Sometimes it seems every pledge of reform by the Roman Catholic Church is matched by one —or more — reports of outrageous behavior. A permissive policy toward predator priests who molested children appears to have characterized church policy for decades, not just in the United States but ...

The most effective education on world trouble spots requires going there. So, just before Thanksgiving, a group of members of Congress went to Afghanistan. There, they talked with both U.S. forces and officials and Afghans, including that nation’s president, Ashraf Ghani. Making the trip ...

There are some important takeaways from an issue that arose during the course of this year, leading up to November’s general election. They have to do with public service in the form of local government volunteer boards. Earlier in the year, a woman applied for a position on the county ...

The Lycoming County United Way has set an ambitious goal of $1,612,126 for its current fundraising campaign, a dollar more than the most ever raised. The goal comes along with some significant changes in the way the local campaign is raising its money. According to United Way leadership, the ...

Just a month after Mexican drug cartel murderers massacred at least nine Americans living in that country, more evidence of mayhem south of the border has been written in blood. In early November, two separate groups of women and children were ambushed near their homes in northern Mexico. ...

U.S. policy regarding the granting of asylum to would-be immigrants ought to be based on the facts of their situations — not on technicalities. Yet, according to an Associated Press report, many asylum seekers are falling victim to just that. According to the AP, the new policy “forbids ...

We’re hoping for standing room only Tuesday night at the Community Arts Center. Not only is it the annual Winter Holiday Concert of the Repasz Band, it also will be the final performance under the direction of Maestro Albert J. Nacinovich. Nacinovich has been involved with the ...

“One is too many.” That’s what city Police Chief Damon Hagan had to say on Monday following another deadly shooting involving a teenage victim on Friday night. The slaying of 16-year-old Riley McDowell, the second minor killed by gunfire in the city in the past four months, is not ...

There is one place where Pennsylvania is a leader among states in our nation — pay for lawmakers and judges. They will collect another raise in 2020, a salary increase of 1.9 percent which is tied, by state law, to the year-over-year change in the consumer price index published by the U.S. ...

During recent visits to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, Pope Francis pronounced that, “The use of atomic energy for purposes of war is immoral.” He added, “As is the possession of atomic weapons.” For many years, the Roman Catholic Church seemed to sanction policies by the United ...

Mayor Gabriel J. Campana, whose third term is expiring in just over a month, recently presented City Council with his final budget proposal. The $27.9 million draft budget holds the line on real estate taxes, similar to other proposals the mayor made in the past 11 years. But those proposals ...

For decades, tobacco companies insisted their product was not hazardous to health. When scientific proof countered that, they maintained their advertising strategies were not calculated to get as many new smokers hooked on nicotine as possible. We know now that all of those protestations ...

It’s safe to say Pennsylvania’s speaker of the House of Representatives does not see much that surprises him. And Mike Turzai, the current House Speaker from Allegheny County, had heard plenty of good things about the Pennsylvania College of Technology before he came for a recent ...

A moment to breathe — a moment to share with family and friends. That’s what we are thankful for today. We are thankful for this day that will bring people to gather around our Thanksgiving dinner tables. Family is paramount, as are good friends. Today is a day about being ...

City officials recently introduced Tacoma, a male mixture of Belgian Malinois and German shepherd, as the first of what is hoped will be a new three-dog team for the city police department. City police have had K9 units steadily since 1979, but have been without police dog since 2015, when ...

About 85 million families in the United States own a pet, or about 67 percent of our nation’s households. That’s according to the 2019-20 National Pet Owners Survey conducted by the American Pet Products Association. From families raising children to young singles in their first homes ...

Life in these parts is pretty special, and a big part of that is our people. We are a region filled with people who come together when they see a need. They build, they support, they care about others, from friends and family to neighbors and perfect strangers. We’ve watched over the ...

Gloves. Toothpaste. Deodorant. Soap. Basics to many, but to others, they lack money to buy these basic personal items. The YWCA of Northcentral Pa. recently decided to do something about that and erected the first of four planned “Huts of Hope” in front of its West Fourth Street ...

Slightly more than 30 years ago, millions of Americans watched helplessly as pro-democracy protests in China were crushed ruthlessly. Our horror at the Tiananmen Square massacre was mixed with admiration for the courage shown by more than a million Chinese in standing up to the ...

Believe it or not, even though video games seem to have taken over the lives of our children, many still participate in outdoor play. This region is blessed to have many parks, and not just parks but parks and playgrounds with multiple activity offerings that are continually getting ...