Readers’ Column for the week of July 16, 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 just attended the weekly community dinner in Owego on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and social meal at 6 p.m., which is the combined efforts of our local churches presented by ACT (Allied Christians of Tioga). I always thought these dinners were federally subsidized. That is not always the case. The ACT Dinner is open to anyone who wishes to have a meal and to get out and socialize. This service provides over 3,000 meals annually, about 50 to 100 per week. I inquired and they gladly accept donations. Anyone wishing to donate can send donations to ACT, P.O. Box 21, Owego, N.Y. 13827. Ten churches participate on a rotating basis. 

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First of all, thank you for a wonderful local newspaper. I enjoy reading it very much. I have two questions for your readership. Where can I find any farm equipment auctions that are on a regular basis? And also, is there any local place I can exchange Canadian money for American? I’ll wait and read the answers in the next issue.

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Did you every notice you never get 50 cent pieces or dollar coins or two dollar bills in your change? I hope the government stopped making more. 

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I want to thank Lynn Bailey and his hardworking men who maintain and mow the Nichols Cemetery. With the vast amount of rain we received this year this must have been a challenge to keep it looking so nice, and the work to rebuild the front entrance pillars and the new chain link fence is really awesome. I live out of town and visit once a month to check on multiple family member plots and to remove dead grass that has blown onto the headstones from mowing, which is unavoidable. It’s my small part I feel in helping to keep those headstones looking nice. To see the continued improvement when I visit the cemetery in the last two years by Mr. Bailey and his men is wonderful. Please think about supporting the Nichols Cemetery Association with a small donation for the continued maintenance of this lovely cemetery. I did, and glad I did.

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Scout Troop 38, I have an early scout manual (1933) that I will donate to the troop. Phone 223-4048.

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Loud mufflers on your pick up? Do you ever consider what the constant noise is doing to your hearing? You get one shot at having the ability to hear and then it is all gone forever. 

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Well, we lost another State Trooper. These brave men and women do selflessly put their lives on the line every day for our safety and protection and without barely enough thanks and appreciation. May God bountifully bless everyone in law enforcement.

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Just a reminder as the weather gets hotter and the days get longer, keep in mind our hardworking public servants who are out there in the heat of the day. Our garbage men, our postal carrier; keeping that in mind, maybe leave a bottle of water or bottle of Gatorade. These guys are hardworking people and we should keep them in mind and support them. 

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Its nice to see the Village of Owego is so concerned for us to try to put us in a group plan for electricity. Everyone, understand this; once you are in that plan, NYSEG no longer has to be the first one to your home in a case of a storm. The Village will also receive a commission check for being so nice to sign all of us up for that program. Maybe it’s time the Village should look into dissolving the village and get rid of the headaches that they keep overlooking.

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If I want to smoke pine needles in the privacy of my own home, are you going to care? If I want to smoke maple leaves in the privacy of my own home and bother no one, are you going to care? Why can’t I smoke marijuana? It’s a natural occurring plant. I mind my own business and bother nobody and if it’s legal we can tax it, free up the police, unclog the courts and get money out of the underworld. Thanks for listening; think it over.

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Please New York State, legalize jai alai, it’s a wonderful sport and everybody’s got casinos now. If we want something different and special that will bring in more revenue and jobs and be a leader, let’s go with jai alai. Let’s start a campaign to legalize jai alai in New York. It’s a great wonderful sport. It’s fantastic!

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Right now we are riding one of the local carousals donated by George F. and Endicott Johnson. Thank God they were in our area!

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This year’s Kid’s Picnic, sponsored by the VFW Post #1371 and American Legion Post #401, will be held on Saturday, July 22 at Marvin Park. It’s free for children of all ages. It runs from noon to 4 p.m. There will be free food, drinks, bounce house, horse and tractor hayrides, a free bicycle giveaway and more. Hope to see you there.

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I went to the 75th Anniversary at the VFW 1371 in Owego and I had a great time. They put a lot of time into their program and displays. They should be very proud of this accomplishment. Many people took a walk down “memory lane”! Hope to see more from the VFW in the future. Thanks for a wonderful time!

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It sure would be nice if the Village of Owego DPW would pick up the branches that have been lying around the village for many weeks.

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The Municipal Electric and Gas Alliance (MEGA) wants the Town of Owego and the Village of Owego to select them to be their Community Choice Aggregation administrator. The only problem is that MEGA has a long history of close ties to natural gas interests. So I, for one, do not have confidence that they would do their work in the best interest of our community given how important it is for us to transition to renewable energy sources as quickly as possible.

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The Town and Village of Owego are planning to hold public hearings giving MEGA (Municipal Electric and Gas Alliance) the go ahead to aggregate residents and small businesses and administer a program changing our electricity supply from NYSEG to one MEGA and our Town/Village boards will select “on our behalf.” Even if it were to save us money (not guaranteed), why would the public hearing not be held AFTER the bids come in for various sources of energy? The local law affecting OUR personal electricity supply needs to be based on OUR values and knowledge base, NOT MEGA’s or our Town/Village board’s values and knowledge base. We will not have complete information on which to base our “community decision” until well after the Local Law is passed. That is simply wrong. The Town of Owego Public Hearing will be at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 18 at 2354 Route 434.

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It is important for many people to attend the Town of Owego’s public hearing to allow MEGA to go to bid for the electricity supply of our residents and small businesses. We have the opportunity to choose 100 percent renewable energy as our default supply. The public hearing is at 2354 Route 434 at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 18.

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The heart is a muscle the size of your fist: keep loving – keep fighting.

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“Nothing is more priceless and more worthy of preservation than the rich array of animal life with which our country has been blessed; it forms a vital part of the heritage we all share as Americans, a heritage which we hold in trust to countless future generations of our fellow citizens. Their lives will be richer, and America will be more beautiful in the years ahead.” -President Richard Nixon’s remarks at the signing of the Endangered Species Act

National Political Viewpoints

For how many years did Republican John Boehner deliberately block everything that the Republicans tried to do, even if it was something in the past that he had pushed for? He couldn’t let the Democrats have credit for it, even if it would have helped the people. Some of the things Democrats are now blocking hurts far more people than it would have helped.

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The Marxist Democrats lost the election badly and now they are losing their minds the same way! Even these dimwits can see the greatness in President Trump. His loony tune critics will be surprised at what will be accomplished by Trump’s hard work, which no one can deny. Nobamacare is gone, kiss it goodbye and be prepared for its replacement within the next year. Oh, and thank Trump for the soon to be implemented workingman tax decreases.

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Now we know former FBI Director James Comey leaked classified government information to the Democrat fake news media. Wow! Now we need a special prosecutor to investigate Comey, Loretta Lynch, the Clintons and Nobama, too. 

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I disagree with last week’s caller about Claudia Tenney not doing her job and supporting what her constituents want. We constituents who voted her in are happy that she is doing exactly what we, the majority who voted her in, want her to do. You minority liberals, and that’s about 22 percent of the voting population, you lost and you are bitter. Get over it! We, the majority, voted for Tenney and her agenda and we want it that way. That’s why we voted her in. Get it?

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I love Donald Trump when he tweets. The tweets are hilarious. He tells it like it is and the snowflakes just go off into a tantrum, and so does the fake news media. Continue your super job Mr. President; we deplorable rubes will reelect you as the liberals continue to implode.

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Well Trumpsters, I hope you are proud for your choice for president. He will go down in history as the most plutocratic, fawning, uncouth, illiterate, insulting, dishonest, cowardly, irrational, egotistical, irresponsible, reprehensible, racist, antagonistic, conniving, ignorant, unqualified, unbelievable, unbefitting, undeserving, unprepared, disrespectful president we have ever had. 

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What we so desperately need in New York is a nice change. Dump Cuomo!

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It’s hilarious to put Hillary and Obama in charge of trying to breathe new life into the Democratic Party. Don’t they see that it was these two people, along with many others, that handed us the mess Mr. Trump is now working tirelessly to turn around and correct for the American people?

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The poor White House is paralyzed. Well, boo hoo! They did that to themselves. What a mess they made! Representative Adam Schiff is doing a great job investigating Trump Jr. now. Can’t wait for the outcome. Liars don’t belong in the White House and that includes Trump and Pence. Who are they kidding? Go get them Adam Schiff! Go get them Bob Mueller!

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I’m so glad we finally have a president with a backbone. Those who have been too cushy for too long shouldn’t be expected to appreciate him. 

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You’ve got to love that stock market! Up more than down, for the last eight years it was down more than up. That was very upsetting to see your investments drop daily and no one cared. Still giving thanks that Hillary is not in the White House.

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Personally, I don’t think President Trump is a bad individual and I don’t think he has done anything illegal, but I do not understand why he and everyone around him finds it impossible to tell the truth, simply giving ammunition to his enemies. It was small lies that destroyed Richard Nixon; it could happen again. Sad.

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The third week of July is usually the year’s hottest, and Al Gore will conveniently release his new movie – “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power.” Keep in mind Bill Clinton’s statement that spring is “otherwise known to Al Gore as proof of global warming.” Remember self-proclaimed expert, unemployed politician, fortuneteller, and lawyer Al Gore has proved wrong on all counts.

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Trump is meeting with Putin to get his six-month performance review. They will go over what he did right for Putin and what he needs improvement on. After all, Putin hired him. As his boss he should provide feedback and direction for career growth. Are republicans concerned at all that Russia is successfully attacking America? Cannot wait to see what secrets Trump gives Putin when they meet. 

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More phony news. Mainstream media reporting protests outside the G-20 meetings to be protesting Trump’s involvement. Not true. Protests are against globalization, NOT Donald Trump.

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What a hoot! Chucky Schumer (a hoax of a Senator) calling an amendment by Ted Cruz to the Health Care initiative a hoax. So what we have here is a Hoax calling something a hoax! What’s wrong with this picture? When did it start that two wrongs make a right?

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Joe Scarborough is an independent now. How nice. Scratch a newly minted independent or libertarian and you will find an embarrassed republican. They are just like the Nazis escaping from Berlin at the end of WW2, stopping only long enough to burn their uniforms. There was a wave of them after George W. Bush and now a new wave before Trump is impeached. You can still count on them voting a straight republican ticket during the next election.