He came to talk to the class about different aspects of government, which is part of our second grade curriculum standards,” said Lehman-Jackson teacher Vanessa Bogdon, a Kingston resident who arranged the program for the school’s three second grade classes. “The mayor’s position in Kingston has a lot of responsibility, so I asked if he would talk to our students. Haggerty addressed that issue with the lass by explaining that some towns operate ith a strong council or board of commission- ers who make the major decisions, while oth- ers have a strong mayoral position with more decision-making responsibilities. “It’s great to be the mayor in a nice commu- nity like Kingston, but it is a big job,” Haggerty said. “We have a budget with money to spend, but we have to use taxes to get that money.” He continued by answering a question from student Rachel Malak. “The hardest part of my job is to not spend more money than we have. There are so many things we want to do like fix potholes build more parks, hire more police and firemen and women but we can’t do everything, We have to make choices.” Most of the second-graders were ready for the visit and took turns asking questions they had prepared ahead of time. Madison Stambaugh wanted to know if Haggerty liked his job. “Once a year I get to be in a parade and ride in the back of a convertible and everybody waves at me,” said Haggerty. "I also get to ride in the garbage trucks.” Everybody wanted to know how much money the Kingston mayor earns and there was a collective “wow” at his answer of $8,000. He went on to explain that he also has another job as a lawyer, but the students did not seem to be too impressed with that infor- mation. “When you are elected, though, you are kind of on the job all the time so sometimes I even work on holidays if something happens,” said Haggerty. The students were given a pep talk on regis- tering to vote when Haggerty was asked how he was elected. “Everybody should vote. When you're 18, you better register to vote,” Haggerty told the young civics students. Sarah Kimble asked if the mayor’s job was fun. “I have a lot of fun,” he said. “It is important and serious, but it is also a lot of fun. My favor- ite part is talking to the second grade at Leh- Lehman-Jack- son second grade stu- dents, from left, Rachel Leskowsky, Kaitlin Sutton and Sarah Kimble lis- tened to King- ston Mayor James Hag- gerty. big success Is a reality Lehman native has become nationally known through reality TV for his talent By DAVE KONOPKI Post Editor Jay McCarroll says he doesn’t waste a lot of time dwelling on the past. But that doesn’t mean the Leh- man Township native — who has become a nationally-known fig- ure through reality television — doesn’t take a few minutes every once in a while to reflect on his days in the Back Mountain. When the 31-year-old — who gained national attention last year by becoming the winner of the Emmy-nominated reality show “Project Runway” — wants to relax, he returns to the home where he grew up, which is locat- ed across from Lake-Lehman High School. “It’s a place where I can go to think and clear my head,” said the 1993 Lake-Lehman graduate. “The facade of the school has changed, but sometimes Tll just sit there and stare at the school. You can’t help but think back and have memories.” But McCarroll Lehman Township native Jay McCar- roll will be featured in an upcoming documentary. TUNE IN A one-hour documentary special about Lehman Township native Jay McCarroll will be broadcast at 10 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22 on Bravo. The network can be seen on Adelphia cable in the Back Mountain on channel 65. spends much more time looking forward. A one-hour documentary spe- cial about McCarroll — “Project Jay” — premieres at 10 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22 on Bravo. The show will take a look inside the designer’s life and how his world changed since being the winner of Project Runway. A crew visited McCarroll’s hometown last summer. “Of course, it’s very exciting,” said the flamboyant son of Wil- liam and Nancy McCarroll. “It’s incredible to have your named at- tached to a television show. I learned so many things, like # having to cut down a scene by literally a quarter of a sec- ond. I didn’t understand how many hands a show goes through.” All of this started when McCarroll au- ditioned for “Pro- ject Runway,” a show that showcased the works of 12 as- piring designers from across the country. As the winner, McCarroll earned $100,000 to start his own clothing line, a See JAY, Page 3 Dallas School Board considers constructing new high school DALLAS TWP. — First, it was the new Wycallis Elementary School. Next was the renovation of the Dallas Middle School. And now - thanks to a growing student body and a huge increase in new home construction - there’s a possibility the Dallas School District will be home to a new high school in 2009. Sam Scarantino, a consultant from the Quad Three Group, of- fered the Dallas School Board two options for the 40+year-old high school during meeting earlier this week: Renovate the high school or build a new one where the football stadium now stands. Under ideal conditions, the new high school option could be done sometime in 2009, while the renovation plan would probably run into 2010. Ei- ther way, more class space would be added to the high school. A new school would be two stories and renovation would include a second-story addition to the cur- rent school. Both options would include ma- jor renovations to Dallas Elemen- tary School and a rerouting of school traffic. : Also at the meeting, the board voted 7-2 for a preliminary $26.4 million budget that raises taxes by 22 mills, to 244 mills. A mill isa $1 tax for every $1,000 of assessed property value. Scarantino didn’t have any dollar estimates, and didn’t expect to have them for a few more weeks. That was one reason board member Russell Bi- gus said he voted against a prelim- inary budget. Dennis Gochoel al- so voted against it. Bigus said he had wanted to see con- See HIGH SCHOOL, Page 3 ¥ Inside The Post 8 Pages, 1 Section Puzzles Civic Only Yesterday Church Sports Dallas, Lake-Lehman boys and girls basketball teams ready for district playoffs. Meeting to focus on development. Try to solve our crossword puzzles. ¥ How To Reach Us News: 829-7248 thepost@leader.net 15 N. Main St. Wilkes-Barre PA 1871 Subscriptions and Delivery: 829-5000
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