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Photos and memories

I just sent the photo of the one room schoolhouse in Rose Valley to my sister in Ohio. She reminded me of our mother, Elizabeth Maule, who was the elementary librarian for the Montoursville School District. She would, until these schools closed, travel to them every couple of weeks. She would take boxes of books to the kids and read to them. They would run out to her car, help her carry in the boxes, and rush back to their seats and be quiet, ready for her to read to them. She would often read stories to go with the seasons and holidays, like Halloween. Mom started in Montoursville in ...

Kudos to Jersey Shore Area School Board

The Jersey Shore Area School Board recently addressed a controversy about the pending purchase of an ELA/Reading curriculum for K-5 students. This meeting included an online presentation by the vendor Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA), which allowed for the board members to ask questions during the vendor’s live-feed. After the CKLA video presentation (and board discussion) concluded, there was further deliberation, solely among board members who seemed to be dismayed by the actual content that could (would?) be presented to our K-5 students. Among the board’s collective concerns ...

Providence saved them

Despite certain pretenses of some leftist educators and historians, past and present, George Washington was a man of devout Christian faith. Honest research into his own writings alone bears this out. As a young colonel in the French and Indian War, Washington’s life was spared on more than one occasion by the force of seeming miracles. One in particular, in the woods of western Pennsylvania, when he and British General Edward Braddock were on the expedition to capture Fort Duquesne from the French, they and their men were ambushed by Indians and French. Braddock, all his officers, ...

American plumbing

Every home owner owns any number of water sources: kitchen faucet, bathroom faucets, toilets, showers, tubs, laundry tubs, outside spigots. One little drip can seem an insignificant drop, but dripping day after day all day long for years adds up. And if not just one source but every source is dripping, the result is a flood down the drain and a deluge of expense, and all for nothing. That’s Washington. We’re told that a few million here, a half billion there, forty billion somewhere else as for USAID isn’t significant. Of course that’s true when compared with the immensely ...

Lies

It is well-documented that Trump routinely fills his public statements with not just exaggerations but outright fabrications. As during his first term, Trump continues to spread false claims at a frequency and scale unmatched by any other elected official in Washington. While Democrats have also been guilty of lies and misinformation, it does not compare to the relentless distortion Trump perpetuates. What remains deeply troubling — and frankly incomprehensible — is why so many continue to support this behavior. History may offer some perspective. Adolf Hitler, notorious for ...

Goodbye, Hiawatha

When I moved to Williamsport in 2005, one of the first community-based activities I did was to ride the Hiawatha Riverboat. After that initial ride, I was hooked. As someone that has always loved the water and boats, this was a perfect way to spend a summer evening. The following year I soon found myself attending wing nights and other specialty cruises with friends. When out-of-town family came to visit, I was always sure to take them on the Hiawatha. At that time, it was a cost-friendly way to give my guests a taste of our unique community. Unfortunately, those days are gone. Over ...