Editorials category, Page 53
Editorial: Why so quiet on state-related money, Gov. Wolf?
There usually is nothing politicians love better than their moments of benevolent generosity. Legislators who opposed a program they deemed a pork project will nonetheless stand beaming with a large sweepstakes-winner-style check for a photo opportunity. The negotiations about who will announce a grant, loan or other funding when the...
Editorial: Westmoreland County could benefit everyone if it functioned cohesively
The Westmoreland County District Attorney’s office is getting more help. District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli is adding a public information officer. That salary will set back the county $50,000. She also is getting a fiscal coordinator and grant writer. That position will help seek funding for projects and steer the office’s...
Editorial: Quecreek brought us together; it would serve us well to remember that
Pennsylvanians are not the kind of people who do anything in lockstep. We can be tribal. We can be territorial. We are willing to go to war over things such as hockey and football, which university is superior to all others and the best convenience store in the state. We...
Editorial: Vaccines work and vaccine waste is a tragedy
In December 2020, the nation breathed a collective sigh of relief when the day that had been awaited for nine months finally arrived. The first covid-19 vaccines were delivered to hospitals across the country. The first vaccines were delivered into the arms of some of the most at risk: front-line...
Laurels & lances: Social work, medical bills
Laurel: To a smart thought. The problems of police departments have been an ongoing topic of conversation in the state and across the country — especially in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020. While much of the problem-solving has been lost in the fight...
Editorial: Veto not a defeat for Fitzgerald but a victory for people and process
A veto is an important part of the system that limits the power of one office by offering power to another. The system of checks and balances modeled at the federal level and copied by the states and even some local governments is how we keep our leaders from becoming...
Editorial: Accreditation could be key to fixing police database
There is no situation that cannot be improved with accountability. In recent years, how many trusted or beloved institutions have been rocked by the knowledge that such trust and love was betrayed? Children have been abused by coaches, teachers, even their own parents. Grand juries have uncovered not only sexual...
Editorial: Westmoreland County handles elections office like an afterthought
Westmoreland County commissioners have come to a decision about who will run the elections bureau, and it seems to be a decision they could have made official a long time ago. Greg McCloskey will continue to serve double duty as he has done since taking on the responsibility of the...
Editorial: Do the Pittsburgh Pirates really need a new scoreboard?
Apparently the Pittsburgh Pirates decided to save the Steelers from all the sports fan outrage last week. Sure, the football team started it with the announcement July 11 that Heinz Field was changing its name to Acrisure Stadium, selling the naming rights to a Michigan-based financial and tech insurance company...
Editorial: Is state election money a gift or a problem?
There is a lot of concern about the money in elections. How do we know who is contributing to a campaign? Who is funding the political parties? Who is paying for the ads and the buses and the big-budget rallies? There are questions about where the money is coming from...
Editorial: New law is past due to protect vulnerable elderly
The highest duty of law is to protect the vulnerable. Perhaps the most important aspect of that is safeguarding those people from the individuals meant to do the protecting. Pennsylvania is living up to that responsibility with a new law signed by Gov. Tom Wolf this week. State Rep. Carrie...
Laurels & lances: Learning, vetoes and curfews
Laurel: To a smart use of funding. Parents and educators alike can worry about learning loss — the information kids mentally misplace over the summer months between one grade and the next. But what about deficits suffered because of coronavirus responses? The pandemic was tough on schools, starting with the...
Editorial: Why the cliffhanger American Rescue Plan announcement?
It’s about time. The Westmoreland County Commissioners have plans for the American Rescue Plan funds — finally. The American Rescue Plan was the $1.9 trillion federal legislation passed in March 2021 with multiple purposes: to fight covid pandemic spread, to financially help American households and to provide money for communities...
Editorial: Police protection needs to be present and consistent
The relationship between a community and its police department is a balance. Sometimes it’s contentious. Sometimes it’s a relief. Sometimes it’s folksy and neighborly, like an old-school black-and-white television show. But it is a seesaw that tilts back and forth as needed. The police should provide order. They should provide...
Editorial: Acrisure Stadium, you say? To Steelers fans, it’ll always be Heinz Field
The identities of many communities are built on their skylines and their sports teams. Pittsburgh — and the whole of Western Pennsylvania, really — is no different. That identity will change now with a deal that scrubs the name off the football stadium and replaces it with that of a...
Editorial: Dashcams can be good witnesses for prosecution or defense
Smile, you’re on camera. When it comes to being caught on tape, people can have mixed reactions. There are the those who want areas with high crime potential — like public parks or transportation hubs — to have cameras to help track down offenders or discourage opportunistic threats. Others are...
Editorial: Budget passing is bare minimum
The best you can say about the Pennsylvania Legislature’s move on the budget is that it was quick. That is, if you can call something quick when it’s more than a week late. On Thursday, seven days after the budget was due, the House finally passed a spending plan with...
Editorial: The importance of calling for help — and listening
When it comes to an emergency, it might seem that the most important thing is speed or equipment or expertise. It isn’t. When there is danger or when there is risk of death, one thing is more important than anything else: communication. At the most basic, when you are hurt...
Laurels & lances: Scholarships and monkeypox
Laurel: To a different kind of support. When a kid wants to go to college, financial aid is one of the first considerations. There are athletic scholarships for sports stars. There are academic scholarships for those who excel in the classroom. Even for those who want to go to postsecondary...
Editorial: Courthouse error will demand answers
We tend to think of accidents as a car crash or a fallen electrical pole — something with physical presence and possibly injury. But accidents happen everywhere, including government and bureaucracy. They might happen more there just because of the volume of people involved. Those can be the ones that...
Editorial: Hotel tax collection benefits tourism — and room renters
Government always has to wait for innovation to happen before it can catch up with progress. There was no need for automobile registration before there were cars to register, for example. As utilities have changed, so have regulations for them. With the spread of computers, government’s use of them for...
Editorial: PennDOT needs to find real alternative to tolling
While the U.S. Supreme Court was making all the big news in recent weeks, the justices weren’t the only ones dropping significant decisions. On Thursday, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court decided to make some waves of its own. It did so by putting its judicial foot down when it comes to...
The Declaration of Independence
WHEN in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them,...
Editorial: Why can’t Pennsylvania pass a budget on time?
The legislative process in Pennsylvania can take awhile. Government, after all, is not just about getting two parties to work together. It’s not even about the governor and the Legislature rowing the boat in the same direction. There is also the challenge of focusing 253 lawmakers on the task at...
Laurels & lances: Signing up and paying back
Laurel: To celebrating a different kind of commitment. Senior year of high school can mean a lot of attention on next steps for some kids. There are big productions made out of the athletes who accept scholarships to play their sports for marquee colleges. Then there are the brainiacs who...
