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Our Opinion

Our opinion: Broadband boost a plus for Pleasant

News that work to build out a new broadband internet system in Pleasant Township is good news. Allegheny Community Broadband has secured $2 million in public and private funding to build out the network, which is expected to serve 430 homes in Pleasant Township. We’re sure there are some who feel the cost is too high. A 25-year loan will be paid with revenue generated by user payments, with the system to be owned by Pleasant Township once the loan is paid off. It’s a heavy lift when you think about it. The cost works out to about $4,730 a person for the 430 households this ...

Our opinion: Make the most of new amenity

Warren is getting its first disc golf course after the Lumber Heritage Region has been awarded a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. An 18-hole course, blending into an existing conservation area, is a nice addition to the area and enhanced an already beautiful area of the 350-acre Hatch Run Conservation Area. Disc golf is new here in Warren County, but courses have proliferated in neighboring Chautauqua County with courses in Jamestown, South Dayton, Falconer as well as the Dunkirk area. Since 2015 there has been a disc golf association ...

Our opinion: State plan spending too much

Our editorial board’s position likely will not come as a surprise. A state budget proposal that, for the first time in history, spends more than $50 billion is irresponsible. As the Associated Press notes, Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposal increases spending over the previous year — a budget that itself, we argued, was reckless in its spending increases — by nearly 10%. This year’s proposal would spend billions of the state’s reserve, leaving Pennsylvania less prepared for any economic downturn — and would spend those billions even if the Republican-controlled Senate agreed ...

Our opinion: Does budget help our county?

Gov. Josh Shapiro views his 2025 budget proposal as necessary to keep Pennsylvania “on the rise.” “Each of the last two years both Democrats and Republicans have voted for commonsense budgets that solve real problems,” Shapiro said from the House speaker’s podium before a joint session of the Legislature on Tuesday. “We’ve moved the ball down the field and put points on the board – and we should celebrate that. But we should be hungry for more.” The budget is certainly hungry for more - $3.6 billion more, to be exact. But is the state actually rising? That’s ...

Editor’s corner: County needs to lead charge on renewables

Across the border, Chautauqua County legislators decided to take a bold stance in late January. In voting at the monthly meeting to oppose the placement of wind turbines in Lake Erie, members in attendance were unanimous in their sentiment. State Sen. George Borrello was in Mayville that ...

Our opinion: Orders sidestep compromise

Our concerns about the second Trump Administration’s executive actions on immigration are twofold: First, the White House should employ a greater focus on illegal immigration specifically and, second, executive orders violate the principles of our republic. As we noted in our editorials during the Biden Administration, executive orders circumvent the process in ways that poorly serve the public. Sweeping proposals such as Biden’s student loan forgiveness plans or Trump’s plans on immigration, as we wrote about the former in August of 2022, “should go through proper, ...