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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 ...

Fix what’s broken at home so we can defend ourselves abroad

Editorials

In 2024, for the first time in almost a century, the United States spent more financing its national debt than it did, as a percentage of GDP, on national defense. In 2024, interest on our national debt expenditures came in at 3.1% of GDP and defense spending at 2.9%. This has been the case through this year, although it’s too soon to say what the picture will finally be for 2026. But it’s very close. Hoover Institution scholar Niall Ferguson notes that this is an ominous sign. He quotes what he calls Ferguson’s Law, after 18th century Scottish political theorist Adam ...

Angler’s delight! Preseason trout chances at hand

Editorials

With such significant relief from the months of unrelenting sub-freezing days this winter has served up, it felt so joyful to dare to think about dusting off some tackle and doing a little early-season trout fishing. And many fellow anglers I talked to last week were also thinking the same way. Of course, all stocked trout waters throughout the state are currently closed to all fishing until the opening day of trout season at 8 a.m. on April 4. But there are some notable exceptions for anglers desiring to do a little preseason trout fishing this month. We are fortunate to have a ...