Just some questions

Question 1
The River St project..... Why?
Just because the college wants it, is not a reason to make this a major bottleneck. River St is a major route for ambulances going to General Hospital. By restricting the street, and with the major delays this will cause, lives will be put at risk. All so students can cross the street without walking to an intersection. $12 million wasted.

Question 2
Coal St widening project...... Why?
Leighton shows he understands property values almost as badly as he does ethics.
Beside making Coal St into a speedway with Interfaith Apts within spitting distance (Wait, the little children at Interfaith are safe with a 5 lane speedway, but the young adults at the colleges are unsafe with a 4 lane road!!?), There is the loss of parking spaces for the taxpaying people that live on Coal Street. Leightons answer to all their questions, "Wait, you'll be happy with the results". I hate to tell the dictator this (No, I'm not), But the people living there are not happy. They are angry, and rightly so. 8 more parking places really doesn't matter when the residents have to walk 2 or 3 blocks to use them.

Question 3
Campaigning inside the polling location at Kistler Elementary School, What's the big deal?
It's ILLEGAL. And even if it is a "a low-grade misdemeanor" as District Attorney Jackie Musto Carroll says, They should be prosecuted. It is the LAW. And IMHO politicians should be held to a high standard.

I'll get back to the Sterling in a day or two, trying to identify the remains is harder than trying to learn Chinese algebra.

Dan Emplit WBFD
AKA Don Quixote

Not all the Anonymous comments are from idiots

This Anonymous' comments was so eloquent I decided to post it:

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "A break from the Sterling":

There was a quote from a movie awhile back that is sort of befitting of those who are in denial, and supportive of the present incumbent. The quote was, "You can't handle the truth". So many questions going unanswered?

Would you agree to an "open ended contract" on a golf cart lease? Pull 3 Mil away from the Sterling project to fund your intermodal which was ill conceived, and had numerous cost overruns? Have the taxpayers fund an ice rink to which they are graciously granted 2 hrs. use a day when the hockey team is not using it? Supposedly sign a contract with a party who is a heavy donor, then not maintain records as required by the "contract"? Sell that same party a bakery for less than the city bought it for, and have the School Board forgive the taxes on it? Allow work to be done on said property even before it's owned? Allow said person to modify a structure without proper permits/zoning until a citizen complained?
And what about accountability for the fines that were imposed? Demolition of the Peanut Bldg with a promise of a Wood St. extension to Penn Ave, w/ proper street signals on S.Main and Wood St.? Was there interest collected on the money that was owed to the Firemen and held back for a year? People who want to keep him for another 4 years are either living in a fantasy world, or have a vested interest? How about when Kanjo and Musto have their day in court will they sing a song that implicates our present Mayor? Were I he, I would resign while I'm at the top of my game. Possible impeachment is a nasty way to go..................
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Dan Emplit WBFD
AKA Don Quixote

A break from the Sterling

I've gotten an new comment from the idiot crowd.
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "South Station":

so you stopped harping on mayor leighton, because you finally realized he is right. just like your union officers did but you ar to stupid to stop. let me tell you this if one of your officers posts here you will never hear from me again. i know they wont because they support leighton.
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WOW, your grammar and punctuation just gets worse. I can only believe you are doing that on purpose.

I haven't "stopped harping on mayor leighton". Four days ago I pointed out he and cityvest tried to scam the Feds into paying for the Sterlings demolition.

If you want to know why my Union Officers will not help and post here, ASK THEM. I did. I got the biggest wad of bullsh!t that I've seen in years.

You will comment again, you can't help yourself. You are a troll.

One other thing I have seen are a few people commenting that Leighton shouldn't be investigated because McGroarty was also involved with nepotism. Or that it is a parents prerogative.
One thing that these people want us to forget is that it is AGAINST THE LAW. You know, ILLEGAL. It doesn't become OK because someone else got away with it.

I'll get back to the Sterling series shortly.

Dan Emplit WBFD
AKA Don Quixote

Sterling series Floor.....One (Requests)

We interrupt our previously scheduled presentation to answer some requests from Facebook
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Maryann Huk
And the upper floors would need to be gutted anyway to meet code and be enlarged for today's demands. Ironically, any kind of molded plaster or stenciling that would still be intact would create additional challenges. So all that loveliness we remember would need to be reproduced.
Think of ALLLLL the people that would have to be hired to do that...
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It would be lovely, but I don't see it happening.

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Maryann Huk
Your last sentence says it all. Fire Inspectors have a responsibility to protect the public at all costs. A civil engineer friend of mine said municipal inspectors or those hired by a municipality will ALWAYS err on the side of caution. I'll wait for an independent inspection.
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I'm sorry, The Fire Inspector gave an honest opinion. He has well over a decade of experience, and does not believe the building is salvageable. This was given at an informal safety meeting about the Sterling.

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Louis Betti
Also, Dan, were you able to get any photos of the General Sullivan room(restaurant)? I dined there many times and would be curious see see what is left of it.

Louis Betti
Hi Dan, the General Sullivan room is on the ground floor off the lobby, north of the River Street entrance.
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With the help of Tyler Hammond (He and his wife ran Cafe Metropolis when it was in the Sterling), we believe we have isolated the 'General Sullivan' room. The pictures are below.

The entrance


And here


We believe this is the Ballroom (Please remember these are structural pics and not taken to show the Grandeur that was)


Those slatted doors on the left are for a small storage room off the dining area


the dining room


What is left of the first floor kitchen


and more of the kitchen here



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Save the Hotel Sterling, Wilkes-Barre, PA
‎Dan-I am rather anxious to see too about the ballroom floor two and. Have floors collapsed to a great extent from floors 2 up?
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The Second floor ballroom was called the 'Crystal room', I believe. I'm going from the lowest level up so that will probably be the next post. By the way, don't expect much, the higher the floor, the more it was stripped.

Dan Emplit WBFD
AKA Don Quixote

Sterling series Floor.....One

The wall damage

and


With a LOT of imagination you can see the former grandeur.

and here

and here


Showing that the columns are NOT truly marble.


My question is what is the dollar value of the Sterling? Because , so far, I've found a $6 million loan from the county, a $1 million federal grant, a $3 million state grant and now at least $1 million to tear it down. At some point we have to look at what the dollar return will be.
Cityvest (really the people who signed for that money) need to be MADE to pay up.



Dan Emplit WBFD
AKA Don Quixote

Sterling series Floor.....Basement

With the volume of photos I now have, I've decided to post them in an organized manner. So from the bottom up, I give you the basement of the Sterling on August 10, 2011.

The ceiling has caved in.


All these beams are suspect and unsafe

And

And


Obviously there was EXTENSIVE water damage BEFORE the flood

And

And

And


Someone stripped all the recyclable materials

How is it that Cityvest and our mayor thought they could get away with FRAUDULENTLY trying to get the federal government to pay for the demolition?


Dan Emplit WBFD
AKA Don Quixote

Sterling news

OK, first off a big thank you to Jim Ryan and Cathy Macko Payne for quickly and efficiently getting me some info that I "right to know"ed.

Now to the meat of the post. Pictures of the inside of the Sterling Hotel.
First floor




The 'Marble columns' aren't real Marble. They are deteriorated steel beams with a fake Marble coating.


Second Floor


And the roof that was repaired.




The 'repairs' seem to be several dozen 4 X 4's to buttress the badly rotted roof with some tar paper and cheap rolled roofing.




And I'm told, this huge hole wasn't even touched.




Anyone notice the date on the bottom right of the pictures? That's right. A full month before the flood. And Cityvest thought we wouldn't notice?
Yeah, the 'flood' destroyed the Sterling...... More like GREED did.
What does $6 million buy you in the county?
Corruption.

I literally have HUNDREDS of pictures to go through. So more to come.

Dan Emplit WBFD
AKA Don Quixote