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Pushing public notices to government websites a bad move

Legislation in the Pennsylvania Senate risks allowing local governments to operate in the shadows, leaving taxpayers unaware of decisions affecting their pocketbooks, their communities and their quality of life. State Senate Bill 194, sponsored by Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Adams/Franklin), would allow school districts and municipal and county governments the option of posting meeting and other legally required public notices on their websites instead of publishing them in newspapers, the trusted source of public notices for generations. Proponents of SB 194 believe the bill offers a ...

It’s time to clean up the WNBA

Women’s basketball should dispel the tired platitude that the world would be a much kinder place if women ran it. I just watched yet another video of WNBA player Caitlin Clark on the receiving end of inappropriately violent behavior during a game. This time, Clark’s team, the Indiana Fever, was playing the Connecticut Sun. The Fever were up 10 points, and Clark was in possession of the ball when she was poked in the eye by the Sun’s Jacy Sheldon. As Clark was recoiling away from the jab, Sheldon deliberately bumped her, and then Sheldon’s teammate Marina Mabrey shoved Clark to ...

Keeping cool when the Juniata River Valley heats up

Heat has a way of settling in Juniata River Valley and making itself at home. It seeps in early, ripening the hills and softening the river, then lingers — thick, persistent, demanding everyone pay attention. As July draws closer, forecasts point in a single direction: it will be hot. The kind of summer that fills the air with the hum of window units and makes shade as precious as sleep. This isn’t a summer to ignore. Every credible forecast, whether it comes from the old hands at the Farmer’s Almanac or the digital machinery of AccuWeather, says the same thing: above-average ...

Baby Agnes mystery needs to be solved

The possibility exists that someone — or some persons — in Blair County or somewhere else in the region might be feeling much anxiety or outright fear today as a result of an announcement last week by this county’s coroner and the Pennsylvania State Police. For the benefit of anyone who might have missed the announcement, Coroner Ray Benton and the state police revealed that the unidentified partial remains of a child found deceased on Feb. 5, 1987, in a wooded area between Pinecroft and Bellwood had been exhumed on June 10 with the purpose of attempting to obtain DNA ...

Newspapers, news sites best places for public to access notices

We join the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association and our colleagues across the state in strongly opposing Senate Bill 194, which would give local governments the option of advertising public notices on county or municipal government websites. Rather, recognizing that changes have occurred in both government and the news industry, we support House Bill 1291, which allows for modernization of the process without limiting the public’s access to this critical information. Public notices keep residents informed about planned government action — zoning changes, fee hikes, tax increases, ...

Lawmaker’s efforts to ensure transparency commendable

We appreciate the efforts by state Sen. Cris Dush, R-Pine Creek Township, to address an important issue. “I find it deeply troubling that Pennsylvania’s long-standing (Right-to-Know) law mentions no criminal offense for destroying or altering records subject to a RTK request,” said Dush, chairman of the State Government Committee, according to an article in last weekend’s edition of the Williamsport Sun-Gazette. “Not surprisingly, the rule of law is entirely thwarted whenever government officials or their staff intentionally dispose or suppress records that have been ...