[Snakeyes]

^^^Do you have a link to that article Snakeyes? Or isn't it worth it....maybe just a brief note?

Sorry, I will go back on look for orig article, in the meantime...

http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17840032&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=418218&rfi=6

[Ex-Ithacan]

^I'm sure there has to be a suitable site in downtown Scranton.

[bucks native]

It's interesting to note, and I pointed it out to a member of "the committee," an article in last week's NYTimes. It reported that rural colleges are finding that, to attract students and faculty, they need more in the way of lifestyle amenities, and are building, from scratch, old-fashioned downtowns which adjoin their campuses. An interesting article. I'll look for it and attempt to post it here, later today.


http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=17835898&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=590572&rfi=8


Med school site unclear
BY DAVID FALCHEK
STAFF WRITER
02/10/2007

The committee behind the proposed Medical College of Northeastern Pennsylvania has decided to start over in its search for a location and consider all options — even some outside the city.

Business and medical community leaders behind the project are expanding their site search and trying to take a more methodical approach after allowing an option to purchase the Howard Johnson property on Franklin Avenue for $3 million to expire last month.

The group, which is called the Medical Education Development Consortium, wanted to extend its purchase option on Howard Johnson, said the building’s listing agent, Charles Hibble of Weichert Realty in Scranton. The motel’s owner refused.

The property remains available, but the consortium no longer has the exclusive right to buy it. It remains among many sites to be newly examined.

Members of the consortium had a daylong summit at the Hilton Scranton and Conference Center on Friday.

Former Southern Union Co. executive Thomas Karam, of Waverly, is now leading the search, consortium President Robert W. Naismith said. No site has been fully ruled in and none fully ruled out, Mr. Karam said during a meeting break. The group also wants the input of the medical school’s yet-to-be selected dean.

“We are going to be more methodical about searching for a site,” Mr. Karam said. “The criteria we use will depend on the input of the new dean.”

Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty expects the influence of Gov. Ed Rendell and state Sen. Robert Mellow, D-Peckville, to keep the school in the city and probably downtown. The state has promised a $35 million grant to fund the school.

“Gov. Rendell’s investment priorities have been in downtowns,” Mr. Doherty said. “And $35 million is a lot of taxpayer money to spend off an exit ramp.”

The medical school is viewed as a catalyst for the city’s economic renaissance that would guarantee a flow of medical talent to hospitals.

A state-funded feasibility study last year said a downtown location would have the most residual benefit.

“The economic impact of the proposed medical college on the City of Scranton will be $4.3 million more annually if the college is located in the downtown,” the report said. By 2015, the annual economic impact would be $32.7 million for a downtown location and $28.4 million for a site elsewhere, it said.

“This would really help all downtown businesses,” said Elizabeth Sutton, a manager at the Banshee restaurant on Penn Avenue. “It would be a sad loss to Scranton to have it somewhere else.”

So far, the 17-member board has not agreed on purchasing a site. Some members, particularly those from medical backgrounds, favored a site on a largely residential block between Mercy and Moses Taylor hospitals.

Other members, including some from business or political backgrounds, pushed for sites in the heart of downtown, such as the Howard Johnson property. Combined with the site of the former Holiday Manor Apartments across the street, the school would have the 3 acres needed for its 180,000 square feet of building space.

Now both of those options are on the table, along with many others. Other city sites shortlisted last year include the former New Jersey Central Railroad building on Lackawanna Avenue, and the proposed Mount Pleasant Corporate Center between West Linden Street and the North Scranton Expressway.

Consortium member James May, who did not attend Friday’s meeting, said from his office in Cincinnati that he had heard the group was evaluating suburban sites, such as those in Glenmaura Corporate Center in Moosic and Scranton.

Austin Burke, president of the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, said the consortium had indeed considered sites at Glenmaura Corporate Center in the past. Mr. Burke, however, feels the best setting for the school is downtown.

Any outside location would deviate from the initial vision of the school, said Mr. May, former Mercy Health Partners chief executive and now a division chief for its parent, Catholic Healthcare Partners.

Since Southern Union chose to move its headquarters from the city, the medical school stands as the great hope for a magnet of development downtown, Mr. Hibble said.

Contact the writer: dfalchek@timesshamrock.com



©The Times-Tribune 2007

[bucks native]

Transport hub gets big boost

BY MICHAEL RACE
HARRISBURG BUREAU CHIEF
02/13/2007


HARRISBURG — A crucial land swap that would allow construction to begin on an $11 million transportation center in downtown Scranton is back on track in the state Legislature.

A House committee on Monday unanimously approved a measure that would allow the state to give about 2.5 acres to the County of Lackawanna Transit System for a 6,500-square-foot train and bus terminal along Lackawanna Avenue. In turn, COLTS would give the state the Martz Trailways property across the street, which would become a parking lot for workers at the State Office Building.

The bill now goes to the House floor for a vote, and its backers hope for speedy passage so COLTS can break ground on the facility.

The bill was introduced by Rep. Ken Smith, D-Dunmore, who told members of the House State Government Committee the land transfer would help consolidate transportation modes in the city.

“It really cleans up the downtown, and it brings everything together,” he said.

A similar bill died late in the last legislative session after controversial amendments were added involving other land transfers.

The land the state is giving up to COLTS is valued at $900,000, according to the state Department of General Services, while the land COLTS is giving up is valued at $685,000. A DGS representative said COLTS has agreed to construct a parking lot on the parcel the state is receiving, “so we’re going to get equal value for this.”

Contact the writer: mrace@timesshamrock.com



©The Times-Tribune 2007

[Snakeyes]

Thanks Bucks...that was the article I was referencing. Appreciate the scoop from you as well!

[Snakeyes]

Thanks Bucks...that was the article I was referencing. Appreciate the scoop from you as well!

[bucks native]

Rural Colleges Seek New Edge and Urbanize

By ALAN FINDER
Published: February 7, 2007
NYTimes

CONWAY, Ark. — Across from the red-brick Collegiate Gothic campus of Hendrix College in central Arkansas lie a few beat-up ball fields, tennis courts and an expanse of woods. Downtown Conway is only a half-dozen blocks away, but it is “not overflowing with amenities,” as Frank H. Cox, a member of the Hendrix board of trustees, diplomatically put it.

For decades, colleges like Hendrix in rural areas of the country embraced a pastoral ideal, presenting themselves as oases of scholarship surrounded by nothing more distracting than lush farmland and rolling hills. But many officials at such institutions have decided that students today want something completely different: urban buzz. “You can’t market yourself as bucolic,” J. Timothy Cloyd, the Hendrix president, said.

At the same time, officials have realized that a more urbanized version of the ideal campus could attract a population well past its college years — working people and retiring baby boomers — if there is housing to suit them. And so a new concept of the college campus is taking root: a small city in the country that is not reserved for only the young.

At Hendrix, construction will begin this year on a large urban-style village on the 130 acres of ball fields and woods that the college owns across the street from the main campus, with stores, restaurants and offices. Soon, officials hope, will come nearly 200 single-family houses, many with rental apartments above the garage; 400 town houses, apartments and loft-style condominiums; and a charter school with the college as a participant.

On the corner of the property, a large student fitness center is already being built, which will be available to the owners of houses and condominiums and to the apartment dwellers, probably for a fee, as will many of the college’s other cultural and educational facilities.

Similar projects are under way at about a dozen other institutions nationwide, including the University of Connecticut in Storrs; the University of Notre Dame; Furman University in Greenville, S.C., where a retirement community on campus is being planned; and Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., where construction will begin soon on 120 condominium apartments on campus for working people and retirees.

“It’s part of a pattern of colleges and universities realizing that they have elements that are appealing to a population far broader than 18- to 25-year-olds,” said Ralph J. Hexter, president of Hampshire College. “It’s often said of a college education, ‘It’s a shame it’s wasted on the young.’ ”The distinctive marks of many of these campuses are shops, restaurants, offices and housing that, together, create a destination. The idea is to produce street life and to promote social interaction.

Nearly all of these developments are being built by institutions with vast tracts of unused land; officials hope to take advantage of that asset to help build endowments. Generally, these are also institutions that are not looking to expand significantly the size of their student bodies.

Students graduating from high school these days seem particularly attracted to urban settings, said Dr. Cloyd, the Hendrix president. Many come from the suburbs, he said.

“I think students crave the kind of vitality you have in an urban space,” Dr. Cloyd said. “The images that reveal an active social life are urban-based.”

Storrs, for example, is home to a 20,000-student flagship state university, but it is a hamlet in the hills of eastern Connecticut. Downtown consists of three small strip malls, and university officials say the lack of a vibrant college town is frequently cited by students who decline offers of admission or decide to transfer. Officials are seeking final zoning approvals for a large mixed-use complex that will include shops, office space and up to 800 apartments and town houses.

“This would make it easier for them to attract students,” said Cleo Szmygiel, a Connecticut freshman from New York City. “There is really not a lot to do here.”

Keelan King, a sophomore from Scotia, N.Y., said of the university, “It’s a nice campus, but there’s nothing around here, a place to eat, someplace to go after a basketball game.”

The new complex, Storrs Center, is meant to provide a place to go. “We’re never going to be Boston,” said M. Dolan Evanovich, the university’s vice provost for enrollment management. “But having a quintessential New England town with 100 businesses and a town green will be the missing link for us.”

Housing for people unaffiliated with the university is essential to the project’s long-term success, said Cynthia van Zelm, executive director of the Mansfield Downtown Partnership, a coalition of university, town and community officials working with a developer to create the complex. (Storrs is a hamlet in the town of Mansfield.)

“You need to have a population of people living downtown,” Ms. van Zelm said. “We need that 24-hour presence.”

Even the very urban University of Pennsylvania is building a large complex on land it owns across from its law school in Philadelphia; the 295 apartments will be available to the public. So will other housing Penn plans to build on a 25-acre site it is buying next to campus.

“When you picture a global university, you picture urban,” said Amy Gutmann, the Penn president. “You picture restaurants, art galleries, you picture day and night, taking in movies, live performances.”

If Penn thinks it needs to make its campus more dense and lively, imagine the yearning for some touches of urban life at Hendrix, a small liberal arts college in Conway, a modest but growing city of 53,000.

Like the developments in Storrs, the Hendrix project will be built in a style known as New Urbanism. Buildings will be close to the street and roads kept narrow to encourage pedestrian traffic and de-emphasize cars. The neighborhood and its buildings are meant to recall the housing and shops built in American towns in the first half of the 20th century.

“It is about creating walkable places that are sustainable and gratifying on a human scale,” said Robert L. Chapman, managing director of Traditional Neighborhood Development Partners, the developer of what will be called the Village at Hendrix.

The college is contributing the land and will invest $8 million to $10 million in the project’s first phase, said Dr. Cloyd, the Hendrix president, and it will share profits with the developer.

Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., which has created several programs to revive adjacent neighborhoods and to encourage faculty to live nearby, is building an apartment complex for undergraduates across from the main entrance to campus. There will be retail stores on the first floor.

“I think liberal arts colleges and universities are all about the serendipitous moments,” said John Fry, president of Franklin & Marshall. “You’re in the coffee shop on a Saturday morning sipping a cup of coffee and you run into a professor, and two hours later you’ve had one of those transformative moments.”

[donybrx]

BucksNative nice find...thanks for the article a-w-a the up-to-date on the MED center; I note (with disdain) that GlenMaura is under consideration.....but also harbor hope that the commitment to downtowns by the Gov... and others..will generate an intense effort to make this a downtown opportunity.

BTW...where's MetroJunkie? come see us'ns...:)

[donybrx]

Alas and (truly!) a-lack :)

NePA needs people.....they might not have counted Bucks Native just yet.... there's one more...:)

02/14/2007
Population a drag on economy Lack of growth preventing financial boom
BY DAVID FALCHEK
STAFF WRITER


The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre economy will continue to lag behind the nation’s until its population grows, Wachovia Corp. global economist Jay Bryson, Ph.D., said Tuesday.


While the U.S. population grows about 1 percent each year, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre region has seen its population consistently decline.

With fewer residents earning wages and spending money here each year, it is almost impossible to create a booming economy, he said. He shared his views on the national and local economies at the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce breakfast.

“People require a place to live, and they purchase goods and services,” he said. “Until you have population growth, you will not have as much economic growth as the nation.”

The good news is that population loss for Lackawanna, Luzerne and Wyoming counties has steadily decreased in recent years — from 3,310 people in 2001 to 668 in 2005, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

That is an encouraging sign, Dr. Bryson said, evidence that fewer are leaving to find jobs and more people are moving in to take advantage of reasonable housing prices.

That factor aside, he said, about 90 percent of what happens to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area will be determined by national trends.

He predicted 2007 would be “the Goldilocks economy,” not too hot, not too cold, with growth of 2.5 percent, the slowest since 2003.

But individual bowls of porridge may differ. Here are his views on economic indicators:

¦ Housing starts stall. Home construction in 2007 will be like the Nasdaq in 2000. By the end of last year, housing starts were down nearly one-fifth compared to the prior year, and that will continue through most of 2007.

Home builders, he said, are in a recession. Home construction is 5 percent of the nation’s economy, and will account for the drag on the economy.

¦ The bubble myth. While existing home values in big cities will come down, there is no “bubble” nationally or locally, he said. In the past 10 years, he said, the region’s home values increased between 50 and 60 percent.

“I would sleep well at night owning a home in Scranton,” Dr. Bryson said.

¦ Corporate profits soar. As a percent of gross domestic product, corporate profits are at their highest in 30 years.

In financial health, Dr. Bryson gives the business sector an “A.”

During a question-and-answer session with the 130 people in attendance, Dr. Bryson said an increase in the national minimum wage would have almost no impact on the economy, given that half the states already have higher minimum-wage laws and only three-tenths of a percent of the nation’s work force earns minimum wage.

He expects the Federal Reserve Board to hold interest rates steady for six months.

[bucks native]

Wish I had a sled. NO traffic, the kids are out and they are FLYING down these hills.

[Snakeyes]

Two letters to the editor regarding the Medical School....you can find them at ...http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17853485&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=418216&rfi=6

[bucks native]

I sent copies of the NYTimes article, above, to the Chamber of Commerce and to the editor of the Scranton Times. I also tried to send a copy to the mayor but his website has no email contact.

[donybrx]

Terrific that you guys^^^^ are on the case! I know you'll be adding to the solution......

You really got socked b this storm...hope all is well.....

Meantime, Paul Sorvino is looking for easy sledding.....:)

er, ScrantonWood?

Posted on Wed, Feb. 14, 2007

Sorvino seeks studio funding
Actor meets with Rendell regarding possible Lackawanna County facility.

By KRIS WERNOWSKY kwernowsky@timesleader.com

Actor Paul Sorvino met with Gov. Ed Rendell Sunday to discuss possible public funding of a planned movie studio to be located in Lackawanna County.

Sorvino is looking for a substantial investment from the state to construct a 12-sound stage movie studio, offices and production facility somewhere in the county near Scranton.

The stage actor and “Goodfellas” star met to discuss the $12- to $15-million project with the governor, along with Lackawanna County Commissioner Robert Cordaro and Marilyn J. Santarelli, director of the F.M. Kirby Center and a member of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

“It brings a huge amount of money to the area,” Sorvino said. “It’s a huge opportunity for the region to help bring back Scranton. A movie industry in the area, real estate prices go up; the whole area goes right up.”

Rendell’s press aide Kate Phillips refused to discuss specific details of Sunday’s private meeting, but said the governor has yet to make a decision on whether to funnel public funding into the project.

“There is no agreement as of today,” Phillips said. “I can’t comment on their meeting. If the governor were inclined to fund any project he would do it with a public announcement and not a leak through the media. It’s a matter of priorities and question of what’s best for Pennsylvania.”

While he didn’t disclose the amount of money he’s seeking, Sorvino said he has a line of private investors ready to fund a large majority of the cost.

The key to the project, Sorvino said, is taking full advantage of the region’s proximity to the New York and Philadelphia metropolitan areas.

During the production of an independent film “The Trouble With Cali,” written by his son Michael and starring his daughter Mira, Sorvino said filming in Scranton was a cost-effective substitute for many regions in and around Manhattan. Crews were able to quickly travel to New York City to film exterior shots near the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the Brooklyn Bridge.

“A lot of things we were able to do because it looks like New York,” Sorvino said. “The ancillary costs were a lot less. Studio rental will certainly be less than in New York.”

Phillips refused to place a timetable on Sorvino’s proposal, saying Rendell will look at other communities that invested in the movie industry to see if the benefits are worth the upfront costs.

“There is no question that the governor is a supporter of the arts and the film industry in Pennsylvania,” Phillips said. “(The governor) hopes to continue to increase funding for film production in Pennsylvania with hopes we continue to invest in it.”

[donybrx]

Very destructive snowstorm in NEPA. not least, the roof of the Hoyt Library in Kingston collapsed.. roads closed everywhere and anywhere, and:
------------------------------------------------------------

Posted on Thu, Feb. 15, 2007

Amphitheater at Montage collapses

MOOSIC – The Toyota Amphitheater at Montage collapsed at about 3:15 p.m. Thursday. There was no immediate word if anyone has been injured.

Check back at www.timesleader.com for details as they become available.

For the complete story, read The Times Leader on Friday.

[Ex-Ithacan]

Holy smokes, I skip this thread for a couple of days and the posts explode. Good stuff all the way around guys. Glad to have some on site reppin' going on now too. Yee-haw, keep it comin'.

[Wheelingman04]

I think a population boom is coming because of the proximity to the New York City metro and its exurbs. Plus the low cost of living is very attractive.

[donybrx]

I agree ^^ wheelingman although it might not be a boom...and I hesitate to use the word 'surge' right now.......but conditions are perfect for growth in NEPA and at the same time better retention of existing populations; it has plenty todo with congestion in metro NYC as well as high costs of living there as well as the wish for better environments for kids, etc.. A lot of Long Islanders seem willing to retire to NEPA too or to set up second homes as get-aways or investments......

[donybrx]

Some info re: Blue Cross that impacts the proposed Scranton Medical School:

02/18/2007
Blue Cross wants to halt bid on $175 million pledge
BY JAMES HAGGERTY
STAFF WRITER


Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania wants to halt a bid to prevent it from delivering on a $175 million pledge to improve regional health care systems and support a local medical school.

Attorneys for the health insurer filed papers in Lackawanna County Court seeking to strike a petition for a permanent injunction that would block the donations. The challenge is related to a 2002 class-action lawsuit seeking to force Wilkes-Barre-based Blue Cross to divest itself of up to $338 million in reserves to remain a tax-exempt nonprofit under state law.

Blue Cross also seeks to halt that case until Commonwealth Court in Harrisburg decides whether health insurance subscribers may sue over the surpluses held by the state’s four nonprofit Blue Cross and Blue Shield carriers.

The state Supreme Court in November revived similar class-action suits against the Blues that call for them to use some of their surpluses to reduce health insurance premiums. The court allowed a challenge against Independence Blue Cross to proceed as a civil suit in Philadelphia.

The local challenge rises out of an action filed by Robert Petty, who was covered under a Blue Cross policy for employees of R.G. Petty Masonry of Clarks Summit.

Blue Cross’s response, filed by attorneys Patrick J. O’Connor and Aaron Krauss of Philadelphia, alleges among many things a procedural defect: that the petition should seek a temporary injunction, because permanent injunctions are issued only at the end of cases.

However, attorney Joseph Mariotti, who represents Petty, said the injunction move is appropriate because of Blue Cross’ “decision to give away $175 million, with none of it being provided to policyholders and subscribers.”

The request for Blue Cross to divest itself of part of its surplus is improper, the health insurer argues, because the state Insurance Department has determined the amount falls within “sufficient” ranges.

But Mariotti said Blue Cross’ decision to make the pledge indicates the insurer “believes that it has at least $175 million in excess as well.”

Efforts to reach O’Connor and Krauss were unsuccessful.

Blue Cross’ pledge, made in mid-December, would direct millions toward expanded services, improvements to medical technology, recruitment and retention of physicians and increased collaboration among medical facilities.

The pledge includes $50 million for the affiliation of Moses Taylor Hospital and Community Medical Center, $40 million for advancements at Wyoming Valley Health Care System, $25 million for the planned Scranton-area medical school’s startup costs and $30 million for Susquehanna Health System in Lycoming County.

So far the insurer has disbursed only $6.7 million, to Wyoming Valley Health Care System, Blue Cross spokesman Gerry Snyder said, but more outlays will occur when terms and conditions of the agreements are worked out.

“We’re going to go as planned, unless there’s direction otherwise,” Snyder said.

The Petty suit alleges that surplus of $404 million at the end of 2001 violates Blue Cross’ nonprofit status and social mission as an “insurer of last resort” for people who earn too much to qualify for Medical Assistance but cannot afford their own health insurance.

Blue Cross argues those legal issues also should remain on hold in local court until the outcome of the Commonwealth Court case.

A hearing on the competing motions is scheduled March 29 at 9:30 a.m. before Judge Carmen Minora. The case originally was assigned to Judge Robert Mazzoni, but he recused himself because he is a member of the board at Moses Taylor Hospital.

jhaggerty@timesshamrock.com


©The Citizens Voice 2007

[Ex-Ithacan]

^ Wow, what a crazy mess going on there. :koko:

[Snakeyes]

http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17872308&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=415898&rfi=6


Anyone have a scoop?

[Ex-Ithacan]

^ That's a shame. Seems like the University would give some kind of explanation though.

[donybrx]

How large is the site? Might it be a suitable location for the Med School/ developed with the auspices of Univ. of Scranton, as suggested in one of the letters to the editor provided by Snakeyes?

[Snakeyes]

Donybrx,


I believe the site is currently a parking lot. I believe the Med School is looking for a bigger plot of land.

[donybrx]

^^^ In THAT case, maybe they could forgo acreage and build up....35 stories.....including parking for Univ.

[Snakeyes]

Ahhh one can dream..

[MetroJunkie BJR]

I knew you guys would be all over the news about the med school possibly not locating in downtown Scranton. Good job all.

This has got to be one of the most stupid decisions. They better not go suburban with it. Bucks Native...can you steer the location back to the downtown? Have you the power to do that?

For all the talk about a renaissance in Scranton, in reality the city is no further ahead than other small Pennsylvania cities. Allentown, Harrisburg, Erie...all have a significant amount of downtown construction. Something like the med school would be such a benefit to Scranton's business district. It really could change the city's fortunes.

I heard at work that if the Blue Cross earmarked money doesn't come through, the project is in jeopardy. Am I correct in thinking that Bucks?

I really felt this was Scranton's last great hope to significantly change the look and feel of the downtown. The Univ. of Scranton has done alot to help its part of the city (but what is the deal with cancelling their parking garage? That is soooo not a good idea.), and I thought this plus the other projects coming up, including St. Peter's Square, would revive that bland part of central city. Plus, the possibility of a 10+ story building (yes, structures that low give NEPA residents goosebumps. How sad.) would make such an impact.

A residential neighboorhood near the hospitals is NOT the place for it, nor do I think the Mount Pleasant corporate center planned for the Providence Rd/7th Ave exit just before downtown, is the best location either. Although...that would provide the school the needed square footage and parking at a lower price than a downtown structure would. OH GOD, listen to me! I'm being lured over to the dark side! Damn you, logic! LOL

Hope all are doing well...Ex-Ith, Dony, Bucks, Snakeyes, et al.

[Snakeyes]

Metro,


Should we be worried about Dony?

I think we are all waiting for news to break...as far as Scranton...news of a tenant for the SU building and the Medical School...I expect news sometime this month...

[Ex-Ithacan]

Doing well here MetroJ, thanks. A 10+ story building in that part of downtown would sure have a positive affect on the skyline.

@ Snakeyes - I'm guessing dony just took a break for a couple of days. At least I hope that's what happened.

[donybrx]

I'm here...I'm here! Been very distracted for a couple of weeks and had gone to Phila. two weekends ago...going back for this weekend; It's fairly quiet in NePA these days except for rough stormy weather, roof collapses and stuff...including some of the W-B Murray Complex, I read (less demolition there, I suppose)...

Nice to have MetroJ checking in! and nice to be missed....awww........shucks...:)

[Snakeyes]

Metro, you sound like some of those folks that have invaded city-data.com forums! think positive!

[MetroJunkie BJR]

Metro, you sound like some of those folks that have invaded city-data.com forums! think positive!

Jeez, I didn't know I sounded like those Debbie Downers! ;) Snakeyes, have you lived in NEPA your entire life? You have to admit, when the rest of the world is building up and our humble area was like a stalled Buick from the 1970s through the 80s, and still is not booming, it is VERY EASY to be a little negative, especially when it comes to skyscrapers, and buildings that "wow" you in our downtowns.

I keep trying to accentuate the positive, really I do. You don't know the effort I put in my daily travels through the area. I'll try harder. Just like Avis.

Dony...happy to hear you are OK. It's just not right when you are MIA for a week or so!

[donybrx]

^^^^Well, let that be a lesson.....har har..... :)

Meantime, guess what. A musical about NePA premiering, no less, at the Kirby in Wilkes Barre!, then looking for funding to get to the Great White Way....At first reading I thought..."hmmm....nice idea...probably a little hokey", then I noted the words of veteran Broadway cast member who declares this to be a better 'show' than either Les Miz or Phantom......or is he just hyping it a bit too much?) I'd like to attend at the end of April if I can clear the way....Here's the scoop on the Molly Maguires:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted on Thu, Mar. 01, 2007

Miners’ tale gets musical
Coal mine workers’ dispute hits the stage at Kirby

By MARY THERESE BIEBEL mbiebel@timesleader.com

Kids today.

They’re allowed to go to school first, and when they eventually do get a job, it’s usually in a clean, safe place not prone to cave-ins.

“My grandchildren take for granted it was always like this, with safety laws and child-labor laws,” producer James Burke said with some frustration. “It wasn’t. It was hell.”

Burke wants everyone’s children to know about the sacrifices of the workers who came before, the men who faced the dangers of Pennsylvania coal mines.

To that end, he’s producing “The Molly Maguires,” a musical loaded with Broadway talent, set to debut April 25 to 28 at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre.

The central character is a Pinkerton detective, James McKenna, who is hired by a mine owner to infiltrate a secret society known as the Molly Maguires and gather evidence to betray the Irish Catholic miners who are fighting for workers’ rights.

McKenna will be portrayed by actor Ciaran Sheehan, who has appeared on Broadway as the title character in “The Phantom of the Opera” and in supporting roles in “Les Miserables.”

He considers “The Molly Maguires” superior to both of those popular shows.

“It’s so good, it will be a sin if there’s an empty seat in the house,” Sheehan said Wednesday after rehearsing a song in the studios of musical co-sponsor WVIA-TV.

McKenna’s situation becomes more complicated when he falls in love with a miner’s widow and begins to feel sympathy for the miners, whose plight Burke describes as horrific.

In the mid-19th century, he said, “They were beasts of burden. Many of them would have gladly exchanged places with the slaves in the South.”

Far away in Rome, Pope Leo XIII referred specifically to the miner’s situation in his 1891 encyclical “Rerum Novarum,” in which he recommended shortening their hours and sparing the children.

“In those days you’d take a 7-year-old to the breaker and say, ‘Son, your childhood is over,’ ” Burke said, shaking his head.

That thought makes Burke feel ready to sign up for the Mollies himself.

“If my father and grandfather had been subjected to horrible conditions, if my kids were up in the breaker, I’d like to think I would have had the courage to do something about it.”

It’s hard to say how many deaths of company officials, if any, the Molly Maguires may have been responsible for, but Burke said he wouldn’t call every death a murder. Some might have been “assassinations,” and justified.

Burke has a special interest in anthracite history – “Coal is in my DNA,” he said – because he grew up in Wilkes-Barre.

A member of King’s College’s first graduating class in 1950, he served as chairman of its board of directors for many years.

He hopes, with the help of other financial backers, the show will make its way to Broadway after its Wilkes-Barre debut.


IF YOU GO

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For tickets to “The Molly Maguires,” call the F.M. Kirby Center at (570) 826-1100.

[Snakeyes]

Jeez, I didn't know I sounded like those Debbie Downers! ;) Snakeyes, have you lived in NEPA your entire life? You have to admit, when the rest of the world is building up and our humble area was like a stalled Buick from the 1970s through the 80s, and still is not booming, it is VERY EASY to be a little negative, especially when it comes to skyscrapers, and buildings that "wow" you in our downtowns.

I keep trying to accentuate the positive, really I do. You don't know the effort I put in my daily travels through the area. I'll try harder. Just like Avis.

Dony...happy to hear you are OK. It's just not right when you are MIA for a week or so!


Accentuate the Positive!! Good!

I have lived up and down the East Coast....briefly in NEPA.

[MetroJunkie BJR]

Not sure while I was gone last fall if anyone referred to this article from the December 2006 issue of ISCS (International Council of Shopping Centers) Shopping Centers Today. The details are a little old, especially about the casino licenses, but it is cool that the Poconos were featured in a national trade publication and it is pretty interesting, nonetheless.

http://www.icsc.org/srch/sct/sct1206/feat_second_resorts_poconos.php

MetroJ

[donybrx]

Hazleton's proposed Cargo Airport----- blurb du jour:

Cargo airport planners meet with FAA officials
Wednesday, 28 February 2007
STAFF REPORTS
Gladstone Partners Limited met with officials from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Wednesday to exchange information required as part of the company’s application for air space authorization.
Attorney Bob Powell and Greg Zappala of Gladstone Partners accompanied Michael Marsicano when they met with FAA officials in Atlanta.
“We are waiting for airspace approval,” Marsicano said. “It was a good exchange of information to allow the FAA to complete the application for the proposal of the cargo airport in Humboldt.”
Marsicano said it was the second meeting he and Gladstone had with the FAA and they are all pleased with the progress on the project.
“It can take normally up to 90 days to get airspace approval and we submitted the application on Feb. 1. So we already have almost 30 days since we filed and hopefully authorization could come as soon as 45 days or so,” Marsicano said.
He talked about some of the information the FAA wanted and said most of it was technical, like the direction on takeoff and landing, arrival and departure to make sure everything is safe.
The retired airline pilot and former mayor of Hazleton said the next step after authorization by the FAA will be for Luzerne County to form an authority board.
“Actually, Luzerne County is in the process of forming an authority,” Marsicano said, “(Gladstone Partners) are very pleased with the progress of the project.”
He said the response has been positive from the FAA and other government officials. The response from people living within a 50-mile radius of the proposed cargo airport has also been “nothing but positive,” he said.

[Ex-Ithacan]

^ At least there's forward movement on the airport. :tup:

The play you cited, dony, reminds me that my Grandfather (Mother's side) worked as a breaker boy in NEPA. He eventually went into the mines as an adult, and worked as a blacksmith shoeing the mules (which never saw daylight, or so the story goes). He was injured in a mining accident and bed-ridden for about a year. The same time he was layed up, my folks had to leave me with my grand parents for a couple of months due to a medical condition affecting my Mother. I was only a few months old, and I guess I spent much of my time on the bed with my grandfather.

I know it's not Moly Maguire related, but sounds a bit typical of the hard life people had back in the day as a result of working in the mines. (And I'm sure that kind of thing still happens to miners today, but at least there's no more breaker boys).

[donybrx]

Interesting story EX.........hard knock life for your grandfather, though....gosh..and those miners were so important to the evolving economy......

[Ex-Ithacan]

^ I'm sure there's thousands of similar stories out there related to the mines in NEPA.

[donybrx]

Oh, no doubt.....I remember seeing miners as a kid around the area....covered with black head to toe, often coughing badly...you know, anthrasilicosis. tough stuff.....tough people...
............
Back at Wilkes Univ., breaking news. Proposed Law School will be soon put to a vote. Exciting. At least I think so..... :).... further strengthning the area's substance.........
............

Posted on Sat, Mar. 03, 2007

Wilkes explores NEPA law school
Plan for program in preliminary stage. Faculty will vote on issue April 1, trustees on April 13.

By KEVIN AMERMAN kamerman@timesleader.com

“It’s something that’s missing in the community as a region.”
............(Scott Byers, Wilkes official)


WILKES-BARRE – Wilkes University faculty members will vote next month on a plan to create the region’s first law school, a college official said Friday.

Following the faculty’s vote on April 1, the university’s board of trustees will vote on the issue on April 13, said Scott Byers, the university’s vice president for finance and support.

“It’s something that’s missing in the community as a region,” Byers said. “When you think about Scranton starting a medical school, us having a law school; regionally it’s really kind of changed the face of the area.”

Byers spoke about the issue Friday while serving as the Downtown Wilkes-Barre Business Association’s guest speaker during a meeting at Wilkes University Center on South Main Street.

Byers said if approved, the university would hire a dean who would help develop ideas for the law school.

“I would imagine we would anticipate a start-up of September 2009,” Byers said, while noting the plan is in the preliminary stages and several hoops would have to be cleared before final plans could be made.

Byers said the university has a few locations that could be used to house the law school, but said the building wouldn’t be decided on without the dean’s input.

He said the law school building would include a mock courtroom and a law library, which could be integrated with the school’s current library.

Larry Newman, the vice president of community development for the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry, asked Byers what the anticipated class sizes would be.

Byers said the law school would likely start off with 75 students and have 225 by the third year. He said the school would offer a three-year program.

Byers said the school “won’t be Harvard or Yale,” but will be a quality school.

“We did not want to be a bottom-tier law school,” Byers said. “That wasn’t going to do the region any good; it wasn’t going to do Wilkes any good.”

If the law school opens, it would have to gain accreditation from the American Bar Association after the first year of operation.

During that first year, bar association officials would visit the school to see if it meets that bar’s requirements.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kevin Amerman, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7218.

[Ex-Ithacan]

Sure hope the law school happens.

[Snakeyes]

Work with U of S to revive parking project
03/07/2007
Email to a friendPrinter-friendly
Development of Mulberry Street as it passes through part of the University of Scranton would well serve the university and the city as a whole — so much so that there is no reason for either entity to go it alone.





The university’s current project to build a $30 million, 118,000-square-foot student center on Mulberry Street, between Monroe and Quincy avenues, will open the campus to the community as never before, by design. The building will include a theater, ballroom and meeting rooms.

Its primary mission is, of course, to serve the university community. But the building also has the potential to be the anchor of much broader private/public development along Mulberry Street that could create something of a university village.

Unfortunately, the university recently acknowledged that it will not move forward, at least for now, with a plan to build a multistory parking garage, with first-floor commercial space, at Madison Avenue and Mulberry Street — nearly the western end of Mulberry Street’s passage through the university and just a block west of the current construction project. A university spokesman did not elaborate on the reason for the decision.

The preliminary plan had called for 1,200 parking spots, about 200 of which would have been reserved for nearby Lackawanna College. At ground level, the plan called for a restaurant and shops — just the sort of development needed along the entire corridor.

Mayor Chris Doherty should meet with university officials to determine if the project can be revived, potentially with help from the Scranton Parking Authority, which has become an accomplished garage developer in the downtown.

The university already is the foremost economic entity in the downtown/Hill Section area, yet its potential has only marginally been explored. The university and the city government have their own prerogatives, of course, but smart development of the Mulberry Street corridor does not fall into that category.

[donybrx]

^^^ Maybe something better will take it's place....

I see that the student center will contain a theater; my wish would have been that the University sponser the renovation of the lavish old RITZ theater instead...it isn't far from the University and would be a magnificent venue for Scranton...perhaps the acoustics would be better than those at SCC. Said renovation would probably be remarkably costly, I duly note ...we'd need to appeal to Ex-Ithacan to open his wallet and sell a Renoir for big
dollars....:)

Cheers and a tip 'o the hat to Jimmy Hatlo......

[Ex-Ithacan]

^ I don't know about a Renoir, but I can do some pretty crazy stuff with crayons. :D

Ya need an historical society to get the Ritz renovated. I think there might be a site on the net for saving old movie/vaudeville theatres. :shrug:

[donybrx]

Some Wilkes-Barre notes:

1) WB finally going wireless:

http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/16807959.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

2) Proposed Downtown Business District Moves Along
Good news!!....the same thing did wonders for Center City Philly

http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/news/local/16849713.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

[Ex-Ithacan]

^ good stuff dony, thanks

[donybrx]

A little more positive news re: downtown Wilkes-Barres and its progression to health as some Scrantonlawyers head to town: :)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted on Wed, Mar. 14, 2007

Law firm’s verdict on W-B positive
Scranton-based lawyers’ decision to open Public Square office came after seeing city’s revitalization in the past two years.
By RON BARTIZEK
rbartizek@timesleader.com

WILKES-BARRE – Less than two years ago, Mayor Tom Leighton asked residents and business owners to believe in the city’s revitalization.

But it was evidence, not slogans, that drew the Scranton-based law firm of Scartelli, Distasio and Kowalski to downtown. Some of the validation came from an unlikely source.

“It’s partly because we see a lot of people committed to Wilkes-Barre,” said attorney Dan Distasio, a principal in the practice that already has several clients in the area.

But the law firm’s decision to open an office on Public Square also was influenced by Distasio’s children. Distasio lives in Mountain Top, and since Wilkes-Barre Movies 14 opened last year he has frequently brought them to the theaters. What he saw during those trips got his attention.

“It’s completely different than it was a few years ago,” he said.

He talked with other business owners and was impressed by their enthusiasm.

“It looks like there are a lot of people working hard to make things better,” he said.

All three principals in the firm at one time worked for Hourigan, Kluger & Quinn when it was located downtown, but had not visited much since leaving.

“We all left separately and then got together,” Distasio said.

The 1,120-square-foot office next to Circles deli on the south side of the square will replace a rented conference room in Forty Fort that had served as a meeting place for lawyers and clients. Distasio said two full-time staffers and a part-timer will cover the office for now.

Whether that will grow “depends how often the phone rings,” he said.

Rob Finlay, president of building owner Humford Equities, said the law firm hasn’t been the only one looking for space recently.

“It’s probably more active than in the last 10 years,” Finlay said. “A lot of people from outside (the area) are looking, too. It’s really been a mix” of people seeking spots for offices, restaurants and retail stores, he said.

Distasio said his firm is shooting for a May 1 opening. Then his office may become evidence for other businesses eager to jump on the downtown bandwagon.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ron Bartizek, Times Leader business editor, may be reached at 970-7157.

[donybrx]

Hazleton: Giant Airport plan getting inevitable public scrutiny:
--------------------------------------
Posted on Thu, Mar. 15, 2007

Airport plan hits a public head wind
Hazleton area cargo facility opponents raise concerns.

JENNIFER LEARN-ANDES jandes@timesleader.com

Critics of a proposed Hazleton area cargo airport unleashed their concerns and complaints to Luzerne County commissioners during Wednesday’s on-the-road meeting at Hazleton City Hall.

Fourteen people spoke against the Democratic majority commissioners’ plan to create a potentially powerful independent authority to study and advance the project, possibly using some county funding.

Commissioners Todd Vonderheid and Greg Skrepenak said last week that they intended to vote to create the authority during Wednesday’s meeting, but they held off, saying they will consider the audience feedback.

Retired school teacher Michael Yesalavage, who lives in the Eagle Rock development, said the consultants who projected that 4,500 jobs will be created are “flying high.”

He said the project is too close to residential areas and that taxpayers should know if their money will be used before the authority is created.

Ann Marie Shelby said the airport would be her new neighbor and noted the area already has enough warehouse jobs.

“I’m against my tax dollars buying this property to then ruin my life,” she said.

“If this goes through, my quality of life is going to be destroyed,” said Brenda Hinkle, who lives in Jeanesville.

Carol A. Palubinsky, of Zion Grove, said the construction of an airport is a “life-changing event” that should be hashed out during evening meetings when more people are able to attend. She said she was “wholeheartedly against” forming an authority.

“You folks were hired to protect us,” she told commissioners.

Three Schuylkill County residents -- Tom Zajac, Vicki Mackin and Mary Labert -- said their county officials should be involved in any authority because much of the site falls in their jurisdiction.

“What’s the rush?” Labert said.

Mackin said people on the street believe it’s a done deal because representatives of Gladstone Partners LP, which announced the project, have political ties.

Gladstone partners Gregory R. Zappala and Robert Powell, both lawyers, stood in the back of the meeting room but did not make any statements.

Steve Flood, a former county controller who is running for county commissioner, said the creation of the authority will be “rammed through” like the county’s leasing of a Pittston juvenile detention center owned by Powell and Zappala.

“Who’s getting rich here?” Flood asked.

West Hazleton resident Floyd K. Ruby said a cargo airport would rattle windows and could attract terrorists.

Skrepenak said the nuclear power plant in Salem Township could also be viewed as a terrorist threat and that the county has emergency plans in place to deal with that facility.

“Why invite more?” said West Hazleton resident Tom Yurick.

Neil Bonner, of Hazle Township, said his family has homes on neighboring property and he worries that some of his land will be seized through eminent domain. The airport site would also drain into a watershed, he said.

Attorney James Scallion, of Sugarloaf Township, said people have a right to know in advance if their tax dollars will be used to finance the authority, and he questioned why commissioners are portraying an authority with administrative and financing powers as “a fact-finder.”

Scallion is representing Kyle Knosp, owner of Paragon Adventure Park in Hazle and Union townships. Knosp is fighting an eviction attempt by Gladstone.

“It seems to me that the creating of the authority is a de facto approval of Luzerne County commissioners of the existence of the airport, that we are being sold out now,” Scallion said.

Runoff is a concern, he said, because the project would build, pave, level and deforest 7 square miles.

A few people spoke out in support of the project, saying it will create jobs and boost the economy.

Mike Rozitski, of Fairview Township, said people should be open-minded and consider the possibilities.

Progress should be the focus, said Leda Burkhardt, of Butler Township. She said the area could use a boost because (nonpublic) schools and churches are closing.

“Let’s get the facts,” she said.

Minority Commissioner Stephen A. Urban is against the creation of an authority, especially without involvement and voting authority representation by Carbon and Schuylkill counties.

[donybrx]

All the action's in Hazleton these days:

Hazle Twp. board hears preliminary hotel plans
Friday, 09 March 2007
By TOM RAGAN
ragan@standardspeaker.com
The Hazle Township Planning Board heard preliminary plans during Thursday’s work session for two new hotels to be constructed at Humboldt Station. Larry Meir & Associates Architects submitted preliminary site plans for two Marriott hotels.
The company that owns the rights for Marriott Courtyard and Residence Inn hotels that will serve as an anchor for Humboldt Station was joined by Meir at the work session.
D.J. Meagher, vice president of Susquehanna Associates Management, developers and franchise owners of the hotels, told the township planners that the hotels hope to draw fast-food franchises and restaurants to Humboldt Station.
Larry Meir gave the board a basic concept of the Marriott hotel complex that would be built along Humboldt Drive (or Station Road). The road hasn’t officially been named at this time, but both of those names have been mentioned as possibilities.
The Marriott Residence Inn will be built first and, according to Meir, it will be three stories high and have 91 to 93 rooms. The Gatehouse (lobby) will be one story.
The Marriott Courtyard will be constructed later and that will have 91 rooms. In addition, there will be a pool and exercise building and sport court built on the site.
Meagher said the Marriott hotels will not have restaurants but will have continental breakfasts because they do not want to compete with any fast-food or family restaurants they anticipate will be located in Humboldt Station.
The road to the hotels will be accessed from state Route 924 and will be close to Interstate 81 and Hazleton exit 143.
“We hope to begin building Phase One (which is Residence Inn) sometime in May and Phase Two (which is Marriott Courtyard) by the spring of 2008,” Meagher said, “It is a two-year plan.”
Joe Calabrese of RJD Engineering reviewed the sketch plans and had some questions that were resolved by Meir & Associates.
“A lot of these items have been taken care of,” Calabrese said. Meir informed the board and Calabrese that the company intends to comply with township ordinances during each phase of the development.
Land development plans will be submitted probably within a week or so, according to the officials at the work session. They have 30 days so Luzerne County Planners and Engineers can review it.

[donybrx]

A bit o' fun: Wilkes-Barre band tops charts!

[.....don't be lookin'at me...I've never heard 'em.... or heard of 'em. This is EX- Ithacan's forte, no doubt.......:)

Anybody know this outfit?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------Posted on Fri, Mar. 16, 2007

‘Benjamin’ breaks to top of charts with ‘Breath’

LISA SOKOLOWSKI
lsokolowski@timesleader.com

Being from Wilkes-Barre just got a whole lot cooler.

Local band Breaking Benjamin – currently on tour with Nickelback and Three Days Grace – just claimed its first No. 1 single, according to Billboard.com. “Breath” peaked at the top spot on Billboard’s Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

“This is their hometown,” said Tias Schuster, program director at WKRZ, who gets calls about the band daily. “Every family member is a fan. People are like, ‘I was hanging out with them in a bar 10 years ago.’”

Breaking Benjamin – vocalist and guitarist Benjamin Burnley, guitarist Aaron Fink, bassist Mark James Klepaski and drummer Chad Szeliga – formed under the moniker Plan 9 in 1999 and released three full lengths and three EPs.

“Breath,” the modern rock tune which seems to be about a sour breakup, is off the band’s most recent album “Phobia.” The disc was released on Aug. 8 and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 124,790 albums sold behind Rick Ross’ “Port of Miami,” which claimed the top spot with more than 187,000.

If you’re not one of the more than 500,000 people who bought the record (yes, it was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America last November), fear not. A collector’s edition of “Phobia,” equipped with a live concert DVD, is being released on April 17 by Hollywood Records.

“Ben is his biggest critic,” Klepaski said on the band’s Web site. “He’ll write stuff that is undeniable. And everyone else knows it’s undeniable. But he’ll think it’s not good enough and he’ll go back to the drawing board.”

The track may be streamed at the band’s MySpace page – myspace.com/breakingbenjamin.

“According to Hollywood Records, which is the same record label as Hilary Duff – I like to say that with Breaking Benjamin – they’re talking about crossing (“Breath”) over to Top 40 and having Breaking Benjamin become multi-format,” Schuster said.

But, until that happens, Schuster only has the acoustic version of the plugged-in version of “Diary of Jane” off “Phobia” to play.

But he has listened to “Breath” – and enjoyed it.

“I think it’s a smash,” he said.

Breaking Ben on the Charts

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Breath” is the first single from Breaking Benjamin to top the charts, but it isn’t the only song to make a chart. Breaking Benjamin has had a few singles in the Billboard Top 10.

No. 1 – “Breath” – Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks (2007)

No. 2 – “So Cold” – Mainstream Rock Tracks (2004), “Sooner or Later” – Mainstream Rock Track (2005), “Diary of Jane” – Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks (2006)

No. 3 – “So Cold” – Modern Rock Tracks (2004)

No. 4 – “The Diary of Jane” – Hot Modern Rock Tracks (2006)

No. 7 – “Sooner or Later” – Modern Rock Tracks (2005)

No. 8 – “Breath” – Hot Modern Rock Tracks (2007)

[Ex-Ithacan]

So Wilkes-Barre is cool and booming (downtown) while Hazelton is action central. I guess Scranton just isn't trying hard enough to join all the fun. :shrug:

[donybrx]

well, you know how it is......you're only as good as the announcement of your last exciting project.......the Scranton will rise again.....:)

[bucks native]

The Med School will happen. A "founding dean" will be announced shortly. "Where" it will be is the issue. The legal challenge to the Blue Cross money has "no merit" I've been told.

The problem with downtown, they say, is that there is no room for future expansion and PARKING!!! That's bullshit, pardon me. The site need not be contiguous, there are many nearby surface parking lots, there's a car dealership and a tire repair shop in the vicinity that don't need to be downtown. Students and faculty would walk to classes from new apartments and condos downtown or take public transit.

I'm doing what I can, but it seems that there are some in the community who plan to profit personally from placing this where its suits them. Screwing the students who don't want to have to drive to some suburban campus office building for classes.

Three well-respected articles have come out recently regarding the value of campus density, urban placement and that parking should be the least of concerns. I've done my best to pass these around..to The Time-Tribune; to Scranton Tomorrow; Senator Mellow; the Chamber of Commerce; my boss, the project coordinator; and the mayor, but his site no longer has an email contact link.

No one has acknowledged the matter or taken up the cause. But EVERYONE I speak to says it HAS to be downtown. I don't understand. The city could actually lose this school and no one seems moved to prevent it.

To say I'm disappointed in Scranton is an understatement.

[donybrx]

Thanks, bucks for the insider insight.

Sorry that this project hasn't dovetailed as originally conceived; I'll bet you dollars ta doughnuts that followng the announcement of the Med school and the quick funding, those real estate interests up at the Montage area started to pull it their way...for the big bucks involved. Like you, I don't believe for a minute that sufficient downtown land can't be located and secured for this installation ........including subsquent expansion(s). Look at Jefferson Univ., for example, continuing to expand in a far, far denser urban location than downtown Scranton.

I wonder what Rendell's reaction is, if he's now aware of this shift..... he has been an extraordinary advocate for the revivfication of smaller cities, especially Wilkes-Barre and Scranton; he has made sure that the Scranton Med will receive $25 Million from the Commonwealth, citing the proposal to create the school in a downtown location as especially desirable. Surely money still talks and he should hold some sway over this, yes?

[Ex-Ithacan]

^ Good point dony. If the state is footing so much of the bill for this, shouldn't their imput be important? Seems like the long range goals of the city need to be reassessed to make sure a healthy downtown is included. Hell, the city leaders need only look a few miles south to see how Wilkes-Barre's downtown is turning around. The whole city will benefit.

[donybrx]

More on the subject including opinion on locating the Med school downtown; the academic plants in NepA are playing an ever more vital role........

03/18/2007
Plans for law, medical schools would help region’s economic development
BY DAVID FALCHEK
STAFF WRITER


As Wilkes University considers creating a law school and a Scranton group works to establish a medical school, Northeastern Pennsylvania could soon be generating doctors, lawyers, and — many hope — economic prosperity for its cities.


Wilkes University is considering adding a law school, having gotten a nod from an independent feasibility study. Next month, the school’s faculty and board of trustees will consider whether to take the next steps of hiring a dean, building or selecting a facility, and pursuing accreditation.

If all goes as planned, the school could accept its first 80 students by fall of 2009, said university spokesman Jack Chielli.

“Our early work indicates that there is a good climate here,” he said.

On the other end of the region, the Medical Education Development Consortium searches for a founding dean and a site in earnest.

That project already has $60 million pledged — $35 million from the largest state economic development grant in Pennsylvania history and $25 million from Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The remaining $15 million needed for the startup could come from federal sources, consortium members have said.

The dual efforts could put professional education anchors on both ends of the region, infusing economic energy to downtowns, providing skilled professionals and creating an intellectual critical mass.

Wilkes University’s proposed law school is penciled into its 20-year, $140 million strategic plan.

“Like any organization we are looking toward our future and health, and this may be the way, or one way, to go,” said Dr. Anthony Liuzzo, a business professor at Wilkes and an attorney.

The law school would add to mounting investment and improvement by Wilkes-Barre’s downtown colleges and university, said the city’s mayor Thomas Leighton.

Wilkes-Barre’s higher education institutions have become partners in the city’s revitalization, he said.

“Both are adding to the city,” he said. “They are growing and taking steps that are positive for the city.”

King’s College restored student housing on North Main Street and plans major improvements to its gymnasium.

King’s and Wilkes collaborated to bring a bookstore downtown.

Wilkes acquired a former call center whose mortgage was underwritten by the city, saving Wilkes-Barre more than $8 million.

While those investments reflect the growth of the institutions, some moves were taken to assist the municipality. The projects show how area colleges and universities have worked to remove the town-and-gown barrier.

Ivory Towers no more, Northeastern Pennsylvania’s colleges and universities have accepted fostering economic success of their host communities as part of their mission.

The expansion of higher education, especially legal and medical schools, helps fulfill one of the directives offered by The Brookings Institution’s 2003 analysis of Pennsylvania’s economy.

One of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s strengths, the report said, was the so-called “eds and meds,” or higher education and medical facilities.

“Clearly, you are developing an education specialization,” study co-author Mark Muro said. “Your proximity to the New York metro area offers an opportunity for attracting talent.”

Pittsburgh consulting firm Tripp Umbach looked at the economic impact of the proposed Scranton medical school and estimated a $38.9 million annual boost by 2025 if the facility is in a downtown location.

After a favored downtown site fell through, though, the consortium behind the effort said it reopened and expanded the search for a location, including suburban sites outside the city and downtown.

The latter, Mr. Muro said, would be a mistake.

“These are anchors for downtown revitalization and hubs of knowledge and employment,” he said. “Close proximity to other businesses, financial, science firms, and other higher education institutions makes it all greater than the sum of its parts. That dynamic cannot be overlooked.”

Despite their contributions, growing college campuses have drawbacks to municipalities. They are exempt from property taxes, so as they expand and purchase taxable land, they shrink the base.

Some resent college expansion as schools purchase properties, removing them indefinitely from tax rolls.

Urban areas bear an unequal burden of non-taxable properties. Churches, hospitals, elementary schools, colleges, charitable groups and government facilities tend to be highly represented in cities.

On balance, though, higher education gives much more than it takes, said Glenn Pellino, director of the Lackawanna County Office of Economic and Community Development and a former administrator of the University of Scranton.

Colleges and universities are also unique in that most of their revenue is imported into the area, in the form of student loans, grants, or contributions, he said.

“Higher education imports students and imports money,” he said. “Higher ed may be the largest net importer of capital into Northeastern Pennsylvania, and the taxes that the land would net a municipality is dwarfed by dollars being brought in.”

While economic spinoffs from colleges and universities may be many, municipal budgets need to be made whole, said Brookings’ Mr. Muro.

One method may be payments in lieu of taxes, which hospitals and colleges in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre pay to offset host cities’ cost of providing services.

“I hear that complaint all the time about the schools not paying taxes,” Mr. Leighton said. “The fact is, the schools are generous.”

[donybrx]

Woming Valley Mall getting spruced up......Wilkes-Barre's biggest shopping mecca and chief drainer of downtown retail......

Posted on Sat, Mar. 17, 2007

Aging mall gets a facelift
Wyoming Valley Mall official says the building’s profile is raised to a “premier shopping destination.”
RON BARTIZEK
rbartizek@timesleader.com

WILKES-BARRE TWP. – Shopping malls show their age even faster than people. So after 25 years, it seemed time to give the Wyoming Valley Mall a facelift.

Built in 1971, it was the first large enclosed shopping center in Luzerne County, which also makes it the oldest.

“It started to look like it,” said marketing director Joe Ohrin, while showing off the changes Thursday.

The Pennsylvania Real Estate Trust, which purchased the mall in November 2003 for $51,493,841 set out last June on a multi-million dollar renovation project to give the mall a fresh and classier look. To celebrate, the mall is celebrating a grand re-opening today and tomorrow.

All three entrances have been spruced up following a theme that places ornamental columns on stone bases. The star is the main entrance at the food court, which now boasts a large, heated, glass-enclosed foyer where shoppers can shake off the effects of weather before entering the shopping floor.

Perhaps the most striking change inside is a copper sheathed indoor gas fireplace set in the center of the food court. That was what drew Ashley Janosco and her mother, Denise, from White Haven. They had heard the fireplace would be lit for the first time that day.

“I think it’s beautiful,” Ashley said.

New lighting also caught Ashley’s eye; she said it makes her feel less rushed while shopping.

Ohrin pointed out that both natural and artificial light contribute to a feeling of openness. Five skylights have been installed and there is new indirect ceiling lighting in the courtyard areas.

“The renovation has opened it up,” he said.

A new tile floor throughout the mall carries the light theme further, with highlights in warm tones. That is the overall theme, Ohrin said, with new wooden benches, trash containers and an attractive customer service center.

“This is like a concierge desk at a nice hotel,” he crowed.

Still to be installed are “soft seating” areas in the main courtyard and the J.C. Penney wing.

Not only has the mall aged over the past quarter century, the competitive landscape has changed. Nearby centers boast national name retailers and the new Shoppes at Montage “lifestyle center” is poised to open later this month.

The makeover allows the mall to raise its profile to what Ohrin calls “a premier shopping destination.”

Pam Edwards, manager of the Sunglass Hut, said her company has responded by changing the store’s designation to “premium fashion” and stocking more expensive and stylish eyeglasses and accessories.

“Definitely we’re carrying more of the high-end stuff,” she said.

Customers have responded, she said, like the one that called Thursday asking if the store carried the Prada line, which it does.

Ohrin said most of the renovation work was done overnight so as not to inconvenience shoppers. Some finishing touches will be completed in the next few weeks.

IF YOU GO
ON THE WEB

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What: Wyoming Valley Mall grand re-opening

When: Saturday and Sunday

Highlights: Saturday, free goodie bags to the first 500 shoppers; Easter Bunny arrives at noon, center court; Marty Edwards Jazz Organization, 1-4 p.m., J.C. Penney court.

Sunday, Pianist Paul Oschal, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., food court; Marty Edwards Jazz Organization, noon-3 p.m., J.C. Penney court.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

See a slide show of the remodeled Wyoming Valley Mall at www.timesleader.com


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ron Bartizek, Times Leader business editor, may be reached at 970-7157.

[Ex-Ithacan]

^ Oh boy, now I've got something to do this weekend. Go to the grand re-opening, and maybe get a big pretzel. :yes: :D

[donybrx]

^ Oh boy, now I've got something to do this weekend. Go to the grand re-opening, and maybe get a big pretzel. :yes: :D

That's just twisted........:) har, har.....

Then, after that, you old 'salt', you can go around the 'bend' and down the hill to the old train station, for which plans are now under scrutiny......perhaps a Starbucks for you Starbuckers.....yo....

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted on Wed, Mar. 21, 2007

Plans for train station include exhibits, eatery
The costs for improvements to Market Street building and land still being evaluated.

JENNIFER LEARN-ANDES jandes@timesleader.com

Visitors to the historic Market Street train station will get to check out a sampling of local exhibits and grab a bite to eat if Luzerne County officials adopt a design plan unveiled Tuesday.

John C. Cowder, an architect working on the plan, said organizers of The Lands at Hillside Farms are interested in operating the eatery to help promote local history and coax tourists to visit their Back Mountain living history museum.

Cowder likes the idea because the Hillside eatery would have a local tourism “theme.”

If that plan falls through, others are interested in locating to the downtown Wilkes-Barre structure, including Panera Bread and Starbucks, Cowder told the county Redevelopment Authority on Tuesday.

The eating area would include seasonal outdoor seating for local residents as well as out-of-town tourists who want to browse through brochures of local events and attractions, said Cowder, of Quad 3.

Cowder said he is in the process of estimating the cost of various improvements to the building and surrounding land, which the authority purchased last year for $5.8 million to house the county tourist promotion agency.

The brickwork on the original structure, built in 1886, is in “incredible” condition with few cracks, Cowder said. The trim is also in good condition.

The “greenhouse” section may be retained, though he’d like to replace it with a new skylight area if the authority comes up with the funds.

Some of the attached rail cars, including a caboose, would have to be removed because they are in poor condition, he said.

The kitchen sinks and hood are reusable, though new stoves and ovens would be needed if the authority opts to house a restaurant in the facility.

The plan calls for landscaping and 140 to 150 parking spots. New bathrooms will flank the entrance. Entry doors will open wide enough to allow the moving of large displays, he said.

Visitor bureau offices would be housed on the second floor, he said.

Cowder’s plan includes construction of an old switch tower at the corner of Market Street and Wilkes-Barre Boulevard with a sign identifying the spot as a tourist center.

The authority did not establish a timetable to adopt the final plans. They plan to present them to county commissioners, who might be asked to assist with funding for the project.

[Ex-Ithacan]

That guy's name: Cowder, reminds me of chowder. It'd be wicked cool if they opened a chowder place in the old train station. :D



btw dony, don't mention groan jokes to me again (twisted indeed). :rolleyes: :haha:

[donybrx]

^^^ That would be chowda...like Lobsta.......Anyway, I've made a last minute decision to make a quick trip to the old Barre this weekend. Envy me. Just envy me......only prob is, there haint no tickets to the hockey game available...rabid fans, those.....

[Ex-Ithacan]

^ Doggonit, I would have loved to get up there for a day of wandering, but other commitments this weekend won't allow it. Maybe some other time.

btw, I was gonna write chowda, but thought some folks might not know what I was talking about (as occurs frequently with my posts. :shrug: ;) ).

Have fun dony.

[donybrx]

Thanks, EX....it's gonna be a busy trip...weather's uglggglllahhh.

Wilkes-Barre has approved it buisness district plan, comprising many downtown blocks. A good thing;

The funding is now in place for the new intermodal transportation center, the subject of a post a few pages back, with final $6 Million 'push'. Another good thing;

There's a wonderful old apartment building under renovation on Ross St. Near south Main...6 stories (I think). A beaut!;

Rendell spoke here yesterday at the East mountain inn in W-B to promote his plan to lease the turnpike. I arrived too late to attend. I would like to have bent the Guv's ear about my ideas :) ..all 16,000 of them......;

The skyline sucks without the Sterling tower...they've ripped the bejeezus out of the beautiful river Common as the re-do it to the tune of $20 Millls I hope it's a positive step!!

All for now from this PA transplant...in PA, hooray. Going out to Williamsport today...in the rain.......................Yes. I am a lucky scoad aren't I?

'til manana......

[Ex-Ithacan]

Rendell spoke here yesterday at the East mountain inn in W-B to promote his plan to lease the turnpike. I arrived too late to attend. I would like to have bent the Guv's ear about my ideas :) ..all 16,000 of them......;

The skyline sucks without the Sterling tower...they've ripped the bejeezus out of the beautiful river Common as the re-do it to the tune of $20 Millls I hope it's a positive step!!

All for now from this PA transplant...in PA, hooray. Going out to Williamsport today...in the rain.......................Yes. I am a lucky scoad aren't I?

'til manana......


C'mon dony, don't sell yourself short. I bet it's more like 20,000 ideas :yes:

It's hard for me to imagine crossing the river and not seeing the Sterling.:(

Looking forward to the pics I'm sure you'll be sharing when you get back.:notacrook:

[donybrx]

^^^^Oops...forgot the camera...sorry....no more news today...went to Billsport, got stuck in traffic on I-81 heading north to Scranton (they're reparing the bridge that's close to total collapse...none to soon); The Scranton Wilkes-barre Yankees are now lating their precious grass field at the stadium...so precious, in fact, that most of the community activities that the barons allowed (national cheerleading and band competitions, winter skating rink, concerts) will now be verboten!@!!. dammit...stinks.

Going to family gravesites today, then onto favorite foods and a walk through of dwontown Wilkes-Barre. Mebbe I'll run into MetroJ or bucks native along the way. We'll all know one another by instinct...like martians......:)

[donybrx]

Growth in both:

Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties register increases....actual increases. Slight increases, but better than losses....... :)

03/22/2007
Two counties see slight rise in populations
BY ELIZABETH PIET
STAFF WRITER


It’s only 106 people, but the number represents a tipping point for Lackawanna County.
For the first time in decades, Lackawanna County’s 2006 population showed an increase of 0.1 percent over the previous year, according to new U.S. Census population estimates released today. After years of population declines related to more deaths than births and people leaving the region, migration into the county finally overcame the decreases.

Luzerne County saw its second year of slight growth — 225 people in 2006, after adding 30 people in 2005. The population estimate for 2006 is 313,020.

The 2006 population estimate for the county was 209,728.

“We kind of figured that was going to happen — at some point it was going increase,” said Mary Liz Donato, Lackawanna County senior planner. “The dying coal town image is going away finally.”

The last time Lackawanna County saw population growth was between 1920 and 1930 when the population grew from 286,311 to 310,397. Before 1970, census data was only available at the end of each decade.

Experts attribute the two counties’ population turnarounds to the migration of low- to moderate-income earners and ethnic minorities into the region.

“The number one driver is cost of living,” said Terri Ooms, executive director of the Joint Urban Studies Center in Wilkes-Barre. The growth trend in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties is in its “infancy stage,” Ooms said, but she expects it to continue and strengthen.

After low- and moderate-income people settle in, higher-income people will move away from the cities to smaller towns where their dollars can go further. Eventually, companies will follow the workforce.

As more people moved into Lackawanna County and had children, the new babies chipped away at the historic imbalance between births and deaths. Although between 2000 and 2006, 4,038 more people died than were born, there was only an imbalance of 390 people for 2006.

That too will slowly reverse in the coming years, said Gordon DeJong, Ph.D., a demography professor at Penn State University’s Population Research Institute.

“There has been an increase in the immigrant population up the valley,” he said. “Guess what — immigrants have kids.”

In addition to immigration, the region’s slight increase in population could be affected by fewer people leaving, especially younger people, and former residents returning. Many senior citizens have left popular retirement spots such as Florida frustrated by steep housing costs and hurricanes, DeJong said.

Between 2005 and 2006, a net of 129 new residents was attributed to international migration and 337 to internal migration in Lackawanna. Whether international immigration increases depends on politics and the reciprocity of communities, DeJong said.

“Is it going to be Hazleton all over again?” he asked. “It has scared off a number of the immigrants.”

If growth continues as expected, it will present challenges the region has not experienced for years.

“Our counties have seen population decline for 50 years,” Ooms said. “Growth is a foreign concept.”

New residents will demand services of communities already struggling to make ends meet, she said. Down the road, more people could lead to traffic congestion and shortages of social services.

But there are opportunities in growth, Ooms said. More people can lead to more revenue for local governments, more amenities, and more jobs.

“We need to think on a regional level,” she said. “Our region is economically interdependent, we need to work together.”

epiet@timesshamrock.com

[bucks native]

They got this ALL wrong regarding Philadelphia. The river trail/walk in Philadelphia is on the Schuylkill, not the Delaware....but this is an exciting project. Gonna' see if I can't meet-up with this Dr. Minora.


Engineering work just the beginning for river project
BY STACY BROWN
STAFF WRITER
03/26/2007


The Lackawanna River could become a key element in Scranton’s economic renaissance.

City and county officials, along with community leaders and river caretakers, are working on developing a river walk that would begin in downtown Scranton and link several municipalities to the north and south. Although costs are unknown and specifics are few, officials are optimistic about the prospect of the project, which they hope will spark economic development.

“There is engineering work under way downtown,” said Bernie McGurl, executive director of the Lackawanna River Corridor Association, one of several agencies involved in the plans for the river walk. “We need to reach agreements with property owners to acquire right of ways, but hopefully we can see construction begin on this in the next 18 to 24 months.”


Other agencies working on the project include the Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority, Lackawanna County commissioners, North Scranton Neighborhood Association and Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce.

Eye on finish line

Once funding is secured, development would begin shortly thereafter, and completion of the river walk could come as soon as three years, Mr. McGurl said.

Funding is expected to come from state and federal grants, he said. Local officials are also hoping to garner congressional support for the project.

The river walk would be a downtown jewel between Seventh Avenue and Olive Street, said Barry Minora, a North Scranton medical doctor and community leader responsible for several local revitalization projects. It would extend through North Scranton into Dickson City and include sections of Archbald and Jessup. A trail along the river would extend more than 30 miles from Duryea to Carbondale.

Dr. Minora has been pushing for the creation of the river walk as an economic engine along the way for restaurants, shops and hotels. Officials envision bustling paths loaded with students headed to school, shoppers off to market and residents simply enjoying nature.

One key to the development is the renovation of the former Central New Jersey depot on West Lackawanna Avenue, which was purchased nearly 10 years ago by businessman Jerry Donahue. His plans include converting the depot into a retail complex.

Officials say the river walk would be a boon to the area.

“There isn’t any doubt that this would do wonders for the city and the county,” Mayor Chris Doherty said. “There also isn’t any doubt that this is going to happen.”

Good blueprints

The local project concept is an adaptation of successful river walks in San Antonio and Philadelphia.

The San Antonio River Walk is a network of walkways around the San Antonio River, linking several major attractions one story beneath downtown. Lined by shops and restaurants, the river walk annually pumps millions of dollars into the local economy and has become an important part of that city’s urban fabric and a tourist attraction.

The river walk recently constructed in Philadelphia could be duplicated here, said Dr. Minora.

The river area has become one of Philadelphia’s best places to mingle, with food stands, festivals and a bird’s-eye view of the Delaware River, he said.

“Gov. Ed Rendell knew what he was doing with the Philadelphia waterfront,” Dr. Minora said. “The one here would be akin to Philadelphia, although a bit smaller. People don’t realize that we’re potentially sitting on something great, something special like they have in San Antonio and now Philadelphia.”

Contact the writer: sbrown@timesshamrock.com

[donybrx]

^^^ Thanks for the more complete description of the job. Very exciting and a good direction for the city to go particularly with the unveiling of the Shoppes at Montage....at Montage, not downtown.......

Back to the matter of the Medical School. I drove thru Scranton...albeit in the dark en route to Keystone College for a performance......and there seems to be so many opportunities for development in or close to downtown. iIdon't get it.......

Don't despise me for saying this, but there is also a lot of vacant land in DT Wilkes-Barre between Wilkes-Barre Boulevard and Pennsylvania Boulevard...j ripe for large scale stuff and a couple of blocks from the soon-to-come Intermodal transportaion Center.....I would much prefer seeing the Medical School there rather than someplace like Montage in the event that the powers that be reject downtown Scranton.....it needs to be in a downtown and Rendell should tighten his hold on the State's $35 Milllion as a locational precondition.......

[donybrx]

A small update on the Sterling Hotel.....or what's left of it, that is :)

I'd like to know which movie stars and dignitaries were guests at the Sterling, since they mention it herein:

03/28/2007
Smokestack coming down


Brandenburg International workers were hoisted to the top of the smokestack behind the Hotel Sterling on Tuesday to complete the final stages of demolition.

The 14-story tower and the four-story connector building already have been demolished. Interior demolition of the original hotel is 90 percent complete, said Alex Rogers, executive director of CityVest, the non-profit organization restoring the site. The remaining work should be complete in a few weeks, he said.

At one time, the Hotel Sterling was Wilkes-Barre’s largest and most luxurious hotel, with a guest book that included movie stars and dignitaries. After enduring decades of decay and a close call with a wrecking ball, CityVest purchased the once-majestic hotel and plans to attract retail and residential developments to the site.

©The Citizens Voice 2007

[donybrx]

The Brookings Insitution et alia come to some conclusions about the difficulties sufferred by Pennsylvania's municipalities......Wilkes-Barre included

Posted on Sun, Mar. 25, 2007

Municipal officials’ ‘hands tied’
Pa. economic future reports: State laws, structure of government work to stop towns’ cooperation, success

RORY SWEENEY rsweeney@timesleader.com

WILKES-BARRE – Lights in downtown Wilkes-Barre, Nanticoke’s money troubles and the reason residents often think their municipal officials are inept – they all have something in common, according to three reports released by separate organizations about Pennsylvania’s economic future.

Confused? Not buying it? Keep reading. It’ll all come together, which, coincidentally, is just what the reports suggest local governments do.

Unveiled today by The Brookings Institution, the Pennsylvania Economy League and Penn State University, the studies all point to state laws that effectively prohibit local governments from working together to lower costs on services through economies of scale.

“It’s not a mismanagement issue. … It’s really more a matter of municipal leaders having their hands tied essentially by the structures that they’re bound to operate within,” said LeeAnne Clayberger of the PEL during a meeting Friday with the Times Leader’s editorial board.

The PEL’s report studied the fiscal health of 2,551 of the state’s 2,565 municipalities from 1970 through 2003.

It identified five stages municipalities follow toward distress, generally flowing from prosperity through new development, including low demand for services and low taxes. At the other extreme, municipalities face increasing taxes, declining revenues and services, and a shrinking tax base as residents move to more prosperous municipalities, she said.

“What our data shows is that this path toward fiscal decline is virtually inevitable given the set of tools that municipal leaders have at their disposal to raise revenue, to manage their municipalities” and control costs, Clayberger said.

The study found a “fundamental mismatch” between today’s mobile Pennsylvanian, who often works, shops, lives and recreates in different municipalities; and the state’s system to provide services and levy taxes, which is based almost entirely on where taxpayers reside.

“The resources aren’t really shared across the region or the broader community as much as they are isolated to the municipal boxes within which we live,” Clayberger said.

Act 47 ‘not effective’

Another interconnected trend the study identified is that better transportation routes don’t guarantee prosperity. While highway construction decades ago made some municipalities wealthy, the decline in new development since then has sent them into the distress spiral, Gerald Cross of the PEL said.

“The assumption is: build new roads, and you’ll have a healthy town. Not necessarily; in 40 years, you’re going to have a town in distress,” he said.

Pennsylvania’s Act 47, which is supposed to help distressed communities such as Nanticoke recover, “is not effective,” the study states. The study notes that of the 22 municipalities that have entered Act 47, only five have emerged, and all are still considered distressed. Nanticoke has been in Act 47 since May 25, 2005.

The study recommends modernizing the tools municipal officials can use, such as pooling health-care costs and creating state legislation that would encourage regionalization of services. It also suggests reviewing what taxes municipalities may levy, and laws governing municipal contracts to allow officials to “right-size” the amount of services with the tax base.

Likewise, the Brookings Institution’s study suggests “the state should have a much more light hand in regulating how local governments arrange their affairs,” said Mark Muro, a senior policy analyst with the Institution’s Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy.

The study, sponsored by the Campaign to Renew Pennsylvania, an initiative of the land conservation and economic advocate group 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania, was a three-year follow-up to a study the institution put out in 2003, which suggested ways to revitalize Pennsylvania’s communities.

“We laid out a stark array of troubling trends three years ago. I’d say those remain,” Muro said, but added there are some notable improvements.

While the “hollowing out of the state’s metropolitan and rural regions … clearly continued apace” since 2003, he pointed out, “for whatever reason there are people having confidence enough to renovate properties (so) to some extent, there are new signs of life in your older cities and boroughs.”

Such return to urban centers might reverse the trend of suburb flight that inverted local population dispersions in just 26 years.

For example, between 1978 and 2004, Crestwood High School in Wright Township went from a 2A classification in athletics to a 3A, while Meyers High School in Wilkes-Barre went from a 3A classification to a 2A classification. Those classifications are based on school enrollment.

The report criticized the state for letting its economic strategy drift in recent decades, Muro said, and recommended continuing to court high-performing industrial companies while creating complementary “clusters” of development to provide a wide array of jobs that reflect the local economy.

Transportation must also be linked to better land use and development planning, and water and sewer construction must be paired to prevent “haphazard development,” Muro said.

Gov. Ed Rendell is taking steps forward with Growing Greener II and reinstating the State Planning Board, Muro said. He called the state’s Keystone Principles for Growth “a nationally significant effort to … make sure that the state’s activities support existing communities rather than … fueling sprawl,” but added that they still need to be “fully pervaded through every agency.”

The report highlights the revitalization of Wilkes-Barre’s downtown through collaboration with state, local and private agencies to develop the theater on Northampton Street, fill empty downtown buildings and bring streetlights back to Public Square. The report says the downtown turnaround “testifies to the power of focused reinvestment, supported by the Keystone Principles.”

Rebecca Sohmer, a senior research analyst with The Brookings Institution, outlined the Penn State University study, which essentially found that rural communities are “hollowing out” just as much as cities are in exchange for the same sort of suburban sprawl found around cities.

“What is clear in all of these reports is that property taxes doesn’t work” because they don’t grow proportionally with costs, said Luzerne County Commissioner Todd Vonderheid, who was there as a representative of Campaign to Renew Pennsylvania. “We are begged and encouraged by Pennsylvania’s current system to make land use mistakes … because it’s the only way we can raise revenue.”

If implemented in this area within a decade, the recommendations could increase incomes, economic diversity and public amenities beyond basic services, Muro said.

“You may not see $100 million in stormwater damage to public infrastructure,” Vonderheid said, striking a painful chord with local municipalities that are still reeling from the devastating November flooding. “You may not see rivers on streets running into people’s homes.”

WHAT’S NEXT
FOR MORE INFO

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The reports are available at http://www.issuespa.net/shc/shc.htm


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Campaign to Renew Pennsylvania plans to hold eight roundtables throughout the state with civic leaders, legislators and the groups that created the studies to look at what solutions are possible. The groups are also working with state legislators to craft legislative solutions.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rory Sweeney, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 970-7418.

[donybrx]

Here's a great idea...and a chance for the area's young adults to participate in the the direction and re-imagining of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and environs.

From today's Wilkes-Barre TIMES LEADER

OUR OPINION

You have the POWER to pour on the juice, NEPA

IF YOU’RE A young adult living in Northeastern Pennsylvania, now’s your time to shine.



A group of your peers wants you to join them in a fast-growing network of self-described “progressive thinkers” known as POWER.

The network – with chapters in Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton and Scranton – welcomes your bright ideas for upgrading this region’s image, sparking new businesses and making our corner of the Keystone State a more appealing place for young professionals to live and work.

You have bright ideas, right?

And energy and enthusiasm to boot, right?

Put those attributes to good use with this volunteer-driven group, which mixes business and pleasure at monthly get-togethers called “POWER outages.” Each event is part social hour, part career seminar. You can intermingle with others in their 20s and 30s. You can hear guest speakers talk about the area’s economic development plans and entrepreneurship possibilities.

You might even land a new job.

Rather than have a headquarters, each POWER chapter typically rotates its meetings among trendy venues, exposing participants to new restaurants, bars and other popular spots. This Thursday, all three chapters will convene for the first time during a regional POWER outage.

The session, at the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees’ newly renamed PNC Field, will feature guest speakers from Mandalay Sports Entertainment. Non-POWER members can attend but reservations are required.

Earlier versions of POWER failed to make a lasting impact here. The group first emerged more than seven years ago, but lacked the internal structure suggested in its full title: Professionals Organized and Working to Enrich the Region.

More recently, POWER has undergone a revival of sorts, as detailed in Monday’s print and online editions of the Times Leader.

One participant referred to the young professionals group as “the Google of Northeastern Pennsylvania,” because it connects people with so many locally available products, projects and services. Its members aspire to put that newfound knowledge to work in order to help their careers and home communities. Volunteer service will become an increasingly important aspect of the group, its directors said.

Those directors are appealing for involvement from more of the region’s school teachers, techies, bank tellers, business managers, marketing gurus and other upwardly mobile sorts. Membership, which costs $25 annually, is open to the “young and young-at-heart.”

Join today. POWER needs your boost.

Get involved
Visit POWER’s Web site at

www.nepapower.com.

[Ex-Ithacan]

^ MetroJ, get r dun. :D

[donybrx]

^^^ By the by...where is the little gremlin Metro J?

Metro J. Phone home...:)

NePA need ya......

[donybrx]

The 'Shoppes at Montage' (oh, my) opens to raves

The preverse irony of all this is that it's a 'lifestyle center' or strip mall made to look like a downtown shopping area built well outside of a downtown that needs more retail.......go figger.....

03/30/2007
Shoppes at Montage open to big crowds, good reviews
BY ROGER DUPUIS II
STAFF WRITER


MOOSIC — Thursday at noon may hardly seem prime shopping time, but practically every parking spot was filled and the sidewalks were crowded.


And it isn’t even Christmas.

Kevin Cook braved the crowds just to have lunch at the Shoppes at Montage, the $50 million, 300,000-square-foot complex’s official opening day. Sitting on a bench savoring a slice of pizza, he declared the venture a success.

“It’s convenient,” said Mr. Cook, a Wilkes-Barre resident who works in Moosic. “I’d rather come here and have a five- or 10-minute drive than have to drive 20 minutes.”

Tracy Nemenz, spokeswoman for the developer, Cincinnati-based Jeffrey R. Anderson Real Estate Inc., didn’t immediately know how many parking spaces the plaza has, though she acknowledged that patrons will probably find it relatively easy to secure a parking spot most days, “outside of the grand opening and Christmas.”

Convenience wasn’t the only attraction Thursday, as evidenced by how many people were willing to cruise around seeking those coveted parking spots.

Billed not as a shopping plaza but a “lifestyle center,” the Shoppes, with many stores not found elsewhere in the region, seemed to attract a well-heeled crowd, strolling under a dazzling spring sun in designer duds.

But the larger question for the region may be what effect the new shopping center will have on locals’ shopping habits and, by extension, on other area malls.

“I usually go to Steamtown,” said West Scranton resident Kim Sanders. “But I come up here a lot to go to the movies ... I think I’ll probably come here often.”

Dallas residents Jack and Carol Donlin admired the scene, overhearing, with amusement, how one shopper compared the panoramic view to Colorado. “They must not be from around here,” the pair laughed.

In fairness, though, Sno Mountain — formerly Montage Ski Area — loomed majestic and snow-covered over the plaza on one side, while the valley’s endless hills framed the other.

Taking the scenery in stride, Mrs. Donlin said she was attracted by stores like Coldwater Creek, a women’s clothing boutique, and she and her husband would definitely return to the Shoppes.

Still, will they forsake their hometown shopping centers? By no means.

“We love Boscovs,” Mr. Donlin said of the regional department store chain, which has locations in downtown Wilkes-Barre and downtown Scranton.

[donybrx]

^^^Also at Montage....the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees debut Thursday, I believe......

Me personally, I'll miss the Red Barons....

[donybrx]

When in Scranton..................

While there really isn't any train to Scranton, there are some trains in
Scranton and they're great fun.....you can take the trolley from downtown a couple of mle through an old mountain tunnel to the stadium. ALso, the STEAMTOWN railroad excursions are a terrific way to spend time on old trains..........

Trolley to start running this weekend

The Lackawanna County Trolley Ride and Coal Mine Tours will open for the season on Sunday.

The trolley ride will start running at 10:30 a.m., noon, 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. They will leave from the platform at the Trolley Museum, 300 Cliff St, Scranton. The cost for the museum and ride will be $10 for adults, $9 for seniors and $7.75 for children ages 3 to 12.

The trolley ride will run from Wednesday through Sunday throughout the season. The museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will be closed on April 8. A special appearance will be made by the Easter Bunny on Sunday.

The Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour at McDade Park, Scranton, will also open on Sunday. The tour runs every hour and is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. The cost is $8 for adults, $7.50 for seniors and $5.50 for children 3-12.

A new orientation center will open this spring.

[Ex-Ithacan]

Steamtown = very cool

[donybrx]

^^^ And a chance for you to whip out that ol' RR engineer's hat, jah? :)

[donybrx]

Interesting: French couple settles into metro Scranton to live & work:

In 2002, Mr. Chaponot, now 62, traveled to Scranton to discuss some restoration work with officials at the Anthracite Museum. Nothing came of the talks, but he was struck by the natural beauty of the Lackawanna Valley, the rich architecture downtown, and the cost of living — much lower than New Jersey.



04/01/2007
Paris natives open art gallery, photo-restoration business in Olyphant
BY KRISTIN WINTERMANTEL DURKIN
STAFF WRITER


Dominique Chaponot grew up in the shadow of all the great art museums in Paris.

Trips to the Louvre, the Musée D’Orsay and the Musée Rodin were common.


She was inspired by the paintings and sculptures, the photographs and drawings. The works of Marc Chagall and Salvadore Dali were among her favorites.

Throughout her life, she carried that inspiration with her, as she married and raised a family, moved to the United States, took up photography, and opened a photo-restoration business with her husband, Francois.

It’s not surprising, then, that when the opportunity presented itself, she decided to open an art gallery.

With that, the Chaponots have brought a bit of France to downtown Olyphant, where they have lived and worked for the past four years.

Art Gallery 408 opens to the public today, at 408 Lackawanna Ave. Last night, the couple hosted a reception for their first exhibition, a collection of photographs, paintings, woodcuts, drawings, pottery and sculpture.

“I love art, and (with the gallery) I want to make something for the town (of Olyphant), something where people can come and share ideas, and art,” said Mrs. Chaponot.

Artistic family

The 52-year-old Paris native was born into an artistic family. She grew up in a residential neighborhood, or arrondissement, that also was home to the city’s Chinatown. Her father, the late Jean Giner, was a saxophonist; an aunt was a painter in Cannes. A cousin was a jazz singer, and her grandparents were talented dancers who once won a dance contest in Spain for their performances of a tango and a waltz.

Mrs. Chaponot went to private school, and frequently visited museums with her classmates. “Paris is a little bit like New York — there’s a lot of noise, and a lot of art,” she said with a chuckle.

At 13, she entered an art contest and won free drawing lessons at Musée des Arts et Metiers, which cultivated a passion for creating images. Later, she took lessons at the Louvre. When she was in high school, an uncle gave her a Minolta camera for her birthday, and she began taking photos for fun.

The bustle of day-to-day life interrupted her artistic hobbies. She worked as a secretary for a scientist, got married, and raised her son, Guillaume, and stepson, Christopher.

In her 30s she took up photography once more, using a digital camera to shoot landscapes and portraits in color and black and white. Mr. Chaponot, who worked in the prepress and printing industry, taught her to use photo- editing software that allowed her to create collages, experiment with color, airbrushing and other techniques that gave her photos the feel and look of a painting.

“I had in mind to create a kind of painting with my photographs,” she said, “I could see the lines change, I could see the colors change. This is where the imagination starts.”

Joan Mead-Matsui, a friend of Mrs. Chaponot and a fellow artist, said, “Personally, I find Dominique’s unique style of art is a blend of brilliant photography and state-of-the-art computer software, yet her work exudes a peacefulness that reminds me of a Monet painting.”

Indeed, many of Mrs. Chaponot’s works do look like paintings. “Port de Ploumanach” is an image of brightly colored boats in a harbor. It began as a black-and-white photo taken in the 1940s by Mr. Chaponot’s father, who was a professional photographer. She added vibrant reds and blues, and airbrushed the boats to give them the look of an Impressionist painting.

In 1990, Mr. Chaponot was sent to the United States by his employer, who had purchased a printing business in Whippany, N.J. Mrs. Chaponot and their sons followed a few months later, and the family adapted easily to life in America.

Eventually, the company was sold and business began to slide. In 2001, there were large-scale layoffs — Mr. Chaponot included.

Because Mr. Chaponot had formal training in photography as well as printing-industry experience, the couple decided to open a photo-restoration business, creating new prints of damaged family photos for clients.

“We scan the photos, and you can see all the cracks and damage,” Mrs. Chaponot said. Her husband repairs the damage digitally, and prints a brand-new copy for the client. There is much satisfaction to the work. Clients often cry when they see the new pictures. “We always have the Kleenex ready on the table,” she said, chuckling.

Traveled to Scranton

In 2002, Mr. Chaponot, now 62, traveled to Scranton to discuss some restoration work with officials at the Anthracite Museum. Nothing came of the talks, but he was struck by the natural beauty of the Lackawanna Valley, the rich architecture downtown, and the cost of living — much lower than New Jersey.

The couple visited several more times, and decided to relocate here in 2003. They bought a building at 406-408 Lackawanna Ave. in Olyphant, living on the second floor and operating the restoration business on the first.

Mrs. Chaponot got involved in the arts community here. Her photographs began to win awards in juried exhibitions throughout the area as well as in Pittsburgh and Harrisburg.

Mr. Chaponot is his wife’s biggest supporter. Though it was he who studied photography in school, he believes his self-taught wife is the better artist.

“I’m happy for Dominique,” he said, “because she is 10 levels higher than me.”

A few months ago, the Chaponots decided to convert extra space in their building into a gallery.

The art community is a sort of hidden asset in the region, Mrs. Chaponot said. She and her husband want to give it more exposure.

“That is my goal,” she said. “To attract people to art.”

Contact the writer: kdurkin@timesshamrock.com
If you go

What: Art Gallery 408

When: Open Sundays, noon to 6 p.m., and Tuesdays through Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Where: 408 Lackawanna Ave., Olyphant.

[donybrx]

Area has a handle on loans
Steady appreciation of home values lessens impact of subprime loan meltdown in NEPA.
JERRY LYNOTT jlynott@timesleader.com

If mortgages came in flavors, the fixed-rate version would be a scoop of vanilla.

No toppings, nothing fancy, just ice cream plain and simple.

For plenty of people in the area, that’s fine and for good reason, said Robert Snyder, president of Luzerne National Bank.

“They know what their payments are going to be,” he said.

Across the country, and to a lesser extent in Northeastern Pennsylvania, subprime loans made to millions of risky applicants with poor credit and low incomes have melted into a mess of foreclosures and late payments.

The loans come in a variety of types, but have a common thread of high interest, mainly due to the risk associated with the recipient. Often the loans start off with a low payment and adjust to a higher rate after a set period of time.

George Hanzimanolis, president-elect of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, said he’s heard stories of people taking adjustable-rate mortgages and getting “very comfortable” with the low introductory rate.

They then take on other debt and can’t afford the higher payment “when it comes time to adjust.”

While lenders are made to look like the bad guys, “Consumers need to take some responsibility,” said Hanzimanolis, who works out of Bankers First Mortgage Inc. in Tannersville.

According to 2006 fourth-quarter figures provided by the Mortgage Bankers Association, the delinquency and foreclosure rates for all loan types in the Northeast region of the country were below national rates.

Mississippi led the nation with an overall delinquency rate of 10.64 percent, followed by Louisiana with 9.10 percent and Michigan with 7.87 percent. Pennsylvania ranked 19th with a rate of 6.26 percent.

Ohio had the highest foreclosure rate of 3.38 percent. Indiana trailed with 2.97 percent. Michigan was third with 2.39 percent. Pennsylvania fell within the top 10, at ninth place with 1.58 percent.

The subprime loan meltdown comes at a time when the nationwide housing bubble has flattened, lowering prices and cluttering the market with unsold homes.

Local lenders generally agree the impact has been less severe because the region has experienced a steady appreciation of home values as opposed to a rapid rise.

Christopher Baduini of Wachovia Mortgage Corp. placed the annual increase of property values between 3 and 5 percent.

Baduini, Wachovia’s mortgage banking director for Northeastern Pennsylvania, said there is a lot of real estate inventory in the region.

“Open houses are as active as they’ve ever been,” Baduini said.

Like Snyder, he said homebuyers in the region historically choose fixed-rate mortgages.

Other types are out there and Wachovia is having success with its fixed option adjustable rate mortgage.

The loan allows a recipient to pick a payment option each month for the first 10 years. They can choose from 15- and 30-year fixed rates, interest-only payments and minimum payments.

“People like to have options,” Baduini said.

Hanzimanolis said the stable growth has not completely insulated the region from the subprime fallout.

He said there is a tightening of guidelines by lenders and the elimination of some programs.

Foreclosures are not a problem for him and other brokers. Instead, he said, we’re “seeing people calling and having to turn people away.”

Take a home worth $150,000, for example. In the past the bank would finance it 100 percent, but with the subprime fallout, the financing is cut to 90 percent, leaving the buyer to come up with the remaining 10 percent or $15,000. That puts the purchase out of reach for people who are not able to save enough to pay that share, he said.

The impact is felt most by first-time homebuyers on the fringe with blemished credit or those who have never rented before, added Jim Bulger, president of the Pennsylvania Association of Mortgage Brokers.

“It does not impact someone who already has a loan,” said Bulger, of Homecoming Financial in Pittsburgh.

The problems arose from trying to create more homeowners. “We were challenged by the government to put more people in houses,” Bulger said.

Don’t expect a quick fix from the government. The market will correct itself, Bulger and others said.

The Mortgage Bankers Association cautioned against any intervention.

In a mid-March statement, Doug Duncan, the association’s chief economist and senior vice president of research and business development, discussed the rise in delinquencies and foreclosures for subprime loans.

“As we have noted before and as recent events have made clear, market discipline in this industry is swift, can be severe, and is more effective at changing lending practices than any potential changes in regulation,” Duncan said.

[Ex-Ithacan]

^^^ And a chance for you to whip out that ol' RR engineer's hat, jah? :)

Of course. :D

[donybrx]

heh.....cracks me up.....

“If you look at the fan sites and ‘The Office’ blogs, people are already finding these places and boasting about it,” he said. “They are like, ‘Hey, I’ve been to Scranton!’”




04/03/2007
‘The Office’ put Scranton on map; group looks to capitalize
BY DAVID FALCHEK
STAFF WRITER


On their way home to suburban Pittsburgh, Kevin Schuetz and his wife spent two days in Scranton for an increasingly common reason: to sightsee “Office-style.”


Rabid fans of NBC’s hit sitcom “The Office,” the Schuetzes drove around looking at landmarks depicted in the show’s opening sequence and trying to find the “Welcome to Scranton” sign.

“We were ready to jump out of the car and get our picture taken by the sign,” he said. “We recognized some of the buildings and a church — it was nice.”

Many fans like the Schuetzes are stopping here on their own, leading a local group to think the TV show and its legions of devotees might flock to an organized “Office Convention,” similar to wildly popular “Star Trek” conventions around the country.

Although Trekkies can’t go to the planet Vulcan, fans of “The Office” can come to Scranton, where most references in the show are real places. Such an event would let the city capitalize on its primetime presence in the quirky comedy about life at the fictional Dunder-Mifflin Paper Co.

“Since ‘Cheers’ and its association with Boston, there has not been a television show that has generated so much interest in a city,” said Tim Holmes, director of the community newspapers division of Times-Shamrock, parent company of The Times-Tribune, and an organizer of the would-be convention. “A lot of people out there want a piece of Scranton.”

The potential of “Office”-themed events was seen when Rainn Wilson, who portrays Dwight Schrute on the show, visited the city and drew throngs of fans to the Mall at Steamtown on Dec. 17.

“I talked to someone who drove eight hours from North Carolina,” mall spokesman Art Levandoski said of that visit. “We expected a huge crowd, and we got it.”

The mall is working with other groups in the city, planning other visits by cast members.

The “Office” convention steering committee plans a formal call for volunteers in the next few weeks, and would like to host the event in October or November — downtime in television production when cast members may be available.

The drawing board is full of ideas.

Tours would visit places mentioned in the show, such as Farley’s, Cooper’s Seafood House and the Mall at Steamtown. Lunches could feature sandwiches from Cara Mia’s Delicatessen, dessert from Gertrude Hawk Chocolates and Crystal Club soda to wash it all down.

The Marquee Cinema may be asked to feature shows from past seasons on multiple screens.

After repeated requests, city officials tracked down the old “Welcome to Scranton” sign featured on the show and plan to haul it out for Office visitors and pictures.

Mr. Holmes has corresponded with NBC officials and found them enthusiastic about the idea. But local organizers will still have to carry the ball, he said.

“We want their OK to do this. We want to put Michael’s face on this,” he said of the show’s lead character, boorish boss Michael Scott.

Others on the steering committee include Sara Hailstone, city director of community and economic development, Scranton architect Michele Dempsey, and University of Scranton Women’s Studies Professor Elizabeth Randol.

“Office” tourism may not be as farfetched as it sounds, Ms. Dempsey said. Preston, Idaho, featured in the movie “Napoleon Dynamite,” has seen tourism boom as movie fans flock to the rural town.

“How many television shows have participated in the revitalization of a city?” she asked.

More people are stopping into the Lackawanna County Visitors Center looking for Dunder-Mifflin merchandise and asking for directions to “Office”-related landmarks.

“When the show started, I was skeptical of how we could benefit,” said Tracy Barone, executive director of Lackawanna County Visitors & Convention Bureau. “For a while, I was in disbelief when calls came from people wanting to go to the restaurants mentioned on the show and wanting to see places like the Penn Paper and Supply building or the Paper Magic building.”

The potential hit home a few weeks ago, when a group of Florida college students and fans of “The Office” decided to come to Scranton on Spring Break, Ms. Barone said.

To help fans find their way, the bureau developed a daylong itinerary. Mr. Holmes said his weekly publication, Electric City, may develop a self-guided “Office Tour” for site-seers.

Such a guide would have been helpful to the Schuetzes when they visited. Mr. Schuetz was surprised the area didn’t already have something like that. He often got blank stares when asking about “Office” landmarks.

He says he’s not alone. Many of the show’s fans are finding their way to Scranton.

“If you look at the fan sites and ‘The Office’ blogs, people are already finding these places and boasting about it,” he said. “They are like, ‘Hey, I’ve been to Scranton!’”

[Ex-Ithacan]

Sounds like an entrepreneurial opportunity that can't be passed up (eh MetroJ ;) ).

[bucks native]

I read the article and replied to the author with this:

Thanks for the article.

As a newcomer here, I'd like to point something out that locals apparently overlook but tourists will notice immediately, as I did. It's the sidewalks downtown, where concrete has been torn-up and replaced with asphalt. It's extensive and plain ugly. I've never seen anything like it anywhere else. It looks cheap and gives downtown a derelict appearance.

I'm embarrassed to take my out-of-town friends downtown. I can't explain it to them.

Do you know why so much of downtown is patched with asphalt? Maybe you could write about it and encourage proper, inviting sidewalks.

Thanks.

(I deleted my name)
Scranton


He replied with this:

Dear (my name),

You hit on a pet peeve of mine -- asphalt sidewalks.

It should be outlawed -- and the city could, if it wanted.

I'm in total agreement.

David Falchek
Business Reporter
Scranton Times-Tribune
P: 570-348-9141
F: 570-348-9135


my note: someone on City Council obviously owns a paving company. Think of it, dig up the original concrete, pay to put down asphalt, later on pay to have asphalt dug up and concrete poured.


I've also tried to volunteer with Scranton Tomorrow, website looks promising, http://www.scrantontomorrow.org/ and I've been ignored. Maybe no one's home. It sure is frustrating living here and giving a damn.

[donybrx]

^^ Sorry that you're finding so much frustration in Scranton...good that you're making every effort to extend yourself to the city's betterment...don't give up.....!

As to the asphalt....the only reasonable excuse for same would be were certain sidewalks situated at imminent construction sites, subject to punishment until project completion......followed by the installation of proper sidewalks.... We have them (asphalt) here in places where paved pathways might be called for...they aren't as objectionable as such.....sometimes they're a nice counterpoint to the acres of mega Mcmansions which, together with expensive landscapes suitable for upscale malls in Atlanta/Phoenix, have brutalized the naturalness of this place.....
I hope that you'll soon have better experiences there, particularly regarding the Med. school that brought you to NePA to begin with.....

[Snakeyes]

have you called the number on the Scranton Tomorrow website????



Still waiting to hear some news on the Southern Union building.............





Heard the University of Scranton bought the South Side Complex, behind Steamtown mall. They plan on building a soccer, softball, baseball fields....despite numerous lawsuits to stop the sale.

[donybrx]

Wonder what's up with this.....?

04/04/2007
Mandalay makes its pitch to buy franchise
BY ROGER DUPUIS II
STAFF WRITER

Mandalay Baseball Properties wants to buy Northeastern Pennsylvania’s Triple-A baseball franchise, but isn’t going to rush the deal, according to a key official.

Richard W. Neumann, Mandalay’s vice president of development, confirmed a purchase option agreement was submitted to Lackawanna County’s Multi-Purpose Stadium Authority late Tuesday afternoon, along with a management agreement to run the team.

“The option agreement gives Lackawanna County every possible protection that this franchise is not going to be relocated,” Neumann said.

Details of the agreements were not available Tuesday night.

The authority is scheduled to meet today at noon to discuss the agreements, though it was unclear Tuesday night whether the meeting would take place as planned, or be postponed until Thursday. Chairman Anthony Lomma said he would make a decision, possibly as late as this morning, based on whether or not board members felt they had enough time to review the documents.

The two agreements will have to pass through two different approval processes.

Baseball’s governing bodies will have to approve the management agreement between the county and California-based Mandalay, which will run the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees for the county. That has not been submitted to league officials yet.

“We hope that will happen (today), if there’s no other issues,” Lackawanna County majority Commissioner Robert C. Cordaro said.

Because the authority voted last year to give him negotiating power, Cordaro said an authority vote would not be necessary for him to submit the management agreement to the International League. The agreement will, however, be discussed by the authority — today or tomorrow — and by the commissioners at their next meeting, Cordaro said.

The purchase option agreement, on the other hand, does not need to be submitted to the league, but must be voted on by the authority and the commissioners, Cordaro said.

Once that happens, the big question is how soon Mandalay may move to exercise that option and buy the team.

Cordaro and Neumann said such a move was not likely to happen before the end of this season.

It has been said the purchase agreement will require Mandalay to commit to a 20-year lease if it decides to buy.

“Before they go to purchase the team and commit the New York Yankees to being here for 20 years, literally, they want to see how the facilities handle the crowds in a stadium that’s already old, and whose design is even older,” Cordaro said.

And what of speculation that Mandalay will ultimately require a new stadium?

“I really believe you’re going to need to look at the stress and operation of a full season before you could give an educated opinion,” Cordaro said.

rdupuis@timesshamrock.com

[donybrx]

Med school news. It's concerning that they seem to be backing off of a Scranton location, per the text....

04/05/2007
Med school to name dean
BY NICHOLE DOBO
STAFF WRITER


Robert M. D’Alessandri
Age: 61

Birthplace: New York City
Education: Fordham University, 1967; New York Medical College, 1971
Current job: Vice president for health sciences at the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center at West Virginia University

Timeline

June 2005
The Medical Education Development Consortium was formed to begin development of a medical college in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Dr. Robert Wright, director of the Scranton
Temple Residency Program, is named chairman and Dr. Robert Naismith, chairman and CEO of Life Science Analytical, is selected as president.
July 6, 2006
A $300,000 feasibility study reveals a medical school would lead to a “health care renaissance” in the area. The school could stimulate about $46 million in spending and create about 550 high-paying jobs by 2015, the study said. The name of the school was proposed as the “Medical College of Northeastern Pennsylvania.”
Oct. 30
Officials announce nearly half of the money needed to start the medical school — $35 million — will be made available through a state economic development grant.
November
The search for a founding dean of the school starts with help from a Pittsburgh-based consultant. About 30 candidates applied for the job, and the school’s board interviewed about 10 finalists.
Dec. 13
The medical school gets $25 million closer to its fundraising goal when Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania pledges to the school. The money is to come from part of the nonprofit health insurance company’s surplus.
Today
Dr. Robert M. D’Alessandri, a 61-year-old vice president the West Virginia University’s Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, is expected to be named the first dean of the medical school.

An executive at West Virginia University is expected to be named today as the first dean of the proposed Medical College of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Robert M. D’Alessandri, M.D., 61, has emerged as the top candidate for the job, said the head of the nationwide effort to select the dean.

“He presented the ideal blend of skills and experiences,” said John K. Thornburgh, vice president of the Pittsburgh-based firm hired to conduct the search. “He certainly has extensive knowledge in the world of medical education. He has run large organizations, built programs, recruited people and raised money.”

The medical school’s board, the Medical Education Development Consortium, has yet to finalize the appointment, but is expected to do so early today. A formal announcement is slated for 11 a.m. in the Hilton Scranton and Conference Center.

Dr. D’Alessandri is vice president for Health Sciences at West Virginia University’s Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center. This position oversees the university’s four health schools: medicine, pharmacy, dentistry and nursing.

During his 30-year tenure at WVU, Dr. D’Alessandri previously served as the dean of the School of Medicine, an associate dean of ambulatory services, chief of the section of comprehensive medicine and as a medical professor.

Today’s announcement will conclude a five-month search. The consortium, a local group of physicians, politicians and community leaders, has been pushing for a medical school since 2005.

Efforts to reach Dr. D’Alessandri were unsuccessful Wednesday.

Sen. Bob Mellow, D-Peckville, declined to confirm Mr. D’Alessandri’s appointment. The board was still considering final candidates and would not make the final selection until this morning, he said.

“Anything could happen at the board meeting,” he said.

About $60 million of the $75 million to $80 million needed for the school has already been secured from the state and a grant from Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The school is expected to open in 2009 and serve 360 students.

The school’s site has not yet been decided, Mr. Mellow said, stressing that the school would serve 28 hospitals in Northeastern and Northcentral Pennsylvania.

“It has to be made very clear this is not a Scranton project,” Mr. Mellow said.

Seen as a potential economic driver for the area, the school is expected to create spending of $46 million a year and spawn 550 jobs by 2015. By 2025, the economic footprint is expected to grow to $54 million and 900 jobs.

Contact the writer: ndobo@timesshamrock.com

[Ex-Ithacan]

Not sure that Scranton isn't in the running. I think Mellow meant that it's a NEPA project, not just a Scranton project. Meaninfg it will serve more than just the city of Scranton. Don't think that precludes it from being located in Scranton.

[Snakeyes]

Not sure that Scranton isn't in the running. I think Mellow meant that it's a NEPA project, not just a Scranton project. Meaninfg it will serve more than just the city of Scranton. Don't think that precludes it from being located in Scranton.

Agree.....what is the alternative?

[donybrx]

Not sure that Scranton isn't in the running. I think Mellow meant that it's a NEPA project, not just a Scranton project. Meaninfg it will serve more than just the city of Scranton. Don't think that precludes it from being located in Scranton.

Well yeah, I read it that way, too and have the utmost admiration for Mr. Mellow.....I just have the sneakingest suspicion about the danged thing since it seemed such a fait accompli not long ago ...sure to be located at the HoJo site.....anyway. I hold out hope that you and Snakeyes are right.... DT Scranton will be the spot, ultimately.

Today is the home opener of the S-WB Yankees........btw.....tickets are scarce, I hear.....

[Snakeyes]

Well yeah, I read it that way, too and have the utmost admiration for Mr. Mellow.....I just have the sneakingest suspicion about the danged thing since it seemed such a fait accompli not long ago ...sure to be located at the HoJo site.....anyway. I hold out hope that you and Snakeyes are right.... DT Scranton will be the spot, ultimately.

Today is the home opener of the S-WB Yankees........btw.....tickets are scarce, I hear.....

The only other place I can think of is Montage Mountain...and that means GRIDLOCK.



What is that speculation about a new stadium for the S/WB Yanks...maybe downtown Scranton, trade the med school for the stadium? :)

[donybrx]

^^ That's my concern...Montage. I'm cynical, yes. feel that as soon as talk of Med School went beyond just talk to actual millions available....the ears of the more opportunistic types stood up.....and so would pull the school in the direction of their properties like Montage....upping the ante, probably. It isn't unusual to pull strings in business for financial bonanzas....time will tell...

Like I said, it could end up along PA Boulevard in Wilkes-Baqrre just as easily...there's a lot of vacant availble land there....I prefer Scranton...in m lil donybrx fantasy world.... :)

The rumors of a new stadium started popping not long after the Yankees signed up...I don't see the need...this stadium is perfect and not old....but the Yankees are more about moolah than were the Barons....another reason why I liked having the home-y Barons....relaxed, fun, not money obsessed like the rest of sports....

[Snakeyes]

20 acres?


Dean Selected for New Medical College



Thursday, April 5, 5:36 p.m.
By Josh Brogadir

There's no medical school yet in Lackawanna County but there is a new man in charge already. Officials today named a dean to head up the medical school that's planned for fall 2009.

Local officials have nothing but praise for Dr. Robert D'Alessandri and he knows he has his work cut out for him if the school will be ready to teach a new generation of doctors in our area in just over two years.

He was heavily recruited to come here and now he has his sights set on improving health care and the economy in our area. He comes from a similar position with West Virginia University.

"I've been the dean of a medical school for 15 years, and I've been vice president for health sciences. All of the schools, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, report to me," D'Alessandri said.

One big challenge to making progress here, to getting started, is finding a location for the new medical school.

In the fall, it was thought the Medical College of Northeast Pennsylvania would be built along Franklin Avenue after an old nursing home was cleared from the site.

The medical school board lost $100,000 on an option to buy the current Howard Johnson Inn property.

Now we're hearing the site may be in downtown Scranton but it also could be elsewhere.

"My preference basically is to keep it somewhere in Lackawanna County but we want to come up with the best possible site for the growth. We probably need overall 20 acres of land and we have to come up with the right type of footprint that's going to speak well to the growth that's going to take place 20 years from today," said Senator Bob Mellow.

Another challenge is identifying funding for the project; $35 million came in from the state and $25 million more from Blue Cross of Northeast Pennsylvania.

"I would think that we need another $50 million to $60 million to make this happen. The good news is we've come up with an economic model because of the investment of Blue Cross into this process where the school can be self-sustaining ," said medical school board vice chairman Dr. Robert Naismith.

A temporary site will likely be used for the medical school beginning in 2009, up until a permanent structure can be built. The school can be certified in a temporary building.

[Ex-Ithacan]

^ 20 acres does seem like a lot, but I guess for a full fledged college it's not really that much. Probably want the ability to expand too at some point in the future. Downtown, at least the immediate area, might be a tough fit. I'll keep my fingers crossed.


Like I said, it could end up along PA Boulevard in Wilkes-Baqrre just as easily...there's a lot of vacant availble land there....I prefer Scranton...in m lil donybrx fantasy world.... :)

I have to wonder about dony's lil fantasy world.:eek: :runaway:




;) :D

[bucks native]

OK, here goes:

Dony, you're a champ. Thanks for the encouragement. We'll meet in heaven some day and have a few laughs, I'm sure.

....eyes, still haven't heard from Scranton Tomorrow, which upsets me but I WILL call, although I'm expecting voice mail. I'll let you know....

EX - I saw a bumper plate today that made me think of you. It read: "Ithaca is Gorges" and made we want to see it, so I will.

Med School: Here's my take. Judging from their attitudes recently, the academics who started this project are not happy campers. But they're not talking - perhap among themselves, but not to me, anyway. I SUSPECT that the whole shebang has been highjacked by the politicos and their financiers. I've heard the name DiNaples more than once. The greedy bastard apparently isn't satisfied with his junkyard in Dunmore or his new casino license for the Poconos, he wants a piece - again, I suppose - of this action, too. I guess he has no property downtown. He's a major contributor to politicians - think Mellow, who's doing all the talkin' and note that Mayor Doherty has been mum all this while.

I'll be meeting the new dean soon. I hope that he's a reasonable guy with big balls because I have plently of reasons why that school needs to be downtown and not part of some sprawl somewhere or next to DiNaples' junkyard.

More later -

[donybrx]

^^^Aaaaaah...DiNaples. Of course! Why didn't I think of that name sooner? If anyone knows how to work the system, Mr. DeNaples does. Don't mean to offend one of our SWB forumers by saying that but...it adds up. Now it rings clear how the proj could have been so vastly underestimated whereas the compact HoJO site was once optioned as'enough' but now 20 acres or more are needed..and the acreage near/ at Montage has skyrocketed recently, if not some of those 1,000's of watershed acreage that DeNaples happened to purchase above the objection of public trust from publicly held utilities....he bought it for peanuts and has been parceling it off for much more..he was even portrayed as a minor saint by a couple of nuns in his state interview to get the casino rights in the Poconos...hahaha. He once turned some interference by the state re: land he held along the (then pre-construction) new Route 6 highway into a $300+ Million bonanza. Yep. Nobody does it better.....

bucksnative, I/ we got your back.....perhaps we'll all meet for a trolley ride before you run screaming from Scranton....lol.

A summertime ride to Ithaca is a great idea. Perhaps a scenic Route 6 ride over to Wellsboro, then down to Knoebels Park for a spin on the wooden coasters. It's a wonderful place...old fashioned but very fully fun packed....www.knoebels.com.
There's nothing quite like riding along the Susquehanna in the summer en route.there..

[bucks native]

The NYTimes did a nice write-up on Wellsboro a few weeks back. I'll see if I can find it.

[bucks native]

full article: http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/03/30/realestate/greathomes/30havens.html?pagewanted=1


Havens | Wellsboro, Pa.

A Quaint Town With ‘Quiet Things’ to Do

By DAVE CALDWELL
Published: March 30, 2007
NYTimes

Some storefronts have changed over the years, but Main Street has held tight to its charm. Wellsboro is not just a place to zip through on the way to nearby Pine Creek Gorge, which is often called the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. Park your car, slip a dime in the meter, stroll through town — and putter into the past.

“I tell people you can set your watch back 50 years,” said Nelle Rounsaville, who moved to town 20 years ago and who now owns two bed-and-breakfasts in town and the Wellsboro Diner, an all-porcelain, drum-shaped eatery that has hunkered at the corner of Main Street and East Avenue since 1939.

Wellsboro, a town of about 3,300 residents 240 miles northwest of New York City, has become a popular place for second-home buyers who want to remember their first homes — as in, the homes they grew up in.

The town prides itself for being clean, safe and slow-paced. Fittingly, a fountain with a statue of Wynken, Blynken and Nod sits on the wide town green, across Main Street from the old stone Tioga County courthouse and the equally old brick jailhouse.

Real estate prices are low compared with those in many other places in Pennsylvania. Grover and Debra Wolf, who own a tree-care business in Oley, Pa., near Reading, bought a three-bedroom, 100-year-old, wood-frame house near the center of Wellsboro last August for $173,500.

The house was moved 50 to 100 feet about 15 years ago so that the lot could be subdivided, Mr. Wolf said. It was placed on a cement-block foundation and fitted with new plumbing and a modern kitchen. But the original oak woodwork remains.

“We bought all the charm — with all new fixings,” Mr. Wolf said. “I didn’t want to spend a lot of time when I came up here working on a house.”

While in Wellsboro, which they visit every two weeks, the Wolfs like to explore the town with their son, Tanner, 7, and venture to Pine Creek Gorge, which is about 10 miles west of town, not far off United States Route 6. “For us, it was getting our child to an area that was safe,” Ms. Wolf said, “an area promoting small community.”

Pine Creek Gorge, formed by melting glaciers and dotted with trees that show off blazing colors in the fall, is itself a destination. A railroad bed along meandering Pine Creek was turned into a bicycle trail. The gorge, which cuts deep into the Appalachian Plateau, is also an ideal place to hike, fish, hunt and camp and to ride snowmobiles and horses.

“There are things to do, but they’re quiet things to do,” said Scott Wilcox, a Wellsboro native and agent for Century 21 Wilkinson-Dunn, which is on Main Street.

The Scene

Shops along Main Street have slowly changed hands in the past few years and have become tonier. On the south side of Main Street are the Fifth Season antiques store and Pine Creek Outfitters (which offers raft trips and canoe and bicycle rentals). A former five-and-dime is now the Blue Thistle Boutique, which sells women’s clothing, and a popular Italian restaurant, the Timeless Destination.

Just off Main Street is a bagel shop and an old-timey movie house, the Arcadia — “Tioga County’s Finest Theatre,” the marquee reads. Plans are under way to build a performing arts center not far from the old courthouse and the jail, which is now home to the chamber of commerce and the Tioga County Visitors Bureau.

“Don’t ever call this place ‘hillbilly,’ because the people are sophisticated,” said Ed Lodge, who lives part time in Chester County, Pa., and bought a 2,500-square-foot second home in Wellsboro for $305,000 in November 2005.

The gaslights stop a block or two west of the town green, and Main Street turns residential. The street, and the small neighborhood that surrounds it, are lined with simple and handsome older homes, many with wood frames, but some made of brick. Wellsboro is nestled in tall hills, which are covered with trees that seem to trudge up the slopes.

Marsha and Bob Chesko first drove through Wellsboro eight years ago, when they still lived in Orlando, Fla. They liked the town so much that they ended up buying the Sherwood Motel. Most of their guests come up the same week every year, and request the same room.

“We’ve watched the ‘Andy Griffith Show’ on TV,” Ms. Chesko said, “and we said to each other, ‘This is just like Mayberry.’ It’s such a small, quaint town.”

Pros

United States Route 15, which connects Tioga County to Interstate 80, has been widened in recent years, trimming the weekend trip for second-home owners substantially. Mansfield University is about 15 miles to the east, and offers sports and cultural events. A newsworthy crime is often a whodunit that centers on a blown-up mailbox.

Cons

On summer and autumn weekends, the streets in Wellsboro can be clogged with traffic. Wellsboro has a McDonald’s and a Dunkin’ Donuts, but it is still a small and isolated town. The closest Wal-Mart, for example, is in Mansfield.

“The very things we like are the things that 18-year-olds growing up here don’t like,” Mr. Wolf said.

The Real-Estate Market

Richard Tickner, an agent for Koch Homestead Realty in Wellsboro, estimated that the value of homes in Wellsboro and in the region has increased by 12 to 15 percent since 2000.

Mr. Tickner had his best year ever in 2006, but said: “We don’t get the great big ups and the great big downs as in other places. It’s very stable.”

Kathy Doty, a broker with Penn Oak Realty in Wellsboro, said: “We always appreciate in value, but it’s a slow, steady climb. People realize they’re moving here because they like the area.”

Mr. Wilcox, the Century 21 agent, said that second homes were used differently now than they had been in the past. State Route 287, which weaves through mountains north into town, is speckled with hunting cabins that are now used at times other than deer season.

“When I was growing up, people would come up and use their hunting camps one or two weeks the whole year,” Mr. Wilcox said. “Now, they’re using them two or three months out of every year.”

Paul and Ellen Harrison, empty-nesters who own a general contracting business in Easton, Pa., bought a two-bedroom cabin on eight isolated acres west of town in 2001 for $105,000. They nearly sold the cabin two years later for $140,000, but decided to keep the property after prospective buyers backed out.

Mr. Harrison estimates that they spend every third weekend at the cabin, which sits among thousands of white birch trees. They have rented the cabin to cover their costs (their Web site is www.whitebirchcabins.com), but Mr. Harrison said they were thinking about keeping the place to themselves.

“It’s pretty hard to leave once we get there,” he said.

Lay of the Land

POPULATION 3,342, according to a 2005 estimate by the Census Bureau. Tioga County’s population is estimated to be about 41,000. The population of the county can swell to approximately 80,000 on summer and fall weekends.

SIZE 4.9 square miles.

LOCATION North-central Pennsylvania. Wellsboro is about 50 miles north of Williamsport, 135 miles north of Harrisburg, 230 miles northwest of Philadelphia and 240 miles northwest of New York City.

WHO’S BUYING Mostly residents from south-central Pennsylvania cities, like Reading, Harrisburg and Lancaster, and residents of the Philadelphia suburbs.

GETTING THERE From the New York area, take Interstate 80 west to Exit 210B, to Route 15 north, to Route 6, then 12 miles west into town.

WHILE YOU’RE LOOKING The Sherwood Motel (2 Main Street, 570-724-3424; www.sherwoodmotel.org) offers rates of $79 to $105 from May 1 to the first weekend in December, and $63 to $73 at other times. La Belle Auberge, at 129 Main Street, and La Petite Auberge, 3 Charles Street (570-724-3288; www.nellesinns.com), two bed-and-breakfasts on the west side of town, offer rooms starting at $155 on weekends from May through early December, and $135 for the rest of the year.

[bucks native]

Med school may move

BY NICHOLE DOBO
STAFF WRITER
04/07/2007


The $35 million state grant for the Medical College of Northeast Pennsylvania specifies Scranton as the school’s home, but the state senator who drafted the earmark says the requirement can be “easily” removed.

Meanwhile, Mayor Chris Doherty and an analyst for a Washington, D.C.-based think tank said it would be a mistake to build the school anywhere else.

“It is not a big deal legislatively, if at all, to change the language,” said Sen. Robert J. Mellow, D-Peckville, who is also a member of the regional consortium behind the college. “That could easily be changed to any other county.”

The $35 million grant represents about 40 percent of the cash needed to get the college off the drawing board.

The regional consortium has stopped referring to the school as a “Scranton medical college” and started calling it a “northeast and northcentral Pennsylvania project,” despite the House bill language specifying the money as a city-based grant, because it believes cheaper land might be found elsewhere, Mr. Mellow said.

“This is not a Scranton project,” Mr. Mellow said of the college, which was trumpeted as a multimillion-dollar economic driver for the city.

The school could pump $30 million into Scranton by 2015, according to a consortium-funded feasibility study. When announcing the grant, Gov. Ed Rendell said a Scranton medical school would “help support the city’s impressive turnaround.”

The shift from the Scranton focus came after land values in the city increased when a medical college was announced, Mr. Mellow said. Publicity surrounding possible locations of the school caused landowners to start jacking up prices, he said. Scranton has not been ruled out, but the consortium wants to shop around, he said.

“I have a fiduciary responsibility to taxpayers,” Mr. Mellow said.

If needed, Mr. Mellow said he will arrange to have the house bill’s wording changed so the cash will follow the medical school. The only people who care if the college is located in the city are “Scrantonians,” he said.

The city has made presentations on “less than a dozen” potential campus sites, Mr. Doherty said. A city location would benefit the most people, because the city is the largest in Northeastern Pennsylvania and home to three hospitals.

“I think the investment should be in the city,” the mayor said.

That sentiment was echoed by Mark Muro, policy director at the Washington D.C.-based Brookings Institution. There would be a benefit to linking the medical school to Scranton because it will help build “critical mass” in the city and region by clustering institutions of higher learning.

As for increased costs of land for a medical school site, Mr. Muro said it is to be expected that land value will increase as the city is revitalized.

“Property values are, to an extent, a measure of desirability,” he said. “It’s not the end of the world for Scranton to be a desirable place.”

Contact the writer: ndobo@timesshamrock.com

©The Times-Tribune 2007

[bucks native]

The 22nd District includes all of Lackawanna County; the boroughs of Avoca, Dupont and Duryea in Luzerne County; the borough of Mount Pocono and the townships of Barrett, Coolbaugh and Paradise in Monroe County.