Readers’ Column for the week of April 23, 2017

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.

I wonder if the Owego Village Board is aware of the Sunshine law, which in essence says that they are not to discuss Village business except at public board meetings for all but personnel discussions. It sure seems like there are many points that are cut and dried long before most meetings start. Case in point – Don Castellucci has already budgeted to handle Owego Village Court cases next year and a decision has not even made to dissolve it and the topic was a real surprise. Who put the bug in his ear? He sure is not clairvoyant. Most of us feel that the board wants to get rid of the police department at all cost. I really do not think they are in love with the fire department either. As much as I would hate to see it happen, I would be all for dissolving the Village of Owego just to get rid of this board. Sad, isn’t it! Sorry to hear that Ron Horton is leaving. He had a tough assignment.

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I find it hard to believe that our government can find someone through old phone calls but that we cannot locate the damn current day telemarketers. Right now the latest is for credit cards, utility bills, emergency bracelets and other. Some calls are two and three times a day, and then we have the ‘legal’ calls from the sheriff’s office, political parties and others looking for a donation.

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Nichols Cemetery is having a clean-up day on April 29 at 9 a.m. All are welcome to come help. If you would like to volunteer your help for summer mowing, or make a monetary donation, call (570) 247-7003 for more information.

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Concealed Carry Weapons holders as a group are less likely than police officers to commit a crime. This information is readily available online if you do your research. The so-called Wild West is turn of the century Hollywood fiction and has little basis in reality.

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I really wish the DOT would adjust the West Avenue light at North Avenue. The wait is ridiculous.

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Not to wish hard times on anyone, however, let’s compare two recent DWI arrests and how the Justice system handles the cases. One is a guidance counselor arrested in the Town of Tioga. He lost his job and has to face Town Court. Second Is a Town Supervisor, involved in a motor vehicle accident, arrested, and sent to another Town for arraignment. Both are community representatives.  A good reporter should look these cases over, not to make changes but to report their observations.

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People complaining about the socialists giving students free college should also complain about free K-12 if they want to be consistent. By the way it’s just free tuition, not including room and board, and only at SUNY colleges.

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Do you only shop in Owego? Do you work in Owego or elsewhere? If you owned a business would you only hire Owego residents? What if the skills you felt you needed weren’t available, would you settle for employees with lesser skills? Would Lockheed Martin stay if they could only hire Owego residents? Don’t restrict hiring. It will cause you to fail.

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Maybe I missed it, but is the Post Office going to relocate the drive-up mailboxes while Lake Street is closed? If so, where?

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There was a picture in a local paper recently of the ‘Mother of All Bombs’. It looks like it cost many millions of dollars. I wonder how much it cost to paint the Stars and Stripes backwards. The stars should always be in the upper left corner to be displayed properly. Sure hope it was not intentional.

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Senator Akshar did a good job on voting the wishes of his constituents based on his released survey results except in changing the responsibility of 16 to 18 year olds. He voted HIS way. I believe that there are many behemoths in the 16 to 18 year old age group who threaten and bully society and I think these people should be as subject to the laws, just like us older people.

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We are looking for someone to clear some brush and use a chipper on it instead of creating brush piles. The brush is in an area where we are trying to replace an old fence. We are in Berkshire. Call 657-8035.

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I hope everyone is content now that they know what a baby giraffe looks like. Looks to me like the mother, only shorter and smaller, something I knew all along. I still cannot figure out what all the attention was all about. I hope all this attention is done.

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On May 7, from 1 to 4 p.m., there is free bowling at Owego Bowl along with free soda and free pizza for all school age kids. Hope to see a bunch of you there!

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I was reading the comment about barking dogs and people responding that there were a bunch of cats behind the house that make the dog bark. We have two barking dogs in our neighborhood that bark nine out of 12 hours a day at squirrels up in the tree, people walking by, and a leaf flying; it barks constantly and the lady will not do anything about it. Is there anything we can do about it if it’s before 11 at night? It’s just awful. The whole neighborhood is complaining, the business down the street, a bunch of apartments in the neighborhood, everybody’s complaining and this has been going on for over a year. Sometimes there are as many as four dogs over there. Is there anything we can do? Please respond so we know what to do.

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It is indeed time for people who live in the Owego / Apalachin school district to take back the district. Folks from out of town are running the district from top to bottom. They won’t move in, they go to sporting events and cheer for the opposite team of the place where they work. The perception is just terrible when that happens. Again, Owego / Apalachin school district people need and want to take our school district back.

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My God, is it just stupidity to keep throwing money at the Binghamton airport? Millions and millions of dollars and people go elsewhere anyway. Is it that hard for somebody to figure out?

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The last time the county paid money to outside consultants to look at current situations at the airport it was determined that if they called the greater Binghamton airport all the problems were going to be solved. Now that sounds very stupid and apparently was very stupid. When are they going to learn?

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I sympathize with the person who has to listen to a barking dog all day long. The dog owner is the idiot, doesn’t care and maybe is deaf, too. Call your local dog warden and file a complaint. If that does not work, contact your neighbors and file a disturbing the peace complaint with the police. If that does not work, record the barks and seek advise on filing legal action against the dumb neighbor. Good luck! Peace and quiet is way better than noise and ignorance.

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I am so happy they took down the huge slide at the fairgrounds that had been there for 70 years! It was so dangerous to kids down there alone.

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I see the circus is coming. Barnum & Bailey was after many years shut down for cruelty to animals. The baby elephants were tied flat on the ground with four legs tied down. They were made submissive by a bull hook! Animals don’t walk ropes or sit on back feet in the air. The lucky elephants from Barnum & Bailey Circus were retired on a preserve in Florida to be normal and close to their family elephants. 

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I hear there is talk that the Tioga Center EMS has a slow response time. You do know that they are a volunteer group and some come from 10 miles or more to get to the fire station? Some even leave work to get to the fire station. So until you walk a mile in their shoes I would not say too much. Better yet, they are always looking for recruits. Great job Tioga Center Fire Department!

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The Broome County D.A. says they have a big problem with heroin deaths. He never says anything about the local hospitals that push Fentanyl to patients in hospitals for pain medication. Fentanyl is the hospital’s main pain medication of choice. I think this causes young people to get addicted.

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If you read the paper on Friday, April 14, remember to write the big word NO on most of all – that Waverly school budget. Do you know they want to almost double the “mathematician” because that is the big word, the math teacher’s salary, because she is given this new title “mathematician”? Come on, check those figures, check the books, you can do it, you can demand to go see the books. Just do it.

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Who jumped the idea that we need milk from cows in California? Now that has got to be the silliest idea anyone has ever given us. Travel that milk across the country? How much junk do they put in it? We have enough farmers here; we could use those farmers if the government would let us. We do not need cows from California!

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I may be way behind times, and that’s possible, but I’ve got to know, do the kids really learn to count these days by dots when we couldn’t even count with our fingers or the teacher would slap our fingers with a ruler? What the hell is wrong with this program? And then the math teacher wants double pay? Come on; let’s look at these books at school. Before you vote look at the books at school. You can do it; you’re a taxpayer!

National Political Viewpoints

Can we please go a couple of days without a fresh dose of illegal, treason or stupid coming from the Trump administration? They disregard the War Powers Act and launch missiles into Syria. Multiple FISA warrants were issued for numerous connections between the Trump campaign and Russian spies. They cannot even organize the Easter egg roll on the white house lawn.

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Last week’s caller asked Trump voters if we were happy with our selection. Let me say for all us Trump supporters, yes, we love his leadership and guts. The same goes for Tom Reed and Claudia Tenney. Go, go, go you doers and shakers!

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Can you say President Pence? I knew you could!

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It’s so simple. If Trump did not have something to hide he would release his tax information. He’s hiding something and this is something we need to be concerned about. 

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Feeling safer with Hillary? Are you kidding? That would be like asking the fox to guard the hen house. I think having her in charge would mean another term of Obama. 

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A lot of residents of New York State are going to be punished again. Cuomo says cut taxes, cut taxes. Now we are going to have a free college. Who is going to have to pay for that? The people of New York, taxes and taxes. The last news I heard I think it was 78,000 people last year left New York because of high costs and no jobs. Here we go again. The thing is, if we are going to have free colleges, then the kids must not protest on college campuses, the teachers should not put their religious or political views on the students, and if they do they should be terminated with no benefits. The teachers should have no pension since it’s going to be a state operated type school system. The private schools are going to be punished and they won’t be able to function as well. I think the children should also be registered for the draft – plus the females, because the males have to register for the draft to get any grants and that should be for the women also. I just wish our political people would look to the people, that the taxpayer did not want this and all it is, is to buy votes for the Democratic Party. 

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I was hoping Hillary would have retired. I think she is back with Cuomo bragging about the new free New York tuition. The tuition that I, as a taxpayer, must pay and don’t have the money for. I’m so glad she is not in the White House because she would have done nothing but spend our hard earned money. Go Trump!

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Trump tales. The great IM is making America great again, not in the White House but by playing golf every time he gets a chance at his place in Florida – costing the taxpayers at least $100 million a year. But hey, what’s money? My tax change forecast shows that he’s going to get his millionaire buddies tax windfalls of hundreds of millions of dollars and the money is coming from your pockets when he cuts your Social Security, your Medicare, your Medicaid, your food stamps, your meals on wheels and your education, oh yes, we have to pay for that wall, and we have to put more boots on the ground, maybe $90 billion worth. Hey, we’ve only had 100 days of presidency so far! What’s next?

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You’ve got to be very grateful the liberals and the left people are not running our country. There would be no country, no government and no borders, and everything would be free with no money to pay for it. What in the world are they thinking? 

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I’ve thought about my vote for Mr. Trump and I’m so glad that I pulled the lever for Mr. Trump. Finally, an administration that is allowing our military to do their job. Eight years of doing nothing has hurt this country tremendously. Hopefully we can get ahead and feel safe again.

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First of all, I’ve been a Republican all my life, I’ve always voted pretty much strictly Republican. This last guy, Donald Trump, I didn’t have good feelings about voting for him because I just didn’t know what to expect and now he’s been my worst nightmare. Everything he promised us in the election, pre-election, he’s backed off on. Everything, he’s doing just what everyone else has before him. He’s totally forgotten about the people who elected him. It really makes me mad. I, for one, will never vote for him again in my life, he’s a loose canon. I’m sorry, I’ll vote for an Independent, even a Democrat, but I’ll never vote for him again.

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Tomorrow, today, start up New York. It’s time to drain the Albany / New York swamp. Get rid of emperor Cuomo, Attorney General Schneiderman, stumble buns Deblasio, shmuck Schumer, and money is no object Gillibrand. In general, it is time to dump the Democrats. The word alone describes them. Demo, demolish the constitution and rest, that is self explanatory. Don’t forget their symbol mascot, Jackass. Go Republicans!

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The advertisement should say “enough is enough”, not start up New York. I am sick and tired of all the freebies. I work hard to support my family. Out of that comes my taxes to pay for it. A Democrats ways of buying votes. These include free college tuition, free phones, welfare, food stamps, free fuel, free birth control, free abortions, illegal immigrant legal fees, an increase in minimum wage and the list goes on. If I don’t pay my taxes I become jailed and lose all my possessions. I’d become a white male, middle class slave. Maybe there will be a sanctuary city or state for me.

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Last week’s caller said that they want Claudia Tenney to talk to them in a town hall meeting. If someone wants to talk to Claudia Tenney, one on one, face to face, call her office and you can make an appointment any day of the week. Here’s something that’s worth complaining about. Governor Cuomo went to Afghanistan a while back and used New York State taxpayer money. He also just signed into law a $10 million legal fund for illegal immigrants to use if they are to be deported. And how about free college that will cost New Yorkers plenty of money! These ideas really stink. Does that get your blood pressure going or what? The money could have been used much wiser for the senior citizens, veterans and our over taxing problems of New York residents.