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Opinion

Our opinion: No predicting fortune telling

Our Opinion

It’s telling that Rep. Greg Scott is trying to repeal a Pennsylvania law that makes it a crime to perform fortune telling and other “amusements” like tarot card reading. We’re not amused. That has nothing to do with Scott. In fact, the Norristown Democrat is doing his job. A constituent brought the issue to him and he is attempting to deal with it legislatively. The issue is that as states accumulate laws, many become outdated. When one wonders why so little tends to get done in Harrisburg or other state capitols around the country, these bills are one culprit. It’s ...

Our opinion: Will billing change have benefits?

Our Opinion

It made plenty of sense from a cash flow perspective for Warren County officials to split tax billing rather than send one bill later in the year for county, school and municipal taxes. There’s a reason why every other county in the state had made this change before Warren County - it helps with county budgeting. But discussion during a recent Warren County Commissioners meeting shined a light on another potential benefit - fewer tax delinquencies. In 2013 Warren County had about 11% of tax bills end up being delinquent. Now, that number is 8.78%, a number that ends up equalling ...

Readers Speak

Letters To Editor

Pumped up prices Dear Editor, I was in Erie last week, gas was less than $3.19 per gallon at most stations. Jamestown is $3.39 and Warren is $3.69. What a ridiculous difference. Maybe we should all go to Erie or Jamestown for our gas. Bob Silzle, Russell Selective Due Process? Dear Editor, By now, primary votes have been cast for a new District Attorney for Warren County. I have no dispute with outgoing District Attorney Rob Greene or assistants Cody Brown or Casey Strickland. I think all have served us well regardless of personal opinions. One issue, however, keeps ...

Editor's corner: Etiquette can go south fast during town halls

Our Opinion

Former U.S. Rep. Tom Reed of New York knew he would be walking into a buzzsaw in 2017 during town hall meetings with constituents. In a New York Times video taken in North Harmony in February of that year, Reed stood calmly — and composed — while listening to concerns of those in ...

View from Hickory Heights: Two-wheel riding

Local Commentaries

Do you remember learning to ride a bicycle? When I was about eight years old, I got a bicycle for Christmas. Since we lived where we had snow, it sat in the garage until Spring. I was not a natural at riding a bike. It took days for me to learn the balancing technique. My mother and my grandfather took turns holding me steady and running along. I had no training wheels. Finally, one night I took off on my own. I did not realize I was on my own until I got way down the street. I was on the sidewalk by the way. My only problem was I did not know how to stop. I ended up in someone’s ...

Our opinion: Rethinking reassessment

Our Opinion

We hope that the current and future Warren County commissioners have been taking notes as the county’s property reassessment process drags on. Making the decision to finally undertake a property reassessment was necessary and correct. But postponing the decision for decades has created so much uncertainty among Warren County property owners that the process is far more difficult for taxpayers than it should be. No one is familiar with a process that should be at the very root of governance - making sure properties are assessed fairly so that taxpayers are paying a fair amount of ...