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Standard-Speaker from Hazleton, Pennsylvania • Page 10

Publication:
Standard-Speakeri
Location:
Hazleton, Pennsylvania
Issue Date:
Page:
10
Extracted Article Text (OCR)

10 Hazleton Standard-Speaker, Friday, March 14, 1997 TimsninjnTn(rp crrniin! SnoW; mt'nlilhv Groups must reserve park complex board V.V JC vehicles still don't measure up By BRIAN S.AKRE stitute president. senger compartment, trapping and even lower in multip By BRIAN S.AKRE and even lower in St. Johns, Drums and Butler Valley Correspondent: Kathleen A. Kapes, Box 4285, RR No. 4 Drums, 18222 Phone 788-3190 (Evenings) Leave Items at: Smith's Store, E.

Butler Drums Valley Realty Group Route 309 Rittenhouse Place FriUingertown Senior Living Community, Drums Circulation or Advertising 455-3636 AP Auto Writer DETROIT They may look tough, but none of the most popular midsize sport utility vehicles could even muster a "good" overall in front-end crash tests, an insurance industry group said Thursday. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said its crash tests of the 1997 Nissan Pathfinder and 1996 Mitsubishi Montero were as disappointing as those done last year on six other midsize sport utility vehicles. None of the truck-like vehicles received the group's "good" overall safety rating. Four received "acceptable" ratings, two were rated "marginal" and two were listed as "poor." "Given the size of these vehicles, they don't do as good a job of protecting occupants and managing crash energy as they should," said Brian O'Neill, in the test dummy foot. A luxury version of the Pathfinder is marketed as the Infiniti QX4; they are structural twins.

The Montero was rated "acceptable" overall. The test showed too much upward movement of the steering column, which could contribute to a higher risk of head or neck injury, the group said. Nissan spokesman Fred Standish said the automaker had not yet reviewed the institute's test data and could not comment. Mitsubishi did not immediately respond to a request for comment. O'Neill said sport utility vehicles generally are safer than cars because of their larger size and weight.

He said the fatality rate for midsize SUVs is about 20 percent below the average for passenger cars in all crashes, Midsize sport utility venicies have become extremely popular, representing about one in every eight new vehicles sold last year, the group said. Its test involves driving a vehicle at 40 mph into a stationary barrier that contacts only the front driver's side. The barrier is made of a material that gives somewhat on impact, like another vehicle might. The institute's test tries to gauge lower body injuries to a greater extent than the U.S. government's test, which uses a full-width, solid barrier.

But some automakers have criticized the institute's test, contending it does not reflect common, real-world crashes. In the latest tests, the Nissan Pathfinder rated "marginal" overall, with a "poor" rating for structural integrity when the front end crunched into the pas Republican dissatisfied with hit list WASHINGTON (AP) The White House made public Thursday a list of 254 programs, worth $3.4 billion and ranging from maple" research to new fighter aircraft, that it wants to terminate in its fiscal 1998 budget proposal. A senior House Republican disparaged the list as "not a serious document." House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bob Livingston, asked for the But Livingston responded in a statement that he was "most disappointed. It is not a serious document. It is not a thoughtful document." Nearly half of the cuts, $1.5 billion worth, come from defense programs, such as $273 million for an FA-18CD attack fighter and $206 million for the KC-130J tanker aircraft.

The list also includes a $350 million housing preservation program. But many slated for elimination are small agriculture pro in a nuclear accident in Japan. Public broadcaster NHK cited investigators as saying the radiation leak and possibly the blast may have been caused by a gradual increase in air pressure because heat from the fire disabled the building's ventilation and pressure equalization systems. In a similar report, the Asahi Television network said the plant's operator knew immediately after the explosion that minuscule amounts of radiation Japan acknowledges delays in dealing with accident at nuclear power plant document after Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin mentioned in hearings last month that 254 programs were on the administration hit list. It was supplied Thursday by White House budget director Franklin Raines, who said the list represented low-priority, uneconomic or completed projects.

"I appreciate your interest in searching for common ground in our shared goal of balancing the budget," he wrote Livingston. a waste-handling facility. But the person with sole authority to make emergency decisions apparently was on vacation Tuesday, and TV reports Thursday indicated a slow, inflexible response compounded the damage and the release of low-level radioactivity. The incident exposed at least 37 workers to small amounts of radiation one-2000th of the dose considered safe, for a year, according to the plant. It was the most workers ever exposed Boscov's Presents ByJOJISAKURAI Associated Press Writer TOKYO Workers sealed off a damaged nuclear plant Thursday, and the company that runs the plant admitted that employees delayed reporting both a fire and a later explosion for 30 minutes while they waited for orders.

The cause of Tuesday's fire at the plant in Tokaimura, northeastern Japan, is still not known. The fire apparently led to the explosion 10 hours later in All sports leagues and other groups that want to use the recreation complex for events or meetings, must send a letter to the Butler Township Recreation Board requesting to use the complex. Letters must state the date and time and must be mailed to the municipal building at R.R. 3, Box796B, Drums 18222. The board will hold a workday at the complex and Legion Park on April 12.

General cleanup and maintenance will be completed. The local league members will help keep their recreational area Conyngham and Sugarloaf Valley Correspondent: Mrs. Pat Rusnock 788-2008 Jon Weaver 788-1996 Leave Items at: Conyngham Pharmacy, Gould's IGA, Valley Pharmacy Circulation or Advertising 455-3636 VALLEY ACTIVITIES Today: Odd Fellows, 8 p.m., lodge hall. Today: country-western dance, 8 p.m. to midnight, Sugarloaf firehouse.

Saturday: Valley Kiwanis Club, 8 a.m., Friendly's. Monday: Sugarloaf Chapter Compassionate Friends, room 5, St. John Bosco Church parish center. Monday: Conyngham Valley Lionettes, 6 p.m., Lookout House. Guest speaker Margaret Fink will discuss genealogy and the spring trip will be planned.

Members must make their ticket returns. Monday: Conyngham Borough Authority, 7 p.m., 90 Butler Ave. Tuesday: Conyngham firefighters, 8 p.m., firehouse. Tuesday: Women's ELCA, 7:30 p.m., Christ Lutheran Church. Wednesday: Valley Emergency Ambulance Association, 7 p.m., ambulance building.

WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES Today: Mr. and Mrs. Russell Larock, Sugarloaf. Saturday: Mr. and Mrs.

Robert D. Stahr, Sugarloaf. Thursday: Mr. and Mrs. John T.

Beltz, Sugarloaf. PENANCE SERVICE A Easter penance service for kids in grades 2 to 8 will be held from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at St. John Bosco Church. The seventh- and eighth-graders will serve as readers and altar servers.

CANDLE PARTY The youth group of Christ United Church of Christ, Conyngham, will hold a candle party at 11:30 a.m. Sunday. The party will be presented by The Scented Candle Shoppe. Refreshments will be served and everyone is welcome. Call Jon Weaver at 788-1996 for more information.

The proceeds will benefit the youth group. CLUB BREAKFAST The Conyngham Lions Club will hold its sausage, egg and pancake breakfast on March 22 from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Christ Lutheran Church, Main Street. The cost is $4 for adults and $2 for children.

Contact any club member for more information. BIRTHDAYS Today: Thomas Wanick, Brookhill; Andrea Gill, Amanda Winters, both of Main Street; Carol Burger, Michael Maylath, Jillian Whitacre, all of Sugarloaf; Vincent Kalowsky, Conyngham. Saturday: Victor Hauze, Marviann Mattern, Betty Lou Welsh, Emily Pecora, Rosalie Luchi, Brian Sherman, Ashley Bart, all of Sugarloaf. Sunday: Helen Oberst, Thomas Boock, Todd Stroh, Krista Straka, Marty Siegfried, all of Sugarloaf; Rosella Gardecki, Hillside Road. Monday: Mary Ellen Connor, Crystal Welsh, both of Sugarloaf; Randy Zanoline, Tomhicken.

Tuesday: Brenda Derr, George Oberst, Shawn Drumm, all of Sugarloaf; Christopher Mooney, Brookhill. Wednesday: Eleanor McCor-mick, Robert Tunnessen, Brian Yenchick, Kathy Krutz, all of Sugarloaf; Lisa Mainero, Benjamin Rose Welliver, Myers Avenue. Thursday Brian Lavelle, Daniel Burger, Kayla Weaver, all of Sugarloaf; Kim Cox, Brookhill; Ryan Packer, Main Street. multiple- vehicle crashes. It is about the same as that for cars in single-vehicle crashes.

But the institute says automakers should design sport utility vehicles with front ends that better absorb crash energy to protect the occupants. O'Neill said consumers considering a sport utility vehicle should look at those that the institute rated "acceptable." Those include the Montero, the Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer twins, the Land Rover Discovery and Toyota 4-Runner. "Even though none of these rate as 'good' performers, there's still a wide range of performers within the class," he said. "The difference between the better performers and the worst performers is quite dramatic." The institute, based in Arlington, is financed by the insurance industry. grams budgeted at less than $1 million.

They include a $200,000 broom snakeweed $200,000 for low-bush blueberry research and $200,000 for swine waste management. Livingston called some cuts "a slap in the face to Republican initiatives." He mentioned two GOP block grant plans to shift power back to the states a $310 million education program and a $523 million crime-fighting program. had been released, but omitted that fact from statements that day. Officials would not confirm the details of the reports. NHK also said officials, mistakenly thinking the fire was out, neglected to check the temperature in the room where the fire originated.

The fire eventually spread and apparently triggered the explosion. Workers clad in protective suits with breathing filters used duct tape Thursday to seal 30 windows and three doors damaged by Tuesday night's blast. A spokesman for the plant's government-linked operator, the Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development or Donen, said sole authority to make emergency decisions rested with the chief of the plant, who was on vacation Tuesday. The only people working at the site when the initial fire broke out at 10 a.m. were employees of a subcontractor that runs the plant.

The spokesman talked to The Associated Press on the customary condition of anonymity. After discovering the fire, those workers waited for orders from officials in another building and four minutes elapsed before the sprinkler system was turned on, he said. Donen employees then waited more than 30 minutes before contacting the local fire department, the spokesman said. Ten hours later, the explosion occurred. Donen employees again delayed notifying the fire department for more than 30 minutes, he added.

"I want to make an on-the-spot inspection as early as Saturday to find out the real facts of the accident," Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiroku Kajiyama said Thursday. Kajiyama met with the local governor, Masaru Hashimoto, and Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto. Later, he said the governor demanded that safety checks and the emergency chain of command be revamped at the plant in Tokaimura, 70 miles northeast of Tokyo. The accident occurred just as Japan's government was trying to rebuild trust in its nuclear program, set back by an accident in December 1995 in a prototype fast-breeder reactor. In the 1995 accident, a leak of volatile sodium in a secondary cooling system forced an emergency shutdown at the fast-breeder reactor in Tsuruga, 220 miles west of Tokyo.

No radiation was released. Japan has 51 nuclear power plants in operation, producing 33.8 percent of its energy needs. JAMES MADISON James Madison, the fourth president of the United States, was born in Port Conway, in 1758. clean and safe. Butler residents are urged to help.

The final preparations will be discussed at this month's work session concerning the installation of the new basketball equipment and other projects planned for the complex this year. Anyone interested in assisting or planning recreational activities in the township can call 788-2808. The board's work session is held on the second Tuesday of each month and the public meeting is held on the last Tuesday of each month. Both meetings start at 7 p.m. and are held at the recreation building.

Dart scores BUTLER FIREHOUSE This week, the Bud Boys took two games from the league-leading Bucks. Charlie's Chumps swept three from Dale's D's. The standings with five weeks left are: Fighten Bucks, 15-6; Dale's D's, 8-13; Bud Boys, 8-13; and Charlie's Chumps, 8-13. The top shooters this week were D. Knecht, 31; B.

Sharp, 32, 30; F. Moylan, 33; C. Corazza, 30; K. Pfeil, 32, 31; Pops Sharp, 32, 31; and S. Hausman, 45, 32.

The shooter of the week was Robert Breznak. A dart league meeting will be held soon in Nescopeck. MILLER'S LEAGUE As the second-half winds down, the Young Bucks and the Unknown Team are headed for a playoff. Both won handily last Monday and are favored to win their remaining matches with two weeks left in the regular season. The high scorers this week were: Joe Silkoski, 30; Norm Dietrich, 32; J.

Hoffman 34, 38, 47; Rich Sharp, 33; Jim Hoffman 31, 39; Barney Bonner, 35, 35; Duff Hausman, 37; Joe Hoffman, 30, 35; and Bryan Sharp, 32. The shooters of the week were Bryan Sharp and Jim Hoffman Sr. FRITZINGERTOWN NEWS Upcoming events at Fritz-ingertown Senior Living Community are: Monday St. Patrick's Day parties. Tuesday Full Gospel Fellowship visits, A at 6 p.m.

and at 6:30 p.m. March 21 Jewish observance of Purim. March 22 Easter egg hunt at 2 p.m. for residents' and staff members' children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren aged 10 and younger. Call Denise Lukacs, activities' director, at 788-4178 for more information.

Lake vote is likely next week WASHINGTON (AP) The Senate Intelligence Committee wrapped up a week of confirmation hearings on CIA director-designate Anthony Lake with a private session Thursday on counterintelligence and internal security matters. In open session, Lake spoke in general terms about problems and improvements at the CIA in preventing foreign spies from penetrating the agency's secrets. He and panel members said specifics would be aired in the closed session. The committee has scheduled three hearings for next week. Sen.

Richard Shelby, the chairman, said he would like for the panel to vote on Lake's nomination by the end of next week. "I hope so. I'd like to wrap it up," Shelby said. He would not commit himself to whether Lake's three days of testimony swayed him in favor of the nominee. "He's a nice man.

I've always said that," Shelby said. "The question is, though, is this nominee or any nominee the right person for this job, which is exacting to say the least." Thursday's hearing was marked by partisan rancor as Democrats accused Republicans of dragging the process out. Privately, Republicans on the panel say Lake appears to have sufficient support for confirmation. Cake Showjf Competition HI Saturday, March 15 10 am to 5 pm Boscov's Auditorium Over 100 beautifully decorated cakes and gumpaste designs will be on display. All entries will be judged in more than 30 different categories including: youth, beginner, professional, master professional, people's choice and decorator's choice.

Cake decorating enthusiasts from Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Maryland and across Pennsylvania will be competing for trophies and certificates. All of the decorators will be on hand to answer your questions and share a few of their decorating secrets. All proceeds from the Cake Show Competition will benefit The Willabrewer Memorial Scholarships. Awards Prizes Will Be Announced At 4 pm Decorator's Choice Participating decorators are invited to cast one vote for the cake they feel is an outstanding achievement in decorating. People's Choice Anyone visiting the Cake Show is invited to cast one vote for the cake they have selected as their favorite.

All votes will be cast at 4 pm. Video Presentation Decorating techniques will be shown throughout the show. Information on cake decorating societies will be available. Register To Win A Door Prize You could be the winner of a valuable cake decorating accessory. No purchase necessary and you need not be present to win..

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