Woodcrest Homeowners, Association Reach Deal 
Most Flooded-out Residents 
Are To Pay $250 In Maintenance 
Back Dues, Plus $12.50 A Month 
Until The Government Buyout.

Ada Miller 
January 26, 1998 
Ada J. Miller, 65, Of Rr 3 Wapwallopen, Conyngham Township, Died Monday At 
Home.

By JERRY LYNOTT; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Wednesday, January 28, 1998 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1A 





WILKES-BARRE- Crime around the city's two downtown colleges is just that-
around, school officials said Tuesday as they attempted to distance Wilkes
University and King's College from the trouble spots identified by the mayor. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The neighborhoods bordering the campuses of King's and Wilkes saw the
majority of rapes, homicides and assaults in the city last year, according to
the Uniform Crime Report detailed Monday by Mayor Tom McGroarty. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; But the proximity of the serious crimes mistakenly gives the impression the
campuses are dangerous, said Mark Davis, director of university relations at
Wilkes. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "The colleges are indicted or guilty by geography. It's nothing more than
that," he said. "To identify the college campuses as the report says, `trouble
spots,' I think is unfair." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 McGroarty stuck to the report, saying the numbers and locations can't be
ignored. But he apologized for any problems caused by his comment on Monday
that the schools "should be just as concerned as we are." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The report shows "we're not done" when it comes to ridding the
neighborhoods of crime, the mayor said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Davis, Karen Rogowicz, director of public relations and marketing at
King's, and the schools' security chiefs presented reports from 1997 and
previous years to support their argument that there are fewer crimes on campus
than in the neighborhoods. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 There were no homicides, rapes or robberies on either of the campuses,
according to the Uniform Crime Reports the schools are required by law to file
with the state police. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 There were 54 cases of vandalism at King's and 32 cases of theft. At Wilkes
there were nine cases of vandalism, 23 cases of theft and four assaults,
according to the reports. Each school also had nine violations of the state's
liquor laws. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Actually you're safer on the college campus than you are elsewhere," said
Jerry Cookus, chief of security at Wilkes. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He and his counterpart at King's, Harold Cawley, are former Wilkes-Barre
police officers. Cawley served as assistant chief before moving to King's in
1994. Cookus, a former lieutenant, has been with Wilkes since 1990. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Both said they have good working relationships with the city Police
Department. They also have instituted crime prevention and safety programs at
the schools. And both said they run their departments like small police
forces. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Wilkes posts information about campus crime on its Internet homepage-
www.wilkes.edu- under the Security Alert section, Cookus said. King's is
developing a similar setup, Cawley said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I think Wilkes and King's have some of the safest campuses around,"
McGroarty said. But he sa

King's, Wilkes: Crime Report Does Not Do Justice 
King's, Wilkes Take Issue With 
Mayor's Contention That Areas Around 
Campus Are Among City's Trouble Spots

King's, Wilkes: Crime Report Does Not Do Justice King's, Wilkes Take Issue With Mayor's Contention That Areas Around Campus Are Among City's Trouble Spots