Opinion category, Page 161
Editorial: Does Penn State worship too much at its football altar?
Penn State is a football school. There’s no denying that. The university may excel in other sports and other areas, but football is the foundation upon which its national brand is built. That can be a good thing. Plenty of schools have leaned into it. Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, Ohio...
Letter to the editor: Law should be in Pirates Hall of Fame
How can the Pittsburgh Pirates screw up their team’s Hall of Fame selections three years in a row? In 2022, they named 19 players and omitted three important living members of the 1960 World Champion team. I’m talking about Elroy Face, Dick Groat and Vernon Law. They even included players...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Faith in our justice system after Trump verdict
The trial of Donald Trump was both extraordinary and ordinary at the same time. Never before has a former president of the United States been charged, tried and convicted of crimes. But, once charged, Trump was treated like everybody else. With apologies for this lawyer’s view — without the passion...
Steven Hill: Do high housing costs threaten the American dream?
Homeownership has long been a cornerstone of the American dream. I have 12 nieces and nephews, and as they reach young adulthood and try to establish their careers, they are daunted by the soaring cost of homeownership in a way their parents and grandparents never were. In 1960, about 68...
Max Hastings: Why we commemorate D-Day, 80 years later
The former Western allies will shortly begin commemorating the 80th anniversary of their greatest World War II achievement, the June 6 landings in Normandy, forever famed as D-Day. The pomp and circumstance of the grand events to be attended by President Joe Biden and other national leaders are entirely justified...
Commentary: Does it matter that Donald Trump just became a convicted criminal? Of course it does
It’s of course true that come Nov. 5, the nation’s voters could well decide to shrug off the historic guilty verdict that a Manhattan jury rendered against Donald Trump on Thursday afternoon. And that is the conclusion many have already reached about the seismic event that just took place in...
Letter to the editor: Kudos to Pine-Richland orchestra, director
Laurels to the Pine-Richland theatrical orchestra on being awarded the 2024 Gene Kelly Award for best student orchestra. On such a joyous occasion, it’s with a heavy heart we say goodbye to Brian Scott, who is retiring this year. The music department is a better place due to his guidance...
Letter to the editor: Judge Trump by the company he keeps
In 1986, while working in Munich, I visited the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial, where 200,000 Jews, political prisoners, the mentally and physically disabled, and homosexuals were murdered by Nazis. In 1992, while working in Prague, I was taken by Czech colleagues to another manifestation of Make Das Vaterland Great Again...
Editorial: When will U.S. say yes or no to U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel merger?
The world seems fine with Japan’s largest steel company acquiring the grandfather of steel production in America. In December, Tokyo-based Nippon Steel made a $14.9 billion offer to merge with U.S. Steel. In April, U.S. Steel stockholders approved the proposal by an overwhelming 99% of shares represented. And yet a...
Letter to the editor: Don’t vote for tax increases
Much local outrage resulted as raging inflation and depleting reserves triggered the Westmoreland County tax increase that averaged $120 annually per household. In November, we can vote for or against significantly larger tax increases. President Biden has promised to allow the Trump tax cuts to expire while also increasing other...
Sounding off: Taxes, elections among week’s topics
Don’t vote for tax increases Much local outrage resulted as raging inflation and depleting reserves triggered the Westmoreland County tax increase that averaged $120 annually per household. In November, we can vote for or against significantly larger tax increases. President Biden has promised to allow the Trump tax cuts to...
Gary Franks: A June presidential debate? Johnson, Carter, 1968 hold answers
Why would there be a debate between the two candidates from each party before either has formally captured the nomination for president at their respective national conventions in the summer? That has never happened before. Why now? There is absolutely no reason to do this, other than to test President...
S.E. Cupp: De Niro isn’t the voice voters should hear from
According to the most recent polls, former President Donald Trump is leading President Biden, despite facing several criminal indictments and regularly reminding many of his detractors why they’d voted him out — chaos follows him everywhere. Trump’s lead is in fact growing, and importantly he’s beating Biden in five key...
Gerard Scimeca: Administration’s approach to U.S. Steel undermines law, national security, innovation
It is no accident that the U.S. is a world leader in innovation. A major reason we hold this advantage over other nations and the European Union is due to many countries following the European model, which leans so heavily into regulation. But when it comes to the proposed merger...
Cal Thomas: A new depth of cynicism in Iran
Despite what some Iranian leaders say to the gullible West, denying their intention to build nuclear weapons, Tehran’s pursuit of weapons-grade fissile material and the development of ballistic missiles to potentially deliver a nuclear warhead continues unimpeded. Though it is obvious to anyone paying the least bit of attention, The...
Letter to the editor: Women, vote to keep your rights
Women’s former rights, especially on the subjects of abortion and contraception, are being taken away from them by lawmakers who have no place in the matter. Whether a woman decides she wishes to prevent conception, or can carry a fetus to term or not, is a matter that should be...
Letter to the editor: Decisions on Trump
“Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.” — Sir Walter Scott “Liar liar, pants on fire.” — Child’s taunt Web weavers and liars were out in full force in New York Judge Juan Merchan’s courtroom testifying in the case of People vs. Donald J....
Lori Falce: Is it fair to critique a nepo baby?
Talent is not necessarily hereditary. It’s also not something you can buy. Nothing proves that more than the tale of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian’s daughter North West and her major theatrical debut. Over the weekend, the 30th anniversary of Disney’s “The Lion King” was celebrated with a star-studded event...
Laurels & lances: Rebuilding and reversal
Laurel: To rebuilding. Rick and Beth Napoleon lost their home with the August 2023 explosion in Plum’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood. The blaze consumed three houses across the street from the Napoleons, but they were not the only ones with damage. Many houses required extensive repair. The Napoleon home was beyond...
Letter to the editor: Mental health awareness
As May winds down, so does Mental Health Awareness Month. We should maintain our awareness every month. Sooner or later, mental health issues impact us all. Approximately 25% of U.S. adults experience mental illness in any given year. That does not account for children or all of the lives impacted...
Reps. Dan Frankel and Tarik Khan: The Jewish-Muslim connection
For decades, Jewish and Muslim Pennsylvanians have inched closer to one another. With each interfaith marriage officiated and each community event stage shared, connections between these two great faiths have multiplied and strengthened. Then came Oct. 7. Since that terrible day and the many terrible days after, our commonwealth’s Jews...
Rep. Mandy Steele: Working to plug more dangerous orphan wells
In 1859, the first oil well was drilled in Titusville. That action by Edwin Drake sparked what has become the modern global petroleum industry. Since then, oil and gas wells have proliferated throughout Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, so too has the number of abandoned and orphaned wells. The Department of Environmental Protection...
Letter to the editor: Finding middle ground on abortion
Donald Trump is being criticized by the left and right regarding abortion. He doesn’t want to lose his voters and is not trying to find some middle ground to keep the nation from falling apart. No one has tried to find that middle ground. Those who wanted to keep Roe...
Letter to the editor: We need energy diversity
In her letter “Driving energy leadership” (May 24, TribLive), Stephanie Catarino Wissman of the American Petroleum Institute says, “When it comes to energy leadership, let’s keep America in the driver’s seat.” Unfortunately, the policies she advocates do exactly the opposite. Unsurprisingly, Wissman’s prescription is for more oil and gas. That...
Editorial: Pittsburgh City Council games system with quorums and briefings
It is common for people to try to avoid the law by identifying its outlines and walking right up to that border. It happens in banking, where people will try to avoid the scrutiny that comes with criminal activities by staying under the $10,000 reporting threshold. People will try to...
