Breaking News

Local Commentaries

Some fun facts

“It may be well to remind the housewife that the Pure Food Laws of this nation do not guarantee the purity of food products. All they vouch for is that the food complies with the label outside.” I found this little tidbit in a book that I purchased about old-time brand-names. This book has a wealth of information in it. It is not all about food either. Women are described as having freedom in the kitchen and in the bedroom. Freedom in the kitchen is attributed to the invention of the freezer. Meals are frozen and ready to pull out and cook. The book was written at the close of ...

Rounding Third: Quick shopping trip turned out terrifying

Monday’s quick shopping trip was terrifying It was the last thing I expected when I entered Lowe’s on Monday. It was Labor Day. The Halloween displays are up, they are huge, and they stopped me in my tracks. I guess I’ve been living under a rock. Halloween has become our second biggest holiday. Only Christmas is bigger. All the trappings of spooky day have grown larger, scarier, and more expensive than I ever thought possible. What got my attention was the 4-year-old squealing at the displays. His mother watched as he pressed the buttons to operate each animatronic ...

Our opinion: A reach on an unneeded proposal

State Rep. Brad Roae wants to make it easier for Pennsylvania residents to follow election results. Roae, R-Meadville, has introduced a co-sponsorship memorandum for legislation he is drafting that would require the Pennsylvania Department of State to restore information on Election Night that tells voters how many voting precincts have reported their data. Those watching for Pennsylvania’s election returns will want to know how much of the vote has come in and from where - yet that information was removed from the state Department of State website about five years ago, according to ...

Plants facing transition as signs of fall appear

The August garden is slowly getting ready for the end of the summer season. We have lost a significant amount of sunlight over the last weeks and while we tell ourselves there is lots of summer gardening left, the truth is, Mother Nature has other ideas. The garden is in transition. The ...

Youngsville school closing too ‘disruptive’

As a resident of Eldred Township, the article outlining the school board’s planned motion to consolidate Youngsville High School into Eisenhower is concerning (Aug. 27). A direct drive to Youngsville High is 16 miles from my house, taking on average 21 minutes. Children in the area get on the bus at 7 am. Their bus ride with all stops is already just under an hour long. The trip to Eisenhower is double that mileage. How does the school board realistically expect students from the western townships to double their commute time? Out of all options, this closure seems like the ...

State takes a step with provider funds

For years, Pennsylvania’s intellectual disability and autism (ID/A) provider community has demanded real help from lawmakers to provide more resources for home and community based providers to ensure adults with ID/A and autism receive the services they need to live as independently as possible in their communities among family and friends. The provider community has also advocated for increases in reimbursement rates that would allow us to raise the wages for direct support professionals (DSPs) which will help address the shortage of DSPs across the state and pay our DSPs a living ...