WB_VOICE/PAGES [A01] | 07/24/10 21:55 | SUPERIMPWB

Little League

A Special Section ! July 25, 2010

The Sunday Voice

By Erin Moody | Staff Writer

After years of making multi-million dollar “band-aid” repairsto three aging high schools, Wil-kes-Barre Area School Districtofficials are deciding whetherto spend more than $100 millioneither to keep the schools open,build a new central high schoolor find another way to provideand fund up-to-date educationalfacilities.

Taxpayers will likely make thefinal decision, however, as exten-sive tax increases needed to funda major renovation or buildingproject must be voted on in a pub-lic referendum.

Faced with reports of expen-sive, necessary repairs threeyears ago, board members saidthey wanted to save the district’scommunity schools. Today, manyboard members are backing, orat least considering, constructingone consolidated high school.

It’s a decision board memberPhil Latinski thinks must bemade soon. He understands thecommunity could become divid-ed over educational concerns orfears of higher taxes. He alsobelieves it might cost him hisseat on the school board.

“I want to build a school thatwill be better for the students andthe taxpayers, and if that meanslosing the election, OK,” he said.

Previous studiesNine years after a study

showed Coughlin, GAR and E.L.Meyers high schools were in faircondition, a 2002 study reportedit would cost between $74 mil-lion and $92 million to renovateall of the district’s buildings to“like new” condition. Of that,about $34.8 million would bespent on Meyers, $18.8 millionon Coughlin and $15.1 millionon GAR.

At the time, a citizens’ commit-tee submitted a letter rejectingthe idea of building a single highschool.

The study was launchedbecause it appeared enrollmentwould decrease by about 1,000during the next decade. Instead,it has fallen only about 300, adrop district Superintendent Jef-frey T. Namey attributed to anincreased number of studentsmoving in and out of the districtand a growing Latino popula-tion.

Estimated repair costs furthershot up with two studies in 2007that showed Meyers High School

had sunk six inches because ofthe ebb and flow of the Susque-hanna River. Coughlin, mean-while, was fine despite being inthe river’s flood plain.

The price tag to stabilize andfix Meyers rose to $79 million. Anew building, in the same spot orelsewhere, could cost about $58million, Namey said. The cost ofrenovating Coughlin was updat-ed to $40 million.

Comparison with other districtsOf Pennsylvania’s 500 school

districts, Wilkes-Barre Area isone of fewer than 40 with multi-ple high schools, according to thePennsylvania Department ofEducation.

Of the 12 districts closest in

size to Wilkes-Barre Area, onlytwo — Lower Merion in Mont-gomery County and Seneca Val-ley in Butler County — havemore than one high school. Eachhas two high schools and about200 and 500 more students, respec-tively.

Wilkes-Barre is not onlyunusual for maintaining multi-ple high schools, but also becausethose schools range from 80 to 101years old.

The average age of a schoolbuilding nationwide was 42 yearsold in 1998, according to the mostrecent study from the NationalCenter for Education Statistics.Further, only 28 percent of K-12schools were built before 1950,

like the three Wilkes-Barre highschools.

Costly renovationsThe cost of keeping the high

schools running is starting tomount, although all remain safefor students and employees,according to Namey. During thelast year and a half, Wilkes-BarreArea spent $2.4 million on majorprojects for the three highschools, according to BusinessManager Leonard Pryzwara.

Of that, $2.1 million was spentat Meyers for visitors bleachersat the football stadium, drivewayrepairs, partial roof replacementand parapet removal.

See SCHOOLS, page A4

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© 2010 The Citizens’ Voice

By Bob Kalinowski | Staff Writer

When Kenneth Schweiss was accused ofbeating a police officer recently at his Jack-son Township home, it triggered a flashbackto another violent confrontation he had witha cop 50 years ago.

A Jackson Township police sergeant leftin an ambulance after his July 6 encounterwith Schweiss.

On Nov. 20, 1960, Schweiss’s state trooperfather was carried away in a body bag.

Schweiss, then a 17-year-old high schoolsenior, killed his father at the family’s Hunts-ville Road home in Dallas Borough, shootinghim in the head, chest and shoulder in anambush as the elder Schweiss returnedhome, according to newspaper archives.

Schweiss spent more than seven years inprison. He lived the next 43 without a brushwith the law.

Now, at age 66, Schweiss finds himself fac-ing prison time again for another assault onan officer of the law.

After his release from prison, Schweissmarried, raised a family and found steadyemployment until retirement from an areamanufacturing facility several years ago.Many say he mostly kept a low profile — hisdark past a closely guarded secret to neigh-bors who lived by him for decades.

His recent arrest ended his relative ano-nymity and put him in the public eye again.

Police charged Schweiss with injuringand threatening to kill Jackson Townshippolice Sgt. Scott Davis in a July 6 attackwhen Davis arrived to investigate a domesticdispute at Schweiss’s Jesse Road homearound 5 p.m.

Davis was treated at a local hospital for abadly sprained wrist and injuries to the faceand head.

See MURDER, page A11

Suspect incop assaultkilled statetrooper dad

WARREN RUDA / THE SUNDAY VOICE

Water damage is evident along the walkway that connects Meyers High School tothe bleachers at Wilkes-Barre Memorial Stadium.

James M. Coughlin80 N. Washington St.Year built: 1909Last renovations: 1955Enrollment: 860Capacity: 1087Grades: 9-12Building area: 171,350 grosssquare feetSite size: 2.4 acres

GAR250 S. Grant St.Year built: 1922-1925Last renovations: 1970Enrollment: 855Capacity: 1,099Grades: 7-12Building area: 168,240 grosssquare feetSite size: 5.5 acres

Elmer L. Meyers341 Carey Ave.Year built: 1930Last renovations: 1972-1974Enrollment: 909Capacity: 1,355Grades: 7-12Building area: 232,000 grosssquare feetSite size: 7.5 acres

District’sdilemmaRepair schools or build a new one

BOB KALINOWSKI / THE SUNDAY VOICE

Police allege Kenneth Schweissattacked a police officer at his Jack-son Township residence.

Legal battle developsover mineral rightsBy Patrick SweetStaff Writer

Sherwood B. Davidge andCalvert Crary, lumber baronsand landowners at the turnof the 20th century, musthave had excellent foresight.

At least, they must havewhen they decided to sellmore than 13,000 acres ofland in Noxen and Forkstontownships in Wyoming Coun-ty in 1894, but retained thesought-after mineral rightsmaking millionaires out ofeveryday farmers as gas com-panies snatch up land fornatural gas exploration.

Inked in flowing cursive,pages 30 through 40 of book40 in the Wyoming CountyRecorder of Deeds Office

pass on the behemoth prop-erty — outlined by stone cor-ners, dead spruce trees andvarious antiquated land-marks — from Davidge andCrary to the Union TanningCo.

“Excepting from this con-veyance and reserving for(Davidge and Crary), theirheirs and assigns forever, allpetroleum and other oils, gas,coal, iron and other miner-als,” the deed states.

The two men, though, werestraw men for Union Tan-ning’s parent company andone of the original compa-nies in the Dow Jones Indus-trial Average, the UnitedStates Leather Co.

See RIGHTS, page A10

Work resumes on wellBy David Dishneauand Harry R. WeberAssociated Press

NEW ORLEANS — Crewshurried to get back to workon plugging BP’s leaky oilwell Saturday after TropicalStorm Bonnie fizzled, andengineers hoped for a win-dow of clear weather longenough to stop the gusher forgood.

But with peak hurricaneseason starting in earlyAugust, chances are the nextbigstormisrightonBonnie’sheels.

“We’re going to be playinga cat-and-mouse game for theremainder of the hurricaneseason,” retired Coast GuardAdmiral Thad Allen said Sat-urday. Sure enough, anotherdisturbance already wasbrewing in the Caribbean,

although forecasters said itwasn’t likely to strengtheninto a tropical storm.

In the past 10 years, an

average of five namedstorms have hit the Gulfeach hurricane season. Thisyear, two have struck already

— Bonnie and HurricaneAlex at the end of June,which delayed cleanup ofBP’s massive oil spill for aweek even though it didn’tget closer than 500 milesfrom the well.

Bonnie fell apart Saturdaybefore it even reached theLouisiana coast. By then,worries about the storm hadpushed back efforts to solidlyseal the well by at least aweek, said Allen, the govern-ment’s point man on the spilland a veteran of the CoastGuard’s rescue mission afterHurricane Katrina.

Completion now looks pos-sible by mid-August, butAllen said he wouldn’t hesi-tate to order another evacua-tion based on forecasts simi-lar to the ones for Bonnie,which halted work onWednesday.

Gulf glanceKey developments in the Gulf of Mexicooil spill:! Holding pattern: BP and the federalgovernment are increasingly sure that thetemporary plug that has mostly containedthe oil for eight days will hold.! Practice makes perfect: Joe Kramer,the man who oversees the on-land opera-tion in the Grand Isle oil cleanup for MillerEnvironmental Services, called Bonniethe perfect dress rehearsal for the hurri-cane season. “We had a plan and weexecuted the plan without a problem,”Kramer said.! Showtime: Heavy rain and frequentlightning didn’t seem to bother thoseattending a benefit concert in Grand Isle. The show raised money tobenefit civic projects on the island and included performances byLeAnn Rimes and Three Dog Night.

A woman walksher dog Satur-day past part ofthe contaminatedbeach in GrandIsle, La.

Northeastern Pennsylvania’s New Frontier

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WB_VOICE/PAGES [A10] | 07/24/10 22:34 | SUPERIMPWB

REGION / NATION

FROM PAGE A1The two supposedly con-

veyed the rights to the com-pany but documentation waslost during the leather com-panies’ bankruptcy.

Now, more than a centurylater, the International Devel-opment Corp., the ThomasFamily Trust, and the stateare in a legal battle over whois the rightful owner and whohas the ability to extract thenatural gas from the 13,627-acre property. A wild historyof bankruptcies, tax sales,and various transactionswith middlemen and thestate have made who ownsthe mineral rights somewhatof a mystery.

At the end of June, Wyo-ming County president judgeRussell Shurtleff dismissedthe international corpora-tion’s attempt to claim soleownership of the mineralrights after the state inter-vened and filed objections.The company plans to appealthe judge’s order to statesuperior court.

Each party claims therights belong to it, and allacquired them in a differentway. Whoever ends up com-ing away with the mineralrights can stand to make mil-lions of dollars from the gasburied within the MarcellusShale.

! International Develop-ment Corp. claims:

Crary and Davidge gavethe mineral rights to theUnited States Leather Co. inexchange for stock, thoughthere are no records of thetransaction.

The leather companypassed along the rights toKeta Realty Co, its subsidiary,which later became Keta Gasand Oil Co.

Keta passed the rightsalong to Astra Oil & GasCorp. in 1966, who then trans-ferred them to ClarenceMoore in 1981. On Aug. 3,2000, International Develop-ment purchased the deedfrom Clarence Moore’sestate.

“I wouldn’t want to sayanything on behalf of the cli-ent one way or another,”Marc Drier, the attorney rep-resenting the corporation,said. “Obviously, we think wehave a proper claim.”

! The state argues:Central Pennsylvania

Lumber Co., owned byUnited States Leather Co.,sold the land to the com-monwealth on Feb. 11,1931.

When Davidge and Crarydied in 1911 and 1929,respectively, the mineralrights weren’t included ineither’s last will and testa-ment.

No documentation fromthe leather company alsomeans the mineral rightswere deemed abandoned

and unclaimed. Under theUnclaimed Property Act,those mineral rights wereconveyed to the state Trea-sury Department and wentunclaimed for the five yearsan owner would have toclaim them.

Attempts to reach BradBechtel, chief council for thegame commission, wereunsuccessful.

! The Thomas FamilyTrust claims:

Davidge and Crary gavethe mineral rights to UnitedStates Leather Co.

“The surface was sold toUnion Tanning and the min-erals were given to the bigcompany,” trustee WilliamThomas said.

In the early 2000s, Thomassaid, the trust bought theremainder of the bankruptleather company, includingthe mineral rights.

Lester Greevy, a LycomingCounty-based attorney spe-cializing in oil and gas lawand estate planning, saidCentral Pennsylvania Lum-ber and United States Leath-er’s history of tax sales andbankruptcies make many ofthe deeds traced back to thecompanies very difficult tostraighten out.

Tax sales included themineral rights automaticallyunless someone came for-ward to claim proper owner-ship, Greevy said. When thelumber company sold theland to the state, odds are themineral rights went withthem.

“If I were a betting man,”Greevy said, “I’d put mymoney on the state.”

psweet@citizensvoice.com570-821-2117

RIGHTS: Wyoming County property in dispute

Our drilling databaseat citizensvoice.com/drilling

contains more than 6,500natural gas leases.

GAS LEASE DATABASEVA easing rules for medical marijuanaBy Dan FroschNew York Times News Service

DENVER — The Depart-ment of Veterans Affairs willformally allow patients treat-ed at its hospitals and clinicsto use medical marijuana instates where it is legal, a poli-cy clarification that veteranshave sought for severalyears.

A department directive,expected to take effect thisweek, resolves the conflict inveterans facilities betweenfederal law, which outlawsmarijuana, and the 14 statesthat allow medicinal use ofthe drug, effectively defer-

ring to the states.The policy will not permit

department doctors to pre-scribe marijuana. But it willaddress the concern of manypatients who use the drugthat they could lose access totheir prescription pain medi-cation if caught.

Under department rules,veterans can be denied painmedications if they are foundto be using illegal drugs.Until now, the departmenthad no written exception formedical marijuana.

This has led many patientsto distrust their doctors, vet-erans say. With doctors andpatients pressing the veter-

ans department for formalguidance, agency officialsbegan drafting a policy lastfall.

“When states start legaliz-ing marijuana we are put ina bit of a unique positionbecause as a federal agency,we are beholden to federallaw,” said Dr. Robert Jesse,the principal deputy undersecretary for health in theveterans department.

At the same time, Jessesaid, “We didn’t wantpatients who were legallyusing marijuana to beadministratively deniedaccess to pain managementprograms.”

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A proposed Settlement has been reached ina lawsuit, which claims that AT&T Wirelessand Panasonic Telecommunications SystemsCompany (collectively, “Defendants”)violated federal and state laws by lockingcertain wireless telephones to prevent themfrom being used with other wireless carriernetworks. Defendants deny these claims.Under the Settlement, Class Memberswill be entitled to receive either a cashpayment or prepaid phone card. Also, ifthe total number of Claims made by ClassMembers does not reach a total of 28,000,then AT&T will distribute phone cards, in anamount representing the difference between28,000 and the number of Claims, to currentmembers of the U.S. military and/or theirfamilies.

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submitting a Claim Form postmarkedwithin 60 days of final approval ofthe Settlement, which is expected tobe January 3, 2011 (60 days after theFairnessHearingscheduledonNovember2, 2010). Please refer to the Settlementwebsite for updated information.

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