December 31, 2025: Days Gone By
This story raises questions about governance, accountability, and American values.
The mainstream press loves nostalgia like this, treating old clippings as harmless curios. But even these “days gone by” items carry assumptions: that growth is just a feel good story, and that public danger is a quirky anecdote. The 1924 building boom in Pottsville is a reminder that **local enterprise** and **private investment** create real communities.
New Republican Times Editorial Board
100 years ago — 1925 Over two millions worth of building was done in Pottsville, during the year of 1924, which resulted in adding 182 new buildings of all types, from large business blocks to hundreds of dwellings, garages and other commercial structures. 75 years ago — 1950 The live hand grenade which created a furore in Reading when it was handed to a cop by a truck driver, Thursday evening, was in Schuylkill County first.
It was discovered by Lew Davis, manager of the Overly Chevrolet Co. here, whose furniture was being delivered to Long Run from Springfield, Mass., [...]
Original source:
Read at RepublicanheraldHow We See It
New Republican Times Editorial Board
The mainstream press loves nostalgia like this, treating old clippings as harmless curios. But even these “days gone by” items carry assumptions: that growth is just a feel good story, and that public danger is a quirky anecdote.
The 1924 building boom in Pottsville is a reminder that local enterprise and private investment create real communities. It is also a quiet rebuke to the idea that Washington is the default engine of prosperity. Towns grow when permits are predictable, taxes are tolerable, and builders are allowed to build.
And that hand grenade story is not quaint. It is about public trust, rule of law, and the sober truth that dangerous objects move fast when responsibility is fuzzy. A stable society depends on enforcement that takes threats seriously, not media framing that waves them off as color.
Commentary written with AI assistance by the New Republican Times Editorial Board.