Readers’ Column for the week of July 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. We will not run comments that cannot be reduced to 100 words.

 

I was just calling to see if anybody knows who is responsible for cutting the grass alongside Hickory’s Park Road, coming into the Hickory’s. It’s getting rather high, and cars tend to drive closer to the middle of the road than on the side because of how high the grass is.

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There is a traveling dentist that will come to your home in Tioga County. His name is Dr. Gould, and his phone number is (607) 296-3761.

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For paper shredding in Tioga, there are none scheduled right now. There is one scheduled for Broome County. Call 1-800-747-3365. Also, try the UPS Store at (607) 654-0285. Try Weitsman’s in Owego, too, by calling (607) 687-7777. Someone should be able to help you.

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In answer to the question in last week’s Pennysaver about hitching up a truck to a camper if it is not yours, call the police. As for the information on garbage burning, call the Town of Owego at (607) 687-0123. They will probably tell you whom to call about garbage burning.

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Looking for someone to sketch a family tree on a poster board. Call (607) 239-3424. If no answer, please leave a message.

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There is a great podiatrist on Route 434 in Apalachin; Dr. Nicholas Putrino. He is in the UHS building by Visions Bank.

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Heard that the landscaper who was digging the graves at Hope Cemetery in Newark Valley is no longer doing it. I have been volunteering for a few years, and whoever they hired is doing an exceptional job. Never have I seen a grave that has been covered after the burial look so nice! Keep up the good work.

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Someone is poisoning squirrels. They were very active until last week, when I saw one in its death throes, literally three feet away from me in my backyard, and since then I haven’t seen one. Normally they’re everywhere. What trouble were they causing?

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National Political Viewpoints

For all the right-wing Christian nationalists who keep saying the United States was founded on Christian values. Really? The pilgrims who came to this country stole Native American lands, had no tolerance for anyone who didn’t believe as they did, and enslaved Native Americans. The word “native” says it all. The first people, who had thriving communities in their country and a spirituality that seemed to threaten the pilgrims’ idea of religion. They committed sexual assault, cheated, lied, and murdered. Sound familiar? Not my Christian values.

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Studebaker Hawk, do you know where I could get two 1953 Studebaker hubcaps? Signed, Nash Healey. Thank you.

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I see that Studebaker Hawk and Mamma Gump are on some new drugs, something even more powerful than a hallucinogen. Their comments don’t seem to have anything to do with reality. Maybe you ought to stop publishing them.

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Remember, only you can prevent communism. — Smokey the Bear

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On the 250th anniversary, let’s remember that the Republican Party was once known and grew as the “Party of Lincoln.” Apparently not the kind of “Greatness” aspired to by many these days. If we could harness the energy of him spinning in his grave, then we’d all be rich.

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Every week, Mama Gump and Studebaker Hawk (likely the same person) spout out ridiculous conspiracy theories they’ve heard on right wing media. They are easily fact checked and can be disproven, often within minutes. The scary thing is that many people believe them and vote based on these lies.

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“In many ways, the Iran mess is a fitting capstone to Kushner’s career to date. Rather than a seasoned diplomat with a deep understanding of Middle East policy and history, a person of integrity with no financial stake in the outcome, we got a feckless wheeler-dealer and a global quagmire. For Kushner, none of this appears to matter. He and his partners are traveling the world, gleefully raking in cash as they cultivate relationships with sordid regimes and kleptocratic leaders in the interest of making a buck. The world burns, and Jared Kushner gets richer.” They went to Jared — Casey Michel, Mother Jones (July/August 2026)

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“Communism is a political ideology that calls for public ownership of major resources as well as the means of production, so that the state, rather than private individuals or corporations, owns factories, farms, mines, and so on. In theory, although seldom in practice, the state then redistributes wealth according to need. Communism has never been popular in the United States, and the only politician calling for state takeover of private industries is Trump, under whom the government has taken stakes in at least nine companies involved in steel, minerals, nuclear energy, and semiconductors, costing at least $10 billion in taxpayer money.” Heather Cox Richardson — June 26, 2026

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I, as an independent, would like Mama Gump and the Hawk to stand in front of a mirror and point their fingers at it. Rant and rave all you want; take your finger down and see who you are displeasing with your remarks. Mr. Shortino, what happened to all these rights you mention for people like Stepehen Colbert? Where is their right to free speech?

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The socialist wins in NYC are a wake-up call for every decent Democrat, for every Republican, for every American who still loves this country. If we let this cancer spread, our children will never know the free America we fought for, cried for, and bled for. The radical left isn’t just wrong. They are the greatest domestic enemy this nation faces today.

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Soon there will no longer be the Democratic Party. It is now becoming the Socialist Party. If you want more government control, the police defunded, more illegals taking your tax dollars and your jobs, and our Constitution ripped to shreds, go ahead and vote “Democrat” in November. Then you can proudly say you contributed to the demise of our once beautiful state.

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Dear Democrats, when did We the People give Congress and the Senate the authority to represent immigrants here illegally over AMERICAN CITIZENS? You were elected to represent the American people and nobody else. Your attempts to represent any person not AMERICAN are an act of TREASON. — Mama Gump

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The Kennedy Democratic Party of your grandfather is no longer. It is now the Mamdani Socialist Party. They want to blow up the Supreme Court, ditch the Electoral College, destroy our Constitution, and fundamentally change America because they hate the one we have. The radical left is coming to destroy everything this country stands for. Don’t let them do it.

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Happy Birthday, America! However, in many respects, we have certainly lost our way. Too many selfish, greedy politicians in office for far too long, and many are enamored of personal power over the good of their constituents. Lincoln advocated “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” I think he would be disappointed.