Readers’ Column for the week of April 13, 2025

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 messages. To allow more callers to be heard, please try to limit your comments to 100 words or fewer.

Attention Ukulele Players: The Tioga Ukulele Group’s next adult jam session is scheduled for April 19, from 10:30 a.m. to noon at the Coburn Free Library, Main Street, Owego. All levels of players are welcome to join us, from beginners to accomplished ukulele players. For more information or to receive music ahead of the jam session, please contact us at (607) 321-8815 or (607) 743-9803 or send an email to TiogaUkuleleGroup@yahoo.com.

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Broiler chickens and egg layers are two different production lines.

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Who do you call about roosters and chickens in your yard all the time that don’t belong to you? They are here constantly eating my bird food. The bird feeder is in the air, but they drop seeds on the ground, and the birds come in and eat on the ground also. I tried calling the dog catcher and got no reply. So, who did you call? 

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Yes, I called before; I have a problem in Nichols with cats, and I’m actually at the point where I can’t come in and out of my door without them running inside, and I don’t own any cats. Can anybody give me any ideas on what to do, please? Thank you. 

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What’s up with NYSEG? It goes from $79 to $171 and now up to $201! What the hell is going to be next month? We’re going to be forced to go to kerosene lights pretty soon. 

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I do agree that if you have no children, you shouldn’t be paying school taxes. I think the people who have them should be paying for them because they get a tax credit. Secondly, there should be no stray animals anywhere either. It’s the irresponsibility of the people who own the cats, dogs, chickens, or whatever else that is roaming free that they can’t take care of their animals, so they just throw them out the door and let them go. It’s inhumane. Prisoners don’t get treated like that. Wake up, people! 

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In response to the caller having chickens roaming on their property, I had the same thing happen to me. You have to call or visit the zoning department in the brick building on Route 434 and they will take care of the problem. Chickens are not allowed by law in residential areas of Tioga County. They will write them a ticket and tell them to get rid of the chickens, or they will fine them. The chickens are cute, no question about it, but they don’t belong running around your property ruining your flowers. They will take care of them very quickly. 

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To the Owego Village Board, who thinks buying an electric car is a brilliant plan: when will New York State and the village request NYSEG upgrade their grid? Every electric car that’s plugged into our grid robs us of our HV heat systems because the grid hasn’t been upgraded since 1956. We’re going to experience more brownouts, more blackouts, and more loss of power because of people who do not know what they’re doing. People do not take the time to understand what they’re doing to the grid. Think about that.

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When will the selfish Democrats in the Village of Owego stop whining about progression in this village and money being made in this village versus their own selfish ways? When will those selfish Democrats in this village understand that we need business in this village? Otherwise, we are going to lose this village.

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When did the village of Owego become a communist state? As a personal village resident, I have now been persecuted and prosecuted for living my life on my own property that I pay too many taxes to support the village board and the village board members for doing absolutely nothing to further the development of downtown Owego.  

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Just to clarify, the EV car in the village of Owego replaced a vehicle that wasn’t able to pass inspection for several years, period. Grant money is out there for the taking. If the village of Owego didn’t grab it, somebody else would have. 

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I was wondering if one of your readers could tell me who owns the helicopters, who’s flying the helicopters, and why they’re flying the helicopters over the valley area and very populated areas. There’s a lot of houses in the area, and I was wondering why they are not flying them in vacant land areas or maybe up and down the river. With all of the helicopter and small plane crashes lately, it does make some of us in the valley very nervous about this. I’m hoping somebody can tell me who they are and why they’re in this area. 

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Complaining about all these Spectrum commercials, there must be 100 commercials every day. This is getting ridiculous. Spectrum’s got enough damn money. If you don’t believe me, look at your bill. They keep jacking the price up every time you turn around. How much money do they need? Give us a break! 

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I know you can’t put old batteries in the recycling, but can you put them in the garbage? If not, where can you put them? 

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Somebody, please explain to me how you become a judge. Are you voted in, or are you appointed? If so, by whom? 

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Here we go again: another comment about stray cats. They continue to be problematic to all who take pride in their property. A neighbor who has 23 cats should probably be reported to animal control. These cats are not being properly cared for, they’re not being loved, and they’re probably not receiving veterinarian care. I wish the best to the person with the cat issue. Cats are and always will be a problem until the laws are changed. 

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Yes, I was calling to see if there are any carpet installers or retirees who would be interested in installing a roll of carpet in my upstairs spare room in my Owego home. I would be more than happy to compensate them for their time and efforts. They can respond to this column with their number if interested.

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Over the past year or so, traffic has increased on Thorn Hollow Road. Vehicles are speeding and flying through the residential neighborhood. There are children; people are backing out of their driveways. When warm, people take walks along the road. A cat has been run over and killed; a deer has been hit and killed, and the driver just took off and left the carcass in someone’s front yard. I don’t know if anyone driving on Thornhill Road will read this, but if they do, it would be appreciated if they followed the speed limit and slowed down in this area.

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I’m sure there are others out there upset that Scoville Meno left town. I depended on them for service on my GM vehicle. I have a credit card where I earn points, and it helps pay for service done at GM service places. Now I travel 30-40 miles. I’m 80 years old, so I have to drive on roads that I don’t like to drive on. I wish some GM dealer would move into town. I see that not many readers have called in to complain, but there’s a lot of room for politics. I’m sure this won’t get put in.

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Thank you so much, Emma Sedore, for your fantastic account of the story of two trains in last week’s Pennysaver. It was a wonderful part of our history that I had no awareness of before you wrote about it, and I appreciate you taking the time and effort to inform us all. Also, anything that Wendy Post puts in the paper and writes about is well worth reading. She is such a gem to our community, and we so appreciate her. Thank you for an exceptional Pennysaver this past week! 

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I’m calling about the post office in Newark Valley. I got a notice that my mailbox isn’t in compliance. It’s been in compliance for 30 years, and now it isn’t? Something’s going on. I always support the post office, but this is not right. Now my mail isn’t being delivered. Can someone look into this? 

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To the Town of Owego Highway Department: Please repave Haus Road! Not just put down road pieces and then dump piles of stones on it. Repave it so our vehicles are not getting damaged. You cannot go over 10 miles an hour on that road, and normally it’s only 5 miles an hour. Pretty soon, anyone who travels Haus Road will be putting in claims for broken suspensions, popped tires, realignments, etc.

National Political Viewpoints

We had four fallen soldiers returned to our country; people in the South are being flooded, and the stock market is in the toilet. What’s our president doing? Hosting parties with the Saudis. When will you MAGA people wake up?

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It appears as if the Three Stooges are running our country. You know, Trump, Vance, and President Musk. 

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Let’s just say those military plans were exposed and sailors on a ship got killed; I can see you Republicans giving Trump another pass. Hell, why not? Their only members of our armed forces; you know how Trump feels about them. 

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I thought I heard it all, but I was wrong. You had this idiot on TV the other day saying if his mother didn’t get her Social Security, she wouldn’t be too concerned about it. Yeah, she happened to be the mother of a millionaire. Say, for example, you and I did not get our Social Security check; you better not call the security office and inquire about it. You’ll be labeled a fraudster. Who knows, maybe they’ll handcuff you, shave your head, and send you off to an El Salvadorian prison.  

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Democrats want you to believe that two billionaires decided to get into politics to steal your money, but actually, two billionaires got into politics to stop Democrats from stealing your money. — Momma Gump.

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I just want to give a big thank you to the commonsense Americans who voted President Trump into office last November. I’m proud to be an American again. I fly my flag high every day. I feel safe; my 401 is bouncing back. It’s great to be America first! Thank you again. 

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Oh, it is so refreshing to turn on the TV and hear news about gang members being deported, especially today with the arrest of the top MS13 leader right here in Virginia. And thank you, President Trump, for your love and support of us, the American people. President Trump’s administration puts Biden and his administration to shame. I hate to think where we would be in this wonderful country had Kamala been elected. Thank you to all Trump voters for coming to your senses! 

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If the ladies who are on The View think they know it all, why don’t they run for president in the Democratic Party? 

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What a disgrace and embarrassment the current president is for our United States. If any military person or defense contractor mentioned one iota of what they did with those texts that have been made public and given to the journalist, they should be immediately court-martialed and put in prison. Those of you who voted for him, all you’re doing is destroying the country. The president is supposed to help their country, help its citizens, not tear us down, destroy it, and take all the money and give it to the rich. He’s going to go down as the worst president ever. 

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I’m still waiting to see the paperwork or the report that Elon has that shows the trillions of dollars he’s found that were wasted. There is no paperwork because there was none. It’s all Donnie’s Kool-Aid propaganda. Stop putting that crap in the paper. 

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MAGA does America first. What does that have to do with Greenland? They should be concentrating on lowering prices and creating affordable housing. 

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Trump is no longer satisfied with having two presidential terms, as he now states he wants three, maybe four, again ignoring the U.S. Constitution, obviously not wanting to be president, but wanting to be a king by dictatorship. Trump and his subjects, which he demands we all be – subjects to his rule, is quickly destroying America, with his foot on the accelerator and on our throats, choking freedom. We should have believed him when he stated he’d “be a dictator on day one.” Well right-wing America, how’s the new transition into being in servitude to the King? 

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Trump, along with Musk, who believes he can buy anything and everyone, is intent on destroying our government and replacing it with a dictatorship and oligarchy. This is wreaking havoc, putting the country into crisis. This chaos of cruelty is the Trump administration’s goal. 

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Remember when Trump lied hundreds and hundreds of times in the last half of 2001 and you Republicans voted him back in again? It’s unbelievable! Why would you do such a terrible thing? You don’t know when someone’s lying right out in the open like he does? 

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Please help me understand how the Democrats sat quietly as Biden and his been incompetent administrations ruined our country and now these same people are so impatient to have Trump correct them. This tells me the Democrats were not happy with Biden’s policies. So if they were, why were they quiet when Biden was ruining our country? Why the impatience now for President Trump to put us back on track? Help me, please understand. 

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Cory Booker, the liberal senator, talked for 25 hours, rambled on and on, made no sense, and pretty much just hated Trump and stuck up for illegal criminals. Anything you want to think of, he’s babbling about it. I just want to say thank you, Cory Booker, you’re going to make it easier and easier for Republicans to get reelected because you people embarrass yourselves every day. Twenty-five hours of BS. 

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Impeach President Musk and overthrow King Trump; both are anti-America and against democracy. No co-dictators! Keep America safe. 

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Trump and Musk just cut 10,000 more jobs at the Centers for Disease Control, which stopped Alzheimer’s and childhood cancer research. Do they really want Americans and American children to die earlier and get sicker? What is wrong with these two? 

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Why are Trump and Musk gutting America’s healthcare infrastructure, endangering the lives of all Americans? They’ve also drastically cut programs like Meals on Wheels and HEAP. What is wrong with them, and why is the cruelty aimed at the people who need compassion the most? Is there buyer’s remorse for Trump voters having traditional American values destroyed? Let’s hope they join with Democrats to repair Trumpism. 

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It’s one thing to not like somebody, but it’s another thing when their hatred for them becomes an obsession. 

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I get a kick out of all the far-left meltdown comments I read in this column. I find it unbelievable that so many in Owego despise the new administration. This past fall, it was all about the Harris-Waltz signs on almost every yard on Main Street in Owego. The Biden administration was a catastrophe, and you all know it. Trump, in 90 days, has helped free Israelis and Americans from Hamas. He freed prisoners from Russia, and he brought back astronauts from the space station. He also deported illegal aliens from the U.S. It’s time to make America great again; Mr. Trump is showing how it’s done. 

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The stock market is dropping rapidly. The 401K’s are evaporating. I figure Donald Trump’s saying to himself, “How do you like me now?” Don’t you people understand a damn thing? I don’t think you’re gonna get it until he takes every penny from your 401K, and even then, I wonder if you’ll still get it. 

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Donald Trump is making America un-great for the first time. 

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With the ill-advised and damaging Trump tariffs, the U.S. steel industry has already laid off over 1,000 workers. The U.S. Car manufacturer Stellantis immediately laid off 900 American workers. Inflation will spike, along with unemployment numbers; poverty rates will increase. Trump’s been through six personal bankruptcies; now he’s bringing that to America and home to you! 

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Trump has betrayed the American people. He campaigned on lowering prices; he delivers the Trump tariff tax increases. He lied again. When does everyone learn Trump cannot be trusted? 

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This is a quote from our ex-vice president Mike Pence: Trump’s tariff tax is the largest peacetime tax hike in U.S. history. 

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The last two days, I have watched my retirement account dwindle to almost nothing, and yes, there’s our president in Florida flying out on our airplane, our taxpayer money, to golf and host his billionaire friends for a couple of days. Tonight there’s a million-dollar plate candlelight dinner at Mar a Lago, which I suspect we’re paying for too. Remember, Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Well, guess what, Donald Trump? America is burning. You’re just so stupid! 

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I do not find Jimmy Fallon to be funny. I don’t care what he has to say. I would gladly trade him for people like Red Skelton. 

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Supposedly Senator Gillibrand is going to increase Social Security to $2,400 per year. That’ll be the day; she doesn’t do anything for us. She doesn’t care about us. 

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Your Marxist Democrat callers are blooming idiots. Billionaires are working with President Trump to save this country from economic collapse, and these billionaires are working for free. It’s called patriotism! By the way, your Pennysaver censor should be fired for gross favoritism of the Marxist viewpoint overload. End of story. 

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Kathy Hochul, Chuck Schumer, and AOC all need to resign from politics. 

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The math used to compute Trump’s tariffs is incorrect. They multiplied the tariff four times more than necessary. Just another case of how incompetent and lazy this administration is.