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Letters to the editor

Rural America deserves better — it’s time to stand up

Lassie MacDonald State College Rural Americans have long been the backbone of this country—hardworking, patriotic and committed to community. But today, your rights, livelihoods and futures are under threat—not from immigrants, not from urban elites, but from a man who claims to represent you while gutting the very programs that keep rural communities alive. Starting in 2026, access to healthcare will be sharply restricted. Millions of rural residents on Medicaid—and even some on Medicare—will lose coverage. SNAP benefits that feed families are being eliminated. Rural ...

War with Venezuela?

Kimball Shinkoskey Woods Cross Most American citizens don’t get that Trump’s bombing of a Venezuelan drug boat was an act of war. Venezuela gets it, and they escalated things by sending jets to buzz U.S. Navy ships. The right thing to do would have been to capture the boat, verify drugs were on board and then take legal action, not provocative military action. This is how President Lyndon Johnson hyped-up the Vietnam War. He committed an act of war by sending a war ship into North Vietnamese waters. The North Vietnamese took a few shots at the boat, leaving it undamaged. ...

Applause, Applause

THANK YOU Lock Haven City Police and dispatcher for your quick response. Friday, I was at a local restaurant and we saw a man dressed very suspiciously and acting the same. We immediately left the restaurant and I called the emergency number and explained the situation. The officers were on the scene within three minutes. Thank you for taking my call seriously and keeping our community safe. — Anonymous APPLAUSE for STEP/Aging Offices for the awesome Senior Fair. The vendors were informative and had great Swag, too. Music by the Racquet Tears drifted through the room entertaining ...

Law enforcement should not assist ICE without a 287(g) agreement

Aidan Gscheidle Lock Haven Some folks in our community have expressed frustration that Pennsylvania State Police and local law enforcement are not doing more to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Would these folks feel comfortable letting their bank teller perform an IRS audit without the proper training? How about allowing a physician’s assistant to perform a surgery? The proper process exists for law enforcement agencies (LEAs) that wish to cooperate with ICE. This is called the 287(g) Program, per ICE’s own website (ice.gov/identify-and-arrest/287g). The ...

False Claims Act bad for PA

Dick Harris Stevensville The Pennsylvania Senate needs to stop the so-called False Claims Act before it creates even more problems for small businesses across Pennsylvania. This bill might sound like it’s about stopping fraud, but in reality, it’s just another way for trial lawyers to make money, all at the expense of the rest of us. If this becomes law, lawyers would be allowed to sue businesses “on behalf” of the state. But in most cases, it won’t be about justice. It’ll be about getting a big payout. Even if a small business hasn’t done anything wrong, the ...

The American undoing

Sam Stea Cogan Station I propose, for the sake of argument, that the best way for a sitting president to undo the United States of America is to behave exactly opposite to each of our Founding Fathers. In the case of George Washington’s honesty and integrity; attempt an overthrow of the electoral process and the lawful transfer of power, then blame it on the Democrats. For Thomas Jefferson’s pursuit of science and reason; defund critical medical research, ignore information about the environment and health of the planet and appoint charlatans to top health positions. For ...