Readers’ Column for the week of August 24, 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.

Are all roads in the town of Owego as bad as Casterline Road? If you’re looking to break a strut, blow a tire, or kill your shocks, then come on up! The town spent two weeks digging our ditches but couldn’t take the time to fill the potholes. Those of us who live here have to drive a literal obstacle course to get to our driveways. Why is it that we, as law-abiding citizens, have to make our cars roadworthy, but the government can’t make our roads drivable? Come on, Town of Owego, please do better with your funds allocation!

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To the young lad on the red motorcycle on Pennsylvania Avenue in Apalachin on Tuesday at 1:15 p.m., you were within one second of an appointment with the undertaker, my friend! I was starting my left turn when you blew by the front wheel of my tractor after passing four other vehicles on a double solid line with an intersection coming up. Please, motorcycles, obey the laws of the road! I care about safety! I have been to too many funerals of short-circuited lives because of foolish choices! Let’s take a couple of extra minutes and live!

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Would you like to spend eternity in heaven with the creator of the universe? YOU are invited. He has provided the way for you. He desires that you accept His invitation. If your choice is to accept His invitation, believe in His son. The one who came and died on the cross and rose from the grave, paying the price of admission for you. Your belief in His Son, Jesus of Nazareth, is all that is required of you to receive His gift and become adopted into His forever family.

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I’m curious to know why, after the flood that hit Newark Valley, when the DPW of the Town of Newark Valley, Tioga County Water and Soil, and Delta Engineering walked the creek on Brook Street that our DPW Supervisor or anybody from the Village was not there to help come up with a plan!

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To the person who said unlimited funds would make public schools better: first, who is to pay those costs? Next, there is no evidence that throwing more money at a problem will solve it. Better schools are formed by engaged parents and children wanting to do their best. Not money; money is needed for upkeep, supplies, and recruiting good teachers, but it is not the only answer. Look at any major school district that receives huge funds, and they are the worst. Parents need more involvement in their children’s schooling, helping with homework and attending parent/ teacher conferences. Just be involved.

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There are a lot of negative comments in this column. With that said, I would like to shed some positivity. First, we have a great paper and equally great writers here; the Binghamton paper is based out of Rochester, so local news is forgotten; the Pennysaver is our last hope for local things. Next, Newark Valley got hit hard with flooding last month, with trees down and more. As in the past hardships, our town has helped out our neighbors and stayed strong. Think positively; we have good people here!

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To the person who said the Pennysaver is printing lies in this column – the Readers’ Column is just that, comments by READERS, not Pennysaver staff. I’m sure the staff tries to scan (OPINIONS) for obvious fallacies, but this is an opinion column; it is up to you, the reader, to fact-check another individual’s statements. People commenting, like politicians and cable news talking heads, tend to bend the truth to make their point. And yes, feel free to make corrections. We readers will take them with “a grain of salt” before becoming needlessly outraged.

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Heard that someone in the Village of Newark Valley has a petition regarding dissolving the Village. If so, could you get information out about where residents can sign? I’m sure this time the mayor won’t put our names out there!

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Why have schools stopped teaching cursive? The youth of this country can barely print legibly and can’t read cursive. Also, what happened to Home Economics, you could change the name to Basic Survival Skills that don’t include fast food, takeout, or the freezer section of the grocery store. Seriously, have you noticed the number of overweight young people? We’ve had a couple of generations that haven’t a clue how to plan and prepare a healthy meal.

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Governor Hochul has wasted a great deal of time, effort, and taxpayer dollars on nearly inconsequential or failed policies and projects (such as legal cannabis) while hospitals in the state are dangerously low-rated time after time. If she can’t get her priorities in line with the average, hardworking, taxpaying constituents (including her salary), someone else needs to take over.

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Looking for a box spring for a full-size bed. If anyone has one they need to get rid of, please call (607) 972-7752.

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I thought it was illegal to park on the sidewalk. There’s a big black truck parked on the sidewalk for the last three days; it may be there longer. They have plenty of room to park in the driveway. 

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New York residents: Vote Kathy Hochul out of office to get rid of her and her worthless New Green Deal policy, which is driving the electric utilities out of sight!

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I would like to commend the people who worked on Route 38 this summer. While sometimes it was frustrating waiting for the line to go, to be flagged through, all I had to do was look at those people working in the 90 degree temperatures, day and night. They work many hours every day, and yet we will benefit from that. We will reap the rewards of their hard work. I want to thank them. They were wonderful; keep up the good work. I hope you’re getting a big paycheck!   

National Political Viewpoints

I have learned so much since President Trump was re-elected. I realize now that all the news sources I have known my entire life have become fake. Everything I’ve ever learned about science is wrong. Vaccination is unnecessary; getting polio, smallpox, measles, and tetanus is no big deal. All the organizations worldwide that analyzed our last election were wrong – Trump won in a landslide. All immigrants, including women and children, are murderers, rapists and drug dealers who walked 1,000-plus miles because they hate America.

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Dennis Brady’s letter was filled with so many falsehoods that it wasn’t worth the space. It was Nancy Pelosi who didn’t authorize the National Guard on Jan. 6, despite Trump’s request. He totally dismissed Kash Patel and Don Bongino’s credentials. They are now spending time doing what the FBI is supposed to be doing. I think the left is worried that DC might become safe again and show the world what can be done with some hard work. The urban areas don’t have to be crime-ridden if we could just remove the progressive lawmakers who have made them poverty-stricken hellholes. 

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How can Trump think they can prosecute Obama or any former president for anything at all? IMMUNITY. Remember?

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The Washington, DC, crime rate is actually down from last year, which was down from 2023. In fact, total violent crime in DC is now at the lowest rate in 30 years/ The actual highest crime rates per capita are in Memphis and St. Louis (both Republican cities, so no Trump response there). There was no emergency; Mr. Trump simply made one up to intimidate and take control. This was strictly political grandstanding.

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“Trump also said he believes that he has a chance of organizing a trilateral meeting with Putin and Zelensky. The last time Trump had a trilateral meeting was on Epstein Island.” –Jimmy Fallon

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I just want to salute Trump. The TDS gang says Trump is Putin’s lap dog. At the Alaska meeting, Trump flew a B-2 and F-35 over Putin upon his arrival. Additionally, he walked Putin past F-22s parked next to the red carpet. I hope Trump keeps stroking that murderous tyrant’s ego all the way to a peace settlement. This is what Biden should have been doing, rather than dreaming of chocolate pudding. Go Trump, don’t let WW 3 happen! Can you imagine how crazy the TDS gang will go when Trump is awarded the Nobel Prize? Trump, Trump, he’s my man!

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Whoever said, “You can’t make this stuff up” obviously never worked for CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, NPR, or The Washington Post. — Alfred E. Neuman

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Every week in this column or letters to the editor, there are multiple entries that repeat the lies told by Mr. Trump or his supporters. Don’t these folks know how they are being manipulated? During Trump’s first term, the Washington Post recorded over 3,000 lies and falsehoods. Why do folks give this man any credibility?

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Alaskan summit – Donald Trump: outsmarted, outmaneuvered, overwhelmed by Vladimir Putin. Looking exhausted: the economy is starting to take a dive, these Gestapo tactics. The Epstein connections – the unraveling of his clumsy, desperate quest for power. 

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President Trump is the president of peace. He’s working endlessly, tirelessly, to bring peace between Russia and Ukraine, and so far it looks to be a success. For this, he must be commended. The Nobel Peace Prize should be his. How anyone can say we’ve seen more wars and unrest in our world than ever before is unbelievable. Please get your information correct and stop spreading lies.

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The Americans do not like to be threatened with their own military as Trump is doing. No wonder his popularity is falling.

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Does anybody know how you can survive in this Trump economy? You know, the Trump economy where everything is getting so cheap and you’re going to cut the price of groceries. Gas is going to be $2 a gallon. When are you Republicans going to wake up and impeach him and get him out of there before he totally ruins our country and bankrupts every one of us? Come on, people, wake up!

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I wish people would give Trump a chance to help this country. With crime, immigrants, and the wars, no one has tackled issues and gotten down to business like him. He’s a workaholic! He keeps us in the know with press conferences, even with Zelinsky today. Let him work his magic. Let’s see what he can do.

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I would like to personally thank Mr. Trump, the great businessman, for all these tariffs and trade that’s going on. My electric bill went up $64 a month. That’s $700 a year, which I could have paid for my automobile insurance, but no, the rich people gotta have it all. I’ll tell you something right now: You can have all the wealth and you can have all the power, but you will never have all the control.

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Have you gotten your reimbursement check from the pharmaceutical company? I’m anxiously waiting for mine. The current president said he was going to reduce pharmaceutical costs by 1,500 percent. So that means they’re going to pay us to take the drugs and the medications. That’s awesome; can’t wait!

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It really amazes me how the media lies and brainwashes people.

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A public relations firm has been hired on your taxpayer’s dollar for $20 million to try to make Kristi Noem’s image a little more palatable. If they paid $20 million, she would not be more palatable. Also for the person who threw a sandwich at a police officer or whatever they were in Washington and is now going to be charged with a federal crime, Jan. 6 people died, and they were using flags as spears. And guess what? They were all pardoned! Oh yes, they definitely do stand behind the blue. No, they see him behind the blue only when it suits them.