Opinion category, Page 487
Lori Falce: The sportsmanship of the Olympics
I have always loved the Olympics. Even if I disagree with the International Olympic Committee on whether any particular event is a sport or not, I gladly bow to the greater pageantry of the entire production. Maybe I don’t think tug-of-war — yeah, it was an Olympic event until 1920...
Letter to the editor: Treat workers better, bring back blue laws
What are businesses going to do when college students leave in September? Families used the stimulus money to pay off bills and realized that with the cost of child care, clothing, travel and lunches, it simply costs more than it is worth working so one spouse can stay home. Now...
Letter to the editor: Investigation needed into county pension fund
I find Westmoreland County’s plan to borrow $140 million for the county pension fund irritating and unprofessional (“Westmoreland will borrow $140 million to keep pension fund solvent.”) This plan must be canceled and a detailed audit of the fund conducted. Having to borrow $140 million on a fund valued at...
Laurels & lances: Hot tickets, hot topic, hot dog
Laurel: To a rash of good luck. Everyone who buys a lottery ticket has that moment of hope and imagination, dreaming of walking away with the big prize. Lately, though, it seems like a lot of those big prizes are popping up in Southwestern Pennsylvania. It started in May. The...
Mark Hendrickson: Biden economic team predicts long-term slow growth
What is noteworthy about the depressing title to this article is its source. In a case of uncommon candor, President Biden’s economic team announced that once the artificially high stimulus-juiced measurements of GDP of the next two years subside, the United States will experience sub-2% growth for the rest of...
Rep. Joanna McClinton: Pa. businesses deserve help as much as New Jersey’s, Ohio’s
Last week, the state of New Jersey invested $235 million in American Rescue Plan funds to help small community businesses like bars and restaurants and startups bounce back from covid-19 and keep their doors open. Just this week, the Garden State added $100 million to help create and expand child...
Letter to the editor: Bipartisan climate effort encouraging
With a 92-8 vote, the U.S. Senate on June 25 passed the Growing Climate Solutions Act (GCSA) and sent the bill to the House, where there are 18 Democrats and 14 Republicans already co-sponsoring the legislation. The executive director of Citizens’ Climate Lobby, Mark Reynolds, has said, “In times like...
Editorial: Celebrate local libraries as they emerge, and value their role
Libraries frequently are underappreciated services. They shouldn’t be. The coronavirus pandemic was not the first time that public or community libraries have seen their doors close in the face of a crisis. It probably will not be the last — although you would think that, at some point, the powers...
Letter to the editor: Biden’s spending and taxation
President Biden’s $6 trillion budget would be the highest planned spending, as a percent of the economy, since World War II, and the deficits would run above $1.3 trillion for the next 10 years. That spending would exceed $45,000 per household and push the national debt to exceed $44 trillion...
Martin W.G. King: Voting rights hard sell for Biden
President Biden is celebrating a potential deal on his infrastructure bill. Unfortunately, Republican lawmakers on the bipartisan committee that came up with the compromise draft insisted on trashing the social measures needed by families and some essential environmental components. Nonetheless, Biden’s all-consuming work on the issue has produced a victory...
Robert C. Koehler: Terrence Floyd asks, why did you kill my brother?
For Derek Chauvin, nine minutes and 29 seconds have turned into 22½ years — the prison sentence he recently received for the murder of George Floyd. Chauvin famously knelt on Floyd’s neck last year, as he lay handcuffed and helpless, for those nine-plus minutes, while three colleagues stood by, indifferent...
Letter to the editor: Liberal sources not fair, balanced
Letter-writer James Kvitkovich (“Trib is fair and balanced,” July 2, TribLIVE) said he believes the Tribune-Review and Associated Press are fair and balanced. At one time that was very true about the Trib; it was never true about the AP. He says he gets his news from sources such as...
Letter to the editor: Why so little coverage of border crisis?
By not enforcing federal immigration laws, the Biden administration is encouraging illegal immigration along our southern border. Mexican cartels dangerously are smuggling children, adults, lethal fentanyl and other drugs into the U.S, overwhelming the U.S. border patrol. U.S. taxpayers are paying to house and process. Neither the president nor the...
Editorial: Everyone’s health depends on nurses on call
When it comes to essential employees, there are a lot of positions that come to mind. During the pandemic, people came to realize how much they depend on grocery store stockers and fast food workers. Most parents came to look at teachers with new appreciation. Day care providers, bus drivers,...
Letter to the editor: Questioning police protocols for helping the mentally ill
Pennsylvania State Police shot Christian Hall multiple times Dec. 30, 2020, in East Stroudsburg. Hall, a 19-year-old Chinese adoptee of Filipino and Black Latino parents, was experiencing a mental health crisis and called 911 himself. In late January 2021, third-party footage began circulating on social media showing Hall standing with...
Jessica Feil: Illegal gambling machines are a problem. You should care.
If you’ve ever seen someone play three-card monte, you would warn everyone you know not to fall for the scam. The game, usually played on a street corner, involves a “dealer” moving three playing cards around and betting against the player being able to guess which card is the money...
Pat Buchanan: As America recedes, China rises
As our July Fourth celebrations were beginning, the U.S. quietly closed and abandoned Bagram Air Base, the largest American military base between the Persian Gulf and the South China Sea. Afghan looters soon were seen scavenging inside the base. The long retreat of the American Empire is underway, and this...
Christopher Schneider: Transparency is voided when police weaponize copyrighted music
During a recent peaceful exchange with activists an Alameda County sheriff’s deputy in California was caught on camera pulling out his phone to soundtrack the interaction with Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space.” Perhaps the most unusual part of all of this was the officer’s relative candor about it. When the deputy...
Jonah Goldberg: Recalls are the only option when there’s 1-party rule
It’s on. California will vote on whether to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 14. I am deeply conflicted on the question. I am opposed to recalls on principle. In 2003, I was one of the few conservatives to oppose the recall of then-governor Gray Davis. My reasoning hinged on...
Letter to the editor: Cities should focus on crime instead of plastic bags
Regarding the article “Pittsburgh, Philadelphia move ahead with plastic bag bans as Pa.’s preemption nears its end”: These cities would be better off if the cities spent time on stopping the public shootings. Clem Zahrobsky Delmont...
Letter to the editor: Pa. should invest in public health infrastructure
In Pennsylvania’s lawmakers- negotiated budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year, a sizable amount will be spent on education and human resources, which is understandable. Few of the federal relief dollars allotted to Pennsylvania will be directed toward investing in our public health infrastructure. Public health officials often have forgone lucrative...
Editorial: Westmoreland voters deserve straight answers on elections bureau
Westmoreland County commissioners need to be more forthright about what is happening in the elections bureau. This is becoming a very familiar topic. We have discussed it as three people in the office’s leadership have left under largely undisclosed circumstances in the last year. We have revisited it three times...
Letter to the editor: Senior housing in East Vandergrift
East Vandergrift has benefited from Community Development Block Grants throughout the years. The continuous support of the Westmoreland County commissioners and the county Planning and Development office has contributed greatly to community development upgrades, including the stormwater-sewage separation project and repaving of borough streets. Now, borough officials are working with...
Editorial: The blood you give sustains the life we lead
For blood to do its job, you have to have enough to stay in circulation. That goes for blood inside the body — taking oxygen from the lungs to the heart and back again. It also goes for the blood that circulates out in the world. Having enough blood to...
Tom Purcell: Thanks, Jack, for the wonderful days
Every night, just before bed, he’d thank his bride of 70 years for giving him another wonderful day on Earth. That was the sweet-hearted nature of Jack Krieger, my family’s next-door neighbor for more than 30 years. I first met him as a very young boy, shortly after my growing...
