Readers’ Column for the week of Aug. 30, 2015

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I read the article in last week’s Pennysaver about the new restaurant in Apalachin and my wife and I went to try it out on Tuesday night. I was amazed at what had happened to the old building that was an eyesore at Pennsylvania Avenue and Main Street for many years. I used to pass that old dilapidated building on the corner every Tuesday when I went to South Apalachin to play golf. What a difference! The decor is absolutely beautiful and we had excellent meals at a reasonable price. The men who built it surely must be proud of their accomplishment. I congratulated one of the owners and he mentioned that he did not get any type of tax break or Federal or State help with his expenses. It is hard to imagine all he has done for the local economy between giving people jobs, increasing the sales tax revenue and helping Apalachin to grow. He is to be greatly commended for that and I would hope that the town and county would consider some type of assistance for him. Nice going guys!

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I would like to know what is going to be done with directing traffic on Ellis Creek Road when they decide to replace the next bridge. This road already has one bridge out and traffic is being directed up Talmadge Hill and then Ridge Road. This bridge isn’t scheduled to reopen until sometime in October. If this isn’t enough inconvenience now they are talking about taking out another bridge. This bridge is down by Searles Garage, the only choice people will have is to turn around and get back on 17C and get on Talmadge Hill South, by State Line Auto, or take a five mile detour, which consists of a seasonal road and a road with a very steep hill. That’s the only way to clear both bridges being out. Even if they wait until the first bridge is completed you still will have to travel a seasonal road to get past it. They need to put in a drive around for people. It is ridiculous to think otherwise. The people on this road need to speak up on this.

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Andrea Klett for Tioga County Clerk. She has the brains to do the job.

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I find it very sad and disappointing, and even embarrassing that in the year 2015, the Owego Free Academy Athletic Department finds it unnecessary to have a cheerleading squad for the OFA Football team. It’s not only the girls that benefit from this program, but the football team, and the entire community and fans that support OFA athletics. For several years now the girls have managed to scrounge up a team, with volunteer coaches, and wearing used, outdated uniforms.  What message does this convey to our girls from the athletic department? That the sport does not matter, that the girls do not matter? And not only to our girls, but other schools! Even peewee football players have cheerleaders. Take a look around! EVERY high school has Cheerleaders with nice uniforms, who represent their schools proudly, and who are appreciated. What does Owego have? Nothing! How sad. Perhaps it is time for a new regime?

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The Owego Fire Department is trying to form its own district. The Mayor and two Trustees who said they back the Owego Fire Department continue to vote against this proposal. The proposal will separate the Owego Fire Department from the Village Board and they will operate on their own. The proposal will have five Village residents as commissioners controlling the budget. How is this not a better option than letting then give the Village Fire District to the Town who has already shown that they will send taxes up? The Town Commissioners are all fire personnel and pretty much get what they want because nobody can tell them otherwise as shown in the last tax increase they blasted to the town residents. Please support the Owego Fire Department.

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So now we know where the Mayor stands on the Fire Department. He has two trustees in his pocket. He needs one more to dissolve the Fire Department and give it all to the Town (Campville). Village Taxpayers should pay a lot of attention to this. The Town raised taxes 33 percent and it’s a sure thing that they will do it to the Village. Contact the Mayor and your Village Trustees and get answers.

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Well here we go again. Our elected officials must have nothing better to do but bring up fracking again and pass the selling of sparklers. Apparently they have cleaned up all the garbage, fixed all the slums, crushed all the junk cars, worked on receiving grants for roads and bridges, and developed water and sewer in some Towns and Villages. I hate to say how stupid can these people get. They will probably think it’s a contest and it will get worse.

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I took my wife to Marvin Park in Owego today (Sunday) so she could practice driving my motorcycle. Upon arriving a very polite young lady asked us if we would like a piece of her 14th birthday cake. With everything bad you hear about kids in the news, it is so refreshing to meet such a well-mannered child. Happy Birthday and hope you have fun doing your nails.

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Want to see what lip service only accomplishes? We currently are flying about seven sorties by the Air Force per day against Isis. During Desert Storm we typically flew 1,100 to 1,900 missions per day. Notice a difference here? Wonder why? Like maybe our “Commander in Chief” doesn’t really want to “take them out”, but wants to make it LOOK good, like he’s doing something? Anyone surprised? I’m not!

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If I’m reading the tea leaves, letters, and the Reader’s Column correctly it is okay to dissolve OPD and turn it over to another jurisdiction but it is not okay to do the same with the OFD.

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Regarding the letter to the members of the New York State Board of Regents, short of “Un-adopting” Common Core, what can we do? Communication is essential for improvement in the program. Grade 8 >> Introduction of Common Core math standards, page 1, paragraph two of 1) section states: “Students strategically choose and efficiently implement procedures to solve linear equations in one variable, understanding that when they use the properties of equality and the concept of logical equivalence, they maintain the solutions of the original equation.” Strategically, efficiently, procedures, properties, logical equivalence should be defined by the non-teaching personnel. These include the superintendent, assistant superintendent, curriculum coordinator and other similarly involved individuals. Everyone involved is then aware of the parameters of instruction and evaluation. A secure base has been put in place from which to build. The correct answer “does matter.”

As a Tioga County resident who doesn’t have their head in the sand about our drug problem I would like to commend Broome County Sheriff Harding for trying to implement a program called Angel founded by a Colchester Police Chief out of Colchester, Massachusetts. My only hope is that some of our officials from Tioga County were there taking notes. I have gone to a forum in Tioga County concerning our drug problem and the best they would offer is build bigger jails. I think from all I went through with an addicted loved one Angel might be the answer for our county.

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Does anyone know what’s going on with Time Warner Cable? I have never seen so many freeze ups in the TV signal. Does Time Warner need a TV upgrade system? What the heck is going on with them?

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I’m from Tioga County and I was looking at the internet the other day and saw that Elmira caught people for welfare fraud, but yet when you live in Tioga County you can be turned in for welfare fraud and they don’t do anything about it. I see Broome County has caught a lot of people, it’s getting to the point I don’t want to live in Tioga County anymore because the fact of it is, the taxpayers take the brunt of the bill for the food stamps and all, that when people can work on vehicles and work and make money and still receives food stamps and nobody ever checks it out. It’s getting ridiculous because they’re making a lot of money and not turning it in, yet social services doesn’t want to check it out.

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I think we should deport the illegal immigrants back to their countries. The U.S. Army has many cargo planes plus buses to transport these illegal’s back. A wall also has to be built and let the border guards do their jobs and the laws on illegal immigrants have to be enforced also.

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I think it’s great, one man can make all 16/17 Republicans trying to run for president, shows them all up. First of all, we don’t need another guy like Bush in the White House. All you have to do is tune into Fox, day in and day out, they dubbed Obama before he ever became president, and they’re still doing it. They’re dubbing the democrats spending too much money. The Republicans say they’re going to cut the deficit and get us in line. The only way they will do this is by taking it from the poor people. I’m glad Trump is showing them up, especially Bush in Texas.

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I think that if we can send an entire vehicle through a shredder and reduce it to bite size pieces, why can’t we do that with our garbage before it hits the landfill? It seems like it would be a lot more efficient.

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Who said the following, “A lie told often enough becomes the truth”. Don’t know do you. It was Vladimir Lenin, one of Hillary’s favorites.

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Found on Sulphur Springs Road, a set of keys containing house. Describe and you may have them. Contact 687-2273.

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I was driving down Route 17 today and I noticed the weeds were 3-feet high along the highway and in the median. If we can’t get Trump in there for president after Obama I can see us turning into a third world country. It is a shame that the richest nation on earth cannot even mow its own yard.

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To the person who called about the real Fruit Newtons, if you look on the right hand side of the package there is a picture of figs and above that the word fig, namely because the company chose to expand and make additional flavors of this famous cookie. The reason they taste funny and not very much like fig bars is because they took out the high fructose corn syrup, which I am not convinced is the evil the food police claim it to be and they are now made in Mexico. Yes, read the label. I already called the company and told them I will no longer purchase their product, unless of course I move to Mexico.

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The other day I received a call from a young man that said, Hello Grandma, do you know who this is? I said, not really. He said I am your eldest grandson. I said that’s most peculiar, I don’t have any grandsons. Then he said he had the wrong number and then he hung up. Be careful folks, it is a scam to get money from the elderly. Ask questions. If they are not the right answers, hang up. I have a cousin who almost fell for this but when she told the man at the bank what she needed the money for he told her it was a scam.

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A question to the writer who thinks Dr. Russell is not being paid well or is not being paid well enough. With research, which is available online, in reading his contract it seems that Dr. Russell has a compensation package this year with salary and benefits totaling about $190,610, adding your employer that brings taxes with Medicare etc., he is now making $200,410. That seems a pretty tidy sum for one year’s work. If he chooses to leave the district he is also entitled to a walk away package of a minimum of $63,000 or $64,000, a lifetime benefit that indemnifies the district to him for lifetime benefits of health and dental insurance minimally at $300,000. So with all the things he is getting put into his benefit package he is paying zero out of pocket expenses. I don’t know too many employers that pay better than that. You’ll have to go check it out. If you look at all the other districts that are similar he is not underpaid at all, in fact he’s got a real gravy train there.

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For the fellow the news clown, the only clown I see is the one incompetently running this country, the one who the socialist democrats think is qualified to be the next president, the one who keeps telling lies about social security which will never go broke despite ludicrous scare tactics by fear mongers. Bush never tried to privatize social security. The plan was entirely voluntary and would allow people to invest 15 to 20 percent of their social security payments in any way they wished. And that is a fact!

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I think it’s an embarrassment that the Owego School District no longer has football cheerleaders for the fall season and I believe that’s a directive from the athletic department. I’d like to know why our school district in Owego doesn’t feel that the girls and their sports activities are not as important as the boys. It doesn’t represent our school very well to go to other sports functions with no cheerleaders, and it’s the first year I believe in the course of history that there hasn’t been cheerleaders. What does that say for our school? It’s a disgrace and embarrassment that they don’t feel the girls’ sports activities such as cheerleading, which could help them out in college, are important. It doesn’t seem like they really care.

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Unless you have been personally involved in a flood, maybe it’s hard for people to understand what you physically and mentally go through. Flood insurance is very costly and not the end of your problems. When I see homes that are sold and have been flooded two or three times, I wonder what the buyer is thinking. Maybe they are thinking it won’t happen again but there’s always that constant worry every time you get a heavy rainstorm. Please not again.

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One more time, to the elderly people who put their home in their children’s names so if they go into a nursing home they don’t have to pay their share. That is not fair that they get the Star exemption if the home is in the children’s name. The children of age to get a Star exemption and whoever answered my letter last week said the parents had to be living in the house. Living in a place does not give you the right to get a Star exemption or everybody who rented would get a Star exemption. You have to own the house and if you don’t own they house you should not be able to get the Star exemption and the children own the house, not the elderly people.

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If the Star exemption on homes is not based on ownership but based on whether or not the parents live there, my parents live in my home with me, so I should be able to get the Star exemption.

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LOST! Yellow toolbox with name Craig Murray on it, Saturday afternoon during Legion clambake on old railroad bed behind 106 Spencer Rd. There is a $150 reward, call (607) 972-3202.