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Readers’ Choice another reminder of importance of LOCAL businesses

Talk about excitement! One week ago, The (Lock Haven) Express community newspaper posted and published its annual guide to the winners of our Readers’ Choice Awards. The campaign featured nearly 1,000 nominations of businesses over more than 110 categories! The plethora of nominations of our local and area businesses reflects the pride and value our readers place on the men and women who work hard to make a living and improve the quality of life here for all of us with their products and services. The campaign is exclusively reader-driven — readers nominate the ...

Report on loan denials sheds light on challenges facing our area

Troubling. Unfortunate. A challenge to overcome. These are our initial reactions to a recent Center for Rural Pennsylvania report featured in The Express community newspaper that parts of our area have among the highest rates of home improvement loan denials. Now we all should know that banks cannot take adverse risk when lending money. There must be collateral. There must be enough income to repay loans. But the report is still troubling because it reflects, we believe, Clinton County’s above averge poverty rate, which stands at 13.4% of the population. The census puts ...

The day that lives in infamy

The emphases in this country on the beginning of World War II generally center around Dec. 7, 1941, the day of the infamous Japanese aerial sneak attack on the American naval fleet based at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Actually, the war already was in progress for more than two years before that fateful day. The war is regarded as having begun on Sept. 3, 1939, when Great Britain and France declared war on Germany in response to the Nazis’ invasion of Poland two days earlier. The United States officially declared war on Japan on Dec. 8, 1941, and three days later — Dec. 11, 1941 — ...

Why are gasoline prices higher in the Northeast?

Something has to give. Gasoline prices are higher in the northeastern U.S. than most anywhere else in the country. Why? Demand, apparently. But also problems with gasoline refining and distribution infrastructure. A fire at a large refinery at Toledo, Ohio, in September caused a jump in prices because supply was cut to that area and neighboring states. (Sadly, that fire killed two people.) And people are not conserving their gasoline consumption as life gets back to “normal” after the pandemic. Of course, because gasoline prices are tied to the global oil market, the ...

No easy answers in debate over police services, LH City Hall

The Lock Haven Police Department needs better — and a little more — space. That’s the crux of City Council’s review of proposals to either renovate the existing City Hall, build a new one or find a space, or spaces, to lease for city government and services. So the ongoing process of reviewing proposals and costs is a necessary one — whether anyone likes the estimated price tags or not. Government always has to pay more for renovating or building public space. It’s mostly because of the prevailing wage act, but also because of all the requirements that come with ...

Shopping locally has tremendous benefits to you, your community

It’s Small Business Saturday and the spotlight is on your neighbors and friends who stand behind the counter at your local retail store. Local businesses are far more important than you think. Not only do they enhance your own quality of life, but they add vibrancy to your community. When you shop at independent or local-to-you businesses, more money is kept within your community because local businesses often use or buy from local service providers, farms and companies. Buying locally helps grow other businesses as well as your region’s tax base. Taxes are paid locally, ...