Woman Sees Conspiracy In Drug Deaths 
Sister Of Recently 
Deceased Wapwallopen 
Man Believes His Death 
Was `a Hit,' And That 
Subsequent Death Of His 
Girlfriend Was Likewise

Academic Problems Sideline Jurevicius 
Blow Hits Lions Day After Story Enis Linked To Agent 
From Staff And Wire Reports 
Another Day, Another Problem For Penn State.

By DAVID J. RALIS; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Monday, December 22, 1997 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 3A 





WILKES-BARRE- When the Luzerne County commissioners vote on a $158.7
million budget this morning, they also will be taking steps to curb $610,000
in overtime they might otherwise have to pay prison employees and deputy
sheriffs next year. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 They plan to lighten the workload by hiring five new deputies and promoting
five prison workers to residential aides in 1998. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Those are among the 26 new positions that will increase the county's
payroll by at least $589,397. The others include: 13 new workers in the
Juvenile Probation/Detention Department and three new adult probation
supervisors. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The commissioners are expected to give their final approval to the spending
plan and the proposed 1998 salary list at the 10 a.m. public meeting. The
budget holds the line on taxes. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 As of two weeks ago, Sheriff Carl Zawatski's department was $46,169 over
budget in salaries with one more payroll, worth at least another $30,000,
still to go, according to Deputy Controller Tom Dugan. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Next year, his handful of new deputies will cost at least $96,570 in pay
and health benefits, calculations show. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Even with those new workers, Zawatski expects to pay his 35 full-time
deputies $50,000 in overtime, the budget says. He also plans to pay out
another $60,000 to 26 part-time deputies, each of whom earns $55 per day. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The match comes to a $206,570 payroll increase for the sheriff's office. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "He came in originally for $150,000 for the per-diems and $110,000 for
overtime," Chief Clerk/Administrator Gene Klein said recently. He prepared the
1998 spending plan with the help of department heads like Zawatski. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It's primarily driven by the courts. We have very aggressive judges
adjudicating more cases," Klein said. That in turn means more work for the
sheriff's office, the prison and the probation and parole departments. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Payroll figures at the prison this year have been running close to the
$6.92 million budgeted, Dugan said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 That figure includes $175,000 worth of overtime Warden Gene Fischi budgeted
this year, Klein said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The proposed 1998 budget says salaries will climb to $7.7 million.
"Overtime would have cost $200,000 to $500,000 if he (Fischi) didn't put more
people on board," Klein said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The warden also would have run afoul of the prison's union contract if he
simply added more per-diem workers to the payroll, Klein said. "We've gone as
far as we can with per-diems." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A per-diem worker is on the first step of a three-rung ladder he or she
needs to climb to become a corrections officer. Each works full time and is
paid $15,600, but gets no health benefits. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Each new residential aide already works as a per-diem prison employee.
Although the 1998 salary list says they will be replaced by new per-diem
people, Commissioner Tom Makowski has said the list is in error. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Fischi and Zawatski did not return repeated phone calls in recent weeks
seeking comment on their budget proposals. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

'98 Budget Matches Overtime Pay Vs. New Hires 
The Luzerne County Commissioners Will Vote Today On A Proposed Spending Plan 
And Payroll List Designed To Cut Overtime Pay In 1998

'98 Budget Matches Overtime Pay Vs. New Hires The Luzerne County Commissioners Will Vote Today On A Proposed Spending Plan And Payroll List Designed To Cut Overtime Pay In 1998