Anybody spy a panther prowling along I-81?

Did any of your readers see a grown, healthy-looking, black panther walking north along Interstate 81, north of Exit 170, about 6:50 p.m. Saturday, July 14?

Carol Hudson

Dunnellon, Fla.

Writer misses the days of intelligent campaigns

Big election years used to be among my favorite times. Following the multiple campaigns – with back-and-forth, intelligent debate – made the process a happy time for me. No more.

All you hear being tossed around are lies, innuendos, half truths and slime. On the weekend of July 23, the Kantar Campaign Media Analysis Group reported that approximately 14,000 presidential advertisements had aired. Of all these ads, only two were positive: both in Spanish.

If you believe any of the crap being tossed, you probably shouldn’t vote for anybody. Yes, big money has ruined our election process. As U.S. Sen. John McCain recently commented, “big PACs are rendering the political parties irrelevant.”

Thank goodness for my remote. I will not have to watch.

Peter Klein

Dallas

Property tax reform bill called fiscally reckless

As the Pennsylvania General Assembly continues to grapple with the elusive decades-old issue of property tax reform, one proposal under consideration is more political theater than substance. To make matters worse, proponents are using threats and scare tactics to generate support.

The “Property Tax Independence Act,” which is state House Bill 1776 and Senate Bill 1400, is ill conceived and fiscally irresponsible. Proponents say it will eliminate school property taxes and replace them by raising the personal income tax by 1 percent to 4.07 percent and increasing the sales and use tax rate to 7 percent. The plan also expands the goods and services that are subject to the tax.

What proponents fail to mention is that the plan will not eliminate all school property taxes. The bill specifically calls for retaining property tax to pay for a school’s debt service. Additionally, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, the plan will create at least a $3 billion funding gap between what it will actually raise and what school districts need to eliminate property taxes.

There are no quick fixes, silver bullets or miracle cures in this debate. Hopefully lawmakers won’t fall prey to this political charade.

Robert C. Jazwinski

President

Pennsylvania Institute

of Certified Public Accountants

Philadelphia

Cargo airport will harm, not help, area economy

The decision by the Schuylkill County Zoning Hearing Board to grant a special exception for a proposed cargo airport in East Union Township indicates that certain Northeastern Pennsylvania developers and community leaders still don’t understand that unsustainable, environmentally destructive development will not bring prosperity to the area.

The old anthracite region remains tied to the fallacy that massive infrastructure growth is equivalent to progress. Conservationists and economic gurus such as Richard Florida assert that historic preservation, open space conservation, nature-based recreation and an educated workforce are the keys to securing high-paying jobs and a high quality of life. Twelve years ago, Mr. Florida, then of Carnegie Mellon University, articulated this vision to the economic development community at a presentation to the Northeast Pennsylvania Great Valley Technology Alliance.

Unfortunately, his hosts, including CANDO Inc., seemingly chose to ignore his advice and utilized the new Keystone Opportunity Zone program to subsidize sprawling warehouse parks offering temporary, low-wage jobs. Despite explosive growth, and because of a massive influx of low-skilled job seekers, Hazleton’s unemployment rate is now 14.9 percent, far above regional, state and national averages.

Gladstone Partners’ airport proposal pretends to be something new and different because products made and consumed elsewhere will come here by air (though they would leave by trucks on an inadequate highway system).

The project entails the destruction of thousands of acres of pristine forest. About 970 acres of that site consists of globally unique ridge-top dwarf tree forest (7.9 percent of the total in Schuylkill County). In 2002, Congress authorized the Environmental Protection Agency to establish the Mid-Atlantic Highlands Program to preserve these ecosystems and promote economic development based on “the unique skills and resources within the region that cannot be duplicated elsewhere – its people, history, cultural heritage, institutions and scenic beauty.” This would redirect local economies from exploitation to “natural resource restoration industries, value-added natural resource products and amenity-based development.”

The information in the previous paragraph is actually contained in an Environmental Inventory Report prepared for Gladstone Partners by a Maryland consultant and made part of the record for the zoning hearing board in this decision. The goals and objectives of the Mid-Atlantic Highlands Program, as outlined by Gladstone’s environmental consultant, were thus available to the board, in addition to Schuylkill County’s own comprehensive plan that designates this site for “parks, permanent open space and preserved areas.”

How can the board disregard this report, and its very own comprehensive plan, by approving a cargo airport/ industrial use on this site? Because our region always has sacrificed environmental preservation and quality for economic “progress.”

Over a half century of following the resource exploitation paradigm has resulted in the problems we face today: rising crime, failing schools, social turmoil and the mass exodus of educated young people. More of the same ideas will only bring more of the same, at best.

Drew Magill

Sugarloaf Township

Another summer goes swimmingly in Kingston

I thank the management and staff at the Kingston pool for another great season. I commend the lifeguards, “snackies” (snack bar workers) and support staff for an outstanding job.

The Kingston pool is one of the finest recreational facilities in the area. It’s a great place to cool off on a hot, muggy summer day, to practice swimming and diving skills, and to socialize with friends and neighbors. I really enjoy the evening “free swims,” at which you get to swim in the deep end of the pool to practice water skills or to get up a game of “sharks and minnows.”

I also commend the staff members for their kindness and sensitivity in the way they accommodate special-needs children and adults, in helping them to enjoy the pool and to have a memorable summer. God bless you!