Black Forest Broadcasting
Black
Forest Broadcasting is also a 24/7 Internet Radio Station
April 23, 2012
-
Once again we sadly
announced the death
of a Potter County
resident due to ALS
(Lou Gehrig’s
disease). This is
the fourth or fifth
such death we know
about within the
last couple of years
within a sparsely
populated county. It
appears to be a
disproportionate
rate. We wonder what
might be the
contributing
factor(s). Over the
years, we’ve also
noticed what seems
to be an unusually
high rate of
Parkinson’s Disease
within a 25 mile
radius or so of our
studio. Our suspect
in that disease is
some sort of
fertilizer used on
area farms,
especially potato
farms. Michael J.
Fox attributes his
Parkinson’s to
something
environmental. What
do you think about
either? Gerri Miller
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April 12, 2012
The state house recently passed a bill which calls for using an increased income
tax and sales tax to pay for schools, eliminating the use of property taxes.
The bill has moved to the state senate where a Republican senator says he will
introduce an identical bill. If that happens, the measure should move quickly
to Governor Corbett’s desk. We are in favor of the plan. It would make the
funding of schools more equitable since taxpayers’ contributions would be closer
to their financial status. The state sales tax is related to one’s ability to
purchase items. The income tax is directly related to a person’s earnings. But
property taxes often put an unfair burden on people who own land, regardless of
their income or ability to make purchases. Pennsylvania is one of the last
states to rely on property taxes to pay for schools. We believe we’re due for a
change. What do you think?
Gerri Miller
September 19, 2011
The Roulette Township Supervisors will
hold a special meeting tonight at the Fire Hall to receive taxpayer input about
raising taxes to help the fire department and possibly hiring a part-time police
officer. As taxpayers in Roulette, Black Forest Broadcasting supports raising
taxes slightly to help emergency services but opposes the idea of hiring a
police officer. State police do a good job and we are already paying for them.
Maybe a Neighborhood Watch or similar program would be better. What do you
think?
Gerri Miller
May 27, 2011
A story in today’s news revives a sore point. Several
years ago, at another location, I fought a new state police policy of not
revealing the names of anyone younger than 18 for ANY reason at all, even being
hurt in a traffic accident. As a reporter, I have a big problem with the policy
except for victims of sexual crimes. But that aside, I believe the names of
teen drivers (and passengers) should be released. If they are old enough to
drive, they are old enough to have their names published and broadcast. What’s
your opinion? Gerri Miller
I recently received official notification from
Glenn Dunn of the Potter EMA office that once again, we have not qualified
for disaster assistance from the state or the feds for the 12/01/2010
flooding. I cannot tell you how much this disheartens me. According to Mr.
Dunn, there were 14 counties that were affected by the flooding in
Pennsylvania. I do not yet have the total dollar figures in damage from
other municipalities in the state, but I do know that Roulette Township has
estimated the damage caused, not counting residences, at $1,100,000.00. I
am sick and tired of being overlooked for disaster assistance, time and time
again because we live north of I-80, and the people south of I-80 see
assistance when they get a few inches of snow. They are inconvenienced for a
few days and the snow melts away leaving no damage. We sustain substantial
permanent damage to our infrastructure that we cannot afford to correct, and
we get nothing. I will be gathering information and will be writing a
document and petition for anyone and everyone that feels the same to sign.
That document will focus on the facts that the current guidelines that are
established as criteria for qualifying for disaster assistance are not only
outdated, but they need to start taking into account the rural areas that do
not have the population to make them eligible for assistance unless that
damage happens to go far enough to hit a city. I will keep you posted on my
progress and let you all know where a copy of the petition can be found to
add your signature to it before I submit it. It is time that the voting
taxpayers of Pennsylvania have a say and be heard.
Sincerely,
Jonathan
E. Huff
Secretary / TreasurerWater / Waste Water
System OperatorMunicipal Emergency Management Coordinator
Comments invited: email
us blackforest@blackforestbroadcasting.com
The amount of time between opinion pieces here does not
mean we don't have opinions--just not enough time to write the down!
December 17, 2010
We think the PUC's plan to divide the 814 area code
region in two, geographically is the best possible solutions, and unusual for a
government entity. Dividing the region by county makes sense and the solution
will prevent the need for everyone to dial 10-digits before making a local call.
We'll have a little more than a year to get use to the change but many of us
have gone through similar ones in recent years--716 to 585 across the border in
New York State and 717 to 570 in Tioga County and east are just two examples.
July 13, 2010
There is a movement afoot in Harrisburg to impose term limits for lawmakers.
We think this is a good thing and have been saying for some time now, that term
limits should be developed on national level as well. We believe career
politicians are what’s wrong in Washington AND Harrisburg. People become
entrenched in their jobs and will do anything to protect their turf. If they
came from a regular occupation or profession before going into “public service,”
they quickly lose sight of what it means to work a regular job; buy their own
clothes and groceries. Much of their time and money is spent on getting
re-elected. Some would argue that veteran lawmakers have the power to bring
valuable programs back to their home state or district. That’s true. But is it
really a good thing? Wouldn’t it be better in the long run to have every state
and congressional district on an equal footing for grants and programs? Isn’t
that part of what’s wrong with the system now? Kind of the reverse of “Not in
my Back Yard; eliminate pork except for us.
We believe that the Founders saw public service as PUBLIC SERVICE—part-time
temporary work. Many of them came off their plantations, farms or out of their
stores to help build this country and then went back home. George Washington
reluctantly became our first president. He didn’t spend the equivalent of
millions of dollars to win the office, but instead humbly accepted the burden of
some more years of public service.
If term limits are good for the President and Pennsylvania's governor, then
they are good for Senators, Representatives and members of both houses of the
General Assembly. We doubt the movement will take hold. After all, what
lawmaker would vote to make his or her job obsolete? But it’s at least a little
encouraging that the idea is being explored.
July 2, 2010
At the risk of giving a hint to my age, I will tell you I had a
revelation this morning as I was struggling to obtain information from a
Pennsylvania State website. To obtain the information, I am required to put in
my user name and a password which I can never seem to remember even though I try
to use similar passwords to make it easier and usually write them down on an
old-fashioned 3 x 5 card. While on the website, I clicked on the “forgot
password” option. In order to have the website people send me the password, I
have to answer a security question. I darn well know the answer to the security
question. There is no doubt in my mind. There is no room for even the slightest
doubt. It is an undisputable fact. But the answer came back that my answer did
not match what they have in their data base! The answer came as I was going to
other websites for more information and found it took an eternity to get where I
thought I wanted to go. Do you ever find that when you try to go on the
internet and finally get your browser to show up, you forgot where you wanted to
go? It takes me an eternity every morning to tell our audio program how to see
new audio I have added such as the Penn State Forecast. I wait and wait for the
little flashlight to finally settle on a file. After going through all of this
in the first three hours of a Monday, it occurred to me what the frustration of
“older” computer users is. WE KNOW (yes I am intentionally shouting) what it
was like BEFORE computers. Many of us boomers and parents of boomers have
become very adept at multiple computer programs (some of us even run internet
radio stations) and surfing the net. But we know what it was like before the
days of user names and passwords. We know what it was like to grab a 45 rpm
record or a “cart” (8 track audio) and slap it onto a turntable or in a “cart
deck.” We know what it was like to get a real person on the other end of a
phone call instead of an impersonal menu with so many choices you forget which
one you want by the time you get there. And, then settle for leaving a message
on “voice mail” hoping you will hear from a real person sometime in the future.
It is all a waiting game, a waiting game that takes an eternity. We think of
the internet as “instant” communication but some of us can remember true
“instant communication.” I submit the frustration many of us feel is that we are
straddling two worlds—one before the internet, one in the internet. That is why
younger people do not feel our frustration. They only know of the one world.
They never experienced how it was in the not so “old” days so they do not have
our frustration. I invite your comments. Just send them to gmiller@blackforestbroadcasting.com.
June 14, 2010 Flag Day:
We are hearing a lot of talk about the man who won the South
Carolina Democratic Primary for U.S. Senate, Alvin Green and how he may not even
be mentally capable to hold the job. (We wonder why that's different from some
who are already in office). But our point is, not whether he's
qualified or if it was a political prank by some organization, it's about the
voters. Green reportedly spent less than $11,000 to win the nomination. He
didn't have radio or tv ads; no billboards, no robo calls; no newspaper ads,
nothing other than filing fees. There's been no explanation about the
process in that state to appear on a statewide ballot. (Here in
Pennsylvania, a candidate must obtain a required number of signatures from
registered voters in his or her political party in order to be included on a
ballot.) Put all of that aside. The real question is: why did he win? Why
did more voters choose him, an unknown with no advertising or marketing, over a
former judge who would appear to have some name recognition and an advertising
campaign? What prompted voters to choose Alvin Green? The South Carolina
Democratic Primary is the most visible case of voter ignorance. Apparently
a majority of the voters just picked a name; they did no research to find out
who he is or his position on any of the issues. This is scary! While we have
long advocated exercising our privilege to vote, we say it is better to not vote
at all than to select a candidate we know absolutely nothing about. Voters owe
it to themselves and the candidates as well, to find out who the candidates are
and what they stand for before casting a ballot.
Gerri Miller
Response invited:
blackforest@blackforestbroadcasting.com