web1_Courthouse-Square-Towers.jpg

Apartments proposed for Wilkes-Barre office building

Stocks mixed as uncertainty reigns in US-China trade talks

<p>DALLAS TWP. &#8212; The Dallas School Board on Monday heard an award-winning essay about veterans from a fourth grade girl who wrote about her own father&#8217;s deployment, said goodbye to one retiring member who has served the district for 51 years as teacher and board member, and learned the middle school roof needs more work than expected but shouldn&#8217;t cost any more than budgeted.</p><p>Sophia Golanoski read her Wyoming Valley Veterans Day Essay at the start of the meeting, with a personal note: Her father had first joined the military in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and his duties called him away three days after she was born. &#8220;The people who fought for us are friends, family and neighbors.&#8221;</p><p>The board also acknowledged several district staff and board members who have served in the military, including special education teacher Mark Adams, who took the opportunity to make a short pitch for bringing the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) program to the district. Adams started a military interest club in the district six years ago.</p><p>And the board gave a plaque to member Kathy Wega, who decided not to run for re-election this year, ending a tenure on the board going back to 2006. Wega joined the board one year after retiring as a teacher, a career she started in 1968.</p><p>Noting some of her first students are now retired, she repeated a refrain consistent for decades: &#8220;I refer to them as my kids,&#8221; she said, &#8220;It has been an honor and I&#8217;m going to miss it.&#8221;</p><p>Wega&#8217;s replacement has yet to be determined. There were four seats open but only three candidates (all incumbents) were on the ballot. The fourth winner could be determined when the county adds up write-in votes, in which case a winner would get a seat with very few votes. The three candidates on the ballot each got around 3,000 votes, there were only 177 write-ins cast, according to unofficial results.</p><p>And the board learned that the problematic roof of the middle school continues to offer unwelcome surprises. For repair purposes, it has been divided into nine sections, and major repairs or replacements had been expected in six of them. Further investigation has added another section in need of work.</p><p>The good news is twofold. First, other work on the roof has cost less than estimated, and the total work is expected to come within the $2.17 million budgeted even with the added work. Second: So far the new Intermediate School building has not spent any of the $1.2 million set aside for contingencies, and business manager Grant Palfey said if that holds, the money might be used for the roof project instead.</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_Wega.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Kathy Wega offers some comments during her final Dallas School Board meeting Monday. Wega has served on the board since 2006, and was a teacher in the district from 1968 to 2005. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_Wega.jpg</photo0><caption0>Kathy Wega offers some comments during her final Dallas School Board meeting Monday. Wega has served on the board since 2006, and was a teacher in the district from 1968 to 2005. </caption0><photoCredit0>Mark Guydish | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_Golanoski.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Fourth Grade Dallas student Sophia Golanoski poses with her parents after reading her award-winning Veterans Day essay at the start of Monday&#8217;s School Board meeting. She spoke of her father&#8217;s service in the military. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_Golanoski.jpg</photo1><caption1>Fourth Grade Dallas student Sophia Golanoski poses with her parents after reading her award-winning Veterans Day essay at the start of Monday&#8217;s School Board meeting. She spoke of her father&#8217;s service in the military. </caption1><photoCredit1>Mark Guydish | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Veterans Day, board member farewell, roof repairs dominate meeting