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Aaron Kaufer touts issues not party politics at Global Landscapes Conference

Letter to the Editor: Wilkes-Barre’s school directors badly missing the mark

Don&#8217;t look in our eyes and tell us that you feel our pain.Don&#8217;t feign interest in our sports teams, pretend familiarity with our city&#8217;s mayors, pander to our emotions or coyly ask for the proper pronunciation of place names such as &#8220;Wilkes-Barre.&#8221;If intending to win our votes, and occupy the highest office in the land, cut the artificial campaign-stop routines and simply explain how your policies can improve the lives of ordinary Pennsylvanians.Save your slogans for another state. We need a president capable of grasping the circumstances that stunt Northeastern Pennsylvania&#8217;s potential and weigh on our minds &#8211; day after day, while the Capitol crowd butts heads, seemingly content to do little in the way of supplying solutions.Frustration? Yes, plenty of us feel it when assessing actions inside the Beltway, which largely explains the populist revolts now propelling the success of certain unconventional candidates. If you expect our support Tuesday and again in November, show that you understand the roots of that emotion and have viable strategies to fix persistent problems like these:&#8226; Limited job opportunities. We used to make things in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Today, however, we primarily warehouse and push products &#8211; bearing the labels of other countries &#8211; from place to place. We are ready for a mini-renaissance in manufacturing. In the meantime, put more of us to work. Tech jobs. Service jobs. Or maybe we could be employed while fixing &#8230;&#8226; Run-down infrastructure. Plenty of highways, bridges and utility pipes in this part of Pennsylvania are due for replacement. Our region&#8217;s long-term interests, and the nation&#8217;s, rely on keeping these networks in good shape. Ditto for upgrades to passenger rail systems and ports.&#8226; Insecurity. We&#8217;re genuinely worried about terrorism and how the United States gets perceived abroad. Perhaps the more insidious concern, however, involves our daily insecurities: Will there be enough money this month to pay the rent, the heating bill, the day care?Pennsylvania still shows the scars of a prior energy revolution; what assurances can Washington give that the unfolding natural gas boom won&#8217;t be regretted, or squandered? Illicit drugs rip at the fabric of our communities; can new solutions be found while perpetuating empathy and services for the addicted? Compassion appears to be going out of fashion in some pockets of the nation; will it be rekindled to help soothe a host of foreign and domestic matters?By and large in 2016, Pennsylvania residents and their counterparts across the country seemingly long for a transformational figure in the Oval Office. Perhaps they&#8217;re looking for a hero.All they really need is someone unafraid to go to bat to change our collective circumstances for the better.Are you that person?

Our Opinion: Presidential hopefuls, here’s what Pennsylvanians need to hear from you