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Our Opinion

Other voices: U.S. policies hurt Main Street

If financial conditions are restrictive, Wall Street sure hasn’t noticed. Stock indexes hit fresh records this week, and speculative meme stocks are back to mania levels. Meanwhile, smaller businesses in the non-financial economy are tightening their belts amid uncertainty over tariffs and the labor market. Trump officials like to say their policies are focused on helping Main Street, not Wall Street. “Wall Street has done very well over the past few decades, and now it is Main Street’s turn to shine,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last month. In case he hasn’t ...

Our opinion: Dedication for high standards

It’s taken 15 years for the Warren Police Department to reach premier accreditation status through the Chiefs of Police Association Accreditation Program. It’s time well spent. As retired police John Adams, coordinator of the Chiefs of Police Association Accreditation Program, noted during a recent Warren City Council meeting, the Warren Police Department reviewed the best practices for compliance, compared them to existing department policy and tweaked the city’s policies to comply with the accreditation standard. Once the standards are written in a way that comply with the ...

Our opinion: Property tax relief should not be at working Pennsylvanians’ expense

Two members of our state Senate, Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Fayetteville and Sen. Chris Gebhard, R-North Cornwall Township, have yet again introduced legislation to address property taxes assessed by school districts. The latest proposal would begin the process of amending the state Constitution to prohibit school districts from collecting property taxes. The process for amending the state Constitution would require multiple votes in the state Legislature over a period of years and then a statewide ballot referendum. As such, the proposal remains at an early enough stage that the matter ...

Our opinion: Safe exchange space worthwhile

It won’t cost the city of Warren much money to lose a couple of parking spaces in the lot behind the city municipal offices. But the spaces could make life much safer and easier for county residents. Last week the city announced the creation of safe exchange spaces in a joint effort between the City Council and Warren Police Department. The idea was brought forward by Sgt. Joe Bees of the Warren Police Department. The area is under constant surveillance, which brings an increased measure of safety to child custody exchanges that can sometimes be uncomfortable at best and a powder ...

Our opinion: Voters need to demand transparency

=Gov. Josh Shapiro is accepting donations for the repairs the state-owned governor’s mansion will need after the April arson, Spotlight PA reported recently — and his staff are dragging their feet on identifying who those donors are. The governor’s decision to resist releasing the names of donors to renovate the damaged governor’s mansion is unfortunately not surprising. Too often public servants attempt to evade the type of record-keeping essential to permitting the accountability that the checks and balances of our system are meant to ensure. As we have noted and criticized ...

Editor’s corner: E-bikes bring new cycle of challenges for motorists

Residents and communities across the region are starting to become charged up over the growing number of electric bicycles — many of which are sharing the roads on a regular basis with motorists. Though a majority of the riders are courteous and responsible, those who weave in and out of ...