Opinion category, Page 182
Letter to the editor: Pa. Republicans try to solve a problem that doesn’t exist
State Republicans have again proposed a solution to the nonexistent issue of voter fraud. HB 891 is their most recent effort to disenfranchise Pennsylvania voters. HB 891 would amend the state Constitution, requiring voters to provide “unexpired government-issued identification” every time they voted. The bill does not make provisions for...
Lori Falce: Supreme Court decision is 50 years overdue
On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard a case that needed to be heard. The issue was presidential immunity. Donald Trump wanted the court to weigh in on whether a president can be held criminally responsible for his actions. The former president obviously has a vested interest as he faces...
Laurels & lances: Passover, primary and Kennywood Park
Laurel: To a celebration of faith. Across the region and around the world, Passover is being celebrated. The commemoration of the end of Hebrew slavery in Egypt connects the Jewish people with their faith and their history. The holiday has a poignant feeling this year amid the Israel-Hamas war —...
Paul Kengor: Things that aren’t there anymore
Remember as a kid listening to old people reminisce about this or that thing that isn’t there anymore? You figured you’d probably be doing the same someday. Increasingly nowadays, I’m surprised at how often I’m doing that, and just how many places are disappearing. I do wonder if that’s unique...
Sen. Scott Martin and Rep. Jesse Topper: Grow PA plan helps solve economic, higher education challenges
Young people graduating from high school face tough choices about what to do next. For many, college costs too much. But that problem is just one among many that threaten the future of our commonwealth. Higher education is expensive. College enrollment is declining. Kindergarten classes are shrinking. Our population is...
Tom Croner: Conservation funding helps keep family farms viable
I’m an 81-year-old, seventh-generation farmer working with my son T. Richard on a multigenerational grain and hay farm in Somerset County. We grow corn, soybeans, wheat, rye and hay. I’m proud to see him out there by himself at night, and regret that I can’t always join him. As the...
Letter to the editor: Are we repeating past hatred of Jews?
We are all aware of the deep-rooted hatred the Nazis had for the Jews. “Never again” was the call to never let the Holocaust happen again. If we do not learn from the misdeeds of our past, we are all doomed to repeat it. It appears that we have not...
Letter to the editor: Improper language usage on local TV news
Most are aware that the local evening news is presented at the comprehension level of a seventh-grader. However, that should not preclude proper usage of the English language. Case in point: On April 17, two local news anchors utilized the word “busted” to relate a story of an alleged home...
Editorial: Biden administration rule is no substitute for congressional action
The environmental disaster caused by a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, last year should have spurred federal lawmakers to take seriously the need to improve rail safety. But a measure passed by the Senate languishes in a House that struggles to accomplish anything of consequence. A Biden administration rule...
Letter to the editor: Corporate greed and economic inequality
Our economic inequality is being fueled by two disastrous decisions. One is the 1982 SEC ruling to lessen Wall Street rules and regulations, including one on stock buybacks. Between 2015 and 2017 more than half of the total profits earned by PepsiCo, Kraft Heinz, Archer Daniels Midland and Tyson Foods...
Jonah Goldberg: Republican Party can still do what’s rational and right. Here’s the proof.
There’s no record of Edmund Burke — the great Irish-born British statesman and father of modern conservatism — actually saying what is often attributed to him: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” But it does capture his worldview well enough....
Mark Gongloff: Wildfire smoke is coming for the U.S. again. We’re not ready.
Many Americans were surprised last year when smoke from wildfires hundreds of miles away turned their air toxic. There’s no excuse for anybody to be surprised when it happens again — possibly in just a couple of months. Canada’s emergency preparedness minister has warned repeatedly that an unusually dry and...
Reps. Lindsay Powell and Aerion A. Abney: Bridging Pa.’s digital divide
Covid-19 not only resulted in immeasurable loss of life, it also permanently altered life as we knew it. The base of operations that is home shed its more proverbial association and became the place where business in all its forms got done. Computers and internet access represented a lifeline for...
Letter to the editor: Ukrainians political pawns
Ukrainian lives are being wasted every day while we use them as political pawns. Ukrainian resources are running out while we sit on stockpiles of the equipment and supplies they need to survive. We didn’t build 80,000 M113 armored personnel carriers during the Cold War to let them rot in...
Letter to the editor: Dishonest Westmoreland County leadership
A year ago, Westmoreland County Republican Committee Chair Bill Bretz held an unauthorized endorsement meeting to not allow residents to choose their commissioner in the primary. I called out county Commissioner Doug Chew four times at the meeting as dishonest. Bretz proceeded to sue me and candidate Paul Kosko three...
Editorial: Can new architect put Hempfield project back on track?
Hempfield Area School District has a new architect. The board hired Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates of Mechanicsburg after the resignation of Core Architects in February. It is the latest chapter in the ongoing saga of the school district’s plan to renovate the high school. The project has dragged on for...
Letter to the editor: PBMs should be held accountable
Thank you for publishing the article “Pharmacists open up to state Senate committee about financial struggles at hearing” (April 15, TribLive), which explains how pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are pushing small independent pharmacies out of business. PBMs claim to lower prescription drug costs for patients, but in fact they are...
Fernanda Santos: Stop saying ‘immigrants do jobs Americans don’t want to do’
The deaths of six immigrant workers in the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26 sparked the kind of collective empathy that usually follows tragic events. President Joe Biden was among the many who offered his prayers. In news reports, the men have been called “kindhearted,” “humble”...
Laura Chu Wiens: Shapiro addressing climate crisis head on through good transportation policy
The climate crisis is not coming: it is here now. It is already impacting our communities, our economy and even our national security. The transportation sector is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions leading to climate change in the United States, and so meaningful climate solutions must involve carefully...
Barbara Thomas: Breaking the silence of infertility
Preparing to have children can be a joyous time for many families — hopefully looking at baby clothes, picking out nursery colors, and even rearranging homes and lives to make room for a new little life. But for some, it takes longer than expected to fill that nursery with giggles...
Letter to the editor: Danger of being a Trump juror
I wonder how many of my fellow Americans have reflected upon the tragic fact that it is necessary for jury members in the hush money trial of a former president of the United States to remain anonymous due to his history of making inflammatory statements which have made innocent people...
Letter to the editor: Irresponsible gun owners are the guilty parties
I read with disgust the editorial “Will Mt. Pleasant boy’s death change federal law?” (April 16, TribLive). What laws did the gun shop and the gun manufacturer break? Earlier this month, a mother and father in Michigan were given 10 years in prison for leaving a gun available for a...
Letter to the editor: Why are we supporting terrorists?
People say enough is enough when they think that something, usually something bad, should stop. Between 2001 and 2021, Islamic terrorist groups funded by Iran, including Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and others, have launched nearly 19,000 rockets into Israel. These attacks were aimed at the civilian population and have resulted...
Editorial: Pittsburgh City Council briefings skirt intent of transparency requirements
Government transparency is black and white. Records are either open or they aren’t. A meeting is public or it isn’t. There are reasons for both. The majority of government activity should happen in the open. It should be well documented. It should be searchable, accessible and with as few hurdles...
Letter to the editor: Republicans can restore Senate’s sanity
I’m grateful for what Sens. Bob Casey and John Fetterman have done for Pennsylvania. As a result of their votes to “dismiss” the impeachment charges brought against DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, they have thrown open the door of opportunity for Republicans to do even better in the upcoming general election....
