Readers’ Column for the week of February 5, 2026

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.

In the Jan. 11, 2026 Pennysaver, the tribute to Doug Hurley article mentions changing the name of Forest Hill Road to Hurley Road. When I moved to Apalachin in 1970 it was called Forrest Hall Road in tribute to much-loved Owego Police Officer Forrest Hall, who was killed in the line of duty on Oct. 13, 1969 responding to a domestic disturbance on North Avenue. Did it become Forrest Hill because Forrest Hall sounded like it? At some point in time, the Town of Owego department in charge of street signs seems to have gone along with this by installing a sign designating the road as Forest Hill.

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Thank you, Pennysaver, for your article on Mayor Tornatore. Had you not published this piece on the mayor, the residents would not have known of his retirement, as it is not listed on the village website. Those who expect a change in how local government is administered will be disappointed. Why? Those in charge now were handpicked by Mayor Tornatore. So Newark Valley will continue to be a high-tax municipality with a bloated payroll. As the WHO sang in one of their songs, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”

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Newark Valley’s mayor, Jim Tornatore, retired. Let’s hope we vote for another who cares and believes in our small town as much as he did.

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I’m offering a $100 reward for the apprehension and conviction of the people who cut down my fence and stole my DR field and brush mower off Howard Hill. Contact Matthew Rogers at (607) 642-8728.

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The Town of Berkshire residents, if you’re not alarmed that the new highway superintendent has appointed his own father as deputy, you should be. Why not a current employee? This should raise serious concerns. Who’s running the Berkshire Highway Department, the father or the son?

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I want to say what goes around comes around, or is it the other way around? May the Lord be with us; let God bless us.

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I read that one of our trustees has been living in the wrong ward but is still serving on the board. I give him credit for stepping up; I would also like to give him credit for stepping out. He’s been out of the ward for nearly a year. I question his decisions and votes that he’s made since he moved nearly a year ago, and I think he should not only step up but also step out of the board right now. Thank you.

National Political Viewpoints

Last week, I compared the actions in Minnesota to the Gestapo. I take it back. The Gestapo was trained and regulated. These guys are more like the Ku Klux Klan, in surplus uniforms, running amok.

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To Republicans who still support Trump: You fools, you brainless fools. Trump and Putin designed this assault on America and you’re falling for it. Blindly watching Fox while Americans are deliberately being blinded in their eyes by unmasked ICE thugs sent to terrorize our cities by Trump, all in the name of gold. All in the cover-up of the Epstein files. What are you teaching your 14-year-old daughters and sons? 

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Putin is stealing Ukrainian children and erasing their identities, killing their families, and blowing up Ukraine. Trump is stealing America’s children under the name of ICE by using unidentified, masked guards with guns to blow up Minnesota. What are you waiting for? For your children to be swept away too? You think it won’t happen here? You think Langworthy will stop it? He’s a lapdog to Trump and Minnesota is just the beginning!  Don’t just sit there! DO something! Write or call now to STOP ICE! Contact Rep. Langworthy at 1-607-377-3130; Senator Schumer at 1-518-431-4070; or Senator Gillibrand at 1-202-224-4451.

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No Uniform for You!

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Someone wrote in to say it was Gov. Hochul’s fault that NYSEG was owned by a foreign company. That sale took place in 2008 long before she was governor. And it is not a sale that the governor can control. The truth is that this country (and almost all countries) uses the capitalist economic system. Capitalism is designed to make money for owners. The rationale is that you take money from the middle and poor and give it to the rich so they can create jobs. Of course, this is not true. Most jobs in the U.S. are created by small businesses.

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Howdy snowflakes. In this country, when we take an oath of office, we take an oath with a Bible; in God we trust. God bless America. — Captain America

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What fool would pay (with the U.S. taxpayer’s blood and treasure) for what, by the 1951 Greenland treaty, we have owned for 75 years? I don’t know but he is in the white house, sitting at the resolute desk in the oval office. 

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People need to wake up and realize the Second Civil War has already started. Project 2025 said this was the plan, and they are killing citizens in the streets to suppress any dissent, just like in Iran. This needs to stop, and the sheeple need to wake up to reality!

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Imagine being so morally bankrupt that you treat kindness as terrorism.

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To the individual who stated that the Mayor of New York City must be sworn in on a Bible: this is incorrect. No law requires a Bible for the oath of office. Although it is a common tradition, the First Amendment bars religious tests for public office, permitting officials to swear in using any book or none. A careful review of the facts would help avoid this misunderstanding. 

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“The Norwegian government— they don’t have anything to do with awarding the peace prize. This is an organization within their country. This would be like if Trump bombed Mexico because Taco Bell didn’t put enough cheese on his Crunchwrap Supreme.” — Jimmy Kimmel

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Isn’t it funny how people in cults follow their leader, believe their own leader, yet betray their eyes?

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That guy who got killed in Minneapolis had a cell phone in one hand and no gun in the other. What a contrast that was for that one agent who shot Renee Good; he had a cell phone in one hand and a gun in the other. Who are the peaceful ones?

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A little common sense, people: if you resist or push back against law enforcement, especially with a gun or a motorized vehicle, you’re putting yourself in harm’s way, breaking the law, and you may get hurt or killed. That’s just common sense!

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Despite what Trump says lots of times that’s inappropriate, he does want peace, or he wouldn’t be trying to stop the wars. His programs are good; gas has gone down, he’s trying to lower credit card interest, housing, insurance costs, drug pricing. Our country can be better, but we have to ignore his mouth.

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Freedom for Minneapolis!

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People have been complaining about their electric bills a lot in New York State, and I can see why. Do they realize that Trump put a 25 percent tariff on everything that comes from Canada, including energy? We get a lot of electricity from Canada, so it explains why our electric costs are going up. You Republicans can look right back at your boy Donnie because he’s the problem with this country. He’s running this country, and you’re watching that happen, then complaining. Good luck!

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I got one word: “Epstein.”

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Don’t blame Trump for what’s going on; Biden created the open borders.

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I hope someone can tell Donald he did not win Minnesota three times. He didn’t win it once, and yet he goes around saying that, which should make everyone very worried. Does he really believe that, or is that just another lie coming out of his mouth?