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Marijuana and workplace safety

Claims that regulating in the adult-use cannabis market in Pennsylvania will endanger workplace safety and productivity are pure fear-mongering (Editorial, “Debate on marijuana needs to be its own merits,” June 11). First, most safety-sensitive employees — such as commercially licensed drivers — are governed by federal drug testing regulations. As a result, changes in the state-level status of cannabis cannot alter these policies. Second, studies consistently show that employees who consume cannabis during their off-hours are no different than their peers. Their workplace ...

Remember when?

Remember when Trump promised to deport ALL the people who are here illegally? And, remember when economists kept saying that our economy will suffer if all the undocumented workers are deported. Finally, remember how so many Trump supporters said things like, “If they are not here legally, deport them. They are taking jobs away from Americans.” Well, Trump just said those undocumented workers should be allowed to stay. Yes, he really said that. And then he threw out this bright shiny object to distract his supporters. Trump said he was going to let these undocumented ...

How much is a child’s future worth?

In order to provide second grade students in Jersey Shore Elementary the best possible opportunity to gain a solid foundation in reading and other skills, at last night’s meeting of the JS School Board director Mary Thomas asked other members to temporarily hire an additional second grade teacher to bring class size down to a more manageable number. Yes, class size does matter at these critical grade levels and as a result of the closure of Salladasburg Elementary, there has been a significant increase in the number of students per class. Salary and benefits for the additional teacher ...

We get what we vote for

Two petty billionaires with bloated egos and nary a discernible set of leadership principles betwixt them. National, nay global embarrassment was predictable. Voila! We get what we vote for. ANDREW KILPATRICK Williamsport Submitted by Virtual Newsroom

Are we great yet?

Despite what Donald Trump thinks, this is a great country. And we’ve accomplished great things while being positive and uplifting about it. We built an education system that is the envy of the world. Public K- 12 education and our colleges and world-class research universities provide a better life for all. We joined the freedom-loving international community to create alliances to check the spread of totalitarianism and its Soviet sponsor. We launched a space program that reaches for the stars while providing benefits for all on Earth. We funded science and the arts. We ...

The candy jar

The Trump administration is busy on so many fronts that it is hard to focus on a single issue or even a few related issues. This is especially true with the “Great Big Beautiful Bill,” 1,000 pages long containing numerous unrelated provisions. Hopefully, the Senate will find the courage to stop this bill from moving forward in its current form. Already, some forty government agencies have been shuttered or reduced and tens of thousands employees laid off and their lives upended. These agencies were created out of an established need, staffed by people with specific areas of ...