Breaking News

Letters

‘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 ...

The Constitution belongs to us all

Most Americans don’t wake up thinking about constitutional law or the separation of powers. They worry about paying the mortgage, buying groceries, affording health care, and putting gas in the car. They voted hoping life would become more affordable and secure. Instead, many are facing rising costs, growing uncertainty, and a government increasingly focused on consolidating power rather than solving everyday problems. Throughout history, democracy has rarely disappeared overnight. It erodes when leaders weaken independent institutions, demand personal loyalty over constitutional ...

Inconsiderate neighbors

Why are certain unneighborly neighbors so inconsiderate, when they park on the city street? I have one car, and the neighbors have 3 cars, and they park in front of my house often. I have even tried to reason with them to simply move their cars up a little, but they just show a stupid smile, say some baloney, and walk away. Plus, they actually have at least 5 car lengths to the intersection from their house, and they refuse to move up to it! I know that no one really legally owns the spot out in front of their house, but when a neighbor has plenty of room to park elsewhere, why ...