Readers’ Column for the week of August 26, 2018

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.

On Aug. 11, the Owego Lions club had their 5th Annual Golf Tournament scheduled. Unfortunately, due to the heavy rain that day, the event had to be postponed. The tournament is now scheduled for Sept. 8, at the same course and time. Since a couple of the teams cannot participate in the makeup date, I am looking for a couple teams to play that day. This is a four-person, best ball tournament. If interested, give me a call at (607) 972-3145 and I will give you all the details. 

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Homebound, disabled woman looking for buttons for crafts. Can be dropped off at The Owego Pennysaver, located at 181-183 Front St., Owego.

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The state of emergency that Andrew Cuomo was calling upon in the Southern Tier wasn’t the flash flooding that we just experienced last week, it’s the starved communities with lack of funding for sewer and water upgrades.

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The Let’s Dance Club of the Southern Tier Region of New York is a couple’s ballroom dance club that hosts five dinner dances with live music each year, October thru May. Dances are held at various venues in the Triple cities area with different bands. The “Club” membership fee supports the costs of the facilities and bands. The meal costs are an add-on for each dance that you attend and are not subsidized by the “Club” fee. For more information, visit www.stny.infor/letsdance or email to tony45@virtualforum.com.

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Keep a close eye on those three or four trustees that aren’t showing up to the weekly meetings. Soon they’ll be showing up to raise your sewer rates another 40 to 50 percent. 

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On Saturday, Sept. 8, the VFW is sponsoring a golf tournament to benefit the Tioga County Rural Ministry for the holiday food giveaway program. See the ad in this week’s Pennysaver for more information. 

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Being a village resident and most of all being a taxpayer, I recently received my village taxes, which were astronomically high and at the same point I’m watching the village board meeting where the new police chief, who doesn’t live in the village, doesn’t live in the county, in fact lives two counties away, is asking for two new police cars, a complete remodel of the police station, a resource officer for the school and more officers on patrol. How can we afford this? This guy has been there six weeks, and again wants about six or seven major items. Boy oh boy!

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I wonder why it is in the village of Owego that there is one meter for four apartments for water, but four charges for four apartments for sewer? Sounds a little sketchy, doesn’t it?

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I’m just calling as a taxpayer. I’m concerned about what I’m seeing at the village board meetings. Part time officers went from $15 an hour to $25, that’s a big percentage. All of a sudden we need two new police cars, we need another officer, under the direction of OPD for the schools, supply them with a car, and so on. We need a canine unit, a new officer at $25 an hour, a complete rehab of the police department is being requested, another new $3 million DPW in the flood zone is being requested and by the looks of my August village taxes I can’t afford this, and I don’t think anybody else that is a taxpayer in the village would go along with these absorbent ideas.

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Two miles up West Beecher Road from Glenmary Drive there is a tree that needs to be removed before it goes over and takes out a power line. It appears it is being held up by another tree and it is close to the road. 

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Town of Owego taxpayers, we have lots of equipment for the Town of Owego Highway. Well, we’ve got to graders and one operator; we’ve got two excavators and one operator. We’ve got guys that can run them, and that’s it. 

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Free, three adult sleeping bags for camping. They are clean. Call (607) 625-2971.

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Why does the Village of Newark Valley need to be open 35 hours a week with, I believe to be, three full time employees (I could be mistaken about employees). With taxes out of control (my opinion) and the various ways to find information and pay our taxes and water bills and garbage, maybe it is time to downsize or shorten the days we are open. I am sure it would be an inconvenience to some, but if it saved some tax dollars would it not be worth it? The Town of Newark Valley office hours are 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday through Friday. What a concept! We need to find ways to lesson the burden on the taxpayers of the village, not pile more on! We cannot continue to bump up our taxes almost 4.6 percent a year, on average. In our personal budget we have to make due with what we have, we don’t count on the extra cash from a group of taxpayers. I’m still upset over the 20 percent tax increase last year. Let’s spend more time on how to control spending, not increase it. If our taxes go up any in 2019 we should all be very upset, so pay attention – I believe they will start on a new budget in the next couple of months. I will update from time to time.

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I live at the Newark Valley end of Brown Road so I was very interested in last week’s comment. Part of my property has gone “natural” along the road and increasingly creates a hazard. A few years back I spent most of a day trimming all the brush back but it’s like “fighting the tide”. Many people use the road to walk, to run, and to take their children, and it is certainly nice to see the daily trip of someone on a horse and buggy. There needs to be funding for one of those vertical brush hogs that is used on the railroad tracks. There are a couple of people that drive 80 mph, and that adds to the danger. I tried to see if a 45 mph speed limit sign could be placed on the road, but it met with as much success as trying to get a stop light in Richford.

National Political Viewpoints

Hey Trump lovers! I suppose all these people with tape recordings of Donald Trump and his family is all more fake news, isn’t it? Because Donald Trump never does anything wrong. You people have got to wake up and try to save this country before we’re in a total dictatorship. What is wrong with this country anymore! Can’t you people think?

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Does anyone know if Hillary Clinton’s victory speech was ever published? I’d love to read a copy of it.

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I sure think it is ironically appropriate that the Democrats have a jackass for a mascot. 

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The fear mongering desperate corrupt and reprehensible Marxist Democrat leaders have betrayed their oath of office to protect the constitution, and instead have formed an evil cabal to destroy our duly elected President Trump. John Brennan politicized national security and lost his security clearance. So should Comey, Clapper, Strzok, Rice, McCabe, Page, Yates, and the rest of the Obama sycophants.

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Melania Trump’s parents are now citizens of the United States. Whoopdee doo! Couldn’t Melania tell them to put it off until all the children who crossed the border are back with their parents? What a shame and embarrassment! Melania should know better and does, but the White House and the vipers have no shame. They are shameless, period! I can’t wait until that whole clan goes back to New York City with all their money. 

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There are more things in the world going on besides Trump. 

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The NFL players taking a knee at the football game is nothing compared to what Trump is doing to this country. Can’t wait until Trump is out once and for all!

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In high school history we learned that Puerto Rico was annexed by the United States years ago, similar to Hawaii. Every few years lately they vote on statehood or detachment, but so far they are still stuck with us. Both New York and Florida have large permanent populations with Puerto Rican descents. I think that coming to the U.S. from Puerto Rico entails less paperwork than from other countries, and the U.S. does have some legal obligation to Puerto Rico itself; so Cuomo visiting them makes some sense. Perhaps one of our local history buffs could enlighten us to the status of Puerto Rico and its citizens in relation to the United States.

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I personally heard Trump on TV one day say that Russia did interfere in the 2015 election, but the very next day the newsmen were reporting that he again was trying to fire Mueller. Don’t we want to know how they did so as to keep it from happening again? I for one don’t want Putin for our president here. Do you?

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I knew I was right. Now think about it, it’s about time someone came along to start biting these women in the butt like this lady that did it with Weinstein. Now if she couldn’t take his pats and smiles and jokes and teasing, she should have gotten out of the picture. She could have done that; she’s a big girl. Now this young fellow, imagine that, has turned the table on her she and she paid $380,000; so she nailed herself right to the cross and I hope and pray to God every other one that went through those men down to Bill Cosby even, because if they didn’t put themselves in that position the men would not have been attracted to them. They did it to themselves. Think about it.

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I grew up listening to news commentator Paul Harvey on the radio. That probably indicates my age. With all the murders going on in Chicago on a daily basis, I often wonder what Mr. Harvey would think of this whole town, Chicago, today. 

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To the person worried about Melania Trump’s parents becoming citizens, at least Trump paid for their way over. Obama had the taxpayers pay for this aunt, or don’t you remember that. They brought her over and made her a citizen. It’s kind of funny when it’s a Democrat; you kind of forget things like that. Let’s wake up! 

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Wow! Another great Trump rally on Aug. 21. I just love watching and listening to the way this great president communicates with all of the American people. Everyone can understand his crystal clear language. What a great change from the usual Democratic leaders!

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To the person who is so upset over President Trump’s expensive vacations paid for with taxpayer dollars, at least he did it after doing his job, unlike his predecessor. Obama, along with his spouse and other relatives, managed to spend over $100 million in taxpayer dollars on vacations, according to a report by Judicial Watch. 

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You’ve got to be stoned, stubborn, or stupid to still support that idiot, Mr. Trump.

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I would like to get some feedback on a media story that happened on Wednesday. One of the main stream medias went after Fox because they were talking about the illegal alien that murdered the girl from Ohio and said there were more important issues out there than Fox talking about some girl from Ohio. They wanted to discuss Manafort and Cohen. Well, I’m an American and I feel it’s more important to talk and discuss this illegal immigrant that killed that beautiful young lady. 

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Mr. Trump says Michael Cohen has credibility issues. Isn’t that just amazing?

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I just don’t how this country will survive without Donald Trump in office? I’m sure the country will just fold. Laughing out loud.

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According to a recent poll, 36 percent of those citizens polled would prefer Socialism to Capitalism. Yeah, take a look at Venezuela currently. Once the richest country in South America, now, under a Socialist government, they are unable to feed their people. It’s the same with Cuba, North Korea, China, and every country in the world currently with a Socialist government. Want that here?

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The media is being accused of being biased against President Trump. During the Obama “administration” when there was a screw-up, as there frequently was, the media went out of their way to report something positive, or sweep it under the rug. With President Trump, and with all the positive he’s accomplished that benefits everyone, they do the opposite, go out of their way to find SOMETHING negative to report, anything will do. If they can’t find something, they make it up, hence, “Fake News”. Obama was awarded the Nobel Prize, for what? What did he accomplish to deserve that? Answer, absolutely, completely NOTHING!

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“Americans have no idea that they are funding an organization that is explicitly dedicated to meddling in other countries’ affairs, interfering in elections, toppling democratically elected leaders, and spreading public relations campaigns to sow chaos against countries that resist Washington’s agenda,” Blumenthal told RT. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, how many millions have we wasted to determine if Russia meddled in the U.S. election, we do it all the time to sovereign countries we deem undesirable.

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“It is well established that the fracking industry has been a money losing proposition for the past decade. In a recent Oilprice.com article (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/locked-hedges-shale-misses-oil-230000395.html) that detailed the industry’s bad luck making financial hedging bets, this is acknowledged with the statement that ‘Shale drilling has historically been a loss-making proposition.’ Now this historically money-losing industry is facing a major challenge that could prove to be a fatal flaw in the already failing fracking business model. If producers try to pack in wells too close to each other, the wells will damage one another and production will decline or even stop for some wells. If producers have to resort to much larger distances for well spacing, the lower number of wells will also likely decrease overall production numbers. How will this turn out? Don’t ask the industry experts because they admit they have no idea – which can’t be comforting for investors who continue to lose money while waiting for the fracking revolution to finally pay off.” “The Fracking Industry Is Cannibalizing Its Own Production, Increasing Spill Risks” — Justin Mikula. DeSmog Blog

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Think about this, if the EU decided they didn’t like the way our government was operating and demanded that we change, and then sanctioned us, companies and ships, and froze our assets and anyone doing business with us with threats of intervention. All based on an allegation from intelligence, the cyber community and someone being poisoned, all with no physical proof that would stand up in a court of law. How would we react? The U.S. government is coming across more and more every day as a dictator to the world, the sanctions are punishing the average citizens and having no impacting on the governments; if someone freezes to death or starves it’s okay, as long as the U.S. gets its way.

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A couple of week ago there was a competition among a group of young people age eight to 17 to see if they could hack a replica of the DNC website; it took all of 10 minutes for an 11 year old to hack it; so much for the Russians did it theory, that they still have any physical proof of who did the hack. The Federal Representatives are spending way too much time on Russia and not enough time fixing U.S. issues.

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The blood of Mollie Tibbetts is on the hands of Barrack Obama, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Andrew Cuomo, and every other democrat. How many more AMERICANS must die before you wake up and start enforcing Immigration laws? The world is full of evil people who mean to do harm, no matter where they come from.  

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Trump’s election reminds me of the New York Jets’ victory over the Baltimore Colts in the 1969 Super Bowl. Quarter back Joe Namath, like Trump, did not follow normal quarter back procedures. The result was an unexpected Baltimore loss; unlike our Democrats who live in a glass house and continue to throw stones at the victor. Baltimore accepted the loss and in American style went on with a normal life. P.S.: Their glass house is transparent, so their un-American actions are obvious. Wish they would grow up and be an example to citizens who are hoping for a better life, not one dodging selfish errant stones.

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Before you get too wound up over Cuomo’s comments about being great or not, ask yourself why we needed the 13th, 14th, 15th, 19th and 24th amendments. Or for that matter Brown vs. Board of Education? Or the civil rights act, voting rights act, clean water act, clean air act, etc., if we were so great.

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Admiral McRaven’s comment that it would be an “honor” to have his security clearance revoked as a way to criticize Trump’s presidency reminds me of a line from one of my favorite movies: “I am Spartacus! I am Spartacus! I am Spartacus!” 

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Finding out that Cuomo made a comment about America never being great didn’t make sense. I’m no fan of him, but he is a pretty smart politician. How else can you have your top aides go to jail for bribery and influence pedaling and not have your name surface? That was quite an accomplishment. The comment was a mistake but it needs to be looked at in the context of the entire passage: “The simple point is all this comes down to this: We’re not going to make America great again. It was never that great. We have not reached greatness. We will reach greatness when every American is fully engaged. We will reach greatness when discrimination and stereotyping against women – 51 percent of our population – is gone.” So exactly when was America great? When we had 10 year-olds working in coalmines? When supporting a union could mean blacklisting or worse? When black people had to ride in the back of the bus? When women were treated as second-class citizens?

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For those hoping to see Ted Nugent’s name as a presidential candidate, these are remarks he made regarding liberals, Democrats, RINOS, Hollywood, fake news, the media, academics and half the government: “So come to that realization: there are rabid coyotes running around. You don’t wait till you see one to go get your gun, keep your gun handy. And every time you see one, shoot one.”

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Now our petty, churlish President is revoking security clearances. This President has proven to be one of the most childish, spiteful, hateful, ill tempered, individuals to ever occupy the White House.  This unprecedented move by Trump is clearly meant to intimidate anyone who speaks out against him; free speech be damned. If you think this is fine because it’s Trump doing it, you better be careful of what you wish for. The decency and decorum that once was the hallmark of the Presidency has been replaced with a crude, greedy, ignorant, self-indulgent slob that has all but permanently tarnished this high office. If this latest antic by Trump isn’t bad enough, his history of sucking up to Putin, insulting our allies, and is destroying America’s image around the world has furthered eroded the stature of the office. There are a number of contributors to this column who love to attack “liberal’s” by calling them “Commies” and other names. I find it ironic, that they don’t realize what they are saying and that there is nothing more “commie” than sucking up to Putin; so please, to those who choose to use that term, take a look in the mirror. There is a probe of Trump and his cronies going on for a reason, whether you like it or not! Both Nixon and Clinton were investigated and while Nixon tried to squash that investigation, in the end it was proven that he was guilty and had to resign and Clinton was impeached. We should let this investigation go to its logical conclusion. 

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Chaos in America is stimulated by the Democratic Party, and as the result of their crying that they lost the Presidential election. This chaos causes people to be depressed and become easily angered, which results in uncontrolled anger outbursts like shootings and the blowing up buildings. Instead of seeing a government looking like a little league team that lost a major play off, we have a team running around hating and retaliating 24/7, while stealing wealth from their league and re-educating the country on values. What I saw from our last election, A P0LITCAL party that lost its values – leading a country to lose theirs.