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Our opinion: There is no EMS white knight

There's been a lot of talk about emergency services over the past several years - and rightly so. It was interesting to see conversation at last week's Warren City Council meeting about a recent Council of Governments discussion of EMS that very clearly stated what many have known for a while but don't want to say out loud - there is no white knight coming to save the day. "There is no cavalry coming to save us," Danielle Flasher, Warren City Council vice president and the council's representative to the COG, said of the presentation. "The solution to the crisis that we face is ...

Our opinion: Another cut in regional care

The news that the Bradford Regional Medical Center is going to downsize its operations from patient, emergency and long-term care services to an ambulatory and outpatient model is the latest in a long line of warnings about the state of rural health care in Pennsylvania. The closure notice primarily affects the 20-bed inpatient unit, where the average daily census is fewer than one patient per day in 2026 and inpatient utilization has declined by 73% since 2019. Don Boyd, president and CEO of Kaleida Health, said federal funding cuts and longstanding financial issues across the health ...

Our opinion: Make Youngsville process public

If there is one firm takeaway from last week’s opening of bids for Youngsville High School’s future use, it is that the building isn’t likely to be empty for long. That’s good news given the difficulty in creating new uses for buildings that used to house schools. No one wanted to see an empty building in Youngsville for years. Now that we’ve seen there is interest in the building, we hope the Warren County Commissioners are as open as possible before making its decision on the best project. Not much was said about the proposals during Wednesday’s commissioners meeting. ...

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 the implementation of the Common Core State Standards, which placed a greater emphasis on keyboarding. House Bill 17 is a needed step to make sure that children are familiar with the way that we’ve communicated for centuries. “Cursive isn’t just about handwriting. It’s about building ...

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 has led to expanding pharmacy deserts, defined as an area where residents no longer have reasonable access to a local pharmacy, throughout the state. It’s one reason why a bipartisan bill introduced recently in the state Senate to protect local pharmacies like Gaughn’s Drug Store in Warren ...