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What other newspapers are saying: Preemptive pardons should be off the table

President Joe Biden used his pardon power in mid-December as the Constitution’s framers had intended: as a pre-Christmas act of mercy. He commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 people who were released to home confinement during the pandemic and whom the president believes have successfully readjusted into society. He pardoned 39 others convicted of nonviolent crimes, such as drug offenses, following a case-by-case review of their applications. This is a stark contrast to Mr. Biden’s ill-considered pardon of his son Hunter and to the misguided notion, still under discussion within ...

Desire for historic preservation must be mindful of other factors

A debate in Philadelphia, chronicled by the Philadelphia Inquirer, has caught our attention and, we feel, highlights the risks when a desire for historic preservation teeters too far to an extreme. Calvary United Methodist Church, in Philadelphia’s Cedar Park neighborhood, recently was ...

What other newspapers are saying: Congress should repeal ‘transparency act’

Politicians prattle on endlessly about their love for small business, as opposed to the corporate giants it’s easy to denounce. Yet when they get the chance, they saddle small business with laws like the Corporate Transparency Act. A federal court in Texas has handed Donald Trump and the Republican Party an opportunity by imposing a nationwide injunction on the CTA’s reporting mandate. In 2020 Congress tucked the CTA into the National Defense Authorization Act in the last days of the Trump Administration and it passed over Mr. Trump’s veto. The intent was to combat money ...

Clemency decision truly a ‘travesty’

We agree with state Rep. Jamie Flick, R-South Williamsport. As reported in the Dec. 17 edition of the Sun-Gazette, Flick is troubled by President Joe Biden’s decision to grant clemency to Michael Conahan, a disgraced ex-judge of Luzerne County who presided over the “kids for cash” ...

Celebrate the values we have in common

Wednesday marks both Christmas and the first night of Hanukkah. Christmas commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazereth, whom the New Testament explains is God the creator incarnate as man. It begins the story of His life, culminating in His crucifixion and resurrection — the Christian ...

What other newspapers are saying: Boosting health care in rural US

About two weeks ago U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., released a press release on her partnership with U.S. Se.n Susan Collins, R-ME, on introducing legislation to improve access to health care and address the physician shortage in rural areas. The Rural Residency Planning and Development Act of 2024 would authorize the Rural Residency Planning and Development Program to continue providing start-up funding to rural hospitals, medical schools, and other organizations to establish new rural residency programs. Among current medical residency programs, the release said only 2 percent of ...