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Letters

Access to airlines

I took the plane from our airport to Dullas and returned last summer. Being disabled I found getting into the plane challenging. All the people were very accommodating, and I enjoyed flying low so I could make out familiar landmarks on the way. Dullas Apport would have been a challenge were it not for the wonderful wheelchair attendant who navigated the complex route. On previous trips I have used the State College Airport which has flights at more convenient times and serves more destinations. The challenge is there is no convenient public transportation to get there. I hope with the ...

The case for debate

Televised campaign debates have a rough reputation in the United States for very good reason. The format doesn’t allow for significant clashes of ideas. The candidates are often over-coached and rely on their stump speeches more than their God-given rhetorical abilities. And the topics are rarely exciting enough to engage the audience. With this said, the art of rhetoric and the debate as a format are still alive, even if the television tried to hide them. They are asking Dan Meuser and Rachel Wallace to answer the call. I ask for a slice of your time to make this case in three ...

‘It can’t happen here’

For decades, Americans watched authoritarian governments abroad crack down on peaceful protests, and we told ourselves that it could not happen here. We saw our country as a beacon of democracy, protected by our rights to free speech and assembly. But we now see such crackdowns on American soil - backed by a presidential directive. Several months ago we were warned about the dangers of the National Security Presidential Memorandum-7 (NSPM-7) titled “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence.” This order gives federal agencies broad sweeping powers to track ...

Fair and just gerrymandering

As of 2020, the State of Pennsylvania had 4,092,693 registered Democratic voters (47.6% of the total registered voters in the state), 3,290,944 registered Republican voters (38.3% of the total), and 1,215,657 registered other party voters (14.1% of the total). Disregarding the other party voters for the moment, Democrats would comprise 55.4% of the combined total of the two major parties, and Republicans would comprise 44.6% of this combined total. Pennsylvania has 17 U.S. Representatives from 17 congressional districts. From a purely statistical standpoint, one would surmise that 9.4 ...

If everybody would do their jobs

Mayors are elected to work for their constituents. Reporters are paid to expose mayors when they don’t. Another article reporting on the “condemned” City Hall. That word “condemned” brings visions of dilapidation, decay. It is never mentioned that the police still use this building to hold all their records and evidence, that the police work out in this building. Reports on the $50,000 annual cost of keeping City Hall. Never a report on the cost of the mayor and all the departments renting space in other buildings, while they own a building- City Hall. Reports on the ...

Ego ambushes legacy

Once again the man in the White House has proven his complete lack of respect of and understanding for how our government is supposed to work. Even though he campaigned with a promise to ‘Put America First’ including solving the housing problem that plagues so many hard-working people, including in his own base, he cancelled the signing ceremony scheduled for a rare, bipartisan bill that is a giant step forward on making that promise a reality! This after scuttling the reauthorization of a surveillance tool and almost sinking GOP efforts to increase immigration enforcement ...