Opinion category, Page 214
‘Finally at peace’: Remembering Hannah Kunkel, whose pediatric cancer battle was chronicled by the Trib
Hannah Kunkel lived knowing full well that her life could be cut short at any moment. At age 5, she was diagnosed with a rare, ruthless type of brain cancer that killed every child who ever got it. Doctors at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh told her parents that Hannah would...
Letter to the editor: Notable Westmoreland women
Regarding the article “Westmoreland 250: Area natives have made their mark” (Dec. 31, TribLIVE): I was disappointed to find 19 men listed but only three women. After some research, I suggest the following ladies be included: Martha Rial, a noted photojournalist, was born in Murrysville and traveled the globe with...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: FDR and faith in America
As President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was preparing for his inauguration in 1933, he faced calls for him to assume extraordinary powers. The nation was at its lowest point since the beginning of the Great Depression. In his 2006 book “The Defining Moment,” Jonathan Alter calls it our “gravest crisis since...
Nickolaus Hayes: Why Dry January is good for your health
Dry January — abstaining from alcohol for the entirety of the first month of the year — has significant benefits for physical and mental health. It also prevents impaired driving and helps people reevaluate their drinking habits. Social drinking during the holiday season is widely accepted, generally seen as a...
Robin Abcarian: With every release of court documents, the damage Jeffrey Epstein did confronts us anew
I could live the rest of my life happily without being reminded of Jeffrey Epstein, his yearslong exploitation of young women or the many famous male moths who were drawn to the billionaire’s flame. I’m sure his emotionally scarred victims wish they could, too. Recent news developments, unfortunately, make the...
Letter to the editor: Shutdown as scare tactic
The evening news has been reporting, again, a possible federal government shutdown. By my own rude/crude math, our fair republic has been rescued from government shutdown more than once in the last short stack of years. It’s getting to be a regular thing, something possibly used as a bargaining chip...
Sounding off: Pay raises, slavery, freedoms, tax hikes among week’s topics
Pa. Legislature’s blank check There is a popular commercial dealing with the timeshare industry. Basics are this: You don’t know how much and for how long you are going to pay for a real estate mistake. You signed a blank check for life. Several times this paper has granted me...
Letter to the editor: Action needed on toxic wastewater
A Dec. 21 Penn State webinar, “Natural Gas in the Appalachian Basin,” discussed the Marcellus and Utica shale gas. Nothing was said about managing wastewater produced from fracking, or other dangers of gas. It was said gas is needed to provide constant electricity. After storms damaged Hawaiian electricity, the island...
Editorial: Pennsylvania will flood with campaign cash in 2024
We knew it was coming. The 2024 election year was bound to be some rough weather for Pennsylvania. It’s a presidential year, after all, which means national campaign funds and political action committee money will fall like rain. Presidential years also mean state and federal representatives will be on the...
Letter to the editor: Watching our freedoms erode
First, I am not a Trump supporter. I am a retired serviceman who has fought for our freedom. A freedom that I have been seeing erode every day. I watched with everyone as they tore down our statures and rewrote our history. I watched as the playing of our national...
Gary Franks: We won the Cold War. Can we win the economic war caused by the border crisis?
In the Cold War, American values won. Democracy and capitalism won. The fall of the USSR occurred without a single shot being fired or any troops being deployed. The Soviet Union had severe economic problems, and its system of government — communism — failed. Our enemies would love to see...
S.E. Cupp: The unseriousness of pro-Palestinian protesters
“I have a daughter in Brooklyn! Get the **** out of the way!” The exasperated driver, whose identity is as of yet unknown, had to finally get out of his car in Manhattan and scream at a group of more than 1,000 pro-Palestinian protesters who decided this week that the...
Letter to the editor: Primanti Bros. gift harks back to 1977 reward
Regarding the article “Primanti Bros. sending gift of thanks — in sandwiches — to Titans for helping Steelers make playoffs” (Jan. 8, TribLIVE): I wonder how many would remember when the then-Houston Oilers did the same thing by beating Cincinnati 20-16 the last game of the season. The Steelers players...
Letter to the editor: The truth about guns, safety
Many people feel it is just stupid people who carry guns into airports. The truth is, scared people carry guns everywhere, from church to airports. We now have a record number of honest people who have pistol permits. Why? Our country has turned from a safe country into a country...
Lori Falce: Why do we care about Iowa caucuses?
I am not a fan of Iowa. I’d like to say it’s nothing against the state of Iowa, but that would be a lie. As someone born in Minnesota and raised in Pennsylvania, I hold both Iowa and New Jersey in the same kind of thinly veiled contempt. Very thinly...
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...
