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Swimmer drowns in river near Muncy

MUNCY — A Montour County man drowned Saturday night while swimming in the Susquehanna River along River Road in Muncy Creek Township, according to Lycoming County Coroner Charles E. Kiessling Jr. and the state police. The man’s identity had not yet been released as of Sunday night, but police said he was in his late 30s and believed to be from the Danville area. However, officials said he had three different addresses. “He was out in the middle of the river. A person on the shore saw him start to struggle in the water and went out in an attempt to reach him, but he was not able ...

High school reunions — time, distance can’t cut wire of coming of age together

High school class reunions are like a box of chocolates. You don’t know what you’ve got until you open them. If the reunion is the 50th – excuse me, 50th plus one, courtesy of the pandemic – there is an amazing amount of chocolate to open. The quizzical part every five years changes. You start out wondering who is married, who is not, who got the job they wanted and who did not in the 20s to who has kids at home and how we all are progressing along a professional ladder in the 30s and 40s to grandkids and health situations and where everyone has planted roots in the 50s to ...

A week that changed one woman’s mind about the COVID-19 vaccine

“I would rather get COVID than get the Vaccine.” One week later I changed my mind. My mother, my daughter, and I were driving back from Wyoming last August after two weeks of vacation fun. The highlight of the trip was a huge country and western concert featuring Blake Shelton. We shared the event with tens of thousands of his loyal fans, and even though COVID was still on the rampage, we weren’t worried – the concert was outdoors. It was during that trip that I was asked if I was vaccinated against COVID and answered with the statement I soon regretted. It’s just that I ...

It’s the community and family

We already know that aberrant behavior, whether it is killing with guns or bombs and/or drug usage or other demeaning, dangerous behavior can happen in any school system in any community. We should also know by this time that it must be dealt with in community and family units primarily. The schools cannot do it for us. It just will not happen if done by the schools alone. So, who am I to say this? Some background. We had two boys who are now men. For years before we had children, I worked as a counselor and then administrator of programs in the American Juvenile Justice System and ...

COVID-19 still very much alive

Are you over 50 or immunocompromised (weakened immune system)? If so, please read this! Those that fall in the above category are at increased risk of severe COVID-19 illness and death. Keeping up with COVID-19 vaccinations is a crucial way to stay safe for you and for all other elders in our community of Lycoming County! As the Administrator for Valley View Rehab & Nursing Center, getting vaccinated is the most important thing we all can do to keep our VIP elder residents safe from exposure to COVID-19. Many elders have comorbidities. This is a simultaneous presence of two or more ...

Pennsylvania’s next governor will face a looming budget deficit

In 2019-20, over 75,000 kids in Pennsylvania were denied a chance to leave their failing schools. Now there will be 30,000 fewer, thanks to a major win for students in this year’s budget. The budget includes a $125 million expansion in the Educational Improvement Tax Credit — the biggest ever in the program’s history — that will empower more families with scholarships to attend the school of their choice. The previous caps on the program not only denied students better alternatives but turned away $116 million in business donations to the program. We should do more than ...