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Early cancer screening saved my life

Joe Lahr Harrisburg The American Cancer Society now recommends that anyone 45 and up get screened for colorectal cancer, but when I turned 45, the recommended age to begin testing was still 50. However, with my family history of colorectal cancer, once I hit mid-forties, I asked my doctor about early screening. Looking back, that choice saved my life. During the colonoscopy, my doctor found pre-cancerous spots on my colon, but because of how early we found them, they were able to be removed right then and there. I left that appointment feeling like I’d been given a second ...

A prescription for pharmacy closures

Jennifer Riley Malvern, Pa. Mill Hall Pharmacy closed in July after decades of serving local families. It delivered medications and gave patients a familiar pharmacist to call with questions. For local families, losing that kind of care is more than an inconvenience. Clinton County had just seven licensed pharmacies as of May 2025, according to the Center for Rural Pennsylvania. That count predates Mill Hall’s closure. Each loss raises the risk of a “pharmacy desert,” an area where residents no longer have reasonable access to a local pharmacy. Keeping the remaining ...

Gen Z and others

Arthur Keller Beavertown With today’s political atmosphere and the rhetoric in the papers, it is hard to know what to believe. But rest assured it is not as bad as you think. At 82 years of age, I have lived through many crises like the Polio Epidemic, the Cold War, Cuban Missile Crisis, several president assassination attempts (some successful), can’t remember a time without a war going on somewhere, Y2K crisis and recently Climate Crisis predicting the polar ice cap completely ice-free in 2014 with our coastal cities flooded and the world destroyed which did not happen. I ...

Get real

Tim Mannello Williamsport A hoax is “a deliberate deception — a false claim or fabricated story created on purpose to mislead people.” Dismissing every problem America faces as a “hoax,” “fake news,” “a scam,” a ‘con job,” or a sign of Trump Derangement Syndrome,” and calling people who point out real problems “traitors,” and “stupid” denies obvious realities and attacks those who notice. It is like a doctor denying a patient’s symptoms. When people refuse to accept proven facts, it’s usually because they care more about staying loyal to their ...

The Buffoonery Premium

Sam Stea Cogan Station Consider the US Dollar, which was tied to gold before Nixon took us off the gold standard. Then the Dollar was tied to oil with the petrodollar system. And, of course, there is always the faith and credit of The United States and steadfastness and legacy of our political system. What now? Why are prices of everyday goods and services rising with each passing day? Blame energy, the war, tariffs, deficit spending with the Big Beautiful Bill. But it all comes down to the Buffoonery of the Trump Administration. Why, at this time, would any foreign ...

Are these promised handouts gifts or pre-election bribes?

Kimball Shinkoskey Woods Cross Our 47th president can’t convince Americans who have rational minds and good educations to accept his anti-republican policies, so he must resort to money hand-outs that look and smell a lot like bribery. Alexander of Pherae in ancient democratic Greece paid mercenary soldiers and handed out bribes to sustain his tyrannical rule. Our 47th President is doing something similar in once democratic America. For example, he made appreciation payments to active military personnel so they might think about turning their attention to domestic enemies of ...