Breaking News

Letters to the editor

Only a fool

Mark Givler Jersey Shore It has occurred to me that a few quotes I’ve come across over the years could well shed some light on the moment in which we now find ourselves. For starters here is what the great American novelist Norman Mailer had to say about democracy and fascism: “I really am a pessimist. I’ve always felt that fascism is a more natural governmental condition than democracy. Democracy is a grace. It’s something essentially splendid because it’s not at all routine or automatic. Fascism goes back to our infancy and childhood, where we were always told how to ...

Cruel and despicable

Maggie Waggoner Lewisburg In one of the most despicable and cruel acts yet carried out by the Trump Administration, ICE agents descended from blackhawk helicopters in Chicago to unleash terror on law-abiding American citizens. Innocent men, women, senior citizens and children were accosted in the middle of the night. Kicking in doors, yanking people, including children, from their beds and zip tying their hands behind their backs, taking them away from their families, holding them in the dark in vans for hours is not even remotely OK. What has happened to our country when we allow ...

Why all Pennsylvanians should support public transit in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia

Keith Karn Narberth I grew up on a dirt road, miles outside of Pittsburgh. As a kid, I roamed freely with my friends and our dogs on about 500 acres of forest and farmland. Despite this rural upbringing, I told people from outside our area that I was from Pittsburgh. Occasionally, as a teen I would get a ride to the nearest bus stop and catch the bus into Pittsburgh. When I went to Penn State, I discovered that students from east of State College adopted Philly as their city — or at least were Eagles and Phillies fans, and people west of State College said they were from “near ...

Ensure Iran’s nuclear sites are destroyed

Donald Moskowitz Londonderry, NH Hopefully, the U.S. airstrikes on the Iranian nuclear development sites were highly successful and destroyed Iran’s capability to develop nuclear weapons. Our military performed well to complete a complex operation. Some members of the administration said the U.S. strike destroyed the Iranian nuclear sites, which I hope is accurate. The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) initial damage assessment report said the sites were partially destroyed, entrances were blocked and Iran’s nuclear development program was pushed back a few months. Also, the ...

Vote YES to retain Pennsylvania’s judges: Truth, transparency and democracy

Sheri Berenbaum and Patty Satalia State College Judicial retention elections in Pennsylvania are usually quiet, nonpartisan affairs. Not this year. A normally routine process has become a high-stakes political battle over control of the state’s highest court, with national attention, six-figure spending from wealthy donors and a flood of deceptive advertising that has left many voters understandably confused. The question before voters is straightforward: Should three Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justices — Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht — be retained for ...

Vote yes to retain our judges

Julianna Cooper Lewisburg Prior to Nov. 4, I will vote YES to retain our Supreme Court, Superior Court and Commonwealth Court judges and mail in my ballot. That is my right, granted by our commonwealth’s Constitution. So when I received fliers that were full of lies about our Supreme Court judges, I became concerned that my civil rights were being threatened. The truth is, dark-money interests are trying to steal our courts. This is a coordinated attempt to mislead voters and politicize retention elections to tilt future rulings toward extremist priorities. The Pennsylvania ...