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Hunger takes a bite out of college

Editorials

There are things you think about a college student needing to pay for at school. The obvious cost is the tuition. The average cost of two semesters at a Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education school — the most affordable four-year institutions in the state — comes in at just under $8,000 per year. And yet that is not the actual price tag. It’s not even half. Various fees come in at about $4,000. Housing? You’re looking at another $7,000. Books tip the scales at more than $1,200. That’s $20,000 for just one year — and that’s without taking a bite. A meal plan at ...

Readers' opinions

Letters to the Editor

Remembering Steve Knudson: Success in multiple uniforms To the Editor: In the recent past couple of weeks, Lewistown lost a prominent, honorable public servant in Mr. Steve Knudson. He served for many years in a police uniform. I just wanted to let the public know that when he was a young man, he was very successful in another uniform. Because of the restructuring of the Mifflin County School District, much of the past athletic history is almost totally forgotten. Steve was the starting catcher on both the 1970 Lewistown High School and the 1971 Penn Highlands High School baseball ...

Get your tent ready for the new season

Local Columns

The recent glimpses of warm weather may have been a tease, but they were also a sign that winter is almost over. Every time we experience a warm, sunny day, we are reminded of two things: that soon, that will be the norm, and camping season is almost upon us. With that in mind, it’s time to talk about getting your tent ready for the new season. More specifically, airing it out before taking it out. A big mistake new campers make is buying a new tent and taking it on the maiden trip without ever taking it out of the stuff sack. Not only does this prevent you from becoming familiar ...

Slain trooper was protecting community

Editorials

The death of a Pennsylvania state trooper during a traffic stop on March 8 underscores how the lives of law enforcement officers are at risk even while performing some of their most basic duties. Cpl. Tim O’Connor was killed while approaching a car he had stopped after authorities were alerted about what was described as an “erratic driver.” O’Connor was shot to death while he was walking toward the car; it is believed that the driver fired from inside the vehicle. After firing the shot, the shooter, identified as Jesse Nathan Elks, 32, exited the car, walked a short distance ...

Readers' opinions

Letters to the Editor

God brings us out of the darkness To the Editor: When God created this world it was in darkness (Gen.1:2). Only darkness was present until God introduces His light upon it (Gen.1:3). This was light brought into creation before the creation of the sun, moon, or stars. It was light that made everything created very good (Gen.1:31). Man was in this light until he fell (Eccl. 7:29) and plunged his posterity into darkness. To walk in darkness is to be without spiritual light. It is to be “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph.2:1), to walk “according to the course of this world, ...

Transparency vital to accountability

Editorials

The coming week is Pennsylvania Sunshine Week. While we are sure that the families throughout our region our excited about the warmth and sunshine of the season, “sunshine week” refers to something else. The old adage that sunlight is the best disinfectant and the principles that for our governments — local, county, state and federal — to be truly accountable to voters, government must operate with the utmost transparency. Pennsylvania’s “sunshine laws” govern how public bodies can conduct business — how information about their decisions and when they make them must ...