Breaking News

Opinion

Iran is challenging a bedrock of American geopolitical power

Columns

The reason why we have the Fifth Fleet, one of the most awesome naval forces ever assembled in the history of mankind, is to protect the sea lanes in the Middle East. That the Strait of Hormuz is now effectively closed is not just a blow to the global economy and a key point of leverage for the Iranian regime, it is an assault against one of the foundations of American power. Guarding the safe passage of commerce has been a core Anglo-American commitment for a couple of centuries, with the baton of naval leadership passing from the British to the United States around the time of ...

Reshaping the media

Letters to the editor

Mary Bruce Serene State College Recently, Donald Trump posted a graphic celebrating how he is “reshaping the media.” The graphic itself proudly lists journalists pushed out of their jobs, layoffs at major outlets, regulatory pressure, and the defunding of public broadcasters as political “wins.” Think about what that means. A president openly boasting about weakening news organizations that scrutinize him. A president openly bragging about violating the First Amendment guaranteeing freedom of speech. This should concern Americans of every political persuasion. ...

Water Co. vs 4th Amendment

Letters to the editor

Jeffrey Kreitz Lock Haven Let me start by saying, I understand that we need to conserve our water supply, but not as this new plan states. The Lock Haven Water Co. should check with their legal department. What they are suggesting is a violation of our civil rights and the 4th amendment that protects us from illegal search. You have no right spying on anyone. You do not need to know when my wife or I ror my underage children or grandchildren are taking a bath, a shower or, for Heaven’s sake, using the toilet. That almost sounds perverted to me. If you want to conserve water how ...

Dear Annie: Balancing respect in an interfaith relationship

Columns

Dear Annie: I never thought I would be writing to an advice column, but here I am, because my heart is full and my mind is spinning. I am a Catholic woman in my early 30s, and I have fallen deeply in love with a wonderful man who is Jewish. He is kind, thoughtful, funny and steady in a way that makes me feel safe. He remembers the little things, calls my mother “ma’am” and once drove two hours to help my brother when his car broke down. In every way that matters day to day, he is the kind of partner I always hoped to find. The problem is that what matters “day to day” is ...

Trump’s Iran war not likely the jaunt he’s trying to sell

Columns

Here we go again. What else can one say to the stream of misinformation and disinformation flowing out of the White House and Pentagon since the war with Iran broke out? We have grown wearily familiar with President Trump’s cavalier relationship with the facts. Combine that with his tendency to snatch words out of the air, appropriately or not, and you come up with a jumble of head-scratchers. A leading example is his repeated oddball description of the Iran war as an “excursion,” which caused brows to furrow and eyeballs to roll in newsrooms around the planet. Excursion? ...

Let the sunshine in: Restore transparency to Pennsylvania government

Columns

National Sunshine Week, March 15-21, is a time to highlight the importance of open, transparent government and to call attention to actions that place those principles at risk. Pennsylvanians deserve to know what their elected school and township supervisor boards, borough councils and other agencies plan to discuss and vote on at public meetings. The Sunshine Act ensures that level of visibility. At least it did — until last year when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court opened the door for far more government business to occur without prior public notice. In a split ruling, the high ...