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Opinion

Our opinion: More proof to let the status quo go

Our Opinion

After listening to the community plead for the status quo in high school education over the past couple of years, we decided to take a look at how our students have been doing under the status quo. The results were sobering, to be quite honest. Some were sobering despite not being surprising, like the decreasing number of high school juniors taking the Keystone Exams across the county. The county’s overall junior class has decreased from 347 students in 2014-15 to 255 in 2023-24, with none of the four high schools seeing a growth in the number of test-taking students. The ...

Our opinion: A wrong way to balance budget

Our Opinion

We knew there would be pain when President Donald Trump said he was going to right-size federal programs in an attempt to bring the federal budget under control. The only way to get control of federal spending is through spending cuts. Of course, now we’re finding out just how dependent on federal programs we really are - and some of these cuts come with real pain for people who are struggling to get by. Among them are the 189 Pennsylvania farmers and 14 Pennsylvania food banks that participated in the federally-backed Local Food Purchasing Assistance Program that gave money to ...

Our opinion: Tread carefully with lake renewables

Our Opinion

We understand why New York lawmakers are so desperate to put wind turbines in Lake Erie. We’re not so sure why some Pennsylvania lawmakers are so enthralled with the concept. New York lawmakers have set some incredibly aggressive targets for renewable energy use with their Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. The only way to meet the state’s demand for power is to scour the landscape for places to put wind turbines and solar panels, though Gov. Kathy Hochul is beginning to consider nuclear power as an option to meet New York’s power demand. But even New York, with ...

Schools don’t consider lost revenues

Local Commentaries

With all of the other issues with the plan to close the Sheffield and Youngsville High Schools, is there the possibility of the district losing revenue due to this decision? Have they already lost revenue due to just the discussion of closing schools? What happens with yet another empty building? What happens when the district finally sells a building? Is there a gain? Is there any costs to the district by a vacant building? So how would the district lose revenue? Well considering that every resident in the attendance area of Youngsville will be losing a high school, which is huge ...

Philosophy to ‘build up’ brings better way of life

Local Commentaries

Preface: It often takes a lifetime of interactions within one’s community and with loved ones to establish a philosophy that guides a person’s ethos for their professional development. I was lucky to come across the “we build up” theme in the summer of 1991 on the Pleasant Township summer playground. My educational and coaching philosophy expanded in the early 2000’s upon learning of the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility model (TPSR) and meeting its creator/author Mr. Don Hellison. In the following paragraphs, I hope to provide parents, caregivers, teachers, and ...

Readers Speak

Letters To Editor

Assistance awaits Dear Editor, Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest Pennsylvania works hard to support families, seniors, veterans, and children facing hunger every day. Going to any grocery store, it’s clear that food prices continue to stay out of reach for our neighbors in need. This is leading to rising demand for support from Second Harvest and our partner food pantries, soup kitchens, and schools. We need strong federal programs like The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) to support this vital need. TEFAP provides over 20% of the food moving through the Feeding ...