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Our Opinion

Our opinion: Another development effort

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

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

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 ...

Our opinion: Time will tell on layoffs

It’s too early, in our opinion, to know just how much proposed layoffs affecting the Allegheny National Forest will hurt Warren County. Part of that is because we don’t yet have full information about just how many layoffs there actually are in the ANF area. Because of that we don’t have a good understanding yet of how the cuts will affect programs and services in the Allegheny National Forest - though it appears that fire protection efforts that affect public safety have been spared thus far. What we do know, however, is that we’re not a big fan of the glee with which ...

Our opinion: Consider Saturday concerts

The addition of Saturday concerts in downtown Warren is an idea worth considering. City Council member Wendy McCain spoke in favor of the idea while Mayor Dave Wortman also signaled his interest in Saturday concerts that could take place in addition to the existing Music in the Park concert series. The idea is still in the early stages of discussion by the Comprehensive Plan Task Force. Additional music or other activities that bring people downtown are important to increase the sense of vitality of downtown Warren. The more people downtown, the better. So the real question ...

Our opinion: EMS deals are all-around wins

We wouldn’t have thought a couple of years ago when the Warren City Council began pushing for EMS agreements with neighboring townships that the effort would have been successful. Color us wrong. Last week City Council members approved a 10th agreement authorizing the Warren Fire Department to act as a supplemental EMS provider to the city’s neighbors by approving a one-day deal with Pine Grove Township. These agreements are the type of municipal cooperation that are important for a region dealing with ever-decreasing population and tax base. As volunteer fire departments ...