Opinion category, Page 216
Letter to the editor: Support local car washes in Irwin/North Huntingdon
Two, maybe three new automatic car washes in Irwin/North Huntingdon? Really? We have two now, plus a half-dozen self-wash stations. How about a great restaurant, like an upscale steakhouse, seafood or hibachi? PennDOT says the attraction for car washes is the 29,000-plus vehicles per day that travel through the area...
Letter to the editor: Comparing pay raises for legislators, retired teachers
Regarding the editorial “Pennsylvania legislators could choose to change pay raises” (Nov. 26, TribLive): Does anyone really expect this to happen? We have the largest full-time state Legislature in the country. They get a 2% cost-of-living adjustment every year. Retired public school teachers in Pennsylvania have not had a COLA...
Letter to the editor: Laughing Trump into insignificance
As an American, I feel it is my patriotic duty to share these words with my fellow Americans. Rapidly moving into the upcoming 2024 general election, it’s time for some side-by-side Lincoln Project videos of Donald J. Trump and Adolf Hitler. Keep the legal heat on (holding fast to 2024...
Editorial: No right to use unconscious patients as learning props
Going to the hospital involves about as much paperwork as buying a house with a mortgage. You sign for permission to treat. You check a box to acknowledge federal laws regarding data privacy. Another paper details history. One — or more — will document insurance and financial responsibility. Who is...
Letter to the editor: Clean energy action needed now
Concerns over continued heating of our planet and the associated melting of Antarctic ice (“A rapidly melting Antarctica gets the attention of UN chief ahead of COP28 climate talks,” Nov. 24, TribLive) should rightly be first and foremost at the upcoming talks. With world temperatures having briefly passed the threshold...
By Lauren Cristella and Jeff Greenburg: Don’t take away one of our most effective tools for fighting election fraud
With the 2024 election now in view, ensuring an accurate voter list in Pennsylvania is not a partisan issue. Local election administrators across the state have trumpeted the importance of making sure every eligible voter can vote, is informed when they vote and votes with confidence. Pennsylvania’s announcement that it...
Christopher Baxter: Spotlight PA’s nonpartisan journalism cuts the noise and gets results
HARRISBURG State capitols are the testing grounds for the future of our country. New policies and novel legal theories on everything from abortion to education to election administration are being shaped at the state level. And the decisions made in Harrisburg have a far greater effect on your life than...
Letter to the editor: Where is the love for the living in need?
Abortion: I don’t get it with these people who care more about the aborted child, who gets to be safe in heaven. When you have the precious unwanted, living, homeless, starving, abused child, where is your love? Mary Ferguson Greensburg...
Letter to the editor: More Trump ‘accomplishments’
The writer of the letter “Looking back at Trump’s accomplishments” (Nov. 7, TribLive) failed to mention a few more accomplishments President Trump can claim during his administration. For instance, the federal deficit. The writer pointed out the business tax cut that Trump instituted but failed to mention the enormous federal...
Editorial: Lawmakers should pull trigger on hunting bills
If you see someone in orange this week, it’s not likely a Bengals or Browns fan, not during hunting season in Pennsylvania. For decades, the Keystone State traditionally celebrated the first day of deer season as not so much holiday as holy day on the Monday after Thanksgiving. That changed...
Letter to the editor: Unborn Americans have right to life
Our Declaration of Independence states that it is a self-evident truth that our rights are endowed by our creator. First among these rights is the right to live. The Fifth and the 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution likewise protect life, liberty and property from government actions by requiring “due...
Tom Purcell: Tips for out-of-control tipping
Tipping demands sure have gotten out of control. With every purchase you make — at coffee shops, fast food restaurants, chain stores and more — you are presented with a digital payment screen that asks you to leave a tip. On one hand, you feel guilted into leaving a tip,...
Editorial: Mail-in ballot dating issue rises from the dead
Here we go again. In 2020, the question of dates became a major part of the ballot counting process. When mail-in ballots were sent in by Pennsylvania voters, they had to be placed in a security envelope. That envelope was then put inside another envelope for mailing. It was part...
Daniel Pimentel: Sustainable fashion is a farce without virtual try-ons
Fashion brands entered this Black Friday seeing green not just because of sales but because they’re offering more sustainable products than ever before. From carbon-neutral T-shirts to sustainable shoes and eco-friendly hats, Santa will have his hands full keeping up with the more than $41 billion in projected online apparel...
Roger McNamee: Kids have been used like guinea pigs on Big Tech’s platforms. How much harm will we tolerate?
After more than a decade of uncontrolled experiments by internet platforms on millions of users, there is an emerging possibility that one group of users — kids — may finally gain some protection. A wave of court cases has an opportunity to fill a void left by the inaction of...
Letter to the editor: Students don’t need castles to succeed
After reading several letters to the editor about the extravagance of our Greater Latrobe school directors, I had to add mine. These directors don’t seem to care about schools and raising taxes. High-priced castles do not make our children any smarter. We the people should be getting smarter and watching...
Letter to the editor: Explaining hatred toward Israel
People wonder why there is so much hatred toward Israel. I have an explanation. I saw an interview on TV several years ago with a Muslim man who had converted to Christianity. His name is Kamal Saleem. He grew up in Lebanon. He belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood and the...
Letter to the editor: Dangerous vision for the future
You may not have heard of Project 2025. It is the Heritage Foundation’s vision for our future. Heritage, along with the Federalist Society, are radical-right, ultra-conservative groups that want to restructure our government. If you like how the Federalist Society has groomed lawyers since their college years with gifts and...
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Nov. 27
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Nov. 27....
Letter to the editor: Hallam should clarify what’s in incarcerated welfare fund
This letter is a request to attain clarification from Allegheny County Council member Bethany Hallam regarding the “Incarcerated Individuals Welfare Fund.” What “specifically” is included, item by item, in this Welfare Fund? Nancy Vieira Sterniak McCandless...
Letter to the editor: When will U.S. stand up to tyranny?
The military wing of Hamas is a violent terrorist group that massacred innocents in Israel on Oct. 7. The appalling loss of life and capture of hostages is a crime beyond description. The Israel Defense Forces launched a massive military response claiming the right to self-defense. But what part of...
Editorial: Pennsylvania legislators could choose to change pay raises
Once again, Pennsylvania legislators, judges and elected executives, including Gov. Josh Shapiro, will start the new year with a nice increase in salary. The paychecks in question will go up 3.5% in 2024. That’s downright economical when compared with this year’s 7.8% spike or the 5.6% in 2022. After about...
Letter to the editor: Compromise to protect Pa. residents
On Nov. 2, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and CNX Resources Corp. President and CEO Nick Deiuliis publicly agreed that CNX will improve its environmental monitoring and chemical disclosures. This step forward does not address major problems produced by fracking, including the tremendous amount of radioactive and biochemically toxic waste produced....
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Remembering Rosalynn Carter and more gracious times
The letter is faded now, but the name “Rosalynn Carter” at the top, embossed in robin’s egg blue, still catches the eye. It was sent in April 1980 after the first lady visited Pittsburgh and attended a community meeting at the 12th Street Market House on the South Side. I...
Raz Segal: Here’s what the mass violence in Gaza looks like to a scholar of genocide
I cannot stop thinking about the dozens of Israeli children held in captivity by Hamas and the Islamic Jihad in underground tunnels in Gaza, while above them Israel’s attack has killed, so far, nearly 4,500 Palestinian children. Stopping the violence, and returning the hostages, is urgent for any person who...
