FR E E int er ac t i v e W EB SIT E
’ Users guide Unlock all Northeast Pennsylvania has to offer
Your key to the region’s most comprehensive, latest entertainment news & features
your key to the staff
Welcome to Access NEPA Unlock all Northeast Pennsylvania has to offer at Access NEPA, our new, interactive website launching today at accessnepa.com. There, you’ll find the latest entertainment news and features as well as blogs, podcasts and video taking you inside what’s happening across the region. We’ve crafted a location-specific searchable calendar that lets users from Pottsville to Peckville, from Hazleton to Hawley, from Forest City to Forty Fort and beyond to set the parameters of how far out they want to search to find activities and events. Filled with thousands of venues spread across the region, our calendar offers a comprehensive look at NEPA that’s unlike any other. Among the blogs, readers will find established favorites as well as loads of new blogs: Eat & Drink: Chef's Table, Local Flavor, Empty Bottles, Liquid and previews on food-centric events Health & Beauty: Hey, Beautiful, our local beauty blog, and Live Fit, a blog by two local trainers Screen Time: Take 2, our local movie blog, and Screen Time, featuring the latest film and TV reviews and stories Causes & Benefits: In Times of Need and Talk of the Times
Contacts / staff Caitlin Heaney West Content editor, Early Access cwest@timesshamrock.com
Faith Golay Managing editor fgolay@timesshamrock.com
Laura Rysz Calendar editor lrysz@timesshamrock.com
Kristin O’Malley Assistant managing editor komalley@timesshamrock.com
Patrice Wilding In Times of Need, Chef’s Table pwilding@timesshamrock.com
Eric Toffey Webmaster etoffey@timesshamrock.com
Gia Mazur Hey, Beautiful, Local Flavor gmazur@timesshamrock.com Brian Fulton Pages from the Past bfulton@timesshamrock.com
follow us @AccessNEPA
Historically Hip: Pages from the Past, featuring Time Warp, This Day in History and other local history stories Sports & Outdoors: Penn State, High School Sports, Varsity Voice, Trail Mix, Outdoors, Penguins Insider and RailRiders NEPA People: Up Close & Personal and other profiles Opinion & Advice: Cheeky Chick, Pets, Sounds and Advice Goddess
While you’re here, check out our multimedia section to listen to our podcasts, view photo galleries, watch videos on our YouTube channel and read InSites, our column reviewing websites and apps. If you want to read about food, drink, music, sports and more, Access NEPA is the place to be.
Email: accessnepa@timesshamrock.com Phone: 570-348-9127
CONTRIBUTORS Kevin O’Neill InSites koneill@timesshamrock.com
Kent Jackson Outdoors kjackson@standardspeaker.com
Kelcie Hromisin Live Fit kelciehromisin@gmail.com
Mike Evans Sounds mevans@shamrocknepa.com
Matt Dantone Live Fit matthew.dantone@gmail.com Dave Falchek Empty Bottles dfalchek@gmail.com Emma Black Up Close & Personal, Photo eblack@timesshamrock.com
As we say goodbye to Electric City, we build on its decades of success as NEPA’s foremost entertainment publication and transform it into a modern, user-focused website that showcases not only news but also helps readers unlock their world.
James Crane Liquid crane.james@ymail.com
CAITLIN HEANEY WEST is the content editor for Access NEPA. Reach her at cwest@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9100 x5107 or @cheaneywest on Twitter.
Chad Sebring Trail Mix csebring@timesshamrock.com
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Paul Ross Advertising director pross@timesshamrock.com
Joe Baress Take 2 jbaress@timesshamrock.com
Joby Fawcett High School Sports jbfawcett@timesshamrock.com Eric Shultz Varsity Voice eshultz@citizensvoice.com Donnie Collins Penn State dcollins@timesshamrock.com Conor Foley RailRiders cfoley@timesshamrock.com Tyler Piccotti Penguins Hockey tpiccotti@citizensvoice.com Kennedy Cheeky Chick tharrison@shamrocknepa.com Judy Endo Pets judyendo@outlook.com
your key to early access
The home page greets users with the latest featured story.
EARLY Access Here at the Early Access blog, Caitlin Heaney West and staffers will share the latest entertainment, restaurant and celebrity news plus feature updates. Find out what’s going on, who’s doing it and where it’s happening in NEPA by clicking on Early Access every day. Caitlin, who oversees the Early Access blog, is the content editor for Access NEPA in addition to working as a copy editor and staff writer for The Times-Tribune. An award-winning journalist, she is a summa cum laude graduate of Shippensburg University, where she studied journalism and English, and also earned a master’s degree in communication arts from Marywood University. Caitlin joined the Times-Shamrock family in 2009 and lives in Scranton with her family.
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your key to what’s happening
Our comprehensive calendar lets users from across Northeast Pennsylvania and beyond find thousands of events around the region. The location-specific searchable calendar lets users set parameters for how far out they want to search to find activities and events, or they can search for an event by date or keyword. Users then can further narrow down their results with several filters.
Searching by artist name is one of many ways users can find events happening in NEPA.
Search results show the date, time, location and price of an event, but users also can click on “Find out more” to bring up added details.
Event details include a map to the venue as well as other essential information.
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your key to food, drinks, health & beauty CHEF'S TABLE: Go behind kitchen doors with Patrice Wilding as she explores area restaurants and learns more about the unique cuisine and personal stories found in NEPA's eateries. Patrice is an award-winning staffer who has been with the Lifestyles department of The Times-Tribune for 13 years. She lives in Clarks Summit with her husband, Justin, and their son, Johnny. LOCAL FLAVOR: Discover some of the best recipes in the region as locals share their special dishes with Gia Mazur, an award-winning staff writer who joined The Times-Tribune’s Lifestyles department in 2015. EMPTY BOTTLES: Share a toast with David Falchek, executive director of the American Wine Society, as he reviews wines each week. LIQUID: James Crane drinks beer and gets super into sword and sorcery fantasy books. Liquid is devoted to the review of beer, ale and lager alike. “I drink the beer so you don't have to, though I suggest you do,” says James. You can find the other things he does at CrumblingKeep.com.
HEY, BEAUTIFUL: Gia Mazur is a product enthusiast who can’t live without an eyelash curler. Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Lipstick in Pillow Talk is her go-to product. Find out more tips on her blog. LIVE FIT: Kelcie Hromisin and Matthew Dantone, dedicated fitness experts and personal trainers at Danko's Gym in Plains Twp., are determined to help make NEPA residents healthier and more fit. Their blog updates each Wednesday. Send your question to kelciehromisin@gmail.com or matthew.dantone@ gmail.com, and it may be featured in an upcoming blog post.
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your key to movies, TV, the past and helping others Take 2: Rebecca Kivak and Joe Baress team up to write the Take 2 blog, giving two perspectives on the same film. Together, they go beyond reviews with trailer reactions, actor and character analyses, and much more. Rebecca Kivak started her career with Times-Shamrock newspapers in 2005 and has won several professional journalism awards for page design and headline writing. She also covers NASCAR races from Pocono Raceway. In The Times-Tribune sports department, Joe is the high school wrestling beat writer in addition to covering high school football and designing pages.
Pages from the Past: Brian Fulton has been the librarian at The Times-Tribune for the past 13 years. On his blog, Pages from the Past, he writes about the great concerts, plays/musicals and celebrity happenings that have taken place throughout NEPA in “Time Warp.” He also authors “This Day in History.” He once won a chili cook-off with a kielbasa and three pepper chili, and he competed and was crowned grand champion on an episode of NPR quiz show “Ask Me Another.”
IN TIMES OF NEED: In times of need, Northeast Pennsylvania comes to the aid of its own. In this regular feature, staff writer Patrice Wilding provides a platform for area residents facing a variety of obstacles to create awareness and connect them with much-needed help. TALK OF THE TIMES: Whether it’s a 5K to benefit a local nonprofit or a fundraiser to support a cause, Laura Rysz gets the details from organizers in Talk of the Times. Laura, who earned an English degree from King’s College, WilkesBarre, is a features copy editor and the calendar editor at The Times-Tribune. 6 ACCESSNEPA
your key to profiles, sports & outdoors
UP CLOSE & PERSONAL: Emma Black, an Abington Heights High School and University of Scranton graduate and staffer for Times-Shamrock Communications since 2016, gets Up Close & Personal with people from across NEPA who have a unique skill, craft, talent or trade.
TRAIL MIX: Take a hike or just read about it with Chad Sebring, the news editor at The Times-Tribune who has been a journalist for roughly 20 years. The award-winning editor and photographer lives in Clarks Summit with his beautiful and often smart-mouthed daughter, Sophie. OUTDOORS: Kent Jackson takes a walk on the wild side and blogs about outdoor recreation and the environment. HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS: The blog offers deeper insights, statistical and historical information, and polls in addition to featuring photos, videos and graphics. Joby Fawcett, an award-winning sportswriter at The Times-Tribune, has covered high school sports for 22 years. Other sportswriters from across the region also will contribute to the blog. VARSITY VOICE: Eric Shultz, a Penn State University graduate, is a national award-winning sports writer who has worked for the Citizens' Voice and the Hazleton Standard-Speaker. PENN STATE: Donnie Collins has been a member of The Times-Tribune sports staff for nearly 20 years and has been the Penn State football beat writer for TimesShamrock newspapers since 2004. The Penn State football blog covers Nittany Lions, Big Ten and big-time college football news from Beaver Stadium to the practice field, the bowl game to National Letter of Intent Signing Day. RAILRIDERS: Conor Foley goes beyond the box score with in-depth coverage of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. He has worked at The Times-Tribune since graduating from University of Scranton in 2011, and he has covered the RailRiders since 2017. PENGUINS INSIDER: Tyler Piccotti has covered the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for Times-Shamrock newspapers since 2017. In the Penguins Insider blog, the 2015 graduate of Syracuse University provides a look at NEPA’s only professional hockey team, sharing analysis and insights that go beyond the game sheet. ACCESSNEPA 7
your key to opinion and advice columns, plus photos, videos & podcasts
CHEEKY CHICK: Kennedy has worked in radio for most of her life and has been fortunate enough to air all over the world. The Times-Shamrock staffer moved to NEPA from beautiful Hawaii for family and doesn’t regret it for a second, because it’s been one adventure after another. Cheeky Chick is about being her — every flaw, mistake, silly story, heartbreak, hope, love and all the wonderful things life brings. It’s about laughing at yourself and loving exactly who you are. PETS: Judy Endo is the author of Paws-itive Pet Tales. A longtime resident of the Wilkes-Barre area, she has been a professional dog trainer/competitor as well as a lifetime animal lover and strong supporter of animal rescue. INSITES: Kevin O’Neill, an award-winning artist for The Times-Tribune since June 1993, creates illustrations and infographics and designs pages for the paper’s print and electronic publications. He writes and illustrates InSites, a weekly column about websites and apps. SOUNDS: Mike Evans is a super cool radio guy who doesn’t mess around when it comes to reviewing music.
Look for complete bios of all our bloggers and content contributors at
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Multimedia includes: Photos of people out and about in NEPA. Videos of interviews, features and events from our staff. Podcasts with conversations or details about upcoming events, self-help, trending subjects and people.
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