Vol.121 No. 33 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 October 21 - 27, 2012 ® The DALLAS POST. WILKES-BARRE, PA. www.mydallaspost.com AN EDITION OF THE TIMES LEADER Concern continues over police move By MEGAN SCHNEIDER mschneider@mydallaspost.com Residents of Harveys Lake Bor- ough expressed their concerns about the possible moving and renovating of the police station at the monthly council meeting on Oct. 16. The station was not on the agen- da, but council did inform the pub- lic that the current building will be assessed by an engineer, as was discussed at the previous meeting. Resident Judi Williams Spagnu- olo addressed council, concerned because the police station issue is persistent. She said the first bids on renovating the recreation cen- ter to accommodate the police sta- tion came in over budget and that she can’t afford to have her taxes raised. She also stated she had statistics m months ago, claiming the ber of police calls from the beach encompassed almost 70 percent of all calls made to the po- lice and questioned what percent- age of police calls come from the “We should be lucky we have a police force be- cause there are many municipalities that are without. The council is doing the best they can.” Gerald Kovaleski Harveys Lake resident beach now. Council members were unsure of that percentage. Spagnuolo also asked what per- centage of last month’s police calls regarded break-ins. Mayor Clar- ence Hogan stated that none of the calls were from burglaries. Resident Gerald Kovaleski said, “We should be lucky we have a po- lice force because there are many municipalities that are without. The council is doing the best they can.” Resident Diane Dwyer asked photos, please turn to page 9. See CONCERN, Page 10 JR. MOUNTS UNDEFEATED CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Dallas Jr. Mount Brendan Eggleston (No. 99) takes down Kingston Twp. Raider Jake Horetz (No.13) in Wyoming Valley Confer- ence Youth Football action on Oct. 14. The Jr. Mounts defeated the Raiders, 49-14, behind the scoring of seven different players and currently sport a 9-0 record. Dallas plays the West Pittston Rams today at Mountaineer Stadium. For a story and additional Making life easier for the disabled By MEGAN SCHNEIDER mschneider@mydallaspost.com Have you ever given any con- @ to the height of the opening on a vending machine? Do you think twice when walk- ing under an open stairwell? Most of us do these things on auto-pilot. Misericordia University pro- fessor Denis Anson thinks of nothing else. Anson is the direc- tor of research and development for the Assistive Technology Re- search Institute or ATRI, a pro- gram dedicated to teaching and applying the regulations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The Noxen resident has de- vised and brought to market the Americans with Disabilities Act- Compliance Assessment Toolkit or ADA-CAT, which measures whether public buildings are compliant with the federal laws. The toolkit uses very basic in- struments to measure every area of accessibility. Some of these instruments are everyday items such as a tape measure and a level but others, like the Key Torque Tool and the Story Stick, are custom designed by Anson to eliminate the math and de- coding of the standards. Anson explained that a lot of disabilities are things the gener- al public doesn’t think about. For example, people may con- sider wheelchair bound disabil- ities or blindness, but many don’t consider deafness, low vi- sion and limited mobility when determining accessibility op- tions. I had the opportunity to visit with Anson and experience some of these limitations first hand. I was fitted with thick suede gloves, making it nearly impossible to button my coat or even open a door. The gloves simulated serious arthritis or semi-paralytic mobility brought 6098151200798 CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Phone numbers are largest on this sight limited phone but details and screen colors are still not acceptable for impaired sight. The ATRI and the College of Pro- fessional Studies and Social Sci- ences at Misericordia University, with the Augmentative and Al- ternative Communication In- stitute, is hosting "Teaching Acces- sibility: Beyond the Classroom," from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 26. The all-day conference costs $125 and the deadline to register is Oct. 23. on by a stroke. “Suddenly, very simple tasks become more complex,” said Anson as I struggled. Goggles smeared with paste made it difficult for me to see. Though it was not impossible and I could still make out a doorway and walk down the hall, I was unable to make out people’s faces or dial a large numbered telephone. The gog- gles simulate how individuals with low vision experience ev- eryday life. I also had the opportunity to travel part of Misericordia’s cam- EW » Trying to button your coat with hand disabilities can be trouble- See DISABLED, Page 10 es Post. Philadelphia University Provost Randy Swearer, Ph.D., places the Centennial Medal Award for Excellent in Education on Mi- chael Novrocki as nominating student Sean Fertal looks on. LL teacher receives Medal of Excellence Michael Novrocki, Social Studies teacher and National History Day Coordinator at Lake-Lehman High School, re- cently received the Centennial Medal Award for Excellence in Education from Philadelphia University. The award is pre- sented to educators for their dedication in preparing their students for college. Novrocki received the award at Philadelphia University’s Academic Convocation held re- cently at the beginning of the academic year. Award recipients are nomi- nated by former students enter- ing Philadelphia University’s freshman class, who believe the educator they nominate had a special and distinct positive im- pact on their high school career. Novrocki was nominated by Lake-Lehman graduate Sean Fertal, a member of the Lake- Lehman High School Class of 2012 and a freshman at Philadel- phia University. Fertal’s essay nominating Novrocki for the award was one of four selected by the university out of 600 re- ceived from members of this year’s incoming freshman class. At the award ceremony, Fer- tal read portions of his nominat- ing essay, after which Novrocki was presented with the Centen- nial Medal Award from Phila- delphia University President Stephen Spinelli, Jr., Ph.D. Novrocki has been a member of the Social Studies Depart- ment at Lake-Lehman High School for the past 10 years. Pri- or to that, he had been a mem- ber of the Social Studies De- partment at Abington Heights High School. And the winners are ... The votes (more than 2,500 of them) have been tabulat- ed and winners in The Dallas Post’s 2012 Best of the Back Mountain Readers’ Contest have been notified. An awards ceremony will be held on Oct. 30 at Fire & Ice on Toby Creek for winners and their guests. Winners in more than 80 categories will be announced publicly in a special section to be published in the Nov. 4 issue of The Dallas
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers