Opinion category, Page 448
Letter to the editor: Mandatory reporting of lost, stolen guns unconstitutional
In her letter “We’ll all be safer when stolen guns must be reported” (Nov. 8, TribLIVE), Vivienne Selia highlights the importance of reining in the misuse of lost and stolen firearms. What she fails to mention — and what gun control proponents frequently fail to mention in their calls for...
Letter to the editor: Celebrating organ donation
National Donor Sabbath, this year Nov. 12-14, is an annual interfaith commemoration when people come together to celebrate the gift of life made possible through organ donation. Faith leaders, donor families, transplant recipients, and donation and transplantation professionals have joined to raise awareness about the lifesaving and healing gifts made...
Sheldon Jacobson: Team sports require team decisions on covid vaccination
Aaron Rodgers, the Green Bay Packers’ star quarterback and reigning AP NFL Most Valuable Player, tested positive for covid-19. He also admitted that he was not vaccinated. Individuals living in isolation are free to make any choice they wish when it comes to vaccination. However, when personal choices have community...
Sounding off: Taxpayer money for vaccine compensation is wrong
Where does this idea come from when the government can take taxpayer money and decide to spend it by giving government employees five days of vacation time for simply accepting the covid-19 vaccination? The state treasurer estimates this is going to cost $100 million. It comes from the arrogance of...
Ronald A. Smith and Terry Engelder: Jerry Sandusky should be retried
Ten years ago, Joe Paterno, the Brooklyn-born winningest football coach at Penn State University, was fired at night over the telephone, five days after the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office released the presentment charging defensive coach Jerry Sandusky and Penn State administrators with crimes of child abuse. Paterno was never found...
Scott Brown: A case for city ownership of Greensburg parklet
Greensburg’s Pennsylvania Avenue parklet, built in 1988 and gifted to the city in 1989 by nonprofit Go Greensburg, is the subject of debate about who should own the park. Constructed for $30,000, the park was funded entirely by donations from benefactors and generous citizens. In May 2020, the city sold...
Letter to the editor: Loss of Bacha as coroner a shame for Westmoreland residents
Thank you to Ken Bacha for your 20 years of service as our Westmoreland County coroner. Bacha has done so much for the fire departments and the opioid issues in our county, and was trained and skilled in the position. It is sad that elections have come down to party...
Letter to the editor: We’re getting what we voted for in Biden, Harris
The saying “you get what you pay for” also holds true for “you get who you vote for”: a clueless president and vice president who are destroying this great country in a mere nine months. Plus: a clueless cabinet, a secretary of transportation who takes a two-month paternity leave in...
Editorial: Respecting employees can fix employment crisis
Businesses, especially the boots-on-the-ground variety like food service and retail, are in the midst of an employment crisis. Many are being forced to scale back hours or days to deal with the availability of staff. It’s a problem that was kicked off by the coronavirus pandemic and its layoffs amid...
Letter to the editor: Adult-use cannabis laws can reduce crime, improve law enforcement resources
With homicide rates and gun violence rising nationwide, law enforcement faces significant challenges. It stands to reason that police departments that are freed from marijuana arrests will have more resources to devote to serious crimes. According to a June 2020 study by the National Institute of Justice on the Effects...
S.E. Cupp: Now, GOP excuses disgusting misogyny
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez did not ask for this. Yes, she’s a public servant who, by definition, knows that she signed up for a kind of scrutiny that comes with a job as an elected official — but surely not this kind. And she’s not shied away from the spotlight during...
John Stossel: Time to let parents choose
As Virginia’s gubernatorial election drew to a close last week, Democrat Terry McAuliffe brought in teachers union president Randi Weingarten. He thought that would help? I suppose he, like many progressives, believes everyone thinks the way he does. “I’m not going to let parents come into schools and … make...
Alison Bell: Pa.’s health care workforce needs ‘rapid response’
Uncertainty, fear and anxiety gripped the nation in early 2020 as we began to deal with the covid-19 pandemic. This was especially true for health care workers who were tasked with treating a novel virus we knew very little about other than the lethal impact it had in other parts...
Letter to the editor: Why aren’t people working?
There’s a worker shortage everywhere, despite some companies offering as much as a $3,000 sign-on bonus if hired. School bus and truck drivers, fast-food and fine-dining workers, warehouse, manufacturing and skilled laborers, police officers, dock workers, grass cutters, babysitters — the list goes on and on. Teachers and nurses are...
Letter to the editor: Citizens the losers with legalized gambling
Responding to the mayor of Jeannette, who wrote the letter “Rich get richer through gambling”: Despite mountains of evidence of the negative impact of gambling, Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell, with the support of our Republican General Assembly, “legalized” slot machines and casinos. The property tax “reduction” was the suppository to...
Lori Falce: Bullying is a team sport
Bullying is one of those things that is easily defined but hard to identify. It is generally seen as cruel, aggressive, intimidating abuse. And yes, that seems accurate. But there is a nuance to bullying that just seems hard to grasp with words. There are any number of situations that...
Letter to the editor: Biden voters getting what they deserve
Consider the following if you will: A man commits a crime and is sentenced to jail. As a result, this man sues for emotional distress because his incarceration separated him from his family. You would think it is ridiculous, nonsensical, insane and even asinine that a judge or jury would...
Paul Kengor: Creating Free Speech U
“I’m caught in an insane asylum, everybody’s gone crazy, I will work for half.” So said a desperate professor to Peter Boghossian, who this week announced the creation of a new college, the University of Austin, committed to “freedom of inquiry, freedom of conscience and civil discourse.” The announcement was...
Laurels & lances: Grants, pants and lanternflies
Laurel: To investing in people. The best thing to boom an economy is a good pool of people to do the jobs that keep the gears of any industry turning. That is why an investment in developing that pool is good news. Penn State is receiving a $1.5 million federal...
Michael Torres: ‘Old school GOP’ prevailed in Pa.’s swing counties
Last week, voters in Pennsylvania’s key swing counties sent a message to Republicans: Nominate a competent candidate who cares about our quality of life, and we’ll give you a win. Given that a few thousand of these voters can easily determine statewide and even national elections, the GOP should take...
Leonard Pitts Jr.: ‘Blond hair white skin’ and the color of justice
She slammed down her white privilege like you’d slam down an American Express black card. Which is to say, with supreme confidence. Two months after posting video of herself in the mob of right-wing thugs who stormed the U.S. Capitol, Jenna Ryan went on Twitter to taunt her detractors. “Definitely...
Kevin Walker: Now is the time to embrace electric mobility
When I moved to Western Pennsylvania in the spring of 2020, I immediately learned that we’re a region of opportunity. This has been true since the Industrial Revolution established Pittsburgh as the steel capital of the world and solidified our reputation for being a driven, innovative and resilient community. Pittsburgh...
Letter to the editor: Corporate minimum tax bad idea
The corporate minimum tax sounds good, but in actuality it’s not. Most public policy is funded through taxes and/or tax rebates to encourage behaviors. The corporate tax should have a maximum, not a minimum. We as consumers pay their tax through higher prices (inflation).The large corporations can afford to have...
Letter to the editor: Businesswomen’s progress
Many of your recent articles have brought to mind my Facebook post the day after Donald Trump was elected president in 2016: “The progress women have made in this country has just been set back 50 years.” Joe Napsha’s story “Women’s business ownership growing; still face different challenges” (Oct. 30,...
Editorial: Veterans deserve our leaders’ respect and support beyond just Veterans Day
Everyone loves a veteran. Especially a politician. On Veterans Day, that pride and appreciation of those who stood up and did their duty when asked or stepped forward to volunteer will be on display in many corners. Flags will be flown and speeches will be given. Ceremonies will be held,...
