Opinion category, Page 204
Letter to the editor: Unions valuable to nurses and patients
Like many newer nurses, I’ve struggled to find my feet during many shifts in the hospital. Luckily, I joined our recent union negotiations, and I’m forever grateful for the experience. As nurses, we committed ourselves to shifting our hospital from short term staffing solutions like travel staff and sign-on bonuses...
Letter to the editor: Casey helping to keep pedestrians safe
I’m writing to call attention to the fact that shortly before the new year, Allegheny County received much-needed federal funding — $520,000 — to help make the streets in our county safer for pedestrians. We’re coming off our deadliest traffic year in nearly two decades, so this funding couldn’t be...
Laurels & lances: Problems and power
Laurel: To seeking solutions. Many post-secondary schools in Pennsylvania and nationwide are dealing with the challenges of falling enrollment. It comes as institutions compete with each other for students and as those students struggle with the crushing financial burden of tuition and debt. So it doesn’t come as a surprise...
Letter to the editor: Insurrection doubts
Regarding Noah Feldman’s op-ed “Supreme Court unlikely to uphold Colorado ruling disqualifying Trump” (Dec. 22, TribLIVE): There was an insurrection to stop the count to certify Joe Biden as elected president Jan. 6, 2021. Had President Trump led his followers as he wanted would make it so, a true insurrection....
Letter to the editor: Civil War was indeed fought over slavery
Regarding the perplexing and conspiracy-laden letter “A Civil War history lesson” (Jan. 9, TribLive): To quote the author: “The mainstream media’s attacks on Nikki Haley not recognizing slavery as the reason for the War Between the States is way off base.” No. The Civil War was fought over slavery. The...
Editorial: Rustic Ridge carries on
It can be hard to move forward after a tragedy. There is a kind of triage aspect. Address the actual problem in front of us. Take care of what is happening right now. That is the priority. It has to be. That is what happened with Rustic Ridge. The priority...
Letter to the editor: Conservatives respectful, liberals destructive
I’m one of those terrifying, radical MAGA extremists, AKA conservatives, who President Biden, his DOJ, FBI and assorted Democrats declare are the greatest threat to our democracy. And you should be very afraid! For we dastardly, radical, terroristic, extremists can pretty much be described by one word: Respectful! Respectful of...
Jonah Goldberg: Will Mike Johnson get away with betraying MAGA House members with his proposed budget?
The House Freedom Caucus is largely right about debt and deficits. Some members might be staggering hypocrites, given that they had little problem with Donald Trump’s spending when he was president. They’re also right that the budget deal worked out between Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer...
Elizabeth Stelle: Pa. needs regulatory reform
Katie Walsh owns and operates two businesses: a tattoo parlor and a spa. If she could, Walsh would merge her two businesses. Pennsylvania’s onerous regulations, however, force Walsh to maintain separate business licenses and pay rent on two different but connected storefronts. Moreover, Pennsylvania’s licensing requirements are wildly different and...
Letter to the editor: The left’s changing of definitions
Wait for it: Now that the Harvard University president has resigned, the left will change the definition of plagiarism. But, you say, we already have that definition. Yes, and we also knew the meaning of man and woman. David Fredley West Deer...
Letter to the editor: Trump should be passed over for president
I have been an unpleasant follower of Donald Trump for years, from the racial discrimination by him and his dad at his apartment building to his crooked school that cheated students, including GIs, who hoped they would get proof of their passing the course. Trump has done all types of...
Editorial: Will hotter housing market help renters?
Real estate experts are hoping to see an uptick in the housing market in 2024. Not a boom, but more of a bump. The region’s home sales were down in 2023. According to Dennis A. Cestra Jr., president of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland,...
Letter to the editor: No thanks for your service, Fitzgerald
Thank you, Rich Fitzgerald! As the Trib celebrates your various “achievements” (“Reflecting on 12 years of service,” Dec. 27, TribLive), I can’t help but remember how you mandated me to take an experimental “vaccine” in order to keep my job. I really found it appropriate how my previous employer denied...
Letter to the editor: Hits and misses
In today’s era of fake news and biased political media, I find The Wall Street Journal to be one of the few intelligent, balanced major media outlets. Recently its top economic and political reporters listed their biggest “hits” and “misses” in 2023 as follows: • Hit — Developments in biomedical...
Jason W. Park: Timing of mass shootings offers clue to possible deterrence
Yet another senseless tragedy has occurred, the latest at Perry High School in Perry, Iowa. A school shooting leaving one dead and five wounded starts 2024 inauspiciously. However, we need more than “thoughts and prayers.” We all demand — and deserve — action. Rather than asking why this happened, let...
Freedom, democracy are here to stay — reflections on politics in 2024
It’s winter: dark, dreary and cold. There is a palpable feeling of dread in America as we face the upcoming 2024 political season. Pundits wonder why everyone is so grumpy. Positive economic news fails to change the national mood or lift the electoral prospects of President Joe Biden. We are...
Colin McNickle: Better ways for Pittsburgh to cull tax-exempt properties
A City of Pittsburgh effort to return properties to the tax rolls by challenging their tax-exempt status is paying dividends. But the research director of the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy says there are better, alternative actions that would bolster the city’s coffers even further. “Government-owned properties are included in...
Rep. Rob Mercuri: America’s largest full-time legislature should not be its least productive
As the new year begins, Pennsylvania’s state Legislature, the nation’s largest and one of its most expensive full-time legislative bodies, needs to make a New Year’s resolution for 2024 — to earn a return on the investment of the taxpayers whom they were elected to serve. Over the course of...
Letter to the editor: Shame on Leechburg School Board
The new Leechburg Area School Board is batting 0 for 3. They secretly hired a new solicitor in a shady fashion, drove an outstanding superintendent to resign and destroyed teacher morale. After a series of “fill-in” superintendents, Tiffany Nix took over and stabilized the district. She oversaw a huge and...
Letter to the editor: A Civil War history lesson
The mainstream media’s attacks on Nikki Haley not recognizing slavery as the reason for the War Between the States is way off base. The reason for the war was both economic and political. First, the processing of cotton was controlled by New England states. The South had no processing facilities,...
Editorial: Astrobotic launch is next step for space program in Pittsburgh
In 1962, when President John F. Kennedy spoke at Rice University in Houston, Texas, challenging Americans to go to the moon, he used the timeline of advancement to make his argument. Compress human history’s accomplishments to just 50 years, and you could see how quickly things moved, he rhapsodized. “Only...
Letter to the editor: Honoring law enforcement officers
National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, held each year on Jan. 9, was created as a way for the community to show their gratitude to all law enforcement officers across the country. Dozens of officers give their lives in the line of duty each year, making law enforcement one of the...
Tom Purcell: Making the best of the common cold
I forgot what it was like to experience a good old common cold. Prior to covid, you see, the cold-getting experience went like this: I’d wake with a stuffy nose and scratchy throat and my only thought was to curse the gods for visiting a new virus cocktail on me...
Jonathan Rothermel: Can a single, 6-year presidential term save us from ourselves?
The 2024 presidential primary season officially begins in just a few weeks, but former President Donald Trump’s commanding lead in the polls of likely Republican primary voters and President Joe Biden’s absence of a Democratic challenger appear to destine a repeat of the 2020 election. The most innovative country in...
Letter to the editor: Go vegan? No thanks.
This is my simple reply to the letter suggesting that we all go vegan in 2024 (”Vegan New Year’s resolution benefits all,” Dec. 27, TribLive): No thanks. Why would I stop eating the proper human diet, even for a single day? I will continue to nourish my body with the...
