Breaking News

Local Commentaries

The marauding creatures of the night

They are thieves. The bigger ones are bandits. What’s more surprising is that they are assisting our housekeeping efforts. I’m talking about the fact that we seem to be hosting a mini traffic jam on our deck in the middle of the night. They are eaters, but so far, the good kind. Two nights ago, as darkness set, Dear Richard was heading inside from our dinner on the deck. Since we had chomped down two luscious cobs of corn each, he was carrying the butter dish along with his dishes. Somehow, between the table and the living room door, he tipped the butter dish and the ...

Who’s responsible when youth aren’t vaccinated?

What is the death count under Donald Trump? We're not talking about loss of life in his war with Iran. We're not talking about natural deaths by aging or unpreventable diseases. We mean Americans who die because they refuse safe vaccines that Trump or his health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., questions or discourages. A recent occurrence of death and suffering comes from the refusal by many parents to let doctors give their newborns a vitamin K shot. Infants are naturally deficient in vitamin K, which helps prevent blood clots and internal bleeding, which can be horrific. K is a ...

State’s energy advantage should lower bills, not trap users

Energy affordability is top of mind across America, but in Northeast Pennsylvania it is especially personal. After living in the region for close to 20 years, I know that when energy costs rise, families feel it in heating bills, electric bills, groceries, travel, and nearly everything else. Pennsylvania has an advantage most states envy: abundant natural gas from the Marcellus Shale. Life would be more expensive today without it. But that advantage only matters if policy allows energy to be produced, moved, and used. In a recent letter to the Pennsylvania Senate Consumer Protection ...

A night out at the old ball game

It was my first Tarp Skunks baseball game of the year – and it was their final game of the season. Timing has not always been my strong suit. Saturday evening the Jamestown Tarp Skunks were playing the Geneva Red Wings at home in Jamestown’s Diethrick Park. The Tarp Skunks are all ...

Our northern neighbors say they want me

The first verse of the Canadian national anthem declares how Canadians feel about their country: “Oh Canada! Our proud and native land!” The world’s second-largest country geographically is keenly aware of how underpopulated she is for that size. Canada is not only allowing immigrants ...

Voters are still waiting for a vision

After years of watching our political conversations become more divided and more focused on personalities, I find myself asking a simple question: When are we going to spend less time talking about who we oppose and more time talking about what we are building? As someone who lives in Warren County, I know people are tired of the constant political fighting. They are tired of being told who to fear. They want leaders who will listen, understand their struggles, and offer real solutions. Let me be clear: accountability matters. It should not matter whether someone has a “D” or an ...