Readers’ Column for the week of February 7, 2021

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. 

 

To the reader in last week’s column – you said you had left your religion 50 years ago and are seeking answers from perhaps a higher power or source to understand the reason we are in the mess we are in; and the higher power’s part in it, a conversation with understandable answers. I am not a preacher or belong to an organized religion, just a believer with a relationship with the creator of the universe and you and me. He has a whole book with letters and conversations to answer any and all questions. He is also just waiting to hear you say that you desire to talk with Him. My source is the way maker, promise keeper, miracle worker, light in the darkness and He tells me I am God blessed, highly favored, imperfect yet a forgiven child of God. I, too, would love to have a conversation with you, not trying to convert you to any church belief but just seek (and find) answers together. Call 642-5037; let’s start with a conversation between us. 

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I was just wondering if anybody else on Main Street in Apalachin is getting their mail all messed up. I’ve been getting other people’s mail; they’ve been getting my mail. Just wondering if anybody else in Apalachin is having that trouble.

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Why oh why are people wound so tight? I was doing 35 in a 30-mph zone and a guy was right on my tail flashing his lights. Later a guy passed me on the right and glared at me honking his horn. A rubber band that’s too tight soon snaps. Slow down and live longer.

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I’d like to find out if there is a pet groomer in the area of Newark Valley, Richford or Berkshire, as long as it’s not too far out of the town of Richford. 

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I think kids need to get back into school full time. So far the regulations for attending in-school instruction seem to be working. This is because things have been done sensibly, but now you put high-risk sports into the situation. Mask wearing will probably work but social distancing will not. One on one contact with your opponent is not social distancing. With this being said, how will they safely implement this into sports to keep all involved safe from COVID?

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Maybe we should start a new thing, my pet peeve. When I call someone and get an answering machine, I would hope they’d call back. They never do. I called with a question and they never called back. They are professionals, come on! Call back and say you don’t have the answer or something, but that’s my pet peeve. Thank you for listening. 

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Greeting cards. What do we do with them? They are beautiful, expensive and wasteful. Are there any charities that will accept them? 

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This is for the person that wants the recyclable number; it’s 223-8714.

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After reading the article about high-risk sports coming into Tioga County, there was more negativity than positivity concerning safety factors so sports could safely resume. If what Martha Sauerbrey says is correct and cases continue to rise within the county, why wasn’t more thought put into starting the season. These sports do not allow for social distancing, so there goes one major safety factor. 

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I agree with last week’s caller about silent phone calls. While I was at my desk, knee deep in paperwork doing my taxes, the phone rang. Being a room away I hurriedly and desperately made a mad dash to the phone, tripping over many things only to be met with dead silence. There was nobody there. Why is this allowed to happen? This happens three, maybe four times a day! Is this what I pay a monthly phone bill for? Where is the phone company, where are the politicians? I need somebody to protect my privacy and peace. Can we outlaw telemarketers?

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I think that all the towns in Tioga County should pay for our recycling because there are some of us out there that are on a fixed income and cannot afford any extra money coming out of their check. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to put it in the garbage or dump it along the road and be done with it.

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Do you think we could stop with the COVID numbers? It’s getting old and it means nothing. If they don’t want to stop then please start recording numbers from the flu, colds, heart attacks, etc. and the list goes on. We are all susceptible to all of this. Just stay safe, wear your masks and move on. 

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I have a question. I would like to know why the teachers do not want to work because they might catch the virus. WE have our nurses out there, our doctors out there, and all the medical professionals that are even working with the virus. Please answer this question for me.

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We’ve been out of school for almost a year with no sports. Why do we still have a full-time athletic director? That should be a part time or shared position. The OFA man is currently getting over $100,000 salary plus benefits. Why are we paying for this for a guy who has no responsibility?

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We here on Maple Lane in Tioga want to thank the Owego Highway Department for the great plow job they did through this last storm. They came and cleaned the road every single time and made life a lot better for us down here. Thanks again you guys, great job.

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I live in Nichols and I read this week’s column where somebody else called 911 that they lived in Lounsberry. In November I called 911 for the first time for myself, and finally, an hour later, Greater Valley showed up and after that in the mail I received a $1,300 bill from them. I’d like to know where Nichols was. They’ve always come before when my husband needed them but this time it was Greater Valley. I don’t think we have an ambulance service down here either.

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A week or so ago there was a comment in this column about people throwing non-recyclables in with their recyclables. I have a suggestion for that. Why don’t we have more items made into recyclables? That would put fewer items in the landfill and more items in the recyclables and would really save the environment a lot more. 

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The pandemic has been very hard on kids and some are falling behind in school. During this time, give your child the gift of being read to. Read every day. Hearing your voice pronounce words, looking up definitions together, and enjoying stories of other people and places will expand their vocabulary and knowledge of the world. Best of all it will be time spent with you.

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Eating their own – don’t you love it? Boss Cuomo appointed New York State’s Attorney General, Latisha James. The Boss’s mandate to Ms. James was to root out the crimes and corruption of President Trump and all members of his family. AG James has issued an honest report regarding Cuomo’s disregard of seniors by his forced incarceration of COVID infected into nursing homes and elder care facilities. Amongst other things she shows how he undercounted the victims of his actions. Ms. James got some moxie. I hope she doesn’t trip over a pencil. The Ministry of Truth and Social Justice deemed this news unfit for publication. Thank you, AG James! You still won’t hear an apology from the Boss.

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Mark 13:32. Stop thinking you are somehow important enough to be clued in. And 2/3 of the world is of another religion and the adherents there aren’t concerned.

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The question needs to be addressed by the Tioga County Legislature, Tioga County Sheriff’s Office, and all fire districts as to why it is acceptable to allow delays in dispatching. If you need an ambulance in Tioga Center, they have 10 minutes to respond; if they fail to respond the next service now has 10 minutes to respond. This repeats for any service dispatched until finally someone does respond.

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The Apalachin LIbrary wants an increase in tax dollars again this year. How about letting us, the taxpayers, inside the building to pick up our books?

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I have an answer for two questions in last week’s column. To the 90-plus year old lady wondering where she can get the COVID vaccine, currently there are no clinics scheduled in Tioga County. There are a few in Broome County, but since you cannot go to Binghamton, you might want to try calling Tioga Opportunities. They may be able to help schedule an appointment and even transportation to the clinic. Call 687-4120 and they may be able to assist you. To the person wondering who to call to report a dog in distress and tied to a truck, try Tioga County animal control at 687-4039. They may be able to look into the situation.

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In response to the Pennysaver article, Reinventing the Police, I offer the following. I was raised, worked, retired, and still live in Owego and have always had the utmost respect for our police officers, fire department, and our first responders. I have always found them to be a part of our community and in my occasional dealings with them over the years, they were always professional and concerned with the issues we discussed. It is a shame due to a New York dictated policy and the worthless Cuomo leadership that there is this waste of people’s time to satisfy a State mandate driven by issues mostly occurring in New York City, and ridiculous state policies like no bail and early release of criminals. Once again, we are grouped with the pimple of our state, New York City. So to our police officers and other first responders, I have always appreciated, admired, and will continue to support you.

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Just how do the whiners expect snow plows to avoid plowing in their driveways? What do they expect the driver to do? And do NOT say raise the plow, because then the snow stays in the street.

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Thoroughly enjoyed the article about feeding birds (“Suet’s Folly”). There is a school of thought that birds should not be fed because it only helps weaken the gene pool: “Survival of the Fittest”. I never get tired of watching the various species interact with one another and then watch them scatter when a hawk shows up. I always let my feeding areas stay empty for a while before I restock them. This way they don’t get too dependent on me for a meal. It can get expensive: US citizens spent $4 billion for birdseed in 2016. Sales have been even higher during the pandemic.

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I, too, feel a bit guilty getting the stimulus money. I am not rich by any means but I know that many people are hurting right now. I did join a few more non-profit groups that are helping make the world a better place. I could always buy a few hundred dollars in lottery tickets to help New York State fill its $15 billion budget gap. However, I’ll be putting huge sums to upgrade my property over the next few years, which will certainly put money into the local economy.

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The USPS needs an “Impassible Roads” delivery status. “Driveway Inaccessible” was the result of the impassible road, not the blame of the owner. 

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While Recall elections occur in 18 other states, New York has no current provision either by law or constitution to recall a sitting governor by means of a petition for a vote prior to the next available election for that office every five years. There is however a course of action to put this provision into law by legislation or constitution. For elected officials at any level of government, the New York State Constitution states the power to remove an elected official rests solely with the Governor. As to removing a Governor for office there is no provision in the New York State Constitution to either impeach or recall a sitting Governor. There is no route to petition for recall other than to amend the State Constitution Via a proposed legislative Bill moving through both houses by consensus of elected representatives in both houses. There is currently a Bill on this matter, which has been held in committee for a long time, but has not been marked up for vote. If it were to make it through both houses in Albany, it would be placed before the public as a Proposed Law to be entered into the Constitution if passed. Another route to getting a Proposition on the ballot is to call for a State Constitutional Convention, which there was in 2017. It was voted down by 80% of the voters. A S.C.C. would have state appointed delegates to review and rewrite constitutional rules, which then are line item Proposals on the ballot for consideration, by voters. The next possible date, by New York State Constitution, will be 2037.

 

National Political Viewpoints

Trump aftermath: The insurrection. Treason? Democracy lost? No way.

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So long – He’s gone: Democracy steadfast, firm strong: carry on. 

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Just wait until a year from now after Biden has made a mess of our country, I hope the people that voted him in will regret it. 

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To the person that wrote the newsflash, President Biden hadn’t even been in office a week yet when this paper came out and you’re saying that gasoline prices had gone up in two weeks and you haven’t seen anything yet. Well, you better change your mind there and listen up because the price of gas went up a month ago or more. Don’t blame President Biden for that little issue.

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Just one comment about prescription medicine – I am a senior citizen who takes four meds every day. Every month I have to fill four prescriptions. Four years ago Donald Trump said he would do whatever he could to control the rising price of prescription medicine to help the seniors out who can’t afford it anymore. Well, in four years my medicine never went up, not once in four years and I thank Donald Trump for that. After one week of Biden in office, just one of my prescriptions went up $48 a month! Biden doesn’t care about the little people. He only cares about sucking up to the big businesses. Thank you, Biden, for nothing! I’m glad I never voted for you. I hope you never get back into office again.

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My attorney and I are pursuing an eviction to one of my tenants who already vacated the premises. What’s the point, what’s the purpose, sound familiar? It’s not; here’s a clue. It’s a democratic way of thinking. 

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I was just thinking of something. Maybe after a year of Biden even the Trump haters will be wishing Trump was back in office. If things get that bad, I hope they realize their mistake.

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Most of the things that I comment on don’t make it into this column so I’ll try again. I wonder if Joe Biden really thinks that the United States going through this climate change legislation is really going to make a difference in the world when China, all the Middle East, and Russia and India continue to blue and they will continue to blue at the expense of Americans losing jobs and the economy becoming worse.  

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As long as we’re impeaching ex-presidents, we should impeach Obama for dropping billions of dollars on Iran because he didn’t have the balls to stand up to the military. If they were yelling death to America, maybe we should impeach Bill Clinton or selling technology to the Chinese so they could launch rockets. Before Billy sold them the technology, they couldn’t get a rocket 50 feet of the ground! Impeach Billy!

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It’s criminal what Trump and the republicans did to this country in four years. Lock them up! They are all criminals.

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Somebody needs to tell Joe you do not govern the United States by signing executive orders. There’s more to it than that as proven by President Trump; and when President Trump signed an executive order the democrats called him a dictator. So what does that make Biden? I guess double standards, so here we go.

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I am so glad Trump ran as a republican. The Party’s over, you had to hand it over with Trump. Are you still with Trump? That’s too bad.

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We are determined to work and fight until justice reigns down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.

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The democrats play chess while republican politicians play checkers. When Trump signed executive orders, the democrats got an injunction from some judge in east Podunk to stop action on that order. The republicans should do the same for Biden’s dimwit orders opening our borders to illegal aliens and orders killing our energy supplies of oil and natural gas. Republicans must wake up and fight back Biden’s tyranny.

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It’s a damn shame you republican voters in Tioga County put Trump first instead of country first. God bless America.

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Scary. Slow Joe wants to give $1.9 billion in the Coronavirus stimulus and he wants money to go to state and local government. Scary, scary, scary! Think about what Owego is going to do with theirs. They’ll still continue to charge the highest price for sewage in the whole country, not the state, the country! The Village of Van Etten will continue to have 80 people who are in the water district in the ex-village and pay for their water system through a bogus fee. 

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You republican Trumpsters not only drink the Kool-Aid, you don’t even have any idea of what flavor it is.

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If you need a daily dose of hate and bigotry and ignorance and fear, don’t miss Sean Hannity on Fox. That’s what gets me about that fool. At the end of his program, he says let not your heart be troubled after he scares the hell right out of people. No wonder their ratings are going down like a rock.

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In this column for the week of Jan. 24, a poster was confused about free speech. Free speech does not mean all businesses large and small have to broadcast your opinions to the world, but rather have the discretion to do with it as they please according to their terms of service or whatever whim they may have. Free speech encompasses more than verbal utterances, and Twitter etc. are free to use theirs. Perhaps the poster wants his or her free speech to be protected but not others. 

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The next time photos of the “poor” immigrants approaching our southern border are shown, look closely. People wearing flip-flops with CLEAN socks, people wearing expensive Nike footwear, clean pressed clothes; children, and babies in carriages. These people are supposedly walking about 45 miles a day. Does what you see match what we are supposed to believe? Where do these people sleep, eat, go to the bathroom, and get cleaned up? Kind of makes the whole thing a lie, doesn’t it?

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We know they are lying, they know they are lying, they know we know they are lying, we know they know we know they are lying, but they are still lying. Trump Impeachment 2.0 is just plain mean and meant to let you know they will punish you.

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Dr. Jill Biden holds a doctorate degree and is therefore a doctor. If you went to college you’d know that all the doctorate holders were addressed as doctors. The word doctor is from the Latin Docere – teacher. Have a nice day.

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Trump’s properties are PLUMMETING in value: “Donald Trump has not been doing so well since leaving office and setting up shop in Mar-A-Lago. To make matters worse, his property values are plummeting. Trump-branded Manhattan buildings have lost half of their value since he took office. Properties that used to have the Trump name, but don’t anymore, have lost 17% of their value. The Trump brand and name is a disaster right now, to the point where maybe his post-presidency life won’t be so profitable after all. After the Capitol riots on Jan. 6, a number of banks cut ties with Trump. He also lost his social media accounts, which could have been used to promote his businesses. If there aren’t going to be major political or criminal consequences for the damage Trump did to the country, maybe there can be financial ones.” — David Pakman Show. Jan. 29, 2021.

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To the person who wrote last week bragging about Trump donating his salary of $400,000 to charity. Big whoop! What about the over $140,000,000 the taxpayers picked up for all of his golf outings over four years (298), the cost of using Air Force One for his trips to Florida, the cost of the Secret Service agents to protect him, and other costs that were incurred? Look it up, the figures don’t lie.

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Last time I checked, here is the score on Trump’s border wall that was supposed to be paid for by Mexico. It is American taxpayers $15 billion, Mexico $0. But yet Trump decided against spending money to ensure a larger supply of vaccines would be available to protect millions of Americans from COVID-19. Worst president in history!

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If George Soros had paid for even a portion of the things he had attributed to him he would have gone broke years ago.

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If you have the chance, there is a video titled “Not evil just wrong” about climate change. It explains a lot about climate change. It’s worth watching, it’s 15 minutes long but worth the watch. Ted Cruz was on with Maria Bartiromo and he said a lot of harmful policies would be put into place in the next two to four years. Biden will put executive actions, regulatory actions, and national security actions and they will take up budget reconciliations, which is a procedural mechanism to get around the Filibuster. This means we are headed for a massive tax increase; and they can do that with just democratic votes. Mike Huckabee said when you see gas prices go up to $6.00 a gallon, your taxes going up, your healthcare getting out of control, anyone who voted for Biden can’t complain. What Biden did by shutting down the keystone pipeline, banning fracking, and opening up the borders is going to cost us. When is Biden going to do anything about conservative book deals being cancelled, people who supported and worked in the Trump administration getting blacklisted to get any job, and anyone who voted for Trump being called a racist, a communist, and a terrorist. After all he said he is going to unite us, but with this behavior going on and he says nothing about it speaks volumes that he doesn’t care about “We The People.” We must stay strong and peacefully work on bringing back our country to respect our constitution and fair voting and worry about our country first until this pandemic is under control.  

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So far the Biden “administration” begs reality and credulity! I mean seriously – 1. John Kerry in charge of climate change jetting around in a private jet spewing 40 times more pollutants into the air than a commercial jet? 2. With the pandemic shut down worldwide, harmful pollutants spewing into the air have been cut drastically, but NASA finds no evidence of any change in temps of land, sea or air! 3. Coal miners are told to get a different job – when there are none to be had paying what they were earning. 

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Recently, accidentally, the Bidens were locked out of the White House in the cold. Mockingbird media didn’t tell you that did they? Might it have been an omen of things to come? Just wondering.

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What a hoot! The Democrats have blocked a subpoena concerning the deaths of senior citizens in nursing homes due to the virus and the incompetent actions of Governor Cuomo. Kind of looks like a cover up and an admission of guilt, doesn’t it?