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Our Opinion

Our opinion: COLA hike is not enough

Warren County retirees will join about 53 million other senior citizens across America in welcoming the announced 2.8% average increase in their Social Security benefits, effective in January. The word “average” is important in this editorial because individual increases could be above or below the Social Security Administration’s announcement that the average monthly check next year will be $2,064, up $56 from this year. However, buried or absent among some of the increase announcements has been the fact that the standard Medicare Part B premium will be increasing by $21.50 a ...

Our opinion: Brown, Strickland ready to lead office

Warren County voters have already had their say once this year in the race to be the next Warren County District Attorney after Rob Greene chose not to run for re-election. Cody Brown, the county’s first assistant district attorney, received 2,356 (55.5%) of the 4,242 ballots cast by county Republicans earlier this year while Casey Strickland, the county’s second district attorney, received 1,886 votes. The pair square off again on Tuesday after Strickland secured enough write-in votes during May’s primary to earn the Democratic Party’s line on the November election ballot. ...

Our opinion: Mayoral rematch offers choice

The race for Warren mayor, again, will be between David Wortman, this time the incumbent, and Councilman Phil Gilbert, running as an independent. Gilbert’s decision to run as an independent gives city residents a choice rather than the uncontested races seen far too often throughout the county. And both men boast impressive resumes as involved and active citizens who freely give of their time to make Warren a better place. Wortman touts the city’s lack of tax increases over the past three years, efforts to implement EMS agreements with neighboring municipalities that allow the ...

Our opinion: New member walks a tightrope

We can’t say we disagree with the City Council’s decision to appoint Savannah Casey to the council to fill the time left on former councilman John Barbera’s term. Over the past several years Casey has shown herself to be a booster for the city of Warren and Warren County through her work at WCCBI. She’s been involved in downtown events and initiatives and serves on a veritable bevy of non-profit boards that seek to improve the lives of hundreds of Warren County residents. She is the definition of a community servant. But we also know Casey will have to walk a tightrope ...

Our opinion: Two earn another school board term

There is one contested race for the Warren County School District Board of Education between Mary Passinger, the board’s current vice president and a former teacher, and Misty Moore, a challenger with a background in private business. The pair recently took part in a debate in Sugar Grove hosted by the Warren County League of Women Voters that touched on a wide array of topics. Moore acquitted herself well during the forum, but in our opinion Passinger deserves another four-year term on the school board for making the decision to close the Sheffield and Youngsville high schools. ...

Our opinion: Pa. stepping up animal protections

Over the years, television has provided an accurate perspective of the problem — “affliction” sometimes might be the better descriptive word — of hoarding. We’re referring to people who have, in essence, ruined their lives, homes and also, perhaps, relationships because of having collected and having remained hellbent on continuing to collect virtual “mountains” of household and other items “too good” to throw away, sell or give away. In many of the sad and otherwise troubling situations upon which television has focused, homes had become such a repository for the ...