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The return of ‘Law and Order’

On Tuesday, Brooklyn Borough President and former police captain Eric Adams took the lead in the New York mayoral race with 32% of the Democratic primary vote, 10 points more than progressive Maya Wiley, who had the endorsement of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. How did Adams beat the elite? Said The New York Times: Adams built “an old-school political coalition that united Black and Latino voters,” and was “able to persuade working-class people, largely outside Manhattan, that he was the best candidate to make the city safe from crime.” Adams’ anti-crime and pro-cop ...

Lemonade and fudge – seems like a sour combination, right?

I have had the privilege of hosting Anne Fisher-Henson as a Chamber Administrative Intern over the last year. She is a student a Dickenson College, but due to COVID-19 and remote learning, was able to devote some time to the Chamber. I have invited her to take over the column today to share with you her experience working with the Chamber. — Rhonda Kelley, executive director of Juniata River Valley Chamber of Commerce ¯¯¯ Lemonade and fudge. A sour combination, right? Growing up in the Juniata River Valley, there was one summer day that my sister and I tirelessly anticipated ...

Joe Biden and the Blessed Sacrament

The dispute over whether Roman Catholics who facilitate abortions should be permitted to receive the Blessed Sacrament appears to be coming to a head as President Joseph R. Biden Jr., a public Roman Catholic and public abettor of abortion, continues to attend Mass regularly and receive. The Church has condemned abortion as being among the gravest of sins. To Catholics, the baby in the womb is a distinct human being who enjoys the right to live, and the Blessed Sacrament is not a symbol; it is substance. It is the body, blood, soul and divinity of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and ...

Equality Act slams door on religious freedom

The Supreme Court’s recent decision, Fulton v. Philadelphia, is justifiably getting mixed reviews. Catholic Social Services sued the city of Philadelphia, through the Philadelphia Archdiocese, for canceling its 50-year contract with the Catholic social services agency because it refuses to certify same-sex couples as foster families for the purpose of foster care. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of CSS, finding that Philadelphia violated its First Amendment protections. The criticism is that the decision was narrow and technical, skirting the core question of how we understand ...

Who benefits from immigration policy of Biden and Harris?

Let’s talk calmly and objectively about U.S. immigration policy, shall we? And let’s focus on what’s happened so far this year following our nation’s latest changes in strategy. Those changes have sparked an unprecedented flood of refugees across our southern border. The U.S. Border Patrol reports that during the month of May, agents grappled with more than 180,000 migrants. In April, the number was 178,000. A government estimate says we are on track to handle more than 2 million immigrants entering via the southern border by the end of this fiscal year. That doesn’t count ...

Who is really killing American democracy?

By a vote of 30-1 in the House, with unanimous support in the Senate, Juneteenth, June 19, which commemorates the day in 1865 when news of Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation reached Texas, has been declared a federal holiday It is to be called Juneteenth Independence Day. Prediction: This will become yet another source of societal division as many Black folks celebrate their special Independence Day, and the rest of America continues to celebrate July 4 as Independence Day two weeks later. Why the pessimism? Consider. Days before Congress acted, the Randolph, New ...