Woman Sentenced On Mail Fraud Plea

Aborted Landing Shakes Up Passengers 
Delta Flight Headed Into Avoca 
Lands In Allentown After Pilot Makes 2 Tries To Set 
Down In Shifting 
Winds

By MITCH MORRISON; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Wednesday, November 30, 1994 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 3A 





WILKES-BARRE -- Quickly, what's your local police emergency number? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Kevin O'Brien bets more than half of Luzerne County's residents do not
know. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; And for good reason. There are 72 emergency numbers in the county. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Try to remember a seven-digit number when you are faced with an
emergency," O'Brien told two dozen emergency officers and public officials
Tuesday at the Luzerne County Emergency Management headquarters. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Nine-one-one is something Luzerne County needs," O'Brien said. "Enhanced
911 will save anywhere between 60 and 120 seconds ... That's one of the
reasons we need a 911 system." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Many in the audience -- including some former naysayers -- nodded in
agreement. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 O'Brien, the county's top 911 salesman and executive director of the
emergency communications center, has spent the past year traveling to
communities with a stack of evidence pushing for a countywide emergency
number. Among his arguments: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Almost all children recognize 911. Most don't know the seven-digit numbers
for fire, police and ambulance. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 It's more efficient. Just call 911 and the dispatcher will contact the
appropriate police department within seconds. Also, even if the caller cannot
talk, the address will immediately appear on the dispatcher's computer. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 It would save financially strapped communities that now pay for their own
dispatching units. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Every household will be billed $1.25 a month for the first three years,
regardless of whether their municipality joins the county plan. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 For instance, if Wilkes-Barre continues to reject the county's 911 plan,
city residents still will pay the $1.25 a month per telephone number, as well
as continue paying for the city's dispatchers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The $1.25 fee is expected to generate $2.8 million annually. The county
will supplement that to pay for salaries and benefits. O'Brien said the county
contribution would be less than $1 million a year. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The session served as an audition for O'Brien, who will help preside this
evening over the final public hearing on the proposed 911 system. By year's
end, the county will submit its plan to the state Department of Community
Affairs for approval. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The county hopes to implement the 911 system by early 1996, O'Brien said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 That's fine with several police and fire officials who attended Tuesday's
meeting. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We're switching from the Columbia County 911 to this one," said Wesley
Smith, fire chief of the east station in Berwick. "I think it's going to be a
good system that will help a lot of people." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Greg Shanko, of the Plains Township ambulance unit, said "a 3-year-old
child will be guaranteed that when he calls 911, he will get help." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The biggest losers in the plan are municipal dispatchers. The number of
dispatchers in the coun

911 May Save Time, Lives -- But Not Jobs 
As The Final Hearing On Adopting 
The Streamlined Emergency Service 
Arrives, The Best Aspect Is Its Ease 
To Remember. The Worst Is The Jobs That Could Be 
Lost

911 May Save Time, Lives -- But Not Jobs As The Final Hearing On Adopting The Streamlined Emergency Service Arrives, The Best Aspect Is Its Ease To Remember. The Worst Is The Jobs That Could Be Lost