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Opinion

Hidden inflation drives up state costs

Local Commentaries

When most people think about inflation, they think about groceries, gasoline, housing, or electricity. But another form of inflation is quietly making Pennsylvania more expensive, and most people have never heard of it. It does not happen at the grocery store. It happens in the courtroom. A major new academic study by researchers from Georgia State University and Brighthouse Financial has confirmed that lawsuit costs are increasing faster than normal inflation and that the biggest reason is rapidly growing jury verdicts. The researchers analyzed more than 74,000 jury verdicts and ...

District 65 race all about representation

Local Commentaries

There is an election coming in November that I believe deserves more attention than it is getting. U.S. Rep. Kathy Rapp has represented Pennsylvania's 65th Legislative District for many years, and Destiny Howard is challenging her for the seat. District 65 isn't some distant political district on a map. It is Warren County, Forest County and part of Crawford County. The person we elect will go to Harrisburg and make decisions that affect our hospitals, our families, our communities and our individual freedoms. That is why I have been looking more closely at the differences between ...

Readers' Speak

Letters To Editor

Something is unfair Dear Editor, Fair week. Always fun. And always well done. Those people work hard. Was attendance down? Friday night was busy. Saturday was not bad. Not sure, but I can’t remember getting my hot sausage sandwich without having to wait in line, but this week I never did. And I ate four of them. And I only waited in line once for an ice cream cone — and I ate four of them too. I visited several booths. Sales were down. One business exhibiting at the fair said that they had $287,000 in business last year. This year they are on pace to do only ...

Other voices: Streamline FDA’s cumbersome regulatory process

Our Opinion

Good news strikes from an unlikely source. On Thursday the Food and Drug Administration approved Replimune’s immunotherapy for metastatic melanoma, a day after it green-lighted mFlusiva, Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine. The shame is that both might have been available sooner but for regulatory delays, which hurt both patients and American innovation. Replimune has been working on its RP1 immunotherapy for a decade but got caught in the FDA cross-hairs at the last stretch. FDA review staff recommended approval after its late-stage trial showed that a third of patients whose disease had ...

Don’t mourn the falling SNAP rolls in nation

Local Commentaries

When Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) last summer, more than 42 million, or one in eight, Americans were on the food stamp program. Since then, that number has fallen by 5 million. Is this trend “incredibly alarming” and “unconscionable,” as Democratic lawmakers have claimed? Only if you assume that fewer people receiving food stamps is inherently a bad thing. Much of SNAP’s enrollment decline reflects states unwinding pandemic-era waivers and eligibility rules that kept caseloads elevated. It can also mean that people capable of work are finding jobs, or ...

Our opinion: Tough choices with lower enrollments

Our Opinion

Last month, the numbers were not promising. With classes starting on Tuesday for the Warren County School District, kindergarten enrollment seemed a bit disappointing. As of the July meeting, the district had about 150 kindergarten students registered. Enrollment by school included: -- Warren Area Elementary Center, 71 students. -- Eisenhower Elementary, 43 students. -- Sheffield Elementary, 21 students. -- Youngsville Elementary Middle School, 19 students. Administrators, at the time, noted the figures do not include every family currently in the registration process. ...