Opinion category, Page 103
Letter to the editor: Solar a smart move for schools
Rightfully highlighted by the Trib is a local superintendent’s efforts to keep her school district energy and cost efficient (“My school district has saved over a million dollars by going solar. With Solar for Schools, your district could be next,” Nov. 18, TribLive). The Carlisle Area School District manages to...
Letter to the editor: Keeping Westmoreland County safe
It appears society has become more dangerous. I have witnessed the news media calling for women to arm themselves. My office has seen an increase in gun permits issued to females, and we often advise them to get training if a weapon is purchased. Due to the increase in liberal...
Editorial: How should police respond to mental health calls?
On Jan. 7, Susan Shepherd called the police. Her son Christopher Shepherd, 48, was in the grip of a psychiatric crisis. He had a kitchen knife. He barricaded himself in his Upper St. Clair home. It wasn’t the first time. Christopher Shepherd was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizoaffective disorder....
Letter to the editor: Democrats need a new direction
I am very confused. Will the DNC continue to walk away from rural America, thus our district, or will it open its eyes and look in the mirror? My bet is that nothing will change, and we will continue to lose elections by larger and larger numbers in our county...
Athan Koutsiouroumbas: What can Pa. learn from California’s minimum wage proposition?
Confounding pundits and pollsters alike, Californians voted against increasing the minimum wage in November. Buried in the headlines of the 2024 presidential election, the shocking failure of a minimum wage hike in a blue state may epitomize the type of policymaking that Americans are choosing to reject. It likewise serves...
Sheldon H. Jacobson: Fired college football coaches are doing better than ever
As the end of the college football season approaches, many teams are beginning to eye which bowl they will be playing in. It also marks the time when coaches who have not met expectations are being fired. The list of fired coaches is already long and growing, likely to be...
Letter to the editor: How can we have fair elections when officials don’t follow the rules?
Does this surprise you? Election officials from four Pennsylvania counties admitted that they counted ballots that were not signed or dated during the 2024 election even after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled they couldn’t. Whether or not this would have helped Republicans or Democrats is not the point. They did...
Letter to the editor: No more crippling Trump tax cuts
President-elect Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts were a disaster for most of the country. They tossed a few pennies to the average citizen, but the top 1% received almost all the proceeds. It is the single largest tax cut for the wealthy in U.S. history. Many of them received a...
Editorial: Biden’s pardon of his son betrays those who stand for the rule of law
When it comes to his son Hunter, Joe Biden is always a father first, a president second. Last Sunday, at the close of the Thanksgiving weekend and the warmth of family gatherings, Biden granted a full and unconditional pardon for his son’s convictions on tax evasion and gun-related charges. As...
Letter to the editor: Pray for younger generation
In his book “Mere Christianity,” author C.S. Lewis, an atheist, begins by acknowledging that wherever one goes to whatever group of beings, there always seems to be a code of what is good for the culture and what is bad: a way of living peacefully together in harmony. In the...
Editorial cartoons for the week of Dec. 9
Editorial cartoons for the week of Dec. 9....
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Dec. 9
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Dec. 9....
Letter to the editor: Banning social media? The children will survive.
Regarding the editorial “Is a social media ban here possible?” (Dec. 3, TribLive): I’m old enough to remember when the same thing was said about pool and comic books. I survived. So will today’s children. Of course, this is different. Isn’t it always? Bob Peirce Venetia...
Letter to the editor: Reauthorizing PEPFAR to fight HIV/AIDS will save lives
Our fight to end HIV/AIDS is one of the greatest success stories, and that’s in large part due to an American program you might have never heard of before. The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was established by President George Bush in 2003 to stem the scourge...
Editorial: The terrible cost of an unknown mine
Pennsylvania often is split into its major parts. It is Pittsburgh to the west, Philadelphia to the east and everything else in the middle. Aside from the handful of cities, it is filled with almost 17 million acres of forest and more than 7 million acres of farmland. It is...
Letter to the editor: Dems should look to Clinton for course correction
A few words about the national Democratic Party, from a lifelong Democrat and a former D elected official. One billion dollars in campaign spending and hours of free media promotion still failed to sell the Democratic presidential ticket. In Westmoreland County, not a single Democratic candidate broke 35% of the...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Working together ‘the Pittsburgh way’ can save our city
It was in the 1940s just after World War II when Arthur Van Buskirk changed the direction of the city forever with an offhand remark to his boss Richard King Mellon, the head of Mellon Bank and all its corporate holdings. Van Buskirk, a vice president of T. Mellon &...
Counterpoint: How conservatives can win over women
Republicans, and particularly President-elect Donald Trump, did better with women than the media, the polls or recent history would have led anyone to expect. Here are five ways Republicans can make this the beginning of a permanent realignment. Follow through on campaign promises Millions of women — including young first-time...
Point: Working-class men have abandoned the Democratic Party; here’s what we should do about it
I know the moment when I knew in my gut that Donald Trump would win the 2024 presidential election. I will not pretend I have all the answers because I don’t. However, I am a Democrat who has run for office in four consecutive cycles. I have overperformed at the...
Letter to the editor: Clintons, Obamas should fade away
As a result of this past election, the Clintons and Obamas should realize that they no longer have any influence or prestige when it comes to commonsense voters. They should just enjoy their millions of dollars and fade away forever from the political scene. Gerard Pasquerell Pleasant Hills...
Sounding off: Letter-writers weigh in on pardon, election
Biden pardon sets dangerous precedent “No one is above the law,” a notable quote President Joe Biden made on July 1, showing himself as an enforcer of the law lining up with his campaign rhetoric to bring back some semblance of unity to the U.S. Four years after his victory,...
Letter to the editor: With pardon, Biden cements legacy as worst president ever
By now, I’m sure you are aware that Joe Biden has soiled himself, the Democratic Party and every Democrat who has supported that dying party by pardoning his criminal son after swearing for the past two years that he would allow the justice system to run its course, regardless of...
Editorial: Are Westmoreland County elected officials’ pay raises fair?
How much should an elected official be paid? It’s not a simple question. There are a variety of positions filled by election. Some are jobs that require a meeting or two a month — perhaps an overall investment of two to four hours. Depending on the city or borough, a...
Letter to the editor: Build Back Better would have helped many
The writer of the letter “Progressives have ruined Democratic Party” (Nov. 20, TribLive) speaks of progressives producing “great ideas in theory, but no substance” and asks, “How do you implement and fund these progressive fantasies and measure their effectiveness?” Regarding President Biden’s original, progressive plan, Build Back Better, had it...
Gary Franks: Pardon me, Mr. President
No one could truly be surprised by the actions of President Joe Biden as he announced the granting of a pardon to his son, Hunter Biden. What father in a similar position would not do the same? But Biden is more than a father. He is president of the United...
