Readers’ Column for the week of November 9, 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. Please limit your comments to 100 words or fewer.

This is to the woman who was worried about the germs on the green peppers at the store. There are reusable bags, so you don’t have to wash your plastic bags and put Lysol on them. And if you are so worried about all the germs, you know you are supposed to wash your vegetables before you eat them, right? Maybe you should just stay home.

~

I live on Montrose Turnpike, and I am looking for someone to plow my driveway this winter. Please leave your name and number in this column if you are interested. Thank you.

~

Are you or someone you know having a hard time putting a meal on the table? Have times gotten a bit harder due to recent events? Let’s take one worry away. Tioga Opportunities in Owego has a great lunch, Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. You will not be turned away. It is a wonderful place to come for a nice lunch, and there’s also help to find other services around, as well as activities to check out. So, stop by for lunch and more, Monday through Friday. You, anybody, and everybody are more than welcome!

~

I’m looking at the grand opening celebration here in Owego at Taco Bell. Just a little confused that village officials would be over there celebrating. Taco Bell should be the one celebrating, not the Village of Owego. They chose not to build in the Village of Owego, so I don’t know what the big celebration was there. Taco Bell should be celebrating because they’re not in the Village, playing the Village tax game, all the other fees, and all the other churches and everything else that don’t pay taxes. All the buildings that are in there that are off the tax rolls. So, I don’t really understand the Village celebration; it’s kind of strange.

~

Recently, I had a nurse tell me the elderly should not eat spicy foods, hard vegetables, or have vinegar put on or added to their meals. This is just some helpful advice for anyone preparing meals for the elderly.

~

I’d like to give a public shoutout to my wonderful sister Sonya, who came from Endwell to Nichols to help bring in firewood before it rained. As I drove a landscaping nail deep into my heel, she also brought me a pair of crutches, so now I can walk, all after a 12-hour shift. I am alone now because I was a former lost sheep who drank. Thanks to the good Lord for delivering me from that.

~

Just to get the word out, the Village of Newark Valley is selling water to the pig farm and maybe others (not sure). I hope the proceeds from sales go toward paying down the debt that we are responsible for every quarter or maybe giving us a break on what we pay every quarter. It is our asset, and we who pay for water should benefit!

~

The Town of Owego stated a month ago that they would be picking up leaves. Where are they? Every week, the neighborhood rakes and blows their leaves to the curb, but the truck has never come around. The wind blows the leaves all over, and the drains are full due to the wind and what gets washed down the street when it rains. Why don’t they publish a schedule so residents know when their leaves will be collected?

~

Thanks to all the patrons who helped make the fall book sale at Coburn Library in Owego such a success! We appreciate it so much!

~

I just drove down Montrose Turnpike, thinking that next fall this scenic country “highway” will never look this way again. Next year, all you will see for miles are industrial solar panels. Our farmland is being turned into toxic ground, driving out homeowners who moved to the country for its beautiful scenery. The ground itself will never have the life it once had and will forever lie barren even after the panels are gone. I hope that the people who leased or even sold their property to these lying solar companies understand what they have done. They have forever changed our countryside, and not for the better.

~

Value added. That’s what the Village Mayor constantly says in Newark Valley. What value? The village office is usually closed. If you want this village to exist, I suggest that you all stop taking the taxes and taxpayers for granted. Because that’s exactly what you all do. There is no need for three office staff members for a village of 896 (as of 2024).

~

Residents in the Berkshire, Richford, and Speedsville areas may sign up for food boxes distributed by the Helping Hands Food Pantry in November and December, until November 13. Anyone calling after that date will be signed up for only the December box. Pickup dates and times will be given at the time of signup. Call Emily at (607) 657-8158 or Joan at (607) 657-2501. Sign-ups will also be taken during regular pantry hours: Monday from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. and Thursday from 2 to 4 p.m.

~

Yes, the cost of postage is high. But could you drive to wherever that mail is going for 78 cents? Then walk it to the door in heat, torrential downpours, and blizzards? How much is your Internet costing, plus security, so your bank account doesn’t get hacked when paying a bill or using a credit card? How many streaming channels are you paying for, and are you paying extra so you can avoid commercials? When a cup of plain old coffee out is approaching $4, 78 cents is a small price to pay for a service. It’s all relative.

~

There is a lot of misinformation out there about SNAP benefits. Many people who receive SNAP are working but don’t make enough money to cover their bills and groceries. The second group that needs SNAP is the elderly, who worked all their lives and only have a small pension or Social Security check to live on. It makes me so sad when people assume that families and individuals receiving benefits are lazy. There will always be people who try to game the system, but that number is small. Most people are trying to just get by. No one wants to be poor on purpose.

~

For those who enjoy chess, Owego’s Coburn Free Library offers the time, venue, and materials. The monthly chess club gathering will take place on Thursday, Nov. 13, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in the library’s Eva Thomas Room. All players, from beginners to professionals, are welcome. Games, instruction, and chess discussion are featured. This information is also available on the library website’s calendar at coburnfreelibrary.org/.

 

National Political Viewpoints

I just watched the 60 Minutes interview of Trump, where he would not answer some questions, lied about known facts, and would not stop promoting himself as the greatest president to ever occupy the White House. I felt ashamed and embarrassed for him, and as an American, I wonder if he is delusional or really such an egotist that he can’t face reality.

~

I’m just wondering why Democrats are fighting so hard for people not to have to show a driver’s license or ID to vote. They are the ones who made the law that you’ve got to show your ID or license to buy some over the counter drugs. You can’t buy beer; you can’t buy cigarettes. If a cop pulls you over, you’ve got to show your ID! But the Democrats don’t want you to have to show ID to vote. Think about it, people!   

~

Americans turn to food pantries to get something to eat, while the rich and wealthy just go to the bank.

~

Billionaires and millionaires get a tax break. If you’re poor, you’re going to go hungry. Thank you, Republicans. Thank you, Donald Trump. You’ll pay; you will pay dearly.

~

Trump illegally destroyed our White House’s east wing to build his ball room. Neither congress nor the American people approved of his self-aggrandizing destructive demolishing of our White House and its history.

~

Three months before he died in 2018, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz), a leading advocate of the war and the post-invasion troop surge, published his final book, The Restless Wave, which included a self-damning verdict: “The principal reason for invading Iraq, that Saddam [Hussein] had WMD, was wrong. The war, with its cost in lives and treasure and security, can’t be judged as anything other than a mistake, a very serious one, and I have to accept my share of the blame for it.” “The Iraq Invasion 20 Years Later: It Was Indeed a Big Lie That Launched the Catastrophic War” — David Corn – March 20, 2023.

~

Hey Democrats, on Sept. 30, 1996 the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act was signed into law by President Bill Clinton, which allows deportation without a judicial hearing through a process called “expedited removal.” So what’s the problem? — Studebaker Hawk

~

“This is such a stark difference from how every other leader on this trip has interacted with Trump. Malaysia’s throwing a concert for him, Korea’s giving him crowns, everyone’s kissing his ass. Then Xi comes in like his mom forced him to have a playdate with the weird kid at school.” — Desi Lydic

~

“After returning from a trip to Asia yesterday, Trump left this morning for his thirteenth visit to the Trump Organization’s Florida property, Mar-a-Lago. S.V. Date of HuffPost notes this $3.4 million trip brings to $60.7 million the amount taxpayers have spent on the president’s 76 golf outings in his second term.” Heather Cox Richardson — Oct. 31, 2025

~

I was a Democrat for 75 years until Biden opened our borders and allowed millions of illegal immigrants into our country. The Democrats must hate us for fighting to keep the government shut down this long. It’s all because they want to continue to support illegals. President Trump has been working hard to try to bring back jobs, world peace, and safety to the American people. I also lost my respect for the Democratic Party when all those families sat in the room who had lost family members as a result of the open borders; not one showed any remorse for them. Shame on them.

~

Who is funding the No Kings movement: a) Russia, b) China, c) George Soros, d) Antifa, e) King Charles of England, f) the Queen of Hearts, or g) all of the above?  What constitutional limit or prohibition has President Trump violated in fact or spirit? Read the Constitution!