Category: Opinion

~by State Senator Jerry Behn In the Legislature – The second week of the legislative session was a short one due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday. However, that day off did not mean the week was any less busy. Subcommittees have already started on a number of topics and we’re starting to hear from groups and departments…

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~a column by Colleen O’Brien Tramping through an archeological dig has so far been the biggest treat of being a guest in Italy. The Etruscan town of Vulci (vull-chee), about 45 minutes from where I’m staying, was founded in the 9th century before Christ. By the 4th to 6th centuries BC, it was a major trading port in what is…

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~by State Senator Jerry Behn Jan. 16, 2020 This was the first week of the 2020 legislative session. It is exciting to be back at the Capitol, and we are ready to get started on many of the issues we have heard about over the past several months. Each year we listen to speeches from the Majority Leader, the Senate…

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~a column by Colleen O’Brien We drive half an hour of so to a town called Castiglione, on the Thyrrenean Sea, to eat out. The area is like Sarasota in Florida, San Diego Harbor in California, probably like bays and beaches in South Africa, the Cote d’Azur, Vladivostock in Russia? Fancy restaurants and chi chi clothing shops stand next to…

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To the editor, When is Jefferson going to fix their terrible street situation? Where’s the money going? To buy old buildings and rebuild? Spend it where it’s designated and really needed.

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Editor’s note – When O’Brien started writing columns for GreeneCountyNewsOnline when in launched in 2013, she declined to offer a photo to use at the top of her columns. She has finally sent along a photo of herself in Italy, where she is enjoying a few weeks of respite from issues that worry conscientious liberals. ~a column by Colleen O’Brien…

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~a column by Colleen O’Brien I’ve been in Italy seven days and can get neither my phone nor my computer to work, so I am writing – hand-writing – this column. It has been 39 years since I hand-wrote a column. It is almost as if I don’t know how to think, the process of hand-writing is so foreign to…

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~a column by Colleen O’Brien I was a true believer into the middle of my grade school years—fourth grade—when it came to me that Christmas and Santa Clause were part of an extended play put on by my parents. I was 9 or so when I saw the presents hidden in the basement, and suddenly I put it together that…

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Dear editor, We congratulate the swearing in of our new mayor, Matt Gordon, and the re-election of councilmen Matt Wetrich and Dave Sloan. Now that our mayor’s council seat is open, the next person who will fill this vacancy will serve for the remainder of his two-year term. It is in the opinion of those signed below that the council…

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~a column by Colleen O’Brien As I sat at my friend’s dining room table waiting for her to get ready to go out, in front of me was a pilsner glass of pens and pencils. After staring them down for a while, I chose the one very sharp pencil with a big eraser.

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To the editor: With the election of a new mayor, there will be an empty seat on the council. It seems logical to have the new mayor appoint someone rather than spend money on a special election. We all support the appointment of Sean Seabourn to that vacancy. It just makes good common sense and fiscal sense. He obtained the…

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To the editor, As we all know, Matt Gordon will soon assume his duties as our new mayor leaving his council seat to be filled. May I suggest Sean Sebourn to be appointed to this vacancy. In Sean’s first bid for public office this past general election he made a respectable showing while sharing the ballot with two well known…

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