Click here to subscribe today or Login.
Diamonds to Christian Wielage and those helping him in the latest quest to save the Irem Temple. The founder of a business software company, Wielage has spearheaded a fundraising effort to save the Wilkes-Barre icon. With help from the Luzerne Foundation, the Irem Temple Restoration and Preservation Fund is born. Visit luzfdn.org/funds/irem-temple-restoration-preservation-fund/ for information.
Coal to pimps who exploit women, the (almost always) men who selfishly use them, and the ancillary actors who abet prostitution. At the seventh annual Family Service Association of NEPA Education Conference, attorney Shea Rhodes made a powerful argument for reducing arrests of women selling themselves — often as victims of abuse or coercion — and shifting focus to those who profit from the sale of human flesh, and those who buy it. This is clearly a crime that cannot exist without demand.
Diamonds to the Downtown Wilkes-Barre Association, the city administration, the businesses themselves and everyone involved for giving downtown a festive look through decorations and the relatively new tradition of adorning shop windows with seasonal paintings. It may not be as glitzy and eye-popping as, say, Rockefeller Center in Manhattan this time of year, but it helps set a celebratory mood — even if, as some surely would argue, it seems to come a bit earlier each year.
Coal to residents and TV weather people who made too big a deal about snow and cold days before Thanksgiving. Yes, the proverbial “higher elevations” saw some real accumulation, and the gusty winds made the temperature drop feel exceptionally chilly. But it should not need repeating every time a cold spell or heat wave set in: Northeast Pennsylvania is unequivocally in a “temperate climate zone,” replete with four wonderfully variable seasons. If snow in November surprises or disgusts, you’ve settled in the wrong place.
Diamonds to Gov. Tom Wolf, state Rep. Tarah Toohill, R-Butler Township, and all those involved in securing a $2.5 million state grant to offset costs of rehabilitating the Altamont Hotel. A solid, historic structure that once boasted a elegant lobby and dining room, the hotel struggled to remain useful, managing to avoid the kind of decay and demise of Wilkes-Barre’s Hotel Sterling. This money can help assure another landmark does not fall to the wrecking ball.
Coal to Northeast Revenue LLC, Luzerne County and anyone else responsible for letting an eyesore property avoid the delinquent tax sales list for years. The long-vacant row home on E. Bennett St. stayed off the list because of a coding error that, apparently, dates back to at least 2009, letting the property pile up nearly $45,000 in back taxes — exactly the kind of error that prompts people to lose trust in government.