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Opinion

State budget delay brings worry, chaos

Editorials

Pennsylvania lawmakers argue about many things, oftentimes ad nauseam, especially about the state budget that seldom is finished on time, or even rendered close to being completed by what is supposed to be the June 30 deadline. Every year this same commonwealth question “bubbles to the top” of public comment and discussion regarding the commonwealth’s annual spending plan: “When is it going to be finished this year and how much will playing petty politics stymie a timely completion of this vital legislative duty that affects so much of what will happen in the state, going ...

State thrives on AICUP schools

Opinion

Pennsylvania has a rich history in higher education, with world class universities in the public and private sectors — including some of the best independent nonprofit colleges in America. Our state is unique in the impact of its independent nonprofit higher education institutions on the state economy and workforce, and in the vitality of the 58 local PA communities in which they have been embedded for an average 140 years. An independent study confirms that these institutions are top of the class economic generators and community anchors. This just released report on the ...

Democrats appear to be clueless

Letters to the Editor

America is back heading in the right direction after four years of total chaos under the Biden administration. As those who were paying attention could see, Joe Biden was not in charge of the day-to-day operations of the U.S. government. As we now know, apparently whoever showed up first at the Oval Office on any given day was in charge of Biden’s auto pen. The group of people Biden assembled was by far the worst that ever served in the White House at the same time. The far-left radical Democrats in Washington still can’t figure out why Donald Trump won the election. The ...

Wetlands degradation the fault of DEP

Letters to the Editor

The DEP is to blame for the recent degradation of Old Crow Wetlands near Huntingdon. For six years, members of the Coalition to Save Old Crow Wetlands testified repeatedly at innumerable public meetings regarding the harm that an adjacent development would cause to Old Crow Wetlands. Nevertheless, the DEP approved the developer’s plans, including an erosion and sedimentation plan. According to the Huntingdon County Conservation District, the devices specified by the erosion and sedimentation plan were installed as specified. In spite of that, Old Crow Wetlands was degraded by ...

Pa. Turnpike Commission fails in transparency

Editorials

There are certain things we can depend upon in Pennsylvania. As certain as the sun will rise, there will be potholes, there will be football rivalries and the state Legislature will lock horns over something that should be an easy compromise. But hey, sometimes the potholes get paved (except at the Pittsburgh Mills). Sometimes your rivals have a year when they don’t play each other. Sometimes — albeit rarely —the General Assembly will find common ground on something the lawmakers all care about. However, one thing we know to be as reliable as gravity is the increase in tolls on ...

In modern age, breaking up still hard to do

Editorials

When pop singer Neil Sedaka released “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do” in June 1962, it quickly became apparent that the song was destined to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and a short time later it did just that. Most of today’s young people probably never have heard of Neil Sedaka, but if they have heard of him, it is likely that only a small fraction of them can recite the title of even one of his hits. But he was a well-known, well-regarded singer “back in the day.” However, what he was singing about back then is as real today as it was in June 1962, although ...