Readers’ Column for the week of April 2, 2023

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.

 

It’s nice to see the improvement and development projects getting started or underway in the Village of Owego, however it is sad that Owego and other similar upstate NY towns rely so heavily on government largess. In Owego, grants are being received to fix up privately owned buildings that have fallen into disrepair, purchase Village Police Cars and Trucks, pay the salaries of Village Police Officers, even repair the Village Fire Station roof. Grants are needed to fund these projects because they are not economically feasible on their own merits. For private property owners, the payback wouldn’t justify the private investment – so the government has to step in and pay for it. In the case of Village building repairs and salaries, it is evidence that the Village can’t afford to pay for its basic needs anymore – a roof over its head and protecting its residents. And since we’re getting rid of all the Native American naming references, and since the name Owego is a derivative of the native settlement “Owagea,” that was routed and burned by General Clinton’s reign of genocide against the native people, perhaps Owego should change its name to Grantville. 

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I just want to say how much I enjoyed your letter to the editor written by Jim Outman. It was spot on! I enjoyed reading it and I couldn’t have written it better myself. Thank you!

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I commiserate with the poor man that is having trouble with his Internet and has a landline. I have had the same issues and I don’t know what to do about it. All I’ve got to say is we’re not in Kansas anymore. 

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My husband and I picked litter and cleaned up Forest Hill road for years and years in Apalachin. Now he’s gone and I’m not able to do it anymore. Is there anybody on Forest Hill road that would be able to pick up the road and make it look as nice as we had it for many, many years? I would sure love to see it.

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To the village of Owego property owners that I have spoken with recently regarding the need for ordinance to prohibit Jake brakes in the village limits, I mentioned I would follow up via this column. The request should be on the April 17 agenda. I will attend the following board meeting on May 1 to answer any of their questions. Please feel free to join me.

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With the condition of the railroad tracks and the culverts at the Berkshire end of Brown Road, there is no need for speed bumps.

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I feel sorry for you people that call in and you have to put up with lazy homeowners that don’t keep their property clean and free from garbage and so forth. Remember this, one person can destroy a whole street. Be careful where you buy. I would check the code enforcement around the area before buying anywhere.

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I have a great idea! Instead of banning plastic shopping bags, how about banning disposable diapers? What ever happened to cloth diapers? I used them on my two children. Before anyone says anything, I worked full time and was able to care for my two kids. With cloth diapers. It would save our landfills millions of tons of human waste and plastic, not to mention the horrific cost of the disposable ones. Now why is this? I say laziness.

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We have rather a ‘HOLEY’ situation here on Brown Road in Newark Valley. The Berkshire half of this road is in desperate need of repair and please ‘hop’ to this immediately, and you will be awarded a golden carrot in heaven! 

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After reading last week’s Scam Alert in this column, I want to share my experience with these scammers. Same thing happened to me around Christmas time 2022 in a parking lot in Vestal. A dark gray SUV pulled up close as I was getting out of the car. A thin dark haired male was leaning out the window and gave me the same story. Said his car broke down on 17, and he and his wife and daughter were on their way to get the daughter a feeding tube. They needed money for a micro motel while the car was being repaired. I almost gave him money, but then said, “I am sorry, I don’t carry any cash.” They pulled out quickly and probably on to the next victim. Don’t give them money, and call the police, I should have! Stay safe! 

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The average working residents of New York State haven’t the foggiest idea how Albany plays them for a sap. They get up, go to work, pay their bills, and try their best to do right by their family and community if only to shovel off their own sidewalks in the winter. Many work hard in their community by lowering the cost of doing public business by volunteering as EMT’s, Fire Fighters, School Boards, Town and Village officials with more out of pocket costs than any paid stipend. Albany is morally corrupt not to give the benefit to these taxpayers to be capable of making an affordable life in this state. It is just wrong to continue on a path where legislation is ready to bankrupt a state, which has been supported on the backs of the workers.

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In answer to the reader inquiring about the moose sculptures in Candor: The artist who creates the scrap metal sculptures is Doug Makemson, a Georgia artist. He has won awards and has installations around the country, including a Pony near the Commons in Ithaca. Other awards and installations include 2007, Winter Haven, Florida – Polk Museum of Art, 7th Annual Florida Outdoor Sculpture Competition; Best in Show and People’s Choice awards; and Ithaca, New York – Art in the Heart of the City (three works). You can see his other works www.makesculpture.com/index.html.

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In response to the former IBM employee: What you didn’t mention is that you probably made 25-50 percent more than the average teacher, received bonuses, had vacation, sick and personal days, and had a traditional retirement. I know I did after retiring from IBM after 30 years. Most teachers I know work all summer, either summer school or other jobs. 

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Were any of these hillside solar farms ever cornfields?

 

National Political Viewpoints

Government is not a competitor. It’s a predator, and like an octopus its tentacles are everywhere – in schools, colleges, universities, in the pentagon, and the war machines. Eisenhower warned us because war makes some people rich at the expense of millions of lives. It’s in the administration, in the FBI, in your state government, in your local government. Forget your politics; ask yourself one question, do you believe in the constitution and the bill of rights? Ask your politicians, watch how they vote. Don’t believe all they tell you because when it hits the fan we all are going to be in the soup. We have one chance to save our republic. Get your head out of that place and pay attention to what’s going on because this is not going to be a fun party. Some judges have taken the blindfold off lady justice. We have people in jail from Jan. 6 who have not been charged. Anybody who does not believe in the constitution and the bill of rights should be removed from office and no longer hold any government office, even a local dogcatcher.

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Trump didn’t learn, “or did he”, from his insurrection not to inspire and incite more violence against America, its people, and its democracy. Does Trump only care about himself? The answer is excruciatingly plain to see – yes!

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All I ever hear and read about is how much more smart democrats are and they are brilliant and intelligent. How come your candidates refuse to debate republicans? How come they hide in the basement of their house or they just refuse to have a debate? They have nothing to say about what really matters in this country because they are on the losing side. You people are hypocrites.

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More false claims from Trump last Tuesday about an indictment that would be coming, which didn’t happen as Mitch McConnell says, “yet”. Trump is so deserving of a criminal indictment that the courts have given the green light to five separate criminal and one civil investigation. The courts will determine if Trump did anything. As we all know he is very guilty. 

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Let’s make this clear; the only extremism in this country is the far left democrat party. They are the party that is threatening our democracy and making this pretty much a police state. That’s right, a police state. They have no morals, no ethics, and are only out to destroy our country and turn it into a new world order. That is their goal. 

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We have a spineless president and our enemies know it. North Korea is testing nuclear missiles, Russia has invaded Ukraine, and we have a mess at our borders. 

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I’m calling in response to all the shootings that have been going on ever since Biden took office. He wants all the assault rifles; the democrats want all your guns. Go back in time before Biden took office, yes there were shootings. Look how many have happened since Joe Biden was elected president. Look at the schools; look at the teachers, just look at the numbers in the last three years with the democrats running this show. They want your guns at no cost. It’s not the guns – it’s the democrats. They want your guns.

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What did you think of Biden, on the shootings in Nashville? All he could talk about is taking your guns, and ice cream. He doesn’t say anything about the tragedy, just taking your guns and ice cream. God, you people voted for that? You should be so ashamed! If this country survives it will be a miracle! 

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With all the money they are sending over to Ukraine, millions and millions of dollars, you would think they would send some kind of stimulus check to the elderly, like $2,000 / $5,000 dollars to help them through the mess they are in with the high cost of everything. But no, we’ll take care of the other countries but forget about the old people of this country. Makes me sick! I’m voting republican next trip.

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Oh come on! Enough is enough! It is far past time for all politicians to come together and take a few common sense measures to stem gun violence. It may not help, but then again it would at least be a start. There needs to be a NATIONAL database of all registered gun owners. There needs to be NATIONAL qualifications for gun ownership. Every state having varying and conflicting rules, laws, and regulations is just wrong. Every gun owner in this country should be fingerprinted. Each person qualified may own a gun (bear arms); numbers should be limited per person, no one person needs seven firearms for personal protection; to protect crops or livestock from predators; or for hunting. The same for ammunition. No one needs hundreds of rounds of ammo to chase a fox away from the henhouse or bring down a deer or two. Set a reasonable limit and when you are out, or nearly, then apply for more. Like prescription refills – available from a central entity like the local sheriff’s office and that information kept on a NATIONAL database. If even one nine year old is saved, that’s one nine year old saved. And claiming there isn’t money to set up the technology / staffing for National databases for such vital, coordinated information and qualifications, is baloney, when we are sending billions overseas to protect the citizens (children) in other countries. Sure there is a right to bear arms; it is also the primary duty of our leaders to take measures to protect the citizens (children) of this nation. 

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Here’s my suggestion for fixing the assault rifle problem: You can own one, but it must be painted hot pink and covered with Hello Kitty decals. This doesn’t infringe on the “right” to own these weapons. “Responsible gun owners” just want to be able to defend themselves, right? They can still do that with a hot pink Hello Kitty AR-15, can they not? Alas, this would never happen, which proves that assault rifle ownership is primarily about peacocking and Rambo cosplay. Years ago Big Tobacco convinced American men that the cigarette-smoking Marlboro Man was what a “real man” looks like. Now the gun-toting man has replaced the cigarette-smoking man. Cigarettes weren’t good for public health and life expectancy and neither are guns, which are now the leading cause of death for children.

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I was in Ithaca yesterday and noticed 10 Tesla charging stations at the far end of a strip mall parking lot. None were in use. Thinking through basic electricity, wire gauge and people’s behaviors, these stations will never be used to any significant level. Perhaps two EVs could be fast charged in 30 minutes with a 1000-amp line. Then a diesel generator is required for augmentation. Otherwise, charge times will increase to days. Shoppers won’t use them, but the near minimum wage earners of the mall can for four to eight hours. They drive $70,000 Tesla’s. Tesla owners can afford to spend $1,000 or more to install a 100-amp charger in their heated garages for overnight charging. If only three out of 10 residences install 100-amp nighttime chargers, the grid blows up. Solar panels will provide the nighttime amperage. It only gets nuttier. Some thinking is needed.

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Funny and sad how democrats ignore the crime issues that they have caused by letting criminals free to rob and cause injury to the people of New York, yet the democrats say that Trump is a crook and a liar! The illegitimate so-called commander in chief is the biggest crook and liar this country has seen! Biden’s 50 years in government has made his family rich, all at the cost of the taxpayers. Impeachment for Biden is next.