W-b Administrator A Witness For Leighton, Says Source 
Wilkes-barre City Councilman Tom Leighton Hedges When Asked Whether He Has A 
Witness.

Agnes Harvey 
February 3, 1997 
Agnes L. Harvey, 84, Of The Star Hill Rest Home, Beaumont, Where She Was A 
Guest For The Past Year, Formerly Of Noxen, Died Monday At The Home.

By MARK E. JONES; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Thursday, February 06, 1997 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1A 





HOP BOTTOM -- While probing his fingers through a beaver pelt, Robert
Schiappa quoted a price. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Twelve dollars." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Quickly, an assistant measured and tossed a larger hide to the table.
Schiappa's fingers scrunched it. "25 dollars," he said. And so it went: "35
dollars" ... (scrunch) "20" ... (scrunch) "30." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 For trappers at Saturday's regional fur sale in Susquehanna County, those
split-second appraisals were a welcome confirmation: Fur is staging a
comeback. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Prices have nearly doubled for some furs, including beaver, and risen
dramatically for other prized pelts, said Bill Kalinauskis, a spokesman for
the Pennsylvania Trappers Association's ninth district. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Fur is on the increase again," he said. "Raccoons that (last year) sold
for $10 to $12 are taking up to $25." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Industry watchers who saw fur prices languish in the 1980s and early '90s
attribute the latest upswing to increased sales in emerging markets,
particularly Russia and China. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Madonna's stole-wearing role in the movie "Evita" also has rekindled fur
interest. And fashion designers, perhaps taking cues from movies such as
"Casino" and "The First Wives Club," are no longer shying away from the
controversial covering. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Consumer demand has rebounded as well, said Stephanie Kenyon of a
Washington, D.C., trade group called the Fur Information Council of America. A
full-length mink coat that cost $4,700 last season, for example, now bears a
price tag of about $5,200, she said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Consequently, dealers have developed an insatiable appetite for all things
furry: coyote, fox, muskrat and mink. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Schiappa, manager at the Manhattan-based Sam Levine Fur Trading Corp.,
surveyed the Hop Bottom Fire Hall on Saturday, packed with trappers holding
stacks of pelts. Some hides were bound by rope; others stacked in
wheelbarrows. "We would like to take them all," he said. "Every beaver." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The fur sale drew about 150 part-time trappers, mostly men, many dressed in
work boots and warm, flannel shirts. They arrived before 9 a.m., standing in
long lines to haggle with one or more of five pelt buyers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Sometimes there can be a $100 difference in buyers, so you have to look
around," said trapper Tim Myers, of Dorrance Township. "If the guy don't have
a pile (of hides) behind the table, don't go to him." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Myers, 35, was accompanied by his wife and father, whose arms were draped
in hides taken from Luzerne County's fields and swamps. The family's catch: 71
opossum, 61 muskrats, 33 raccoons, 25 red foxes, 11 gray foxes, seven beavers,
five mink and two weasels. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Myers, a logger and farmer, declined to say how much he had profited by
selling furs destined for national and foreign markets -- Canada, Greece and
Asian nations, to name a few. But the money will help to "catch up on the fuel
bills and light bills," he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Two decades ago, trappers virtually banked on making big profits. "(During)
the good times, prices were $40 (for) gray fox, $70 reds, $40 'coons ... and
mink were $32," said Kalinauskis. "Then we took a dive." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Americans largely spurned fur products during the late 1980s at the urging
of animal rights activists. Protesters blasted trapping methods as "cruel" and
"barbaric." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In fact, several states recently have outlawed the use of "steel-jawed,
leg-hold traps," said Susan Altieri, president of the Clarks Summit-based
International Society for Animal Rights. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "If Madonna saw where the furs come from, how they got there, how they
died, I don't think Madonna would wear fur," said Altieri. "Nor would a lot of
other people." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Altieri, and like-minded citizens, contend that trapping is unnecessary;
natural predators will control animal populations; and wildlife officials who
tout "conservation" are simply kowtowing to hunters. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 However, Pennsylvania Game Commission officials maintain that trapping is
the most practical method of controlling furbearers and, subsequently, the
spread of sicknesses such as distemper and rabies. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Rather than have the animals die from disease, we'd much rather see them
harvested," said Tom Hardisky, a state wildlife biologist in Loganton. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He also defended conventional trapping methods. "If properly done -- the
right-sized trap is used, with a short chain and some other precautions --
there is no damage, no broken bones," he said. "But we could ruin the whole
activity if we don't do it in an ethical manner." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 TIMES LEADER PHOTOS/CLARK VAN ORDEN &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Holding red fox pelts, Luzerne County resident Tim Myers, center, waited to
speak with one of five dealers during the Pennsylvania Trappers Association's
ninth district sale in Hop Bottom. His father, Chris Myers, and a friend were
next in line. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Fur buyer Pete Smith of New York closely examined pelts that trappers
lugged Saturday to the Hop Bottom Fire Hall. Nearly $71,000 worth of hides
were sold. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 TIMES LEADER/CLARK VAN ORDEN &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Antionette Myers, 37, of Dorrance Township kept these fox furs under a
watchful eye while her husband, Tim, and other family members sought the
highest bidder. The sale, one of two held each season, attracted about 150
trappers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

It Was All `fur' Sale 
About 150 Trappers Peddle Their Wares 
Animal Pelts Bring Higher Prices This 
Year At Hop Bottom Sale As Consumer 
Demand For Fur Rises

It Was All `fur' Sale About 150 Trappers Peddle Their Wares Animal Pelts Bring Higher Prices This Year At Hop Bottom Sale As Consumer Demand For Fur Rises