October 22 through October 27 is National School Bus Safety Week. Most people do not realize that school bus transportation continues to be one of the safest forms of ground transportation. In fact, a school bus is thirteen times safer than other non-commercial vehicles. This is no accident. It is through the efforts of hard working and dedicated professionals, particularly the drivers, that makes this so.

Our tremendous safety record is due to tough federal and state regulations, extensive school bus driver training and review and our commitment to safety. School busing is a much more complex and demanding job than most people realize or appreciate. It is supported by an extensive network of personnel including mechanics, dispatchers and driver safety trainers. The vehicles are designed, built and equipped for the safety of the children they are used to transport. They are operated during the busiest travel periods of the day and in all types of road and weather conditions.

School bus drivers are justifiably held to a higher standard as professional operators. We feel we attain that goal with superior driving habits and skills. The problem is that our best efforts can only deliver a part of the results. An awareness of the law and behavior of the driving public remains a critical element in the safety of the children we transport to and from school. When a motorist feels they can’t remain behind a school bus and will go through stop signs, make u-turns in the middle of the road or pull directly out in front of the bus because they are in a hurry, are not doing this just to the bus driver, they are doing this to all the children riding on the bus. These types of actions put the children in unnecessary danger.

Too many times school bus drivers report motorists passing stopped school buses when they are picking up or discharging students. School buses are equipped with an 8-way lighting system. The amber (yellow) lights will begin flashing between 300 and 150 feet before the school bus stops. During this time, the motorist must prepare to stop. When the school bus stops, the red lights will begin flashing and the side-stop arm will be extended. All motorists meeting or following the bus must be stopped at least ten (10) feet from the bus and are not to proceed until the red lights are no longer activated and the students have reached a place of safety. Pennsylvania law is quite simple to remember…a motorist must always stop for a school bus when the red lights are flashing. There are no exceptions. This includes fire engines, ambulances, police cars and funeral processions. If a motorist fails to stop for a school bus, it is an automatic 60 day suspension of their driver’s license, 5 points on their driving record and a $250 fine.

School bus safety is also influenced by activity on the bus. The driver has to contend with weather and road conditions and maintain an awareness of all activity around the bus, driveways, intersections, people, pets and wildlife. While a driver has all this to consider outside the bus, he need not be distracted by misbehavior inside the bus. Rules are provided for students to follow while riding the bus and are there to maintain a safe and orderly environment. Parents/guardians should serve as role models and instruct their children in appropriate and socially acceptable behavior on a school bus as well as everywhere else. The driver should be accorded the respect he has earned and deserves.

Observe School Bus Safety Week…every week…it could save a life.

Sincerely,

James M. Ainey

Montrose, PA

Where is the justice in Susquehanna County? How is it okay for juveniles to randomly shoot in the directions of homes and not be held responsible for their actions? My mother, who was shot in the chest on May 19th, just found out the kids will not be charged. They only have to pay for her medical expenses.

These kids did a horrific thing that day and they are not going to be punished for their actions. They all admitted to shooting a Stag Arms 15 Caliber 5.56 mm in midair towards our property, in a negligent manner. The bullets from their weapon hit downtown Kingsley, Route 11, our driveway, and Route 547. The stray bullets were hitting the ground inches away from our bodies. The youngest victim almost shot was a precious, four week old baby. My 5 year old son just left his grandmother’s side seconds before the shots occurred. A bullet could have been in his head.

All we asked for is justice; like probation, gun safety course, and community service. They need to learn how to handle weapons in the proper way. The victims have not been allowed to attend any court hearing to express our concerns from this traumatic experience. Not one of the parents or juveniles has apologized for their actions in this crime. The juveniles stopped shooting when they saw the ambulances and police cars at the victim’s house. The one juvenile said to the others “I wonder if we shot someone.” We know that a couple of the juveniles involved have family members that work in the Susquehanna County court system. Amazingly how all the charges have been dropped?

Sincerely,

Charissa Ofalt

Lenox Township, PA

There's a new kid on the block and he's threatening the big boys.

The “kid” is an emerging political movement, a shadowy bloc of nonvoters, vast yet unrecognized. Its adherents numbered 7.7 million in the last presidential campaign; that was 8.6 times greater than the combined membership of the top three minor parties.

In this year's presidential election, the number of nonvoters may swell to 9 million, many of whom will count themselves as members in this nascent political groundswell, the Fool Me Once Party.

Its platform is as simple as it is revolutionary: to break the stranglehold of the two major political organizations, the Democrats and the Republicans.

Fool Me Oncers believe that the Blues and the Reds are different sides of the same coin. Something like the difference between disaster and devastation.

But the 1994 Congressional election offered hope for a fundamental change in the federal government’s scope and power. The Republicans united behind Newt Gingrich's Contract With America.

“We offer a detailed agenda for national renewal, a written commitment with no fine print,” said Gingrich. He continued: “It would be the end of government that is too big, too intrusive, and too easy with the public's money.”

Finally. This was what a majority of voters were waiting to hear.

The results of the midterm election were a historic victory for Republicans. The party gained 52 seats in the House and eight seats in the Senate. And Gingrich became speaker of the House.

There was one more result of the Republican sweep, it was the revolution that wasn't. The Contract With America failed as Gingrich later admitted in a televised interview available on YouTube.

That was an epiphany for many. It would be the last time they were fooled. There had to be another way to break the two-party monopoly. And that way was by not voting. Their only choice, they believe, is not to vote in what has become a one-party system. Think not?

Let us count the ways.

Both parties back the Mideast wars and threaten to start a third, this one with Iran. Both parties want to increase the military budget that is already three times that of China and Russia combined. Both parties unwaveringly support Israel.

Both parties back the Federal Reserve. Both parties support the Dodd-Frank Act (greater federal oversight of banking), the Dems in its entirety, the Reps only in part. Both parties support government health insurance, the Dems have Obamacare and the Reps have Romneycare.

Both parties assiduously avoid discussing cuts in entitlement programs necessary to address this year's deficit of $1.3 trillion and a debt of $16 trillion.

Both parties believe the government can make jobs; one by more regs and the other by less. And neither will either party touch the fact that the jobs exported to dollar-a-day, zero-benefits slave laborers in China, India, South Korea, and Vietnam are gone forever.

But surely, as Edmund Burke said, “All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.” True enough when he said it. But that was 180 years ago before mega corporations could pour tens of millions into both major parties for lobbying, propaganda (i.e., advertising), and campaign contributions to win candidates and politicians sympathetic to their interests. Little matter which way elections go, the corporations always win.

Neither is not voting “do[ing] nothing,” counter the Oncers. It is an admittance that presidential elections are window dressing as substantive as the American Idol contests.

But there is a far greater threat to republican government than the corrupting dollars of corporations; it is us, the citizenry, who pose the greatest danger.

Two-hundred-and-fifty years ago Alexander Tytler wrote, “A democracy can only exist until the people discover they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits from the public treasury. The result is a collapse followed by a dictatorship.”

As a way of not supporting rigged elections and what is evolving into a majority raid on the public treasury, the Oncers opt out of voting. And if there are enough of them, well, who knows.

As they say, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice---never again.

Sincerely,

Bob Scroggins

New Milford, PA

The Pennsylvania Sunshine Act 65 Pa.C.S.A. § 706 - “Minutes of meetings, public records and recording of meetings” states that “Written minutes shall be kept of all open meetings of agencies. The minutes shall include: . . . “ (4) The names of all citizens who appeared officially and the subject of their testimony.”

Susquehanna County Commissioners’ meeting minutes are nothing more than a carbon copy of what appears on the meeting agenda, with the exception that the name of which commissioner ‘motioned’ and which one ‘second(ed)’ is added to each agenda item.

For those interested, a video of the October 10, 2012 Susquehanna County Commissioners’ meeting is now available on YouTube. Just go to YouTube and type in “County Commissioners’ Meeting - 10 - 12 - 12.”

Videos of public meetings will be posted online as long as discussion and public comment are excluded from official minutes of public meetings, as prescribed by Pennsylvania’s Sunshine Act.

Sincerely,

Edna Paskoff

New Milford, PA

The bias of the media is obvious when they ignore the fact that Obama refused to answer Kerry Ladka's question in the 2nd debate with Mitt Romney at Hofstra University. Mr. Ladka simply asked Barack Hussein Obama II: "Who was it that denied enhanced security and why?" Was that asking too much American voters? Can you really accept how many days it took for Obama to get off blaming some lame "Mel Brooks-like" movie about Mohammad? This reminds of "Fast and Furious" and how Eric Holder used Obama's executive privilege to squash that investigation. Anyone who actually thinks that Obama will tell us the truth about anything is very naive. Why should Obama tell us anything when the Chairman of Associated press told us he wants Obama re-elected?

Sincerely,

Joseph DuPont

Towanda, PA