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Letters To Editor

A need to speak up Dear Editor, I wanted to share this with readers. “First They Came,” by Pastor Martin Niemoller Written after the Holocaust First they came for the Communists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the Socialists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists And I did not speak out Because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews But I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me And there was no one left To speak for me. Open ...

Adults get in way educating youth

Local Commentaries

You might remember when the situation at Beaty was so bad that it was covered on the front page of this paper. One of the teachers appeared before the school board to report a chaotic environment — bordering on lawlessness. The problem? Lack of a consistent principal. At that point, Beaty had had two, three or was it four principals that school year. Teachers and students needed support. Halfway through the next school year, a good leader applied and was appointed. You might never have thought of this, but leaders have two kinds of power. One is the power that comes from ...

Our opinion: Our nation is more than its politics

Our Opinion

On this Independence Day, America’s politicians on both sides of the political aisle ought to be thinking more about this country as a whole - what is best for this wonderful free land - than mostly about their party, their party’s agenda or the friction they might harbor and encourage against those with whom they disagree. But can they muster such a spirit of patriotism - what in a different time might seem inevitable? This year, probably not, amid the rampant divisiveness that haunts the halls of their governmental responsibilities. The nation’s founders, if they today were ...

Beneath our Norway maple, vandals and thieves

Local Commentaries

Beneath our Norway maple – felons, vandals and thieves It’s garden season. All the trees, bushes and pretty flowers in my backyard look so innocent. But I have learned – the hard way – that they are out to get me. They are a well-organized crime family, with covert agents working behind the scenes. I’m out there constantly, hoping to survive the daily threat. Let’s start with the killer weeds. They hide under the flowers until they are big enough to break through on their own. I have to bend over, like an open safety pin, to tug, twist, and yank at their stubborn ...

Our opinion: Bill undermines accountability

Our Opinion

We are concerned legislation sponsored by state Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Fayetteville, erodes our state’s commitment to transparency and accountability. “Resurrected from stalled legislative efforts in previous sessions, the bill would allow public notices to go on municipal, school district and county websites” as an alternative to newspapers, an email from the Pennsylvania Newsmedia Association warns its members. We agree with our industry’s trade association that allowing government bodies to police their own transparency lacks the independent oversight necessary for ...

Our opinion: Need new plan for orphaned wells

Our Opinion

Pennsylvania is losing ground in its efforts to cap abandoned oil and gas wells. According to a recent state legislative hearing, the state has seen 1,154 more oil and gas wells abandoned since 2020 while, over the past two and a half years, plugging only 308 abandoned wells. This comes after the state received $76 million from the federal government to speed up the process of capping abandoned wells. The 1,154 abandoned in that time represent just a fraction of the total unplugged wells across the state. Reports from the Department of Environmental Protection estimate there are up ...