Vol.122 No. 52 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 February 26 - March 3, 2012 "DALLAS POST. WILKES-BARRE, PA. www.mydallaspost.com AN EDITION OF THE TIMES LEADER DAMA recycling Is huge success By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com Due to overwhelming vol- umes, the Dallas Area Munici- pal Authority has increased it recycling collection to every week as of Feb. 20. Larry Spaciano, executive di- rector of DAMA, attributes the increase in recycling collection to the authority’s new single stream recycling program. Cus- tomers no longer have to sep- arate materials like plastic, glass and cardboard, making re- cycling easier than ever. “We've collected about 15 more tons this January com- pared to last January,” said Spa- ciano. Spaciano said the increased recycling collection will also en- courage customers to recycle more often because of the quick turnaround. “.Jt was more difficult for m to take out that much re- cycling to the curb at one time,” he said. “We looked at it overall and said it’s probably going to be more cost-effective for us and a lot easier for the residents if we do it on a weekly basis.” Spaciano said recycling isn’t just good for the environment — it's also going to save DAMA customers money in the long run. “We have an agreement; we take it down to Northeast Recy- cling Services and then, de- pending on the market, they’ll ay us a certain amount for the beycling,” he said. “The bot- Yom line is we never have to pay to get rid of it, even if the bottom of the recycling market drops out. It doesn’t cost us anything to get rid of it, so it’s a win-win for us.” Before DAMA took on its own solid waste and recycling collection, whatever recyclable materials collected were the property of the hauler, Spaciano said. Therefore, when compa- nies took the materials to the recycling center, whatever mon- ey they received for the materi- als was theirs to keep. Now DAMA is reaping the benefits of its own program. The authority received its first check in January for about $3,600 — all of which will go back into the program and eventually save customers mon- ey. Spaciano said, hopefully, the amounts of those checks will increase due to the more fre- quent recycling collection. Bill Feher, DAMA’s solid waste supervisor, hopes to in- crease the recycling opportuni- ties for residents, including pro- viding outlets for recycling elec- Now DAMA is reaping the bene- fits of its own program. The authority received its first check in January for about $3,600 - all of which will go back into the program and eventually save customers money. tronics and tires. He also said the return on the program will allow DAMA to stabilize its rates. Spaciano said, despite the in- creased collection, there won’t be additional costs for manpow- er or vehicles because the crews are out collecting garbage every day anyway. “It will even itself out,” he said. Spaciano said convenience and the way the program is de- signed has encouraged custom- ers to increase their recycling habits which, in turn, benefits the entire Back Mountain. He hopes the program will contin- ue with an educational aspect to promote recycling through- out the community. SINGLE STREAM RECYCLING With DAMA’s new program, customers can mix recyclable materials in the same bin. Here’s a list of what you can and cannot recycle. These are OK to recycle: 1-7 plastics, aluminum cans, alumi- num foil, cardboard, cereal box- es, color paper, detergent bot- tles, empty aerosol cans, enve- lopes (window OK), egg car- tons, file folders, glass jars and bottles, hard and soft cover books, juice and milk cartons, junk mail, newspapers and in- serts, magazines and brochures, multi 3-ply paper, white paper, paperboard boxes, phonebooks and catalogs, plastic milk jugs, plastic soda bottles, pots and pans, school papers, small met- als, tin cans and water bottles. These are NOT OK to recy- cle: drinking glasses; frozen food, ice cream or frozen juice containers; hazardous or bio- hazardous waste; light bulbs, plates or vases; mirrors, ceram- ics or Pyrex; napkins; needles; paper to-go containers; paper towels; plastic 6-pack holders; plastic microwave trays; plastics other than those listed; scrap metal; shredded paper; stickers or sheets of address labels; Sty- rofoam,; syringes; tissues; Tyvek envelopes; waxed paper; waxed cardboard; and window glass. For more information about recycling, contact DAMA at 696-1134. CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Dallas Area Municipal Authority collectors Rick Earl, left, and Josh Backes combine paper and plastics into one of the new recy- cling trucks. CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST No, you are not seeing things. Those yellow swim caps belong to Lake-Lehman swimmers Amelia Jenkins, left, Jolisa Copeman, center, and Sammy Sabol and they are in the pool at the Dallas Middle School Natatorium for a recent meet against Pittston Area. The Lake-Lehman swim team uses the Dallas facility for practice sessions and home meets. FRIENDLY RIVALRY Black Knights swim team considers Dallas Middle School Natatorium its home pool. By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com The rivalry between the Dal- las and Lake-Lehman high school swimming and diving teams is a little friendlier than one might think. The Lake-Lehman team, which started competing in the Wyoming Valley Conference in 2007, entered into an agreement with Dallas this year to utilize its pool for home meets. The team practices at Misericordia Uni- versity’s Anderson Sports and Health Complex. Nancy Edkins, coach of the Lake-Lehman swim, said the team previously held all of its swim meets and practices at Mi- sericordia University, but due to the lack of diving facilities, there was no diving team. The Dallas pool, which is lo- cated in the middle school, is a larger facility equipped with sev- eral diving boards. Erin Cooper Yurko was hired late last year to coach Lake-Lehman divers. The Black Knights compete at Dallas when the Mountaineer swimmers and divers are at an away meet. Lake-Lehman divers always train at the Dallas facility. Edkins, who is also principal of Lake-Noxen Elementary School, met with Matt Stretan- ski, former Dallas swimming coach and current pool manager, and the district’s athletic direc- tor to work out a schedule. “We're two neighboring dis- tricts — we should be friends,” said Edkins. “The coaches here are fair with us. (Dallas) always comes first because it’s their fa- “We're two neighboring districts - we should be friends. The coaches here are fair with us. (Dallas) always comes first because it's their facility.” Nancy Edkins Lake-Lehman swim coach cility.” Stretanski, who coached the Dallas swim team for 14 years, said the Dallas team had similar issues before the natatorium was built at the middle school in 2002. The team held practices at Misericordia and couldn’t have a diving team due to the lack of fa- cilities. “When we wanted to start div- ing, Wyoming Valley West, Wyoming Area, Wilkes-Barre Ar- ea and other districts were very supportive, and worked with us to get us practice time,” he said. “One year, we had our home meets at Nanticoke.” Stretanski, who is also a histo- ry teacher at the middle school, said when Lake-Lehman offi- cials approached him and others about the possibility of using the Dallas pool, he said it was like “paying it forward.” “We have a good relationship with Lake-Lehman, but we'd do it for anyone,” he said. See RIVALRY, Page 12 DH) students learn from the pros By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com Calling all local professionals — Dallas High School students want to hear from you. The Dallas High School guid- ance department recently launched its “Career Spotlight Speaker Series,” in which local professionals, Dallas graduates or parents of Dallas students are invited to speak to high school students about a partic- ular job field. Guidance counselor Robyn Jones said the series is part of a new directive in career prepara- tion that will eventually be mandated by the state Depart- ment of Education. “We actually plan to be well ahead of the game,” said Jones. Along with the speaker se- ries, the guidance department at the new high school features a career resource center, com- plete with a group counseling room and computers available for students to explore colleges ~ a pw a Nl ¢ i A { J AA a § ‘ND Al £ F UK | 0 | gi | If you are interested in presenting to Dallas High School seniors in the "Career Spotlight Speaker Series,” contact the high school guidance department at 674-7218. and career paths on their own. “The philosophy is that youre here at Dallas High School to get an education to prepare you for your future con- tribution to society,” said Jones. “If you make it relevant to the student, the student takes own- ership of their high school jour- ney.” The speaker series has al- ready had three programs in the following fields: dentistry, video game arts and engineer- ing. The idea is to bring in Dal- las alums or parents of current students. Jones said having lo- cals explain their career paths is more encouraging for kids. “Were trying to get the home, school, community - that dynamic triangle - to get to- gether,” said Jones. Jones hopes the program will eventually become self-sustain- ing, and she would like to see the entire school participate in helping students’ realize their futures. For example, Jones said, a person in a science field could talk to several science classes in a day. Right now, the program is held twice a month for a few students at one time of the day in the guidance department. “Then you have the entire school involved in career plan- ning, not just the guidance de- partment,” she said. The most difficult part in cre- ating this speaker series is find- ing the speakers, and Jones hopes community members in various fields will eventually begin to volunteer to speak to students. “Let’s bring people back who graduated to see our brand- spanking beautiful new build- ing and to give back to the school that gave so much to (them),” she said. “And not just graduates, but people in the community who live back here. What better teacher is there than experience?” Students seem to agree. Sev- eral students said they have benefited from the program, in- cluding senior Jess Adams, who hasn’t decided on his career yet but has a better idea due to the speaker series. Adams, 17, of Dallas, attend- ed the presentation offered by See PROS, Page 12 0981512007989 on
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