To Run Nov. 28, 1992: 
Viola Stadts 
Nov. 23, 1992 
Miss Viola A. Stadts, Of Harris Road, Camillas, N.y., Died At Community 
Hospital, Syracuse.

Avoca 
Airport Reported In Black 
Assistant Airport Director Wy Mcgowell Said The Wilkes-barre/scranton 
International Airport Is In The Black With Revenues Of $93,563.77.

By Bill Griffith; Times Leader Associate Editor
 Sunday, November 29, 1992 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1B/8B QUICK WORDS: WILKES-BARRE AREA
DIRECTORS 





The spring primary election isn't until May 18, but four incumbent
Wilkes-Barre Area school directors who were either elected or re-elected in
1989 are already getting ready for the campaign. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 They are Mike Rushton, Eddie Yankowski, &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Sally Jervis and Alice Corba. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In the last school board election they ran as a team to win board seats.
They most likely will combine as a team again. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Rushton, who has 17 years on the board, said he suggested to Corba a while
back that the four of them meet sometime in December to "get things rolling. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "She indicated to me that she wanted to meet and that she wants us to run
as a team again," Rushton said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In the 1989 primary, newcomers Jervis and Corba won the Democratic and
Republican nominations. Board veterans Rushton and Yankowski won just on the
Democratic side, &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 but in the November general, all four got elected without a sweat.
Candidates for school board are allowed to cross-file. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Yankowski has the longest tenure of anyone on the Wilkes-Barre Area School
Board. He's been on it since it was formed more than 20-some years ago. Before
that, Yankowski had served on the old Plains school board. Naturally, he will
be on the team with the others. He and Rushton are political sidekicks from
way back. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Jervis, too, has said she is willing to again run on a team. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Yes, I probably will run with the others again," she said the other day.
"It's the logical thing to do." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Jervis, who was very active on the Laflin Borough Council before she ran
for the school board, has always been perceived as a very independent person.
And she is. So even if she should, for whatever reason, go independent this
time it wouldn't be a surprise. But that probably won't happen. There's no
sense breaking up "that old gang of mine," right? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 During the last campaign, Rushton had mentioned that if he could have one
more term, it would be his last. That would be the term he's in now. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 So what changed his mind? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Well, a couple of things. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I want to be around when we build that new school in Plains," Rushton
says. "And besides that, Leo Solomon might retire and I also want to be in on
naming a new superintendent of schools." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The school project Rushton talks about has been in the planning stages for
a while now. The board has hired an architect who has been told to come up
with how much an elementary school will cost and how much an elementary school
and a junior high school will cost. Also included in the figures will be money
needed to construct sports fields nearby. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The elementary school is a definite project. It will be built where the
Plains football stadium is now. The school will replace three others up there
that will be closed: Cotton Avenue, Lt. Duddy and Maffett Street. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Rushton also talked about the old Plains Junior High School on West Carey
Street. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We have three options on that school," Rushton says. "We could renovate it
-- which would be costly -- or we could send the students to Coughlin or we
could build a new junior high school near the new elementary school at the
stadium site." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Rushton says he favors building a new junior high school on the stadium
land, but naturally the full board will have the final say on that after the
architect brings in his numbers. Rushton says there's not going to be a tax
hike to pay for any of this. He said the state will pay one-third of the costs
and the board will use two bond issues to get the rest of the money. The
timing on the bond issues is exactly right, he said. Two bond issues the board
has been paying on are nearly all paid up, so it won't be a problem for the
board to pay on new ones. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The possible superintendent's opening is another matter, and it is one
which is sure to cause a lot of head-banging on the board. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The front-runners have been -- and still are -- Jeff Namey and Tim Rushton.
They are both top administrators now. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Tim Rushton is a distant cousin of Mike Rushton, so the nepotism thing is
sure to come up. Namey is the brother of Wilkes-Barre Mayor Lee Namey. At last
look Jeff Namey was in the lead. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Any way you cut it there's sure to be an intense fight and some very
serious lobbying of the board members when the time comes to settle on the new
school boss. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 If Solomon were to retire tomorrow, and the appointment was made the next
day, Jeff Namey would be it. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The Rushton-Yankowski-Jervis-Corba team will have a fund-raiser some time
after the holidays. These board affairs usually cost $50 a head. Because the
board has control of so many jobs and does a tremendous amount of business
with vendors all over the place, these fund-raisers customarily sell out. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 There are sure to be some challengers to the board incumbents, maybe in the
primary and most definitely in the general, but no names have as yet surfaced
as possible Republican candidates. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Pat Judge, vice chairman of the Luzerne County Republican Committee, said
it is hoped candidates can be slated for nominations in the primary at the
municipal, school board and county levels. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The committee had a meeting last Monday night to discuss just that. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Jack Gallagher, the GOP committee chairman, encouraged folks who were there
to help get candidates for those offices. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In the county, offices up in 1993 are register of wills, prothonotary,
controller and jury commissioner. Martha Reese, the current Republican jury
commissioner, already has been endorsed for re-election by the GOP committee.
The committee has no candidates for the other posts yet. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Oh yeah. Talk is that the incumbents at the courthouse will seek
re-election next year. They are Helen O'Connor, register of wills; Joe Tirpak,
controller; Gene Duffy, prothonotary, and Dan Blaine, Democratic jury
commissioner. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Another item at that Republican committee meeting was an announcement that
the Young Republicans Club will be reorganized. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Joe Haughny of Nanticoke was appointed liaison between the county executive
committee and the Young Republicans. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Lincoln's Day Dinner &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 On Friday, Feb. 19, the Republicans will hold their annual Lincoln's Day
Dinner at Convention Hall in Pittston Township. Tom Reese, chairman of the
Fifth District (120th) Republican Committee, will be program chairman. State
Sen. Charles Lemmond will be master of ceremonies. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Third-party support &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The local folks who helped Ross Perot make a great showing in the county in
the presidential election are still very much alive and kicking. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Last week there was a meeting of the board of directors of the Luzerne
County Chapter of United We Stand America. The meeting, according to Norm
Gavlick, who was the spearhead of the local Perot effort, was of a general
organizational nature. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The idea the group has is to become a major political party. It already has
minor political party status because Perot got more than 2 percent of the vote
in Pennsylvania on Nov. 3. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Gavlick said another meeting will be held in the second week of December.
It will be announced when the date is set, he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Gavlick says there's no shortage of volunteers for the group. He says
interest is so high that he's certain it will achieve major party status. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Times Leader Associate Editor Bill Griffith's column appears every Sunday
in the Region section. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ************** &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 FILE PHOTOS &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Mike Rushton &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Eddie Yankowski &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Sally Jervis &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Alice Corba

W-b Area Directors Plan To Team Up For Primary Election