Readers’ Column for the week of December 4, 2022

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 person that wrote in regarding having pictures taken on the Smartphone, I think in times to come, in years to come, they’re going to regret they don’t have any pictures to pass down to their children, and their children’s children. It’s a pretty sad situation when you live out of state and you can’t get pictures of your grandkids and your own kids. It’s pretty sad. I understand where she’s coming from, and I totally agree. 

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Parents, do you know what your children are doing when they go out at night? Well, let me tell you. Some of them are throwing eggs and smashing pumpkins at people’s homes and windows.

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I just finished watching the Macy’s Day parade, and it’s not what it was when I was younger. There were too many commercials, too much talking, and too many interviews. Show the parade or don’t broadcast it at all.

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The Newark Valley food pantry is taking reservations for Christmas baskets to be given out on Dec. 17 from 10 a.m. to noon. If you reserved the Thanksgiving basket, you are automatically on the list. For Christmas baskets you must be in the 13811 ZIP code area. To make a reservation, call (607) 642-3339. 

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I wish they’d get the police to patrol Bodle Hill Road a little bit more, especially between Lockheed Martin and Day Hollow Road. We get a lot of speeders coming up over that hill, especially where it changes to 55. I almost got T-boned just getting out of my driveway the other day. 

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I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, but just please remember Christmas is about the Christ child, not about the perfect gift, and not about the perfect dinner. Why is there so much hate and murder? All this crap is going on and why do people have to be so mean and ugly towards each other? It baffles me. We just pray that thy will be done. 

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The courthouse square in the village of Owego is a crown jewel for the village. I certainly hope that they will leave the trees gone that were recently cut down. It’s a much nicer view coming off the bridge now to see the courthouse square, the War Memorial. It just opened up the whole thing and it really looks more like a crown jewel than ever before. Why cover up those beautiful buildings, those beautiful monuments, and the memorial that is meant to be? Why hide those? Please don’t replace those trees. It looks much better than it did before. 

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I have a remote control to get rid of. If anybody is interested please call me at (607) 727- 8942. 

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I have a question for you. How could a letter mailed from Grand Rapids to Canada end up in my mailbox in Candor? 

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If anyone is missing a cow out on Halsey Valley Road, hunters poached it.

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Hi, I understand that the village of Owego trustee elections are coming up. I’d like to run for the village trustee job. How do I do that? Can anybody tell me? Do I do that under Democrat or Republican? Could somebody call in and let me know what I have to do to run for village trustee?

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Looking for something fun and different to do this winter? Join our winter league at P.A.C.’s Axe Throwing! Leagues start Jan. 3 at 1120 State Route 434 (Johnson’s Pool Plaza), in Owego. Call (607) 223-4800 for more information.

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The Helping Hands Pantry, serving Berkshire, Richford, and Speedsville (zip codes 13736 and 13835) is now taking reservations for holiday food boxes for Christmas. (This only applies to families who did NOT get a Thanksgiving box. Those families are already signed up for the Christmas box.) To reserve your box, call (607) 657-8158 or (607) 657-2501 or sign up during regular pantry hours of Monday evening from 6:30-7:30 p.m., and Thursday from 2-4 p.m. The deadline to sign up is Dec. 10 (no senior pantry in December). The pantry will be closed on Thursday, Dec. 15, to allow staff to prepare boxes for distribution.

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Federal budget allocations for 2023 are more than $45 billion. The NYS bonding authority is $4.2 billion. These monies are dedicated to climate quality. What is involved? The basis for the following discussion is the radiant energy the Earth receives from the Sun. In one hour, the Earth receives energy equivalent to societal energy use for a year. There are 8,740 hours in a year. Climate quality relates to providing replacement of societal energy, 1 hour of 8,740 or a penny out of 8,740 pennies. How much of the penny can we manage? How? Climate is described as average weather. El Nino cycles in yearly intervals, Ice Ages recycle in thousands of years. What should weather cycles be? Weather involves atmospheric conditions including temperature, wind, and precipitation. Factors affecting these include rotation and revolution of the earth, Hi and Lo pressure centers, prevailing winds, ocean currents, latitude, location relative to bodies of water fluctuating bovines and others. How do we manage the money?

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Get in the spirit of the holidays and drop off some food for the Bread of Life food pantry in Candor. The Candor Boy Scout Troop 42 is hosting a food drive on Dec. 10, from 10 a.m. to noon in front of the Gazebo on Main Street in Candor.

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The Village of Newark Valley is proposing a 7.9% increase in our taxes. They had it listed as a “Work session” in the Courier. It should have been listed as a work session on the budget, and to let the residents know the reason for the meeting. There is a 2nd of the month board meeting on Dec. 13 at 6:30 p.m.; please attend and voice your opinion on this matter. I’m sure the Mayor and board members would love to answer your questions and listen to your concerns. On Jan. 10, at 6:30 p.m., there is a public hearing on the budget; if this matter concerns you, please attend the meeting. Most of us live within our means and the village should too! Remember the 20% increase a few years ago? The economic impact of a tax increase on the taxpayers should come first.

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There was a recent comment regarding the lack of flavor in food. As a baby boomer, I totally agree. I think a lot is due to the reliance on commercial farms and their methods as opposed to family / regional farms (nasty, artificial fertilizer, insecticides, etc). Some of it is modern packaging – when I was growing up you got your meat, fresh cut, from the butcher, who wrapped it in butcher paper and string (all degradable). It did not sit for days on Styrofoam trays, wrapped in plastic in a grocery cold case. Someone sitting in a lab somewhere decided lard was bad for you; funny, there are so many of our generation still cruising around in our 80’s and 90’s that grew up with lard-laced baked goods!

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Does anyone know when the Town of Owego’s website will be up and running? It’s been down for weeks. This makes it impossible to find out the dates of Town of Owego Board meetings and read the upcoming agenda and minutes. Why has there been no communication from the Town on the website being down?

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Just whom do you think you are that you think you get to decide if the Native Americans are offended? Sorry Charlie. THEY get to decide if they are offended, just as you get to decide if this note and not I offend you. The Native Americans have been advocating for change for decades. It isn’t something new. Governor Hochul didn’t invent it. 

 

National Political Viewpoints

Christmas comes early! No more having to deal with Nancy Pelosi. I hope she retires with the Clintons and the Obamas, and just sits on her back porch and leaves us alone. The Republicans can run this country better than she ever dreamed, and we don’t need her anymore. So relax, Nancy, you’re done, spend time with your husband. 

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So Biden’s granddaughter recently got married at the White House and I understand her husband has been staying at the White House for months before the wedding. I can only hope the American people did not pay for that wedding. There’s no reason she had to be married at the White House. She could have gone to any other venue like any other person. So I just hope that the tab did not come out of my pocket.

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This is in regards to, as somebody put it, Mr. Potato head running for president again in 2024. I think that is disgraceful calling Trump Mr. Potato head. This person is so blinded by their hatred of him that they can’t see the damage that Joe Biden is doing to this country. I’d ask that person, are you happy with Biden and what he’s doing? They should think about it. 

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Trump went to court over 49 times to claim voter fraud. All 49 judges that he had handpicked told him that he had not brought any proof to support his claims. 

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I thought for sure Hunter would be standing between the two turkeys that Biden pardoned for Thanksgiving, because we all know he will pardon Hunter after the investigation the Republicans are doing revealed what so many of us already know.

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I understand there has been talk of Joe Biden running again for president in 2024. I don’t think he’s capable of being president again. We had enough problems with him the first time.

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Newsflash. The foul Marxist Biden regime has warned Elon Musk that they will be closely watching him and his promised release of free speech information, which is being subverted by that very Biden consortium. Bezos of Apple has threatened not to release certain apps to Twitter, but Apple has no problem dealing with these communists. So much for Biden Imperialism. 

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I thought I heard Biden say that the real strike had been solved; this was prior to the midterm. Well, we found out now it has not been solved and it may come to fruition here very shortly. Another lie just to buy votes and, unfortunately, some American people sell for this lie. We need to wake up.

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To all of you in the Trump Cult, when will your leader’s actions cross the line and when you will not support him? The “Good folks on both sides” after Charlottesville didn’t do it. Calling John McCain ‘not a hero’ because he was captured didn’t do it. His admitting he took government documents to his country club didn’t do it. What about dining and entertaining anti-Semitic individuals? I’d love to see the Catholic Church come out against this type of action! Don’t feel bad if you were taken in by Trump, after all he is a salesman and con artist. Now is the time to distance from him and his agenda, and to be a better role model for your children and grandchildren. Will you do it?

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Once upon a time elected legislators made laws and corporate CEOs made profits. Now CEOs make laws and Congress makes profits. The world’s greatest concentration of wealth is in Washington, D.C. Metro Area. And politicians build nothing, provide no service, and create nothing of value for the people.

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Famous Democratic Party donors include Bernie Madoff, 89% to democrats; Jeffrey Epstein, 92% to democrats; and Harvey Weinstein, 92% to democrats. A Ponzi schemer, pedophile king, Hollywood sex predator, and a Crypto scam artist are among the top all time donors to the democrats.

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So if it’s a bad thing for someone to give millions to the democrats to influence an election, then why is it okay for someone to give millions to republicans? Rational responses only, please.