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Eradicating blight can boost quality of life, economic development

Let’s say you’re house hunting, and you find a property that seems to check off all the boxes. Enough space, the roof is solid and so are the heating and cooling systems. And the price is reasonable. There’s one catch, though. The house across the street has long been abandoned. Its paint is peeling, yellowed curtains wave in broken windows, the grass is knee-high and someone has spray painted an obscenity on a side wall. You assume that the house is a year-round domicile of a whole variety of rodents. With that, you decide to keep on looking. That illustrates the ...

High school theater productions set high standard

Bravo to area schools for some simply spectacular performances in high school musicals and theater performances this year. Mifflin County gave theater junkies a wonderful journey down the yellow brick road with “The Wizard of Oz,” East Juniata followed with a whimsical adventure of Roald Dahl’s “Willy Wonka” and Juniata just wrapped up Disney’s “The Little Mermaid.” The curtain is set to go up on Mount Union’s “Hello Dolly!” at the end of April. The first three productions certainly set the bar high for the finale, which is sure to be another ...

Orphan wells show government too quick to spend money

The government often is too quick to commit to spending money and too slow at nearly everything else. Between the federal and state governments, hundreds of millions of dollars have been committed to plugging “orphan” wells — oil and gas wells abandoned decades ago by now-defunct companies, without the necessary remediation to prevent or mitigate environmental damage. There are 350,000 such wells in Pennsylvania. Or perhaps there are more than 700,000 such wells in Pennsylvania. It will cost about $18,000 to plug each well. Or $33,000. Or $68,000. Or it might cost $110,000 each ...

Transparency needed to keep public’s trust

Our March 26 editorial focused on one plausible reason why many American taxpayers still are awaiting processing of their amended tax returns that they filed on Internal Revenue Service Form 1040-X — some more than two years ago. That plausible reason: Despite the end of the pandemic, perhaps more than 50% of IRS tax-return processors still are working from home, outside of the controls and productivity of a formal work environment. It is estimated that more than a million amended returns still haven’t been processed. The IRS has not formally announced whether the current ...

On Easter, let Christ’s message never grow old

Easter should be a time of great joy, fulfillment and celebration, consumed by the knowledge and appreciation of Christ's victory over death. Unfortunately, this year, Easter seems destined to be somewhat less than that, when there is reflection and contemplation regarding this planet's big picture. As in other years, on Easter morning, it is true that most faithful will flock to services inside churches in the spirit of love and hope, while others will attend Easter sunrise worship services outdoors amid the same spirit, if weather permits. Regardless of where a congregation's ...

Rule should be changed

Last spring, a marker was placed at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies in Washington County honoring Dennis Krisfalusy, an Air Force veteran who was killed with his wife, Lois, in a devastating earthquake that hit Mexico City in 1985. The only problem for Krisfalusy’s family, though, is that Lois’ name could not be placed on the stone because of a federal rule that does not allow the names of eligible spouses or dependent children to be added to a headstone or marker if they died before 1998 or after last October. But Guy Reschenthaler and Chris Deluzio are among two ...