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Opinion

Our opinion: Our lawmakers need to act on games

Our Opinion

While we cannot pretend to know the exact details of the compromise the state Legislature needs to reach, we know the state Supreme Court's decision on skills games places undeserved stress on civic organizations -- including fire companies and veterans organizations -- across the state. Many such organizations have come to depend on revenue from the electronic gaming terminals. These organizations use that revenue in ways that help neighborhoods and communities across our region and beyond. Some of the leaders of these organizations recently spoke out about the deadline at a rally ...

Our opinion: Lawmakers turning lobbyist a valid concern

Our Opinion

As Pennsylvanians, we believe our state government owes the public certain assurances -- that their interests are carefully contemplated, that the state's government is responsive to their needs and that officials and authorities treat them as equal constituents in determining what changes in approach or direction the state should undertake. A Spotlight PA article recently noted that dozens of former lawmakers have registered as lobbyists in Harrisburg. Critics of the practice, the article notes, say it incentivizes lawmakers to ingratiate themselves with the industries and interests ...

Editor’s corner: On devastating day, news was center stage

Our Opinion

Headlines and heartache filled this week exactly 25 years ago. Across the nation, stunned residents gathered in front of televisions or turned on radios for minute-by-minute updates on the horrors happening in our homeland. Another large segment of the population turned to newspapers — ...

Self-inflicted wound state can still avoid

Local Commentaries

How do you intentionally cut the income of tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians? By undermining an industry that’s become essential to local businesses, veterans’ organizations, fraternal clubs and small businesses across the commonwealth. For nearly two decades, skill games have been part of Pennsylvania’s local fabric. They help keep neighborhood establishments open, support VFWs and American Legions, fund volunteer fire companies and provide a financial lifeline for organizations and social clubs. In all, thousands of Pennsylvanians rely on the supplemental income from these ...

Readers' Speak

Letters To Editor

Forgotten lessons Dear Editor, Roald Dahl wrote about Measles: "Olivia, my eldest daughter, caught measles when she was seven years old. As the illness took its usual course I can remember reading to her often in bed and not feeling particularly alarmed about it. Then one morning, when she was well on the road to recovery, I was sitting on her bed showing her how to fashion little animals out of colored pipe-cleaners, and when it came to her turn to make one herself, I noticed that her fingers and her mind were not working together and she couldn’t do anything. “ 'Are you ...

Even in dispute, Canada is our neighbor

Local Commentaries

I grew up in Port Huron, Mich., along the St. Clair River. Some of my earliest memories are of looking across that river at Canada. It never felt like a foreign country to me. It was simply our neighbor. As children we would stand along the river and wave to people on the other side, and sometimes they would wave back. My family even had Canadians in it. That was just part of life. I learned at a very young age that a border could separate two countries without separating people. Those memories have come back to me in recent months, and honestly, they make my heart ache. I am ...