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Our opinion: Senator correct on stream cleaning

We agree with state Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Loyalsock Township, and appreciate his leadership on an important — though, perhaps not colorful or controversial enough to frequently capture voters’ attention — issue. Stream cleaning. “As elected officials, we are responsible for putting forth policies that protect the constituents we serve and help local officials respond more quickly and efficiently to emerging problems,” Yaw wrote in an op-ed column in Friday’s edition of the Williamsport Sun-Gazette. “This includes changes to ensure better maintenance of creeks and streams to ...

Our opinion: New fall fest a good addition

There’s been a lot of disagreement over some downtown redevelopment efforts. People on both sides of some development projects have a vision of what downtown can be and, despite disagreements, are making the case for projects that make downtown Warren a destination. There are other ways to make downtown a destination, among them new events that bring people downtown who perhaps wouldn’t come otherwise. And that’s why there should be excitement over the recently announced inaugural Downtown Warren Fall Foliage Festival on Oct. 11-12. Participating businesses will be ...

Our opinion: Bullying returns as school opens

Young people’s return to their classrooms each fall usually is a routine, uneventful exercise, even for young men and women transitioning from high school to a college environment. They’ve gone through the proverbial ritual of clothes-buying over the latter part of the summer, as well as having stocked up on pens and pencils, notebooks and other such necessities, not to mention the electronics — devices such as computers, printers and cellphones. Even for those students who would much prefer additional freedom from classes, tests and homework, the final summer-vacation days ...

Our opinion: Cell phone policy makes sense

In July we offered our opinion that the Warren County School District shouldn’t remove cell phones from classrooms unless teachers said they were a distraction. Evidently, the phones are a bigger distraction than some district administrators wanted to admit over the summer. Back in July Gary Weber, district superintendent, said the district hadn’t had many problems with cell phones over the past few years and that outright bans often had left district officials chasing their tails trying to make sure students didn’t have phones when they weren’t supposed to have them. This ...

Our opinion: Don’t waste orphan well funds

We always knew $400 million in federal funding wasn’t going to be enough to cap all of the orphaned wells in Pennsylvania. But what’s going on right now is, frankly, ridiculous. A process that the state and private companies have used for years averages about $6,350 to $17,000 per well that is capped depending on size, location and what actually has to be done to cap the well. The federal money, so far, is averaging about $105,000 for each well capped. That’s absurd. And it really hurts Warren County, which has thousands of these uncapped wells emitting methane and other ...

Our opinion: Include mergers in state policy

Here in Warren County, we’re having contentious, difficult discussions nearly every year about how to live within our education budget. Those talks aren’t easy, but they are necessary. That’s why it’s disappointing to hear Gov. Josh Shapiro take the easy way out when asked about the state’s role in school consolidation talks. “I don’t believe in dictating to school districts that they need to merge or push them to do that,” Shapiro said. “I do believe in being there as a support system if the school district makes that decision.” Shapiro was taking a ...