You may call the Owego Pennysaver Readers’ Column at (607) 687-2378 24-hours a day, or e-mail comments to readerscolumn@stny.rr.com. We reserve the right to revise or reject any message.
Nichols Senior Citizens Club is looking for new members. We provide recreational and social fellowship for members and guest. Our only requirements are to be at least 50 years old; dues are $3.00 a year and must be paid by Jan. 1 and no later than March 1. Come and have fun and enjoy yourself! For questions, contact our President, Janet, at 699-6039 or Treasurer, Art, at 699-3114.
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This is to the person who killed a dog and didn’t stop to find who the owner was and just left him there. Did you know if you got caught that you could be fined and get 3 points on your license? Forget the damage to your car. You should have stopped then and not kept going!
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Nichols Cemetery Association would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who participated in our “Spring Cleanup” day on Saturday, April 18. Thank you to all who contributed financially. We really appreciate everyone’s help. If you wish to help with summer mowing, please call Lynn Bailey at (570) 247-7003.
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I just learned a wonderful thing. I just learned that whether or not I end up paying a 30 percent increase in my school tax isn’t determined solely by the property owners who pay the tax, but also by those who are residents 18 and older that pay NO tax. Silly me, and all along I thought school tax increases were determined by those who pay the tax. Sounds like a great way to stuff the ballot box with no consequences for non-property owners. No wonder spending is out of control! Personally, as a retired property owner on a fixed income and not a six-figure income, I CAN’T AFFORD YOU!
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This terrorist group in the Middle East called Isis was not around in the Bush administration. They developed after Obama pulled troops from Afghanistan and Iraq. Where were his military advisors? Just because he didn’t know any better it seems these advisors should have stepped in, but I know this president knows everything. When you look back on his every decision he has been wrong on every one of them.
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Please do not be blindsided by his closeness with his family and his capable witness that saw a different man at her van and let that darn Cal Harris go free completely out of sympathy. And that’s all it would be, money and sympathy!
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Nobama traded traitor Bergdahl for five top level Al Qaeda thug commanders. Then nobama had a garden photo op and he and his stooge, Susan Rice, called Bergdahl a hero. It is obvious nobama wanted to decrease the Guantanamo Al Queida war criminals by at least five. The Army had all the evidence on Bergdahl for over three years, but was forced to stonewall the full report by nobama and we will probably never see it. And to think we have another year and a half of this deceitful regime!
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I am looking for someone that repairs TV’s. Call (607) 657-8495.
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Please parents, I urge you to vote NO for the budget for Tioga Central School. Let’s make school officials start from the top down. My child came home very upset because their bus driver may have to leave in order to make a decent living at another job. This is a wonderful bus driver and the only one my child has had and grown to love. I don’t think they’re paid enough for the job they do. Please force administration to cut from the top down. Save those people who safely transport our children.
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Is Hillary Clinton going to take any tough questions from fawning press? Don’t hold your breath. Hillary jabs CEO’s for making 300 times more than the average worker. Hillary has made $300,000 per hour giving inane speeches to mostly Arab dignitaries. I guess Hillary is the best the obamacrats have. I hope the republicans are smart enough to pick a new face like Scott Walker, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, or Marco Rubio than a has been question ducker like Hillary.
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It’s true about the ole saying. Keep your enemies close and your friends closer. I had to find out the hard way how my friends are. Stab you right in the back.
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I’d like to comment about the person who talked about the Boston bombers. I too feel it would be more merciful to give the guy a life sentence without parole rather than having him put to death.
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We too smelled the sewage behind the group home on Holiday on 17C. We called the sewer department and they responded immediately. The stench is now gone. Thanks to the crew for a timely response and for taking care of the problem!
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I’m calling about the Cal Harris trial. Just before his second trial I called a gentleman that was hauling top soil and stuff down to auto places in Sayre and down in the Valley. He went the next morning and it was all leveled out. It was right after she disappeared. I think somebody should go down there with ground radar and check them because after she disappeared he ended up selling them all. Kind of a funny thing there, isn’t it? I called the State Police and they just brushed me off. Maybe somebody should check into it. You never know.
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Please be informed in preparation for the vote on the Tioga Center School District budget. As a concerned citizen and parent I am hearing a lot of false information. The district does have a baseball field (two plus a practice field) and a football stadium. The district has historically had the lowest tax rate by far of any of the surrounding districts. New York State has drastically cut funding. Even if measures such as the pool closing happen, the budget shortfall will still be too large to overcome. If the school district has to close you will be paying neighboring school district rates when the area is re-districted, and it will be much more than Tioga Center’s – even with the proposed increase. Yes, it will be a challenge to pay the increase, however the alternative that the district has to close is unacceptable. I, for one, do not want to pay even more in school taxes just to have my children bussed to a much bigger school district much farther away. Go to the Tioga Center School District website. There are informational meeting times posted. Go to a meeting and get all of the information before you make your decision in May.
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After the Tioga County Legislators give themselves, the county clerk, and the sheriff a high raise, it’s no wonder they don’t want to give their working employees a raise and settle for the contract.
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Tioga Central School District voters need to get out to vote NO on May 19 for a 30 percent tax increase. Someone must put a stop to the GOOD OLE BOYS CLUB – who get money for anything. The taxpayers need to pay attention. How many years will it be before the present superintendent can retire? He wants to make sure his pension is fat.
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I have read some of the opinions expressed about the OACS financial practices. There seems to be some statements that are inaccurate. The topic of “excessive pensions” for the employees of the OACS has been mentioned in several comments. The OACS District has no control of the pensions of its employees. ALL teacher pensions in New York are administered through the New York State Teacher’s Retirement System (NYSTRS). ALL public school systems are required by NYS to participate in that program. NYS sets the payments into the system by the school districts and it, not the school, sets the pension amount based on a system of “tier” membership and salary with years of service factors. Also, it was said that OACS contributed to 401K or 403B plans for the teachers. This is not correct. A teacher, by law, cannot have a 401K plan through their employment at a school, only a 403B plan. Schools are not allowed to contribute to a 403B plan for their employees, unlike private employers who can do a ‘match’ to a 401K.
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Duke University just came out with the results of a study stating, “There is absolutely no evidence of any global climate change what ever. Variations in temps are normal, and that’s all there are.” Some of the same experts who are attesting to dire consequences tomorrow were predicting the exact opposite dire consequences 10 years ago with the same certainty they display today. Example, by 1990, we were supposed to be positively out of gold, copper and zinc. Notice how that’s worked out. Six million people needed to be moved out of central Africa due to climate changes in the 1980’s, making the area unlivable. Notice how that’s worked out.
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It is a terrible disgrace the way that our judicial system is making a mockery of the system in the prolonging and dragging on of the Harris trial. Whoever heard of 4-day weeks for an entire trial, and to top it off for the week ending April 25 it is a 2-day week. That is worse than baloney! There has been absolutely no consideration for the poor people who have sat in the deliberation rooms longer than they have sat in the jurors’ box. It is no wonder that it is so difficult to find enough people who are willing to serve on any jury. I am quite sure that the majority of the bill for the judge, D.A., jury, guards, travel, expense accounts, and all the other accompaniments will be picked from the pocket of the public. Sad! Sad! Sad!
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It would be MUCH appreciated if the ditch from Spencer Road up Day Hollow Road can be cleaned out. The dead deer is also blocking the water flow.
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Social Security expansion is a core Democratic value along with raising the minimum wage and equal pay for equal work (both of which would strengthen Social Security in addition to being good ideas on their own).
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As soon as this week, a bill that will give the president Fast Track authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will be introduced in the Senate. This isn’t good and it could mean more jobs here in New York State and around the country will be in jeopardy of being outsourced overseas. Make no mistake – this trade agreement favors multi-national corporations at the expense of the American worker, middle-class families, and our economy. Call or email your member of Congress and both NYS Senators.
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The TPP is a corporate-rights agreement designed to facilitate the export of U.S. jobs, allow corporations to sue governments for enacting labor and environmental protections, make it illegal for governments to favor local businesses, and advance the colonization of national economies by global corporations and financiers. The richest of the rich exploit tax loopholes that pave the way for American dynasties.
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Corporate CEOs rake in exorbitant, tax-deductible bonuses. Meanwhile, the rest of us are struggling to make basic ends meet on poverty wages. When the wealthy and corporations don’t pay, it’s the people who are left holding the bill. It’s high time that we reinvest in our working and middle classes. Call Gillibrand and Schumer as well as Reed and Hanna and tell them you want the Wall Street casino reined in. top rebating the stock transfer sales tax now. And you also want the federal tax code returned to where it was before the Bush tax cuts, at a minimum. And do not repeal the estate tax. Don’t play games with our lives by calling it a death tax. It’s a death tax only for those of us who are NOT billionaires. It’s a tax only on billionaires at their death to reasonably prevent them from passing on billions in wealth to their heirs, tax-free. It’s not a tax that affects the average person like you and me.
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Now that the sun has returned, dermatologists are once again promoting the sale of “so-called” sunscreen lotions. They don’t tell you that there is no scientific proof that any of these products prevent skin cancer.
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What if the person who “isn’t even from Owego” is a person with a young family who is looking to buy a home in the area and is researching schools? I am not considering Owego because from the outside, it looks like a few people with personal agendas and big mouths spread lies and make life miserable for the school and community. What good does it do to attend board meetings when certain people walk out with no intention of believing a word they just heard? Then those people go out and distort the facts and in fact tell outright lies. They have lied about tax increases and many other things – things that can actually be verified with numbers. That is a fact.
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We need to stop fast tracking TPP – trade agreements that hurt us all. If you fast track, you can’t go back. Call your congressional representative and tell him/her to vote against Fast Track Authority (Rep. Hanna at (202) 225-3665 and Rep. Reed at (202) 225-3161.
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I guess some people think that a couple of dozen students taking a ten minute ride to a career information day is the same as an entire grade level going to The Discovery Center, Howe Caverns, or a Triple Cities Opera performance. I’m not one of them.
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While the rest of us dutifully sat down to pay our fair share in taxes, some of the most profitable corporations in the country avoided paying billions by exploiting complicated corporate tax loopholes. In 1952, the corporate income tax accounted for about 32 percent of all federal tax revenue. Today, despite record-breaking profits, corporate taxes bring in just 11 percent. Meanwhile, some members of Congress are trying to convince us that we need cuts to Social Security, Medicare, food stamps and other programs that millions of Americans rely on. President Obama can close some of the most egregious loopholes through executive action – without the approval of Congress. Contact the White House at Comments: (202) 456-1111 or by using the online form at www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments.
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“The U.S. grows more soybeans and corn than any other country in the world. So why are we importing so much of them? It’s one of the strange ironies of our Byzantine global food system: Even as the socially conscious consumers who are driving demand for more organic products show an increasing desire to eat locally as well, it turns out there’s just not enough organic grain being produced in the U.S. to go around. That means a rising portion of the feed used to produce things such as organic eggs and milk is coming from places as far-flung as Romania, India, and Ukraine.” “Suddenly We Like Organic Corn So Much We Have To Go To Romania To Get It.” — Jason Best from Takepart.com
