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Work built our communities then — and builds them now as well

Today concludes a series of special sections the Williamsport Sun-Gazette has been publishing — our Then & Now sections. We always enjoy the opportunities to share the rich history of our region with the public. We continue to believe that a better understanding of “then” can help our leaders and voters alike in deciding what our “now” should look like. One consistent thread we find as we look back over the decades — building our communities and neighborhoods required a lot of work. Work met the needs of families throughout our history — four housing and shelter, for ...

Neighboring state’s gun control push too rushed for comfort

Advocates for gun control have pushed more than a dozen separate bills through Virginia’s state legislature in less than two months. We must question if these proposals are truly being carefully deliberated upon. Some of these changes, such as bans on long-legal types of firearms, ...

AI’s risks come with more forewarning

Twenty years ago, no one really knew where social media was going to go. Facebook had just dropped “The” from its name. It was not yet ubiquitous. It was only beginning to move beyond college campuses and into broader public use. By 2006, it opened the doors wide. There were just two requirements: have an email address and be at least 13. It was a revolution without a war. We can remember a time when we weren’t in years-long WhatsApp group chats or documenting every sandwich on Instagram. But the inch-by-inch way social media’s before and after bled together can obscure how ...

What other newspapers are saying: Narrowing tax base would be a self-inflicted progressive wound

One of the most consequential trends in American politics is that Democrats are increasingly discovering what Republicans have known for decades: Voters don’t like taxes. Now the gubernatorial primary in California has become an experiment in how far tax cuts might take a Democratic politician in one of the country’s bluest states. Katie Porter, one of the most progressive legislators during her six years in Congress, is running for governor and polling in the middle of a crowded field. To boost her languishing campaign, she has proposed eliminating state income taxes — for ...

Can candidates deliver on jobs?

Pennsylvania was third in the nation for job growth in 2025, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. While nearly one-third of states saw a year of losses in 2025, from December 2024 to December 2025, Pennsylvania gained more than 76,000 jobs — a 1.2 percent increase year-over-year, compared to a 0.4 percent increase nationally. That’s great news if you live near one of the state’s urban areas, but doesn’t mean much in a lot of rural counties. Within the year’s growth, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh ranked as two of the top U.S. metro areas(opens in a new ...

Transparency plays key role in realizing America’s values

“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.” James Madison, our fourth president, made this powerful observation more than 200 years ago. As Pennsylvania Sunshine Week comes to a close, it is worth reflecting on. Our nation, now approaching its 250th year, was founded on certain goals — the creation of a society in which public affairs are conducted with the consent of the governed, in which decisions are made by men and women chosen through democratic means by the ...