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We've got mail! Time to tax natural gas To the editor: In all of your articles about the natural gas "boom," I have not seen one mention of House Bill 1373. Your readers really should know about this. HB 1373 has the potential to lower real estate taxes for all of your townships, school districts and the county government. How? By putting a small tax on the production of natural gas. It is only fair that local governments should get a piece of the action. They are burdened with overstressed roads and other problems inherent in gas exploration, but they get nothing in return. The gas production companies and the prop- erty owners who have signed leases are laughing all the way to the bank. State Rep. Bill DeWeese saw this coming more than a year ago, so he introduced HB 1373, which fell flat on its face because the vested interests have such a stranglehold on members of the Pa. General Assembly. HB 1373 would allow counties, municipalities and school districts to impose property taxes on oil, gas and other minerals. All the bill would really do is close a loophole, created when the Pa. Supreme Court ruled in December 2002 that state law failed to explicitly recognize oil and gas as taxable. Although the high court sided with the highly technical arguments of the Independent Oil and Gas Association of Pa., the situation can easily be reversed with passage of HB 1373. It's just common sense. Ever since the 2002 ruling, the taxes gas companies no longer pay have been picked up by the rest of the taxpayers, property owners in particular. Almost every other state that has gas wells assesses and taxes them. Studies show that one reason natural gas companies have flocked to Pennsylvania is to avoid the tax that they would have to pay in West Virginia or New York. Our state lawmakers are consumed these days with the state budget. We need to make them focus on something else - HB 1373 - in the interest of fairness. DUI crackdown
To the editor: Memorial Day weekend saw the kickoff of a renewed initiative to enforce the Commonwealth's impaired driving laws. This involves local and state police using increased sobriety checkpoints, roving patrols and other enforcement initiatives to ensure that our highways are safer from alcohol and drug impaired drivers. We are entering one of the deadliest times of the year on our highways from June through September. Last year, 535 Pennsylvanians lost their lives as the result of over 12,863 impaired driving related crashes. Fifty specially trained state and municipal Drug Recognition Expert officers are working with law enforcement across Pennsylvania to evaluate drivers suspected of being under the influence of controlled substances. Since the implementation of the program in 2004, driving under the influence of controlled substance charges have grown exponentially each year. Last year alone, about 6,600 drugged driving charges were filed against impaired drivers in Pennsylvania. A total of 53,515 DUI-related arrests were made in 2007. We have zero tolerance for impaired drivers. The Pennsylvania Driving Under the Influence Association was founded in 1979 to encourage and facilitate the growth of impaired driving safety programs in Pennsylvania. Our non-profit organization addresses the DUI problem in all of its many stages - from prevention to enforcement, up to and including, adjudication and rehabilitation. Waldo going strong
To the editor: You are undoubtedly aware of my recent correspondence with your columnist, Howard McDonald, and his subsequent review of my audio autobiography of Waldo McBurney. You must admit that my oldtimer trumps your old-timer by nearly 30 years. But to be serious for a moment, it's not about competition; it's about how we can best celebrate our elders, who continually set fine examples of how life is to be lived. I read Mac's column in the copy of your paper that he graciously sent to me. The accompanying letter conveyed his hope that it did not disappoint. It did not, nor did your paper. I have been reading it online for at least a year, or more, but the electronic version pales compared to the physical copy. Very nice, indeed. Thank you for such attention, and thank you for a wonderful hometown paper. Waldo is still going strong. He gave the commencement address at Colby Community College in neighboring Colby, Kansas, on May 10, and will host his first eponymously named 5K race on June 14 at Quinter City Park in his hometown. Thank you again for helping to promote the story of this extraordinary man. |
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