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State should fund predator program

Last year we supported District Attorney Cody Brown’s WRATH unit. The group is a specialized investigative unit of local law enforcement officers committed to protecting children from online exploitation. The unit, as envisioned by Brown, works to identify and capture those who prey on children through digital means. Its mission is to expose and prosecute those who seek to exploit minors online. We have seen too many instances locally of children locally who have victims of online child sex predators, which is why we so vocally backed Brown’s initiative. But we recognize such units ...

Harris wrong about packing Supreme Court

The rule of law for thee, but not me? To “fight fire with fire,” former vice president Kamala Harris is calling on Democrats to consider packing the Supreme Court with liberals and punishing conservative justices for lying during their confirmation hearings. “This is a moment where there are no bad ideas,” she said on a podcast this week. In any moment, these bad ideas would endanger the constitutional order. No matter how much someone disagrees with recent decisions by the high court, threatening to subordinate judicial independence to the whims of a political party befits a ...

Gratitude on Memorial Day and every day

Monday is Memorial Day. On this solemn holiday, we often reflect on whether we do enough to commemorate this important day, whether we do enough to honor these heroes’ sacrifices throughout the year and whether we are doing enough to ensure future generations understand how important these observances are and how important this sense of gratitude is. Remember these sacrifices not just on Memorial Day or on Memorial Day weekend, but every day throughout the year. Our armed services have placed hard work and values above all, and on this weekend, we honor those whose values led to ...

Threats against lawmakers are chilling

We reported last week on a disturbing case involving a Lebanon, Pa., man’s threats against several Democratic Party lawmakers. The State Police at Jonestown have charged Adam G. Berryhill, 42, of Lebanon, Pa., with terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another after Berryhill allegedly posted a threat on his X account on April 7 and again April 22 threatening several legislative Democrats, including Ben Sanchez, Jordan Harris, Rick Krajewski, Malcolm Kenyatta, Danilo Burgos, Chris Rabb, Joe Hohenstein, Mary Isaacson, Emily Kinkead, Lindsey Williamsm, Steve Santarsiero, Amanda ...

Move carefully on standardizing bail

We don’t disagree with the idea of making sure local judges are properly using bail. It’s unfair if people are in a county jail solely because they can’t scrape together minimum amounts of bail. Bail should be used as a means. But we think state lawmakers should act deliberately on any proposal that could end up impacting public safety. We think Rep. Tim Bonner, R-Grove City, has good intentions with House Resolution 519, but Republican lawmakers should be wary of unintended consequences from taking the first step toward bail reform that House Resolution 519 proposes. Bonner ...

Senate to defer pay during shutdowns

Democrats and Republicans don’t agree on much these days, but you can bet they share an aversion to political suicide. Consider this week’s Senate vote on a bill related to government shutdowns. On Wednesday, members of the upper chamber adopted a resolution to withhold their pay — most make $174,000 a year — during future shutdowns. The vote was unanimous. No surprise. Who’s willing to go on record demanding his or her own paychecks keep coming when federal workers are sent home without pay? Shutdowns have become increasingly more common in recent years as political ...