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Veterans power U.S. economy, deserve assistance

After serving in their nation’s military, they’re now serving in America’s economy. There are nearly 8 million veterans in the U.S. workforce, and they have a lower unemployment rate than the population as a whole. Veteran-owned businesses generate $1.3 trillion in annual sales and employ approximately 4 million workers. But as Veterans Day approaches, leaders of veterans service organizations say some of the men and women behind that economic success are still struggling to find stable housing, get mental health care or translate military experience into a civilian ...

Everyday communications are maddening

For me, communications in 2026 boil down to telephone, texting, or email. I don’t do smoke signals anymore. Alas, my arthritic hands have consigned hand-written notes to the back burner. When I hand write, maybe the first line or two have some resemblance to my once clear penmanship. Then ...

Don’t believe budget claims by Shapiro

Gov. Josh Shapiro recently defended his fiscal record. During Pennsylvania’s one and only gubernatorial debate, the governor insisted that (1) he balanced the state budget, (2) Pennsylvania has an $8 billion surplus, (3) he has cut taxes, and (4) Pennsylvania is the only “growing economy ...

Winning ways at risk in U.S. elections

It appears that the Democrat party has become divided in their thoughts and actions from what they were even a generation ago. When some in the party use Socialist in the title, one realizes their thinking has significantly changed their beliefs; the values this country has espoused for centuries are now falling by the wayside. Cal Thomas’s article in the Times Observer on July 1, read: “As the saying goes ‘This is not your grandparents Democrat Party.’ It has clearly gone off the rails.” The article lists several examples of radicalism that are surging through the country, ...

County’s rep choice offers same — or different — path

In this upcoming election, Warren County, the primary home of the State House’s 65th District, voters actually have a choice. Maybe it’s time they take that choice seriously and try something other than unfettered Republican domination and essentially a local one-party state. After all, on Republican’s watch, Warren County has been gifted a continually hemorrhaging population, and a rapidly declining business and services base. At the beginning of Kathy Rapp’s 22 long, predominantly unproductive, years in the State House we’ve seen a reduction of population from 44,400 to ...

Spooktime means three weeks in candyland

I’ve been a Milky Way girl since I was five.With Halloween just around the corner, I have a mini-excuse for having my forbidden goodies in the house. The other 51 weeks a year, I can’t risk even bringing them onto the property – the temptation is too strong, In my hometown, a little ...