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Our opinion: State needs option for rural hospitals

Let us say up front that we hope the day never comes when Warren General Hospital leadership would need to consider a transition to becoming a Rural Emergency Hospital. Such a move would say a lot about efforts to reverse our region’s longtime trend of population loss and struggles to secure high enough reimbursement rates from the federal government. Pennsylvania currently has no Rural Emergency Hospitals, with legislation introduced recently by Sen. Lisa Baker creating a new state license category for Rural Emergency Hospitals. The designation would allow a Critical Access ...

Our opinion: Voters have options for Election Day

How did the first Tuesday of November become the traditional Election Day? According to a Campaign Legal Center online article from 2021, Congress in 1845 selected the most convenient day to hold a vote for the greatest number of voters at the time -- farmers. Saturdays and Sundays were religious days and Wednesdays were market days. Since farmers may have needed Monday to travel to a polling location, the first Tuesday after the fall harvest proved to be the most convenient day for most voters. Now, in many states across the nation, early voting is offered. It allows those ...

Our opinion: Loss of skill games is a legislative failure

We’ve beaten this topic like a drum in recent weeks, but we don’t feel bad for state legislators whose hail mary attempt to keep skill games operating throughout the state was batted down by the state Supreme Court. State lawmakers had more than enough time to drive skill game legislation into the end zone before today’s court-imposed deadline to come up with regulations that comply with a June decision declaring the skill games as casino gaming that should be regulated and taxed by the state. Not only could the legislature not get on the same page to get the regulations ...

Our opinion: Lawmakers stumble on e-bike regulations

The Pennsylvania General Assembly, too often slow to react and slow to act, is again living up to that dubious, unflattering reputation, this time regarding e-bikes and e-scooters. Rather than already having properly addressed those topics with the best interests of the Keystone State and its residents in mind, the General Assembly continues to stumble along as the injury, death and damage totals tied to the bikes and scooters escalate. But, hey, as a CapitolWire article noted recently, the legislature has delivered the message that it is racing to update the commonwealth's e-bike ...

Our opinion: Color us happy at foliage time

According to the most recent Pennsylvania Fall Foliage report, Warren County’s leaves are about to be at approaching peak colors. In its weekly report, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources says “mid-summer and September rainfall quenched drought-stressed forests across the Commonwealth, greening tree canopies that are now primed for a fantastic autumn show. Bright fall color is developing nicely, especially across the northern tier counties and along the Laurel Summit on the Allegheny Plateau. “Expected cold nights in the forecast this week will continue to ...

Our opinion: Truck donation will benefit Clarendon

It may not sound like much, but the Allegheny National Forest’s donation of a fire engine to the Cherry Grove Volunteer Fire Department is incredibly beneficial to Clarendon-area residents. The transfer, made possible through the Federal Excess Property Program, places surplus federal equipment into the hands of local emergency responders to support public safety and wildfire response. The Cherry Grove Volunteer Fire Department is one of the local departments called upon when there is a wildfire, medical incident or car accident inside the Allegheny National Forest. "This engine ...