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Our opinion: A nice addition to three downtowns

City and county officials are making a nice addition to three county downtowns that capitalizes on one of the county’s biggest tourism assets. A state Department Conservation and Natural Resources grant through the Route 6 Alliance is covering the cost for bike racks and repair stations in Warren, Tidioute and Youngsville. The racks are coming first to Warren with plans to put racks in Tidioute and Youngsville later. Bike repair stations will also follow. It doesn’t sound like much, but spending $25,000 can have a big impact on local tourism. WIth the Trails at Jakes Rocks ...

Our opinion: Change in planting policies good news — but telling

It is good news that the state Department of Transportation will, under a new law, discontinue the planting of non-native or “invasive” species along Pennsylvania’s roadways. But it is also illustrative of certain underlying principles. The challenges of invasive species and their impact on native flora and fauna have been well-documented for decades. As the National Ocean Service notes on its website, invasive species are capable of “causing extinctions of native plants and animals, reducing biodiversity, competing with native organisms for limited resources, and altering ...

Our opinion: Be wary of growing government

What happens with a state park near the border of Pennsylvania and Maryland created in 2022 doesn’t much concern us here in Warren County. Most of us, after all, will never set foot in the Big Elk Creek State Park. But the controversy over improvements to the park does have an impact here in a couple of ways. First is the seemingly insatiable need for state agencies to expand the amount of land the state owns. We have seen that in Warren County with the 2,195 acre acquisition of land in Spring Creek by the state Game Commission. Such expansion preserves open space, but does so ...

Our opinion: Special ed needs more attention

Unfunded mandates, products of the federal and state governments, do not sit well with local-level units of government. Neither do those mandates sit well with school districts and institutions of higher learning, especially as they are trying to prepare and balance new budget packages. Depending on the scope of such a mandate, an unfunded or weakly funded edict can wreak havoc on the most well-thought-out of spending plans, not only for a year but possibly extending far beyond. Why is it a good time to be reflecting on budget challenges, especially in regard to ...

Our opinion: Tax credit may not work for county

In theory a proposal by Republicans in the state Senate that would allow families to use a tax credit to enroll their child in private schools makes a lot of sense. Senate Bill 1280 would establish the Child Learning Investment Tax Credit, worth up to $8,000 per student, that families could use to reduce their tax liability and cover educational expenses, including private school tuition. The idea, particularly in bigger cities where there are more private schools, is that parents should be able to enroll their child in the school of their choice, with their “share” of state tax ...

Our Opinion: Wind project protections are necessary

It was only a matter of time before a large-scale wind developer decided Warren County was a good place to site a wind farm. After all, we share a border with New York state, which has been investing heavily in wind energy for years. But, if there are incentives available in Pennsylvania, an area that is typically a less expensive place for development projects than New York, the time was coming when a wind farm would be proposed here. We share many of the same characteristics that have made New York attractive for wind developers without the burdensome New York regulations and wage ...