The Times Leader from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania • Page 40

23 ThcHmes Jjtsiex, WllkesBarre, PA. Thursday. April 8, 1993 ep. Specter cafctanig T1 T-y m-h ilia I ri Ky S2 i 1111 I 1 I f-- I xM I A 1 1 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 iff; i sf I I Wm 1 1 i 'Sliflllfgis WilSm mgmm lillilllllil I 1i-Ji ft-ffffffflffii-i; 1 1 i -W irK X5: ff friffijiff fri iiiri JOO Pennsylvanians try to change his mind from opposition to Ctinton's plan By MICHAEL BLOOD Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter's opposition to President Clinton's Jobs-and-spending bill is causing friction back home in Pennsylvania, where officials from Philadelphia to Harrisburg want him to change his mind. Meanwhile, the White House is targeting Specter often considered a swing vote as one of the Republican senators who might be agreeable to a com promise, mak- Arlnpetr tag it llkely he will come under heavy pressure from the administration in coming weeks. Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell said Wednesday he talked to Specter as recently as Friday, urging him to support the package because it would bring millions of federal dollars to the city for housing and other programs. Rendell said he was growing "frustrated and awful angry" that the package had stalled in the Senate," blocked by a filibuster from Specter and his fellow Republicans. "Certainly he'd be open to some sort of compromise, but the senator did not give toe any assurances," Rendell said. The state AFL-CIO, which did not make an endorsement in Specter's 1992 campaign against Democrat Lynn Yeakel. has been asking local union leaders to call the senator on the bill. Unions strongly favor the legislation, which would create thousands of construction Jobs. The stimulus package is ,4, TIMES LEADERRICHARD SABATURA Enjoying the trip Curtis Evans, 12, takes the long way home from Edward Mackin Elementary School Wednesday, lingering to spin around the pipe atop a natural gas vent on Chapel Street In Wilkes-Barre. The pleasant spring weather should continue until the end of the week, with those infamous April showers forecast for Saturday. Minorities see little of fix-up program UPPER DARBY. Pa. (AP) A federally funded home-improvement program has almost exclusively benefited whites In Upper Darby Township In suburban Philadelphia, a newspaper re ported Wednesday. Of 873 grants awarded during the past decade, none went to blacks or Asians, two to Hispan-lcs and one to an American Indian. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Only about $15,000 of $4.3 million in grants went to minority applicants, the newspaper said after a review of federal records. Of Upper Darby's 8 1,777 residents, about 4 percent are Asian, 3 percent black and 1 percent Hispanic. The grants and other govern ment-funded township programs are under scrutiny by a federal grand Jury, the newspaper said. Alfonso Baldi, Upper Darby's program officer, refused comment Wednesday afternoon. "I don't want to render any comments to you until I read the entire article," he said. Baldi told the newspaper that questions about the grants had to be reviewed by the township's lawyer, Alvin Ackerman. Two weeks after questions were submitted, Baldi said the questions were still being reviewed and he could not provide information. Ackerman did not return a telephone message Wednesday. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has repeatedly warned Upper Darby that low minority participation could halt the township's involvement in the Home Improvement Program. But the government has renewed the township's applications annually, awarding $3.6 million since 1982. The state Department of Community Affairs has awarded $700,000. HUD regional deputy director Harry W. Staller ordered two HUD divisions on Monday to explain why bureaucrats had failed to address the problem. They (HUD officials from the divisions) cannot answer the questions satisfactorily to him of why this was not reported," HUD spokesman Michael Zerega said. Upper Darby has made little effort to reach out to minority applicants. Community Affairs Department spokesman Joseph Yarbor-ough said. Barring change, the township will not receive any of the $300,000 it is seeking from the state for such grants during fiscal 1994, he said. The program offers up to $10,000 that never has to be repaid to homeowners who meet income qualifications of about $30,000 for a family of four. Local Digest WILKES-BARRE Kitchen asks help for holiday dinner SL Vincent dePaul Kitchen needs volunteers from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Easter Sunday. Please call Anne Marie McCawley at 829-7796. City Hall closes for Good Friday City Hall, except for mandatory services, will be closed on Good Friday. Regular residential garbage pick-up schedule will be maintained. Those residents who are scheduled for Friday collection are requested to place their garbage curbside as usual. Recycling items will not be collected on Good Friday, but will be picked up the following Friday. Services scheduled at SL Matthew's St Matthew's Lutheran Church, 663 N. Main will hold its Maundy Thursday service of Holy Communion at 6:45 p.m. The Good Friday services in Slovak will be at 10:30 a.m. and the Tenebrae Service of Darkness at 7 p.m. Easter Services will begin with Holy Communion at 7:30 a.m. festival Easter Service begins at 9:15 a.m. Sunday School class meets at 10:20 a.m. with Janice O'Hara, superintendent. A Slovak Easter Service will be at 1 0:30 a.m. Missing teen's remains found after 5-year search OMli needed by our economy, which has been particularly hard hit in said AFL-CIO spokesman David Wilderman. Gov. Robert P. Casey, in a recent letter, told Specter "we still need the boost from the president's economic package to ensure that we will not slide back into the sluggish economy of recent years." Casey said the bill would give the state $122 million for highways. $32 million for clean water projects and $156 million for local grants. In comments on the Senate floor Monday, Specter suggested a "realistic compromise" would be to cut $9.4 billion from the president's bill, leaving $6.9 billion to be spent in the current fiscal year. The problem with the president's bill. Specter said, is "it requires too much money." He acknowledged he was being lobbied by state mayors, since the bill contains millions of dollars for municipal grants. Specter said there were several billion dollars already available for community development block grants, and that using those previously ap proved funds should be part of an agreement. "I was not sent here to be a rubber stamp," he said. Specter was traveling in Africa as part of a Senate delegation and could not be reached. Specter has a history of swing voting, sometimes bfeaking party ranks to side with Democrats on social and labor issues. During his 1992 campaign. Specter wasn't bashful about using government spending to gain a political advantage. His stops around the state were often keyed to an announcement of a federal grant, such as on Oct 29 in Pittsburgh, when he marked the receipt of a $13.2 million federal payment to the Port Authority of Allegheny County. gather donations for a $2,000 re-j ward; "I felt he was abducted." she said. "Somehow, whoever had him would return him or he would find a way to get away from them. I just knew he was in a situation where he couldn't make contact with me arid he couldn't get home." Police listed John as a missing person a year after-he disappeared. NANTICOKE First UM Church lists its service First United Methodist Church. 267 E. Main will host from noon to 3 p.m. the traditional Good Friday Community Service; The public is invited to attend either all or a portion of the three-hour worship service. For information, call the host pastor, the Rev. Thomas Snyder, at 735-1661. WRIGHT TOP. Living Stations set Eighth grade students of St. Jude's School will present the Living Stations of the Cross at 7 p.m. Good Friday in St. Jude's Church. W. PITTSTON Luzerne Ave. Baptist announces services Luzerne Avenue Baptist Church. Luzerne Avenue and Parke Street, from noon to 3 p.m., will hold the traditional Good Friday Community Service. Following the beginning of the service at noon, worshipers are requested to use the Parke Street entrance. During the three-hour worship, there is opportunity to enter and exit the sanctuary on the singing of Hymns In each period or segment of the service. The offerings received upon exiting worship will be shared with the Greater Plttston Meals-On-Wheels ministry. For information, please call 654-0050. cause I felt all along he would be alive, I would find him and he would be fine." she said. The keys fit her parents' door and then, she said, "I knew." Police confirmed Tuesday through dental records that John Benjamin Simmons was dead. He had been shot once In the head and left dead or dying on a hill in the city's Fairmount Park. The 15-year-old sophomore at George Washington Carver School of Engineering and Sci PHILADELPHIA The mother of a teen-ager whose skeletal remains were -found last weekend says she never gave up hope he would be found alive during five years of waiting. Only Monday, when a police officer contacted Jacqui Simmons about keys found near some bones in a park, did she begin to think otherwise. "That was the first time I actually told myself there was a possibility that he might be dead, be First Welsh Baptist lists Union Service The First Welsh Baptist Church. 28 to 52 S. Meade will hold a Union Service from noon to 3 p.m. Good Friday. The Rev. Dr. Ron Park Jr. will be the featured speaker. Unity Center sets Easter message The Unity Center for Positive Living. Rear 269 S. Washington will present the special message "Mission Accomplished" at two Easter Sunday services at 9 and 11a.m. Unity's youth education program, the "Rainbow Connection," also meets at 1 1 a.m. Pax Christi group to present Stations The Wiikes-BarreScranton Chapter of Pax Christi USA will conduct the living, contemporary Stations of the Cross at 9 a.m. Friday beginning in the courthouse parking lot Persons of all faiths are Invited to attend. From the courthouse, the group will proceed to various stations throughout the city in a spirit of quiet peace-filled meditation and prayer to remember the suffering of those who today are victims of violence and injustice. They will also remember those who work for the victims and for a more just and peaceful world. The procession will end at the Susquehanna River bank to recall that there Is always hope of new life after the winter storms and devastations. It Is suggested that those who attend wear or carry a small cross. For Information, call 829-2151. ence never came home from the first day of school Sept. 14. 1988. He had called his mother that day to ask permission to cut his hair and pick up clothes from the cleaners. When Jacqui Simmons came home from her job as an apartment manager about 5 p.m.. she was surprised to find he was not there. "There was no note, no message and when I went to the school yard, he was not there WpftilflG Kingdom Power sets holiday service Stephen and Mariann Kotch, pastors of Kingdom Power Ministries and Fellowship, 2 1 Fast Midway Shopping Center, announce the Service of Communion and Worship at 7 p.m. today. At 7:30 p.m. on Good Friday, the Kotches and trained team members will minister through the power of the cross of Christ in a Holy Ghost healing service signs and wonders. The meeting will begin with worship. For Information, call 283-9470 or 283-5054. JENKIIJS TOP. Offices note holiday Jenkins Township municipal offices will be closed Friday in observance of Good Friday. HAT OVER TOP. Sanitary authority offices to be open The Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority business office, 1 000 Wilkes-Barre will be open from 8 a.m, to 4 p.m. Good Friday and Saturday to accept second quarter or full year payments. The West Plttston satellite office in the borough building. 555 Exeter will be open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Good Friday. The Wllkes-Barre satellite office in city hall and the Nanticoke satellite office, East Ridge Street, will be closed Good Friday. The Nanticoke office will be closed Monday. playing ball." she said. "He Just wasn't in the area." Neighborhood children told her they saw someone in a black Cadillac approach John near his home and drive off with him. Her memories of aboy who had 12 garter snakes as pets and was studying Chinese with the hope of going there kept her hope alive while police and media treated him as a runaway. They led her to form a support group for families of other missing children and to DALLAS Eastern Star chapter will honor members Dallas Chapter 396. Order pf the Eastern Star of Pennsylvania, will honor Dianne Corby, W.M., and Dennis Bonning, W.P., their Grand Chapter Committee Members, Betty Meeker, P.M., and Madeline LaBarre, P.M.,"and the chapter's 50-year members at their annual banquet. Reservations for the banquet, which will be at 6 p.m. Friday in the Eastern Star Building. Foster Street should be made to Irene Transue. RR 1 Box 36 1 Dallas, by Friday. AVOCA stations scheduled SS. Peter and Paul Church will present the stations of the cross at 7:30 p.m. Friday. A Participants who will present the stations include Drew Shlmko as Jesus. Todd Shlmko, Joe Swleboda, Joshua Turel. Andrea Turel, Kristen Kubasko, Samantha Turel, Maryalyce Haduck, John Kuchar. Veronica Seber and Tom Kaplavka. LUZERNE Bennett Presbyterian announces services The Bennett Presbyterian Church. 533 Bennett will hold its Good Friday Service at 7:30 p.m. with Seven Last Words and Communion. Easter Sunrise Service at 7:30 a.m. Easter Sunday and Sunday School will present the Easter Story at 9:45 a.m. At 1 1 a.m., pastor James Cara will preach on the topic, "The Tomb Is Empty." Firwood UM Church announces services Firwood United Methodist Church will hold a Tenebrae service at 7:30 p.m. today. The church youth will have a sunrise service at 6 a.m. Easter Sunday in Firwood Park and then serve a continental breakfast at the church. Regular service will begin at 9:45 a.m. Easter hour is at 1 1 a.m. Easter Breakfast set at First Baptist Church The First Baptist Church, 48 S. River St will hold its annual Easter Breakfast from 7: 15 to 9:45 a.m. Sunday. The breakfast costs $3.50 for adults and $2 for children. Reservations are encouraged but not required. Call 822-7482 to make reservations. Services are listed at St. Clement Church The Church of St. Clement and St Peter. 70 Lockhart St, announces its Holy Week and Easter worship schedule: Maundy Thursday. Holy Eucharist. p.m.; Good Friday, Stations of the Cross, noon and 3 p.m. and Holy Eucharist. 7 p.m.: Holy Saturday, The Great Vigil of Easter, 7 p.m.; Easter Sunday, Holy Eucharist, 9:30 a.m. KINGSTON TVP. Tenebrae Service set at Shavertown UM Shavertown United Methodist Church. North Pioneer Avenue at West Center Street, will hold Its Tenebrae Service at 7:30 p.m. today. Tabernacle sets service The Baptist Tabernacle. South Regent Street, will hold its Good Friday service at noon.