It’s tempting to think we’re just about done with this awful COVID-19 pandemic.
My family lived in Grand Island, N.Y., for two years in the mid-1990s, while I served as the editor of the Niagara Gazette newspaper.
We got a little criticism here recently for an editorial cartoon we published that compared trying to get signed up for the COVID-19 vaccine to trying to get through an indecipherable maze.
Those of us of a certain age remember Walter Cronkite anchoring the CBS Evening News.
I was in the chair at the periodontist last week, about to subject my gums to a COVID-19 delayed, uncomfortable but necessary cleaning.
Each day, at the bottom of our Opinion page, we publish a list of names of Susquehanna Valley people who are members of our Community Advisory Board.
I told a group of Daily Item colleagues recently that I can’t wait for the day that we can publish a front-page without a single story, photo or headline about COVID-19 or vaccines.
As glad as we all were to see 2020 finally end, it’s fair to say the first couple of weeks of 2021 haven’t been any better.
Anyone who grew up watching TV in the 1950s and 1960s likely remembers Jack Webb playing the character Sgt. Joe Friday on the police drama “Dragnet.”
Has there ever been a year people were happier to see end more than this one?
I’m calling time out this week for a few words about something entirely frivolous.
Throughout this week, we have been publishing stories about Susquehanna Valley people who have either lost loved ones to the COVID-19 virus or had difficult battles with it. We have been telling those stories — and will continue to do so — because they are important and provide human context…
I wish I could write a column that would convince every last person to take the coronavirus seriously.
There’s no question. The numbers are overwhelming.
A few months back, while working to clear out some clutter from our basement, I came across an old, worn briefcase packed in a moving box we’d never opened when we came to live here five years ago.
"You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.”
"You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.”
MIDDLEBURG — Midd-West High and Middle schools will remain closed through Thanksgiving while Middleburg Elementary will reopen on Monday after a two-week shutdown.
Five years ago tomorrow, I walked into The Daily Item building in Sunbury for the first time.
Most people probably understand that it’s possible — maybe even likely — that we won’t know who won the White House on the night of Nov. 3 or even in the early hours of Nov. 4.
Some may wonder why a newspaper would choose to endorse candidates for public office.
Tom Seaver. Bob Gibson. Whitey Ford. Lou Brock. Joe Morgan.
Tom Seaver. Bob Gibson. Whitey Ford. Lou Brock. Joe Morgan.
I look for bits of good news wherever I can find them right now.
I noticed the other day that NBC News is promoting a live town hall it will have with Joe Biden from Miami on Monday. The network says the event will be conducted in front of a socially distanced audience “made up of undecided Florida voters.”
Twice in my 18 years as a newspaper top editor, I have reached a point in the wee hours of the morning after election night when my only real choice for a lead headline before the presses had to start was:
Election Day is just a bit more than six weeks away, and understandably, the majority of the focus for the Nov. 3 vote is on the presidential race.
Sometimes I really wonder what are we thinking.
A crowd of 59,088 fans jammed Shea Stadium in Flushing, N.Y. on Wednesday night, July 9, 1969.
It’s getting nowhere near the level of attention of the coronavirus pandemic itself, but data released Thursday makes it clear there’s another serious health issue about which our communities, state and nation need to become more aware
Outside of the devastating and frustrating coronavirus pandemic itself, the debate over returning to in-person school is THE top of mind issue for anyone with children or grandchildren due to go back.
I love baseball, and I’ve got to admit I’ve enjoyed having some actual Major League games to watch over the past week or so.
In our story published Thursday about renovations being made at The Campus Theatre in Lewisburg to prepare for a potential reopening next month, Theatre Executive Director Scotta Magnelli had a great line about their developing plans.
There aren’t many things with which nearly everyone agrees.
Thirty-seven years ago today my wife Mary and I became parents for the first of what would be four times.
Three weeks ago, I wrote the following in this space:
At another time in history, depending on who I worked for, I might have been writing my last column today.
Most days I bring my lunch to work. It saves time. It saves money. And I can be more careful about what I’m eating.
Each day at The Daily Item, I am part of a reporting and editing process that handles tens of thousands of words and dozens of images in print and online.
Most of the opinions and thoughts I share in my weekly column on this page labeled “Local” focus on the Valley, its people, and issues.
I’ve sometimes felt a little bit guilty about how I’ve spent Memorial Day weekend.
In this time of tremendous and growing uncertainty, one thing is becoming increasingly certain.
After a long workday last Monday, I shut down my computer and headed downstairs from my home office around 6 p.m.
I’ve never been much of a prognosticator.
There are weeks when I sit down to compose this Sunday column when I have no idea what I’m going to write about.
Considering all the issues we are facing these days, the lack of transparency being shown by our state government about what information to disclose about the coronavirus pandemic might seem pretty low on the list of things to worry about.
I'm happy to report this morning that since the Easter Bunny's business was considered both essential and life-sustaining, baskets were able to be delivered mostly as normal.
Here’s a potentially cringe-inducing joke I recalled from my childhood last week: