Opinion category, Page 473
Colin McNickle: Pittsburgh’s static high office vacancy rate
Pittsburgh’s central business district office vacancy rate remained stubbornly high in 2021’s second quarter. And trends — those eminently controllable by public officials and those totally out of their control — are not encouraging for improvement, concludes an analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. The wild card of...
Letter to the editor: We should welcome our Afghan partners here
A continuing issue in Southwestern Pennsylvania is our aging population and loss of residents at a time when the situation in Afghanistan is terrible and perhaps broken beyond repair. This is an occasion for us in Pennsylvania to aid our evacuated Afghan partners and show a big welcome to new...
Letter to the editor: Penn Hills mask ruling decried
Penn Hills School District passed a mandate that includes masking all kids and visitors for the foreseeable future (“Penn Hills School District requiring masks for all students, staff at start of school year.”) Current science demands different policy, and this takes away my choice as a parent. The CDC states...
Editorial: For Westmoreland workers, a confusing new math on raises
Percentages can be confusing things. They might seem simple at first blush. A penny is just 1% of a dollar. How hard is that to figure out? But anyone who has tried to figure out exactly how much their $100,000 house will cost over the lifetime of a mortgage and...
Letter to the editor: Congress must invest in our communities
Too many families in Westmoreland County and communities across Pennsylvania were suffering before the pandemic. For too long, we have seen tax cuts for corporations while investments in our local communities are blocked. As a longtime resident of West Newton, I see firsthand the need for investment in our community....
Aron Solomon: Full FDA vaccine approval and the law
On Monday morning, the FDA gave full approval to the Pfizer covid-19 vaccine. This is an even faster approval than Pfizer has hoped for, as the most optimistic date had been early September. Until now, all covid-19 vaccines have had only EUA (emergency use authorization). Full approval of even one...
Letter to the editor: Biden worst president ever
Crisis on the southern border, inflation, nobody wants to work because they get more money sitting at home collecting Biden Bucks, and now the dumpster fire in Afghanistan. I never thought I would see it in my lifetime, but we have a new “Worst President Ever.” Congratulations, President Carter; Joe...
Letter to the editor: No more lives, resources wasted in wars
U.S. involvement in Vietnam: 1950-1975. For 25 years under six U.S. presidents: Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Nixon and Ford. Twenty-six years (just one generation) later: U.S. involvement in Afghanistan: 2001-2021 (hopefully ending this year). For 20 years under four U.S. presidents: George W. Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden. First...
Letter to the editor: Conor Lamb should clarify views on voter ID
After reading the article “Rep. Conor Lamb jumps in race for Pat Toomey’s Senate seat” (Aug. 6, TribLIVE), I wished Lamb had clarified some of his statements. He says his opponents are determined to see him fail. What opponents? I assume he means elected Republicans; I’m not sure. He states...
Editorial: The shame of Shuman Center’s demise
The Shuman Juvenile Detention Center no longer is licensed by the state of Pennsylvania. On Friday, the state Department of Human Services notified Allegheny County that the facility that houses minors involved in the justice system would have to make new arrangements for its residents and close by Sept. 18....
Letter to the editor: Flexible Constitution
Since we Americans are living in the land of make-believe, I figured there would be no problem in making up some information, in homage to the brainwashing tactics of the three- or four-letter media many adore. As you know, it’s our constitutional right to believe what we want since the...
Sen. Kim Ward: Retroactive window for victims is no quick fix
Recently, I have been the focus of a targeted media campaign calling for passage of legislation to allow a retroactive “window” for civil lawsuits for past claims of childhood sexual abuse. The campaign has a simple message: The only path to helping these victims is this legislation. As a legislator...
Pat Buchanan: Bitter fruits of interventionism
As President Lyndon Johnson and the best and brightest of the 1960s were broken on the wheel of Vietnam, the Biden presidency may well be broken on the wheel of the Taliban’s triumph in Afghanistan. Less than a week into the chaotic U.S. withdrawal at Hamid Karzai International Airport, a...
Jonah Goldberg: Will GOP go back to heeding its voters on foreign policy?
President Biden’s inept execution of his — and his predecessor’s — policy of withdrawal from Afghanistan was a political gift to the GOP. It has made foreign policy, at least temporarily, a unifying issue on the right. For conservatives, whether you supported or opposed withdrawal, Biden’s shambolic implementation has something...
Letter to the editor: Immigrants’ role in covid resurgence
As I think back a few months, it seems that the covid virus was pretty much under control. We were all looking forward to getting our lives back. Now we are back to wearing masks and limited as to places we can go. What happened? Could it be that the...
Letter to the editor: Vaccination, not God or selfishness, is the way out
What does it take for America to wake up? Serious covid cases reportedly are mostly among the fearful, anti-science and simply ridiculous. These folks are now joined by our local leaders. School boards that are supposed to protect kids are failing and should resign. Superintendents are perhaps the most guilty....
Editorial: A covid vaccine is fully approved — no excuses now
In December 2020, the first shots in the war against covid-19 were fired into the arms of health care workers with the emergency-use authorization of a vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech. Those were followed by another similar authorization for a Moderna vaccine two weeks later, and then in early 2021, Johnson &...
Letter to the editor: Democrats’ ideas confounding
Progressive Democrats and media allies present unrealistic and contradictory ideas as self-evident to prevent being eaten by their own. To avoid cancellation, they promote a list that confounds rational minds. Reduce crime by defunding police and eliminating bail; hire social workers and treat criminals like illegal immigrants with catch and...
Tom Purcell: Service dogs help heal trauma of war
Our botched withdrawal from Afghanistan is hard to witness, but hearing the reports of Taliban brutality is even worse. The U.S. Sun reports that “women face having ‘fingers cut off for using nail varnish’ ” and that the Taliban “reportedly shot a woman dead in the street for not wearing...
Leonard Pitts Jr.: The dots in Afghanistan had names
Last week, at least two men fell from a U.S. military plane as it climbed into the skies above Afghanistan. In video taken from the ground, they are so small you almost have to squint to see them. They seem roughly the size of a period, the end to some...
Gov. Mike DeWine: Moving Appalachia Ohio forward
The Appalachian region of Ohio is diverse in both its landscapes and people. The 32 Ohio counties that make up Appalachian Ohio have terrain perfect for hiking and biking, beautiful waterways for boating or fishing, and even sandy beaches on our northern coast in Ashtabula. My wife Fran and I...
Amy Zimmerman: ‘Imposter syndrome’ at work
What would you do if as an employer, you learned that some of your most trusted and high-performing workers lived many of their days in great distress? How would you react if you found out that these seemingly happy and productive people perceived themselves as fraudsters, compromising the forward progress...
Letter to the editor: Support for Mark Goetz appreciated
To the community: Our son, Mark Goetz, competed in the 121st USGA Amateur Championship hosted by Oakmont Country Club on Aug. 9-15. Many of you were there in person to support him, while others followed his progress virtually. With the excitement that came from finishing as a medalist in the...
Editorial: Facts, not fame and fortune, important in court
Does the Westmoreland County district attorney offer different deals to people with famous names or bigger bank accounts than to average Joes who end up in the criminal court system? A recent filing makes that claim. According to defense attorney Robert Domenick, DA John Peck has shown different standards with...
Letter to the editor: Urge Greater Latrobe to keep French, German
Greater Latrobe School District’s plan to phase out “in-class, face-to-face instruction” of French and German languages is going to cheat future and present elementary school students of a choice of electives beginning with the 2022 school year. The district says students who want to take French and German can take...
