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The hard work of restoration

Local Columns

We are grateful to God our King who has given us life and sustained us and enabled us to reach this day, returning to this season, the season of Hanukkah, otherwise known as the Feast of Dedication. A season where we mark the return of the land of Judah to its proper caretakers. This includes the cleansing of the temple and the relighting of the menorah. We celebrate, joining with the tribe of Judah unto whom God has given authority to rule over kingdom affairs, until Shiloh comes. It is the Jew who has been given oversight of the sacred oracles and have repeatedly paid the price to ...

This holiday season, support your hometown businesses

Editorials

Tens of millions of Americans will do most, if not all, their holiday season shopping with giant online retail operations this year. They will argue that it is more convenient or safer for them to do so rather than patronize local brick-and-mortar stores. Now, Fort Dodge will soon become home to one of Amazon’s last-mile delivery stations. The massive building is being constructed now. This is great news for the future of the community, but it is no reason to give up on the existing local retailers. Local retailers, from mom-and-pop specialty shops to the big-box stores, rely on ...

Skills that today’s hunters are losing

Local Columns

Much has been said about the decline of hunting, with recruitment as the leading cause. This refers to the lack of new members joining the ranks, young people who never pick up a bow or a rifle and head into the field. But there is another side to the coin: retention. Retention refers to individuals who do try hunting but, for some reason, leave the sport. Sometimes this is due to time constraints, competition with other activities, moving away or simply a lack of interest. However, I believe there is something else to blame. Hunting has become boring. Sure, bagging a big buck or ...

Canada measles outbreak shows that vigilance must not slip

Editorials

The next outbreak of serious disease is merely “a plane ride away,” public health officials have long warned. The current crop of measles cases in Canada proves that point. A traveler infected with measles visited a community in New Brunswick with a low vaccination rate, sparking a national outbreak of the disease in 2024. About 50 people were sickened in that incident, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. Meanwhile, others who were unvaccinated visited the community, traveled home and thus the disease spread across a country where conditions were ripe for an ...

State’s fiscal challenges are alarming

Editorials

Since all seats of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and about half of those of the state Senate will be on the state’s 2026 election ballots, it’s safe to surmise that commonwealth residents need not fear a state income tax increase, no matter when the Legislature completes its work on a budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year. The purported deadline for completion of that budget is June 30, but it took the General Assembly more than four extra months beyond June 30 of this year for work on 2025-26’s $50 billion spending package to be finished. It was a mess for which the ...

Road salt issue should be simple

Editorials

Pennsylvania residents who watched as the just-concluded 2025-26 state budget-preparation debacle played out might be thinking that the Legislature surely might now be able to find an issue that it can handle more quickly and more efficiently. But, in fact, will it? There’s an issue “out there” involving road salt, but state lawmakers have found a way to make it more difficult than it ought to be. Some state lawmakers — and presumably some non-elected officials — believe that road salt’s use ought to be curbed in order to reduce environmental damage stemming from ...