Readers’ Column for the week of April 20, 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 limit your comments to 100 words or fewer. We will not be running comments that exceed this number, give or take five words.

 

The 7 Counties Farmers’ Market will be held this year at the Church of the Nazarene, 3732 Waverly Rd. in Owego. We are looking for new vendors: craft and food vendors, as well as produce vendors. The market runs from June 10 through Oct. 31, Tuesday and Friday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. You do not have to commit to the entire season. We offer daily rates. You don’t have to be a farmer to sell at the farmers’ market. We would also welcome a restaurant, bakery, or food truck at the market. For an application or information, email 7countiesmarket@gmail.com.

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My guess is that it would be at least eight years on cat comments, and I would love to stop the anti-cat comments, but cats continue to be a problem. People continue to feed the strays, so the problem only grows and gets worse. My advice is, if you don’t like reading the cat comments, don’t read them.

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To the teachers wanting more money and less hours, maybe you should cut your home budget. That would be the choice of us taxpayers.

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To the person wondering why all the helicopters are flying over Owego. The helicopters are manufactured at Lockheed Martin. They are made and they take them out and try them out.

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I see that there is a homeless camp in the creek on Day Hollow Road. I don’t know if they left all their stuff there from last year or not, but you need to watch your things, people.

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I so enjoy reading Farmer Becca’s articles on life on her farm, her family, and her animals. Each story is written so well I feel I am there with her. Thank you.

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I’m calling about the batteries, not knowing where to take them. For A, C, and D, the usual household batteries can be recycled at the transfer station on Glenmary Drive, Home Depot, Valu Home Center in Owego, Battery World on the Parkway. For car batteries, AutoZone charges $5 to bring them in; the transfer station also takes them, Weitsman on Main Street in Owego. Lithium batteries, Battery World takes all batteries, the transfer station and Weitsman. I hope this will be helpful for you.

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Where does that money for grants come from? It comes from us taxpayers. We end up losing anyway. Why not a regular car? There’s certainly enough government cars around.

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What can we do about stray cats? Is there something you can sprinkle? I can’t even walk out my door without smelling cat pee. There’s too many strays in this little village. What do you do? Anybody?

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Senior citizen looking for a person who knows how to change a timing belt. Leave your name and number. Thanks so much in advance.

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The Village of Newark Valley should not be in the garbage business. Garbage trucks are expensive. How much is a new one, anyway? Any piece of equipment should earn its keep by demonstrating that it costs the taxpayer less than the increase in taxes to fund that operation. I would love to see the village’s math on how that “service” is justified. A private contractor could do it cheaper; their capital investment is better utilized, not just sitting around most of the time. Also, it would enable the village to eliminate salary and benefits for a third person on the village crew.

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How about those EV cars? Do you want to guess how much diesel is burned to make your lithium batteries, or to build a windmill or solar farm, lubricate, and winterize windmills? And if they have a 20 year lifespan, they don’t even offset the carbon footprint they left behind, let alone the junkyard they are producing. So when Owego needed to replace an aging truck, it should have been gas or diesel-powered instead of sucking juice off our aging grid and polluting the environment. Grant money or not, all you are doing is supporting a failed lie.

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Does anyone work on, or know someone who works on older chainsaws? I have two ‘older’ Homelite chainsaws. One is a 240 and one is a 150. Both worked well when I stopped using them four years ago, but they won’t run now. If you can, or know someone who knows how to get them running, let me know how to contact you in this column. Thanks.

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I am concerned about the Food Bank of the Southern Tier – Action alert regarding USDA cancellation of 15-truckloads of food to regional food banks.

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Would the residents of Crestview Heights be interested in signing a petition to move their homes from the Union-Endicott School District to Apalachin-Owego? The state website has a procedure for this. Visit https://www.p12.nysed.gov/mgtserv/sch_dist_org/proceduresforalterationschoolboundaries.html.

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Can anyone recommend a cat sitter in the Apalachin area?

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On April 8, around 3 p.m., I was involved in a crash. I want to thank all who stopped and offered help. I would like to thank the two women who stayed with me until they knew I was okay and called my family to come. To the police and the fire department who came, thank you for all your help.

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The authorities refuse to remove their deadwood, which litters and smacks my home with its sheddings and even sends insects my way. They claim the deadwood promotes diversity because of all the critters and vermin that fester and mutate there.

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The OACSD BOE held a Special Business Meeting on March 31. At this meeting, the TST BOCES auditor recommended that the District’s legal counsel review all construction contracts to determine “reasonable and proper, that the proper contract is used, and that the contract is in the best interest of the district.” OACSD’s largest labor union contracts, which have a value of $150,000,000 were never reviewed by legal counsel, placed in the public record, read by the BOE, placed on any BOE agenda, or approved by the BOE. If you ran a business, would you so neglect contracts of this magnitude?

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I’d like to give a big thank you to Todd, who works for the Town of Owego Highway Department. He took extra care in cleaning the intersection of Foster Valley Road and Cornell Hollow. I really appreciate your helpfulness.

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If you don’t like your NYSEG bill now, you sure won’t like it when the rates go up in May! And my water bill with Veolia is up a whopping 33% over last year, for the same amount of usage. (We might all be better off going back to our countries of origin and let the indigenous people have their land back. They were more in harmony with ecology, nature, and a simple way of life.)

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Last week’s two letters to the editor were exactly right on target in regard to what is happening to our country, and the “old coot’s” column contained a great deal of basic information necessary for all youngsters to live in today’s world.

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Parents, are you concerned about social media’s harmful effects on your kids? Go to joinmama.org and join Mothers Against Media Addiction for resources. Maybe we can get a local chapter started.

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In reply to the helicopter comment, they have been flying frequently for decades. I know because they go right over my house, sometimes missing my chimney by mere feet and shaking the entire house. They are Lockheed helicopters being test-flown. Yes, it is nerve-wracking. They, of course, should not be flying over residential areas, but common sense continues to be in short supply until tragedy occurs and the mental fog lifts; sometimes, not even then. This is nothing new.

 

National Political Viewpoints

The Democrats are leaderless and have no idea how to proceed except by stupidly marching around in absurd, unpatriotic, and violent demonstrations. President Trump’s brave economic actions will propel us to economic nirvana within months. Trump’s clean coal strategy and upgraded electrical grid plan are just amazing and should terminate the Green Deal scam. His actions in Iran and Ukraine will succeed within six months. God bless President Trump.

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I’d like to know when “President” Musk is going to send out our $5,000 checks.

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So if Trump’s tariff plan was nothing but a scam to make money, he puts all these tariffs on one day so that the stock market crashes. Then the next day he puts a pause on them so the stock market goes back up, and the rich people buy the stock up, and they make millions on top of millions. What a scam artist; he should be locked up for good!

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News flash: watch the Democrats prattle on about the drop in the stock market. No matter, because it will reach new highs in a few months. Meanwhile, the US. is taking in two billion, with a B, dollars per day in tariffs. Go Trump!

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I’m sure glad that President Trump is making my retirement accounts grow so much.

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I’m just sitting here watching Rachel Maddow lying on MSNBC. How do they allow somebody to spew her lies on television? She should be sued and thrown in jail or just taken off the network.  

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I like this column; but it’s all Trump syndrome. We can watch that every day on television. Let’s discuss something different here in the paper where everybody can see it, like the corruption in the state of New York. Let’s see, let’s put in there about how the seniors are losing their homes, how some of the seniors are living on 12 to $15,000 a year. Let the people know what’s actually happening in this state.

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Stop buying China-made products. We all need to come together. Have you ever heard from any other president about tariffs and what other countries are taxing on the U.S.? It’s time we show these countries we don’t need their products. Help the USA by buying our own made products.

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

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Why don’t we take Trump, and have him get on a cargo plane to be shipped off to some foreign prison? He’s allowed to do that to us American citizens. Why can’t he be deported? He’s really no American whatsoever.  

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Well, the retribution tour keeps happening. Little or nothing is being done to the taxpayers except losing our money and raising taxes on everything more expensive. But the smallest thing he’s done recently is taking down the picture of the Obamas, of course, and putting up a picture of himself at the so-called assassination attempt. He’s such a small man.

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President Trump calling April 2 Liberation Day was just perfect. He liberated me of most of my retirement savings, but I wasn’t clever enough to catch on to the insider trading he did last week when he told everybody bye, bye, bye, then released some of the tariffs and the stock market soared. They made millions of dollars, but for us poor saps, in the end, we’re still losing.

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You know when Trump is lying, it’s when he opens his mouth. Mouth like a fish, lips ready to eat all of us worms.  

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The founding fathers of our country intended that there would be a separation of church and state. President Trump should not be promoting Christianity and trying to enforce Christianity in the federal government. He should have hands off from religion.

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Don’t believe anything Mama Gump says; she’s off her rocker!

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People wonder where all that money is going that Trump is supposedly saving by cutting all these programs. It’s going to reduce our deficit, which is trillions and trillions in debt. That’s what he’s going to use the money for. Supposedly.

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So now the United States government cannot get one of the individuals it sent to that prison in El Salvador out, and it won’t return him either. And now the president is saying perhaps we need to send our criminals from the United States who are citizens there. What the heck is going on in this country? Trump, with 34 felonies, including sexual assault, is the president. Unbelievable!

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In today’s America, universities are defunded if they don’t teach in ways that President Trump approves. Law firms are destroyed if they represent clients Trump dislikes. He doesn’t feel a need to abide by Supreme Court rulings or parts of the Constitution he doesn’t agree with. Freedom of Speech is only allowed if it supports right-wing causes. I thought the Republicans were the party of a small, unobtrusive federal government?

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In response to the person who commented on Corey Booker’s speech a few weeks ago, I guess you didn’t listen to what he said. He was excellent.

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Tariffs are on and off, and now Trump might pause the pause, like a fish out of water.   Says the country should absorb a little pain, like taking your medicine. Obviously, nothing has been thought through thoroughly. He announces to his millionaire friends that now would be a good time to buy stock, and he caved on tariffs. Who do you think made money that day, and who do you think lost? I wouldn’t give you a nickel for this administration.

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I’ve had issues with the IRS. The amount at issue is $405.48 owed by me, whereas the correct number is a $1,945 refund. On Dec. 16, 2024, I received an IRS letter titled “Final Balance Due Reminder – Notice of Intent to Seize (Levy) Your Property.” That is the tyrannical legacy of the Biden administration: seizing your property without due process of law! Trump is removing all firearms from the IRS. Tax collectors with guns are no different from arming idiots with guns. Trying to speak with a living being at the IRS is next to impossible.

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Well, Justice Roberts, are you surprised to learn that there is only one branch of government now? After all, you and your cronies on the court did have something to do with this state of affairs.

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Ronald Reagen (R) added $74 billion to the deficit, and Georget H W. Bush (R) added $102. Bill Clinton (D) reduced the deficit by $383 billion and left the budget in surplus. George W. Bush (R) added $1.54 trillion to the deficit. Obama (D) reduced the deficit by $825 billion. Donald Trump added $2.1 trillion to the deficit (R). Joe Biden (D) reduced the deficit by $942 billion.

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Amid all of the economic chaos that he has created, it’s heartwarming to see Trump using Air Force One, at taxpayer expense, to travel from West Palm Beach to Miami, a drive of just over an hour, to attend a UFC fight with all of his MAGA buddies. I can’t even imagine the MAGA hysteria if Biden had done that.

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“The media is the real virus; control the language, control the people.” — Mama Gump

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“Of course he won. Anyone who beats him gets deported to El Salvador.” — Jimmy Kimmel

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“President Trump today announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for some countries and increased the duty on Chinese imports to 125 percent. Where did he learn his trade policies, from a kid in an elevator – just pushing random buttons to see what happens?” — Seth Meyers

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Trump has now presided over the largest single-day point drops in stock market history. How’s he celebrating today’s disastrous 2000 point decline? By golfing. Thank you, MAGA, for both wiping out my retirement savings and (if Musk is successful) ensuring that I won’t even have Social Security to fall back on when I retire. At least you guys “owned the libs,” though, am I right? Outstanding.

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DOGE needs to clean out and UPDATE the SSA recipient lists! Personally, I’m having difficulty wrapping my head around the idea of there being 110-225-year-old CITIZENS still on the books, receiving checks (or believing anyone could possibly be alive at that age).

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It is easy for Trump and his billionaire friends to tell us to be patient and sacrifice as we watch our life savings disappear and worry about Medicare and Social Security being taken away. They have more money than they can spend in their lifetimes, and their children’s and grandchildren’s lifetimes. But those of us who have to make hard choices every month are very afraid. He lied to us, and now we are paying for it.

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MAGA: Make America Great Again! Bring back Grandma Brown’s baked Beans!

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To all you DEMOCRATS: Biden (or whomever was running this country) for FOUR YEARS, made a mess of it! President Trump has been trying to FIX it, but has only had FOUR MONTHS to do so! Get over yourselves. He’s doing a great job!

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Plastic straws and showers. Yes, very major concerns in today’s world. Who is Trump? He’s very insane, senseless, and goes tangent all the time. Trump should concentrate on lower food prices, better health, and peace… day one. Not much accomplished except for plastic straws and water pressure. Thanks, Donald Dump.

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I, too, have noticed a definite lack of non-Democrat comments! Can’t imagine all the Trump supporters have just suddenly stopped voicing their opinions! I haven’t! And although I have sent in two or three comments over the past couple of months (respectful in nature), I haven’t seen them published either!

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The reason why prices are high for eggs is that President Biden ordered tens of thousands of laying hens slaughtered just in case some of them had “bird flu.” It will take some time before chicks that are free from the disease are mature enough to become layers themselves. The egg-laying chickens are not suitable for meat, plus you wouldn’t want to eat meat from a sick bird. Meat chickens are immune to the disease.

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The opposite of woke would be asleep or dead, if you don’t wake up.