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Our opinion: Repeal Sunday hunting ban

Our Opinion

The only ones who should be unhappy if the state ends its prohibition on Sunday hunting are deer. The state Legislature recently passed House Bill 1431 - a measure that was far more contentious than it really should have been. Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office said in a news release Monday said he will sign the bill soon. It makes sense. The ban on Sunday hunting may have made sense decades ago, but it makes little sense now. Sunday has long been viewed as a day of rest - and state Rep. Robert Leadbeter, R-Catawissa, said that the institution of Sunday hunting would create “another ...

Rounding Third: Being bitten by travel bug

Local Commentaries

Of all the bugs I’ve known – from ants to aphids, from fleas to fruit flies – I like my travel bug the best. I was bitten early. After college, when I absolutely couldn’t decide what I wanted to do with my life, I embraced my travel bug and became a stewardess. It was the perfect solution. I realize how lucky I was to see a lot of this country and many other parts of the world. I never took it for granted. Recently, I was talking to a well-traveled friend about this, sharing some old experiences. We agreed that it’s truly the people you meet that make travel worthwhile, ...

Our opinion: State must resist more spending

Our Opinion

In a perfect world — or even just a better world — Pennsylvania’s state budget would be both completed on time and would be a plan in which Pennsylvania’s taxpayers could place their faith. We unfortunately do not live in that perfect world, and yet again our state budget has missed its deadline. We appreciate that Williamsport’s legislator, state Rep. Jamie Flick, R-South Williamsport, is declining his paychecks until the matter is resolved. Flick’s choice is an excellent example of leading by example. However, when contemplating our state budget, we do not want to ...

Our opinion: Restoring boat launch is a win-win

Our Opinion

For years the area behind the Dairy Delite at Routes 6 and 59 has been used to launch kayaks and canoes into Brown Run, which provides easy access to the Allegheny River. But over the years the streambank had eroded, making it more difficult to use the area as a launch site. That problem has been corrected thanks to the Warren County Conservation District and the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy - with a lot of help from Mark Keyes, who purchased Dairy Delite in 2020. It was a match made in kayaking heaven. Access to state funding and the expertise of the Warren County Conservation ...

Our opinion: Future now for consolidation

Our Opinion

Now that a judge has ruled the Warren County School District acted legally when it closed the Youngsville and Sheffield high schools, it’s time to stop looking toward the past and start looking toward the future. The judge’s decision should be more than a legal formality that concludes a case on a judicial docket. It needs to be the end of the debate over whether or not to close Sheffield and Youngsville and the start of a public realization that the Warren County School District is changing - and now is the time to make sure those changes work as well as possible for the students ...

View from Hickory Heights: A favorite patriotic song

Local Commentaries

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance.” Psalm 33:12 One of my favorite patriotic songs is “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.” Years ago, when I was in grade school, we had a program of all patriotic songs ranging through the wars at that time. We loved to sing those old songs. My neighbor and girlfriend got to be the Statue of Liberty. Since I was the narrator, I got to stand by her in front of the American flag as we sang. I think we also read the poem by Emma Lazarus that is on the Statue of Liberty. I remember that ...