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FRIDAY, AUGUST 10, 2012
THE TIMES LEADER www.timesleader.com
Judge’s Mural a tribute to all who served ruling for FNCB is appealed Wall in Plymouth VFW Post 1425 includes scenes from 6 wars in which U.S. fought. By BILL O’BOYLE boboyle@timesleader.com
Dunmore bank was granted a 12.5 percent interest in Eastern Insurance Group. By TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER tmorgan@timesleder.com
WILKES-BARRE – An attorney for Eastern Insurance Group has appealed a Luzerne County judge’s ruling that granted First National Community Bank of Dunmore a 12.5 percent interest in the company based on a monetary judgment issued against one of its investors. Judge Lesa Gelb ruled in June the bank could assume the interest of Paul J. Siegel to help satisfy a judgment of $546,289 that was entered against Siegel after he defaulted on a private loan that has no connection to the insurance company. Siegel, of Shavertown, is among of group of investors that formed Eastern Insurance in 2008. He gained an interest in the company, which is a limited liability corporation, by signing a $50,000 promissory note. The legal dispute centers on whether other owners of Eastern had the right to buy back Siegel’s shares after they were notified FNCB intended to seek Siegel’s interest in the company. FNCB argued Siegel’s share in the company was a personal asset; therefore it had the right to seek his interest in the firm. Eastern’s attorney, Joseph Kluger, maintained the LLC’s operating agreement permitted other investors to buy out Siegel; therefore there was no “interest” for FNCB to seek. Gelb sided with FNCB. In a June 13 ruling, she dismissed Eastern’s objections and awarded FNCB a 12.5 percent ownership in the company. Kluger filed an appeal of the ruling with the state Superior Court on July 12. He did not return a phone message Thursday regarding the basis of the appeal. In a legal brief asking Gelb to reconsider her ruling, Kluger argued the decision would adversely impact other owners because it not only gives FNCB a financial interest in Eastern, it also gives the bank a voice in all decisions that are made by the company. “The entitlement to the membership interests (of Siegel) … directly affects the members of Eastern, who are not involved in the debts owed by defendant Siegel,” Kluger said. Kluger also argues FNCB, which has estimated Siegel’s share of Eastern to be worth $250,000, will be unjustly enriched by the ruling. Eastern contends Siegel’s share is worth no more than the $50,000 promissory note he signed to gain an ownership interest. “To allow a value set at $250,000 far exceeds what interest defendant Siegel ever had in Eastern and grants the plaintiff bank a higher windfall that even defendant Siegel would be entitled,” Kluger said.
PLYMOUTH – The mural takes up one entire wall at the Plymouth Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1425. It depicts scenes from six wars – World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. The mural, painted by Bob Dauksis, 63, of Nanticoke, honors all veterans, and it clearly shows the sacrifices, hardships and heroics of the men and women of our armed forces through the decades. “We’re not celebrating war,” said Clyde Peters of the VFW and himself a decorated veteran of Vietnam. “The mural celebrates all soldiers and what each has done for our country to preserve our freedoms.” Dauksis, a carpenter by trade, said painting is his hobby. He said he wanted to offer a general presentation of what all soldiers went through war by war. Dauksis said the World War I scene shows trench warfare;
CLARK VAN ORDEN/THE TIMES LEADER
Artist Bob Dauksis of Nanticoke and Clyde Peters of the Plymouth stand in front of the mural Dauksis recently completed inside the VFW. The mural depicts scenes from six wars: World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.
World War II is of the D-Day landing; Korea depicts the extreme cold conditions; Vietnam includes the jungle and rice paddies; Iraq is a desert scene; and Afghanistan shows a town with soldiers policing the area. Peters, 62, said the Iraq frame includes a female soldier. He said he asked Dauksis to paint her in to honor the VFW Post’s first female combat veteran. “We want people to come in and see the mural,” Peters said. “The
Kielbasi Festival is coming up and we want visitors to stop by and see the mural and appreciate all soldiers.” The Kielbasi Festival will be held Friday and Saturday, Aug. 2425. Peters said the theme of the festival’s parade is “Honor All Soldiers.” Peters, the youngest of 17 children, knows what soldiers go through in battle. On Thanksgiving Day in 1968, Peters saved the life of a fellow sol-
dier who was hit in the chest by an enemy bullet. Peters threw him on his shoulder and headed to safety. While he was running with the wounded soldier on his back, Peters was hit. Peters also spearheaded the drive to erect a Vietnam Memorial in his hometown honoring seven young men from Plymouth who were killed in the war and all those who fought there. The Plymouth VFW was established in 1938.
Reason for rejecting Moosic event not believed Steve Smith of the European American Action Coalition says rights violated. By STEVE MOCARSKY smocarsky@timesleader.com
MOOSIC – The man who organized a picnic for a “white people’s rights group” doesn’t buy a borough official’s reasons behind rescinding permission to use the borough park pavilion on Saturday for the event. Steve Smith, director of the local chapter of the European American Action Coalition, said the coalition has had its annual picnic at the park for the last two years without incident. But after borough officials read a newspaper story about the event and its organizer and discovering that Smith resided in Pittston, Council Chairman
John Mercatili said the borough secretary called Smith and requested proof of his residency in the borough. When Smith confirmed that he lived in Pittston, she informed him permission to use the pavilion was revoked. Mercatili said borough policy limits reserved use of the pavilion to borough residents, who may, of course, invite non-borough residents to events. He said permission to use the pavilion was revoked because Smith lied about his residency. He also said Smith screamed and cursed at the secretary on the phone. Smith on Thursday said he raised his voice at the secretary but did not curse. He said he has used the Moosic address of his girlfriend’s friend when reserving the pavilion just as he had for the previous two years. The friend did not make the reservation herself because she didn’t
want her name in the paper. Smith said he doesn’t believe Mercatili’s reason for rescinding permission because when he asked the secretary if his friend, who lives in Moosic, could reserve the pavilion, “she said ‘No. We don’t want fascists in our town anyway.’ That’s when I found the real reason.” Smith, 41, said he is not a fascist, a racist or a white supremacist, despite his past affiliation with the Keystone State Skinheads, a past ethnic intimidation conviction and the beliefs of the guest speaker who had been scheduled for the picnic. Merlin Miller, a filmmaker and presidential candidate for the American Third Position Party, was to be the special guest speaker. The Southern Poverty Law Center says the American Third Position is “a political party initially established by racist
Southern California skinheads that aims to deport immigrants and return the United States to white rule.” Smith said he is no longer affiliated with the skinheads group and he doesn’t condone his drunken behavior when he threatened a man whom he described as a drug dealer, which led to the intimidation conviction in 2003. He also said the coalition is not a hate group or white supremacist group. “It’s an advocacy group for white people, just like the NAACP is an advocacy group for black people and La Raza is an advocacy group for Hispanics,” Smith said. Smith, a truck driver, said he plans on “looking into” legal action against the borough. He believes rescinding use of the park was ultimately a violation of his First Amendment rights.
Dallas Township discusses emergency services issues Supervisors talk about how to best notify residents in event of emergency. By SARAH HITE shite@timesleader.com
DALLAS TWP. – Emergency Management Agency coordinator Alan Pugh told supervisors at their Tuesday work session that both the Dallas and Kunkle fire departments held a tabletop drill with the Williams Gas Co., which simulated an emergency at a natural gas site. He said Kunkle Fire Chief Jack Dodson is also trying to organize a tabletop drill with the school district to anticipate any shortcomings that may Supervisors also discussed what would be the best way to
notify residents during the event of an emergency. Supervisor Liz Martin said she has tested that via the township website newsletter. She said most residents have asked to be notified via email, and only two people had asked for the newsletter via mail. Martin said she will see if the trends change at all with the next newsletter, but she believes the best way to communicate with other residents would be electronically. The county has a system available to the township to alert residents electronically of emergencies at no cost, Pugh said. He said a cost to add phone numbers could be incurred at a later date. Pugh also spoke to the supervisors about possible alternate
access ways to the school district near the football stadium that would allow emergency vehicles to get onto the campus. Martin said school officials would participate in maintaining the roadways but had asked whether the township could get the roads approved for emergency access purposes. Solicitor Thomas Brennan said there are many issues to consider, such as whether those roads are owned by the township, how much work would be required to open the roads and other factors. Police Chief Robert Jolley presented the supervisors with information about purchasing two computerized mobile dispatch systems for the department. He said these systems, which
are already in place in local emergency service vehicles, enable officers to receive 911 call information in real time, access to various databases from anywhere and contact with other police departments throughout the country and abroad. Jolley said the county upgraded to a new, computer-aided dispatch system, and several licenses were purchased for the data to be shared among other police departments. The township has an opportunity to utilize the licenses at no cost. He said otherwise the licenses cost $1,800 per unit. Jolley said the hardware would cost $7,790 to install the equipment into police vehicles. He also said the equipment could be moved to different vehicles if needed.
Engineer testifies his design for quarry won’t impact environment By TOM HUNTINGTON Times Leader Correspondent
DORRANCE TWP. – Rick Caranfa, an engineer with Aiken Engineers of Shiremanstown, testified Wednesday night that his design for a quarry operation on Small Mountain Road complies with all government regulations and will have no significant impact on the area around it. Under questioning from Pennsy attorney George Asimox, who is affiliated with the Harrisburg office of the law firm of Saul &
Ewing, Caranfa repeatedly stated his design for the quarry, which is proposed for development by the Pennsy Supply Corp., meets with regulations on land and water usage, as well as environmental restrictions. Caranfa said he was primarily involved in developing an environmental impact statement for the state Department of Environmental Protection. He said the submitted study shows the quarry will have “no adverse impact.” After Caranfa’s more than 21/2
hours of testimony, attorney Bill Higgs, representing residents opposed to the quarry, asked Caranfa about the impact on wetlands that are situated to the south of quarry property. Higgs’ questioning will carry over to a fourth session after the township supervisors set a 10 p.m. deadline for testimony. Caranfa, however, did present some new information on underground water reserves. He said test wells have determined two major aquifers lie beneath the
site. He produced two schematic drawings reflecting what he called a “deep aquifer” and a “shallow aquifer.” He said the deep aquifer is substantial because when a monitoring well was drilled it was determined that the underground water is under pressure. Asked by Supervisor Gary Zane about the possibility of the deep aquifer being contaminated by chemicals, Caranfa said the company won’t keep a substan-
tial amount of hazardous material on site and there will be constant water monitoring. Caranfa, in response to a question by Supervisor Ben Ostrowski about blasting, said there is little chance of blasting causing cracks in the rock formation in which the aquifers lie. Carnafa said that in advance of preparing his design he walked the site 50 times, including this past Monday, when he inspected water runoff into the wetlands after Sunday’s storm.
DETAILS LOTTERY MIDDAY DRAWING DAILY NUMBER – 0-9-1 BIG 4 – 4-6-5-1 QUINTO – 7-3-9-8-6 TREASURE HUNT 01-04-06-10-24 NIGHTLY DRAWING DAILY NUMBER – 5-7-9 BIG 4 – 4-5-4-8 QUINTO – 8-4-4-3-1 CASH 5 02-10-15-20-30 MATCH 6 10-24-26-31-39-49 HARRISBURG – No player matched all five winning numbers drawn in Thursday’s Cash 5, so today’s jackpot will be $1.4 million. Lottery officials said 379 players matched four numbers and won $148 each. • Monday’s Match 6 jackpot will be $600,000 because no player held a ticket with one row that matched all six numbers drawn Thursday. • There was no jackpot winner in Wednesday’s drawing of Powerball, so Saturday’s jackpot will be $253 million.
OBITUARIES Ambrosino, Florence Beaver, Ann Marie Briar, Robert Chandler, Bernard Sr. Chapko, Mary Lou Coolbaugh, Maybelle Gorka, Albin Jr. Guskiewicz, Jean Haschak, Jane Kirkpatrick, Sister Aurea Mitchneck, Aronita Ostopick, Anna Patalak, Patricia Perovich, Charles Petrick, Margaret Price, Ann Marie Priebe, Verna Seeley, Katherine Stadts, Richard Thomas, Andrew Tighe, George Ziemba, Ann Page 6A, 7A
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