Vol.122 No.7 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 April 15 - 21, 2012 |€ 50¢ WILKES-BARRE, PA. www.mydallaspost.com AN EDITION OF THE TIMES LEADER BILL TARUTIS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Harveys Lake Borough Council member Michell'e Boice describes the space constraints in the area surrounding a baseball field and the former Harveys Lake Recreation Center off Westpoint Avenue near Lake-Noxen Elementary School, the proposed site of the new borough police department building. HL police station might move By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com Members of Harveys Lake Borough Council have ex- pressed concerns about plans to relocate the police department to Little League Road, and a public hearing will be held on April 17 to further discuss the issue. The borough received a $78,220 grant from gaming fund revenues last month to move the police department from its cur- rent location on Route 415 to a former recreation building on Little League Road near the pub- lic boat launch and Lake-Noxen Elementary School. Mayor Clarence Hogan said this is the second attempt coun- cil has made to apply for a grant to fund the project. He believes the new location will be more secure for the police department and will offer more space for of- ficers to complete their work. Police Chief Charles Musial presented information to coun- cil at its last meeting in support of the move, saying the current building is structurally deficient and will need to be replaced within five years. Part of the plan is to move the borough secretary from the mu- nicipal authority building to the current police department build- ing after the move. Musial also said the current building is unsafe for officers and is too visible to the public. “Criminals can easily see all police vehicles at the station,” he wrote. “People check often before leaving the three local “People check often before leaving the three local bars to see if all three cruisers are at the station. People then decide on how fast they will drive af- ter viewing all three cruisers in the parking lot.” Charles Musial Harveys Lake Police Chief bars to see if all three cruisers are at the station. People then decide on how fast they will drive after viewing all three cruisers in the parking lot.” Council member Michell’e Boice disputes Musial’s claims and believes moving the police department will do more harm than good within the communi- Boice, who was elected to council last year but has served in the past and regularly attends council meetings, wasn’t even aware of the project until she read about the grant award in a local newspaper. “The community didn’t know a thing,” she said. “I go to meet- ings, and this has never come up.” She said the recreation build- ing was built in the late 1970s See POLICE, Page 14 Religion class is %bout acceptance By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com An elective class at Dallas High School allows students to »discuss a topic most public schools try to avoid — religion. Dallas High School students learn about the history of vari- ous spiritual beliefs in the com- rative religions class, and ne students said the class in- directly has affected their own personal beliefs. Jason Rushmer, Dallas High School history teacher, said the goal of the Comparative Reli- gions class is to keep the class focused on historical principles of each religion taught, and how religion affects the world today. He sought guidance from col- lege professors who teach the class on a higher level, and after three years, the class at Dallas averages about 170 students per year. “The main thing is to teach religion historically, not to preach,” said Rushmer. “I always say the students shouldn’t know what I do or don’t believe.” Rushmer said the class focus- es on the major faiths of the world, including Christianity, Ju- daism, Islam and Hinduism. The class also features discussions on cults, animism and other be- lief systems. Students recently visited “We live in a world of seven billion people, and we have to try to make it through without hurt- ing each other.” Jason Rushmer Dallas High School history teacher three local religious facilities to take their studies to a new level. They visited Temple Israel, a Jewish temple in Wilkes-Barre; St. John the Baptist Church, a Russian Orthodox church in Ed- wardsville; and the Northeast Is- lamic Association, an Islamic mosque in Wilkes-Barre. Rushmer believes the class is useful for younger students be- cause it teaches them to be more understanding of others. “We live in a world of seven billion people, and we have to try to make it through without hurting each other,” he said. Seventeen-year-old Paige Cu- ba, of Dallas, said she wanted to take the class because of the op- portunity to explore other belief systems besides her own, which is Christianity. “I just want to know what oth- er people think and what is out there,” she said. She said the class has given her plenty to think about, too. “I found that Muslims are very CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST The Rev. Raymond Martin Browne, priest at St. John the Baptist Church, an independent Russian Orthodox Church in Edwardsville, explains to a group of Dallas Senior High School students the meaning of the many icons and decorations in the church during a Com- parative Religions class field trip. interesting — everyone has them stereotyped,” said Cuba. “A few people make them look bad.” Emily Prater, 18, of Dallas, said the Comparative Religions class is “not typical.” “You're not usually exposed to all the different religions, and it’s getting all the facts about something you didn’t know any- thing about,” she said. Prater said there are so many assumptions in the media about certain religions, and the class at Dallas High School has helped her to gain a better un- derstanding of what’s real and what's not. “A lot of stereotypes are cleaned up,” she said. “It makes everything more fair. When youre exposed to the facts, it’s helpful.” Aubrey Gryskiewicz, 17, of Wyoming, said the class has also made her more understanding of her own religion, Catholi- cism. “Sometimes you don’t know what it all means or why you do it,” she said. “This class makes you think like no other class.” 1913 Ecumenical By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com The Dallas School Board heard from representatives of the Back Mountain Ecumenical Group on Monday about a potential project for Dallas graduates injured or killed during service in the armed forces. Eugene Kelleher, leader of the men’s group, said funds are being © ¢'"M098 1512007989 group wants to honor raised through the First Lieuten- ant Michael Cleary Fund to pur- chase plaques to honor those from Dallas High School award- ed purple hearts or gold stars. John Brougher, a retired colo- nel in the military and a member of the men’s group, hopes to have a group or individual from the high school take over the project, but the men’s group designed the plaques and established rules for the program. The 14-inch plaques would in- clude a seal from the branch of the military in which the person served, along with their name, rank and date of receiving the award. Brougher said more research needs to be done to determine how many Dallas graduates a would be honored through this program. He said anyone wishing to make a donation to the project could do so through the First Lieutenant Michael Cleary Fund, which is operated through the Luzerne Foundation. Superintendent Frank Galicki said the project is important to the district because it helps stu- dents realize the importance of community volunteerism. “I know it is important how community and volunteer groups fit into our thought proc- ess and educational process for our students because role model- ing is critical,” said Galicki. The board also unanimously voted to eliminate a full-time maintenance position in favor of HS graduates injured in military a part-time one. Last month some board mem- bers had concerns about abolish- ing the laborer position in the maintenance department due to the increased needs of campus maintenance since the comple- tion of the high school building last year. The board tabled the motion to remove the position, which was open due to the resignation of an employee, until Supervisor of Buildings and Grounds Mark Kraynack could provide docu- mentation about how the depart- ment would be affected by the change. Kraynack said, after discussing the issue with the board, he found that the groundskeeper staff was lacking. The board approved a motion to add a part-time groundskeeper position to help ease the work- load. Kraynack said the ground- skeeper position duties include plowing snow, cutting grass and tending to outdoor areas of the campus. The board also approved a See HONOR, Page 14 ciation. park. Business Expo set for April 18 The newly-formed Back Mountain Chamber of Commerce will hold its first-ever Back Mountain Business Expo on Wednesday, April 18 at Misericordia University and the event will be tied into the bi-annual presentation of the Back Mountain Historical Asso- F. Charles Petrillo, a local historian who has published a book called “Harveys Lake,” will be the guest speaker and will present old photographs and personal stories of the former amusement For more information, please turn to page 12.
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