Opinion category, Page 158
Editorial: Westmoreland Register of Wills has been absent for years. Just leave already
It might seem like the dysfunction in the Westmoreland County Register of Wills Office is a new thing. The department — responsible for filings and services regarding estates, wills, adoptions and more — has been in the spotlight all year. There was a hearing in January that saw Register of...
Letter to the editor: An alternative to Summer Lee’s extremism
This November, voters in the 12th Congressional District can remove another U.S. House member of the extremist “Squad” led by Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez. One member already lost a primary election. Rep. Summer Lee, a proud Squad member, will have glitzy TV ads hiding this fact as she claims she is “fighting...
Gary Franks: For Trump – God is good… Trump’s work is clearly not finished
Being at the Republican National Committee convention in Milwaukee this week to witness the first public appearance of former President Donald Trump following the failed assassination attempt was one of my most emotional campaign experiences. Thank God Trump, who was just a mere inch or so away from death, is...
S.E. Cupp: Trump wants to win. And that should scare Biden.
In many ways, the selection of Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as former President Donald Trump’s running mate is odd and seemingly impolitic. After all, Vance is another white guy from a state Trump won twice and is sure to win again — hardly a value-add. He’s brash and often unlikeable....
Tom Pike: Water suppliers must make frackers accountable
With much of Westmoreland County having suddenly entered a “flash drought,” vegetable gardens are drying up in the withering heat. Although this flash drought is unlikely to deepen into a long-term crisis, let’s take it as a reminder that we are only ever a bad month or two away from...
Rachel Langan: Fully funded public education must include cyber charters
When a parent says that a public school isn’t what it used to be, the implication is usually bad. But for Brenda Jesky, a Latrobe mother of three, that’s not the case. Her daughter Maddy — who has high-functioning autism — struggled with learning in both public and private traditional...
Letter to the editor: Trump has already won
The election is over — Donald Trump won. He is a hero and martyr. He took one for the team. It will only get better for Trump, with President Biden’s slow deterioration. And I’m not even a Trump supporter. Pete Miller Delmont...
Letter to the editor: Trump doesn’t have qualities needed to serve common good
According to the article “Why Butler County is so crucial to Trump’s election chances” (July 6, TribLive), southwestern Pennsylvania and Butler County play significant roles in the upcoming election. We remain concerned Catholics who have been challenged to integrate gospel aspirations when we vote. To be more specific we consider...
Letter to the editor: It’s clear Biden isn’t up for the job
After the humiliating and bizarre surrender to the Taliban in Afghanistan, resulting in 13 dead and dozens of horribly wounded U.S. troops, and hundreds of dead and wounded Afghan civilians, I wrote a letter titled “Democrats’ double standard” (Sept. 21, 2021), pertaining to President Biden’s mental decline, that was published...
Laurels & lances: Kids giving back
Every week in this space, we give a spotlight to some of the best and worst news. Sometimes it’s a smaller aspect of a bigger story. Sometimes it’s a piece from one community that might have been missed by others. This week, we know what the lance is. Everyone knows...
Letter to the editor: Stop the anger and hate that divides us
As a 76-year-old American, I have lived through the assassination of President Kennedy and his brother Robert and the Rev. Martin Luther King. America must stop the hateful rhetoric that accuses a political opponent of wanting to be a dictator and attacking their principles. I lived through the Vietnam years,...
Lori Falce: Butler victims deserve better than conspiracy theories
The conspiracy theories come faster these days. There was a time that it took months or years for a good skeptical narrative to develop around major events. The apocrypha surrounding the Freemasons, for example, have been 400 years in the making. Flat Earth theories in the modern era can date...
Paul Kengor: Protecting presidential candidates, protecting the public
The day after the Trump shooting Saturday in Butler — which happens to be my hometown — I got a message from a friend who loathes Donald Trump (he doesn’t like Joe Biden either). As we struggled to assess the security failure that nearly led to Trump’s assassination, my friend...
Colin McNickle: PIT’s rising passenger count still trails national gains
While passenger levels at Pittsburgh International Airport recovered to May 2019 numbers this past May, they continued to lag the national upturn, says a researcher at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. “There is no escaping the fact that the strength of local economies is an important driver of air...
M. Thomas Davis: Determination, experience, wisdom — Joe Biden has it, Donald Trump does not
Winston Churchill once noted that, “There is only one thing worse than fighting with allies, and that is fighting without them.” It is among the many immediate misfortunes that the old Prime Minister is not around to give former president Trump a badly needed lesson in foreign policy. Fortunately, President...
Letter to the editor: Assassination attempt an outrage
All of the officers, staff and membership of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 92 in Lower Burrell pray for a speedy recovery, physically and mentally, for David “Jake” Dutch, his wife, Sheree, and extended family. Jake is a Marine Corps veteran and an active and valued member of our post....
Claudine Schneider and Susan Molinari: Violence against women takes center stage at the Republican National Convention
Violence against women, like all violence, is never acceptable. While both political parties have “said” we have to bring down the temperature in political discourse, evidently such empty pledges fall short when it comes to the GOP and women. The GOP is not only refusing to rebuke violence, but elevating...
Letter to the editor: Too much hatred of conservatives
The Trump assassination attempt is a blatant warning that too many people in the U.S. possess a mindless hatred of conservatives. With liberal leadership demonizing and misrepresenting conservatism, our society is rife with knee-jerking hostility to necessary opposing views. Conservatives believe in equality, that government is supposed to be for...
Editorial: Trump shooting shows need for hospitals and first responders
The shooting Saturday at the Donald Trump campaign rally in Butler County will be a dark day in American history. But amid the finger-pointing about what went wrong with law enforcement and how the Secret Service should have been better prepared, there are things being neglected. Namely, there should be...
Letter to the editor: Trump ready for U.S. fascism
Donald Trump now has everything he needs to institute American fascism. The astounding majority opinion in Trump v. United States functions like the Nazi’s Enabling Act of 1933, placing Trump above the rule of law. And Saturday’s assassination attempt in Butler County constitutes Trump’s Reichstag fire, goading the MAGA faithful...
Conor Lamb and Kate Harper: Western Pa. ready to lead hydrogen energy revolution
Western Pennsylvania has abundant natural resources and now it has the opportunity to be at the leading edge of a technological innovation that can change our communities, our economy and the world — all for the better. That’s what we have with the advent of hydrogen as a viable low-carbon...
Jonah Goldberg: Trump assassination attempt leaves Biden with just 1 viable political option
One can hardly fault Donald Trump for believing divine providence is on his side. He’s had the most impressive lucky streak in living political memory. While his debate performance was exceptional only if graded on a curve, his opponent’s was a debacle by any objective standard. Then the Supreme Court...
Letter to the editor: Companies should find courteous humans to answer phones
I recently had a package delivered by FedEx; however, it wasn’t delivered to my house. I called FedEx and got a machine; after going through the drill, it hung up with no answer as to where my package was. I repeated this four or five more times and couldn’t get...
Letter to the editor: Marc Fogel is correctly detained
What’s with everyone determined to spring Americans who trafficked narcotics internationally? As a medical marijuana patient and advocate, I can say that Marc Fogel is actually correctly detained, pursuant to both American federal and Russian laws. Ignorance of the law is no excuse, and I find it hard to believe...
Letter to the editor: The real top issues for voters
The letter “Vote for legislators who listen” (July 12, TribLive) appeared to be an attempt to persuade readers to adopt conclusions set forth by the author. The observations were “supported” by data presented as factual, but not sourced. I would submit that it either cannot be sourced or it came...
