Readers’ Column for the week of June 1, 2025

You may call The Owego Pennysaver Readers’ Column at (607) 687-2434, extension 2, 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.

FYI, in 10 years, 95% of pickleball players will randomly think, “Remember when pickleball was a thing? Let’s not spend capital on fad sports.” Kids have been skateboarding in Owego and chased out of public spaces for decades. It is awesome that they finally have their park.

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Family Enrichment Network continues to accept applications for Head Start’s 2025-26 program year. We are also accepting Early Head Start applications for current openings. For more information or to complete an application, call (607) 723-8313, ext. 1104.  

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What’s needed is residents and taxpayers who live in the Village of NV to attend the monthly meetings on the second Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Not only is the village in discussion about getting a newer garbage truck, but they are also in discussion about spending up to $72,000.00 to repave around the municipal building and at the DPW building. In my opinion, they should be looking at spending funds on renovating the DPW building. Just take a look at the two buildings that are on Whig Street that have been neglected for years. 

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Thank you for the article about the New York State Police training to combat animal cruelty. To think about the dog Maggie Mae, who endured living in a stacked breeding cage, recoiling from human touch, with her vocal cords severed, is heartbreaking. What can we do in our community to stop animal cruelty?

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I read the article about NYSEG’s audit, and this sentence stood out: “Avangrid underspends on asset management, contributing to NYSEG’s poor electric reliability performance.” I hope the Pennysaver will publish information about when the implementation plan will be submitted for public comment.

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When they catch the scum who damaged the fairgrounds, they should first be made to offer sincere apologies to the Porcari family. They should then do any necessary repairs/ clean up themselves; they or their family should pay for materials. And no excuses for not having money to do so; if they’re so “bored,” they obviously have time for a part-time job somewhere. They should also do community service connected to the fire department: cleaning the station, washing trucks, etc.

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Half a million dollars for a skateboard area redo = vandalism by admittedly “bored” kids in the same park, costing taxpayers money to clean up, not to mention breaking hearts. Money well spent?

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I was told that the Waverly and Spencer Van Etten school budgets all passed. I don’t want to hear any of you people out there complaining about your taxes going up because you had a chance to stop it. I went down and voted; there was hardly anyone there. The school districts know it’s going to pass because you people would rather sit back and complain than go and do something about it. So don’t sit there and complain about the taxes going up. You had plenty of opportunities to vote these down, so apparently you’re enjoying the high taxes, so let’s not hear any more about it. Enjoy your high taxes!   

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I’m calling to add to the call about $950,000 and then $1,140,000 this year for new school buses for Owego Apalachin. These things are built to last forever, kind of like postal vehicles. I don’t know why we’re buying new ones every year. That doesn’t seem fiscally responsible nor necessary. This also applies to Newark Valley, where the school tax rates increase by very high amounts every year.

National Political Viewpoints

Concerning “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (re: “We Are All Immigrants” Letter to the Editor, May 25): “All are welcome to come in” and “dedicated to the well-being of all” should not include drug dealers, convicted murderers, sex offenders, or gang members. As for maintaining an “open and respectable discourse,” colleges should prevent students from harassing and silencing people who have something to say that doesn’t resonate with the current trend. Diversity and inclusion are important, but equity (justice) should not imply that those of us whose ancestors lost their brothers in the Civil War should pay (through taxes) the descendants of those who received their freedom.

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While Republicans were supportive of Republican officials in the hearings, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) used the time to beg Noem for help for Missouri. The state has suffered a number of natural disasters, but FEMA has not shown up. “The state has three pending requests for major disaster declarations from earlier storms,” Hawley told Noem. “[We]’ve lost almost 20 people now in major storms just in the last two months in Missouri.” The Department of Homeland Security oversees FEMA, and Hawley asked Noem to expedite the requests. “We are desperate for… assistance in Missouri,” he said. Heather Cox Richardson. May 20, 2025

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Fifty-five years ago, we put men (no women yet) on the moon; 44 years ago, we launched the Space Shuttle; 35 years ago, we put Hubble into space; four years ago, we put the Webb Telescope, or JWST, at a Lagrange Point (L2). Into deep space. It is 1 million miles out rather than a measly 150. You can bet we have stealth defense and private communication satellites at the Lagrange points to protect us from a Chinese or Russian space and cyber attack. Perhaps a big thank you to Trump for starting this in his 1st term. What is the difference between Biden and Trump? Trump might make a mistake because he does things. Bident never made a mistake.

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The same people who call President Trump an idiot couldn’t tell that Joe Biden had dementia and that Kamala Harris couldn’t speak a complete sentence.

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“The financial savings have turned out to be highly debatable. The costs and attendant risks are not. The government’s monopoly on the means of violence—its role as the guarantor of civil peace and the rule of law—has been diluted by these new arrangements. For the moment, our defense contractors are dominated by retired officers who have internalized the norms of civilian control, but that may change. After all, the praetorian guard protected the Roman emperors for a long time before it started killing them. Brighter lights and stronger controls need to be placed over these corporations. Either we supervise them, or eventually they will supervise us.” “A Monopoly of Violence” Nicholas von Hoffman. Harper’s Magazine. June 2004

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Biden’s Department of Energy, Jennifer Ganholm, relocated $93 billion during the last three months of Biden’s term. Where did it go?

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As united we stand, divided we fall, the current leadership is trying to destroy us by tearing us apart, making Americans frustrated and irritated with each other. The world is not trusting us and is losing all hope that it can be peaceful when we have a leader who spews hatred and lies and associates with Nazi communists. 

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To the person complaining about their NYSEG bill and saying that AOC and Hakeem Jeffries didn’t have time to address this: why would they? Their Congressional districts aren’t anywhere near here, nor are there districts within the NYSEG service area. You should contact your actual congressman or senator for Tioga County. They would be the ones who don’t give a damn about you. Any thoughts on why you didn’t call them out? Ignorance or trying to spread hate?

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The commencement speech president bone spur gave at West Point was the most embarrassing, rambling speech I’ve ever heard him give. We should all be embarrassed. First of all, he has never had anything to do with the military other than that he might get a vote. He nor anyone in his family has ever been in the military. I listened to Kermit’s speech from the University of Maryland. What a wonderful speech! Maybe we could get Kermit for president.