Building community
Just about everybody knows the famous quote “Charity begins at home,” penned in the 17th century by an English churchman named Thomas Fuller. Or do we? Time to ‘fess up, dear readers! How many of you know the entire quote? Well, here it is: “Charity begins at home, but should not end there.” Read more
Email this pageThe price of war
On Sunday, we honored America’s 22 million veterans. Nine million of these are 65 and older, veterans of long-ago wars. Another nine million are between 18 and 64. Now, our newest generation of veterans—2.4 million Americans who fought in Iraq or Afghanistan—are arriving back home to face many challenges. Far too many will not get all the help they need and, considering their sacrifices, certainly not all that they are owed. Read more
Sitting in the dark
One has to feel compassion for the people and communities for whom Hurricane Sandy has been an unmitigated disaster. We here in the Upper Delaware Valley were lucky; we were spared the worst of what the storm had to offer, though even we did not escape totally unscathed. Read more
The power is ours
In a democracy, there are different ways for people to be empowered. In the run-up to Election Day on Tuesday, one way seems obvious: at the ballot box, citizens still hold real power—one man, one woman, one vote at a time—if they chose to exercise it. Another vehicle for empowerment can be seen these days every time a group of citizens gathers in Orange County at the construction site of a natural gas compressor station in the Town of Minisink, NY to raise their voices and hoist their protest signs against an industrial-scale project being built in their residential neighborhood. Read more
Sunshine, long overdue
Sunshine laws were created to ensure citizens access to government meetings where public business is discussed. For a time last week, there was precious little sunshine to be found as the Sullivan County Legislature held a closed-door meeting on Thursday regarding the county’s publicly funded tourism promotion efforts. By Friday, however, the sunshine thankfully broke through as legislators apparently had a change of heart. Read more
Open For Discussion: A Note On RiverReporter.com Comments
Everyone has an opinion. Great opinions and the thinkers that express them are what make debates and conversations interesting. On websites, opinions of the readers are expressed through comment sections. This is the opportunity for the reader to give their take on a subject, regardless of whether or not others may agree. Opening that channel has its advantages as well as its disadvantages. Read more
Sun power
Sullivan County government took an important step toward a sustainable energy future when county officials inaugurated a solar photovoltaic (PV) installation at a county office building in Liberty. The solar array is expected to produce 49.8 kilowatts (kw) of electricity for the Robert B. Travis building, which houses the county’s department of family services. The county’s first solar venture was a 15 kw solar demonstration project at the Bethel bus facility constructed several years ago. Read more
Competing values
There are a number of ways to look at the disagreement in Lackawaxen Township, PA between Kittatinny Canoes owner David Jones, who purchased land on the banks of the Lackawaxen River to operate a boat launch business, and a variety of citizens and stakeholder organizations, including the Lackawaxen River Conservancy, that fear the consequences of a large livery business there. Lackawaxen township officials find themselves caught in the middle.
How shall we view this dispute? Read more
Confused about organic food?
Early last month, researchers from Stanford University published a study that concluded organic fruits and vegetables have no significant nutritional advantage over conventionally grown food. News headlines ranged from USA Today’s “Study sees no nutritional edge in organic food” all the way to one online blogger’s “Study: Organic Food is Just a Crock” from the Daily Caller. Right away, people took sides, rejecting or applauding the study’s conclusion. Read more
Welcome to the sustainability revolution
A relentless drumbeat of news in recent months suggests that climate change is for real, that it is happening faster than expected, and that it is largely caused by human actions. For instance, according to the National Ice and Snow Data Center, arctic ice is at record summer lows, shrinking in early September to an area 45% smaller than lows reached in the 1980s and 1990s. The rate of loss this summer was 50% worse than projected. And August was the 330th month in a row worldwide with temperatures higher than the 20th-century average. Read more
