Opinion category, Page 278
Letter to the editor: We can’t police ourselves out of opioid crisis
The article “Expecting more than $1B in opioid settlement money, Pa. grapples with policing versus treatment” (April 18, TribLIVE) discusses how many counties are planning on using their settlement money to hire more police officers. There is no evidence supporting that more policing decreases overdoses. We must use this settlement...
Jonah Goldberg: How comment section trolls took over the Republican Party
Is the GOP becoming a dysfunctional chatroom? In economics, Gresham’s law on currency markets holds that “bad money drives out good.” That same principle also applies to the comment sections on online sites. In comments sections — including such mega-versions like Twitter — the nastiest commenters post more, and more...
Dr. Anne Marie Fine: Leadership needed on air, water quality in East Palestine
As you step outside this spring, think of the people of East Palestine. A simple pleasure of life in the Northeast — breathing in clean, crisp air after a long winter indoors — now carries significant health risks for East Palestine’s residents. Instead of enjoying this exciting time of year,...
Letter to the editor: ‘Book bans’ are attempts to eliminate pornography
I feel I must take exception to a portion of the editorial “When is free speech not free on college campuses?” (April 25, TribLIVE). I think what you call book bans by conservatives are in reality parents trying to restrict pornographic books from their children’s school libraries. I doubt many...
Letter to the editor: Thoughts on Fetterman and Trump
Some comments on three letters published recently. “Fetterman should resign” (March 7, TribLIVE): I’m sure this letter-writer would feel different if Sen. John Fetterman was a Republican, praising him for his courage in standing up to his detractors. I think Fetterman’s main problem is the way he dresses when he’s...
Letter to the editor: Biden’s video announcement shows he’s unqualified
In making a video to announce that he is running for president again in 2024, President Biden is really telling the American people something. Since he seems to have trouble communicating to the American people live, those around him have stooped so low as to make a video — I...
Editorial: Can Re:Build reimagine manufacturing in Southwestern Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania is built on the brute strength of production. For more than 100 years, the region was where people dug coal from the earth, turned ore into metal, baked bricks and fashioned glass. The creations of Pittsburgh and surrounding areas were the things that built the nation. That was something...
Letter to the editor: Kertes, Chew great county commissioners
On May 16, Westmoreland County Republican voters will select two candidates for county commissioners. Of the five candidates, Sean Kertes and Doug Chew are running for reelection. They have done an excellent job and deserve to be reelected. As a voter, I ask myself whether Westmoreland County has continued to...
Letter to the editor: Disgraceful actions in commissioners’ race
What’s happening in the Westmoreland County commissioners race is absolutely a disgrace (“Appeals court rules Ventre, Kosko to remain on GOP ballot for Westmoreland commissioner,” April 7, TribLIVE). For Bill Bretz, the Westmoreland County Republican Party chairman, and his attorney, Scott Avolio, who is also an assistant solicitor for the...
Peter Morici: Biden administration needs to negotiate a cease-fire to the U.S.-China cold war
America and China have slid into a cold war, and we should be thankful if tensions don’t spill into a full-blown conflict. China boasts the largest navy in the world and hypersonic and carrier-killing missiles that could quickly disable U.S. military assets in the South China Sea and Pacific. Those...
Cal Thomas: The debt limit — same old song
The very term “debt limit” makes a mockery of any kind of responsible budgeting. Each time the government reaches the “limit” it gets raised with the familiar scenarios that include threats of a government shutdown (an idea that increasingly appeals to some conservatives) and the claim that the “full faith...
Letter to the editor: Vote Karaica for district justice
As a lifelong Springdale resident, high school alumnus, homeowner, taxpayer and former borough council member, Mitchell Karaica has a vested interest in keeping our community safe and thriving. For years, he has committed himself to showing up for our community by giving his time and/or resources, without looking for recognition....
Letter to the editor: Highway trash
I find the editorial “Figure out the source for state police fund money first” (April 13, TribLIVE) ignorant of the highway laws. Title 36, § 425 prohibits the posting of any signage on state road rights of way without express written consent from PennDOT. Written permission is never obtained and...
Editorial: It’s long past time we test our schools for radon
Radon is poison. It occurs naturally in the world, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t dangerous. It’s a gas that can seep up from the soil. It can filter through the water. It can be found in the bricks and boards of a building. You won’t see it. It has...
Letter to the editor: Vote McKinley, Moore in Arnold
The decisions of a municipal official, school board director or local magistrate will certainly impact your life more immediately, and more directly, than those of a president, governor or U.S. senator. Local elected officials make decisions that affect your most valuable assets — your family, your home, your school, your...
Letter to the editor: We need enforcement, not more gun laws
In response to the letter “God didn’t give us guns” (April 23, TribLIVE): We do not need more “commonsense” gun laws; we need commonsense enforcement of existing gun laws. If you do not punish bad behavior, you get worse behavior. Anyone who has raised children should have learned that. The...
Tom Purcell: Forget your grass — and save the bees
It’s an excuse I’ve been dreaming of: a reason to not mow my lawn until June. A “No Mow May” movement is afoot to nurture our bee population for a very good reason: bees are incredibly important to our own survival. According to Bee City USA, an initiative of the...
Brittany Reno: Protect Sharpsburg’s health, climate — cut power plant pollution
Growing up in Appalachia, I know firsthand how America’s energy story is woven through our region. Over time, our communities have experienced the ups and downs of an industry that has powered our country’s economy forward. Now, as mayor of Sharpsburg, a Rust Belt river town, I’m excited to play...
Letter to the editor: Zellers will put people first
Leslie Uncapher Zellers is a co-founder of the Brian Shaw Memorial Scholarship Ride, which raises funds for a scholarship for police academy cadets. She is also co-founder of the Fallen Officer Food Drive and the Lower Burrell St. Patrick’s Day Parade. She loves her community and our families, and she...
Letter to the editor: Poverty no excuse for crime
Gary Franks made many erroneous statements in his column “The root causes of mass shootings and inner-city homicides” (April 21, TribLIVE). The worst was saying slavery would not have existed if men didn’t use guns to capture Blacks in Africa. That is a joke. Those Blacks were already captured and...
Letter to the editor: Yakopec a tireless advocate
As we approach this next election , I can’t help but submit a letter supporting our current local district magistrate, Cheryl Peck Yakopec. Her opponent is campaigning on the motto “Choice for change” and “Justice you deserve.” I respectfully disagree with the idea we need change. One of the positive...
Letter to the editor: We must turn back to God
Much history has been written about the infiltration of Catholic seminaries by communists in the 1930s and their infiltration of our universities in the ’50s and ’60s. Their purpose was to sabotage and destroy our American way of life. The process would be slow, one drip at a time. Indoctrination...
Letter to the editor: Graphic books should not be in our schools
Removing books that have graphic scenes of rape and explicit sexual violence from our school libraries and keeping them out of the curriculum should not be controversial or partisan. In the Hempfield Area School District, a few educators, one school board member (former counselor) and a few candidates running for...
Editorial: Embracing and supporting career and tech education is critical
Commencement season is upon us. It is the time of year when the many universities throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania are suiting up their students in robes and mortarboards. The strains of “Pomp and Circumstance” are heard in the air. Thousands of college students will receive degrees and embark on their careers....
Editorial cartoons for the week of May 1
Editorial cartoons for the week of May 1....
