Opinion category, Page 424
Letter to the editor: The ‘other team’ is not the enemy
Welcome to 2022: We have a national midterm election this year, which I fear will include lots of partisan fighting. Please remember that the other team is not the enemy; they simply see things differently than you. Shawn Mason Trafford...
Letter to the editor: Cops under the microscope
How would you like a job where when you made a mistake, a big red light goes on and 18,000 people boo? That’s a quote from Jacques Plante, goalie of yore for the Montreal Canadiens. Unfortunately, it’s like that for today’s cops, who are being scrutinized on the way they...
Letter to the editor: Casinos shouldn’t cater to smokers
Regarding the article “Pennsylvania casinos not ready to cut smoking from gambling experience” (Jan. 3, TribLIVE): I’m from Greensburg, and when I left, it was a smoking city. I’m a nonsmoker (actually no bad habits). There are 24 states that outlaw smoking (an addictive habit) in their casinos. A lot...
Letter to the editor: Reducing violence, starting with schools
This is in response to your editorial “Truth is kids need to be safe from gun violence”. The truth is kids need to be safe from all violence, and schools should use education to try to make it so. We should be using schools to reduce violence throughout life with...
Editorial: Logical failings with Act 77 challenge, court ruling
On Friday, Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court narrowly decided that voting by mail without being sick or working isn’t how things should be done. It isn’t just not legal, the court decided. It’s unconstitutional. The five-judge panel that came to that decision split along party lines — three Republicans to two Democrats....
Letter to the editor: Just say no to plastic bags and straws
Here’s why I am happy to refuse plastic bags and straws: I know that I am not responsible for the beached whale that died with its stomach full of plastic trash. I know that the pain of the sea turtle with a plastic straw caught in its nose was not...
Colin McNickle: Christina Cassotis’ big payday
It has become an annual rite of critical review: Questioning the repeated, dubious and massive annual pay raises and bonuses for Allegheny County Airport Authority CEO Christina Cassotis. This year is no exception. Earlier this month, the Airport Authority’s board of directors yet again did what it does worst —...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Oz is fun, but the Republic must come first
When Dr. Mehmet Oz, who is seeking the Republican nomination in the U.S. Senate race, made a campaign appearance in Westmoreland County last week, it had all the excitement of a celebrity event, with Oz supporters jockeying for selfies with the star-politician. Known as Dr. Oz on his television show,...
Sounding off: Biden hasn’t kept word on covid
Letter-writer Dale Vukovich (“Vaccines and gas prices”) must have missed President Biden, Vice President Harris and many of their Democratic friends last October saying they wouldn’t “trust or take the vaccine that was developed under Trump.” He must have missed Biden during the second presidential debate saying that “anyone who...
Rebecca Saltzman: Covid does harm children, in the short and long term
Our lives changed with a headache. I checked my 10-year-old son Gus’ forehead and found it burning. It was the week before Halloween 2021, and the FDA had not yet approved vaccines for children his age. We had been living with the pandemic for a year and a half by...
Vidhur Senthil: Teaching students to care for environment is critical
This year, about 50 million students will attend primary and secondary school in the United States. Every morning, as I and millions of others struggle to get out of bed, asking ourselves whether it’s really necessary to wake up this early, it’s evident that we have no other choice. School...
Letter to the editor: Actions speak louder than words
OK, multiple days of letters to the editor by people complaining about the Westmoreland County commissioners not putting money toward homes for the homeless, mental health facilities, drug treatment facilities, etc. Enough: If you Voice of Westmoreland people feel so strongly about helping people who need those facilities, why don’t...
Letter to the editor: Use ARPA funds to bridge economic divide
The pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on access to affordable housing. A 2022 report found that, since the pandemic began, Southwestern Pennsylvania was near the top for rents rising faster than home prices. In Westmoreland County, renting costs $400 a month more than a home mortgage. That $400 represents...
Letter to the editor: Jesus was no socialist
I read with interest the letter “Socialism in line with Christian faith”. An extensive history of socialism was conducted by Igor Shafarevich, a Nobel Prize-winning mathematician and an associate of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Solzhenitsyn and Shafarevich had a front-row seat to the glory days of socialism. That seat provided them with...
Editorial: Pittsburgh bridge collapse shows infrastructure failings
Pittsburgh is more than a city of steel. It is also the City of Bridges. It has more of them than Venice, Italy — a city that is most easily traveled by boat. Venice has 443 bridges. Pittsburgh had 446. Today it has 445. That last bridge, where Forbes Avenue...
S.E. Cupp: A memo to the covid complainers
Just this past week, covid deaths hit an 11-month high in the United States, surging 11% compared to the previous week. While cases are finally beginning to drop, an average of 2,200 people a day are still dying thanks to the highly contagious omicron variant, bringing total fatalities in our...
Gary Franks: Black babies are nearly 40% of U.S. abortions
Is there something wrong with this picture? Nearly 40% of all abortions in America since Roe v. Wade have been from Black Americans. This equates to more than 20 million Black pregnancies aborted. That would be the equivalent to either the populations of New York or Florida. Yet Black people...
Peter Morici: Republicans need an economic agenda for the midterm elections
Wokeism and progressive overreach helped propel conservative values in the 2021 elections, but cultural issues won’t grip as reliably for Republicans in the midterms. Virginia exit polls indicated the economy was still the most important issue, but state and municipal politicians can do little more than steal jobs from other...
Leonard Pitts Jr.: For some, white is the default position
It does not exactly break your heart to see Mitch McConnell used as a piñata. He is a man of uniquely pious hypocrisy, able to affect moist-eyed sincerity while ruthlessly chopping the legs out from under democracy. Whether it is stealing Supreme Court seats or defending an indefensible president, his...
Rep. Greg Vitali: Pa. budget should fully fund environmental protection
Gov. Tom Wolf’s address to Pennsylvania’s General assembly on Feb. 8 will mark the official opening of negotiations on the commonwealth’s 2022-23 fiscal year budget. Regrettably, this annual budget has shortchanged the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for many years. With a rosy revenue picture for the upcoming fiscal year,...
Letter to the editor: No praise for Democrats’ ‘accomplishments’
My open letter to Congressman (Hope-to-be-Senator) Conor Lamb and Sen. Robert Casey: I have received several of both of your “updates” extolling your perceived legislative accomplishments under the guidance of President Biden and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and you know guys, I’m just not feeling it. What both...
Letter to the editor: History lesson on political parties
Regarding Jim Papke’s letter “Biden should learn history, humility” (Jan. 19, TribLIVE), contending that President Biden should learn the correct history of the Republican and Democratic parties: The first thing one should learn is that the parties have switched stances throughout our history. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were Republicans...
Letter to the editor: Many lack access to commissioners’ meetings
We, the people of Westmoreland, have the absolute right to access our county commissioners when they hold public meetings at the courthouse, without fear of contracting covid-19. As an individual with multiple sclerosis, I am desperately trying to avoid putting myself at risk. Transparency and accountability at these meetings are...
Lori Falce: When to keep your kid home from school
We pay a lot of attention to the shortages of employees at work. The questions arise about what causes the shortages and what exacerbates them during the pandemic. Is it laziness? Is it burnout? Is it the rise and ebb of covid-19 numbers with various variants taking their turn as...
Letter to the editor: Facts about electric cars
What the politicians and car makers aren’t telling you: The maximum distance most electric cars can travel between charges is around 260-300 miles. That’s if your car has permanent magnets made from neodymium oxide in the motor. Guess who controls 90% of the supply of neodymium oxide? China. Mining this...
