Readers’ Column for the week of June 21, 2015

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.

Recently a very, very fine gentleman passed away from our midst, and, sadly, the news was quietly sent out. I think the family should be fully aware just how much of an impact he had on all of us co-workers at Lockheed Martin, as we are all in total shock of how quickly he left our world. He was an outstanding Information Technology specialist who was always helping us with our computer problems in a timely manner, and never made us feel stupid about our problems. He touched thousands of lives with his kind demeanor and broad, caring smile. John King, you will be forever missed by many more people than your family realizes. God bless all his family. — Steve Riesbeck of Owego, N.Y.

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The Apalachin Alliance Church would like to thank all of its neighbors on Tobey Road for the donations to their yard sale. All proceeds raised are going towards a short-term mission trip to the Dominican Republic in January. Thank you all so much for helping us get there! For more information about the church, visit www.apalachincma.org.

I would like to say congratulations to the Tioga Central School District for passing the revised budget. The first budget failed with 621-559, which was equal to 1,180 voters. The more recent was 1,076-441, which is equal to 1,573 voters. It’s apparent that 118 no voters had a change of heart, but I must question where the additional 393 voters came from. Luckily they were able to rally the community to get the increase in voters because without them, they would have still been shy of the 60 percent Super Majority.

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And all this time we thought Hillary was not accomplishing much as Secretary of State. Even Democrats couldn’t point to a single accomplishment of value. The joke is on all of us. She was stoking the old Clinton Crime Family checking account the whole time, taking money from foreign nations and attempting to buy influence by giving her money! Of course, the fact that this is illegal doesn’t stop a Clinton. The more the merrier! And people would still even think to vote for her for “president”? Ya gotta be kidding!

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Just received my NYSEG utility bill in June. A note accompanies it that states that NYSEG has applied to New York State for an INCREASE of one hundred and sixty four million dollars on our utility bills. I sure hope that our state legislatures will scream bloody murder against this increase. The general public has to get more involved in protest of increases like this. And to add insult to injury the money doesn’t even stay in our country, it gets shipped to Spain!

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Free freezer, needs to be picked up. Call Ana at 657-2847 or Tom at 972-7606.

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Please, please, please care about the hard working village people. The parking lot across from the Court House is abominable! There’s a hole at the beginning of Lake Street. The tracks on West Avenue will destroy your car. There is a hole going into Dean Street and out of Dean Street. We must rush in and out to ever get out of Dean Street. There is a huge hole by the grate just before the Talcott Street Bridge that hits the frame of your car. Once again, at the Cove Street left turn to the Talcott Street Bridge, the bushes are so high that accidents will occur!

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I feel very insecure to know that when they are looking for these two escaped killers, it took five days for the media and police in this area to notify us that one of the killers grew up in Kirkwood, which to me sounds like he probably knows the terrain. I would have thought we would have been told that sooner than five days into their escape.

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I’d like to know why nobody is taking care of our million-dollar riverwalk. It looks like hell. Where’s the maintenance. A million dollars, in the hole. That’s what it looks like.

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So now our pathetic Commander in Chief, nobama, states at the G7 meeting that he has, get this, no strategy after two years to combat Isis. Isis has stated its goal is to destroy the United States. Is nobama for real? It is obvious Obama’s goal is to just make it to the Jan. 17 elections and turn his worldwide mess over to the next president. Hopefully that will not be Hillary.

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I’d like to comment about the situation with the person who had the run in with the police officer in Miami and they had a bad experience with the woman at the front desk. I think that person would have every right to press charges in that situation. He should also sue for emotional and mental cruelty.

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For the Marxist Hillary supporter, give me a break! No one is criticizing the tens of millions of dollars the Clinton’s made, to include the $200,000 to $400,000 made for a one-hour speech; I find this a bit suspicious. The objection is Hillary is using anti-capitalist rhetoric to bamboozle poor, uninformed voters into thinking she is one of the working class. She bemoans income and equality while pocketing millions utilizing the same capitalist system she says she opposes. Remember when she lied about being broke when Bill left office? Fortunately some voters are smart enough to see hypocrisy and call her on it.

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I don’t know what’s going on with our town, village and county, but I think our laws have relaxed a little bit. What’s happened to the flags on the back of trucks with extended ladders and wood parts and pipe parts extending 4-feet off the back of the truck with no flagging. What happened to that law and how come people aren’t being stopped and ticketed for that when it’s happening too often?

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I will begin by saying I’m an independent, therefore I’m not a Republican and I’m not a Democrat. I like to look at the person rather than political party strategy. I listened to Hillary’s speech at Roosevelt Island today and have come to the inescapable conclusion that if B.S. were music she would definitely be the Brass Band, and that is the way it looks at this time.

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Found, one hammer on Route 96. Please identify if you left it by calling 321-4707 – leave a message and I’ll get back to you.

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It is absolutely absurd that the Owego Fire Department will not be providing emergency services to people in the immediate locality. What is wrong with our local government?

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I think the state police need a lot more manhunt training. It shows when they try to find escapees. They need to get out of the classrooms and into the woods.

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I live on East Campville Road and I would just know who comes down the road at 100 mph. If I catch the license plate I’m calling the cops on them. They are going to kill a child, dog, or cat or wild animal.

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Newark Valley, on late Saturday night, June 13, several items were taken off my front porch. These items included some small Buddhists, gargoyles, a plastic skull, large plastic alligator and more. Parents, if you should find that your child has any of these items it would be wise to have them return them now with an apology. I am in the process of securing a neighbor’s security tape that will identify the individuals as they left my property with the items. None of the items are valuable but the thought of anyone coming on to my front porch to steal troubles me a great deal.

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When I was at the Apalachin Field Days a couple weeks ago a lady stopped and asked me where I got my webbed chair because they are very hard to find now; however, the Christmas Tree shop in Johnson City does sell the web chairs that fold up and are easy to carry.

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We all sit here fat, dumb, and happy while our once great nation is crumbling around our ears. Our country is the laughing stock of the world. We are on the edge of destruction; we are on the verge of bankruptcy, and what are out inept incompetent corrupt politicians doing about it? Only making matters worse. The most important election our country has ever faced will be in 2016 and what we don’t need is another Clinton in the White House. We don’t need another Bush in the White House and we don’t need another career politician in the White House. What we do need is someone with backbone, someone who will rally our allies behind us, someone who is willing to stand up against our enemies, someone with a business background and business savvy that can hopefully save us from bankruptcy, because once bankruptcy occurs all is lost. This country as it once existed will no longer cease to exist. So maybe it’s time we all wake up and try to do something about it instead of asking what can the government do for us. Rather, as Kennedy said, what can we do for the government?

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This is about the Cal Harris trial. I think we should have another trial on him and it should be in Tioga County. If it’s not then Harris should have to pay the difference. If the county needs money why don’t they ask for donations, because I believe there’d be a lot of people wanting to see justice done.

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Tioga voters, we must face the reality that the financial problems we are facing cannot be all blamed just on the state. The biggest problem we have is mismanagement. Scot Taylor is a nice guy but he has proven to be ineffective as superintendent. The fiscal crisis has been building for several years, and no steps were taken to avert the problem nor have any plans been made to make changes in the future. A big thank you to Tioga Downs, but they cannot save us every year and we need a plan, and except for blaming New York State there is no plan on the table. We need to take a firm stand and start subcontracting services including buses, custodial and maintenance. The people that work there currently can work for the subcontractors.

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The Owego Apalachin school budget passed by a large majority. Why are the tax creeps insulting the school, the teachers and the board of education? We, the silent majority have spoken. We’re happy with our Board of Education, we are happy with our school district and we think they did a wonderful job keeping the taxes as low as possible. Bottom line, this is our right to speak too, and two or three people are constantly acting like they are the voice of all the people in the district. Clearly that is not the case. The majority has spoken, and we’re happy. If you don’t like our district or our Board of Education, you get to vote for the Board of Education and yet they win every time. Why? Again, because the silent majority has spoken. If you don’t like our district, leave.

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I have lived in Candor most of my life. It’s almost the Fourth of July. I have loved going to the parade. If the wonderful people of Candor think they need to block off most of the streets, just block a few spots, but not in front of my home. Stop and think about the amount of people who come to the parade.

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Hillary backed the Obama Trade Bill 45 times, now she opposes it. Guess what? Multi-national corporate lawyers wrote that bill and guess what, some Republican presidential candidate supported it too. Ninety-two million Americans are out of work, about 45 million Americans are on food stamps. The Clinton’s made $30 million in the last six months, but Hillary babbles about income and equality. Sweden gave a huge amount to the Clinton Foundation, and Hillary as Secretary of State granted Sweden an exemption to trade with whom? Yes, you guessed it, Iran! Give me a break; we need a real conservative patriot to run for president.

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I have a question. Pedestrian crosswalk yellow cones, we need one on Court Street right on the crosswalk. I’ve seen people almost get run over trying to cross in that section. Lately there have been a lot of speeders going through there. Somebody’s going to get killed.

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Yeah the budget passed! And I can’t wait to see what it’s going to be next year. I get first vote, I think it’s going to be what, 13 percent? Even with common core, that still adds up to 30 percent – it’s spread over two years. School board, you need to do your job. How about getting rid of the person who put us in this place to start with? Poor planning has led us this far. We need to get things in order.

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Severely injured, disabled gentleman requests assistance by donation of a wheel chair. If someone has a wheel chair, either push or self propelled mobility scooter with a seat 20 inches or larger, please call (607) 642-9912 and keep trying, there is no message machine. First thing in the morning is best, before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m. in the evening. I appreciate your help.

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Could anyone out there help me find a good credit counseling service or debt relief? I have tried three of them, and what they want a month is outrageous and they make you look worse to your creditors than you already do. So if there is someone who has had fair dealings with one of these places I would be thankful if you could put it in this column.

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To all the people that voted yes on the Tioga Center budget, you say you came together as a family, what about the families who are just getting by now and can’t afford the extra? You didn’t help my household at all. School is for learning, not worrying about the extra sports and so forth. Electric bills are going up, heating is going up, and I’m still surviving from the flood.