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Letters to the editor

The state of our nation

Kathryn V. McFate Loganton The tearing down of the East End of the White House is happening. Trump has gone ahead with this and my question is this: Who authorized this? He says there are people who will pay $250 million to pay for this. He is such a liar that this may not even be true. Are the Republicans going along with it? Is the election of someone as president an assurance that they can do this? Do we really need a ballroom? Wouldn’t the money spent improve the office space needed or a new fence to keep out dangerous people? This is another example of the people WE ...

The case for a 20-Second Hug Club

Doug Keith State College Modern society faces a crisis of disconnection. Loneliness, mistrust and polarization fuel anger, anxiety and violence. Yet one of the simplest ways to rebuild connection and calm conflict has always been with us — the healing power of human touch. Neuroscientist James Prescott showed that pleasure and violence circuits in the brain act like a switch: when one is active, the other is suppressed. Healthy touch such as hugging activates oxytocin — the “bonding hormone” — which fosters trust, lowers stress and reduces aggression. This is not ...

High cost of prescription drugs

Roberta Doyle Mackeyville In late August, I received my EOB (Explanation of Benefits) from my Medicare Provider. From January 2025 through July 2025, my three drugs increased in price 47.5%, 99.8% and 149.6%. These are huge increases. As Republicans control all three branches of the government, I emailed Senator McCormick and Representative Thompson as to how they plan to address these increases. As of writing this, I have not received a response from them. I read where President Trump was negotiating prices with Pfizer for Medicaid. That doesn’t help those of us on Medicare. The ...

Gaza’s real fate

Kimball Shinkoskey Woods Cross Looking beyond the current joyful hostage exchange, there is mounting evidence Netanyahu (and Trump) plan to exile most or all Palestinians out of Gaza soon enough. The killing of innocent women and children, perhaps half of the 68,000 known dead in Gaza, is one indication. There is also the deliberate and well-documented starvation campaign aimed at making mealtime in Gaza intolerable for families. The destruction of most hospitals is well known. Also, PBS has reported that virtually all of Gaza’s 660,000 children do not have access to ...

Here’s your sign

Jim Hironimus White Hall I get a kick out of trying to think about how all the people that voted for Trump and his Republican cronies feel about the soon to be higher medical costs for both care and drug costs. Then again, they do not seem to be complaining about the tariffs or the fact Trump never lowered any costs on anything that he promised he would when he got elected! So if anyone starts to complain to you about prices being too high or the government being shut down, your reply should be: “Here’s your sign!” They voted him in and they now are suffering for it! ...

Action on Oct. 18

Elsa Winch Lock Haven In my lifetime, I witnessed the televised conflict of the Vietnam war and its end with the Saigon airlifts. Especially vivid are my memories of seeing American soldiers falling wounded or worse in the rice paddies, the faces of Vietnamese mothers desperately passing their children up to American soldiers reaching out of helicopters to save them from the invading VietCong. War was real. I watched the televised first step on the moon, and RFK, Sr.’s and Rev. Martin Luther King’s speeches broadcast on our family television. The triumph of the lunar landing ...