From Crystal Club Soda to Gertrude Hawk Chocolate

Scranton and its surrounding towns are resplendent with historic sites, and now an online map system allows users to pinpoint many of the locations noted in this column. So, if you’ve been wondering about it, you can find the location of the Historic Iron Furnaces along Roaring Brook in Scranton. Or locate Capouse Meadows, the site named for American Indian Chief Capoose.  Continue reading.
Editor’s Note: I’ve added a link to the Times Local History Map in the Electric City Links section of the website.

The Times-Tribune posted a list of the 10 most read stories of 2007.  Guess what is #1.

Penn Security Bank.  Photo by schellerphoto 

Kudos to Cathy Gavin and the crew at Stirna’s restaurant on the amazing remodel. If you haven’t seen the new look yet, I highly recommend stopping in for a whiskey sour and some chicken strips. Oh, and don’t forget the rice pudding. Finally, the atmosphere matches the wonderful food.

Immerse yourself in the hilarious environment by maneuvering through the quirkiness while spending a year at the Scranton branch of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. The Office computer game.

I stumbled upon a fascinating website that has excerpts from The Scranton Republican newspaper as far back as 1885. I really recommend taking a look. The name of the page is Lackawanna County News and it is part of the Lackawanna County PaGenWeb website.

Lake Scranton.  Photo by mwjw. 

The outgoing Lackawanna County controller, who disputes the legitimacy of his successor, has vowed to lock himself in his office and continue working until he is compelled by law enforcement to leave. Controller John Mellow said the county administrative code disqualifies Controller-elect Ken McDowell from taking over on Jan. 7. McDowell currently collects taxes for Lackawanna County, the city of Scranton and the Scranton School District through an entity known as the Single Tax Office. He won the Nov. 6 general election for controller with 96 percent of the vote. Continue reading.

Even one of the dreamers behind a local medical college could not imagine supporters would be so close so soon to opening the state’s first new medical school since 1962.  “One year ago at this time, I was on the hot seat,” said Robert Wright, M.D., former chairman of a consortium tapped to launch the school in Scranton. “I was under tremendous pressure to find the right guy” to lead an institution with no funding, site or faculty.  And yet, Friday brought a slew of momentous announcements from Robert M. D’Alessandri, M.D., the man who ultimately was tapped to serve as the first dean of the proposed Commonwealth Medical College.  In recent days, the dean mailed out accreditation applications, hired 10 more faculty members — there are 14 now — and received government and private pledges totalling at least $2.3 million. Even after all the progress, “the biggest thing to happen was the hiring of Bob D’Alessandri, as dean,” said Dr. Wright, president of Scranton-Temple Residency Program Inc. The hard-charging new dean has spent nearly every waking hour since coming aboard in June filling out paperwork, searching for a site, recruiting staff and seeking donations for the project. Discussions to open a medical school in Scranton only began in December 2004. Yet, the project is now on pace for the first 60 students to start classes in the fall of 2009 in a temporary site at Lackawanna College. Continue reading.

The Electric City.  Photo by Gusy as in Gee.