Opinion

For the 7th consecutive year, the Community Memorial Hospital District Board, now doing business as Syracuse Area Health, has voted not to increase the property tax levy. The tax receipts for the hospital this coming year will remain the same as the last six years at $120,156.81. Total Revenue for Syracuse Area Health was over $24 million this fiscal year resulting in tax receipts making up less than half a percent of total revenues. Mike Harvey, Syracuse Area Health President and CEO stated, “This was a commitment made by the Board of Directors when the decision was made to build a new facility, and that commitment continues. We have experienced a lot of growth in the organization over the last decade, and as we continue to grow, tax receipts continue to become an even smaller portion of our revenue.”

Dear Editor; I would like to thank Mary Stack for recognizing the work that went into planting the pots on Main Street. I was inspired by the VFW Auxiliary who has planted and tended to flowers on Main Street for many years.

If asked to describe a typical camping trip, many people would likely share a tale of roughing it in the woods under a starlit sky. Though that might be the traditional way to go camping, a recent trend has inspired its fair share of devotees to embrace a wholly different way to spend a night or two in the great outdoors.

Despite the number of ways people can store and play music that have evolved through the years, audiophiles often insist that music simply sounds better on vinyl. Is there anything to support this affirmation? It may be more complicated than music simply sounding better, as vinyl engages other senses as well. There is a tangible aspect to playing records rather than just streaming tracks through cyberspace. Records have a distinct smell and feel in hand. Vinyl records also can be displayed on shelves, which appeals to many music lovers. However, there may be something scientific to music sounding a particular way that makes it different from other methods. According to MeeMix, vinyl is recorded in an analog format, which means the sound is closer to how it was on the original recording. MP3 and other digital files are compressed for size and often lose some of the original sound, although it isn’t overtly detectable. When a person is listening to vinyl, all of the original data is present, as opposed to digital formats where the compression to keep files smaller omits certain frequencies that can add to the nuance of music. However, vinyl won’t always sound better than CDs or streaming digital. Equipment used to play vinyl records can affect sound quality. So a quality turntable and high-output speakers will provide the best sound, according to The Sound of Vinyl, a vinyl record retailer. Moderate-quality headphones can still do a bang-up job of outputting digital files and creating a sound that’s comparable to vinyl.

Pets groom themselves to stay clean, but when allergies are present, dogs and cats may spend extended periods of time scratching, licking and biting. While these actions can be problematic for the animals themselves, for those sensitive to sounds, the repetition may induce unsettled feelings. Psychology Today says “misphonia” is an extreme emotional and physical response to seemingly innocuous, repetitive sounds. While chewing and lip-smacking are common triggers, noises made by pets (like barking or licking) also can cause an issue. The result is a fight-or-flight response to these noises, along with physical tension, disproportionate anger and possible hatred or disgust toward the person or animal responsible for the trigger noise. While studies into misphonia are in their juvenile stages and only recently gained traction, symptoms are thought to begin in childhood or adolescence and increase in severity. Treatment for misphonia is varied, but if aversion to the noise a pet is making can be alleviated by addressing the pet’s underlying issue, then people’s misphonia may be alleviated as well.