EMERY HOTEL: Yvonne Cattoni of Bradford writes: “As long as you
are talking about the old Bradford, what about the Emery Hotel? My
grandmother, Ellen Monti Cattoni was a cook there for a  while and
my aunt, Dora Cattoni Davitt, was a waitress. I remember when I was
in grade school, Ray Gearing, principal of the West Branch School,
took all the patrols there for dinner in the big dining room.  It
was so beautiful.”

IN THE NEWS: A local name that pops up in the news from time to
time is Dr. Christopher D. Still, a former Bradford resident who is
director of the Center for Nutrition and Weight Management at
Geisinger Medical Center, Danville.

USA Today recently carried a story about Americans’ never-ending
battle with weight, and featured Dr. Still who, it said, “is on the
cutting edge in the treatment of obesity.”

Dr. Still encourages his patients to aim for a modest weight
loss by making simple changes such as cutting out fruit juices and
other high-calorie beverages and walking in five- to 10-minute
increments several times a day. He also recommends patients keep
food journals.

He believes primary-care doctors could make great strides in
helping patients lose by inviting them to come into the office
every week to be weighed and not charging them for this visit.
That, he told the newspaper, helps keep them accountable.

Dr. Still’s proud mother, Zenaide, who lives in Bradford, tells
us he was named in the top 5 percent of doctors in the United
States for 2009-2010 by Best Doctors Inc. The results were compiled
from more than 40,000 confidential surveys of U.S. doctors who were
asked, “If you or a loved one needed a doctor in your specialty, to
whom would you refer?”

CALL 511: When you’re traveling, particularly in the winter
months, you might want to keep in mind a new statewide tourism and
travel service that is available from your cell phone. The 511
number provides free, automated, on-demand access to pertinent
traveler information, including traffic conditions, roadway
incident reports, traffic delay warnings, construction updates,
weather forecasts, winter road conditions, tourism and special
events data. You can also access the information online at www.511pa.com.