Your Take: Who Should Have Gotten Coal In Their Stocking This Christmas?

ANOTHER BIRTHDAY FOR MISSING WOMAN

By KEVIN AMERMAN kamerman@leader.net
 Sunday, December 25, 2005 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 3A 





Although no charges have been filed almost two months after five Dallas
High School students allegedly vandalized Lake-Lehman High School's football
field and track, causing an estimated $70,000 worth of damage, authorities say
the issue hasn't gone away. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Lehman Township Police Officer Don Gavigan said Friday he expects charges
to be filed against the students - three juveniles and two adults - within the
next two weeks. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Authorities have been saying that charges are coming "soon" since the
vandalism occurred on Nov. 3, the night before the Dallas and Lake-Lehman
varsity football game. Dallas won the game 19-16 in overtime. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The students, who have not been identified, are accused of dousing the $1.2
million field and track with blue paint. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Police said the delay in charges has been a result of not having an
estimate for the damage. An estimate of $5,000 or more would result in felony
charges while anything less would yield misdemeanors, police have said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A meeting between the Luzerne County District Attorney's Office, Lehman
Township police and Lake-Lehman School District officials took place
Wednesday. The school district made it known during that meeting that its
primary concern was gaining restitution from the families of the students,
Gavigan said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 School officials presented what they believe is a solid figure of about
$70,000, said Charles Coslett, the school board's solicitor. Only one company
placed a bid to fix the damage for that sum weeks after the school district
put the project out to bid. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Coslett said the school district could reject the bid and put the project
out for further bidding, but he said the school district wants the track to be
ready in the spring. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Coslett said insurance will most likely cover the damage, but if it does
and no restitution is made to the insurance company, it will adversely affect
the school district's insurance rates. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Members of the school board have said that as long as restitution is made
in full, they wouldn't be opposed to the students being charged with
misdemeanors. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 District Attorney David Lupas could not be reached for comment. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Coslett and Gavigan said they aren't sure if the parents are willing to pay
restitution. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 They said the students all have lawyers representing them on the matter. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The school board has said it would cost about $70,000 for the district to
rip up the entire rubberized track and replace it with a new one and it would
cost about $17,000 to just cut out the parts that have been damaged and
replace them with new pieces of track. The replacement pieces of track would
not exactly match the current track, which has been worn by runners and
weather. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Some of the graffiti was written with blue, water-based paint, which
workers were able to remove. But most of it was written using blue spray
paint, which could not be removed. A bucket of paint was also dumped on the
field. School workers were able to scrub up all the paint from the turf of the
football field, but couldn't wash it out of the track because pieces of the
track would have been damaged in the process, school officials have said. The
football field and track were installed about three years ago. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

L-l Field Vandalism Remains Issue/ Lehman Township Police Say They Will File Charges Against Five Students Within Two Weeks.