Three regional businesses and a tourism coalition have won international "Golden Web Awards for 2002-2003," for their Web sites by the International Association of Web Masters and Designers. The honorees are: Danny's Drive-In Inc., Ashland (www.dannysdrivein.com), which features a "splash" of the past with spinning records and "oldies" songs; Ernie's Photography of Frackville (www.erniesphoto.com which features an online portrait gallery of the work in which its owners, Cindy and Bill Turner, specialize; Good-Will Christian Bookstore, (www.goodwillchristianbookstore.com) downtown Pottsville, has a Web site that allows its owners to reach clients all over the world, seven days a week, 24 hours a day. The site features a "Top 40" listing of music and a "Top 12" listing of books available in the store which are updated monthly; the Black Diamonds Web site, designed and maintained for the Black Diamonds Coalition (www.pacoalhistory.com) promotes the anthracite coal region and features interactive driving tours for visitors to view and help plan road trips to the area. Historical information on labor and industry, the Molly Maguires, transportation and more is detailed. The four winning Web sites were designed and are maintained by Schuyl Inc, (www.schuyl.com) Pottsville.

The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce announced the presentation of 25 "Pride and Progress" awards for 2002, which were made at the annual chamber joint boards luncheon in the categories exterior renovations to an existing building, interior design, new building construction, landscape and site design, and community pride. Exterior renovations to an existing building award recipients are Andrew Brown's Drug Store, Scranton; Community Central Energy Corporation, steam production plant, Scranton; King's College, Sheehy Farmer Campus Center, Wilkes-Barre, and Linda Lee Hair Salon, Scranton. Interior design award recipients are Allied Services, corporate services center, Scranton; Grange National Bank, Scranton office; Lackawanna College student dormitory project, Scranton; Lackawanna County Jefferson Avenue annex building, Scranton; Sanderson Place, Scranton; Scranton Primary Health Care Center, the Ed Dulworth Dental Center, Scranton, and Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel, Trax Perfectly Cosmopolitan, Scranton. New building construction award recipients include Community Bank and Trust, Scranton; Hematology and Oncology, Dunmore; Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, South Abington Township; Lynch's Plaza 222, Chinchilla; PG Energy's northern operation, Archbald, and Marywood University, Keith J. O'Neill Center for Healthy Families, Scranton. The landscape and site design award recipients are Penn State Worthington Scranton, Nittany Lion sculpture garden, Dunmore; SpringSide Assisted Living Residence, South Abington Township, and University of Scranton campus lighting, Scranton. Community pride award recipients are 1905 Laurel Line Tunnel Open to Rail Traffic; Catlin House educational gardens, Scranton; Everhart Museum "party in the park"; Northeast Regional Cancer Institute, Cancer Survivors Park, McDade Park, Scranton, and Penn Security Bank, centennial anniversary facade lighting. To be eligible for a Pride and Progress Award, the facility must be located within the chamber's service area. The structure must be a commercial or public building, and must have been renovated, constructed, or landscaped within the last two years. Construction or renovation of private residences is ineligible. The Pride and Progress awards program was established in 1975 to recognize Lackawanna County's public and private sector operations for upgrading area establishments, improving the appearance of their respective neighborhoods, and beautifying the region.

GUARD Insurance Group, a workers' compensation specialist based in Wilkes-Barre, and its subsidiaries-AmGUARD, EastGUARD, and NorGUARD-received an A.M. Best rating upgrade to A- (excellent) with a "stable outlook" in December of 2002. In developing the rationale for GUARD's rating upgrade, A.M. Best cites, the group's strong capitalization and historically profitable operating performance as well as the improving workers' compensation marketplace. Other considerations mentioned include GUARD's strong, local market presence, well-managed network of producers, gradual expansion into new territories, pre-tax operating results that continue to outperform the industry for workers' compensation coverage, and conservative business principles. GUARD Insurance Group is licensed in 26 states and the District of Columbia to write workers' compensation coverage and provide accompanying services.

Integra Business Center, Wilkes-Barre was named HP/Compaq's 2002 "Most Valuable Player" for the North Atlantic region. The distinction identifies Integra as the top provider of HP/Compaq hardware service and repair for the entire northeastern region. This recognition is in addition to Integra's performance in the top 10 percent of all HP/Compaq dealers for 2002.

Linda Rondinella, Kingston Senior Center director, was presented a citation from the House of Representatives by Rep. Phyllis Mundy and was selected as a finalist in the "Governor's Silver and Gold Awards 2002." Rondinella developed an innovative program that used local trails to involve seniors in exercise. The program was a success locally and will serve as a model for other communities across the commonwealth.

A CD-ROM used in student-recruitment efforts has earned Pennsylvania College of Technology a prestigious "Award of Distinction" in the "Communicator Awards," an international competition honoring excellence in visual communications. The college won the award in the "multi-media/interactive CD-ROM" category for its "degrees that work" marketing tool for prospective students. The "Award of Distinction" is presented to entries that exceed industry standards in quality and excellence. About 18 percent of the entries won the award. The "Communicator Awards" program was founded by industry professionals to recognize excellence in the communications field. Work is judged solely on its quality, creativity and resourcefulness. Entries are judged against a high standard of excellence, rather than against one another.

Anita L. Wagner of Muncy and William R. Miller of South Williamsport were awarded the "Alumni Citizenship/Humanitarian Awards" at Pennsylvania College of Technology's commencement ceremonies in December at the Community Arts Center in Williamsport. The award promotes the responsibility of graduates to participate in their communities through volunteerism and recognizes alumni who have provided distinguished community or volunteer service. Wagner, who received an associate's degree in nursing from Penn College in 1995, is pursuing a bachelor's degree in nursing from the college and is a registered nurse who also holds the legal nurse consulting certification. Miller graduated from the Penn College predecessor institution Williamsport Area Community College in 1970 with an associate's degree in forest technology. Since 1980, he has been employed as a line clearance inspector for PPL Electric Utilities. Previously, Miller was the city forester for the City of Williamsport from 1972-79. From 1970-72, he was in the Army, serving with the military police in the Republic of Korea. Miller was elected mayor of South Williamsport Borough in November 2001, taking office in January. The college also presents Distinguished Alumnus/Alumna and Alumnus/Alumna Achievement awards at its May Commencement exercises. For more information about alumni news and events, visit www.pct.edu/alumni/.

Two Tobyhanna Army Depot programs won recognition at the 24th annual Pocono Northeast Development Fund's community awards program recently. The depot's "ladder program," a career development program for deaf and hard-of-hearing employees, won first place in the human services category, while the depot's mass transportation fringe benefit program took second place in the environmental action category. Also, employees of Tobyhanna Army Depot were recognized recently for devoting 30 years to the federal government at a length of services award ceremony. Depot Commander Colonel Patricia E. McQuistion presented awards to John Ross, an electronics mechanic supervisor in the Surveillance Systems Directorate; Eric Lassiter, an electronics mechanic supervisor in the Communications Security and Tactile Missile Systems Directorate; Allen Oppelt, a general equipment mechanic leader in the Production Support Services Directorate; William Freeman, an electronics measurement equipment mechanic supervisor in the Test Measurement and Diagnostic Equipment Support Center, and John Tolerico, an electronics mechanic in the Satellite Communications Systems Directorate. In addition to a service certificate and pin, each received a framed American flag that was flown over the Capitol building and then over the depot on their service anniversary dates. Tobyhanna hosts a monthly length of service awards ceremony to honor employees meeting career milestones. Those who attend also receive four hours of leave to celebrate the occasion with family and friends.

A team from the University of Scranton earned eighth place out of 140 teams in the annual ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) Mid-Atlantic regional collegiate programming contest. The contest involved students from universities in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States, including Duke, Virginia Tech, University of Virginia, Johns Hopkins, Temple, Drexel, Villanova and many others. The eighth place University of Scranton team consisted of Jonathan Yazinski, a senior math/physics major from Moosic; David Mattingly, Scranton, a senior computer science major, and Patrick Joyce, Clarks Summit, a sophomore computer science major. A second team from the University of Scranton finished 89th in the competition. Team members included Dan Swimm, Chicago, Ill., a senior, and juniors Gerard Dombroski, Scranton, and Daniel Lodini, Pleasant Mount. All are computer science majors. The event fosters creativity, teamwork and innovation in building new software programs, and enables students to test their ability to perform under pressure.

"The Excellence in Housing Award" was bestowed on UpStreet Architects Inc. in recognition of its efforts to promote decent, safe and affordable housing for all Pennsylvanians at the Pennsylvania 2002 Statewide Housing Forum, Home-Heart of the American Community recently. UpStreet Architects Inc. was the only architectural firm to be thus honored. UpStreet Architects Inc., a firm specializing in the areas of housing and historic preservation, is experienced in providing design and construction observation services for housing development projects across Pennsylvania. These projects have provided housing for low income elderly and family residents in single building, townhouse, and walk up apartment construction. Its design and construction services have involved interfacing with financing agencies such as PHFA, DCA, HUD, and local housing authorities. Other Excellence in Housing Award Recipients for 2002 include Action Housing, Asociacion de Puertorriquenos en Marcha Inc., Boulevard Mortgage Company of Pennsylvania, HANDS, the Honesdale National Bank, Neighbors: a program of the Jewish Association on Aging, Pennrose Properties Inc., Project H.O.M.E., Realtors Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh, Self-Determination Housing Project, Universal Homes, and the US Dep