Breaking News

Opinion

Why is Governor Shapiro playing ball with Public Safety

Letters to the editor

Vicki Adams Mill Hall On March 26, the State Supreme Court gave Governor Josh Shapiro and the legislature a 120 day stay to pass a constitutional remedy involving automatic life-without parole sentences in Second-Degree murder cases violated the state’s constitution, (referencing one case, Commonwealth vs. Lee) of the nearly 1,200 cases in Pennsylvania. You would think and hope this Supreme Court request meant something to Governor Shapiro, but it didn’t, he was too busy trying to recruit NBA All-Star LeBron James to the Philadelphia 76ers! The Pennsylvania State Senate ...

The Constitution belongs to us all

Letters to the editor

Doug Keith State College Most Americans don’t wake up thinking about constitutional law or the separation of powers. They worry about paying the mortgage, buying groceries, affording health care and putting gas in the car. They voted hoping life would become more affordable and secure. Instead, many are facing rising costs, growing uncertainty and a government increasingly focused on consolidating power rather than solving everyday problems. Throughout history, democracy has rarely disappeared overnight. It erodes when leaders weaken independent institutions, demand personal ...

Dear Annie: Taking time to find perspective

Columns

Dear Annie: My husband and I are in our early 60s, married for 40-plus years. We plan to retire and travel soon. But the past year or so he seemed to become obsessed with his smartphone, holding his phone all the time and guarding it. I asked him if he had a Facebook account and he said no. But when I entered his cell number in the Facebook login and a common password we use, it came up with “invalid password.” (It would have said “no account found” if he didn’t have one.) I told him I wanted to talk and asked him to be honest if he had a Facebook account. He yelled no and ...

Columns

Murano glass is one of the best demonstrations of how the old lives on in the new. The island of Murano, just off Venice, Italy, became a center for glassmaking in 1291 and has been ever since. Beautiful glassware has been there for export in various colors and patterns, starting with beads, ...

Dear Annie: When love meets its limits

Columns

Dear Annie: I’ve never written to an advice column before, but I honestly don’t know where else to turn. My mother is elderly, physically frail and becoming increasingly confused. Earlier this year, she developed pneumonia and was so sick she could barely function. Her longtime boyfriend, who’d spent years neglecting, stealing from and verbally — and at times, physically — abusing her, refused to take her to the hospital. He even prevented EMTs from entering the house because he had drugs inside. I eventually got the police involved, and she was finally taken to the ...

The right to be left alone

Columns

“The makers of our Constitution undertook to secure conditions favorable to the pursuit of happiness. ... They conferred against the Government the right to be let alone — most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men.” — Justice Louis D. Brandeis (1856-1941) The rapid spread of public surveillance cameras represents something far more consequential than a new piece of police technology. It represents a fundamental change in the relationship between the individual and the state. These cameras allow government agents to record, identify, catalog ...