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Opinion

Our opinion: Drive downtown parking study

Our Opinion

City Council members have approved a smaller, $3 million project to fix the worst of the issues in the Clark Street parking garage. The smaller rehabilitation project won’t be the last time we talk about the Clark Street garage. And, in our opinion, our next talk should include whether the Clark Street garage needs to continue to exist. Mike Holtz, city manager, said before the COVID-19 pandemic the Clark Street garage was typically 90% filled with usage at its highest levels the year before the pandemic. But the past five years have seen decreasing use of the Clark Street garage. ...

Readers Speak

Letters To Editor

A new process Dear Editor, I’m beginning to understand what this whole tariff program is about. It is driven by the desire to extend the 2017 tax cuts with some adjustments. Our wheelers and dealers are not looking for zero tariff agreements. Being a net importer, 10% or any number higher than zero helps to offset the costs of the upcoming tax extension. Now there is a point of diminishing returns where excessive tariffs will throw the country into a recession and/or cause higher inflation. That’s why we had the sudden 90-day pause. It has reached the point where the ...

May and Law Days

Local Commentaries

Although May 1 just passed, I want to introduce you to some of the significance of the day. First of all, May Day dates to around 2 A.D. It had its origins in the festivals of Europe. I recall the Campus School in Fredonia celebrating May Day. One year I attended the ceremony because my cousin was part of it. She attended the Campus School and was chosen I believe as a “flower girl”. We all gathered around a Maypole that had ribbons flowing from it. The ribbons were held by children who helped to weave them around the Maypole. It was a little dance of sorts with some music. The ...

Our opinion: Efficiency is not all that bad

Our Opinion

Polls show many Americans are increasingly unhappy with the way the federal government has use President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency. That doesn’t mean Pennsylvania Republicans’ efforts to pursue a Pennsylvania Department of Government Efficiency are doomed. We think Republicans will have a harder time now getting DOGE legislation through the state House and Gov. Josh Shapiro than they would have back in January or February. That’s unfortunate, because the idea behind a government efficiency effort could pay big dividends not only in Pennsylvania but in ...

Rounding Third: Witnessing a return of the natives

Local Commentaries

I like to write about the annual robins who nest on my back porch. I enjoy watching their month-long odyssey from the home building to the final fledgling fly-off. Last year’s model must have liked the neighborhood, because Rosie Robin (as I had named her) is back. And she has brought along two friends. I don’t know whether she is the same momma robin for sure, but she certainly looks like last year’s model … same red breast, same yellow bill, same black, beady, watchful eyes – amazingly just like the picture in my bird book. And her two sidekicks look identical, enough to ...

Our opinion: Once again, legislator proposes a rural policing tax

Our Opinion

Rep. Tim Brennan, D-Doylestown, has been a staunch advocate over the past couple of legislative sessions for the idea that too many Pennsylvania townships and boroughs rely on the Pennsylvania State Police rather than a local police force. From his seat between Allentown and Philadelphia, we can see how he would think rural counties need to have more police departments. After all, Bucks County is home to 40 separate police jurisdictions for a population of more than 645,000. It’s probably unfathomable to Brennan that there are areas that rely on the State Police rather than local ...