The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s threat to shut down highway construction and hundreds of road and bridge repair projects because of funding issues underscores the importance of maintaining communication and transparency across the executive and legislative branches of governm…

There aren’t many places in the country — maybe Texas and Florida — where high school football is as big a deal as it is in Pennsylvania. The Friday night lights traditionally dominate the landscape in the fall.

COVID-19 is a true challenge for humanity, one we must accept and approach head-on.

Clearly, there was a need. There almost always is. And, as always, Valley residents stepped up to help their friends and neighbors in their time of need.

Today marks the start of one of the biggest weekends Pennsylvania outdoorsmen have had in a long time.

The holiday shopping season kicks into high gear today, albeit with an entirely new feel as COVID-19 continues its violent fall surge.

Today, as we celebrate Thanksgiving, we give thanks for our family and friends, as people have done for the past 399 years since that first fall gathering in Plymouth, Mass.

Gov. Tom Wolf and the state’s Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine really had no choice. The new mitigation orders they rolled out this week — including possible fines and temporary closure of businesses that don’t comply — are necessary as the COVID-19 surge could potentially overwhelm the…

The social distancing and related procedures necessary to keep people safe during the COVID-19 pandemic certainly have affected many of life’s favorite and most memorable moments this year.

Students throughout the Valley continue to shift to an all-remote learning model for a variety of time frames around the Thanksgiving holiday. The decision is a continuation of the many district’s proactive approaches to safely, efficiently and effectively educating its students in today’s e…

State Rep. Tim Hennessey, the chairman of the House Transportation committee, said the proposal to toll Pennsylvania bridges is still in the preliminary stages. “It’s not something people need to be alarmed about now,” he said.

Belinda Albright isn’t the most well-known public official in Northumberland County and it sounds like that is the way she prefers it. But make no mistake, as she finished her last days of a decade-long run as the head of the county’s Veterans Affairs Office, she is as important as anyone.

While three Valley sports teams will play for state titles this weekend and two football teams battle in the state semifinals on Saturday, thoughts have already shifted to winter sports and the viability of conducting a safe season indoors over the next four months.

There is little doubt that many Pennsylvanians will quibble about the latest COVID-19 orders issued Tuesday by state Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine.

While many Valley residents already have access to top-notch rural medical facilities in the region, it never hurts to get a little bit better. Three recent additions to the Valley’s health care footprint will help all of us get access to the treatment we desire.

A welcoming and supportive space has been created beneath the Shamokin Public Library on East Independence Street to help people recover and regain their strengths.

There’s a good chance that you have witnessed or will witness another coronavirus record being set today.

One of the few good things about the COVID-19 pandemic is that it seems to have created a more involved and engaged electorate.

Mark Gittens has always been about impact over optics. And while the $1.5 million his h2church plans to spend to purchase and renovate a high-profile Sunbury building is impressive, the impact of what can be accomplished inside the walls of the former Bimbo Bakery plant could be immeasurable.

It’s good to hear that the East Buffalo Township Supervisors will invite members of the Lewisburg Borough Council to a series of meetings to revise the disputed intergovernmental contract that governs the Buffalo Valley Regional Police Department.

News Monday that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine may be 90 percent effective in testing is promising and welcome as the fall surge everyone expected is at hand.

In the wake of a contentious presidential election and what still appears to be a divided nation, we should note examples of bipartisan agreement that result in laws that strengthen our communities.

A partnership that seems like a marriage made in heaven is starting to make a difference in Montour County.

As we enter the season of charity and giving, the pool of people needing help this year is significantly larger. No one has been immune to COVID-19 and more people than usual could use a little help. 

On a morning with a beautiful sunrise and a chill in the air, Tuesday would have been a great day to snuggle up with a pillow and enjoy a warm cup of coffee or tea.

Not to be lost amid a growing number of COVID-19 cases across the world, nation and state is the fact that we are about to crown a bunch of district champions in high school sports this week.

After listening to — or tolerating — political rhetoric, wrangling, debates, insults, distortions and a plethora of punditry for more than a year, the day has finally arrived for all of us to form the only opinion that really matters — the will of the people.

Good for the Danville Area Education Association and the district’s school board for coming to a tentative contract agreement, avoiding what would have been a badly timed teachers’ strike in the district.

We get it, we understand that a lot of people are tired of COVID-19 and the impact the novel coronavirus has had and continues to have on our lives.

Halloween represents a night to have fun and this year we can use the respite more than most. Safety is always a priority on Halloween and today will be no different, although there are additional layers of safety to keep in mind amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a freshman Congressmen, Fred Keller has done exactly what party leadership in Washington has asked of him: Be there to offer unwavering support of the party and President Donald Trump in particular.

The election for Pennsylvania’s next auditor general will be historic regardless of the outcome.

Danville Area School District continues to be among the Valley’s most proactive districts when it comes to handling the novel coronavirus and educating its students.

When Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, some wondered whether the boisterous real estate mogul and celebrity would become “more presidential” once he took office.

Law enforcement officials in Northumberland County are moving in a positive, humane direction by adopting a state initiative that calls on police to help people seeking treatment for drug addiction, rather than arresting them.

Over the course of the past few weeks, The Daily Item has published several stories about issues surrounding voting in the Valley, particularly focused on mail-in ballots. Recent stories highlighting local issues include delays in getting mail-in ballots out to voters following a challenge t…

It’s comforting to know, as we reported in Sunday’s edition, that as the COVID-19 pandemic and its evolving effects continue into the fall, Valley school districts are adding guidance counselors, social workers and medical professionals to help care for the mental well-being of students.

Pennsylvania residents and Republican lawmakers have long criticized Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine because they felt like Wolf and Levine weren’t treating citizens like adults during the pandemic shutdown and continuing mitigation. 

While we don’t know the facts behind the hazing investigation that led to the cancellation of Mount Carmel Area’s football season this week, we do know the actions were deemed egregious enough to shut down one of Pennsylvania’s most storied prep athletic programs.

A tip of the cap to the dozens of Valley restaurant owners who have made it a priority to follow new state regulations put in place to allow more customers into local eateries amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

No one is immune to ignorance in America. Far too many people are comfortable spewing out hate-filled, vitriolic messages with little concern for consequences.

Valley towns are doing what they can to make sure the Valley’s children have as safe a Halloween as possible during the pandemic.

While Gov. Tom Wolf and his administration deserve both praise and criticism for their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in the commonwealth, Wolf’s handling of the state’s business waiver process in early spring remains especially questionable and troublesome.

The state announced this week that it was easing limits on the number of people who can attend events, shifting to limits tied to the occupancy of the venue.

With President Donald Trump continuing to rebound from his battle with COVID-19, we had hoped that it would serve as a wake-up call to the president, his administration and the entire nation. It doesn’t, however, appear that will be the case.

In the midst of attending to the hundreds of tasks that must be completed in order to safely stage the Nov. 3rd general election during a worldwide pandemic and properly handling and tabulating thousands of mail-in ballots, election officials in our local counties have been doing an excellen…

One supervisor in Cooper Township, Montour County, is calling out his fellow supervisors for violating the Sunshine Act, the state’s open meeting law.