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Our Opinion

Editor’s corner: Residency trajectory in region still going south

Latest U.S. Census projections are not all bad news for Pennsylvania. In one year, the Commonwealth gained more than 14,000 residents and has increased population by 56,000 residents to 13,059,432 over the last six years. That’s a lot rosier than what’s happening next door. According to ...

Our opinion: Cursive is likely to fade away

We’re glad to see Gov. Josh Shapiro has signed legislation backed by Rep. Kathy Rapp to mandate cursive instruction in Pennsylvania schools. The commonwealth joins nearly two dozen states to require cursive instruction after many schools across the country stopped teaching cursive after ...

Our opinion: State PBM reform impacts us all

Since 2020, more than 1,000 pharmacies have closed in Pennsylvania - including three in Warren County. That means it’s harder for many in rural counties like ours to get their prescriptions filled. Customers have to drive longer distances and, at times, pay more. The mass closure crisis ...

Our opinion: Budget proposal is a fantasy

Gov. Josh Shapiro’s 2026-27 budget would spend about $53.2 billion. The proposed 2026-27 budget, like his initial proposal for the 2025-26 budget, relies on pulling deeply from reserve funding, set aside in past years by lawmakers to ensure the state was ready for future crises and on ...

Other voices: Real winners in the tariff war

For decades, politicians have sold tariffs as a tonic for the working class. In reality, one particular group seems to benefit more than any other from trade wars: Washington influence peddlers. The United States collected some $288.5 billion in tariff revenue last year, up from $98.3 billion ...

Our opinion: Putting limits on late agenda items

State lawmakers are poised to limit what local governments can add to a meeting agenda on the fly. House Bill 2146 recently passed the House of Representatives Local Government Committee and now advances to consideration by the full House of Representatives. The bill is a response to a ...