Wilkes Presents `is There Life After High School?' 
The Musical Comedy ``is There Life After High School?'' Is Being Presented By 
Wilkes University At The Dorothy Dickson Darte Center For The Performing Arts 
At South And River Streets In Wilkes-barre.

Agents Arrest 3 Immigrants At Area Restaurants 
Immigration Officials Visited 
Peking Chef Locations, Pursuing 
On Anonymous Tip

By CHRIS SCHNEIDMILLER; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Friday, February 13, 1998 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 3A 





FORTY FORT- The State Police Crime Laboratory in Wyoming will get new
equipment and new employees instead of closing, officials announced Thursday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Gov. Tom Ridge's proposed 1998-99 budget includes funds for the continued
operation of all six state police crime labs. It also provides nearly $1.8
million for new equipment, state police Commissioner Paul J. Evanko said at a
press conference. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Wyoming lab was one of three a state task force recommended be closed
to save money. But local police departments opposed the closing, arguing that
the time spent taking evidence to another lab could hamper investigations. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "This is great news not only for our own troopers and county prosecutors,
but for all local law-enforcement agencies- 90 of them in this region," Evanko
said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Evanko also reported that the first state police toxicology department will
open at Wyoming. It will allow state police to avoid using expensive private
labs when screening blood or urine samples for an unknown drug. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 State police will not charge local departments for tests. Departments also
can look forward to faster returns on test results, said Maj. John Capriotti,
director of the state police office of strategic innovations. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The new division will require additional staffing at the Wyoming lab,
Capriotti said. He could not say how many people would be needed or when the
division will open. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The Pennsylvania General Assembly must pass a budget by July 1. Assuming
the $1.8 million outlay is approved, a new gas chromatograph, new computers
and other office and lab equipment will be headed to Wyoming soon after. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It's a line item in the budget and seems to have the support of many
police agencies and legislators, and we think we're going to get it,"
Capriotti said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 With a total of nine staffers, the Wyoming lab is the second smallest of
the six offices. It performs ballistic tests, drug identification, blood
alcohol tests and other services for law-enforcement agencies in 13 counties. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 News of its continued operation was a relief for the troopers, local police
chiefs and officers and politicians who gathered Thursday at the State Police
Northeast Training Center. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I'm delighted that you and the governor have rejected closure and that you
have instead opted for an upgrade of this wonderful facility," state Sen.
Charles Lemmond, R-Dallas, told Evanko. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The volunteer IMPACCT Commission recommended closing the labs at Wyoming,
Erie and Lima, consolidating their work with labs in Bethlehem, Greensburg and
Harrisburg. Annual savings from consolidation was estimated at $352,000. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 It would have forced police in Luzerne County to transport evidence to the
Bethlehem lab, more than an hour away. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 An internal evaluation of the labs convinced Capriotti and other state
police officials that closing any of them would place an unnecessary burden on
local police departments. Added time needed to deliver perishable evidence to
and from a lab could reduce its value in a criminal case, Evanko said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The labs, now a division of the Bureau of Forensics and Criminal
Identification, are moving toward be

Wyoming Crime Lab To Add Employees Once Endangered, The Local State Police Lab Will Stay Open And Take On New Duties