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Opinion

Our opinion: Property reassessment hits home stretch

Our Opinion

What seems like years of debate and discussion over a countywide property reassessment is finally entering its final days with the announcement of public meetings throughout the county starting today. Following today’s meeting in Columbus, there will be meetings next week at 6 p.m. Monday in Sheffield, 6 p.m. Wednesday in Youngsville and 6 p.m. Thursday in Warren. Each will last about two hours and include presentations from county officials and Vision Government Solutions to explain how the reassessment was conducted and what the potential result of the reassessment could be on ...

Rounding Third: Movies supply magic in everyday life

Local Commentaries

We watched the 97th Academy Awards show on Sunday. Well, let’s say that I watched it and Dear Richard tolerated it. We’ve only been married for 12 years, and he didn’t realize early on that he had joined a family of dedicated film buffs. Whether you call it film, movies, or cinema, we are three generations who enjoy good flicks. It started early for me. As a kid, I went every Saturday afternoon. For years. It was so long ago that the ticket price was 12 cents! Candy bars were a nickel and both popcorn and those boxes of Good and Plenty, or Milk Duds were 10 cents. Back then I ...

Our opinion: Another development effort

Our Opinion

City officials are ready to take another swing at redeveloping 231-237 Pennsylvania Ave. We hope the process is smoother this time around, because no one needs the acrimony that ended up derailing the development formerly known as the Hudson Project. After early approval by the City Council opposition grew over time to the point that the developers finally chose to end the project rather than fight a growing movement against their project. One thing should be obvious. Low-income senior housing on the site is probably not going to be the future of this downtown parcel. Knowing that ...

Our opinion: Some help for school transport

Our Opinion

Warren County School District officials are on the hot seat when it comes to the amount of time children will spend on school buses next year. Transportation is one of the most persistent questions about the closure of the Youngsville and Sheffield high school buildings that has been raised in school board meetings for nearly a year. Parents aren’t wrong to have questions. Busing children to and from school, particularly young children, affects the entire family in one way or another. As we’ve said in the past, concerns about transportation are a hurdle, not an insurmountable ...

Our opinion: Equitable solution to lawsuit

Our Opinion

Warren officials have reached what appears to be an equitable solution with a developer who wants to pursue oil and gas drilling on a parcel that includes what is now a Days Inn on Ludlow Street. The parcel was formerly zoned commercial except for two-tenths of an acre that was zoned for industrial use until 2024, when new zoning maps were created. At that time, the two-tenths of an acre on the hotel property was rezoned commercial - but the new zoning maps didn’t reflect the change. So when John Branch decided he wanted to pursue oil and gas drilling, he was under the impression ...

Readers Speak

Letters To Editor

Indifference to damage Dear Editor, This is an open letter to Congress: I am writing this letter to express my deep concerns over what is currently happening in Washington, especially in terms of President Donald Trump’s shameless overriding of the Constitution by freezing needed funds and slashing and dismantling needed agencies authorized by Congress, which is meekly standing aside, falling in line, and allowing him to do this. Real people here in Pennsylvania and across the nation are being hurt by these actions, and real damage is being done in countless areas — agriculture, ...