The Times-Tribune from Scranton, Pennsylvania • 13

Last-Ditch Bid Made To Buy WDAU-TV sale proposal last September. The current agreement reportedly has another two weeks to run, after which the current owners of the station could seek the enforcement of the sale contract in court. Then, if the proposed owners fail to act, they would lose a 8600,000 downpayment that was put aside in the form of letters of credit to bind the original 812 million sale agreement made over two years ago. The sale had reached a crisis last spring when the three proposed buyers admitted to the FCC that they could not come up with the 812 million in cash But it was kept alive as the current owners agreed to an amended contract allowing them to defer payment of 84 million of the 812 million in five years That amendment was finalized three months ago and the sale seemed to be speeding toward completion again, with only a closing date to be set to exchange the money and the papers However, the proposed buyers apparently were not able to come up with the 88 million and then their united front began to crack, with Benedek asking to be let out of the group. As to whether he can get out at this point could be a legal point in a lawsuit if a collapsed sale leads to that.

In the midst of the hop-and-skip negotiations to sell the station, it had to move from the Scranton Preparatory School, 1000 Wyommg Ave, to a building it bought at 411-17 Lackawanna Ave ft is now completely its new headquarters a structure which is supposed to have been bought and renovated by the new owners, under the amended contract The owners of WDAU-TV are Mrs Frank Megargee, the widow of the local broadcasting pioneer who founded WGBI and then WDAU, and his four daughters, Marcella (Madge) Holcomb, Katharine M. Collins, Mary Griffin and Jean Reap. 84 million balance However, not even that concession could salvage the deal, time proved. In the meantime, A. Richard Benedek.

one of the three proposed buyers in the original group, now seeks to get out of the deal, leavmg Dudley and Woods as the surviving partners It was learned that the new proposal that Dudley and Woods made if accepted would require the restructuring of the purchase proposal, leaving Benedek free to depart and making Woods the new principal owner. Under the amended contract, Dudley was to have been the principal owner, with Benedek the secondary owner and Woods bolding the smallest share. For Woods and Dudley to restructure the deal again would not only require permission of the present owners but also would need approval of the Federal Communications Commission, the agency which had approved the earlier By JOSEPH FLANNERY Time Special Writer Two of the three New York businessmen who have been more than two years to buy I) AD-TV made a last-ditch proposal New Years Eve to the new owners of the station for restructuring the deal The proposal from Charles Woods and Robert Li Dudley was given to the local owners of the station at a meeting Friday afternoon at the Sheraton Inn. JBiile no comment from either side was forthcoming, it was learned that the meeting did not solve the crisis which has developed in the sale The on-again. off-again transactions first announced as an accomplished fact on Sept 17, 1981 was kept alive once before by the local owners, the heirs of the late Frank Megargee, giving the proposed buyers permission to pay the 812 million price with a 88 million downpayment and five-year terms on the EDITORIALS VIEWPOINT COMMUNITY NEWS 8USINESS-FINANCE 1 JANUARY 2, 1383 Warden Downplays Incident Aulisio Is Involved in Altercation like to see him transferred Colleran offered the comment after confirming that inmates had set fire to Aulisios cell prior to his transfer to the restrictive bousing unit.

It Wasnt a blaze by any means, he said As a fnatter of fact, such things are rather common here among inmates who do not get along with each other. Theyll toss a lighted paper or something into someone elks cell Colleran conceded that Aulisios behavior has changed since he first arrived at the county jail, but, he offered, it has not done so to the point where he has become a problem. -Hes been waiting a long time for a final decision (on his sentencing)," he said This has caused a lot of pressure which he seems to be reacting to. By FRANK SCHOLZ Timet Staff Writer Seventeen-year-old Joseph Aulisio, in Lackawanna County Jail awaiting formal sentencing on his double-murder conviction, has been placed in the lockups restrictive housing umt following an altercation with one inmate and after allegedly threatening another. A homemade knife, fashioned from a toothbrush and razor blade, reportedly was found by prison officials!) 'Aulisios cell.

Warden Raymond Colleran played down the incidents, saying he placed the Old Forge youth in restrictive housing for his own protection. However, he did acknowledge that Aulisio had been cited for misconduct following an altercation with an inmate. Union Soldier from Region Leaves Historical Legacy He acknowledged that an inmate had alleged he was threatened by Aulisio but said the charge has not been substantiated Threats happen here every day and no one thinks anything about them, Colleran said But when someone with this kids background does it, its a different story Colleran refused to say whether a homemade knife had been found by prison officials in Aulisios cell but said some contraband was found Aulisio, who has been in jail 16 months, was convicted of first-degree murder by a Bucks County jury in May for the July 26, 1981, shotgun slayings of Cheryl Ziemba, 8, and ner brother, Christopher, 4. Following his conviction, the jury returned a death penalty verdict. grammatical and written without punctuation were deciphered by Sullivan and his staff aides and were made avaiable to The Timet.

Mrs Lewis plans to turn the originals over to the state of Pennsylvania for its historical archives. The first letter was sent by Lewis to his father, S. Lewis, a Bald Mount-farmer That area, covering Ransom and Newton, was then in Luzerne County or Luzern," as Lewis spelled it Then, in 1878, when Lackawanna County was created out of Luzerne County, that area became part of the new county. Thus, the area where the soldier lived and the ground where he is buned a tiny cemetery off the Newton-Ransom Road is now in Lackawanna County. Lewis first letter was written on Aug 31, 1861, just a few days after he had left home.

He was somewhere enroute to Washington, when he penned the note to his father. He The youth, 15 years old at the time of the killings, has not been transferred to the state correctional institution because Lackawanna County Court Judge James J. Walsh, who presided at the three-week trial, has not formally imposed the death sentence. Walsh is considering a host of post-trial motions filed by Aulisios attorney, Jack Brier, before imposing sentence During his incarceration, Colleran said, Aulisio has begun maturing into a big man. He weighs approximately 175 pounds and stands 5 foot 10 Aulisio has been lifting weights and reportedly is capable of Dench-pressing 230 pounds Colleran said that while Aulisio has some friends at the jail, there are others who, simply because of the nature of the crime he has been convicted of, would wrote that he had left the Sumet at 5 a which was a reference to the old Lackawanna Railroad station at Clarks Summit.

By 2 he was in Harrisburg and 6y 5 he was in Philadelphia, he reported His letter, made easier to read with the dashes which have been added, continued: We have seen a very fine country plenty of frurt and good crops we did not stop but 4 minuts at eny place we seen troops gome to Washington there is thousands of nun in our camp we had a good supper then sat around in the road our men were so wary not sleping much they lay down in heaps in the bar rum after a whil we got the happy chance of sleeping in a small church without a strew or a fether or blanket and not half room enough it is 3 oclock Satterday morning we are in the church -J all feel very happy we are going to elect our officers and be examined an sworn in to the united states service and sent to Washington at 9 oclock this morning" Four days later, Lewis wrote to his sister, Mrs. Lydia Rugar, also of Bald Mount. In an obvious attempt to make her feel good about him being in the Army, Lewis started out on a happy note, but then quickly told the truth about his new life. He wrote: I am enjoying my self very well I had a very bad cold we have not got our uniforms or blankets we nave to sleep on the ground with only our close we have some leaves under us the eights are very cold I wish I could see you" Monday: First Deaths Plaintiff Awarded Building By BILL HALPIN Timet Staff Writer A rather unique settlement wps reached Lackawanna County Court recently when a Scranton restaurant owner, suing for damages as a result of a fall, ended up owning the property where he slipped on ice and fractured his hip What began as a routine trespass action by Joseph Mascara ended up about a month ago with Mascara owning the Land Building, 513 Lackawanna Ave Mascara claimed negligence after he slipped and fell on ice that had accumulated on the property near Center Street, the court situated to the rear of the building Named as defendants the action were the city, which initiated a tax-foreclosure move against the property 1978, the Land Realty Co which still held the deed to the property, and Mr and Mrs Jack Freidlin, owners of an adjacent property at 515 Center St When negotiations aimed at an out-of-court settlement broke down between the parties, the case was scheduled to be heard before Judge James Walsh But then the lawyers began negotiating earnest Heres what they worked out- The city agreed to pay Mascaro 84,000, the Freid-lins agreed to pay him another 82,000 and the owners of the building Irving, Monroe and Samuel Land, trading as Land Realty Co agreed to give him the deed to the property Thus, Mascara, who operates a restau- rant bearing his name in the 100 block of Adams Avenue, can obtain a clear title to the property simply by paying the back taxes owned on it The new owner may have a valuable piece of real estate on his hands since the building is located near sites proposed for major improvements This building in the 500 block of Lackawanna Avenue was awarded to a plaintiff as a unique settlement in a lawsuit. (Staff Photo by Rose) (Tlilt I Dm Ural Hi iliuHl wtn tttallmf ttn Chrtt War tiparltncn of a yoon NottHonloni Poniuylraniaa, tatad aa ho pananal More.) By JOSEPH FLANNERY Timet Special Writer Back in August 1861, a 19-year-old boy from the Bald Mountain area then part of Luzerne County but now in Lackawanna County left his farm home at 5 in the morning and trudged off to fight for his country Levi Lewis, a member of the newly-organized Co.

11th Pennsylvania Calvary, lived the sometimes exciting, sometimes miserable life of a combat soldier in the Union Army for the next 19 months and then was slain in the woods of Virginia by a Confederate sharpshooter being denied even the final glory that might have been attached to death in battle. The very existence of Lewis might have been blotted out by time had it not been for the fact that members of his family carefully kept his letters intact for over a century Ironically, they wound up in the South, through the movements of various relatives over the years They are now in the possession of Elizabeth Lewis, Biloxi, Miss, the widow of Robert Lewis, a grandnephew of the former Union soldier. She went through them and thought they might have historical importance. So she took them to Charles L. Sullivan, chairman of the Department of History of Mississippi Gulf Coast Junior College, Perkinston, Miss.

Sullivan recognized them as true historical material providing a soldiers view of a war that too often is viewed from higher and more sanitized vantage points The letters unashamedly un This is the screen of a typical draw but soon may be illegal. State May Issue Ruling Are Video Poker Games Legal? publication for Pennsylvania liquor licensees, said that the state Superior Court -ruled in 1981 in the case of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania vs One Electronic Draw Poker Machine "that an electronic draw poker machine is not a gambling device in itself and that operation of the poker machine is legal if operated for amusement only That case came about after state police siezed one of the machines in a licensed establishment on the basis that it was an illegal gambling device end had to be destroyed In ruling that the machine is not a gambling device in itself, the Superior Court said a certain amount of skill is involved in wmning since a player must know what probabilities are involved in whether to stand pat or discard Does this free tavern owners from worry7 It shouldn't, since Tarakus writes in his article that a licensee would be violating the law if the licensee or his employees make bets, allow players to make bets or pay off winning players. Such practices would make the machine a gambling device in the eyes of the law and subject a licensee or his employees to arrest and prosecution Paying off the gamble, then, is a gamble itself. Still, many taverns with electronic poker machines and, lately, electronic blackjack machines do pay off. Thus, as with other vending machines that pay off, it's become a matter of not getting caught time Others have no limit on the number of quarters bet Games won and the numbers of quarters inserted are listed as credits Some machines allow only five credits to be bet at a time Others allow 10 and some go as high as 30 By increasing the credits bet, a player increases his return if he wins For example, one credit bet on a hand that results a straight flush pays off 150 credits.

But 10 credits bet on that same hand would return 1,500 credits The possession and operation of these machines is legal in Pennsylvania, if theyre operated only for amusement. And there's the catch. As with many other vending machines, some tavern owners pay off for a certain amount of credits Usually a player getting 40 or more credits can cash in at a rate of a quarter per credit When that happens, the machine becomes a gambling device and is illegal Another questionable aspect of some types of draw poker machines are multiple com units and others that allow a player to go hi-lo after winning By betting high or low, a player must beat the house card, which is an eight If, for example, a player has won a band tha gives him 10 credits, be can go high or low to -double. If he goes high and gets seven or lower, that'8 below the house card and he loses the 10 credits he previously won But if he gets a nine or above on a high bet, he wins and doubles his bet and now has 20 credits. Attorney Edward Taraskus, writing in the current edition of Observer, a trade By JERRY PALKO Timet Correspondent They've spread through taverns like Pac-Man spread through arcades.

Theyre electronic draw poker machines and today theyre as common as jukeboxes in taverns But are they legal7 A representative of an area vendirg company recently told The Times he believes the machines will be banned from six months to a year from now. He said the units cost up to 83,700 and with the possibility of a state crackdown his firm was not investing in any more of them at least for now The draw poker machines work by inserting one or more quarters after which the player presses a deal" button and five cards appear on the screen The player has tne option of discarding any or all of the cards after which new cards appear in place of the discarded ones. Tne game is then over unless be has drawn a pair of aces or higher. A phir of aces pays one credit the equivalent of one game The number of games a player can wm increases wytlT the value of the band with increasing numbers of games won as the value of the hand rises two pair, three of a kind, a straight, a flush, four of a kind, a straight flush and a royal flush -On some machines it is possible to get five of a kind since there are two jokers or wild cards in the deck. The machines are set up differently, depending where you find them some allow insertion of only a quarter at a poker machine.

The games have become popular in many area taverns, i.