Readers’ Column for the week of May 19, 2024

You may call The Owego Pennysaver Readers’ Column at (607) 687-2378 24-hours a day, or email comments to ReadersOP@gmail.com. We reserve the right to revise or reject any message.

 

“To leave the world better than you found it, sometimes, you have to pick up other people’s trash.” — Bill Nye

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Someone has been riding a bike on the trails at the nature preserve in Candor. There is a sign at the trailhead that specifically says no bikes. The reason for this is because the trails are quite narrow in many places and there are many endangered plants there, and also because bikes cause more erosion when you apply the brakes and skid round corners. So please enjoy walking the trails, but stay on the road with your bike, or go to one of the other preserves or state forests that allow bike riding. Thanks.

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Regarding the 65 MPH speed limit on Pennsylvania Avenue in Apalachin; it’s a good thing the police never patrol it or people would be getting tickets all the time.

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I was reading in the Village of Newark Valley newsletter that a fund awarded from the Tioga County ED&P financed the demolition of the ladder factory. The article failed to mention that the Mayor and Trustees also raised real estate taxes in the Village over 21% to finance the ladder factory demolition. Subsequently, taxes did not go down after the ladder factory was destroyed. The Village has kept the extra money to fund extra staff in the Village.

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All Newark Valley residents who own an RV or camper need to pay attention to the new Law, #1-2024, which the Town of Newark Valley Board is making. They want all residents who own an RV or camper to pay for a permit from the Town to allow code enforcement to inspect your RV or camper, limit your usage of your RV or camper on your property in a year, and other things. The Town Board had a hearing on the law in April, and I was one property owner who strongly opposed this. The law was tabled and the Board said they were sending it back to the Planning Board. Per the Town’s notification of the Hearing, the Town is claiming it is to be in compliance with NYS Laws concerning RVs and could not provide it at the Hearing; they still have not provided what law(s) that is/are. By the way, this law would include all Newark Valley residents, whether you live in the Town or Village. — A concerned Newark Valley property and RV owner.

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You may not know this, but the Town of Union board members believe they know way better than you do. They know exactly which natural gas company should be your supplier, and what rates you should be paying. Unless you opt out NOW, beginning June 1, 2024 your natural gas supplier will be whoever the Town of Union board members choose. Time is of the essence! This entire thing is corrupt. You know what’s best for you, not the Town of Union board. — Ponytail Scott

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The 2024 Tioga County Fair is now seeking non-food vendors to line the Midway for the fair this year. The fair is Aug. 7 thru Aug. 10 at Marvin Park, in Owego,  N.Y. For more information and an application, visit tiogacofair.com.

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Someone wrote that they raised the speed limit to 65 miles an hour on Pennsylvania Avenue in Apalachin. I’d like to know where they got that information. Are you kidding me?

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To the person who wanted to know where Martin’s Plumbing and Heating is located, he’s in Owego. His number is (607) 687-1295. 

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Here we go again in this column. The value of my home is down because of this, junk cars, this and that. Let me tell you something. My house is valued at over $300,000. My neighbor down the street has a double wide. It’s old and they have junk tractors, junk cars, and that’s their place and it doesn’t affect me. I don’t want to be grouped with big high-priced homes so they get the living hell taxed on them like they have been doing. I would suggest you mind your own business, let your neighbors be neighbors, and let them live how they want to live. This is the way the country used to run. If you can’t stand your property because of your neighbor, leave! Leave the state and get the hell out!

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Code enforcement officers. I don’t know if we have them anymore. I just want to know what the codes are or in the villages and in the towns, where do you find the codes? I discussed this with somebody higher up. They said the code enforcement guy was off at meetings learning more about the updates. So where do you find the codes for the towns and villages? 

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I was just wondering if anybody else has seen an abundance of chipmunks this year. I have so many of my properties and they just take it over. I was just wondering if anybody else is seeing an increase in chipmunks? Thank you. 

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Yes, I was just wondering, is it legal or even moral for a completely-abled person to squat in their vehicle in the neighbor’s driveway? Or is this just complete laziness and taking advantage of good people who helped out, but got screwed by their generosity? Thank you, concerned neighbor.

 

National Political Viewpoints

Free food, free housing, free health care, free dental, free money, everything free, but not for veterans and Americans. Thanks Joe! — Mama Gump

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Last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) unveiled the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would mandate anyone registering to vote in the U.S. provide proof of citizenship. Documents that anyone having a Social Security Card, a driver’s license, citizenship papers, a government issued passport, or any combination should have in order to become a registered voter. This piece of legislation is not expected to clear the Democratic-controlled Senate or escape President Biden’s veto pen. The same ID required in cashing a check at your own bank or age limited purchases.. Why is it that the Democrats are so against Photo ID when registering to vote and/or presented when asked to at the time of voting?

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President Trump is called the Blue Collar Billionaire for a reason. Perhaps for the fact that his dad made his kids pick up used nails off the ground at his construction sites, and gave them some needed perspective on life. In any case, you can tell a lot about a person by how their kids turn out.

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I literally laughed out loud when I read the comment from the person who said, paraphrase, “One thing I can say about us democrats, we accept whoever wins and moves on,” are you for real? All we heard after Trump won was “he’s an illegitimate president”, Russia got him elected, #notmypresident, and I could go on. But thanks for the laugh!

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President Biden claimed very recently in an interview on CNN and said, “No president has had the run we’ve had in terms of creating jobs and bringing down inflation, it was 9% when I came to office.” — 9%! The fact is, when Biden came into office the annual rate of inflation had been and was running at 1.4%. Biden went on, insisting that the economy has already “turned around”. A statement based not on the facts of the persistently higher inflation and interest rates. What Biden fails to acknowledge is what consumers already have experienced. Facts that show the current “Inflation” crept up shortly after Biden took office, surging to rates unseen since the early 1980s, which peaked at an annual rate of 9.1% in June 2022 — 17 months AFTER he took office. Over these three and a half years, the accrued inflation rate, since February 2020, has remained stubbornly high at an annual rate of 3.5%.

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I have a message for all of you Trumpster loyalists. What in the hell is wrong with you? I don’t understand you people. Aren’t you tired of defending that idiot? Aren’t you tired of saying, well, he didn’t say that. Well, he didn’t mean that. Well, he didn’t do that. It’s like Dennis the Menace on steroids. And you’re like parents that can’t see what’s actually going on. Just another day in Washington, DC where you Republicans, you know, the stupid ones, they’re not going to stay in there long. Let’s quit investigating, quit impeaching, and start governing by the Democrats. 

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I wonder what George Washington would do to Donald Trump if he found out he stole military secrets. I guess we don’t live in America anymore. No one is above the law. What a bunch of BS! 

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To the person that wrote in and said that Donald Trump is a threat to democracy, I have one question for you. Have you been smoking some of his weed? You people are ridiculous. We are now living in this close to a Banana Republic, Donald Trump is on trial for a BS case that happened eight to nine years ago, and the incident happened almost 20 years ago. There are three other cases that are just as ridiculous as these. You are trying to put a man in jail because you know you can’t defeat him in November. How about concentrating on the border more and the people being killed by fentanyl? How about the 30% inflation? How about all the other problems that your president has brought on? Including two wars! 

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I got a kick out of the comment about France eliminating their mail-in voting from 1975 because it was too easy to cheat. Sounds familiar, 2020? Then it says, “What’s your answer to that, Democrats?” Well, my answer is this, why don’t you move to France? 

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If you Democrats don’t know, our next president had a rally in Wildwood, N.J. and an estimated 80,000 people were there. Joe Biden hasn’t attracted 80,000 people in his life, combined! Nobody likes him. Welcome back, Donald Trump. 

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Over 100,000 people sat for days on the beach to wait for President Trump to speak at his Saturday night rally. Now what does that tell you? I watched it myself and it told me the people love him. I can’t wait for November. And then you’ve got Biden running on the fact that he is not Trump, no kidding. He doesn’t need to remind us. He needs to resign.