Chief Clark, Mayor Brown offer New Year’s thoughts

“And the music and the echo of the music went out into the void. And it was not void.” – J.R.R. Tolkien

WILKES-BARRE — Wilkes-Barre Township Police Chief Will Clark says 2025 will offer us a chance to renew our best efforts.

Each year, Chief Clark offers his insightful comments about the coming new year and he always puts it in a way that we should all contemplate.

Here it is:

“We have all heard throughout our lives how important history is. It tells us the story of our journey through time. It enlightens us all to the fact that those who came before us were willing to sacrifice everything held sacred in order to achieve a common goal — progress, sustainability and the advancement of our society and us as a people which is measured in our continued existence.

“Needless to say, we have had good times and bad, successes and failures. We are told that we need to constantly learn from our history so that we can avoid the pending pitfalls presented to us in the future — and there will be no shortage of those.

“If we view our lives as a road-map, our history shows us where we have been and where we have come from so that we can affix our sights on where it is that we wish to go. 2024 has drawn to a close and it too will become part of the sum of human history — for better or worse. That depends on your perspective.

“In times of turbulence and strife — which seems to exist in no short supply — we seek a common thread of understanding in order to make a best effort to fix what has been broken, to right the wrongs, to find hope where in some places it seems never to offer itself when the moment is convenient.

“But the harder we work, the greater the possibilities. Even when the days are dark and the shadow spreads, it is only a passing thing.

“What drove people throughout human history that enabled us to climb from the tombs of despair, sickness and war, against all odds?

“It is the human spirit, our constant curiosity and wish to become better at everything for the good of everyone. It is in the core of our very fiber that we continue our progress for no reason other than we have to. There is no other choice.

“Believing that the future will be better for our families and our children and our children’s children is simply not good enough. Actions have always spoken to us much louder than words and it is history itself who will stand and judge our individual contributions.

“And because human existence is such a frail, fragile and finite thing, we are each only afforded one opportunity, one chance to make the world right, or at least better than it was when it was passed onto us by our ancestors.

“Our lives are short in comparison with history. The time given to each of us should be used wisely, making the right choices in the face of failure or frustration or hardship, because each time we do, the chances of prosperity grow even greater. Don’t wait for someone else to do it — do it yourself.

“It is best to make every effort to turn our collective might towards making our own history rather than being concerned with trying to rewrite what had transpired long ago so that it fits within a modern narrative and withdrawn from the context with which it was forged. The foundation is always the first thing constructed.

“We are truly capable of such wondrous things, so long as we keep our course true and steady.

“This year, write your music as if it were from a symphony of accomplishments and acts of goodwill.

“Create hope where there is none.

“Offer help when it seems to be beyond our reach.

“Find the time to set things right not only in your own life, but in the lives of those around you.

“And the music will continue to prosper and flourish and spread throughout the land for all to hear and rejoice and hearken to the sound of trumpets from the tops of the highest mountain peaks, announcing the sun has returned — for it will surely shine upon us all, warming our hearts and curing our ills.”

Mayor Brown offers resolutions

Wilkes-Barre City Mayor George Brown offers his annual list of resolutions for the city:

• To purchase 10 new police cars, one ambulance, two DPW compactor trucks.

• Work with the developer to start construction on the $31 million luxury apartment complex on South Main Street.

• Work with the developer to start the new hotel complex on the Sterling site.

• Work with the developer to complete the 108 apartment units at the former Meyers High School.

• Work with the Wright Center to initiate the 45,000 square foot addition to their Wilkes-Barre facility.

• Work closely with the Irem Temple renovation team to continue upgrades to the beautiful Irem Temple facility.

• To continue fostering a harmonious working relationship with the City Council.

• Work to complete the Special Needs Playground at the Bog.

• Complete the Brookside Flood Mitigation project.

• Complete the Hazle Street wall restoration.

• Continue completion of the federal mandated requirements to replace the Washington Street Bridge replacement project.

• Promote safe, clean neighborhoods.

• Address problematic properties through the continued utilization of the Wilkes-Barre City Blight Remediation Program.

• And to continue to promote educational forums on Colo-Rectal cancer in Northeast Pennsylvania.

Happy New Year!