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The Times Leader timesleader.com
WILKES-BARRE, PA
SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 2011
$1.50
URBAN REDEVELOPMENT
Local area during war: Old times not forgotten
Politics were heated; plenty of men served. By TOM MOONEY Times Leader Correspondent
B
y early spring of1861, people throughout America’s northern states knew that something very bad – a war or the dissolution of the American union – was threatening. Some, however, sensed opportunity. We are living in “perilous times,” Wilkes-Barre store owner William H. Spessing announced in an ad in the Luzerne Union newspaper. Therefore, he said, local people should rush to his Public Square emporium and stock up on everything from cloth to lard, all of which he was making available at “panic prices.” The nearby Continental Saloon took a different tack, urging men to keep calm and stop in for “the very best brands of wine, liquor and cigars.” Their wives could pass the time in a special “ice cream bar” next door. The news columns, however, contained something more ominous: Dispatches announcing that seven states of the Deep South had seceded and formed
One downtown revitalization effort flopped in 2009, but officials are trying again. By JENNIFER LEARN-ANDES jandes@timesleader.com
Above, Regimental officers get together for a group portrait in 1865. Below, a veteran visits an unknown grave about 1900. INSIDE: For additional stories, see Pages 8A and 9A. Also read Parade Magazine’s cover story on the Civil War, INSIDE
Issues still divide North, South By CHRISTOPHER SULLIVAN Associated Press
A hush fell over the crowd filling the elegant hall in downtown Richmond, Va. The vote was about to be announced, and a young staffer of the
and more parking, commissioners were told by representatives of the borough and the county RedevelopMazur ment Authority administering the project. The former PNC Bank building was purchased for $140,000, and down payments were made on two other buildings in the target area between Center and Eno streets. But the project never took off. The first and then second developer pulled out, and the state withdrew $1.255 million in gam-
Editor’s note: This is part of an occasional series examining the status of area building projects funded by public money. PLYMOUTH – The pitch for a downtown Plymouth revitalization plan was strong enough to convince Luzerne County Commissioners to allocate $350,000 at the end of 2006. The money would help buy East Main Street buildings that had to be leveled to make way for a strip mall, national pharmacy See PLYMOUTH, Page 16A
See LOCAL, Page 8A
Nature, effects of Civil War still topics of discussion across the map.
In Plymouth, no surrender on projects
Museum of the Confederacy was poised to get out the news as soon as it was official. Who would be chosen “Person of the Year, 1861”? Five historians had made impassioned nominations, and the audience would now decide. Most anywhere else, the choice would be obvious. Who but Abraham Lin-
coln? But this was a vote in the capital of the rebellion that Lincoln put down, sponsored by a museum dedicated to his adversary. How would Lincoln and his war be remembered in this place, in our time? A century and a half have passed since Lincoln’s crusade to reunify the United States. The
North and the South still split deeply on many issues, not least the conflict they still call by different names. All across the bloodstained arc where the Civil War raged, and beyond, Americans are deciding how to remember. For the next four years, we will mark the sesquiSee DIVIDE, Page 9A
State legislative staff draws fire as easy way to cut Pennsylvania employs 1 of every 11 state legislative workers in U.S., study says. By MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press
AP PHOTO
State Rep. Mike Carroll, D-Avoca, at left, and Democratic Whip Mike Hanna of Clinton County, center, are seen at the Capitol.
taxpayers do battle with bureaucrats. The truth about Pennsylvania’s 3,000-strong legislative work force can probably be found somewhere in between, but there is little doubt the reputation of the General Assembly’s staff has become tarnished in recent years. Allegations of the misuse of legislative resources for political campaigns and other illegal purposes, which have brought criminal charges against a couple dozen current or former state
HARRISBURG— It’s bloated and wasteful, generously salted with patronage hires and a publicly funded re-election system for incumbent state legislators. Or it’s an army of devoted public servants, both an underappreciated element in drafting and debating bills and the indispensible front-line troops that help See STAFF, Page 2A
Walking Main Street is a stroll down memory lane By BILL O’BOYLE boboyle@tyimesleader.com
more. The vibrancy has dimmed considerably. Many of buildings remain – just look at the top of the facades and you can see the names and dates. History abounds, but it’s a history that few remember, less care to and almost nobody wants to talk about. At the center of the town is the anchor store – Max L.
PLYMOUTH – The borough’s business district on Main Street is just a shadow of what it had been only a few decades ago. Stores upon stores lined both sides of the street in the days before the inundation caused by Tropical Storm Agnes in 1972. People walked and shopped and talked and lunched and shopped some See MAIN STREET, Page 16A
EDITOR’S NOTE THE COLUMN BY Richard L. Connor about the budget impasse published in the Views section today was written late Friday afternoon and printed Friday evening. Several hours later, just before the deadline, the members of Congress reached an agreement. An updated version of Connor’s column is on timesleader.com.
WEATHER
INSIDE
Hayleigh Zim Mostly cloudy, late day shower. High 60. Low 55. Details, Page 16C
A NEWS: Local 3A Nation & World 4A Obituaries 13A B PEOPLE: Birthdays 6B C SPORTS:Scoreboard 2C Outdoors 11C D BUSINESS: Mutuals 6D E VIEWS: Editorial 2E Forum 3E F ETC.: Puzzles 2F Travel 8F G CLASSIFIED
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