Opinion

Stop hiding voter data

Letters to the editor March 31, 2026

Caroline Machiraju Camp Hill Pa.’s Secretary of State Al Schmidt refuses to give its voter export to the Department of Justice, which wants to validate that only citizens are voting, by cross-checking social security numbers. Why? That’s a question that Rep. Brad Roae asked Schmidt during the budget hearings. Schmidt gave a nonsensical reply, stating DOS wants to “protect” personal information. Roae aptly responded “With all due respect, Mr. Secretary, the federal government already has everybody’s social security numbers — they’re the ones that give them out.” It ...

War or health care

Letters to the editor March 31, 2026

David Whiteman Centre Hall President Trump says he launched a war to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons and attacking the United States. Many experts—including our own intelligence analysts — question whether that threat was ever imminent. The threat to Americans’ health, however, is real. Health care is increasingly hard to afford, driven in part by last year’s budget bill and the expiration of Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies for people who buy their own insurance. Republicans argued that adequately funding health care was not worth increasing the budget ...

There are no real Republicans left in America today

Letters to the editor March 31, 2026

Kimball Shinkoskey Woods Cross In the past, Republicans took not only a principled stance but a responsible stance on the federal budget. For example, the Constitution says that human services programs must be largely decided and funded on the state level. So, when even the worst of Republican presidents like Richard Nixon decided to end federal efforts in some of these areas, his party shifted certain health, education, and welfare funding back to the states in the form of “block grants.” That way, the states could decide similar local programming there more flexibly on ...

Dear Annie: Drawing boundaries without hurting family ties

Columns March 31, 2026

Dear Annie: I’ve been married to my husband for six years, and for the most part we have a happy, peaceful life together. The one area where things feel complicated is with my in-laws. My husband is very close to his parents, which is something I truly admire about him. They raised a kind, thoughtful son, and I know family means a lot to them. The challenge is that sometimes it feels like there’s no clear boundary between their household and ours. For example, his mother will often call him several times a day to check in, and she sometimes asks detailed questions about things ...

War isn’t the solution we need

Letters to the editor March 31, 2026

Linda Westrick Boalsburg Americans are facing many serious problems: — An affordability crisis: High prices for food, housing, and utilities — A health care crisis: Unaffordable insurance and rural hospital closures — A weakened safety net: Millions cut from SNAP and Medicaid — Rising inequality — Tariffs that function as taxes, paid by small businesses and consumers — Unreleased Epstein files and continued lack of accountability for child sex predators — Overly aggressive immigration enforcement that ensnares citizens and legal immigrants — Detention ...

Upgrade our air defense systems

Letters to the editor March 31, 2026

Donald Moskowitz Londonderry Iran retaliated against our recent air strikes by launching missiles and drones against our military bases in the Middle East. They hit on and near our U.S. Navy base in Bahrain, which is the headquarters for our Fifth Fleet. Iran also hit a U.S. base in Kuwait with drones that killed six and wounded a number of our military members. The dozen destroyers prepositioned in the region were able to shoot down some of the missiles and drones. Looking to the future, U.S. Navy warships are typically scattered over the world’s oceans. They would not be ...