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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 ...

Offering perspective to rise in Autism

Local Commentaries

There’s been a lot of buzz lately about the dramatic rise in autism diagnoses. In 2023, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reported that 1 in 36 children have autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a staggering increase from 1 in 10,000 in the 1970s. To understand this surge, we need to look at the history of ASD. In the 1960s and 1970s, autism was often misdiagnosed as childhood schizophrenia or attributed to emotional trauma. The turning point came in 1973 when Congress passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), mandating schools to support students with ...

Escalators and elevators

Local Commentaries

I was intrigued when a beautiful wooden escalator crossed my desktop. I immediately began my research. It seems that the beauty is part of Macy’s Department Store in New York City. I think I probably rode it when I was with the grandchildren. I know we did not ride it when we visited Santa Claus with the ladies. I know we rode the elevator to go up to the top floor. This escalator was installed sometime between 1920 and 1930 So it has been in operation close to one hundred years. It was installed by the Otis Elevator Co. I knew that many elevators were made by Otis, but I never knew ...

Our opinion: Politics can’t shape due process

Our Opinion

We are deeply concerned about the misrepresentations surrounding decisions by a federal judge, James E. Boasberg, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C. To be clear, Judge Boasberg has not ruled that criminal immigrants or violent immigrants cannot be deported. What Boasberg has ruled is that the executive branch must follow the practices already in place to provide evidence than an immigrant is a felon or a violent criminal to justify a deportation order. The right to due process is crucially important. The right to due process is not only about the rights of ...

Our opinion: Marijuana legalization shouldn’t be a budget issue

Our Opinion

Gov. Josh Shapiro’s 2025-26 budget includes revenue from the legalization of marijuana. As state lawmakers debate marijuana legalization, they should not think one bit about the $1.3 billion Shapiro projects the state could receive in tax revenue in the first five years after the legalization of recreational marijuana is approved. The argument is the additional tax revenue generated by legalized marijuana will help close the state’s structural budget deficit. We don’t doubt there’s a market, even here in Warren County, given the number of arrests we see of people coming ...

Big Julie wuz one of a kind

Local Commentaries

I was standing in the checkout line at a Country Fair in Erie when I heard the big tough man’s voice behind me. He was on the phone. “You tell doze guys I’m gonna take care-a dem poysinally when I get back.” He added profanity for emphasis. I hadn’t heard an accent like that – delivered in a threatening, gravelly voice – in over 50 years. But I didn’t have to dig too deep for the memory. The big tough guy with the rough-neighborhood New York accent was unforgettable. His name was Big Julie. Whadda a package he was. I was a stewardess based at New York’s Kennedy ...