Opinion - News Item

Time Machine: Back in 1936 ...

- Officials were counting the cost of one of the nosiest Fourth of July celebrations ever. In all, they said, some 40 people had been hurt in fireworks-related accidents, although none of the mishaps was in the ultra-serious category. - Shamokin police r

Good cause all bottled up in new fundraiser

A water bottle with a painting of Saint Mother Pauline on its label graced the front page of The News-Item Tuesday. Pauline serves as the patron saint of diabetics. Fitting, then, that the water bottles are being sold in an effort to raise money for The

Dice roll on assessments

Pennsylvania's over-reliance on property taxes to fund local governments and school districts causes a wide range of problems. More so than in most other states, for example, there are wide disparities in the amounts of money available to school district

Olympic training facility exciting for county

You won't often hear "Olympics" and "Northumberland County" in the same sentence, but those two words have come together for an exciting project in the southern end of the county. The wide expanse of Lower Mahanoy Township, a beautiful area not far from

Back in 1960...

- In a political move that surprised many observers, the Shamokin school board named city Treasurer George Edwards to administer the newly imposed school tax program. - With the Fourth of July holiday in the offing, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Chair

Letters to the editor

Groups makes dubious claim of tax increase

To the editor: The Harrisburg-based Commonwealth Foundation is making the dubious claim that an increase in the personal income tax will cost Pennsylvania tens of thousands of jobs ("Local Reps: Now is Not the Time," June 17, 2009). Independent researche

Dogs shouldn't be licking children's faces

To the editor: I was appalled at the picture of the dog and the little girl on the front page of The News-Item on June 24. The dog has his tongue in the girl's mouth and is also slobbering on her face and mouth. I have owned hunting dogs and have been ar

Praise offered for Shamokin Area Community Hospital

To the editor: My sister was recently in Shamokin Area Community Hospital for six days after having a stroke. We just had to write and remind everyone what a great hospital we have. All the employees were wonderful and caring to their patient and her fam

Daughter praises Life Geisinger program

To the Editor: Help comes to us in a number of ways throughout our lives. For my family, Life Geisinger has been a form of salvation. Recently, I had the opportunity of enrolling my mother, who is 89, in the Life Geisinger program. The experience started

Shaffer Commentary

Once again, the Anthracite Heritage Festival of the Arts has come and gone. Someone said it is just like planning a wedding; you plan in anticipation of a wonderful event and then - poof -it's over. The committee starts its planning sessions right after

Week in News

Cute photo turns 'disgusting'

When a bull mastiff attacked a young Kulpmont girl back in April, we knew there would be considerable public discussion about the value, danger and care of pets - and our coverage of the issue. But when we published a cute photo of a dog and its young ow

Another open records 'win'

In the second "open records" exercise this month involving local media, the Shenandoah Valley School Board has more egg on its face. The board, records show, never voted on the policy cited when a Republican-Herald reporter was kept out of Shenandoah Va

Walts Way

Days off hazardous to your waistline

At least once or twice a year, you're likely to read a newspaper article or see a TV report on some poor person who has gained an enormous amount of weight. Getting the person out of the house becomes a major project that involves ambulance personnel, fi

Talking Points

Betting on an impasse

As your eyes engage this, the state legislature is down to a mere 48 hours and counting to solve the commonwealth's multi-billion dollar budget gap. The gap is more like a $3.2 billion canyon of a deficit. If the legislature fails to pass the budget o

Capital Matters

Will the sky fall come Tuesday?

The battle over the state budget is being waged on two fronts. One front involves how the budget will impact state programs and state taxpayers. The other front is what kind of ripple effect the budget will have on local governments and local taxpayers

A 21st century divestiture

Pennsylvania's fiscal crisis is producing one of the largest divestitures of state facilities in decades. During the 1990s, Pennsylvania divested ownership of state-run general hospitals in the coal region. These hospitals were built in the early 20th c

Frenzied days at Capitol

State lawmakers are tripping over themselves these days holding press conferences, moving bills and floating tax-and-spend proposals as the June 30 budget deadline draws near. It's quite a contrast to last month when lawmakers spent a lot of time in rece

Sound Off

Sound Off for 7/3/09

Wrong priorities You have to love these people on South Shamokin Street who don't work, collect SSI, but have all the money to buy illegal fireworks and set them off all hours of the night when the rest of us have to get some sleep for things like a job

Sound Off for 7/2/09

Volatile approach Vinny's volatile approach to running county government has been one ugly situation after another, like a form of public littering from a reckless bully. It is about time someone retaliated against it. Vinny continues to push the court t

Sound Off 7-1-09

On the mark I find Greg Maresca's Sunday articles well-written and on the mark. He certainly doesn't need me to defend him, but for those liberals to say what he wrote Sunday was untrue, they need to get a clue and see the truth for what it is. I am a Ba

Sound Off 6-30-09

To the dogs About dogs at Knoebels, I too don't think they belong there. I called Knoebels and told them how I felt about dogs there; they said that some people regard dogs as part of the family, so they will continue to allow them. Years ago you never s

Sound Off 6-29-09

Health-care woes For those of you concerned about the health-care reform bill and "Republican dictators," I remind you there are about two dozen Democrats in the House that are opposed to this. The big problem is, where is the money coming from? Who is g