Opinion category, Page 164
Letter to the editor: Trump’s conviction suspect
You don’t have to be a Donald Trump supporter to realize that his conviction raises serious questions. For example, how can you be convicted of covering up a crime when you haven’t been found guilty of the crime you allegedly covered up? How can the mere receiving of bills from...
Lori Falce: You can lead a county to Pride Month but you can’t make them proclaim it
We have often been told about the perils of leading horses to water. You might be able to push, pull, ride or haul your steed where you want it to go. You cannot ensure it will do what you want when you get there. Life has no guarantees, no matter...
Letter to the editor: Trump charges serious, verdict right
There are several misstatements in the article “Trump verdicts make NYC Venezuela-on-the-Hudson” (June 8, TribLive). Author Hans A. Von Spakovsky tries to downplay the seriousness of the charges against Donald Trump by stating they were “paperwork errors” when in fact they were deliberate criminal actions. He states that “the statute...
Laurels & lances: Memories cherished, memories lost
Laurel: To owning a piece of history. Fundraising often includes more than a simple donation. It can be more transactional, like buying Girl Scout cookies or a fish dinner at your local fire company. The Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall found a way to make money by selling off something...
Heather Visnesky: Solving our child-care crisis
As a working parent, I understand the importance of high-quality, consistent early childhood educators. When my oldest child was born, my husband and I soon realized that the cost of quality child care was nearly equal to my take-home salary. The math just was not mathing, so we made the...
Sean O’Keefe: The Reaganesque candidate in 2024 isn’t a Republican
Republicans like me, loyal to principles over individuals, are grateful to see Reaganesque qualities in a candidate running for president in 2024. It would surprise and disappoint President Reagan, however, that it’s not the candidate on the GOP ticket. It is President Biden who, like Reagan, often demonstrates moral and...
Dan DeBone: Securing funding for Pa.’s critical bridge improvements
Bridges provide crucial access between regions and cities, linking workers to jobs, goods to markets and people to essential services. According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), transportation agencies need $70.9 billion to overcome the current backlog of deficient bridges. This investment would be money well spent, as poor bridge...
Letter to the editor: Why does Biden need debate prep?
I have heard reports that President Joe Biden has spent an entire week preparing for the debate with Donald Trump. Biden has 16 people working with him to get ready for this 90-minute event. A mock stage has been built in an airport hangar with lights and cameras so he...
Letter to the editor: Flat fee for cyber charters
The letter “Poorly run schools misusing taxpayer money” (June 21, TribLive) notes what 500 school districts across the state have repeated to legislators for over a decade. Cyber charters can educate a child for $8,000-$8,500. Cybers can accomplish this, when no school district can, for numerous reasons. Cybers don’t run...
Editorial: Should police be allowed to collect DNA for anyone arrested — even if they aren’t charged with a crime?
The most basic building block of who you are is contained in your blood, your skin and the other cells of your body. Even if you don’t have your driver’s license or passport on you, the DNA coded into your body is even more precise than your fingerprints. A fingerprint...
Letter to the editor: Project 2025 would end our freedoms
During Donald Trump’s first term of office, he did not have the organization nor the people to execute his unlawful and unconstitutional plans. This time around, Trump loyalists and the Heritage Foundation have corrected those past deficiencies. Here is their Project 2025 playbook. We would quickly devolve into a police...
Joe Massaro: Shapiro’s proposed investment in Pa.’s trail system will boost economic development
As Pennsylvania competes with surrounding states to attract tourists, it’s important we remain competitive in as many areas as possible. Outdoor recreation and tourism are linked, especially in a state like Pennsylvania. And enhancements in outdoor infrastructure have far-reaching positive impacts on our communities and economies. This is why the...
Jonah Goldberg: Presidential debates generally don’t matter, but this Biden-Trump faceoff could be different
I’ve changed my mind: This presidential debate matters. Before I continue, a quick recap: Last month, I expressed my longstanding view that presidential debates aren’t very meaningful and are very stupid. They are pseudo-events, the historian Daniel J. Boorstin’s term for manufactured media spectacles that feel significant because we imbue...
Cal Thomas: My questions for the candidates
The debate Thursday night between President Biden and former president Donald Trump on CNN ought to be more than rehearsed answers and soundbites we’ve heard before. Polls show Americans are alarmed over what many feel is the unraveling of our country when it comes to the economy, uncontrolled immigration and...
Rev. Martin Bartel: Where are you, America?
The Scripture readings prescribed for worship in my faith tradition on a recent Sunday included, “The Lord God called to the man and asked him, ‘Where are you?’ ” (Gen 3:9) This is the first recorded question posed by God; it must therefore be critical. Adam answers, “I hid myself,”...
Letter to the editor: Biden’s weaknesses endanger U.S.
President Biden has put this country under a larger risk for one or more massive terror attacks with his border fiasco than we had during World War II and 9/11. Before he was elected, there was estimated to be over 12 million illegal immigrants here; he has doubled that amount....
Letter to the editor: Vote for a future with less climate extremes
Regarding the article “Scattered storms down trees, spur power outages amid heat wave” (June 17, TribLive): Growing up in western New York in the 1970s and ’80s, not far from the Allegheny River, central air conditioning was an unheard-of luxury, and rarely needed. My parents now have central air in...
Editorial: Juvenile detention is not a 1-time, quick fix
The picture of juvenile detention in Western Pennsylvania is changing. Allegheny County’s Shuman Juvenile Detention Center closed in September 2021 when the state pulled its license after a series of problems including a heroin overdose and other issues with unattended children. The state called out the facility for “gross incompetence,...
Letter to the editor: Pa. needs a bump stock ban
I am writing regarding the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn a federal ban on bump stocks, the lethal device that turns semi-automatic rifles into military-style killing machines. At the Las Vegas music festival in 2017, the shooter used this device to kill more than 55 people. Pennsylvanians are in grave...
Nolan Finley: Keep the fear, give us hope
What are people looking for in their darkest hour, when they are frightened, angry, frustrated and uncertain whether the coming years will be better or worse? Hope. They want something to believe in, a message that will lift their spirits and rally them to a vision of a brighter future....
Mark Z. Barabak: Biden-Trump debate nears amid hopes to avoid another Dumpster fire
On Thursday, Frank Fahrenkopf will be just another member of the TV audience watching as Joe Biden and Donald Trump tangle in this year’s first presidential debate. He’s not happy about that. In 1987, Fahrenkopf, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, helped found the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential...
Letter to the editor: Trump raves while Biden speaks normally
Recently I came upon a speech by the leading Republican presidential candidate. What I heard were the ravings of a disturbed maniac eerily similar to those of Adolf Hitler. I believe that the rest of the world can’t believe he was actually elected president of this country, yet after losing...
Letter to the editor: Hamilton should resign immediately
I feel that Westmoreland County Register of Wills Sherry Magretti Hamilton should resign immediately (“Westmoreland Register of Wills fined, agrees to resign,” June 17, TribLive). It is a shame she can’t simply be removed from office. It is a deplorable situation where we, the taxpayers, must watch her continue to...
Editorial: What RFK Jr. really means to the Pennsylvania ballot
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has filed paperwork to appear on the Pennsylvania ballot as a presidential candidate. The fourth Kennedy to run for president and the first to do so as an independent, he maintains that he will win. That’s the position of any presidential candidate, no matter how long...
Letter to the editor: Believers know that God hates abortion
I felt I had to reply to the letter “Abortion and the Bible” (June 16, TribLive). The problem with the writer is that he uses a tactic called “comparing apples to oranges.” When using a Scripture, one must use it in the correct context as it was written. Using it...
