Opinion category, Page 291
Rob Perkins: Allegheny County district attorney’s office needs an integrity unit
Our chief local prosecutor is the Allegheny County district attorney. Bucking a national trend, our DA has failed to establish a conviction integrity unit. It’s past time to create one. Mistakes happen in criminal trials. Just like they happen in any human endeavor. But the stakes are high in criminal...
Letter to the editor: Reality check on reenactments
The Bushy Run reenactment is silly. What’s next? A reenactment of the attack on Pearl Harbor? A reenactment of the Holocaust? A reenactment of the atomic bomb attack? A reenactment of the Vietnam War? Get a reality check. Francois Vukosic Bridgeville...
Letter to the editor: Amazing teacher and students at Pine-Richland
I attended a preview showing of the Pine-Richland High School musical put on for seniors. The music was played live by a student orchestra conducted by Brian Scott. The orchestra was amazing — they didn’t miss a note the whole show. I don’t know if Scott is an amazing teacher...
Letter to the editor: Follow science on climate change
The statement “fossil fuels are never going away” in the letter “Don’t be afraid to question climate change claims” (March 14, TribLIVE) is false. They will go away, at least, when they run out. But sooner than that we will be killed by the wars over remaining land and resources...
Editorial: Justice, compassion and the lesson of 2 mothers
The justice system is all about scales. They tip. They balance. They measure. They determine who is guilty. They weigh out the punishment. But they are often skewed toward retribution. Courts struggle with calculating the entirety of a crime’s gravity. It is understandable. How do you measure the impact of...
Letter to the editor: Tables turned on the woke
“The problem with the word woke” (March 10, TribLIVE) delves into the woke mind. Woke was appropriated by smug white liberals to brandish assumed street cred. Then they used wokeness to bludgeon conservatives. When their opponents turned the tables, the “woke mob” cried foul, rechristened woke a racial slur and...
Jonah Goldberg: Trump’s Stormy Daniels payoff could finally get him indicted. But should it?
“There is hardly any political question in the United States that sooner or later does not turn into a judicial question,” Alexis de Tocqueville, the brilliant observer of American life, wrote. I’m pretty sure De Tocqueville didn’t have in mind scenarios like Donald Trump using a (now disgraced and disbarred)...
Cal Thomas: Trump should follow LBJ’s example
If, as seems likely, Donald Trump is indicted by a New York grand jury for reportedly paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels and if, as also seems likely, Trump is also indicted by a Georgia grand jury for trying to force election officials to overturn that state’s vote...
Letter to the editor: Doesn’t PennDOT care about Route 30?
Route 30 between Latrobe and Irwin remains in terrible condition with potholes and seam holes throughout the entire distance. Doesn’t PennDOT care? When do our taxes buy us value? Dave Bonazelli Unity...
Letter to the editor: Railroad excess to blame for high cost of goods
The disastrous train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, has put a spotlight on the railroad industry. Their average profit margin since 2001 has steadily increased from 15% to 50% in 2019. The national average profit margin for U.S. industries is 9%, but for railroads it is five times the average....
Editorial: Does mandatory death penalty for cop killers make sense?
On Friday, the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office filed a notice that it would seek the death penalty for Johnathan Morris. Morris, 31, is charged with criminal homicide, attempted homicide, assault of a law enforcement officer, murder of a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault and carrying a firearm without a...
Letter to the editor: Presidents have no control over inflation
Inflation, we are told, results when people spend too much money, driving up prices; too much money chasing too few goods. Wall Street wants to cure it by hammering on working people. The Federal Reserve raises interest rates, in effect sending every employer a memo saying it’s time to lay...
Elwood Watson : Not ‘woke’ enough to understand its meaning
You have to be “woke” to understand it, I guess. Last week, conservative activist and author Bethany Mandel went viral for her screeching response on defining the term woke, which has become the catch-all phrase on the right for everything wrong with our country. During the March 14 edition of...
Pat Garofalo: Ending health care systems’ abuse of nonprofit status
A court recently ruled that the health care system Tower Health did not meet the mandated requirements to receive tax exemptions on four of its properties in Pennsylvania, in part because it was too focused on profit despite its status as a nonprofit institution. “This decision is validation that our...
Jeff Kotula: Unleashing Pa.’s energy resources will grow economy
As the first quarter of 2023 comes to an end, the economy remains a prime concern for many Americans. It has been difficult to ignore the effects of inflation on everyday essentials, and market results have reflected this uncertainty. While the current unemployment rate is at a near 50-year low...
Letter to the editor: McGonigal arrest raises questions
This nightmare just will not go away. We know that Oleg Deripaska was a key coordinator of Russia’s foreign influence operation in the 2016 presidential campaign. We know he was associated with Paul Manafort, the ex-operative for Putin’s puppet regime in Ukraine, ex-campaign adviser for President Trump, and ex-felon whom...
Letter to the editor: Oil and gas changes in Monroeville
The Monroeville Council is considering an update to its comprehensive zoning ordinance that looks like changes in land use are going to make it worse for environmental justice communities near the landfill. Harms to air and water are sure to follow as a result of allowing fracking as a conditional...
Editorial: What is the value of tradition in deer hunting?
The start of deer season is not just a date on the calendar. It is a lot more complicated than that. It involves the science behind how deer move and feed, where they live and when they breed. It is part of a management process that looks to keep a...
Letter to the editor: Dems hurting the middle class
Liberal Democrats are waging war against America, hurting middle-class Americans most. Since President Biden took office, every major policy imposed on the country has had far more deleterious effects on America’s middle and lower classes than on the rich because the elitist Democrats and their rich corporate and celebrity contributors...
Letter to the editor: Alzheimer’s, dementia caregiver burden growing in Pa.
The Alzheimer’s Association’s 2023 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures report reveals the Alzheimer’s and dementia caregiver burden continues to grow in Pennsylvania. Today, there are more than 400,000 family members and friends serving as unpaid dementia caregivers in the commonwealth providing 464 million hours of unpaid care, valued at $10.7...
Tom Purcell: Let’s get our kids behind the wheel
The sun is shining and spring is upon us. Such days remind me still of the excitement I knew when I turned 16 in April and was finally able to get my driver’s license — a wondrous rite of passage fewer and fewer teens choose to experience today. According to...
Ryan Costello: Pharmacy benefit managers help keep drug costs down
These days, it seems it is always political campaign season. That is true on the presidential level, with several candidates already seeking the Republican nomination. Here in Pennsylvania, we will also be electing a U.S. senator (Bob Casey’s seat) and a full state and federal House delegation next year. As...
Letter to the editor: An all-electric Air Force One?
The president is calling for the American people to go to all-electric vehicles. With something like 12,000 airplanes in the sky at one time, I believe it’s time for President Biden to show the world he is not all talk. Biden needs to have the “Next Air Force One” made...
Letter to the editor: Try plant-based for one day on March 20
MeatOut was launched in 1985 by Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM) and has since grown into the world’s largest annual grassroots educational campaign encouraging the end of the use of animals for food. On March 20, the first day of spring, we ask people to turn over a new leaf...
Letter to the editor: Grateful for lifesavers in Harrison
I would like to express my appreciation for the Citizens Hose EMS crew and director Jim Erb. They were recently honored at a Harrison Township meeting for their lifesaving efforts (“Harrison emergency crews lauded for saving 2 lives,” March 2, TribLIVE). I am extremely grateful that our township has a...
