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Our opinion: Holiday brings day for U.S. pride

Today, people of the United States, as they celebrate the 248th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, ought to be neck-deep in patriotic pride for having the opportunity to live in this nation of freedom and abundance, despite its imperfections. Of course, as everyone who pays attention to the news knows, the patriotic pride this holiday deserves won’t be close to the unanimity that this day deserves to exhibit. The divisions on many political and non-political fronts - national, state and local - will not be eroded by the meaning, history and significance of today’s ...

Our opinion: A concerning step in county

It’s not necessarily a big deal that the Warren County Commissioners are dealing with a temporary gap between tax collections and bills that are coming due. That can happen to governments at all levels. Budgets can be shifted, savings used or short-term borrowing used to close those gaps. It’s usually such a routine action that most taxpayers never know it happens. But there are a couple of things that led to the commissioners’ decision last week to institute a soft hiring freeze and commissioner approval of expenses totaling more than $500 that are noteworthy. One is ...

Our opinion: Wortman leads on tough issue

After the controversy created last year when the topic of closing school buildings in Warren County - and the ensuing turnover on the Warren County School District Board of Education - it would be understandable if some school board members didn’t want to touch the idea of school closures with a 300-foot pole. But that’s not leadership. Frankly, it is political cowardice. John Wortman has to know his push to address the school district’s budget issues by continually bringing up school closures is going to upset people. He’s doing it anyway - to the benefit of students and ...

Our opinion: Three-year bachelor’s degrees an idea worth pursuing

Higher education has taken quite a beating lately. Lawmakers have been going after administrators and faculty at high-profile institutions over Gaza protests and diversity initiatives. Students and parents are getting increasingly impatient with rising costs. Faculty are disgruntled in many places over tight budgets and a lack of job and tenure opportunities. Administrators fret about demographics that could lead to fewer and fewer students being in the shiny, state-of-the-art student centers and dormitories that have been built in recent years. Is there anybody out there happy with ...

Our opinion: Pitching in to beautify Warren

Twice last week reporter Heather Cathcart-Norris caught up crews cleaning up Warren landmarks. They weren’t paid. No one asked for coverage. Warren Koppenhafer, the owner and CEO of local business Kope Services, noticed that Soldier and Sailors Park looked dirty, so he and his crew volunteered their exterior cleaning services to the city at no cost starting at 5 a.m. on a Tuesday morning. Koppenhafer and his crew started their day at 5 a.m. and cleaned the park’s monument, gazebo, amphitheater, and walkways. Friday, city resident R. “Gene” Robillard, family friend Emily ...

Our opinion: Sales tax increases are regressive

House Rep. Michael Sturla, D-Lancaster, is proposing one of the most brazen tax shifts we’ve seen in quite a while. Sturla, with House Bill 678, wants to give counties the ability to levy a 1% sales tax, with the bill specifically targeted for counties like Warren County that don’t generate as much in property taxes as they used to because of an increase in tax-exempt properties. Of course, what Sturla doesn’t tell you is one reason so much land in Warren County is exempt from property taxes is because the state has taken it off the tax rolls. Allowing Warren County, and ...