The Times Leader from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania • 19

Courtdale woman won't talk about disappearance St, was located at her brother's By DAVID A. KOLMAN her double-block residence. Her Bight-gown was found burned oa the basement regular medical treatment According to Courtdale police, the woman was last sees running from the residence shortly after the fire erupted. Padavaa lived in half of the double-block structure with her husband, two sons and a daughter. The other half was occupied by another Padavaa son.

his wife and child. house in Niagara Falls late Wednesday Bight, Courtdale police said. She was reported unhurt and in good condition, but has refused to talk to authorities Mrs. Padavan had been the object of an intensive area search as she could not be located following the 6:10 a.m. fire that broke out in the basement of Police said Mrs.

Padavaa was finally located after police learned the worn as had a brother in New York. Police called the residence of Calvm Sletter and discovered that Mrs. Padavan was safe and with her brother. However, she refused to talk to police. State Fire Marshal Trooper Nicholas J.

Gushka, who investigated the fire scene, has termed the incident "a fire of undetermined origin." "Right now everything is op ia the air, said Gushka. "We won't know more until we interview Mrs. Padavan. She is the crux of the whole thing." Gushka said two small fires were responsible for all the smoke, but caused only light damage. steps.

The search, involving the Wilkes-Barre Police Canine Unit and members of the Courtdale and Luzerne fire and amhulanre companies, was intensified after family members told police Mrs. Padavaa was a diabetic and required COURTDALE Police doal know why a Courtdale woman fled her burning home early Wednesday and traveled to her brother's house is New York without telling anyone. Mrs. Shirty Padavan, 47. of 237 Coop- Times Leader The Financial.

...4 Friday. December 14. UTS Dupont also requests money for other areas Planus rs okar sewer st udy funds By JOHN G. BOLT the holes. The boreholes also have been linked to the oil and chemical pollution pouring into the Susquehanna River -trom the abandoned Butler mine tunnel at Pitts-ton.

Environmental officials believe the 'chemical pollution was dumped into boreholes and eventually began draining into the river. Because of the problems associated with boreholes, local officials are hoping the application for federal aid will be expedited. In other business, the planning commission instructed Executive Director Ed Heiselberg to send a letter to the pont is applying for the funds from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on behalf of the other municipalities involved. The remainder of the money for the study, about $53,000, will be paid by the state and the municipalities involved.

The municipalities and sewer authorities involved are working with the Economic Development Council of Northeastern Pennsylvania to bring sewers to the area as quickly as possible. Environmental officials say residents use the thousands of boreholes in the area as substitutes ior sanitary sewers or septic tanks by connecting household drains to U.S. Postal Service concerning the plan to relocate the Mountaintop Post Office. The postal service decided several weeks ago that the present location off Kirby Road was too large. The postal service wants to rent a smaller facility, but has not decided where it will be located.

The planning commission will send a letter recommending the new office be located at the Crestwood Shopping Center on Mountain Boulevard. The letter also recommends the new facility not be located on a road with too steep a grade on Route 309 or near the Triangle Shopping Center which is congested with traffic. The commission also: approved a grant application to -the U.S. Public Health Service from the Northeastern Pennsylvania Vector Control Association, for $187,475 in federal funds for rodent control. The association serves various communities in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties.

approved a loan application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development from A.J. Grosek and Associates for 98 housing units in Hazle Township. The approval was granted contingent on the developer correcting problems with sewer and water service to the development Construction is not planned for another year. instructed Heiselberg to send a letter to the Gov.

Dick Thornburgh expressing the commission's opposition to a resolution in the legislature that would halt the Inspection Maintenance Program. The program, if implemented, will check automobiles for air pollution emissions. Heiselberg's letter says' Pennsylvania stands to lose millions of dollars of federal aid if the air quality in some areas, like the Wyoming Valley, is not upgraded to meet federal standards. WILKES-BARRE The Luzerne County Planning Commission took another step Thursday toward bringing sewers to the Dupont area. The commission approved a $213,850 grant application from the Borough of Dupont which is part of the money needed to conduct a study of what facilities are needed in the area.

Included in the area being studied are Dupont, Duryea, Old Forge, Taylor and a portion of Pittston Township. Du- 1 luiv' a -V-Vl'l y. -'a Area residents write to hostages Members of the Student Government Association of Luzerne County Community College, left photo, showing concern for the situation in Iran, have compiled this petition, which will be sent, to the American hostages. Also, the SGA is planning to set up a table at the Wyoming Valley Mall on Friday in an effort to enlist support from area residents. 1 Shown are, from left, J)onna Keeler, Bet Askew and Brenda Kocher.

In photo at right; U.S. Postal employ-, ee George Elko sorts out overseas mail from local addressed to the hostages. -The Wilkes-Barre Post Office has re-ceived more than 1,000 cards and letters to be delivered to the hostages since Dec. 7, according to Bernard Trevethan, a post office spokesman. Persons can send mail to the hostages by writing to American Embassy, P.O.

Box 50, Tehran, Iran, or to the United Nations: Iranian Mission to the United Nations, 622 3rd Ave. 34th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10017. I I iSlRWiliiiilllilil councilman lists his pnoHiieijorxity- Incoming By JOE A. SUBARTON Staff Wrttar should be made to lobby against the state legislation.

The attorney said there is little land remaining in Wilkes-Barre for any new major industries, but efforts should be made to attract new ones and to maintain the ones already here. -He said he would like to see the incoming mayor form a task force of union people and management people to work with city, county, and state economists to attract new industries to the area. "Too much of our young talent is being lost. The young people are leaving the area after they graduate from high school and college because there are no major industries and businesses to keep them in Wyoming Valley," DiPietro said. ment headquarters.

He said he has also met with city business people and with five neighborhood groups to discuss heeds of the city. On the topic of city finances and the 1980 budget, DiPietro said city officials should be concerned with money owed to the city. He said there are people who have jot been paying traffic violation tickets, the occupational privilege tax and the mercantile tax. "Why aren't they paying, and why are they not being forced to pay?" the councilman-elect asked. "I've been informed there are thousands of dollars, not being collected.

Before we talk of raising taxes, we should get the money owed the city." Further, DiPietro said raising the Crime Watch Program instituted city- wide. Also, he would, like to see improved police training programs, including physical training for policemen. Also, he favors the publishing of the names of juvenile offenders and their parents as a means of better parental control of juveniles and as a means of reducing juvenile crimes. "We also need better cooperation between members of the police department and residents of the city," DiPietro said. In the area of economic growth, he said the state through its corporate, tax laws hinders attraction of new industries to the state.

He said maybe efforts earned income tax by 1 percent is only a short-term solution. "I don't want to see taxes raised again next year and the next year and -the following DiPietro said he will suggest to Mayor-elect Thomas V. McLaughlin that he go on record and institute a moratorium on hiring of new city employees. He said vacancies should be filled only if absolutely necessary. said also be feels there could be a consolidation of the Office for Community Development and the Office for Economic Development.

He said there is $175,000 appropriated for salaries alone in these two departments. He said there may be some duplication of efforts in the two departments, and possibly some personnel positions could be eliminated. He also said a consolidation of jobs may be possible in other departments at City Hall. DiPietro said he is concerned also about tax exempt properties in the city, noting close to 50 percent of them are on a tax-free status. He said the city can't tax them because most are religious or charitable properties, but he would like to see some sort of service fee charged to the tax free institutions for municipal police, fire and public works services if possible.

He said in his meetings with neighborhood groups and with some merchants, most express complaints about vandalism. He said he would like to have the police department's North End WILKES-BARRE A city councilman-elect feels the incoming administration at City Hall should be concerned with three main government areas. Attorney John DiPietro, who will assume elective office on Jan. 7, said he feels the city administrators should focus on city finances, crime and vandalism, and economic growth and development. DiPietro said he gathered these priorities in recent weeks after meeting with police and fire department officials and after touring police and fire depart More than half of '79 GAR grads attend college By JOHN BUESE Staff Writer WILKES-BARRE More than half of the 1979 GAR High School graduates went on to college this year, according to school officials.

A report released this week by the Wilkes-Barre Area School District ployers believe starting salaries for graduates with master's degrees in some areas are outpacing the worth of the individual on the Many firms, Endicott said, prefer to hire bachelor-degree graduates, put them in a training program and encourage those who qualify to attend evening, classes toward advanced degrees. Another problem facing corporations, Endicott said, is the turnover'of college graduates on the job. He said that 30 percent of bachelor-level graduates hired from the 1976 class have left their companies. More rapid advancement or higher salaries are the greatest lure away from the firms which originally hire graduates, he said. think it will be better, and 38 percent believe it will be about the same.

Here are some breakdowns by academic background for graduates with bachelors degrees: -Engineering jobs up 29 percent and starting salaries up 9 percent, averaging $20,136 a year. -Computer science jobs up 37 percent, starting salaries up 7 percent, averaging $17,712 a year. -Sales and marketing Jobs up" 15 percent, starting salaries up 6 percent, averaging $15,936 a year. -Liberal arts down 3 percent, starting salaries up about 5 percent, averaging $13,286. The report also shows that some em grams director, said the availability of scholarships and financial aid for college-bound students also induces many students to seek higher Saunders said tiO percent of the district's 1979 graduating class are attend ing some institution of higher learning.

About 20 percent of those graduates are attending community or junior colleges, or other specialized schools. The pther 40 percent are in colleges. The percentage of district graduates seeking higher education is the highest since district officials began compiling the statistics in 1960. Prior to 1979, the largest percentage of graduates, 57.5, percent, to seek higher education oc-cured in 1968 when the Vietnam conflict peaked during the Tet Offensive. The district's 1979 graduating class also entered one of the lowest numbers of graduates into the job market reflecting an national economic decline.

About 8 percent of those graduates were married or unemployed. In 1975, only 30 percent of the graduating class entered the job market, compared with 17.5 percent of the graduates who were married or unemployed during that recession "These findings can be interpreted in a positive way as a definite upturn in the job market for new college gradu-- ates," said Frank S. Endicott, author of Northwestern University's 34th annual Endicott Report and retired director of the university's office of placement The greatest demand will be for graduates with majors in engineering, accounting, business administration, sales and computer science, according to the survey of 170 of the nation's larger corporations. Job prospects for liberal arts majors, however, will be somewhat dimmer. 1 Average starting salaries overall will increase by 6 percent to 8 percent The report also indicates that the participating firms have brighter hopes for the coming year than may have been expected from widespread projections of a national recession.

Only 23 percent of the corporations belleve'the general business outlook for 1980 is worse than the present year.) More than one-third 39 percent -t 124 seniors, 35 percent of its 355-mem-ber graduating class, go on to college. Officials said 71 of. Meyers High School's 216 graduating seniors, or 33 percent, are attending college; GAR High School Principal Phillip Latinski said there are several reasons why so many GAR graduates are attending college. "It partly is attributable to the students' -awareness of the opportunities college affords," Latinski said. He said many 1979 GAR football players received athletic scholarships after the team finished second in the Eastern Conference.

Latinski said graduating high school students are more fiware of the economic condition of the United States and the 'need fpr a college degree to obtain a job. "They afe seeing the advantage of a college education for a successful future," Latinski said. He said the cooperative efforts of guidance counselors, ad-ministrators and teachers has helped relate that message to high school seniors. Harold Saunders, district special pro Slums uuu rta ocuiuia, ui k. pciieui, ui GAR's 279-member graduating class are attending college this year.

A related survey by Northwestern University says that despite gloomy economic predictions, a national survey shows that a strong job market will await most college graduates next year, particularly engineers. The Northwestern survey shows that overall, 16 percent more college graduates with bachelor's degrees and 4 percent more with master's degrees will be 1 DEATHS) (Obituaries, Page 4D) John Genova Antnonv Remus Mrs. Anna BarletU Joseph Llnko Joseph R. Roklckl Fred Clani Fred Mott Robert Ryan Mrs. Nora Daluski Mrs.

Edith Reid Steve A. Zapotok hired in I3BU than in im. In the Wilkes-Barre study, the per-. centage is tops among the district's three high schools, which graduated 850 students from the 1978-79 senior class. James M.

Coughlin High School bad.