Breaking News

Editorials

County fairs continue to teach valuable lessons

We recommend everyone takes some time to visit a county fair. It perhaps goes without saying that these fairs offer families a lot of fun and a lot of food. But what’s more important is that they offer people from across the county and the surrounding communities a glimpse into important parts of the fabric of rural living. “Agriculture remains a critical part of our state’s economy and our region,” we noted a year ago. “As the state Department of Agriculture notes, the agricultural sector contributes about $132.5 billion to Pennsylvania’s economy annually and supports ...

Medicaid reform in the ‘Beautiful Bill’

President Donald Trump recently signed H.R.1, aka the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” into law. The basis of the bill is an extension of the 2017 tax relief. Also included in the new law is the first substantial reform to the Medicaid health insurance entitlement. Despite claims that “the sky is falling,” the Medicaid reforms are actually a start at guaranteeing that the program will survive into the future and be available for the country’s most vulnerable people. Opponents decry the “cuts” to Medicaid. In reality, the new law actually reduces an increase in spending ...

Gender gap grows wider and wider

The gender gap, we’re informed by some of the best polling analysts in the business, is bigger than ever. Ever, in this case, means since the election of 1980, when men were more willing than women to vote for Ronald Reagan and oust Jimmy Carter. That spurred political journalists to emit multiple articles examining just exactly what was on women’s minds and probing their different and presumably superior opinions. The assumption was that the gender gap was costing Republicans votes. Being of a contrary disposition, in October 1982, I wrote an opinion article titled (paraphrasing ...

Heat brings wave of high energy costs

The weather forecast says the heat is here with more coming, and so is the next electric bill. It’s not news that summer in Pennsylvania brings more than sunburn and long evenings — it brings a jump in energy costs that has a habit of sneaking up on households across Mifflin County and beyond. Every year, air conditioners switch on, fans start humming, and the meters outside our homes spin faster. If you’ve glanced at your bill and wondered how it got so high, you’re not alone. Over the past five years, electric costs in Pennsylvania have taken a steady, stubborn climb. Last ...

Traffic safety, other quality-of-life issues matter

While it may not excite, anger or frustrate Pennsylvanians in the same way as many of the topics addressed in Sun-Gazette headlines — as they are reading the articles or discussing the news of the day with friends and family — we suspect most motorists and even passengers in our region have, at times, found traffic to be an angering or frustrating experience. For this reason, we believe everyone can appreciate the efforts of city leadership, featured in recent editions of the Sun-Gazette, to improve traffic safety in Williamsport. We specifically believe Williamsport’s ...

Now’s the time to make a safer Middle East

The aftermath of the 12-day war with Iran looks mixed more than two weeks later. Iran’s nuclear program was badly damaged and likely set back for years. But the Ayatollah’s government isn’t admitting defeat and shows no signs of dropping its revolutionary or nuclear designs. That puts into focus the next policy question for the U.S.: Will Trump’s cease-fire give way to diplomacy that deepens the achievements of the war, or will it put those achievements at risk? Iran is still talking tough and rejecting Trump’s demands, even after bailing out of the fight with Israel and ...