Readers’ Column for the week of May 3, 2020

You may call the Owego Pennysaver Readers’ Column at (607) 687-2378 24-hours a day, or email comments to readerscolumn@stny.rr.com. We reserve the right to revise or reject any message. Due to limited space, we have removed comments that exceeded the amount of space allowable to print them. Thus, a reminder to keep your comment brief, that way we can print more!

 

The Tioga County public defender’s phone number is now 687-8273. 

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I can’t believe those running the village of Owego are still charging $141 per EDU for a one-bedroom apartment. In Auburn, it’s $41 for a whole house; Cortland $41, whole house; village of Owego, $141 for one little empty apartment. 

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I wonder if Mayor Mike’s been up on Lillie Hill hanging out with Sasquatch during the COVID-19 pandemic or whether he’s down at the office getting more ink for the sewer bills. 

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To all of our doctors and nurses, first responders, and medical personnel, I’m sure most of us and the lay people have no idea what is going on in most medical centers and hospitals around the country right now. Prayers are being sent for you ladies and gentlemen. I heard on the news the other day that we are starting to turn the curve and we are starting on the downswing of this at this time. God bless you all. Let’s come out fighting.

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When on earth are they going to smooth out Route 17 between Endicott and Apalachin? It’s like a washboard. How many potholes do we have to have before it gets my tax dollar attention? I just had to replace a tire and get an alignment because of the bone-jarring jolt my car had to take. Department of Transportation, where are you?

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I can’t believe how our governor dreamed up a plan for changing the New York State flag. What does he want to do? Put his picture on it? It’s served us well for all this time. Let’s leave it alone and get rid of him. He’s pure arrogance.

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Here’s a new word to look up on your laptops, type in what is an adrenochrome. You will be very surprised what the nasty stuff is. 

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I just cleaned my TV screen with anti-virus wipes. I lost CNN, MSNBC, NBC, ABC and CBS.

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If you were fortunate enough to be one of the persons who are not financially strapped right now, I would like to suggest using some of your stimulus money to donate to the local food pantries. They are striving to provide food for all your neighbors in need and really need your donations. Every dollar provides two meals.

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I don’t believe this coronavirus is a punishment from God. This is what I do believe; I do believe that God is using this situation for us as a people to examine our conscience. Have we been neglecting our families? Have we been using sports, entertainment, and materialism as idols? Those are points we should all ponder. Let’s all pray for an end to this virus. 

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I did see that flag, and it is a disgusting mess. I also noted that the house that used to look so pretty on the same street looks like a garbage dump now. I wish the people would clean it up.

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I was reading a comment in the April 26 column about China having a problem with millions of lives dying with the swine flu in December 2019, and that was about the time or a little bit later the so-called coronavirus appeared in the U.S. I was wondering if maybe this is really the swine flu. A lot of the symptoms like high body temperature, coughing, and being very contagious from one person to another. I know if this were true, they would never admit they were wrong and this would be another U.S. conspiracy. 

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I’m calling in regards to the comment about the American flag. My thing is, if you are walking in the street, why don’t you walk up and knock on the door and hand them a gift from you. A new American flag. There are complainers and there are doers, and maybe that would make their day; and I’m sure it would make yours.

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I was calling to see what we could do with our plastic bags. I am just curious what we can do with them.

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I was bullhead fishing at Oakley Corners pond and had a campfire going, it was a nice night. All of a sudden something smelled bad and Sasquatch sat down by my campfire wondering how the fishing was, offered me a 16 oz. Bud and a smoke. Hard to believe, isn’t it? 

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What a refreshing story in The Owego Pennysaver about the PACT Program by Wendy Post. It showed Allison Costello and Becca Bouyea going to deliver Easter baskets to families throughout Tioga County. Also, they took the time to deliver Easter baskets to children at local hospitals during this difficult time. It shows how kind and thoughtful they are to do that. Thank you to the entire PACT Program, I’m sure you made many people happy this Easter. Job well done!

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Hey come on everybody, I think Cuomo’s great! A great big nothing!

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The U.S. Postal Service is asking for more money to keep going. The towns of Richford, Berkshire and Newark Valley rural delivery could cut their routes to delivering mail only on Mondays and Fridays. Most of those local residents get only one or two pieces of mail daily. Myself, I don’t receive any mail – about three or four days a week out of the six days per week.

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Request please people. Traveling Church Street in Smithboro, quit throwing your garbage cans, bottles, you name it, out on the street. Please be more respectful of other people’s property and the roadsides.

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In a recent poll, 71 percent of New York registered voters approve of the job Governor Cuomo is doing for New York.

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We keep hearing about our heroes in the pandemic. The post office workers and carriers are my heroes. Even when they risk contracting the virus, they are all right out there. They have been my way to communicate with my family and businesses. Without them I could not pay my bills, send birthday and get-well messages to my friends and relatives, and to contact all other people. Thank you to all post office workers! Amen/

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I’d still like to commend the State DOT, the town, the villages, and everybody else that is social distancing themselves by 6-feet. They’re keeping their distances real good and staying away. They’re keeping 6-foot away from any potholes in Tioga County. Excellent job social distancing, 6-feet away from any potholes. 

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How can stores charge bottle deposits and not take back the bottles for deposit now? Charging for a deposit should be stopped immediately.

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I met an angel. We were getting dirt for our raised beds. Hi Diane, it’s Tony. Bless you!

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Listen deniers, just because someone has a weakened system that makes it easier for the virus to kill does not mean that it wasn’t the virus that actually killed them.

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It’s really simple. Your perceived right to do as you please does NOT include the right to place other people at risk. So stop thinking of just yourself and think about the fact that you are part of society as a whole.

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New York City and its suburbs pay about 55 percent of state tax revenue and get 45 percent back. Upstate pays 45 percent and gets 55 percent back. Still want to separate and have to make up the dollar difference?

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To the person that thinks it’s ridiculous that we are required to wear a mask because we are breathing in our own ‘exhaust’, the point of wearing them is so YOU don’t breathe in mine and I don’t breathe in YOURS! You’re the one that sounds ridiculous; I’m obviously not going to catch it from myself if I already have it, but I don’t want to catch it from you if I don’t! 

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Please try to understand that the primary reason the virus spread has slowed is because the distancing is working. It has significantly reduced the opportunities for transmission. 

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The 19 in COVID-19 is referring to its year of discovery – 2019, NOT that it is the 19th version.

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Feeling overwhelmed by having the kids all-day and trying to be their teacher too? Remember this when it’s time to vote on the school budget.

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Does anyone have any information about the proposed 19.99-MW SunEast Valley Solar Development facility to be built in Owego?

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To the person in the white car on Saturday night, around 6 that decided it was okay to speed on 434 past the Owego vets and hit a dog and kept going, can you sleep at night? There are joggers and bicycles on this road as well as elderly people. With the bridge closing there is even more traffic here now, something more tragic is going to happen, and by here I’m talking from the vets to where it is officially 55. Either more police surveillance is needed in the area or the speed limit down to 30 until the bridge is done. 

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I need some input on the following scenario: A person with COPD was found dead with an entrance wound, a mutilated path through the body, and an exit wound all consistent with a rifle bullet. However the bullet is not there. The Dr. can attribute the cause of death to 1) a bullet wound or 2) COPD. Which should he list on the death certificate? If you picked a bullet wound, why not allow the doctor the same discretion on a COVID-19 death? Or would that just be wrong because there is a conspiracy to overstate COVID-19 deaths?

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I received notice that my stimulus check had arrived for which I am very grateful, but Trump’s signature looked like a seismograph read from an earthquake.

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BEWARE of medical insurance companies collecting your private medical and lifestyle information so they can sell it. When I called to check on coverage, the customer service person asked very strange questions about my life and work. I refused to answer. I also was called by them and asked to participate in a 45-minute COVID-19 phone call with video health checkup. They even offered to pay $15 if I participated. I told them no. You can blame the conservatives in the SCOTUS for this. Responsible representatives should force an end to this travesty. Meanwhile do your best to avoid unnecessary disclosures.

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This is a good suggestion somebody submitted last week. I just want to “like” / vote-up their request. Please publish only positive comments for a week or two and see if it doesn’t help everybody in our community feel better. It would be a good public service by The Owego Pennysaver. 

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I would like to thank the ladies (gals) at the Owego credit union and the young ex-marine who all helped to get my car started. They could not have been more helpful. Thank you again.

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Although I live in Owego, I have some thoughts on a battery burning plant coming to our neighbor in Endicott. If we forget history, we are sure to repeat it. The last cleanup was tremendous, costly, and time consuming and pure hell for the people who were and are affected. My thoughts are things that I have not read about in any press releases. Among them are the truck traffic to bring in and take out 10 MILLION pounds of product. Seems like something that should be explored. Then there is the volume that is usually understated to make it look good. Next it is the number of jobs, which is usually overstated. And last but not least is the fact that someone is doing everything possible, including grossly upsetting the local homeowners, to establish here but they still demand, and get grants and tax relief. How come?

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Keeping one’s perspective on the daily reporting on the number of deaths leading the news cycle. The CDC reports for 2018 / 19 cycle the leading causes of death in U.S.A. are Heart disease: 647,457; Cancer: 599,108; Accidents (unintentional injuries): 169,936; Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 160,201; Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 146,383; Alzheimer’s disease: 121,404; Diabetes: 83,564; Influenza and Pneumonia: 55,672; Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis: 50,633; Intentional self-harm (suicide): 47,173; Murders: 16,214; Drug Overdose: 69,029. Continuing a shut down in low death report areas in Upstate New York is going past the point of staying safe when factoring in the death rate for many of these illnesses which continue to happen, which still have no cures or medication, is “penny wise-pound foolish” and will leave too many destitute and adrift. 

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I’m looking for a queen size bed frame. Call 687-0199.

 

National Political Viewpoints

In congress it would be beneficial if our elected and appointed people were actually thinking when they voted on a bill instead of following the leadership of the party heads, which is just two people. Two people running our country?

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There’s not a dime’s worth of difference between a democrat and a republican. They are two peas in a pod. You American people are being duped, fooled, you’ve been played as idiots. Like Ralph Nadar said to his dad once, “Dad, wouldn’t it be great if we had three parties in America?” Ralph Nadar’s dad says, “I’d be happy if there was two.”

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The Trump administration is doing a very, very poor job of getting money to individuals and small businesses. Also, large businesses are taken care of very well and the rest of us, the poor, are getting the crumbs or nothing at all. Trump has to realize these poor people, also called the middle class, will also cast a vote at election time. 

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Anybody that doesn’t think the COVID pandemic is getting better is a fool because when it started it was called the COVID-19 and Joe Biden got it down already to a COVID-9 last week.

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Anybody out there with a brain needs to keep track of what’s going on in our government. As of today, President Donald J. Trump promised to bail out the oil company executives and their big buck industries. These are the richest companies in the world. They are making billions on top of billions in profits. We have mom and pop businesses going bankrupt. They can’t even afford their employees, so they lay them off and shut their doors and he wants to help out the mega businesses like oil, of all examples? 

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President Trump is like this silly grandfather at a family gathering. He says whatever pops into his head without reasoning it out first. Family members hope in vain he will not say anything too stupid, but alas too late. Go grandpa!

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Here is a solution for the person that complained about President Trump’s Wuhan virus updates. Just stop watching them and concentrate on Pelosi’s premium ice cream in her $20,000 stocked refrigerator. There are those of us who want the latest facts to protect our loved ones and ourselves.

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Please don’t compare our Governor, Andrew Cuomo, to the Donald in the White House. Governor Cuomo has more brains than he ever thought of. Mr. Trump is on his third wife, two known mistresses and went bankrupt five times! And he calls himself Christian and a genius. Governor Cuomo gives us an honest report every day during this pandemic. He does not prescribe any idiotic medications. Tune in everybody between 11:30 and 12:30 and you will get the facts. 

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For crying out loud! Trump is not going to be on stage at the briefings like he has been and that’s good news, but now he’s tweeting again more than ever! It’s so annoying. I wish he’d get a job already.

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Here are a few facts about the Wuhan virus. Communist Chinese knew about the virus in 2019, they then shut down all travel in or out of the Wuhan Province. They then strategically allowed Wuhan citizens to still travel to the U.S.A. and Europe, especially the garment district in Italy. President Trump forced the Chinese into a much more equitable trade agreement with the U.S. What better way to get revenge on the U.S.? Why were Chinese deaths so low compared to the mortality rates of western countries? Why is the U.S. communist democrat fake news media protective of China and opposed to anything pro-Trump? I’ll give you one good guess. 

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This is for the Marxist democrat buffoon who thinks stock market profits based on the Wuhan virus are just fine. It’s called insider information, and the purchase took place just after the private update to senior political officials by the chief medical officers of the U.S. government. Not fine, not fine.

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Does anyone know why the media is not covering Joe Biden’s sexual assault allegation? You’re hearing crickets from all those women who came forward and there was no evidence and the evidence against Biden is growing and growing and growing. The democrats are such hypocrites. They have such double standards. It’s mind-boggling! I cannot even listen to any of them speak; and now Hillary, who is so big on women’s rights, is backing Biden? 

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If there are people out there that think Clorox bleach or mouthwash will cure the virus, don’t discourage them. We don’t need those people. They’re going to die anyway drinking that stuff, and if they’re that stupid we don’t need them around. 

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We can take our own action against China for not being more open about their Coronavirus, hoarding protective equipment, and lying about us being the cause of the virus. DON’T BUY ANYTHING FROM CHINA!

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By re-opening the economy prematurely, Trump can get double the personal benefit: the “numbers” will improve, and the front line workers, typically less well paid (nobody he knows), will be canaries-in-the-coalmine, and by contracting the virus, can inform us of all of the ways to be affected by this novel disease. We are beginning to hear that the virus kills in ways that have nothing to do with respiratory infections. Things like stroke and blood clots. ROAR

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The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global emergency on Jan. 30, 3030 and Trump closed travel from China on Jan. 31, 2020. Cuomo whines to Trump for more ventilators. Governors are pretty much responsible for their own states, and Cuomo was not ready to handle this virus. Cuomo’s ventilator issue really stemmed from 2016 when their nonworking, stockpiled ventilators were sold at auction because they didn’t need them. He kept 500 and didn’t keep them working, as it would cost too much. How did that work for him? In 2014 Obama and Cuomo closed over 100 hospitals in New York? Cuomo’s airtime each day should be 10 minutes to report updated statistics. VOTE FOR TRUMP on Nov. 3!

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Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for Donald Trump, Jared Kushner and their families.

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People in our country are dying; people have no jobs, can’t pay rent, can’t pay bills and can’t buy food. But we get a letter from Trump telling us how great he is doing! Talk about a con man, he has it down pat. What a waste of government money. We are going to burn this piece of trash, maybe we will get a little heat out of it to help us keep warm when we can’t afford to heat our home either.

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Interesting. Several states, New York and California are just two, are seeking the Federal government to bail them out before they go bankrupt. Here’s an idea, how about we deport the ILLEGAL aliens we all support and the dollars that costs. They are welcome to come back LEGALLY this time. Why should taxpayers in Ohio, for example, support the ideas of governors in New York, California and others? Makes no sense!

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Thanks for the New York City excursion offer, I’ll pass until the city gets their act together. See, Los Angeles has the highest population density, and only a small fraction of the coronavirus cases that New York City has. Explain that?

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In last week’s column, someone mentioned that 41,000 people have died from the virus; in less than a week it jumped to sadly 54,000. Also, someone suggested Governor Cuomo has had multiple relationships. Who cares? He gives us the truthful facts every day about the virus. Our president is planning the Fourth of July parade. He’s planning on lots of big beautiful planes with social distancing between people. Where the country is at now, who cares how beautiful and big his parade will be.

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Here’s a reason to vote for Sleepy Joe. He was just endorsed by a Muslim terrorist group AND by George Soros! If you’re not familiar with George Soros, Google him. These two factors really make voting for him look attractive. (NOT!)

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Why would we open the door and encourage voter fraud in the upcoming general election by going to mail-in voting? It’s known to encourage voter fraud and voter shenanigans; it has every time and everywhere it’s been tried. We need in person voting with a picture voter I.D.