Sound Off: Saturday, December 28, 2013

No merger

For Coal Township and Shamokin to merge would be stupid. Shamokin has nothing to offer. Coal Township has industry, malls and a lot of precious land. Coal Township rarely raises taxes. How about the advantage of having Geisinger Medical merge? No thank you.

Don't get personal

Where do the police and borough and county workers think people are getting money for raises and their health insurance costs? Pay for your own medical insurance. Every week money is taken out of my check for me to pay mine, as should it be for the police and teachers. I do blame the president for this with his nonsensical health care, sticking his nose yet in one more thing he has no business doing. The problem today is government sticking its nose where it doesn't belong. Same thing with saying "Merry Christmas." I don't care who it offends. What did people do 50 or a hundred years ago? It was Christmas then and it is now. It's time for government to step out of our personal lives.

About grants

Re: City's problems. I do believe the problem is insanity in state and federal spending. Just look at the millions of dollars the state, through Gordner and Masser, has given to build an ATV park for recreation, I believe they have received upwards of $4.5 million so far with more to come. Then there are the multiple grants to the Kehler park, a federal national parks grant to restore the stone walls and basin of Shamokin Creek for about $3 million. Just where are the priorities: recreation vs police? Frog's take: Are you saying the state and federal governments should fund Shamokin's police department instead of these other projects?

Thanks to Lions

I'm a disabled senior in Mount Carmel. It's Christmas day. Around noontime, my doorbell rang. It was the nicest family ever delivering a dinner from the Lions Club. They even sang a refrain from "We Wish you a Merry Christmas" Just beautiful; it way more than made my day. I couldn't thank them enough.

Santa's visit

A very special thanks to Marion Heights Fire Company members for being out on a very cold Christmas Eve handing out candy to all the children of the town. It is a great tradition that they do each and every year. A special shout-out to Santa and his cute elf.

In agreement

I am in favor of city council eliminating these police jobs. I applaud them for doing that.

The rest of us

I am disappointed, Frog. I didn't get to see you at the Festivus competition this. I made it all the way to the semifinals. My brother made it to the finals and finished in first place. My sister only got through the first two rounds. I missed you because I was hoping to beat your eighth place last year. Enjoy your Festivus.

Funny, eh?

Maybe everything Scott Binsack said really was true. They ran him out of town, but look what's happening to the city budget. It's kind of fishy, isn't it?

Orwellian

I enjoyed the editorial about the NSA. What's really funny is you used the word "Orwellian" when you were describing their methods. That brings something to mind. I often wondered why the government made all the TV broadcasters switch to digital. Does that mean our televisions are two-way now? The technology is certainly out there.

Crocodile tears

Fox News will will be crying about Obama being on vacation for Christmas in Hawaii. They will be crying their eyes out. So get the tissues out.

The pool

It's a shame the Mount Carmel pool has been shut down when a few bucks could keep it upen. Where did the money go? Instead, it went to our overstaffed police department.

It's a shame

I just found out we got rid of two very fine police officers. Both are veterans. It's a shame we treat people that when when we need people like that the most. Something must change.