The LuLac Edition #2562, November 17th, 2013

DOHERTY’S PARTING GIFT

Scranton's outgoing Mayor Chris Doherty. (Photo: Times Tribune). 

After three terms as Mayor, Chris Doherty is giving his citizens a parting gift. A tax hike of over 40%. Doherty says it is the only way to get Scranton a financial footing. Ironic that he is saying this on his way out the door. But the higher offices seem to be occupied and unavailable so there is no need to pretend that things can be rosy in the Electric City. Whether Doherty gets this tax increase through will be interesting to watch. If by chance he does, the increase will at least give incoming Mayor Bill Courtright something to work with. Doherty has done decent work in his three terms. His city is attractive, crime is not as violent as it is in surrounding cities, and he has done some things to refurbish the image of Scranton. But maybe his best gift is this tax increase. It might give the city a fighting chance to get on an even keel and get itself out of debt. Somewhat. Let’s hope Courtright will implement whatever increase comes with more prudent administrative staffing

Our 1963 logo.

1963

In the first few weeks of November, these were the big events going on in the month of November. 

 South Vietnamese coup: Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem, the South Vietnamese President.............Coup leader General Dương Văn Minh takes over as leader of South Vietnam.....Malcolm X makes an historic speech in Detroit, Michigan: Message to the Grass Roots.................The first push-button telephone is made available to AT&T customers..........in Pennsylvania, the 100th anniversary of the Gettysburg address is commemorated. President Kennedy was invited by Governor Bill Scranton at the start of the year but declined. Kennedy traveled to Texas instead a few days later on a political trip...... In Luzerne County, test bore holes are drilled to see if a new roadway can be developed linking a bridge over the Susquehanna river, over to Kingston and then connecting to the Harvey’s Lake highway. Representative Fred Shupnik made that announcement and that project would later be called the Cross Valley Expressway...and 50 years ago this week the number one song in LuLac land and America was Dominique by The Singing Nun. Born Jeanine Deckers, she shot to fame with an album recorded in 1961. She left the convent in 1966, became critical of the Catholic Church, tried to pursue a musical career and worked as a Dominican lay person for a while. She encountered tax difficulties and emotional problems and committed suicide in 1985  at the age of 51.