A town’s essential services should be a sure bet, not a gamble

People are willing to support essential services — like those provided by McKownville’s volunteer firefighters or the sheriff’s paid emergency medical technicians — with their taxes. So, while cutting taxes may seem like a clever political ploy to gain votes, it can have disastrous results as it has in Berne.

We the People must create a government that is a force for good

We urge our readers to think of our opinion pages as your living room — a place where you can share your thoughts and gather momentum as we work with our neighbors to create a government that is a force for good — helping those in need while also protecting our health and environment for future generations. Pick up your pen; it’s mightier than the sword.

Tell the truth, even if it means standing alone

After President Jimmy Carter died, the Museum of Political Corruption in Albany wanted to honor him, said its founder and president, Bruce Roter.

In 2017, Roter had received a handwritten note from Carter when he sought responses for a book on ethical leadership.

A democracy cannot flourish without a well-informed citizenry

The most important — indeed essential — service that a library or a newspaper provides is access to information. Without a well-informed citizenry, a democracy — a government of the people, by the people, for the people, as Abraham Lincoln phrased it — cannot flourish.

Who will carry Liberty’s torch?

by Melissa Hale-Spencer

You can’t say that education is up to the states while simultaneously demanding that states do your bidding. And yet, here we are. We again commend New York state for its stance against this perfidy. In its DEI purge, the federal government has removed historic accomplishments of people who are not white men from websites ranging from the Pentagon to the Park Service. None of us should accept the purging of our history. Men and women of different races, religions, and cultures have all made important contributions to the United States. We erase that history at our own peril.

Art reflects life and inspires us to reflect on our own lives

by Melissa Hale-Spencer

Each of us has our own way of seeing the world. We bring who we are to the art gallery when we look at paintings or sculpture, or to the theater when we see a play, or to the library when we read a book or newspaper. In turn, whoever created that art, or play, or poem brought his or her or their intention in creating it. 

Resolve the salt-shed standoff for the public good

For the good of the public they are meant to serve, we urge county and town representatives to settle their differences and work out a sensible system for tracking salt use so that the existing shed can be shared.

What to do when the cupboard is bare

We live in a time and in a nation where the gorge between the poor and the wealthy is getting wider and deeper. And, as Milo Perkins said in the 1930s, we need “to find a way to build a bridge across that chasm.”

One family’s hardship makes clear the need to ban use of toxin-laced sewage sludge as fertilizer

New York state should follow the lead of other states that ban the use of biosolids as fertilizer.