Vol.121 No. 13 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 May 27 - June 2, 2012 ® The DAL 50¢ WILKES-BARRE, PA. www.mydallaspost.com AN EDITION OF THE TIMES LEADER Facility plans progress Partnership confirms plans to move facility forward despite cuts in budget. By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com Plans for a regional emergen- cy management facility are mov- ing forward despite budget cuts, the Back Mountain Community Partnership confirmed at a meeting May 17. Lehman Township received a $975,000 gaming fund grant on behalf of the partnership in March for a regional emergency management agency facility to be located in a former medical building off Route 118. & The partnership initially re- juested $1.2 million for the pro- ject. Cuts were made to adminis- trative fees, engineering, permit- ting and legal fees and new con- struction costs. A committee of partnership members met with emergency management agency officials to discuss the budget and the group agreed to increase the amount of equipment located at the site. This includes having two trailers packed with equip- ment to increase efficiency dur- ing emergency situations. Another major change to the oject includes the elimination & a pole barn in favor of build- ing an addition to the existing building. Chairman James Reino Jr. said the measure saves mon- ey, increases security and will make the site more efficient. The partnership also named Quad III Engineering as the pro- ject engineer and architect. In other news ... e Kingston Township Super- visor Jeffrey Box asked the part- nership to collectively urge state officials to move forward with a corridor study requested nearly 10 years ago on state routes 309 and 415. Box said Kingston Township received a draft of the study a few years ago, but it was never finalized by the state Depart- ment of Transportation. He said the study would be a key factor in scheduling the roads on Penn- DOT’s Transportation Improve- ment Program project list. ® Partnership members also discussed funding of the 2012-13 DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program in the Dal- las School District. Kingston Township Manager Kathleen Sebastian said the rates would stay close to last year’s for participating munici- palities, though funding would need to be approved by August for Kingston Township DARE officer Frank Ziegler to receive updated training for the pro- gram’s new curriculum. Last year, the rates were dis- persed so the school district contributed 35 percent, King- ston and Dallas townships con- tributed 20 percent each and Dallas Borough and Franklin Township both contributed 12.5 percent. Sebastian said the totals for See FACILITY, Page 13 09815120079 > PROM TIME BILL TARUTIS PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Senior Kaleb Taylor, left, and sophomore Alex Klinges enjoy the Dallas High School prom. t’s prom season and students from both Dallas and Lake-Lehman High Schools enjoyed theirs this past Lake-Lehman junior Ashlee Barker, left, and senior Zack Titus arrive at the Genetti Hotel & Conference Center in Wilkes- Barre. week. For additional photos, please turn to pages 5 and 7. Group VOWS to protect graves By MARK GUYDISH mguydish@timesleader.com Standing near a proposed hiking/bicycling trail route that would wend its way be- tween several tombstones in the Sacred Heart Cemetery off Dorchester Drive in Dallas, Mary Jean Tarantini urged fam- ilies who have plots on the property to contact Diocese of Scranton officials and request the trail be rerouted away from “this sacred place.” “We are very concerned and shocked that this has been planned for eight years and not one plot owner knew about it” until recently, said Tarantini, of Harveys Lake. Tarantini was joined by more than 30 people collectively call- See GRAVES, Page 13 Poultry presentation is an egg-citing one Backyard chickens easy to care for, do wonders for health and environment. By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com Poultry fans found a recent presentation at The Lands at Hillside Farms very egg-citing. Dr. Doug Ayers, a veterinar- ian at the Plains Animal Hospi- tal in Plains Township and chairman of the farm’s board of directors, told a small group of chicken enthusiasts in the farm’s Coach Barn on May 19 that it’s easy to keep hens in a backyard, and it'll do wonders for people’s health and the en- vironment, too. Chris Mathers, of Kingston Township, attended the talk just a few weeks after asking the Kingston Township Board of Supervisors if it would change the township zoning ordinance to allow her to raise chickens on her property. Mathers, whose husband Ga- ry is a supervisor, lives in a res- idential area and zoning laws currently prohibit the keeping of farm animals in such areas. Land zoned agricultural could house hens and other farm ani- mals. Mathers believes the bene- fits of raising chickens out- weigh any fault the supervi- sors could find. “There are so many bene- fits,” she said. “You don’t need a rooster, they eat bugs and ticks and their eggs are high in nutritional value.” Mathers wants to raise chickens to become more self- reliant. She already tends a garden and said raising chick- ens is the next natural step. “With this economy, if there was a disruption in transporta- tion or a natural disaster, we have to be more self-reliant just in case,” she said. Ayers told the group that keeping chickens is definitely a step up from store-bought eggs. BILL TARUTIS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Veterinarian Dr. Doug Ayers interacts with a hen at The Lands at Hillside Farms prior to a presentation on how to raise chickens in your backyard. “In cracking the eggs, you can see the difference in qual- ity,” he said, holding an egg from a Hillside chicken. “I need a hammer to crack this egg.” Ayers, who was raised in Wilkes-Barre and on a farm in Noxen, said all chickens have Salmonella in their bodies, and it’s released by stress. He said chickens kept at an industrial farm are so stressed the chick- ens “release it all the time.” Ayers believes this debunks the myth that home-raised chickens are less healthy. “People have it backwards,” he said. But Ayers warned those in attendance that chickens can’t be raised alone - the creatures are naturally sociable and tend to flock together. The Humko family is well- ahead of the curve - the family tends about 30 chickens on its Harding property. Gail Humko decided to raise chickens last year because she felt the eggs would be health- ier and cheaper to produce. she said. Chickens came to Humko by accident - a third-grade science project at Wyoming Area left her with a few chicks at home so she decided to keep the peeps and make them part of her family. Ayers said keeping chickens See POULTRY, Page 13
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers