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View from Hickory Heights: Rhubarb is up!

Local Commentaries

Yesterday when I looked out my back door, I could see that my rhubarb plants were up and growing. Today, unfortunately they are under a layer of snow. That is Spring! Several years ago, an employee who worked for my son wanted to get rid of some rhubarb plants. She dug them up and brought them down. I had room for two plants. I planted them in a small bed by the windmill derrick. For the past few years those plants have yielded enough to freeze and make pies and sauce for me. In years past, I depended on the rhubarb that grew at my daughter’s home for my supply. When my children ...

Our opinion: Taxes aren’t the only skill game issue

Our Opinion

Sooner or later, the state Legislature and Gov. Josh Shapiro will have to come to an agreement on a path forward for skill games that have popped up in bars, taverns, veterans halls and convenience stores throughout the state. State courts have ruled the games aren’t illegal gambling because they are games of skill rather than games of chance that are limited to casinos. The state Supreme Court said last summer that it will consider an appeal by the state Attorney General’s office of a lower-court decision that found that what are often called skill games are based on a player’s ...

Rounding Third: Two old buddies in the leaves and weeds

Local Commentaries

It’s just past 10:00 a.m. and Old Tom is standing in my backyard. He has been a shoveling, bending, tugging figure out there for almost 20 years. Like me, Tom moves slower today than when he first agreed to help me. Today he is wearing a floppy hat, jacket, Bermudas and work boots, his usual costume for Spring. When he shows up at my house, he’s dressed for work. I first met Tom at church, 40-plus years ago. He and MaryLou were regulars but I never knew them well. Years passed. Tom retired and turned toward his hobby, gardening. Yet when church members needed help, Tom stepped ...

Our opinion: WAHS student group shows true leadership

Our Opinion

Earlier this year Warren Area High School students formed a Leadership Club to promote inclusion and bring students from special education and general education together through meaningful events. The group’s first event will take place April 30 from 1 to 2 p.m. when the Leadership Club brings Warren Area High School’s inaugural Color Run to life on the track behind the Warren County Career Center for a one-mile run. Along the route, volunteers from the Key Club and Warren Area Elementary Center students will throw colors on the runners at four designated stations around the ...

Our opinion: State parks a vital resource

Our Opinion

As warmer weather approaches, state officials are reporting a surge in reservations for campsites in state parks and forests. According to an article in Tuesday’s Sun-Gazette, the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is seeing a nearly 30% increase compared to last year. We can’t say that we find the increase surprising — Pennsylvania’s state parks and forests are some of its under-appreciated gems. Pennsylvania offers residents and visitors 124 state parks, encompassing more than 300,000 acres. The parks offer a wide variety of recreational opportunities ...

Our opinion: State Police security lapses are inexcusable

Our Opinion

There’s a lot to unpack in the days after an arson attack at the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion. We should all be able to agree that security around Gov. Josh Shapiro was inexcusably lax given that one of the most notorious recent acts of political violence had taken place in Butler, Pa., during last year’s presidential campaign. It’s hard to fathom how Cody Balmer was able to climb a fence, smash a window, enter the governor’s mansion, use a Molotov cocktail to start a fire and then escape. Police didn’t catch Balmer - he turned himself in. It’s worth mentioning the ...