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Harvard’s ‘billions-for-trillions’ trade-off

The medical breakthroughs achieved by Harvard Medical School have been documented by the Economic Impact Analysis Report on Medical Innovations from the National Bureau of Economic Research and the NIH Funding Data Overview of the National Institutes of Health. These studies also compared the estimated monetary benefit of these discoveries to the cost of Federal grants to Harvard. Here are a few examples of Harvard’s medical research achievements: In the early 1920s, researchers at Harvard Medical School played a crucial role in discovering and developing insulin therapy for ...

Traditional diner food

Who doesn’t love all-American diner food? Our area has some of the finest. Incorporating the same successful menu and staff from their previous Memorial Avenue location is Peg and Bill’s Diner on Lycoming Creek Road. This new location brings high quality breakfasts and lunches to the area. My first time eating there I enjoyed my favorite diner meal, breakfast. It centered around a large fluffy hotcake served with a generous serving of real butter and thick syrup. A stand-out juicy — not greasy — sausage patty. The coffee was outstanding and hot and served in an old-fashioned ...

Bogus child deportation claims

Recently activists supporting illegal immigrants have tried to make an issue of children born here to illegal alien parents are being “deported” with their parents. As Secretary Rubio clearly explained, these children, having been born on US soil are US citizens and can stay here if the parents so choose and make proper arrangements. Their departure is solely the choice of the parents. Most foreign nations, as well as the U.S., consider children born to citizens while in another nation as citizens. If say a Mexican national, here legally or otherwise, gives birth to a child the ...

Endangered Species Act

Two weeks ago, while many people celebrated planet Earth’s natural beauty and resources on Earth Day, the Trump Administration proposed a rule change that would profoundly weaken the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the most important law in our country protecting threatened plants and animals. The proposal by the U.S. Departments of the Interior and Commerce would limit the regulatory definition of “harm,” radically altering what it means to harm imperiled plants and animals. One example of the law’s value: In 1940 only 21 Whooping Cranes remained in the wild. Today, thanks ...

Pay disparity

As a member of the public who regularly monitors county job postings, I’d like to raise a concern that’s increasingly being voiced by residents: the growing pay disparity between county positions — especially regarding 9-1-1 dispatchers. According to the current listings on the county website and recent newspaper articles covering commissioners’ meeting, roles at the Central Processing Center start at $25 per hour. In contrast, 9-1-1 dispatcher positions begin at $18.72 per hour. Even the listing for a Resident Supervisor at the Pre-Release Center starts $0.48 higher than ...

Trump’s real agenda

Donald Trump promised Americans a booming economy: “…the best jobs, the biggest paychecks, the brightest economic future the world has ever seen.” As egg prices reach a new high (just in time for Easter), he’s now bracing Americans for economic turmoil. His chaotic and destabilizing trade war will dramatically increase costs on a broad swath of products, including toys, clothes, and electronics. Trump’s overhaul of the federal workforce has targeted scientific research and international aid. Cuts also hit central Pennsylvanians – farmers who supply food banks, and ...