W-b Woman Jailed In Alleged Shouting Of Obscenities 
Debbie Thurston Was 
Previously Fined After Being 
Found Guilty Of Harassment And 
Disorderly Conduct

Abortion Protesters From Area Rallying

Friday, January 23, 1998 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 





County makes right call on cellular phone abuse &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Dealing with public employees who abuse their taxpayer-supplied cellular
phones can be a lot like being caught in one of those recorded voice mail
systems that never connects your call to a living, breathing personSometimes
it's best to just hang up. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; That's what the Luzerne County commissioners, to their credit, decided to
do Wednesday after a Times Leader investigative report revealed that as many
as 10 percent of the cell phone calls made by county employees were personal
in nature. As of March 1, the county will be out of the cell phone business. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Taxpayers flew off the handle, and justifiably so, when staff writer Doug
Filaroski reported that county employees used the county's wireless phones to
reach out and touch pizza shops, hair salons, veterinarian offices, drug
stores and their own homes. One county employee even took his phone along
while vacationing in Atlantic City. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 We're not talking about massive amounts of money here. The county spent
slightly more than $60,000 on cell phone calls in 1997. The Times Leader
conservatively projected that at least $6,000 of that went for calls that had
nothing to do with county business. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But Filaroski's report, and a subsequent investigation by District Attorney
Peter Paul Olszewski Jr., showed the county failed to set adequate guidelines
for the approximately 59 employees who used cell phones and also failed to
properly review the bills for personal calls. Olszewski ruled criminal charges
were not appropriate in the case precisely because the county never spelled
out which calls were acceptable and which were not. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Rather than trying to fix a seriously flawed system, the county
commissioners wisely decided to just cut the cord. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But that's not the end of the cell phone story. Many of the employees
involved have yet to reimburse the county for personal calls. The
commissioners must pressure those employees to do so as soon as possible. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 As part of its new policy, the county has agreed to reimburse employees who
have their own cell phones for calls they make related to cou

County Makes Right Call On Cellular Phone Abuse 
Dealing With Public Employees Who Abuse Their Taxpayer-supplied Cellular 
Phones Can Be A Lot Like Being Caught In One Of Those Recorded Voice Mail 
Systems That Never Connects Your Call To A Living, Breathing Person.

County Makes Right Call On Cellular Phone Abuse Dealing With Public Employees Who Abuse Their Taxpayer-supplied Cellular Phones Can Be A Lot Like Being Caught In One Of Those Recorded Voice Mail Systems That Never Connects Your Call To A Living, Breathing Person.