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What other newspapers are saying: FDA’s recent performance embarrassing

The Food and Drug Administration shouldn’t be in the news if it’s doing its job right. By that measure the FDA is failing in spectacular fashion. The agency this week is making news for all of the wrong reasons, and the dysfunction could have life and death consequences for patients. The biotech firm UniQure on Monday reported that the FDA had moved the goalposts for approving its Huntington’s disease gene therapy. There are currently no approved drugs that can slow progression of the brutal neuro-degenerative disease, which afflicts about 40,000 Americans. The FDA in April ...

Growth needs to be priority for state government

We agree with the warning state Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Loyalsock Township and state Sen. Tina Pickett, R-Towanda, shared in an op-ed column this past weekend about the effect Pennsylvania’s bureaucratic barriers have on expanding broadband in rural Lycoming County and we urge their fellow ...

Veterans Day teaches us about patriotism

Patriotism, U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Burley Malbrough told those in attendance at Montoursville’s Veterans Day ceremony, isn’t about slogans or politics but is about gratitude and stewardship. “It is the belief that our nation - with all of its imperfections - is still worth the ...

Compromise to end shutdown acknowledges importance of focus

One complaint we have shared with readers about Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget process is that his proposals have been contingent on big, sweeping changes — legalization of marijuana among them — that we believe deserve nuanced, thorough debate on their own merits by our legislators. We ...

What other newspapers are saying: Education, safety not worth compromising

Gov. Mike DeWine has legislation on his desk that should not be difficult to reject. State Senate Bill 50 would allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work until 9 p.m. during the school year. According to a report by the Cincinnati Enquirer, the law would require permission from a parent or legal guardian and a work permit from a school, but it would allow students (some of whom could be in the eighth grade, based on their age) to work 18 hours a week or three hours a day during the school year, and 40 hours a week when school is not in session. The most surface-level reason to reject the ...

We hope retention vote rooted in reality

In the wake of Lycoming County Judge Nancy Butts losing a retention vote to continue to serve as president judge, our editorial board must wonder the role an unfortunately distorted view of crime and public safety in our region may have played in voters’ decisions. Are our streets safe? Is ...