Readers’ Column for the week of Feb. 12, 2016

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.

Last week’s paper had a question about the approaches on either side of the new Campville bridge. I talked with the crew working on it last fall and they indicated that the basic construction was done enough that it could be opened to traffic in both directions through the winter, but at that point it was too cold to apply good asphalt ramps on either side. That is planned, but it will have to wait until warmer weather in the spring. It will extend a good ways in both directions for a nice smooth transition. I watch the progress and think the guys have done a great job: a much appreciated improvement over the original that dated back the 1930’s.

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Mayor May says the village is hurting for money. One source of income for the village would be to ticket and fine all the places that do not clear their sidewalks of snow and ice. There are many of them. It is too bad that OPD doesn’t have a traffic camera at the intersection of Front and Williams Street. They could issue hundreds of tickets per day to people for driving through the stop sign without stopping. There are also parking violations galore in the village.

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To the person that found the ladies ring in Spencer: My advice, just keep the darn thing! People are going to judge you for wanting a token in return for recovering it because they are stupid. You don’t have to give it back at all. So save yourself the trouble and keep it, sell it, whatever you want. It’s yours now! Finder’s keepers-losers weepers, is my opinion. The times of doing something for nothing out of kindness are over. Don’t let yourself be shamed into giving it away for nothing by someone who lives in the land of rainbows where unicorns fart glitter; these kind of people are delusional!

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Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me! Let them speak!

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FOUND: Large, gray female cat in Tioga Center. Call (607) 759-7467.

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The actions of the members of the Spencer Town Board are a slap in the face to all the volunteers who have devoted so much time in the Spencer Fire Department. Dividing the community is not leadership and they should resign if they cannot put the needs of the community first.

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I just got back from my daily walk. Can anyone explain why some people and some businesses do not shovel their walk? I believe there are city rules that require walks be cleared. I am so happy I am not a mail carrier. 

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Fifteen percent of the village can’t afford to pay 100 percent of the village bills, Mayor. It’s time to dissolve the village.

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A little information, my auto insurance went up $65 this year. I called the insurance company and inquired as to why and was told it was a state fee that the State of New York put on the insurance company. This is why people leave New York State, because of high taxes and fees.

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I’m glad the Village of Owego is going to get something good out of all these grants. We’re going to get a Starbucks on Front Street. Thank you!

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I’m calling in regards to the green lights. The caller said that they are on and said they were about Christmas. Well, the green light in the porch light is to remember the Vets and the other lights are decorations. You do not pay my electric bill so I am going to add five or six more strings to the house just to make you happy. Oh, by the way, maybe you do pay my bill, welfare? Oh, I guess you do pay my electric bill. Thank you very much! Have a nice day!

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I heard that the Chicken Coup Antiques store on Carmichael Road was open again. I drove by to check last week but did not see any open signs. Would anyone know if it was open or if it’s seasonal?

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Hiawatha Youth 14 Soccer Team is looking for players, boys or girls for the spring season. Call 727-6373. 

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Our area was way behind in combating your heroin problem. If they had spent more time and money on attacking the problem instead of trying to hide it and set up offices and studying and setting up people for running offices and being the head of that, and teach people and talk about it we would be way ahead right now – had they attacked the problem when it began. The people all knew there was a problem. The only people who didn’t know were the people in charge of doing something about it. 

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Tioga Central School plans to spend $7 to $8 million on upgrades, sidewalks and parking lots, and they mentioned asbestos removal. Does anyone know if they’ve tested lead in the drinking water or is that another surprise for the taxpayers next year?

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I see where Broome County is suing some of the big drug manufacturers, saying they have not told the patients how dangerous pain medications are. I think they are suing the wrong group. What about the doctors and hospitals that hand out the pain medications like candy? They are the ones who should be sued.

National Political Viewpoints

Betcha dollars to donuts George Soros is behind much of this anti Trump protest nonsense. Soros stands to lose control because his money isn’t buying influence like it did with Nobama and the liberals.

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Glad to see Trump and his band of billionaire thugs struggling to handle the heat. I hope that the GOP and the Dems keep the pressure on Trump to do his job and do it the right way. I know that I am looking for my representatives in congress to hold him accountable, whether they agree with him or not. If they don’t, they’ll lose my vote in the 2018 midterms.

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Betsy DeVos made it. If she can get unions out of education nationally and locally, we can get Conservative classroom teachers and administrators in place, watch education get back to where it was once. We need standards in the classroom and people in place who will hold students responsible for reaching the standards they need to. Do away with little league games where we don’t keep score and with participation awards, instead of rewards for excellence. Look at the people who were against Betsy DeVos, all in positions where they profited from money from Unions, never mind the result, the disaster that unions have brought to the classroom.

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The filibuster before the vote to confirm Betsy DeVos as the secretary of education was entertaining. The teachers unions had given big money to the Democrats, who solicited for more by showing the donors that bribes do work. To show the teachers that they got their money’s worth, Democrats blabbed on for 24 hours before the vote. Further proof of the “money talks” rule was presented by two Republican senators who also had experienced the intoxicating whiff of teacher dollars and voted against the nominee. DeVos was confirmed and the money extracted from the teachers was wasted.

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I read with a degree of amazement and amusement the incredulous comments made by Trump supporters. They really believe this man will be the savior of the middle class. I know these days Republicans believe in “Alternative Facts” that make black white or up down. “Alternative Facts” that Republicans choose to accept as true are mind-boggling. Real “Facts” are there if they would only choose to look. For example, the very first Executive Order that Trump issued made it more difficult and expensive for first time homebuyers. While this didn’t affect me, it did affect the mortgage costs of my granddaughter’s new home. Over the life of her Mortgage it will cost an additional $20,000 to $30,000 in interest payments. Also, I hope you will always have clean air and water here. Trump’s last Executive Order allows coalmine owners to dump their slug into any stream. The clean air act rules are being rolled back and the EPA is about to be scrapped. I am old enough to remember when you couldn’t breath the air in New York City, Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles. We will see those days again? I guess “rules” don’t apply to Trump or Republicans in general – they only apply to Democrats, a party that keeps saving our butts after the Republicans take us off a cliff. I just wonder how happy Trumpsters there will be in a year, or four years. It will be fun to witness, but I’m afraid it is going to be painful for all of us!

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“Make Germany Great Again!” Alternative Fact; Hitler plagiarized Trump’s campaign slogan.

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I just had a thought. Suppose Michelle Obama had refused to live in the White House and President Obama had flown to Chicago every weekend to visit her; and suppose he had dyed his hair blond and spray-painted his face to look white? Do you suppose the Republicans would have taken notice?

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Want to know why the stock market rallied after Trump’s victory? The answer is that so-called “Smart Money” is betting on his resigning and putting Pence in the Oval Office. That would be a dream come true for Wall Street.

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Imagine my joy! I, a republican voter, wake to find both houses of congress and the presidency controlled by my party. Things will change now, I thought. Now, President Trump is well on his way to sign more executive orders than Obama. I am incensed that Trump is stooping to Obama tactics. Executive Over-reach is still a problem; I thought we’d do this the right way. Starting to regret voting for this president. Hoping congress will hold him accountable, but Reed (NY-23) and Tenney (NY-22) seem to be content to let him be the next Obama. Considering voting differently in 2018.

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I think Trump should go after the guy who is inciting these riots. He’s a billionaire who’s putting money into it and he’s having professional rioters cause trouble. I think our president should go after him.

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More murders on the Texas and Mexican border than lives lost in Afghanistan. Why isn’t the media reporting that? We need to build that wall, hopefully completed within two years as they now are saying. 

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I see our two local representatives from congress, Claudia Tenney and Thomas Reed, voted to pollute our water with coal waste. As someone who used to work in the mining industry, you cannot believe the toxins that are going to be going back into the water again down there. I feel sorry for you people because once water is polluted it doesn’t ever clean up with chemicals; and believe me you wouldn’t believe the chemicals used. So thank you Mr. Reed and Claudia Tenney, mister environmentalist. Tom Reed’s got nerve sending out his flyers of why we should vote for him. 

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On Friday, Feb. 3, the House of Representatives voted to overturn the law that would prohibit the sale of guns to the mentally ill. Evidently there are representatives in congress that need to buy a gun.

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Chuck Schumer’s teardrops must have been for us NYSEG customers because he certainly hasn’t done anything to get the rates down; but give him a tough job like tampon tax or soft drink tax and he fights tooth and nail! He’s also good at slowing down progress with his sharp tongue, especially against Trump’s great plans for America. Go Chuckie!

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What bad examples the rioting liberals are making for America. As we know, many of them are paid for this destructive action. It is time to bring in the National Guard and stop them. Quiet, calm protests are allowed in America, not bomb throwing, brick throwing and assaults on innocent civilians and law enforcement and property. I, as an American, want it stopped. It is wrong and doesn’t build a strong unity. If the chaos continues we will become more vulnerable to aggression by other countries. All Americans should be preparing and unifying as the radical Islamic terrorists are never going to stop. Put America first instead of your petty agendas if you want to live in freedom.

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I see someone left a comment in this column about how President Trump ought to keep his mouth shut, go to his office, and do some work instead of being on TV all of the time. Well, it’s showing that he is doing some work; and the only reason Obama wasn’t on TV is because nobody knew what golf course he was going to be on! 

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I have a comment to all of you people that are so critical of our president. An anal canal has more of a purpose than you do, so put that in your pipe and smoke it!

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The Patriots won the Super Bowl and the patriots won the last election. Viva Donald Trump!

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In last week’s column, a female writer stated all the failures of Hillary Clinton. You couldn’t have nailed it any better! Thank you!

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We rubes just love the liberal opinions in this column. We get our cold beer and pretzels and sit around the potbelly wood stove and read the liberal melt down comments. We use voices like Thurston Howell III from Gilligan’s Island and Diana Rigg, Pee Wee Herman and Winchester from Mash. Thanks for the entertainment. You make our Saturday night pickin’ party super!

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To your commie loving Donald, he’s afraid Putin will have him poisoned if he doesn’t suck up to him. Putin’s the bully; Trump’s the fake bully.

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I have finally come to realize the big attraction for people to Donald Trump. He’s simple, he’s not a smart man, he’s simple. You cannot be a simpleton and be the president of the United States. We can’t afford that.

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I am an American Veteran Patriot and a voter and I represent many family members, neighbors and friends. While I say we are disgusted with the inability and laziness of congress, we want action and we expect you, congress, to do your jobs and support our new president and his prudent decisions. If you fail to do your jobs, we the voters will show you our disgust on Election Day. Believe me!