President-elect Joe Biden is being urged to include a Native American in his Cabinet, possibly as secretary of the Interior Department. If he does that, the person named would be the first Native American ever to serve in the Cabinet. Proponent of such action have a person in mind: U.S. Rep. ...

Like everything else in 2020, Thanksgiving is markedly different in this year of the cruel coronavirus. To start with, there are likely fewer gatherings. And at those gatherings, there are likely fewer people, either because someone has the virus, or because of concerns that someone might get ...

Federal CARES Act assistance has been invaluable for many American families and businesses. Without it, what appears to be a record-setting recovery from the financial crisis caused by COVID-19 would not be occurring. Millions of families with laid-off breadwinners would be in desperate ...

U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials and scientists are in a race against death. It is one they must undertake in a cautious sprint. Two COVID-19 vaccines appear nearly ready to go. Before doses already on the production line can be distributed, the FDA has to approve ...

A surge in COVID-19 positive cases locally has heightened concerns about the pandemic, but the number of cases in our local classrooms remains varied among different schools. Therefore, decisions about closing schools, remote learning and continuation of traditional learning also have varied ...

Say it isn’t so. Please. News that commercial flights will not be returning to the Williamsport Regional Airport anytime soon certainly is disheartening. American Airlines, the sole commercial carrier here, recently decided to stop our local air service. That decision followed what ...

American presidents need to hit the ground running, especially when it comes to national security. We have too many enemies in the world to let our guard down for even a few hours. President Donald Trump continues to challenge results of the Nov. 3 election through the courts, including U.S. ...

More than a few people who voted for Joe Biden as our next president were not unhappy with one aspect of incumbent President Donald Trump, we suspect. It was his pledge to battle the federal bureaucracy on behalf of the American people. Trump calls it “the swamp” — and there is ample ...

Joe Biden is not yet president-elect officially, but it seems clear he will be the nation’s next chief executive. The sooner he clarifies his agenda — especially regarding energy — the better. It is probably no coincidence that within days of the election, some energy companies began ...

The county, much like many school districts earlier this year, is moving forward with a budget that holds the line on taxes. We believe this is not just appropriate during a year when a global pandemic took a hard swing at our economy and people’s livelihoods — it is compassionate. At ...

So many traditions, gone in a flash. So many happy moments, stolen by the pandemic — let’s call it GRINCH-2020. We missed life events and community events. Many weddings were postponed and traditional proms were not held. Seniors graduated but in novel, socially distanced ways. We ...

State Republicans have called for an audit of the 2020 election process. Extraordinary measures, they said, would be taken to learn if the election was fair. There has been no evidence yet of any wrongdoing, but there are so many people who fear that their votes were not counted that this ...

Triskaidekaphobia — fear of the number 13. If you are among those of a superstitious ilk, you might want to be extra careful today, as today is Friday the 13th. The number 13 has been considered unlucky since medieval times, and the superstition around Friday the 13th as particularly ...

Some positive news came this week for 15 small businesses in our area, which ultimately should benefit the communities where these beloved businesses operate. They are to benefit from $137,650 in grant funding — much like other businesses that were recipients earlier this year — that is ...

We call them “citizen soldiers” because for most of the year, they are not in uniform but instead, among us at our workplaces, schools and elsewhere in our society. But this year, many are on the front lines of a war being fought not with firearms and other implements of combat, but with ...

The lure of the outdoors has been particularly strong this year during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Fresh air adventures have provided opportunity to escape months of lock down and concerns about the potential for the coronavirus to spread in crowded indoor settings. And those adventures ...

COVID-19 testing is more than a matter of individuals safeguarding their own health and that of their families. It has become an important tool in limiting the disease’s spread. Recognizing that, members of Congress included an important testing provision in the CARES Act approved ...

In the political chaos of this past week, so much attention has been focused not just on the outcome of this election, but questions surrounding the vote and the way it was conducted this year. It may be some time before everything is sorted out. In the meantime, it has pulled our focus ...

Our hats go off today to Lycoming County Voter Services — and like offices in other counties — as they toil to count amid a certain level of chaos. Phones ringing off the hook, we are told. People angry for a host of reasons related to their ballots. Folks with little patience to ...

Irresponsible. That’s our view of the constable — maskless — who reportedly told voters at one city polling site on Tuesday that they did not need to wear masks or engage in social distancing. His photo was quickly circulated on social media. Meanwhile, the Voter Services Office was ...