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Rural challenges continue to grow, but we are not expendable

Yesterday, we ran an opinion piece by Salena Zito about — broadly — the evolution of the Rust Belt and the comparisons of the silence then to the ruckus now regarding the jobs being lost by government workers. If you haven’t read it, we would highly recommend it, however, this section particularly stood out to us: “The people here, it seems, were expendable to the elite. They had no college education, did not live in the right ZIP codes, and besides, someone overseas could do what they do. Had the Mahoning Valley been hit by a rocket, the region would have looked no less ...

You should read this

Nobody reads the paper. We hear this pretty often. For a variety of reasons, people seem to be under the impression that we are struggling — or, as one commenter said on our Facebook page a few days ago, “withering on the vine.” The Express still delivers nearly 4,000 papers to subscribers daily. If you’re one of them, thank you for your support! Chances are, though, you’re reading this on your phone or computer. Our website, www.lockhaven.com, averages 7,000 unique visitors daily, and that number surges into the tens of thousands during major news events. With ...

Centre County Conservation District to be applauded

Last week at the Centre County Commissioner’s meeting, the board approved a project to transform a 0.2-acre turf area in front of the Willowbank Building into a meadow with native shrubs, trees and flowers. This project represents a fusion of environmentalism and practicality that we think that more local governments should be looking into. Pursuing conservation initiatives such as this can make our world a greener, better place while providing habitat for native species which have suffered the consequences of dwindling living space as humans have expanded our suburbian sprawl far ...

No kings in our America

“CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!” — President Donald J. Trump. This was posted by Trump on his Truth Social Wednesday evening. The official White House Twitter account repeated the message, but added a picture of Trump in a crown standing in front of the New York skyline. Trump made the post as he directed his administration to halt recently-implemented congestion tolls in New York City — which, to be fair, many of us agree with. While congestion tolling is an interesting idea, we take issue with the unequal ...

Building local resilience, sustainability key in face of uncertainty

If the litany of government shutdowns and almost-shutdowns should have taught us anything, it’s that our federal government’s function was a fickle thing even long before cutting thousands of staffers, shuttering agencies and freezing spending. This is not to say these actions are a good thing, nor is it to say they are a bad thing. It is merely a fact — which are in precious short supply these days. From that fact, we can extrapolate: dependence on the federal government will be unwise for the foreseeable future. Again, there is no assessment of morality with this ...

Love is precious, and there isn’t enough of it

It’s Valentine’s Day — did you remember? Hopefully you have awesome plans. Or maybe you’re flying solo, by choice or otherwise. Even if that’s the case, though, we would wager you still love something. Maybe it’s wings, or antique cars, or thrifting or sewing. Maybe it’s your cat or dog or plant or fish or bird; your coin collection or the sweet deer skull you found in the woods. Point is, everyone has something, or someone, they love — and that is beautiful and should be nurtured. There’s a toxicity to our society wherein love isn’t considered “hip.” ...