Vol.121 No. 52 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 February 6 - 12, 2011 "DALLAS POST. Serving the communities of the Dallas and Lake-Lehman School Districts | www.mydallaspost.com Proposed natural gas compressor station is all the buzz By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com Dallas Township residents and activists are concerned about the effects of a proposed natural gas compressor station to be built approximately 1,345 feet from the Dallas School Dis- trict campus. Ted Wurfel, vice president of Environmental, Safety and Regulatory Affairs at Chief Gathering LLC, said the loca- tion for the construction on Hil- debrandt Road is separated from the district campus by about 1,150 feet, and the actual natural gas processing facility UP NEXT The Dallas School Board will hold a work session at 7 p.m. on Feb. 7 in the administration building next to Wycallis Elementary. The Dallas Township Zoning Hearing Board will make a decision wheth- er to grant special zoning exceptions to Chief Gathering LLC's compres- sor station project at 7 p.m. on Feb. 9 in the municipal building. would be 1,345 feet from the nearest school. Chief Gathering LLC submit- ted plans to township officials on Jan. 21 to build the station on roughly five acres within 16 acres the company will pur- chase from property owner Robert Hayes. Wurfel said a compressor fa- cility pressurizes gas for trans- portation through the Transco pipeline. The station will in- clude a metering facility, a building to house compressor engines, several tanks and gly- col dehydrators, a 100-foot tall radio tower and a metering sta- tion. Waurfel added that gas is tak- en from wells that could be any- where from 10 to 30 miles away into a gathering line that leads to the compressor station. From there, the gas’s pressure isincreased from 100 or 200 PSI (pounds per square inch) to up to 2,000 PSI, which is what the gas needs to be to enter into the Transco pipeline. The company applied for spe- cial zoning exceptions to build the facility, and the township zoning hearing board will make a decision on Feb. 9. Residents and activists are taking to the streets to raise public awareness of the plans. Gas Drilling Awareness Coali- tion (GDAC) members recently distributed flyers on the Dallas School District campus, and two middle school students created a Facebook page called “SOS” (Save Our School), call- ing attention to the issue. Diane Dreier, GDAC member and Dallas Township resident, said people are mostly con- cerned about possible noise and air emissions that could re- sult from such a structure. She also said there are other poten- tial dangers associated with having combustible materials processed near the school. Waurfel said the gas that will See GAS, Page 9 This graphic shows the area where a proposed gas compres- sor station may be built. PROPOSED A270 Campus 2 7 5CHOOLRD. pnb Fins 0 SL © GARY VISGAITIS THE TIMES LEADER QYliss PA Teen visits Dallas HS By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com Seventeen-year-old Jocelyn Gruber, of Grove City, said the past year has been the best and worst year of her life. The Miss Pennsylvania’s Outstanding Teen 2011 ad- dressed students at Dallas Middle School on Jan. 28 to talk about two things that have had a large impact on her life — pageantry and bullying. Gruber quit school last year because her penchant for pag- eants tended to give cause for her fellow classmates to tease and taunt her crown. She cur- rently attends cyber school and takes courses at Slippery Rock University to complete her senior year. Her experiences as a fre- @: pageant contestant were Wiful to the Dallas students, as a local branch of the Miss America’s ' Outstanding Teen competition will be held at the middle school in April. The Miss Pennsylvania's Outstanding Teen program is the youth branch of the Miss Pennsylvania America pag- eant. The program will be for young women ages 13 through 17 and will be called the Miss Luzerne County Outstanding Teen preliminary competition. Gina Major Ackerman, a for- mer Miss Pennsylvania and lo- cal coordinator for the pag- eant, said bringing this oppor- tunity to young women in the Back Mountain is an important offering for those who may not receive scholarships for athlet- ics or other endeavors. “It’s not about the crown,” said Major Ackerman, who won the Miss Pennsylvania title in 1984. She said her experiences in the pageantry circuit have helped her immensely — from building her character to even leading to a job offer with The Times Leader. “I got to sing at the (state) capitol, address the senate and & house,” she said. “Then ¢ 14 ere were the typical things, like parades and conferences and conventions. I got to do US.O. tours, work with Liza Minelli on Broadway, go to At- lantic City casino tours — I ¢'"8098151200798 CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR DALLAS POST Jocelyn Gruber, Miss PA Out- standing Teen, waits to deliver her speech on volunteerism to students at the Dallas Middle School. MORE INFO For more information about entering the Miss Luzerne Coun- ty Outstanding Teen pageant at Dallas Middle School on April 16, contact Gina Major Ackerman at ginamajor@aol.com. could go on and on and on.” The Miss Luzerne County Outstanding Teen Pageant will be held on April 16 at the mid- dle school and will feature five competitions: private inter- views, onstage interviews, eve- ning gown, talent and fitness. Thomas Duffy, principal of Dallas Middle School, said the opportunity for students to meet Gruber may have quelled preconceived ideas about girls who enter pageants. “They recognize that getting involved is more than what is stereotypically thought of,” he said. “There are platforms and issues that they have to talk about and they have to hold that role.” Gruber’s platform is all about service — with two broth- ers at West Point Academy, she wasn’t sure how she could serve her country without par- ticipating in the U.S. military. “The greatest service you See TEEN, Page 9 A WINTER WONDERLAND @ CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Elaine Zuba uses a snowblower to clear her. driveway of the four to seven inches of snow that fell on Pinecrest Avenue in Dallas on Wednesday. For more snow photos, log onto www.mydallaspost.com. MU program caters to women with children By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com Now in its 10th year, the Wom- en With Children program at Mi- sericordia University is celebrat- ing the successes of former stu- dents and working to create bet- ter futures for those currently in the program. Former Misericordia Universi- ty student Sarah Martin Ellis, 28, is employed as a learning support teacher in the Susquehanna County school system. She’s hap- pily married and currently house- hunting with her 8-year-old daughter Emma and husband Scott in York, Pa. Seven years ago, her fairytale ending was a completely differ- ent story. The single mother and Dallas High School alum was liv- ing in the Back Mountain, but didn’t have any plans for the fu- ture. Sign up now at nepadailydeals.com Get great deals every day! & MORE INFO... For more information about the Women With Children program at Misericordia University, contact Program Director Vicki Austin at 674-6728 or at vaustin@miser- icordia.edu. “Things were very unsure for me,” she said. “I had no steady in- come.” A family member involved at Misericordia University told Ellis of the Women With Children pro- gram at the school, which offers housing for women and their children while the women take on a full-time course load in pur- suit of a degree. She spoke with Sr. Jean Mess- aros, creator of the program and vice president of Academic Af- fairs, and Vicki Austin, program director, about applying to the See WOMEN, Page 9 CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS'POST Emily Bittner settles in with her two daughters, Natalie and Madelyn, plus Angelina Vargas, left, after a snow day at the Ras- mussen House. \d
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers