(1) Days after the 1972 Agnes flood, Wilkes-Barre's Hotel Sterling sustained thousands of dollars in damages and was closed for almost sixty days.

(2) Ten years after Alex Rogers and CityVest took control of the Hotel Sterling --and burned through 7 million dollars of taxpayer money to supposedly revitalize the property-- the building is in worse shape than ever.

"Until the first blow fell, no one was convinced that Penn Station really would be demolished, or that New York would permit this monumental act of vandalism against one of the largest and finest landmarks of its age of Roman elegance...Civilization gets what it wants, is willing to pay for, and ultimately deserves.” - Excerpt from a New York Times editorial on the 1964 demolition of the original Penn Station.

According to this story by Jennifer Learn-Andes in the Times-Leader, Wilkes-Barre's Hotel Sterling may soon be a pile of rubble.

Despite being part of the River Street Historic District, (and by proxy, included in the National Register of Historic Places) the future looks rather bleak for the 113 year old downtown landmark. County Commissioner Stephen Urban told the Leader: “I believe there’s a consensus among commissioners that if we provide money to bring the property down, we then want site control.”

The project...received $1 million in federal and $3 million in state funding, officials have said. -Times-Leader

Sounds like it's already a done deal if Urban and the various factions involved are already jockeying for position. And those factions include the usual suspects that attach themselves like leeches to projects attracting federal, county or state funding.

For those playing along at home, some of the folks responsible for the ultimate fate of the Sterling --including those who are likely to profit from its demise-- include: the omniscient  Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry (and former chamber head/Greg Skrepenak crony Todd Vonderheid); booted Congressman Paul Kanjorski; Guard Insurance's Judd Shoval⁽¹⁾ and the dubious non-profit entity of dubious value known as CityVest. Of course, Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tom Leighton claimed no conflict of interest when he sold an adjacent property several years ago.

John Morgan of the Pennsylvania Progressive does a much better job then we (or the Times-Leader) could, unraveling the many wicked, wicked ways that the future of the Sterling was doomed from the start.

Check out this great photo gallery of the Hotel Sterling on Flickr.

(1) According to a 2008 investigation by the state Auditor Generals office, Shoval was "Chairman of the Board of Directors" of City Vest

http://pennsylvaniaprogressive.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/02/the_hotel_sterl_1.html#comments

http://www.timesleader.com/news/Hotel-Sterling-facing-demolition.html

UPDATE: (3/06/11) The Citizens Voice  says Cosgrove has apparently had a change of heart and will not be running for judge. Read Cosgrove's statement here.

According to Pittstonpolitics.com, Luzerne County Judge Joseph Cosgrove was collecting petition signatures at a local Republican event, a move that signals a likely election run for permanent office. Cosgrove took a bit of a holier-than-thou stance when he was appointed to fill the county judicial slot in 2009, telling the Citizens' Voice:

"I think it is very important that people know that this position is being filled by someone with no interest in running for a full term," Cosgrove said then.

Cosgrove's appointment by PA Governor Ed Rendell was expected to be a temporary position, filling the vacancy left by the ousting of "alleged" dirtbag Judge Mark Civarella.

Cosgrove's been a high-profile guy since his law school days at Notre Dame, where his extracurricular activities included dressing as an Irish stereotype and performing happy little jigs for a stadium filled with beer-sotted football fans.

(Left:) Ed "Ed" Mitchell ;(Right:) Karl "Darth Vader" Rove

According to this article in the Citizen's Voice, local political mastermind Ed "Ed" Mitchell has been playing nice with the feds...

Ed Mitchell, a political operative with decades of experience and a reputation for running bare-knuckled campaigns, has turned over volumes of records to the U.S. Attorney's Office over the past several months, a source familiar with the investigation said.

Since his salad days as Congressman Daniel Flood's poodle wrangler, Mitchell's been the go-to guy for a long list of politicos -- as well as other folks who depend on them for their livelihood.