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Our opinion: State dialed in for ban on phones

Imagine it’s morning rush hour and you’re at a stop light. Your child is strapped into the back seat and you are driving her to day care. You look in the mirror and see a woman who is putting on makeup and looking down at what is probably a screen. OK, that’s multitasking, but you assume she is going to have her makeup set and keep her eyes on the road once the light turns green. Certainly many distracted driving mishaps are the result of people talking on cellphones. Recently, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives took the long overdue step of expanding laws that prohibit ...

Our opinion: It’s about money, not choices

If the Warren County School District’s finances were solid, the ongoing discussion to give parents more flexibility in sending students to schools outside of their designated attendance area would make more sense. If parents can take care of transportation outside of their attendance area, then school choice within the district’s boundaries to make sure a student is taking courses that better prepare them for college or a career makes a lot of sense. It isn’t easy for administrators, but logically the district’s job is to provide the best education for students, not to do what ...

Our opinion: Let lawmakers handle loan relief

The Biden Administration, once again, is trying to use executive action to reduce student loan debt. And once again, the White House’s approach fails to address the root causes of this problem and ignores the historic avenues that allow such root causes or larger concerns to be aired and alleviated — while setting expensive precedents in an age of a $34 trillion national debt. As we observed in a January editorial, “any proposal to cancel or forgive student loan debt without addressing the underlying problem — that for decades college tuition has increased in cost at a rate ...

Our opinion: Food Bank need is sign of times

The economic recovery being touted at higher levels of government isn’t reaching too many in our midst. That’s the biggest takeaway to be had from the news that the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest Pennsylvania has seen a 25.3% increase in the level of need over the last year and a 33% increase in need for help over the past four years across its service territory. The food bank partners with most of the food programs available in Warren County. There may be no better statistic to show what’s happening to rural economies than the increase in need seen by food banks. ...

Our opinion: Coming to terms with zoning

City Councilwoman Wendy McCain isn’t wrong to raise questions over the creation of a new mixed-use district in Warren that combined commercial and residential zoning as Warren transitions from downtown into residential neighborhoods. McCain raised questions about the East Street School, which is close to her home. The councilwoman doesn’t want to see potential development in the school that changes the character of the neighborhood. But, in reality, the designation isn’t the problem. How the designation is applied is what will matter. Randy Rossey, city codes and planning ...

Our opinion: Take it slow with lake turbines

It’s not surprising that the concept of wind turbines on Lake Erie have passed the state House of Representatives. The real measure of this proposal will come in the state Senate - if state Rep. Bob Merski’s bill ever makes it out of a Senate committee. Merski, who represents parts of Erie in the state House of Representatives, saw his bill pass in a party line vote. So Democrats will have to persuade at least a few Republicans in the state Senate to break ranks if the state Legislature is going to weigh in on this matter. It’s worth noting that the issue has been discussed ...