Readers’ Column for the week of August 31, 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.

If anybody in the Nichols area has seen beaded necklaces and jewelry that are being given away, please write to this column. My house was broken into, and I believe it was by a child who may be giving these necklaces away. Thank you very much.

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Just a quick shout-out to everyone; I much appreciate the patchwork on Erie Street. Much better! I also hope that they will resurface some of that when you come on the westbound lane towards Owego and come off that construction area, which is just horrendous! I hope they are going to do something about that.

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For the people who live in Nichols on South Main Street, he Walnut Street area, we have a serious problem going on. We have someone taking riding lawnmowers out of garages. Apparently, they can’t get arrested because they’re under 12 years old. If you see them, call the sheriff’s department. Keep an eye out and keep your doors locked!

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I find it absurd that, as a taxpayer in the Village of Newark Valley, you only get five minutes of the people’s time that we elect and pay for! That equates to one hour per year for our voices to be heard. Sometimes the meetings are a little long, but our concerns, thoughts, ideas, and questions should not be limited to five minutes. I don’t believe that’s being negative!   

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My great-grandmother raised chickens on a farm, with acres between her and her neighbors. The increased risk of salmonella poisoning was reduced because the few hens she had were free-range, so waste was spread out. She was scrupulous about washing her hands before and after egg collection, the eggs themselves, nesting boxes, etc. Bedding was routinely changed and kept clean and dry. The FDA has regulations regarding eggs for a reason; there is no oversight for eggs raised on a postage stamp-sized yard, with no regulation or inspection of conditions. If you want chickens, buy a farm. What’s next, chickens in apartments?

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To the person who questioned cursive writing, script or cursive was used when pen and ink were employed so as not to lift your pen and don’t have a ink spot on the paper. I taught my daughter cursive even though it’s probably unnecessary, just like setting letter blocks in print is no longer used. Just like home economics, girls are no longer stay at home housewives, so it’s up to the parents to teach their children how to do daily activities, not the schools. Parents need to be involved with their children.

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What’s needed in the village of Newark Valley is accountability! When no one shows up from the village about the situation with flooding, three dead trees at the Trout Ponds, and one really close to the playground, hydrants are not being maintained; things that should be under cover and out of the elements, like roller replacement hydrants. Maybe it’s time residents and taxpayers start to hold our leadership accountable!

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Before we work on artificial intelligence, why don’t we do something about natural stupidity? — Alfred E. Neuman

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To the person who is complaining about tractors, minibikes, and such on Glenmary Drive, you do realize that you are talking about an agricultural county. Maybe you should move back to the big city.

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Our public education system has been deteriorating since it was federalized. We now have more students who cannot perform math or reading at grade level than can. Is this acceptable to anyone? Does something need to change? Should we just keep doing what we are doing? Should we take a chance and do something different? Should we offer people a way to pay for their children’s education? Or should we be satisfied with our failed system?

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I APPRECIATED Jim Outman’s well-researched, thought-out, well-written letter.

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Come play with us. The Tioga Ukulele Group (TUG) on Sept. 6, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Owego Methodist Church, located at 261 Main St., Owego. All levels of players are welcome to come and join in the fun! For more information, call (607) 743-9803 or (607) 321-8815. You can also email TiogaUkuleleGroup@yahoo.com.

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Thank you to everyone involved in the Spencer Community Days on Aug. 22 and 23. It was a nice opportunity to see some of the dedicated volunteers who do so much for our community. The closing event Saturday evening, the fireworks were amazing! Again, thanks, Spencer.

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I have a question: maybe the good folks who read the Pennysaver can answer. The dog catcher, do they get voted in, or how do they get their position? Just wondering how they get their position; who makes them the dog catcher? Answer, please?

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About the chicken thing, I couldn’t care less about chickens, as long as they’re kept on people’s property in a group and not roaming around and crapping in other people’s yards. As long as they control their chickens in different areas like Owego, Nichols, etc., it’s no big deal. Control your chickens!

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Just for everyone’s information, Alfred E. Neuman was an idiotic character from Mad magazine.

National Political Viewpoints

The guy in his Tioga County bubble declares Washington, DC, safe again and says he’s coming down to visit. The fact is, DC has been safe for tourists for quite a long time. Other than a spike during the pandemic, crime in general across the country has been the lowest in 30 years, regardless of what right-wing fearmongers say. I’ve lived in DC in the past and regularly go to visit for business and personal reasons. It has been and still is a beautiful city to visit. But tourism is down now; no one wants to go on vacation in a police state.

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Corruption: Trump ordered the government to stop enforcing a law that makes it illegal for U.S. companies to bribe foreign governments. (He said the law hurts American firms.) The attorney general told the Justice Department not to worry about a law requiring foreign lobbyists to disclose their activities. During Trump’s first term, prosecutors had invoked it to bring charges against several of his allies. New York Times, August 25, 2025

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Mama Gump is full of bunk. Democrats did not vote to give “illegal aliens” free tuition. I am so sick and tired of people who believe everything they read on the internet or hear on TV “news.” Just look at how Trump supporters have lost their minds over Cracker Barrel changing its logo. They are saying they are “woke,” and it’s all because of DEI. No! It is not. Companies change their logos all the time! Please think for yourselves and don’t believe the people who are trying to con you.

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There are a variety of religions and philosophies that pretty much say that man was a crossbreed between higher evolved beings and our evolving animal ancestors. That explains politics in a nutshell.

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The influence that Laura Loomer has over Trump reminds me of the influence that Rasputin had over Czar Nicholas II of Russia.

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Exactly what is this alternative news that is not funded by big money?

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Do any of you Legacy news adherents have any idea how many of the over 325,000 children lost by the Biden administration have been found, and where they were found? Do you know how many illegal immigrants with records of murder, arson, and violent rape of both adults and children, etc., both in their native country and in the United States, have been caught? Do any of you know how many are still here walking the same streets that you and your family do?

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Why do people send things into this column that are just not true but are widely spread by ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, WICZ, and other legacy media groups under the control of the Democrat Party? It is so easy to do research and tell the truth, yet still, these people persist in spreading dangerous lies that put the lives of our elected officials in danger.

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Last week, someone wrote that since Donald Trump has been president, there are more wars and unrest in the world. Are they really not aware that the Russia-Ukraine war started under Biden’s presidency, as did the Israel-Gaza war? The unrest in Africa, India, and Pakistan is ongoing and has nothing to do with our president. The involvement of European countries and countries in the Middle East is the result of the Biden wars.

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Imagine Kamala and Tim Waltz having gotten as far as Trump has in making peace in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. I can’t. The worst thing that can happen is that Trump fails. Also, it is shameful that Democrats voted against exempting tips from taxation. People who work in the food service industry typically are at the lowest end of the income scale.

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When we lived in North Carolina in the 1970’s, the schools would be closed for a week so that the kids could plant tobacco. Since the Trump administration is deporting migrant agricultural workers, maybe we can close schools in the Hudson Valley during the apple-picking season so the kids can pick apples. Oh wait, different varieties ripen at different times. Well, maybe close the schools on a rotating schedule.

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Well, Cracker Barrel is going woke. They are now going to join Target, Bud Light, Jaguar, etc., in going broke. I won’t eat there anymore. Looks like their stocks plunged by 100 million just in the last couple of days.

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What a pathetic small man Trump is. He comments on Zelensky’s clothes. Zelensky is a war hero, stronger and smarter than anyone in that room, and he doesn’t have to wear a MAGA hat to proclaim it. I mean, what’s that all about? Also, yesterday he decided he would like to rename the Department of Defense, the Department of War. I thought he was the peace president. So far, he has brought no peace to Gaza, no peace to Ukraine, and he has war on the streets of America. We better watch out. This is coming to a bad end.

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So I’m a bit confused today. The president said if you burn an American flag, it is a federal crime. But what I want to know is, if you beat cops with the flag, use it as a spear, and break into Congress, is that okay?

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The city is now being patrolled by armed National Guard troops, not because crime here has risen. No, this is a photo op to make Trump think he looks strong. He has slashed funding for cities that would provide more police on the streets, police training, etc., but the photo op is what he’s going for. This is no different than the SS troopers going through Germany doing the work of Hitler.

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What’s the difference between the United States and any typical communist country? Nothing. We have a dictator; they have a dictator. They have military personnel in the streets, running the country, telling people what to do, checkpoints. We have it here. We have the government starting to take over businesses; they just did it within Intel, they want a percentage of that. They are closing down the news stations. We are going to hell in a handbasket! You Republicans sit there on your hands, smiling. Well, wait until they come after you and your guns. That’ll happen.

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Remember when that Russian came to America and said he would take over the USA without firing a shot? It’s happening right now. I believe Putin is advising Trump on how to destroy America. Look what’s happening! We are turning it into a fascist country. Donald Trump will tell you himself that he wants to be a dictator. He’s king of the world; he rules the world. If the man wants a damn crown, he can go to Burger King.

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For you people who read the Pennysaver, you better wake up and smell the coffee. If you voted for Trump, that was a waste of a vote in your pool. He is just one step closer to trying to be a dictator. The next thing he is going to pull is martial law, and when he figures out how to completely be a dictator, you will lose all your rights. I will lose all my rights thanks to all those people who voted for him because you just sold us out, and we’re going to turn into a 3rd world country!

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Putin is playing Trump like a fiddle; Trump is playing you voters also.

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Anybody sick and tired of seeing that idiot from California on TV? He wants to be president so badly he’ll do anything. Can you imagine what this country would be like if that moron got in that chair? Look what he’s done to one state. The state is destroyed! It’d be like putting Hochul up there. Just think if she or Cuomo got in that big chair! When is this world going to change, and we get rid of these incompetent fools?

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What would our Congress and Republicans say if there were a Democrat president in the White House and Russia blew up one of our factories in another country? You know what they would say. Trump is so afraid of Putin; he has so much garbage on him, including those tapes that everybody’s talked about. He’s not helping our country. Trump is hurting our country every day, and now they’re violating NATO airspace all the time. What’s Trump saying about it? Nothing. What a disgrace this country has turned out to be.

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It’s amazing to me when they’re going after people who are not fond of Trump because they are a national security threat. Meanwhile, they don’t go after Trump when he talks about confidential top-secret information and communications in the dining room of his hotel in Florida. How is that right? If anybody should be arrested for being a threat to our nation, it’s him. He’s the worst threat of all!

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Well, here we go; Trump is stealing elections. First, it’s Texas; he’s going to steal that election, and then all the rest of the United States. I have no desire to be under Republican rule. I think this is absolutely ridiculous, but when it gets down to it at the end of the day, it is stealing elections!